ROPE OF SAND

Burt Lancaster and Peter Lorre

ROPE OF SAND (1949). Director: William Dieterle. Colorized. 

Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) is an African guide whose charge, Ingram (Hayden Rourke), goes off into forbidden diamond territory while he's sleeping. When Davis finds him, Ingram is near-death, clutching a load of diamonds. Davis leaves the diamonds and tries to get Ingram out of the desert. When police guards, led by Commandant Paul Vogel (Paul Henreid), come upon the pair, Ingram is dead and Davis is tortured, but refuses to tell where the diamonds are located. Two years later Davis is back in the territory, where diamond mogul Martingale (Claude Rains), who pretends to like Vogel but secretly despises him, decides to use a beautiful refuge, Suzanne (Corinne Calvet of Flight to Tangier), to get the location of the diamonds from Davis. A battle of wills ensues between Davis and Vogel as they fight it out for both diamonds and lady, with Martingale manipulating everyone behind the scenes and Toady (Peter Lorre) hoping to score as well. Meanwhile, Davis has decided to go for the gems come hell or highwater ... 

Claude Rains and Corinne Calvet

Rope of Sand is a seriously flawed film, but it is entertaining and well-acted enough to prove a good watch. There seems to be so much missing of the characters' back stories that while you're watching it you think it must be based on a long novel, not all of which made it onto the screen, but this is not the case. This was supposed to be a follow-up to Casablanca with Bogart and Bergman in the Lancaster and Calvet roles, but producer Hal Wallis had to be satisfied with three of the supporting cast of that film. John Bromfield (of The Big Bluff) has a smaller role as one of Henreid's officers. Dieterle's direction is assured, the performances -- especially Rains' -- are uniformly good, there is outstanding cinematography from Charles Lang [Wild is the Wind]  and an exciting score by Franz Waxman, but you may find it hard to tell if there's more -- or less -- here than meets the eye. Lancaster and Henreid have a nifty fist fight at one point. 

Verdict: Certainly it's not boring. ***.  

GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1939)

Mr. Chipping (Robert Donat) and one of his charges

GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1939). Director: Sam Wood.

Mr. Chipping (Robert Donat), affectionately known as "Chips," becomes teacher at a boys' school and after a few missteps with the unruly youngsters wins them over and becomes a beloved figure. At 83 and retired, he looks back over his life: his first awkward days at the school; meeting his beautiful wife, Katherine (Greer Garson), while on holiday; being turned down for headmaster; his own family tragedy; and his anguish at the deaths of so many of his students during WW1. Although Donat [The Winslow Boy] is a bit too caricatured as an man in his eighties, he gives a very good and sensitive performance, and is matched in quality by Garson [Madame Curie] as his loving and intelligent wife who helps guide him in his choices. There is such a talented bunch of young actors in this -- Terry Kilburn plays various generations of a boy named Colley (with John Mills as Colley as a young man) -- each of whom is a thorough professional. Billed as "Paul Von Hernried," Paul Henreid [Between Two Worlds] is also fine as the German teacher who befriends Chips and helps bring him out of his shell. This is also based on a novel by James Hilton, but I find it vastly superior to Lost Horizon. Although some aspects of the story may be a bit improbable (since when do little boys have such respect for elderly men?), this is a warmly sentimental and absorbing, well-made drama. One of the most moving scenes has Chips reading the names of many of the boys who have been killed in action. Goodbye, Mr. Chips won four academy awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, and Best Picture.

Verdict: Lovely old movie. ***1/2.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1962)

Glenn Ford and Ingrid Thulin with backdrop of Notre Dame

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1962). Director: Vincente Minelli.

