THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

Warren William, Hayward, Joan Bennett, Hayward

THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939). Director: James Whale. Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas pere.

When it is discovered that the queen has given birth to two identical boys, it is decided one will have to be sent away to be raised by a foster father, D'Artagnan (Warren William), to avoid the in-fighting and sibling rivalry that would undoubtedly result. Alas, things don't work out as planned when the foppish and cruel Louis XIV (Louis Hayward) discovers that he has a twin in Philippe of Gascony (also Hayward), who. along with his "father," D'Artagnan, objects to the salt tax. D'Artagnan and his fellow musketeers are rounded up and put in prison, but it amuses Louis to seemingly allow Philippe the run of the palace (an unlikely development, considering). Philippe takes advantage of Louis' absence to free his father and musketeers and work other wiles. Eventually, however, Louis wises up and imprisons his brother, forcing him to wear an iron mask and hoping his growing beard will eventually suffocate him. But Louis is wrong in thinking that this is the end of his twin just as Philippe is wrong in underestimating his brother. The Man in the Iron Mask had been filmed both before and after this version -- Dumas' story has been filmed many times, in fact -- but this may be the best-known version. At times the verisimilitude of the film is about on the level of an Abbott and Costello feature, but whatever the picture's flaws, it boasts a remarkable lead performance from Louis Hayward [Midnight Intruder], who is superb as he successfully limns two distinct characterizations. There is also fine work from the ever-florid Warren William; from William Royle [Drums of Fu Manchu] as the Commandant of the Bastille; and especially from the marvelous Joseph Schildkraut [Cleopatra] as the utterly loathsome Fouquet, a former tutor who "advises" his majesty. Joan Bennett is a little out-classed in this (not to mention Marion Martin as Louis' French mistress!), as costume dramas were not her forte. There's a very good score by Lucien Moraweck. Albert Dekker, Dwight Frye, and Peter Cushing (in his film debut) are also in the picture, but don't blink or you might miss them!

Verdict: A superb lead performance -- or rather two of them -- is the chief distinction of the picture. **1/2.

FOR HEAVEN 'S SAKE

Edmund Gwenn and Clifton Webb

FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE (1950). Director: George Seaton.

"Successful angels do not use sarcasm."

Charles (Clifton Webb) and Arthur (Edmund Gwenn) are angels sent down from heaven to oversee the birth of two little angels (Gigi Perreau; Tommy Rettig) whose parents seem reluctant to bring children into the world. Charles sees actress Lydia Bolton (Joan Bennett) and her husband, Jeff (Bob Cummings) as selfish, irresponsible people when they are simply talented artists who quite sensibly don't want to have children. But snippy Charles, to the horror of prissy Arthur, decides to help things along by becoming human for a time and interfering with the lives of the Boltons. Inspired by a Gary Cooper movie, Charles takes on the persona of wealthy rancher "Slim" Charles, but will the allures of earthly passions prevent him from completing his assignment ..? For Heaven's Sake is bolstered by a good cast, with Webb and Cummings especially helping to put this weird material over. Jack La Rue [The Story of Temple Drake] also makes his mark as a tough guy actor who is not as hard as he thinks, and the dour Charles Lane [The Invisible Woman] is well-cast as an IRS man who wonders why "Slim" doesn't pay any taxes. Perreau and Rettig are suitably adorable. Harry von Zell [The Saxon Charm] and Joan Blondell make shorter appearances. Bennett was very effective in both slinky and maternal roles; in this she's sort of caught in the middle. It's interesting that the little girl is determined to be born to such wealthy parents, although nothing is ever made of this.

Verdict: Charming in spite of itself. **1/2.

SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR ...

Barbara O'Neil, Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave

SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR ... (1947). Director: Fritz Lang.

Celia (Joan Bennett) meets an attractive stranger, architect Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave), on a vacation, blows off her fiance, marries Mark, and goes home to his mansion where his friendly sister, Caroline (Anne Revere), strange son David (Mark Dennis) and even stranger secretary, Miss Robey (Barbara O'Neil), are waiting. Wouldn't you know that Mark is haunted by something, perhaps the death of his first wife, and has a rather odd hobby. In his house he has recreated rooms where infamous murders took place, and there is one room which is absolutely verboten for anybody to enter. Naturally Celia can't wait to see what's inside. As Mark puts it "under certain conditions a room can influence or even create the actions of the people within it." Well ... maybe. This oddball Gothic movie sounds good, but is tedious and full of pseudo-psychological hogwash, although the bit with the murder rooms is interesting, and the performances are reasonably good for this type of claptrap. Natalie Schafer [Female on the Beach] adds some zest, as she usually does, as a flamboyant friend of Celia's. Redgrave does the best he can with the material but seems uncomfortable throughout. Young Dennis makes an interesting David. The ending is unintentionally hilarious. Not one of Lang's more memorable movies. O'Neil was seen in better advantage in Stella Dallas and All This and Heaven, Too.

