CLASH BY NIGHT

Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Douglas in a tense moment

CLASH BY NIGHT (1952). Director: Fritz Lang. Based on the play by Clifford Odets; screenplay by Alfred Hayes.

"Home is where you come when you run out of places."

"I'm tired of looking after men. I want to be looked after!"

"I guess it's terrible to get old and lonely. I guess that's what everyone's afraid of."

"You impress me as a man who needs a new suit of clothes or a new love affair, but he doesn't know which." 

Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to the fishing village where she was born to escape unhappy memories of her failure to find lasting love and success in New York. She begins dating fisherman Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas) but can't stand his insolent friend Earl (Robert Ryan) and at first fights her attraction to him. Mae eventually marries one of those men, and an unpleasant triangle situation develops. The basic plot may be nothing new, but this is based on a play by Clifford Odets and has a richness of character and detail that lifts it far above the usual marital infidelity drama. Stanwyck and Douglas are superb and Ryan gives one of his finest performances which calls on him to be both hard and pathetically vulnerable. J. Carroll Naish gives another of his exemplary performances as Jerry's uncle, and Silvio Minciotti also scores as his old papa. There's also very nice work from Keith Andes [introduced in the film] and Marilyn Monroe [in her pre-stardom days] as, respectively, Mae's somewhat disapproving brother and his rather independent girlfriend. The film is very well directed by Fritz Lang, and beautifully photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. The only negative thing about the movie is the phoney Hollywood happy ending forced on it by the production code.

Verdict: It's a shame this lovely, intense adult drama isn't better known. ***1/2.

GREAT OLD ACTORS -- J. CARROL NAISH

J. CARROL NAISH (1896 - 1973). NOTE: In his early credits Naish's name was spelled "Carroll" with two "l"s.

The great character actor J. Carrol Naish had over 200 film roles to his credit in his long and distinguished career, and he acquitted himself admirable in virtually every single role.

After many bit parts, one of his more memorable early roles was as Sun Yat Ming in the Loretta Young/Edward G. Robinson starrer The Hatchet Man. Naish played a friend of Robinson's who doesn't realize that the latter has been sent to kill him. He supported Robinson again in Two Seconds, and once again was excellent. When he did Crooner, playing the manager of a nightclub that employers David Manners as a singer, he showed his flair for comedy.

Although Naish was of Irish ancestry, he seemed to play more Italians and other ethnic types, although he had at least one Irish role.

Naish appeared in everything from Charlie Chan, Bulldog Drummond, and Mr. Moto mysteries to more prestigious films such as Anthony Adverse with Fredric March and Charge of the Light Brigade. You could find him in musicals (Down Argentine Way), dramas (Tales of Manhattan), horror films (Dr. Renault's Secret) and serials (Batman as the sinister, cackling Dr. Daka).

He did a lot of television work in the sixties; his last film was Dracula vs. Frankenstein in 1971, about which the less said the better. Better to remember that he was Chief Sitting Bull in Annie Get Your Gun, John Garfield's father in Humoresque with Joan Crawford, worked with everyone from Mario Lanza to Frank Sinatra to Barbara Stanwyck in Clash By Night. In House of Frankenstein Naish stole the picture from all the other actors and monsters with his striking portrayal of the tormented hunchback Daniel.

Naish was one of that rare breed of character actors of whom it can be safely said : They just don't make 'em like that anymore!

TWO SECONDS

TWO SECONDS (1932). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

High rise worker John Allen (Edward G. Robinson) is about to be executed for murder, and the entire film is a flashback detailing the events that led up to this in the "two seconds" it takes him to die. Allen marries a dance hall girl, Shirley (Vivienne Osborne), while he's drunk, and she proves to be a shrew of the first rank. This brings John into conflict with his best friend and former roommate, Bud (Preston Foster), leading to a horrific tragedy. But things, if possible, get worse ... Robinson gives a ferociously superb performance in this [although it's quite odd that he appears almost drunk in the courtroom/sentencing scene]. J. Carroll Naish offers yet another of his excellent portrayals as Tony, and Osborne's performance certainly has bite. Guy Kibbee has a small role as well.

Verdict: Not exactly great drama but the acting is terrific. **1/2.

THE HATCHET MAN

THE HATCHET MAN (1932). Director: William Wellman. Wong (Edward G. Robinson) is a "hatchet man" or enforcer [or hit man] for his local Chinese Tong in Chinatown. He is at first horrified to discover that his next assignment is to kill a man who is his best and oldest friend, Sun [a superb J. Carroll Naish, who is nearly unrecognizable under his excellent make up]. Wong inherits Sun's wealth, business -- and daughter Toya (Loretta Young), who years later becomes his wife. Unfortunately, Toya develops a yen for her bodyguard. Robinson basically eschews Oriental make up, while Young does look somewhat Chinese. "Ming the Merciless" Charles Middleton has a part in this film, but I confess I didn't spot him. This film is interesting and different, has a clever ending, but it's very morally ambiguous and we never learn how Toya would react if she learned exactly what happened when she was a child. Verdict: Well-acted but not exactly a Chinese Godfather. **.