This remake of the silent film of the same title has been updated to WW Two. Argentinian Madriaga (Lee J. Cobb) is dispatched with rather quickly, and most of the story takes place in Paris, where an initially superficial Julio Desnoyers (Glenn Ford) has an affair with the married Marguerite Laurier (Ingrid Thulin of The Silence). Julio's father Marcelo (Charles Boyer) had deserted Army service years before and begs his son to fight the Nazis, unaware that Julio has already joined the resistance. This leads to the movie turning into a ersatz spy picture that has Julio going off on a suicide mission and a final confrontation with his cousin Heinrich (Karl Boehm of Sissi). Other characters include Julio's sister Chi Chi (Yvette Mimieux of Light in the Piazza) who joins the resistance much sooner; Marguerite's husband, Etinne (Paul Henreid); and Heinrich's father, Karl (Paul Lukas). It's amazing that adding all the excitement and peril of WW Two, plus technicolor and CinemaScope, has not resulted in a better movie than the original, but a far worse one. A middle-aged Glenn Ford is horribly miscast -- Minelli wanted a more appropriate Alain Delon but MGM nixed it -- and his love affair with Marguerite never for a minute seems passionate or believable. Scenes that should crackle with tension and drama are frittered away by Minelli's lacklustre direction. Not a single actor ever gets a close up, further distancing us from the characters, and Andre Previn's musical score can best be described as insipid. Milton R. Krasner's cinematography is a plus, but the sweeping vistas do little to pull us into the story. Other changes from the silent version include more wartime interaction between the two families -- one French, the other German -- and Etienne is not blinded. A bizarre sequence has Marguerite telling her husband she's leaving him for Julio the exact instant after he shows up, shattered by being tortured, after months away -- what perfect timing! Badly written and poorly made despite all the technological advances, this is a colossal bore. Of the cast, only Charles Boyer makes much of an impression. Like the silent version, this also has shots of phantom horsemen floating through the skies, and this time it seems even hokier.

Verdict: Stick with the original. ** out of 4.

LADIES MAN: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- PAUL HENREID

LADIES MAN: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Paul Henreid with Julius Fast. St. Martin's; 1984.

Debonair and suave without being especially handsome in the Hollywood tradition, Viennese-born Paul Henreid nevertheless became a romantic leading man in such pictures as Now, Voyager, Deception, and Casablanca, among others. In his autobiography, written with Julius Fast, Henreid is fairly frank about those days and the more difficult days afterward, when he was unofficially blacklisted and then simply became too old to be a leading man. He writes of his television assignments -- acting but especially directing --  the motion pictures he directed (such as Dead Ringer), touring with "Don Juan in Hell" with Agnes Moorehead and Ricardo Montalban, and his happy marriage and children. Along the way he relates anecdotes of the many different actors that he worked with along the way, such as leading ladies Bette Davis, Hedy Lamarr, and Ingrid Bergman. Henreid also appeared in Stolen Face and Exorcist II: The Heretic, among many others.

Verdict: Very interesting insider bio. ***.

SO YOUNG, SO BAD

Ann Francis and adorable tyke

SO YOUNG, SO BAD (1950). Director: Bernard Vorhaus.

Dr. John Jason (Paul Henreid of Between Two Worlds) is the new psychiatrist at a reformatory for girls that is run with complete disregard for these young ladies' welfare by Mr. Riggs (Cecil Clovelly) and stone-faced nurse Mrs. Beuhler (Grace Coppin). Jason tries to get support from the rather beautiful assistant superintendent Ruth Levering (Catherine McLeod), but she's too afraid of losing her job. When Jason tries to get the girls to talk about abuses to board members, they clam up, having been threatened by Riggs or Beuhler. Jason is particularly concerned with four of the young women: Loretta (Anne Francis) who tries to use sex as a weapon; Jackie (Anne Jackson), who is sullen and may have a crush on Loretta; Delores (Rita Moreno), who is pretty and shy; and Jane (Enid Pulver), who is withdrawn and needs help. Loretta wants to give up her baby boy for adoption but while she pretends to have no feelings is more emotionally involved than she lets on. So Young, So Bad was released the same year as the more famous Caged, and the two movies have many similarities [although the latter film takes place in a bonafide prison with older inmates]. SYSB is a fairly absorbing film with real attempts at characterization, and is greatly bolstered by the performances of the cast, especially Francis [Forbidden Planet], Jackson, and Moreno, all of whom would go on to have highly successful careers [Pulver did a little TV work after she completed this film]. Instead of a kitten as in Caged, the girls have a pet rabbit that gets stomped on by the abusive Beuhler. The four adult leads are all quite credible. An interesting scene has Jackie utterly collapsing into anguished tears after she sees Loretta bonding with her baby, as if she feels left out or is suffering from lesbian heartbreak. Vorhaus also directed The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine. Henreid later directed movies somewhat similar to this one.

Verdict: Some very good acting helps put this over. ***.

LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG

"Touch" Connors and Troy Donahue

LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG (1958). Director: Paul Henreid.

