LADY IN THE LAKE

Audry Totter and Robert Montgomery's reflection

LADY IN THE LAKE (1946). Director: Robert Montgomery.

Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) submits a short mystery story based on truth to a pulp magazine and is invited in to meet the editor, a woman named Adrienne (Audrey Totter). She is more interested in hiring Marlowe to look for her boss, Derace Kingsby's (Leon Ames), wife, who has supposedly run off with a man named Chris (Dick Simmons of Man with the Steel Whip). This leads into a series of murders and a kind of strange affair between Marlowe and Adrienne, whom the private eye doesn't quite trust. Then he starts tripping over bodies ...

Man in the mirror: Marlowe gets first aid

Lady in the Lake is one of six films directed by star Montgomery, who decided to shoot this as an ill-advised stunt. Except for three brief sequences in which he addresses the camera to move the plot along, Marlowe/Montgomery is only seen in mirrors. While the plot and acting is interesting enough to keep the viewer entertained for most of the film's length, the gimmick gets a little tiresome and one longs for a more traditional approach. Another problem is that Montgomery is miscast as Marlowe (the detective's first name is misspelled as "Phillip"); he's as gruff and obnoxious as the script requires but he doesn't make a convincing Marlowe.

Audrey Totter and Leon Ames

On the other hand, Audrey Totter steals the picture as Adrienne, giving a fascinating and multi-leveled performance, a snarling bitch one minute, a cloying child the next, belting out orders and disdain in equal measure with one hand, and purring kittenishly with the other. She lacks the raw sex appeal of, say, Veronica Lake, but she's extremely effective nevertheless. Leon Ames, Tom Tully [A Kiss for Corliss] as a police captain, and especially Lloyd Nolan [Sergeant Ryker] as a vicious cop are all terrific. Jayne Meadows also has some fine moments, although she isn't always completely convincing in her portrayal. Dick Simmons makes a positive impression as the oddly likable gigolo, Chris.

One has to pay careful attention while watching this picture, because at the end you still may not be certain who did what to whom and why. Raymond Chandler's source novel undoubtedly spelled it out in more detail. In any case, the movie is suspenseful, and there's at least one creepy scene when Marlowe searches inside a bathroom.

Verdict: Watch for Totter if nothing else. **3/4. 

THE FAT MAN

Julie London and Rock Hudson

THE FAT MAN  (1951). Director: William Castle.

A dentist named Bromley (Ken Niles of Out of the Past) is knocked unconscious and thrown out of an 18th story window. His secretary, Jane (Jayne Meadows), comes to the corpulent private investigator, Brad Runyan (J. Scott Smart), for help in proving that the dentist's death was murder and not an accident. Suspects include mob boss Gordon (John Russell of Hell Bound); his shady chauffeur, Anthony (Anthony George of Checkmate); a patient named Roy (Rock Hudson) who disappeared after being fitted for a dental plate; Roy's worried wife, Pat (Julie London); and Roy's ex-cell mate, Ed Deets (Emmett Kelly). The large and interesting cast also includes Jerome Cowan as a police lieutenant and Tristram Coffin as a Missing Persons Officer.  The Fat Man is an entertaining, if cold-blooded movie -- hardly anyone registers dismay over the death of the poor dentist, and the Fat Man doesn't seem much bothered by the murder of his client -- but director William Castle keeps things moving at a snappy pace. In this early role for Rock Hudson, it's clear that he had the ability and presence to emerge a major movie star, as he did. Based on a long-running radio series, the character of The Fat Man was created by Dashiell Hammett. This was Brad Runyan's one and only screen appearance. Although J. Scott Smart gives a competent performance as Runyan, it's easy to see why the character never caught on with the public, as he's just not that likable. Julie London makes a positive impression as Pat, although Clinton Sundberg, playing Runyan's major domo, has been seen to better advantage elsewhere. The Fat Man is a bit similar to another fictional detective, Nero Wolfe. Playing a most unusual role considering his usual profession as a clown, Emmett Kelly proves a splendid actor and walks off with the movie. Even the bit parts in this are well-cast.

Verdict:  Absorbing enough mystery. ***. 

DAVID AND BATHSHEBA

Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward

DAVID AND BATHSHEBA (1951). Director: Henry King.

King David (Gregory Peck) of Bethlehem is married to Michal (Jayne Meadows) but spots Bathsheba (Susan Hayward) taking a shower on a rooftop across the way. As Bathsheba hoped, David spies her and asks her over, where the two reveal an immediate attraction to one another. But what to do about Uriah, the Hittite (Kieron Moore), a soldier who happens to be married to Bathsheba? It seems David will do just about anything to keep his lover from being stoned to death as an adulteress ... Gregory Peck is not bad as David, but this is an actor who has always had trouble summoning up any kind of passion, even in his scenes with Hayward; he projects strength and nobility but little else. Hayward is more effective as Bathsheba, as is Moore [Satellite in the Sky] as the unwitting Uriah. Meadows [ Enchantment] is oddly cast but okay enough as the jealous, cast-off wife. Raymond Massey [Possessed] is fine as the pious prophet, Nathan, and young Gilbert Barnett makes an impression as David's sinister son, Absolom. James Robertson Justice looks and acts as if he wandered into the movie by mistake; George Zucco makes a better impression as an Egyptian messenger from Pharaoh. The best scene in David and Bathsheba is a flashback which details the well-staged battle between a young David and the hulking Goliath. The contributions of Leon Shamroy (cinematography) and Alfred Newman (score) are also of note. Peck first refers to his lover as Bathsheba than starts calling her Bathsheba; the other characters can't seem to make up their minds as to which pronunciation is correct!

Verdict: A biblical soap opera. **1/2.

ENCHANTMENT

David Niven and Evelyn Keyes

ENCHANTMENT (1948). Director: Irving Reis.

During the London blitz an elderly man, Rollo (David Niven of The Pink Panther) thinks back on his life after he meets his niece, Grizel (Evelyn Keyes), who is an ambulance driver. Flashbacks tell the story of how Lark (Teresa Wright) came to his house in childhood after her parents were killed in an accident. A grown-up Rollo and Lark fall in love, but there is interference from Rollo's jealous sister, Selina (Jayne Meadows). Rollo tries to convince Grizel not to turn away from love with a soldier, Pax (Farley Granger), just because she was once hurt, sparing her his fate. I wanted to like Enchantment but somehow this romantic movie just doesn't work for me for several reasons. The going back and forth from the past to WW2 becomes tiresome, the characters never seem that dimensional, and Lark's actions and subsequent fate are slightly mystifying. The acting isn't bad, although Jayne Meadows plays her character like an all-too-obvious villainess. Gigi Perreau (introduced in this picture, although she'd appeared in several earlier films) and Peter Miles [Possessed] are excellent as Lark and Rollo as children. Miles was Perreau's brother and was also in The Red Pony and The Betty Hutton Show. Sherlee Collier is also good as Selina as a child; she died at only 35.

Verdict: Star-crossed but unconvincing love story. **.