VENGEANCE VALLEY

Robert Walker and Burt Lancaster 

VENGEANCE VALLEY (1951). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster) was taken in by cattle man Arch Strobie (Ray Collins), when he was a boy, and he grew up with Arch's son, Lee (Robert Walker). Owen has often had to cover for Lee, who can be irresponsible. Lee impregnated Lily (Sally Forrest) --  apparently before he married his wife, Jen (Joanne Dru) -- but Owen has to front for him. This causes Lily's two brothers, Hub (John Ireland) and Dick (Hugh O'Brian), to assume he is the baby's father, and they start gunning for him. Fearing the truth may come out, Owen tells Lee that he should take his wife and make a fresh start elsewhere, but Lee has other plans.

Out for blood: Hugh O'Brian and John Ireland

Vengeance Valley is strange. While this isn't technically a "B" movie, it has all the appearances of one, and aside from the business with the pregnancy,  it plays like something Roy Rogers could have starred in. The acting is all good, although Ray Collins, best-known as the detective on Perry Mason, sometimes seems disinterested. Carleton Carpenter is also in the cast as Hewie, a cowpoke who has a crush on Lily, and he's fine. Ted de Corsia also scores as another rancher who comes afoul of Owen. Director Richard Thorpe doesn't make the most of the film's dramatic moments, but the story is nothing special and doesn't live up to its title. This was Lancaster's first western.

Verdict: So-so western with a very good cast. **1/2. 

FUN IN ACAPULCO

Elvis, supposedly in Acapulco

FUN IN ACAPULCO (1963). Director: Richard Thorpe.

After the death of his brother in a trapeze accident, Mike Windgren (Elvis Presley of Girl Happy) flees to Acapulco to get his head together, feeling he can no longer continue with the high-wire act. In Mexico Mike encounters a cute little boy named Raoul (Larry Domasin), a highly self-assured youngster who has many relatives and actually becomes Mike's manager. Mike gets assorted singing engagements while romancing a liberated lady bullfighter named Delores (Elsa Cardenas) as well as a pretty lady named Marguerita (Ursula Andress), who is the daughter of the hotel chef (Paul Lukas). Meanwhile high-diver Moreno (Alejandro Rey) does not take kindly to Mike's interference. Elvis does not wind up fighting a bull but he does take a dive off of a 136 foot high cliff.

Little Larry Domasin with Elvis

Since there really isn't much to the plot, Fun in Acapulco throws a song at the viewer almost literally every five minutes. Some of these tunes are quite nice -- "Acapulco;" "Mexico;" "El Toro;" "Marguerita;""Gaudalajara;" and a sexy "Bossa Nova" that Elvis also wiggles his pelvis to in flamboyant fashion -- while others are merely serviceable.  "Mexico" is sung by Elvis and little Raoul while riding on a bicycle, a charming moment.

Paul Lukas and Ursula Andress

By this time Presley had almost become a camp figure, with a decided sameness to each of his movies: bouncy songs with lots of wiggle room; girls fighting over him; some aging supporting players who really act; and a few adorable newcomers. The movie is easy to take, especially for Elvis fans, but it peters out before too long, unfortunately. After this film veteran actor Lukas [Deadline at Dawn] had two more theatrical features along with a host of television credits. Andress is sweet and attractive (and does not appear to be dubbed as she was in Dr. No) but the movie is stolen by the very talented child actor Domasin. Spanish kids who know everything and everybody are a cliche in movies, but Domasin makes the character very lovable.

Verdict: Just can't stay mad at Elvis! **3/4. 

THE TOY WIFE

Luise Rainer

THE TOY WIFE (1938). Director: Richard Thorpe. Screenplay by Zoe Akins.

"A woman is like a postage stamp. Once there's a black mark on her, she's no good to nobody." -- Pick.

In pre-Civil war Louisiana, two sisters live on a plantation with their slaves and their father. Gilberte, or "Frou Frou" (Luise Rainer) is the pretty and somewhat muddle-headed younger daughter, and Louise (Barbara O'Neil) is the more practical and less attractive older daughter. The young mountebank, Andre Vallaire (Robert Young), wants to propose to Frou Frou, but he is too late, as she has already decided to accept a proposal from the lawyer, George Sartoris (Melvyn Douglas). The trouble is that Frou Frou doesn't love George, but Louise does ... and Andre will not forget Frou Frou. Things come to a boil when George asks Louise to come and run the household, as Frou Frou --  a "toy wife," in his estimation -- seems incapable of doing so.