After his days as a romantic lead were over, Paul Henreid became a director of mostly television and often bad B movies such as this. Live Fast, Die Young concerns two sisters (Mary Murphy and Norma Eberhardt) who have a series of misadventures after striking out on their own, with one, Jill, meeting the wrong men and eventually becoming embroiled in criminal activities. Murphy managed to amass 67 credits, including The Mad Magician, while Eberhardt did mostly TV work after this. More interesting cast members include Joan Marshall, who starred in Homicidal as "Jean Arless," Troy Donahue, and Michael [formerly "Touch"] Connors as a couple of bad guys. Gordon Jones [The Green Hornet] plays the girls' unpleasant father. The movie is too tedious to have much entertainment value. Among Henreid's better directorial efforts are the zesty Girls on the Loose with Mara Corday and Dead Ringer with Bette Davis.

Verdict: Moves slow, dies fast. *.

STOLEN FACE

Lizabeth Scott and Paul Henreid

STOLEN FACE (1952). Director: Terence Fisher.

While on vacation Dr. Philip Ritter (Paul Henreid). a renowned plastic surgeon,  meets and falls in love with concert pianist Alice Brent (Lizabeth Scott), but discovers that she is already betrothed to another. When Ritter is enlisted to give a disfigured female criminal, Lily (Mary Mackenzie) a new lease on life by giving her a new face, he uses Alice's countenance, and tries to turn her into Alice [sow's ear, silk purse, and all that]! Further complicating matters is Alice's decision to return to Philip, meaning the two women in his life now have the exact same face. This is certainly an intriguing idea [with some echoes of A Woman's Face, not to mention Vertigo, both of which are vastly superior]] but it is astonishing that no one ever calls Ritter out on his completely unethical and highly unprofessional behavior, making this a movie that seems to operate in its own weird little dimension. [The movie seems to find Ritter's bizarre obsessive actions to be reasonable!] On the other hand, Stolen Face is well-acted by the leads and Andre Morrell, has a nice score by Malcolm Arnold, and is completely absorbing.

Verdict: One of the best of the Hammer studio melodramas released in the U.S. by Lippert. ***.

DEAD RINGER

DEAD RINGER (1964). Director: Paul Henreid. 

Edith Phillips (Bette Davis), a middle-aged bar owner in Los Angeles, attends the funeral of her sister Margaret DeLorca's (also Bette Davis) husband, the man that both women loved but whom Margaret managed to snatch away from her sister. When Edith learns that Margaret had completely made up that she was pregnant, she hatches a plot to take her place in the DeLorca mansion. But boy are there complications. It's great fun watching Davis, with her great flaring eyes, battling with herself (see photo), although in the early sequences it's obvious that it's not Davis under Margaret's black veil. Dead Ringer is entertaining and has lots of good twists. Karl Malden is a cop who loves Edith and Peter Lawford is Margaret's lover. Jean Hagen, Estelle Winwood, George Macready and Cyril Delevanti are also in the cast, and all are fine; Davis is in pretty good form as well. Andre Previn's theme music and romantic scoring are excellent. Not badly directed by Paul Henreid, Davis' leading man in Now,Voyager and Deception. The maid, Janet, is played by Monika Henreid, Paul's daughter. She was also in her father's Girls on the Loose and had about a dozen credits. Wonderfully ironic conclusion. 

Verdict: One of Davis' better latter-day movies. ***.

GIRLS ON THE LOOSE

GIRLS ON THE LOOSE (1958). Director: Paul Henreid. 

"Let's check everything, just to be sure!" Vera, sizing up the hunky delivery man. 

Startling study of an all-girl gang directed by Paul Henreid, the male lead of Now,Voyager and Deception. Mara Corday, who starred in such delightful creature features as Black Scorpion, Tarantula and The Giant Claw, plays Vera Parkinson, the owner of a night club who leads her gal pals into a payroll robbery. This is basically the when-thieves-fall-out plot with a distaff twist. Corday is attractive and viciously capable as the sociopathic Vera, and Barbara Bostock makes an impression as her more sensitive singing sister, Helen. Lita Milan is the dunken French hairdresser Marie, and Joyce Johanneson is the callous blond masseuse, Joyce. Abby Dalton of Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent and Mark Richman also have roles. There are zesty cat fights, lively action, more than competent performances, and it's all quite vivid and entertaining in its way. 

Verdict: Mara like you've never seen her! ***.

DECEPTION (1946)

DECEPTION (1946). Director: Irving Rapper.

