FANNY BY GASLIGHT

Stewart Granger and Phyllis Calvert

FANNY BY GASLIGHT (aka Man of Evil/1944). Director: Anthony Asquith. 

In 19th century London young Fanny (Phyllis Calvert of Madonna of the Seven Moons) is unaware that her father, Hopwood (John Laurie), isn't her real father, and that he owns the brothel next door. When he is killed by a disgruntled patron, Lord Manderstroke (James Mason), the truth comes out and Fanny and her mother are ostracized. Fanny eventually reunites with her biological father, a cabinet minister named Clive Seymour (Stuart Lindsell) whose marriage to Fanny's mother was annulled by the family. After another tragedy, Fanny draws close to her father's business partner, Harry Somerford (Stewart Granger), but his hateful sister Kate (Cathleen Nesbitt) may destroy their plans for a union. Then there is Lord Manderstroke, who keeps popping up in Fanny's life when she least expects it ...

Margaretta Scott and James Mason

Fanny By Gaslight, is a good, old-fashioned, British "will our Fanny ever find happiness" rags to riches tale that is absorbing, entertaining, and very well-played. In addition to the actors already named, there is also good work from Margaretta Scott [Crescendo] as Seymour's unfaithful wife, Alicia, and Amy Veness as Mrs. Heaviside, the loving servant and former nanny to Clive, among others. If the convoluted plot weren't enough, there are also hookers doing the can can, a ballet sequence, and a duel with pistols outside Paris. Although sinister Mason doesn't have that much screen time, he nearly steals the show. Anthony Asquith also directed The Browning Version and many others. 

Verdict: Solid cast in an engaging melodrama. ***. 

MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS

MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS (1945). Director: Arthur Crabtree.

Maddalena (Phyllis Calvert) is a convent-raised girl who is raped and traumatized shortly before being married off to the kindly Giuseppe (John Stewart). Years go by and their daughter, Angela (Patricia Roc of The Wicked Lady), is now grown, but the announcement of her marriage to Evelyn (Alan Haines) precipitates another episode in which Maddalena runs off for months and vanishes. Maddalena has a whole other life as Rosanna, the lover of the criminal, Nino (Stewart Granger of Blanche Fury), in Florence. Neither Guiseppe nor Nino realize that Maddalena/Rosanna has a split personality due to her rape years before, and Nino thinks that she has taken a lover, Giuseppe, and decides to kill one or the other ... Madonna of the Seven Moons is hard to take seriously as it's much more of a pot-boiler than a drama, but it is arresting at times, and generally well-acted. Phylllis Calvert [The Man in Grey] is quite effective at getting across her different personalities and at different time periods, and the other cast members are all good. Especially notable are Peter Glenville as Sandro, Nino's slimy brother, and Nancy Price as their cackling old crone of  a mother. The film is entertaining, but one senses it would have worked better as an Italian verismo opera with a score by Pietro Mascagni.

Verdict: Watch out for those wild Florencian passions! ***. 

THE MAN IN GREY

Margaret Lockwood and James Mason  

THE MAN IN GREY (1943). Director: Leslie Arliss.

At an auction house in modern times two strangers talk about the famous painting, "The Man in Grey," and wonder what became of the family whose heirlooms are being sold. The rest of the film is a flashback that introduces us to the subject of said portrait, Lord Rohan (James Mason), as well as two students in a girls school: sunny blond Clarissa (Phyllis Calvert of The Root of All Evil), and the bitter brunette, Heather (Margaret Lockwood of Hungry Hill), who wants all the finer things in life that have been denied her. Rohan eventually marries Clarrisa, although he has little to do with her, but he develops a hankering for Heather after she is hired to be his wife's companion. Heather schemes to have Clarissa run off with the sympathetic Peter Rokeby (Stewart Granger), but when these plans don't quite come off Heather must think of another way to get Clarissa out of the picture ... Mason and Lockwood would be re-teamed two years later in the far superior Wicked Lady, for which this seems like a fair-to-middling prelude. Mason has some good moments but his character isn't well-defined -- none of the others are that dimensional, either -- and the script seems rambling and cobbled together with not enough dramatic payoff. Calvert and Lockwood are more than competent if a little too stagy at times. Martita Hunt is the head of the girls school and Antony Scott makes an impression as the little boy, Toby, who is sort of adopted by Clarissa.

Verdict: Half-baked British costume melodrama. **3/4.

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

Phyllis Calvert

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL (1947). Director: Brock Williams.

Jackie (Phyllis Calvert) is one of two daughters of a struggling farmer named Farnish (Brefni O'Rorke of The Upturned Glass). She is engaged to a pleasant fellow named Albert (Hubert Gregg), whose unpleasant father, George Grice (Arthur Young), talks the weak man into marrying someone else. Grice also refuses to loan Jackie money for her father, so they have to auction off the farm (including the family dog!). Devastated, Jackie makes up her mind to get money and power and get her revenge on Grice. She is torn between two men, Joe, (John McCallum of The Woman in Question), an honest farm worker who loves her; and Charles (Michael Rennie), who goes into business with her. But will her rise into a world of wealth and power only lead to tragedy? The Root of All Evil, a standard rags to riches/revenge story, would have been a lot more entertaining had it starred, say, Joan Crawford, who could have really slapped home those bitter, angry lines with aplomb. Phyllis Calvert [They Were Sisters] is a good, but less interesting actress, at least in this type of role. The other performers are fine, including Hazel Court as her sister; Moore Marriott as Scholes, a landowner with a grudge; and especially Arthur Young as the venal if ultimately pathetic Grice. There's an exciting climax with a fire and some redemption for at least one character.

Verdict: Routine in all departments. **.

THEY WERE SISTERS

THEY WERE SISTERS (1945). Director: Arthur Crabtree

"The truth is I could never help being a bore."

British drama/soap opera about three sisters, the romantic choices they make, and the way their lives turn out meanders along but builds up steam as it nears a powerful conclusion. Vera (Anne Crawford) is not really in love with her placid husband, so she has an affair with another man. Lucy (Phyllis Calvert) loses a child. The main and most interesting story has to do with Charlotte (Dulcie Gray) , who makes the mistake of marrying the neurotic Geoffrey (James Mason). Geoffrey is such a bitch that at one point he wants to kill his little son's dog! Mason and Gray give an absorbing two-character portrait of a cowered wife dealing with a sadistic husband leading to tragedy and a satisfying conclusion.

Verdict: No Hollywood gloss, but rather compelling just the same. ***.