CROONER

CROONER (1932). Director: Lloyd Bacon.

"I wonder how you can posssibly stretch the subject of yourself over two more days."

"Radio: Marconi's gift to the morons!"

Band leader Teddy Taylor (David Manners, pictured) fills in for his sick vocalist and sings in such a low voice that a drunk patron (Guy Kibbee) tells him to use a megaphone. Taylor does so -- and discovers that now the ladies think his voice is just swell. The manager (J. Carroll Naish) notices that the women are practically swooning over Teddy and offers him a contract. He becomes known as the S.A. [sex appeal] singer. But Teddy's girlfriend Judy (Ann Dvorak) importunes an agent friend who loves her, Peter (Ken Murray), to take Teddy on as a client. Before long Teddy is speaking in an affected voice, acting like he thinks he's the greatest thing since Caruso [in actuality he's not a very good singer] and believing his own publicity. The funniest scene has the ass trying to sing opera! But anyone who gets this swell-headed is bound to take a fall ... This is a fast-paced, amusing comedy with excellent performances from everyone in the cast; Dvorak is as lovely as ever. You're left with the feeling, however, that she winds up with the wrong guy at the end. Probably inspired by the career of Rudy Vallee, at least as far as the megaphone goes.

Verdict: There's no accounting for taste. **1/2.

VIOLENT SATURDAY

VIOLENT SATURDAY (1955). Director: Richard Fleischer. 

While a group of criminals gather in Bradenville to plan and commit a robbery, we are treated to vignettes about some of the townspeople. The problem with this caper movie is that it wants to be something else, a small town drama, with the robbery almost being incidental (it fact it takes place in only a couple of minutes). The soap opera gets in the way of the caper story, and the look at small town life -- a man (Richard Egan) with a philandering wife, a librarian (Sylvia Sidney) with debts, a mousy bank manager (Tommy Noonan) who's sort of a peeping tom -- isn't all that interesting. There are so many actors hardly any of them really get a chance to shine. Victor Mature is the nominal hero; Stephen McNally is the head of the crooks; Ernest Borgnine is an Amish farmer [!]. J. Carrol Naish and Lee Marvin are as flavorful as ever as two members of the gang. Virginia Leith is a pretty nurse who arouses passions before becoming The Brain That Wouldn't Die. A much better Richard Fleischer film is Fantastic Voyage. 

Verdict: Not worth the time it takes to tell. **.

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944). Director: Erle C. Kenton.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man teamed the two title characters. This sequel (sixth in the Frankenstein series and third in the Wolf Man series) brings those two back and throws Dracula into the mix. Boris Karloff plays not the monster, but mad scientist Dr. Niemann, who escapes from jail with his hunchback servant, Daniel (J. Carroll Naish), eager to get revenge on the men who spoke out against him at his trial. Along the way the twosome encounter Lampini (George Zucco), a traveling showman who has acquired the bones of Dracula (John Carradine). In a relatively brief episode, Niemann inadvertently brings Dracula back to life (the vampire never meets the monster or the Wolf Man). Although the climax to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man took place in Visaria, the locale for that is conveniently switched to the village of Frankenstein, where Niemann and Daniel uncover Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney) and the monster. A romantic triangle develops between Daniel, Talbot and Ilonka, (Elena Verdugo), a cute little gypsy girl. Although Niemann hopes to revivify the monster, cure Talbot of his curse, and even give Daniel a hunky new body, the best laid plans ... The monster (Glenn Strange) doesn't really come to life until the final moments of the film. Nevertheless this is a fast-paced, dramatic, well-directed, generally well-acted, and highly entertaining monster fest. Karloff is fine, Chaney uneven, Carradine okay (if nothing special), but Naish pretty much steals the picture with his half evil/half pathetic portrait of Daniel. Ever-reliable Lionel Atwill is again on hand as Arnz. Followed by House of Dracula.

Verdict: Hang on for a fun ride! ***.

DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI

DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI (1937). Director: Robert Florey.

When her father is murdered and she herself is nearly killed by members of a gang who smuggle in illegal aliens (and sometimes just dump them out of a plane's cargo bay when the law gets too close), Lan Ying Lin (Anna May Wong) decides to go undercover as a dancer to track down the leader. Also on the villains' trail is agent Kim Lee (Philip Ahn); the two eventually team up due to the desperate circumstances they find themselves in. This interesting, if minor, suspense film is bolstered by fine acting, not only by the leads but by a very talented supporting cast: Anthony Quinn has a small role as a nasty pilot; Charles Bickford is a member of the smugglers who runs a seedy nightclub. Larry "Buster" Crabbe is perhaps more interesting than usual as a mustachioed, sneering brunet and J. Carrol Naish is as excellent as ever as his superior, Barden. Evelyn Brent makes an impression as a neurotic gal who's jealous of Bickford's attentions to Wong, and (Ms.) Cecil Cunningham all but steals the picture as Mary Hunt, who befriends Anna and her father but has some secrets of her own. Wong and Ahn make a good team, but further pictures detailing their adventures never materialized; too bad.

