ANOTHER MAN'S POISON

Bette Davis

ANOTHER MAN'S POISON (1951). Director: Irving Rapper.

Janet (Bette Davis) is a well-known English author of mysteries who finds herself with an unwelcome guest at her country estate. George Bates (Gary Merrill of Mysterious Island) tells her that he and her husband pulled off a bank robbery during which a guard was shot. George wants to see hubby immediately -- but there's a problem: he's lying dead, murdered, in the study. George helps Janet get rid of the body but he decides to impersonate her husband for both of their sakes, a decision that leaves Janet most uncomfortable. For one thing Janet is madly in love -- or lust -- with Larry (Anthony Steel), the very handsome fiance of her secretary, Chris (Barbara Murray of Operation Bullshine). And then there's the nosy next-door veterinarian, Dr. Henderson (Emlyn Williams), who is simply asking way too many questions ...

"You Killed Fury!?

Bette Davis -- although she finally has a chance to do a full-on British accent after doing a half-assed one for most of her life -- is not the best casting choice for Another Man's Poison. Fortunately, towards the end of the movie she is afforded some chances for her intense and formidable acting pyrotechnics when she learns that her beloved horse, Fury, is dead.  "You killed Fury!" she screeches at George before launching into a great speech in which she fervently expresses that the horse meant much more to her than any human being possibly could. I suppose she can't be faulted for being stagy when the movie is based on a stage play, even if there are attempts to open it up and get her away from the basic house set. But for much of the movie's length Davis seems to be doing an impression of a drag queen doing an impression of Bette Davis!

Gary Merrill

But Davis is magnificent compared to her then-husband Gary Merrill. Merrill had certainly given some fine performances in other movies, but in Another Man's Poison he seems like a college student merely reciting lines with little emotion or nuance and hoping that he's making a decent impression. True, his character is never well-delineated, which gives him a handicap right from the start, but even so he is utterly mediocre. The only problem with Emlyn Williams is that his character, the Nosy Parker who lives down the road, is so irritating. It's also hard to believe that George would even humor the man. He'd be more likely to tell him to screw off.

Anthony Steel

Barbara Murray gives a pleasant enough performance as the secretary who fears that she just can't compete with her boss, who has decided that she wants her Larry and that's that. As Larry, the very handsome Anthony Steel provides hunk appeal, but his acting is nothing to rave about. As with Merrill, his character is very under-written. In any case, his on-again/off-again dalliances with his fiancee's employer make Larry seem like a sleazeball. Reginald Beckwith and Edna Morris are notable in smaller roles as a villager who pursues George for an appearance with a local club, and the family housekeeper. Another Man's Poison is modestly entertaining, but despite a somewhat ironic and amusing (if not unexpected) wind-up, it's too contrived and even silly to be that memorable. Anthony Steel was one of the husbands of Anita Ekberg. Irving Rapper also directed Davis in two much more memorable movies, Now, Voyager and Deception.

Verdict: Latter-day Davis in a mediocre vehicle that is not without some points of interest. **3/4. 

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957)

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (aka Curse of the Demon/1957). Director: Jacques Tourneur. Screenplay by Charles Bennett and Hal Chester. Based on "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James.

Professor Harrington (Maurice Denham), who has challenged the abilities and veracity of a warlock named Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), finds himself under a deadly curse, and is found dead and mutilated the following morning. Another skeptic, psychologist John Holden (Dana Andrews), arrives in London and hooks up with Harrington's beautiful niece, Joanna (Peggy Cummins), who is convinced that her uncle's death was not a grotesque accident. Holden is a complete non-believer, but he admits he is baffled by some of the things that have happened since he has encountered Karswell, whose supernatural claims he has come to investigate. Holden discovers that Karswell has secretly passed him a parchment covered in runic symbols which mark Holden as the next victim of a legendary demon. Although Holden scoffs at first, Joanna's near-hysteria and certain occurrences make him wonder if he really has something to fear ...