"It's so painful to be so happy."

The reinvented pianist Christine Radcliffe (Bette Davis) has been the protege -- and more -- of wealthy and neurotic composer Alexander Hollenius (Claude Rains), when back into her life comes a man she thought was dead and whom she truly loves, cellist Karel Novak (Paul Henreid). Naturally this doesn't sit well with Hollenius, especially when Christine and Karel get married. Will Holenius spill the beans about the truth of his relationship with Christine? Will Hollenius really let Karel be the lead cellist for his new concerto, or is he playing a sadistic game of cat and mouse with the hopeful man? [Two questions that are never asked: Was Karel himself completely chaste during the four years he was parted from his "Schatzi?" and would he object that much, despite his jealous nature, to Christine's carryings-on when she thought he was dead?] Although Davis' character in this acts maddeningly idiotic, and the foolishly melodramatic developments, while compelling (and leading to a great last line), are unnecessary in what starts out as a strong drama, Deception works due to the great dialogue in John Collier and Joseph Than's screenplay (as well as three-dimensional characters), and to a brilliant performance -- possibly his best -- by Claude Rains. Henreid and Davis are also good, although a notch below Rains, and Davis is terribly affected and mannered throughout [but quite entertaining in spite of it]. One of the best scenes has the three main characters at a restaurant when Hollenius increases Karel's nervousness -- he is to audition for him after dinner -- by taking forever to decide exactly what they should all have for supper. The concerto composed by Hollenius was actually composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who also did the rest of the film's score), and it is beautiful. John Abbott does a superlative job as a rival cellist, Bertram Gribble, that Christine tries to bribe. Although some might dismiss this as a mere soap opera, it has a certain quality that lifts it above the ordinary soaper. At the wedding party, while Christine plays piano, Hollenius shatters a glass in his hand. Christine stops playing and, concerned, rushes to his side, whereupon the great man remarks upon how women get hysterical over a scratch but act all smiling and nurse-like at the sight of a mortal wound. It would have been interesting to see how Deception might have worked with a different actress in the lead. Although director Irving Rapper was able to reign Davis in a bit for Now, Voyager, he was unable to do so with this picture.

Verdict: There's more here than meets the eye. ***1/2.

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (1977). Director: John Boorman.

Richard Burton plays a priest who is assigned by the Vatican to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) in Washington D.C. Little Regan (Linda Blair) is now a teenager who is receiving treatment from a therapist played by Louise Fletcher. During a session, with Burton in attendance, the priest becomes aware that the demon is, apparently, still deep inside Blair and the girl is in danger. He goes to Africa to hook up with the boy, now grown, that Merrin exorcised years before. [The flashbacks of Merrin exorcising this child are contradicted by the recent Exorcist: The Beginning.] Then there's a mad dash back to Washington for reasons that are never made entirely clear. While Exorcist II is not an awful film, it's one that pretty much wastes its potential. It's understandable that Boorman and company didn't want to do a simple retread of the first picture, but there's too much rushing around to little point in this sequel. Regan never really seems in any great danger, and the motives of the demon Pazuzu, who possesses her, are never made clear. The picture isn't boring, and there is some striking photography, but it just doesn't seem to add up to much in the long run. There's a well-done, chilling fall from a cliff, but the climax is just messy instead of exciting. Burton has a couple of good scenes acting with veteran Paul Henreid (as a Cardinal), and is generally okay, if a little preoccupied at times. Linda Blair just isn't much of an actress, and looks ludicrous trying to come on all sexy in the climactic sequence. Louise Fletcher, playing a role very different from the cruel nurse of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest that netted her an Oscar, emerges as an attractive and appealing presence. Kitty Winn, who is given a much bigger role in this than she had in The Exorcist, is excellent, although it isn't readily apparent why her Sharon goes nutso at the end. The business with the strobing machine that puts people in trances is silly and unconvincing, and all those close ups of locusts rushing through the sky, while striking, make you think you're seeing a remake of The Beginning of the End with its giant grasshoppers. Regan is supposed to be one of the “good locusts” that evil is trying to wipe out, but this development isn't remotely moving.

Verdict: At least it's nice to look at. **1/2.

THE CONSPIRATORS

THE CONSPIRATORS (1944). Jean Negulesco.

