CONFIDENTIAL REPORT/ MR. ARKADIN

Orson Welles and Robert Arden 

MR. ARKADIN (aka Confidential Report/1955). Written and directed by Orson Welles.

"You imagine it's pleasant to be ashamed of something you can't remember?" -- Arkadin.

A dying murdered man named Bracco (Gregoire Aslan) tells Guy Van Stratten (Robert Arden) and his girlfriend, Mily (Patricia Medina), that he can make a lot of money by looking into a mysterious millionaire named Gregory Arkadin (Orson Welles). As Mily tries to ingratiate herself into Arkadin's social set so that she can get to know him, Guy makes the acquaintance of -- and falls for -- Arkadin's daughter, Raina (Paola Mori). Just when he's expecting Arkadin -- " a cipher of an age of dissolution and crises," as one man puts it -- to buy him off to keep him away from his daughter, Guy is surprised to discover that Arkadin wants to pay him to investigate his past origins, which he says have been lost due to amnesia. But as Guy runs around Europe interviewing people who once knew or were somehow involved with Arkadin, these same individuals start dying ... Mr Arkadin was never properly finished by Welles, so it's impossible to tell what might have emerged had he not been locked out of the editing room. What finally came out is not a great movie, but it is an interesting one featuring some excellent performances. As the Machiavellian Arkadin, Welles is effective and sinister, although he doesn't quite exude a strong sense of menace, this despite the fact that the photography (Jean Bourgoin) often makes him appear to be a giant. Robert Arden's work in the film was criticized at the time of the film's release, but I think he gives a very good and convincing performance as an essentially decent man who is horrified by what is happening around him and fears for his own life as well. Paola Mori, who married Welles the same year the film came out, is fine, although her voice was entirely dubbed by British actress Billie Whitelaw. Small roles are essayed by everyone from Peter van Eyck to Mischa Auer (who runs a flea circus and is dubbed by Welles), but the stand-out character roles are played by Katina Paxinou [Uncle Silas] as Arkadin's shady ex-lover, Sophie; Suzanne Flon as the equally shady Baroness Nagel; Michael Redgrave [The Browning Version] in a bizarre, nearly unrecognizable turn as shop owner Burgomil Trebitsch; and especially Akim Tamiroff [After the Fox] as Jakob Zouk, who has been marked for death but only wants Guy to bring him a goose liver dinner as if it were his last meal. The film has more than its share of humor, both in the character of Zouk, and an odd scene between Arkadin and Mily on the former's boat as the latter gets increasingly drunk, the see-sawing photography mirroring both the motion of the water as well as the unsteadiness of her inebriation. The under-rated Patricia Medina also scores (in an under-written role) as the ill-fated Mily. There is a lot of obvious over-dubbing in the film because Welles rewrote the script even after some scenes had been shot, and one scene when Guy and Raina are talking about her father is abruptly cut off in mid-sentence.

Verdict: Unconventionally handsome Arden makes a compelling lead and there are some other excellent performances in this unusual if imperfect film of intrigue. ***. 

THE BROWNING VERSION (1951)

Brian Smith and Michael Redgrave

THE BROWNING VERSION (1951). Director: Anthony Asquith. Screenplay by Terence Rattigan, based on his stage play.

Andrew Crocker-Harris (Michael Redgrave), a teacher at a boy's school, is having a pretty lousy day. Ill health has necessitated his going to another school with less strenuous duties, but he may not be given a pension. His bitter wife, Millie (Jean Kent), is having an affair with another teacher, Frank (Nigel Patrick). And Andrew is beginning to realize that his attitude towards his students, brought about by his disappointment in life, marriage and career achievements, has turned him into a stuffy, rather unpleasant fellow whose students call "Himmler." Yet there is a young boy named Taplow (Brian Smith) whose compassion for the older man might be his saving grace ... The Browning Film is a rare gem, one of those beautiful movies that gives you hardly anything to quibble about. Although Michael Redgrave [Dead of Night] at first seems to be bordering on caricature, channeling Richard Haydn, he actually gives a wonderful and touching performance. The second best performance is from young Brian Smith, who essays a kindly, decent fellow who is wise beyond his years. Years ago Andrew began a new translation of Agamemnon and Taplow gives him a copy of "The Browning Version," translated by Robert Browning. Patrick and Kent [The Prince and the Showgirl] are also quite good as the dissatisfied lovers, with Frank ultimately ashamed of his actions, and neglected Millie unable to cope with the fact that her husband wanted companionship and she wanted much more. There's also nice work from Ronald Howard [Black Orchid] as Gilbert, who will take over Andrew's teaching duties, and Wilfrid Hyde-White as the headmaster. All aspects of the production are superior. Young Brian Smith, who was 19 but looked much younger, amassed sixty credits after completing this picture. Remade with Albert Finney in 1994.