Luise Rainer and Alan Perl 

Had The Toy Wife starred, say, Bette Davis, it would probably not be a nearly forgotten film today. Luise Rainer, who is outstanding in the film, had already won back to back Best Actress Oscars (for The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth) before appearing in this film, but for various reasons her career faded out soon after and long-lasting major stardom never materialized. Douglas, Young and especially O'Neil are also very good in the film, along with Theresa Harris [The Flame of New Orleans] as Frou Frou's maid and companion, "Pick," Libby Taylor as the housekeeper Suzanne, and Alma Kruger [Saboteur] as Andre's disapproving mother. Little Alan Perl is a charmer as George and Frou Frou's son, Georgie.

The Toy Wife's patronizing treatment of black characters is typical of the period, unfortunately, but the film is still absorbing and has a very touching conclusion. There is first-rate cinematography from Oliver T. Marsh and a nice score by Edward Ward.

Verdict: Memorable, well-acted, and unpredictable drama. ***.

THE THIN MAN GOES HOME

Harry Davenport and Myrna Loy

THE THIN MAN GOES HOME (1945). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Nick Charles (William Powell), his wife Nora (Myrna Loy), and their little dog Asta (Nick Jr. is away at school) travel to Nick's hometown of Sycamore Springs for his unspecified birthday (Powell was 53 at the time). Nick has always had a difficult relationship with his father, Bertram (Harry Davenport), because he didn't become a doctor like his father did, and Nick aches for his approval. But his mother (Lucile Watson) is a peach. Nick gets to prove his skill at detecting when a dead man practically shows up on the Charles' doorstep. Bertram can't believe that one of his old friends might be the killer ... Powell and Loy are excellent, as usual -- Loy is especially notable in this entry -- and the supporting cast, including Davenport [Son of Fury] and Watson (cast against type, like Fay Holden in the Andy Hardy films, as a small-town housewife), could not be bettered. Special mention must go to Anne Revere [Body and Soul], who plays "Crazy Mary," the town's pathetic loony; Anita Sharp-Bolster as  the hilariously weird maid, Hilda; and Donald Meek as Willie Crump, who sells paintings for a living -- the plot revolves around a painting of a windmill that Nora buys for her husband's birthday. Other suspects and persons of interest are well played by Leon Ames, Donald MacBride, Irving Bacon, Morris Ankrum, Helen Vinson, Minor Watson, Lloyd Corrigan, and Gloria DeHaven as a breathlessly pretentious heiress. One very cute bit has Nick and Nora leaving Asta with the coat check girl as if he were a hat, but the funniest scene has Nora unexpectedly doing a wild, zippy dance with a sailor. This was the next to last Thin Man movie -- this was followed by the disappointing Song of the Thin Man.

Verdict: Very satisfying and amusing Thin Man movie. ***.

ATHENA

Jane Powell, Steve Reeves and Edmund Purdom

ATHENA (1954). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Athena Mulvain (Jane Powell) and sister Minerva (Debbie Reynolds) -- two of several siblings -- belong to a family of health nuts, vegetarians, numerologists, and body builders run by Grandpa (Louis Calhern) and Grandma (Evelyn Varden). Grandpa is seventy-eight but can swing around the parallel bars with ease. Athena and Minerva find themselves falling for men who don't quite believe in the same things they do, with the former setting her cap for Adam Shaw (Edmund Purdom), a lawyer running for Congress; and Minerva becoming involved with boyish crooner Johnny Nyle (Vic Damone). Both women already have highly muscular boyfriends, Ed (Steve Reeves) and Bill (Richard Sabre), both of whom compete in the Mr. Universe contest at the end of the movie; and Adam has a sophisticated fiancee named Beth (Linda Christian). Will true love win out in the end, or will Adam and Johnny find themselves in some crushing body blocks? Athena is a very silly and kitschy musical with some pleasant songs by Martin and Blane, the best of which is "Love Can Change the Stars," well-warbled by Powell. Powell also does a creditable job with an aria from Donizetti's "Daughter of the Regiment." Obviously wealthy, the Mulvain family come off at first as free-spirited non-conformists who are at one with the earth and all that, but in one of the better scenes Adam tells Grandpa that they are actually intolerant of (indeed obnoxious toward) others who don't think as they do. Athena is typical of so many movies in which supposedly nice people simply decide they want someone for themselves and don't give a damn for the fact that they are already involved with someone else. The actors in this are all good, but Louis Calhern, as he often did, gives the best performance, and there are notable turns from Kathleen Freeman as Adam's secretary and Ray Collins as a political associate.  Calhern and Collins appeared together in Invitation. Steve Reeves is so handsome it's a wonder he ever bothered with the beard that he wore for most of his career. He was a real-life Mr. America and Mr. Universe, and his American career could have been developed, but he didn't want to slim  down the muscles for the role in Samson and Delilah that was eventually given to Victor Mature. Reeves became a name after the Italian Hercules became a surprise hit, and he was reportedly offered the role of James Bond in Dr. No but turned it down. In all but two films, Reeve's excellent voice was dubbed. NOTE: The body builders of the fifties and sixties were a different breed from what you see today, typified by Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose musculature is so overdone that he resembles something that was mutated in an H-bomb explosion. Steve Reeves had a great physique but he was in no way grotesque.