Paul Henreid stars as Vincent Van Der Lyn, aka "the Flying Dutchman," a spy who is up to his neck in intrigue in Lisbon. There he encounters a beautiful woman, Irene (Hedy Lamarr), with a much older husband, as well as a group of anti-German spies headed by Ricardo Quintanilla (the very un-Spanish Sydney Greenstreet, pictured). When Vincent is framed for the murder of an agent in his hotel room, he manages to escape from prison and sets out to find out who set him up. There is some suspense during the jail break, as well as during the climax in a casino, but The Conspirators is a distinctly third-rate, often illogical and ludicrous spy trifle that seems to take four hours to get nowhere. A host of fine character actors -- Kurt Katch, Victor Francen, among others -- add to the film's limited enjoyment level, but Greenstreet hasn't enough to do and Peter Lorre has even less.

Verdict: Skip it! *1/2.

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Paul Henreid

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (1944). Director Edward A. Blatt.

Long and rather tedious remake of Outward Bound has a couple who committed suicide (Eleanor Parker; Paul Henreid) finding themselves aboard a passenger ship heading toward eternity – only the other passengers don't realize that they themselves are also dead. Thought-provoking premise is given half-baked, overly literal and preachy treatment, and the many stilted performances don't help. Aside from an excellent speech at the very end of the film, John Garfield is in no way showcased to advantage in the film, playing it all in one note and revealing little of his character's inner torment. His girlfriend in the film, Faye Emerson, doesn't even appear to be an actress (although she plays one); she has some nice moments, again at the conclusion, but is otherwise astonishingly inept. However, Edmund Gwenn is splendid as the chief steward, and Sara Allgood scores, as usual, as a kindly older lady. Henreid gives one of his more memorable performances, and Parker is superb. By the time Sydney Greenstreet shows up as the “examiner” to determine exactly which place the passengers go -- Heaven or Hell – the movie just implodes.

Verdict: Have a nice nap instead. *1/2.

NOW, VOYAGER

NOW, VOYAGER (1942). Director: Irving Rapper.

“No member of the Vale family has ever had a nervous breakdown.”

If you take the time to analyze this classic soap opera, you might find yourself wondering why you enjoyed it so much, as it is certainly full of moments both contrived and overly convenient, yet it works from start to finish on an emotional level, in no large part (although not exclusively) due to Max Steiner's memorable, intensely romantic musical score [which he recycled for at least one later movie]. Bette Davis gives one of her best performances – she is not as affected and mannered as she is in The Little Foxes, for instance -- as Charlotte Vale, who is dominated by a mother (Gladys Cooper) almost as bad as the old lady in Night Must Fall. Getting psychological treatment (it's never really specified what this consists of, although weaving is one of the components), and a major make over (it's also never specified who does this for her), her doctor (Claude Rains) suggests she open herself to life by taking an ocean cruise. There she meets a man (Paul Henreid) – unfortunately married -- who helps bring her out of her shell and feel attractive for what she suggests is the first time in her life (she obviously has forgotten her own flashback in which she relates her romance with a handsome wireless operator [Charles Drake] on a ship when she was twenty). Even though Henreid's wife sounds like a neurotic monster who is jealous and unloving of her own daughter, it never occurs to the man that a divorce might be in the offing. Certainly his daughter wouldn't be adversely affected by this, as she winds up meeting and loving Charlotte when she goes for a spell to – would you believe it -- the very same sanitarium where Charlotte got her “cure” (Charlotte has returned there after the emotional turmoil of her mother's death, which she unfairly blames on herself). Recognizing Henreid's child, another “ugly duckling,” Charlotte takes the girl under her wing and helps her, too, to blossom. In the famous ending -- “let's not ask for the moon, we have the stars” Charlotte tells Henreid – you get the impression that it won't be long until this supposedly wonderful man realizes which woman he should be spending his life with. This may not be a “serious,” profound drama, but the darn thing is nevertheless poignant and affecting because it deals in its own way with such compelling themes as loneliness; fitting in; the traps in choosing the right path in life and love; being cut off from the one person you need the most etc. It also has always struck a chord in the audience because of its intelligent exploitation of the ugly duckling/Cinderella aspect of the storyline: the hopeless geek makes good. Despite its many dumb moments, the well-acted and handsomely produced Now, Voyager is a cut above most of the other “Oh, how the rich suffer!” movies of the thirties and forties. Although it never could be said that Bette Davis was a genuinely beautiful woman, in some shots of this film she is genuinely stunning.

Verdict: Great Old Soap Opera. ***.