Verdict: Beautiful and moving classic movie. ****.

GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1969)

     

Petula Clark wonders what she ever saw in Mr. Chips?

 GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1969). Director:    Herbert Ross. Screenplay by Terence      Rattigan.

 "Yesterday I was their age. Tomorrow they'll    be my age. Sooner, much sooner, than they  know."

  This version of the classic film Goodbye, Mr.    Chips adds technicolor, panavision, music and lyrics, as well as a half hour to the running time, and it still can't compare to the original. Although he gives it -- pardon me -- the old college try,  Peter O'Toole is gravely miscast as Mr. Chipping. His performance has some good moments, but by and large he fails to make Mr. Chips anything more than an old fuddy duddy that would hardly endear himself to students, women, or anyone else. In the original, Robert Donat was a fuddy duddy, yes, but he imbued the character with warmth, charm, and humanity, things O'Toole completely lacks. Surprisingly, Petula Clark, better known as the pop singer of "Downtown" and other hits but who also had an acting career, gives a sharp and confident and believable performance as Chips' wife, the colorful entertainer, Katherine. In the original film, Chips' wife, played by Greer Garson, was another more or less genteel soul (although more outgoing than her husband) so her union with Chips never seemed implausible. But in this remake, one can't ever imagine the free-spirited Katherine seriously hooking up with the dense, stuffy and altogether unpleasant school teacher, Chips. If the on-camera relationship works, it's strictly because of Clark. The only scene in this movie that ever comes close to having the quality of the original version is when Chips is in the classroom when he discovers his wife has died -- not in childbirth as in the first movie, but blown up by a German bomb. Otherwise, this movie is not very moving (not even the aforementioned scene, frankly) and seems to do everything it can to avoid even honest sentiment. Except for one incident, WW1 is glossed over as if it hardly happened and Mrs. Chips might just as well have been killed in a car accident. The songs, with both music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, (John Williams also contributed to the score), are hit or miss. There's a lovely boys chorus early in the picture, and an excellent "London is London" production number when Katherine appears in a stage musical before meeting Chips, some mildly pretty ditties, but with few exceptions the lyrics are trite and cliche-ridden. Petula Clark has a perfectly good voice, but O'Toole should have been strongly importuned to have his singing dubbed -- he is, in a word, awful. Herbert Ross' [The Last of Sheila] direction is fairly leaden and it is an effort to even sit through this all the way to the conclusion. Michael Redgrave is okay but nearly invisible as the headmaster; Sian Phillips [Becket] scores as Katherine's friend, the pixilated Ursula Mossbank; as does Michael Bryant [The Ruling Class] as fellow teacher, Max; and there is some very nice work from the boys, especially Michael Culver, Tom Owen, and John Gugolka.

Verdict: Pretty bad remake that seems to get worse the longer it goes on. **.

THE HORROR! THE HORROR!

Michael Redgrave in Dead of Night

THE HORROR! THE HORROR! 

This week we've got a round-up of horror anthologies, which have been around for quite some time. Dead of Night is one of the earliest, and we have anthologies from the sixties (Dr. Terror's House of Horrors); seventies (The House that Dripped Blood); and eighties (From a Whisper to a Scream); and others.

If you like horror anthologies, several have already been reviewed on Great Old Movies, including Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Asylum, Tales that Witness Madness, Trilogy of Terror and the telefilm Dead of Night, which bears no relation to the Michael Redgrave film.

Enjoy!

DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)

Michael Redgrave

DEAD OF NIGHT (1945). Directors: (Alberto) Cavalcanti; Charles Crichton; Basil Dearden; Robert Hamer.

Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns of Edward, My Son) comes to a house to see about a possible restoration, and encounters a group of people that he has seen in a dream. He wants to leave, because in his nightmare things end very badly, but some of the guests tell of their own peculiar experiences. Grainger (Anthony Baird), a racer who nearly died, has a vision of a hearse that warns him of disaster; a young girl, Sally (Sally Ann Howes) discovers the ghost of a little boy (uncredited) during an party in an old house; Peter Cortland (Ralph Michael) is given an antique mirror whose original owner comes to possess him; a triangle over a woman, Mary (Peggy Bryan) and two golf enthusiasts leads to comical, supernatural complications; and Dr. Van Straaten (Frederick Valk of Bad Blonde) relates the tale of a ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave), who is convinced that his dummy, Hugo, is alive and wants a new partner. The best tale by far is the last of the five, and it boasts an intriguing script and a superb performance from Redgrave, whose despair is palpable. The mirror story isn't bad, but the other two aren't that well developed. The fourth story about the golf enthusiasts is pretty stupid and not especially amusing. Georges Auric [Caesar and Cleopatra] has contributed an interesting score. In addition to the ventriloquist story, the most memorable sequence details poor Walter's exacting and delirious nightmare.