Dana Andrews and Peggy Cummins

Night of the Demon was released in the U.S. under the title Curse of the Demon with fifteen minutes cut from the running time. It is a superior horror film, with very good performances, a wonderfully creepy atmosphere, adroit direction from Tourneur, and sequences that stay in the memory. Clifton Parker's music adds just the right note, and Edward Scaife's [Tarzan's Three Challenges] cinematography is first-rate. At the time of the film's release and later, there were some who objected to the producers' insistence on including a demon during key sequences, suggesting that this ruined the ambiguity of the film -- is the supernatural real or is everyone over-reacting? -- but there are other sequences in the film (footprints suddenly appearing in the ground where no one is walking; a cat that turns into a much larger feline creature; those hands on the banister) that make it clear that the supernatural events are actually occurring. Besides, the monster looks great. Andrews' panicky run through the midnight woods with something after him is chilling, and despite the film's essential grimness, there is an amusing seance that features comic actor Reginald Beckwith, with Athene Seyler  [I Thank a Fool] as Karswell's conflicted mother. Brian Wilde makes an impression as the haunted prisoner, Rand Hobart, a member of Karswell's sect who has been driven insane. Tourneur also directed I Walked with a Zombie, among many others, but this is by far the better film.

Verdict: A highly effective, engrossing, well-made and scary horror film without a single severed limb and with a fine script by Charles Bennett and Hal Chester. ***1/2.  

DOCTOR IN LOVE

Michael Craig sports a gal's seal of approval

DOCTOR IN LOVE (1960). Director: Ralph Thomas.

"You're the least incompetent of this cretinous bunch in the slaughterhouse."

After falling for a nurse named Florence Nightingale (Moria Redmond) who disappears, Dr. Richard Hare (Michael Craig) and buddy Tony Burke (Leslie Phillips) leave the confines of St. Swithin's Hospital and the grumpy Sir Lancelot Spratt (James Robertson Justice) and look for greener pastures. First they participate as test subjects in clinical studies of the common cold, but get thrown out when they fool around with two drunken strippers. Then Hare winds up working with the established Dr. Cardew (Nicholas Phipps, who also wrote the screenplay), but has to hire a doctor assistant when Cardew goes off for a few weeks to America. Dr. Nicola Barrington (Virginia Maskell) takes over for Burke after the latter breaks his arm. Richard and Nicola fall in love, but there are still a few pitfalls to overcome. For this installment of the British "doctor" series, Michael Craig takes over from Dirk Bogarde, who usually played the lead in these things as "Simon Sparrow," but Craig is not playing the same role. Craig is no Cary Grant, but he's not bad in the part. James Robertson Justice is sort of the poor man's Monte Woolly, but he has his moments; Redmond and Maskell are attractive and competent. Some of the supporting players almost steal the show: Reginald Beckwith as Wildwood, Cardew's butler; Ambrosine Phillpotts as Lady Spratt; Ronnie Stevens as Harold, who's finally reached puberty at age 28; Carole Lesley as the adorable "Kitten" Strudwick whom the lucky Harold snares; and Fenella Fielding as the bosomy Mrs. Tadwich who has palpitations, especially when the handsome Hare is examining her. A sequence in which Hare tries to get a new serum to save a little boy's life is melodramatic and unconvincing, as is the scene when Nicola spots a lipstick print on Richard's face and reacts as if she found him in bed with a boy! (The fact that she gets so jealous over a mere thank-you kiss doesn't portend well for the marriage.) Whatever its flaws, the movie is often quite amusing and in general good-natured (with a few tasteless lapses). Craig made Mysterious Island the following year. Maskell was with Peter Sellers in Only Two Can Play and Moria Redmond appeared in A Shot in the Dark. Fielding was the voice of the loudspeaker on the TV show The Prisoner and is currently on the series Skins. Phillpotts was in A Room at the Top and Berserk with Joan Crawford. Phillips is a very busy actor up until today. Perhaps the funniest thing about the movie is that the young doctors are named Burke and Hare after the grave robbers!

Verdict: Amiable silliness with an attractive cast and some very good performances. ***.