Verdict: Engaging thriller with some very good sequences. **1/2.

STRANGE CONFESSION

STRANGE CONFESSION (1945). Director: John Hoffman.

The fifth "Inner Sanctum" mystery has a good, absorbing storyline about a chemist, Jeff Carter (Lon Chaney Jr.) who is taken advantage of by his venal boss Roger Graham (J. Carroll Naish). Graham sends Jeff down to South America so he can move in on Carter's wife, Mary (Brenda Joyce). Greedy Graham also releases an anti-influenza formula, Zymurgine, to the public before Carter has a chance to perfect it, leading to tragic consequences and a gruesome revenge. Strange Confession holds the attention, but it just isn't horrific enough and doesn't quite work. Naish is excellent as the bad guy, Chaney is mediocre, and Joyce delivers a fairly weak performance as his wife. Milburn Stone and Lloyd Bridges also have small roles and are competent.

Verdict: Okay time passer **.

CALLING DR. DEATH

CALLING DR DEATH (1943). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

Universal studios' first "Inner Sanctum" mystery should have put paid to the series. Although it runs a little over an hour, it seems to be three hours long. Lon Chaney (Jr.) is a doctor whose wife (Ramsay Ames) is murdered. Chaney thinks he must have done it, but there are other suspects, including one of the wife's boyfriends, as well as his disabled wife. The solution is almost obvious from the start. J. Carroll Naish is fine as a policeman, and Patricia Morison does a nice turn as Chaney's nurse. Chaney is only adequate, however, and his whispered thoughts heard on the soundtrack can bring on somnambulance. Ramsay Ames' terrible performance as Stella, Chaney's worse half, pretty much explains why little more was heard of her, although she was in such films as The Mummy's Ghost and others in later years.

Verdict: Could help if you're having trouble getting to sleep. *

JUNGLE WOMAN

JUNGLE WOMAN (1944). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

Paula the Ape Woman is back! Apparently there was a spark of life left in her at the end of Captive Wild Woman, and the kindly Dr. Fletcher (J. Carrol Naish) was able to resuscitate her. The gorilla-girl sort of spontaneously turns back into the beautiful Acquanetta and, now human, becomes a patient in Fletcher's sanitarium. The story is told mostly in flashback during a session of coroner's court; there are also flashbacks taken from the first picture. For the first time ever, Paula opens her mouth and speaks -- excitedly -- when she spots Bob (Richard David), the boyfriend of Fletcher's daughter, Joan (Lois Collier). Sure enough, her hormones have kicked in gear again and she'll kill off anyone who gets between her and her chosen mate! Uh oh! Milburn Stone and Evelyn Ankers appear in the court scene, but have nothing to do with the new storyline. According to Stone's testimony, Cheela the gorilla was rumored to be a human being who had been turned into an ape via experiments, an intriguing notion (the opposite of what occurred in Captive Wild Woman) that isn't examined any further. Acquanetta effectively lopes around with a kind of gorilla's gait, and the other performances are competent; Naish is as wonderful as ever. A night time underwater attack on a canoe is well-handled, and the picture, while utterly illogical at times, has a certain amount of suspense. Followed by The Jungle Captive.

Verdict: Fun! Paula would want you to watch it. **1/2.

THE MONSTER MAKER

THE MONSTER MAKER (1944). PRC. Directed by Sam Newfield.

Odd but reasonably attention-holding thriller in which J. Carroll Naish plays Markov, a scientist whose experiments with acromegaly have macabre and chilling results. On the run with the pretty assistant Maxine (Tala Birell) who loves him unconditionally, he spots a beautiful woman (Wanda McKay) who greatly resembles his late daughter. In an event that borders a bit grossly on the incestuous [an aspect that the script doesn't really delve into and which the production code would probably never have allowed it to], Naish falls in love with the woman and wants to marry her. Her father, a famous pianist (Ralph Morgan), strenuously objects and Naish deliberately infects the man with fast-acting acromegaly, making him hideously deformed and almost insane, and of course, putting an end to his brilliant musical career. The make up is very good but the stock musical score adds nothing to the picture. Naish is as good as ever – it might be said the unpleasant movie wastes his talents – and Birell also plays the lovelorn, devoted, but jealous gal-pal to the hilt. Glenn Strange appears in the small role of a giant. This strangely disturbing little movie is no classic but it has its moments.

Verdict: Small-scale but interesting. **1/2.