Verdict: Redgrave and the dummy make the movie. *** out of 4.

THE HOUSE OF REDGRAVE: THE LIVES OF A THEATRICAL DYNASTY

THE HOUSE OF REDGRAVE: The Lives of a Theatrical Dynasty. Tim Adler. London: Aurum Press; 2012.

Despite the title, this book is essentially a biography of the late Tony Richardson, the British film director who was married to Vanessa Redgrave and was the father of the late Natasha Richardson, who died when she was married to actor Liam Neeson (The Other Man). Apparently the book's publisher thought that Richardson's name wouldn't sell a book, so this was re-imagined as a book on all of the Redgraves, which it isn't, even though there are sections on Vanesssa, her brother Colin, and her daughters late in the book; most of the text covers the life and career of Tony Richardson (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner; Tom Jones), who brought a stark reality to British theater and cinema that had been missing before. Adler looks at the nutty brother and sister duo of Vanessa and Colin (the latter of whom is largely unknown in the U.S.), both of whom devoted more attention to radical politics than to their own children. Lynn Redgrave, despite a highly successful career, gets short shrift except for passages on her discovering that her husband was the actual father of her grandchild and the resulting scandal, and her death from cancer. Richardson is portrayed as a gifted narcissist who could be both generous and loved, nasty and hated, and was decidedly confused and uptight about his sexuality. Adler doesn't seem that comfortable or up-to-date when writing about Redgrave's and Tony Richardson's homosexuality, and some passages might be considered borderline homophobic and decidedly dated. However, the book is a good read and generally well-done if you're looking for a tome on Richardson and his circle. For a book that's actually about Michael Redgrave and his family, see Donald Spoto's The Redgraves: A Family Epic.

Verdict: Quick and entertaining read, albeit flawed. ***.

THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE

Charlton Heston explores the wreck

THE WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE (1959). Director: Michael Anderson.

John Sands (Charlton Heston) of the salvage vessel Sea Witch comes across what he thinks is a derelict ship, the Mary Deare, in the middle of the ocean. There is one person aboard, however, Captain Gideon Patch (Gary Cooper), who insists that he did not give the order to abandon ship. There is also a corpse in the hold that Patch tries to cover up. Exactly what happened on the ship and why it happened unfolds in a courtroom sequence and in the finale back on the ship as the hold is explored for a certain cargo ... Mary Deare is a fast-paced suspense film that features good performances from Heston and Cooper, as well as Virginia McKenna [The Chosen] as the daughter of the original captain who died at sea; Ben Wright as Sands' partner in the salvage operation; Richard Harris as the eternally smirking sailor, Higgins; Michael Redgrave as a lawyer in the court of inquiry; and others. The ending is a touch dragged out, perhaps, but this is an absorbing and well-acted movie.

Verdict: Worth a look. ***.

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 REDGRAVES: A FAMILY EPIC Donald Spoto

THE REDGRAVES: A Family Epic. Donald Spoto. Crown; 2012.

This is a solid and highly interesting -- and rather depressing -- look at a famous theatrical family. The first -- and most compelling -- half of the book looks at patriarch Michael Redgrave, who fathered three children but whose main passion was for men, and had boyfriends all during his marriage, some of whom could be considered long-time partners. The second half of the book looks more closely at the lives and careers of Redgrave's daughters Vanessa and Lynn, and son, Corin, all of whom became actors. Redgrave's wife, actress Rachel Kempson, eventually took a lover of her own, but he was also attracted to men, and Vanessa's husband, director Tony Richardson, was also homosexual [these men were "bisexual" in the sense they also had relationships with women, if for no other reason than appearances, but their main interest was men]. All of this old-fashioned shame and guilt from closet cases gets wearying after awhile, even if the time period was pre-Stonewall [the advent of modern day Gay Liberation]. The Redgraves does not ignore the careers and achievements of these individuals, however, and also looks into the lives of Nastasha Richardson [Tony and Vanesssa's daughter, who died tragically young] and Jemma Redgrave, another very talented actress. Spoto weaves an excellent tapestry of changing attitudes toward both actors and gays, with a theatrical and film world background providing added atmosphere.

Verdict: Well-done and a very good read. ***1/2.