A DISTANT TRUMPET

Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue

A DISTANT TRUMPET (1964). Director: Raoul Walsh.

"Burning while Rome fiddles?"

Lt. Matt Hazard (Troy Donahue) is sent from the graduating class at West Point to Fort Delivery in Arizona. Doing things by the book, he whips the soldiers into shape -- to their dissatisfaction. When a merchant, Seely Jones (Claude Akins), offering booze and women to the troops, shows up, Hazard contrives to get rid of him. Although he has a fiancee, Laura (Diane McBain), back east -- who eventually appears -- Hazard is romantically drawn to Kitty (Suzanne Pleshette), who is married to Captain Mainwaring (William Reynolds). In addition to a love triangle and resentful soldiers, Hazard has to deal with Indian troubles in the person of Chief War Eagle (uncredited) -- and the U.S. Army itself, which may go back on its promises to Native Americans.

When Ladies Meet: Pleshette with McBain

A Distant Trumpet, the last film for director Raoul Walsh, was excoriated by critics when it was released, and star Troy Donahue along with it. In truth, the picture, although certainly not a forgotten classic, is not terrible and neither is Donahue. Although still a bit stiff in quieter scenes, Donahue plays the lieutenant in an authoritative fashion and has a commanding presence. The two ladies give good performances if only on a soap opera level; McBain is stronger than expected, and Pleshette not as good as one might have hoped. (She was married to Donahue for a grand total of nine months!) All of the leads are a bit too contemporary in style. William Reynolds is good as Mainwaring but he disappears too quickly.

Donahue with James Gregory

Others in the cast are more memorable: Although a trifle too pompous at times, James Gregory scores as General Quaint, who goes to bat for Hazard when he confronts the Secretary of War (Kent Smith) over the treatment of the Indians. Claude Akins is flavorful as the ever-scheming Jones. Larry Ward is effective as the undisciplined Sgt. Krogur, as is Bobby Bare as the alleged deserter Crenshaw. Lane Bradford makes an impression as the nasty Indian-hating Major Miller, who gets a sock in the jaw from Hazard for his trouble. 

Hazard at West Point

A Distant Trumpet can be classified as one of those movies that is good enough that you wish it had been better. Walsh turns in an adept directorial job that keeps things moving and Max Steiner's score, especially the martial theme, is excellent, embellishing every sequence. William H. Clothier contributed the sweeping Panavision cinematography. But A Distant Trumpet is still unsatisfying, probably due to the weaknesses of the script, some unlikable characters (although Hazard is a bit redeemed at the end), and the lack of a dramatic climax. 

Verdict: Reasonably entertaining Western that looks good and has some interesting sequences. **3/4. 

THE SCARLET HOUR

Thomas Tryon and Carol Ohmart

THE SCARLET HOUR (1956). Produced and directed by Michael Curtiz.

"If I were dead, you don't take me to the morgue."

E. V. "Marsh" Marshall (Thomas Tryon) works for real estate developer Ralph Nevins (James Gregory) and is having an affair with Nevins' sexy wife, Pauline (Carol Ohmart). The lovers overhear a plot to rob a mansion while the owners are out of town, and Pauline cooks up a scheme to steal the booty from the robbers so she and Marsh can run away together. After an initial wariness, Marsh consents to the plan, but there are all sorts of complications and developments the night this double-cross is to take place, and someone winds up dying ... The Scarlet Hour is by no means on the level of such superior Curtiz films as, say, Mildred Pierce, but it is a snappy and absorbing crime drama whose interesting twists and turns keep you watching even as you wish there was some more character development and a better script.

This was the first movie for both Tryon and Ohmart, who were "introduced" in this picture, and they deliver, especially Ohmart. Ohmart [Caxambu!] was quite talented and distinctive with her sexy, breathy voice but she never quite ascended from B movie cult status. Tryon {The Unholy Wife] later became a very successful author [Crowned Heads]. Gregory is fine as the husband, and there's good work from Elaine Stritch [Monster-in-Law] as Pauline's pal,  Phyllis; Jody Lawrence as Kathy, Nevins' secretary, who has a crush on Marsh; and especially David Lewis as the owner of the robbed mansion, who turns out to be one of the most interesting characters in the movie. A sequence involving some incriminating evidence on an audio tape could have been handled with much more suspense. A strangely amusing scene has Marsh encountering a cop played by E. G.Marshall, and telling the cop "I am E. V. Marshall." Nat King Cole sings "Never Let Me Go" in a nightclub sequence. This cries out for a much better score than the one offered by Leith Stevens. Marsh's sanctimonious tone towards Pauline is hypocritical to say the least, but movies like this tend to let the man off the hook and put most of the blame on the woman.

Verdict: "A" director Curtiz helms a "B" movie but it mostly works. ***.

THE BIG CAPER

THE BIG CAPER (1957). Director: Robert Stevens.

Frank Harper (Rory Calhoun of Night of the Lepus) is the original instigator of a plot to rob a bank that holds a huge Army payroll. Among Harper's confederates are nervous Zimmer (Robert H. Harris of Mirage), pretty Kay (Mary Costa), Harry (Paul Picerni), big operator Flood (James Gregory of Nightfall), and sexually ambiguous Roy (Corey Allen), who wiggles his ass in front of Kay but is also gleefully whipped by Flood in one weird sequence. Harper has second thoughts about the whole business when he learns that part of the scheme includes blowing up a school ... The kinky characters are what distinguishes this otherwise standard caper movie, which has some good performances, especially from Gregory, Harris and Allen. Roxanne Arlen plays a woman who has the misfortune of getting in with the gang.  Robert Stevens also directed In the Cool of the Day and many television shows.

Verdict: Okay caper film with some zesty scenes and acting. **1/2.

NIGHTFALL

Brian Keith and Aldo Ray

NIGHTFALL (1957). Director: Jacques Tourneur.

James Vanning (Aldo Ray) and his friend Doc (Frank Albertson of Man-Made Monster) are on a hunting trip when they come to the aid of two men -- John (Brian Keith of The Parent Trap) and Red (Rudy Bond) -- who, unbeknownst to them, have robbed a bank. The ingrates murder doc and try to kill Vanning, who takes off with them in pursuit. The crooks take the wrong bag and assume that Vanning has the bag with the money in it. While on the run, Vanning meets a model named Marie (Anne Bancroft of Gorilla at Large) in a bar and she becomes embroiled in his problems. James Gregory plays an insurance man who is also following Vanning, albeit with less sinister intent. Although well-acted for the most part, and well-photographed by Burnett Guffey, Nightfall is a fairly weak entry in the film noir department, only really coming alive at the climax when thieves fall out and there's a sequence involving a runaway snow plow. Bancroft is good, if miscast as a model, and Ray pretty much walks through the movie, barely getting by on a little bit of charm and showing little emotion. Given a lead role, he pretty much muffs it. He kept acting right up until his death in 1991, however.

Verdict: Not much to this cheapie. **.