FRENCHMAN'S CREEK

FRENCHMAN'S CREEK (1944). Director: Mitchell Leisen.

Dona St. Columb (Joan Fontaine) is tired of the way her witless husband Harry (Ralph Forbes of Convicts at Large) keeps throwing her at the slimy Lord Rockingham (Basil Rathbone) -- who keeps making passes -- so she takes off with the children to a summer retreat where she finds the cuddly old servant, William (Cecil Kellaway), waiting for her. She also finds a notorious pirate named Jean Aubrey (Arturo de Cordova) who claims he's really not such a bad guy as pirate's go. It isn't long before Dona is smitten with Jean and vice versa and longing for a romantic and adventurous life at sea. But can she forsake her children to go off with the man who has so aroused her fiery passion ...? Fontaine, as good as ever, has probably never looked more gorgeous and indeed the whole movie is expertly filmed in especially ravishing technicolor by George Barnes. Rathbone sparkles in his scenes as Rockingham, and the film's highlight is a rousing battle he has on a staircase not with Jean but with a desperate Dona. Mexican actor Arturo de Cordova is not terrible, but this part needed a sexier fellow, like maybe Errol Flynn, to make it believable; de Cordova was a major star in Mexico and South America, however. Victor Young's score sounds like ersatz Debussy. Based on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier.

Verdict: Stick to Rebecca. **.

CONVICTS AT LARGE

CONVICTS AT LARGE (1938). Directors: Scott E. Beal; David Friedman.

"I'm gonna take electrocution lessons" -- a thug who wants to improve his speech. 

Thanks to the DVD video revolution and the joys of public domain, just about any old piece of crap can be resuscitated for the unwary film enthusiast. Convicts at Large is a case in point. ["Classic Collector's Series," indeed!] David Brent (Ralph Forbes) is an amiable dufus who has an idea to create "Happy Homes" for everyone -- all "scientifically-adapted" and the like. He has a crush on a pretty singer named Ruth (Paula Stone), whom he's never actually met. He's also mistaken for a jewel thief who just got out of prison and robs him of his clothing. Nevertheless he winds up at a roadhouse with a gang of thugs -- associates of the runaway thief -- and, of course, Ruth. Convicts at Large is presumably a comedy -- it certainly can't be called a dramatic film of any kind -- but it only has one laugh, the line quoted above this review. More often the humor is like this: "If she doesn't show up soon I'm gonna get my lawyer to habeas my corpus out of here." Oy vey! Stars Forbes and Stone have pleasing personalities, but not the dynamism to make something out of this turkey, but probably Peter Sellers, Danny Kaye, Jean Harlow and Red Skelton together couldn't have done much with the script. Forbes had a long list of both British and American credits; he was born in London and died in Brooklyn. Stone only did a few other movies; her singing and dancing in this are pretty mediocre.

Verdict: Less than an hour long but it seems like three. 1/2*.

MR. WU (1927)

MR. WU (1927). Director: William Nigh.

Lon Chaney is excellent in this handsomely produced silent film in which he essays elderly Grandfather Wu, and then his grandson, Mandarin Wu, as an adult. Mandarin Wu has a daughter Nang Ping (Rene Adoree) who falls in love with the Caucasian Basil Gregory (Ralph Forbes), with tragic results. If there's any problem with Mr. Wu is that what begins as a credible enough and reasonably compelling drama turns into a kind of Fu Manchu variation, with the script turning Wu into the evil, sadistic stereotype of the "Yellow Peril" variety. It's one thing to adhere to traditions, but Wu is a complete fanatic, which the film never really makes clear. Still, even these scenes, bolstered by the performance of Louise Dresser as Basil's mother, hold the attention and are well-done for what they are. John Arnold's cinematography is of a high order. Some shots, consisting of several elements, are so strikingly composed that they almost achieve a 3D effect. Anna May Wong has a small role as Nang Ping's attendant and friend, Loo Song. This was seen accompanied by an excellent original score by Marie Newman.

Verdict: Definitely worth a look, but watch out for Wu. **1/2.