Verdict: Too tricky and silly by far. *1/2.

THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD

Joan Bennett and Claude Rains

THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD (1934). Director: Edward Ludwig.

"She mustn't be shy. I don't want her to be. I was shy. It's been my curse."

Paul Verin (Claude Rains) is wary of going into partnership with publisher Henry Dumont (Lionel Atwill) because he was burned by him once before, but he has a wife (Joan Bennett) and daughter who will need a higher standard of living. So Verin agrees to ghost-write Dumont's editorials, making the latter beloved and famous. Unfortunately, while Verin is a war-hater, Dumont is secretly working with munition manufacturers [and trying to woo Verin's wife] and stirring up war fervor in order to make a profit. To this end he begins replacing Verin's words with his own ... Things ultimately all come to a "head." Despite the gruesome finale this is not a horror film but an interesting drama. Atwill and Bennett are wonderful and Rains is superb. We can tell Dumont is a miserable character because he has the appalling taste of coming on to Bennett during the beautiful Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde! Badly remade as Strange Confession with Lon Chaney Jr. in 1945.

Verdict:  Another great Rains performance. ***.

THE RECKLESS MOMENT

THE RECKLESS MOMENT (1949). Director: Max Ophuls.

Lucia Harper (Joan Bennett) tries to cover up her daughter Bea's (Geraldine Brooks) part in an older man's death, and winds up blackmailed by Martin Donnelly (James Mason), who has a collection of the girl's love letters and doesn't believe Lucia's fiction that she did the dirty deed herself [a really unbelievable moment]. This tedious mess could have been an absorbing film but director Ophuls seems completely uninspired by a poor script that even tries to contrive an unconvincing "romance" between Lucia, who is happily married, and her tormentor. Bennett isn't bad in the picture but she has absolutely no chemistry with Mason, who merely seems bored to distraction by the entire project. The movie goes nowhere slowly.

Verdict: Tedious picture is one of Mason's worst. *1/2.

COLONEL EFFINGHAM'S RAID

COLONEL EFFINGHAM'S RAID (1946). Director: Irving Pichel.

Okay, you'd think that any film with Charles Coburn, Joan Bennett, Donald Meek, Elizabeth Patterson, Allyn Joslyn and Frank Craven (of In This Our Life fame) in it couldn't be all bad, but there's little to recommend in this dull little alleged "comedy" that grossly wastes the talents of all concerned. Coburn is a retired Army colonel in a small town on the eve of U.S. entry into WWII who stirs people up via his column in the local newspaper, where Bennett and William Eythe also work. A particular sore subject is that the town's politicos want to tear down the stately old courthouse. The film makes the point that everyone -- big and small, young and old -- has the right to speak out on issues of importance to them, but it makes this point in the most boring way possible. The 70 minute running time seems like two and a half hours, and the film has not a single laugh. Joan Bennett spiritedly plays a rather likable and independent-minded young lady.

Verdict: Pretty much a total stinker. That cast deserves much better. *.

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (1944) Director: Fritz Lang. NOTE: This review goes into important plot details.

Edward G. Robinson is a married-with-children, middle-aged professor who becomes acquainted with the beautiful model (Joan Bennett) for a painting that he sees in the window of a gallery. At her apartment, he is assaulted by another middle-aged man who has been seeing Bennett, and has to kill him in self-defense in order to keep from being strangled. Fearing publicity and ruination, and sure that no one will believe the truth, Robinson and Bennett try to cover up the crime, with the former dumping the dead man in the woods. Ironically, a friend of Robinson’s winds up investigating the murder, and in an intriguing sequence the "killer" accompanies him to the spot where the body was found. Then a blackmailer (Dan Duryea) shows up and our twosome decide the only way to deal with him is to kill him, perfectly willing to commit murder to cover up an act of self-defense! Woman in the Window holds your attention – Robinson is quite good except for some perfunctory moments – but the movie is strangely flat, uninvolving, and routinely directed by Fritz Lang, who -- despite his reputation in the suspense field -- was never in the league of Hitchcock; Hitch would have milked this for all it was worth. Probably the best scene has Bennett doing a roundelay with the slimy if likable Duryea, who won’t quite drink that glass of poison she’s given him. The "twist" ending is a real groaner. Not a terrible movie, but a terrible disappointment to be sure. The twist pretty much does away with the need to examine the moral implications of the story.

Verdict: Watch it but I warn you you'll groan at the end. **.