Verdict: The script is rather annoying, but there are some pleasant moments and performances. **1/2.

TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE

The amazing Cheetah

TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE (1942). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Hunter Buck Rand (Charles Bickford of Anna Christie) and his associates Jimmie (Paul Kelly of Zeigfeld Girl) and Manchester (Chill Wills) are in the Congo trying to capture lions for a circus. Naturally Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) objects to this, but Boy (Johnny Sheffield) is fascinated by their plane. Buck is fascinated himself when he observes how Boy can make a pack of elephants do whatever he wishes. After it appears that Tarzan and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) have been killed in a fire, Buck takes Boy back to New York with him. But when Tarzan finds out his son is gone ... Tarzan's New York Adventure is a very entertaining Tarzan film even though it goes far, far afield from Edgar Rice Burroughs' original conception. In this film Tarzan is so stupid that he takes a shower before taking off his one good suit (which dries off in miraculous time). In the novels, Tarzan had his savage side when it was called for, but he wasn't a monosyllabic and unsophisticated dummy. The stupidest moment in this movie occurs when Tarzan gives out with his famous yell and Jane says" Good heavens -- what's that?" even though she's heard it hundreds of times. Burroughs gave Tarzan and Jane a biological son who was named Jack, and later became known as "Korak" -- the boy in this movie is an orphan. Despite all this, the movie is a lot of fun. Cheetah has so much to do in the movie that it could almost be re-titled Cheetah's New York Adventure; you certainly hear her cackle that fabricated hyena laugh often enough. The chimp's special moments include her encounter with a water cooler, and her putting a trio of elephants through their paces as if she were an orchestra leader. The pachyderms are also amazing as Boy has them put on a show for the trio from New York. The actors in this are all good, with an uncredited Mantan Moreland having a couple of good moments reacting to Cheetah on the other end of the telephone. Virginia Grey is also fine as a nightclub singer who helps Tarzan and his mate find Boy. Cy Kendall, fatter than ever, plays the head of the circus. Sidney Wagner's photography, especially those striking shots of New York, is outstanding. This was O'Sullivan's last appearance as Jane, but Weissmuller and Sheffield had a few more pictures to go. Followed by Tarzan Triumphs.

Verdict: Highly improbable but also highly enjoyable Tarzan movie. ***.

THE PRODIGAL

Edmund Purdom and Lana Turner

THE PRODIGAL (1955). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Micah (Edmund Purdom) of Joppa is betrothed to Ruth (Audrey Dalton), but on a trip to Damascus he takes one look at High Priestess Samarra (Lana Turner) and is instantly smitten. He asks his father for his inheritance so he can go off and claim this woman, who worships pagan gods such as Astarte and Baal, and his father gives him the money but says he is now "dead to him". But getting to Samarra as a bearded "interloper" might be a bit of a problem. MGM has taken a simple Biblical parable and "fleshed" it out with a story that is pure Hollywood, but quite entertaining on that level. Purdom is fine as Micah, but Turner, besides being a bit too old, seems to have no clue as to the inner thoughts and feelings of the (admittedly underwritten) character she's playing -- she's just saying lines. There's a host of good character actors in the film, including Cecil Kellaway, seen briefly as the governor; Neville Brand [Eaten Alive] as an evil and sadistic soldier, Rhakim; Henry Daniell as the slave, Ramadi; Jay Novello as a merchant; John Dehner as Micah's brother; and Joseph Wiseman as another slave and instigator. Louis Calhern as the High Priest Nahreeb offers one of his rare indifferent performances, as costume dramas aren't his cup of java. "You hunger for [freed slave Asham] as a pig for husks," Micah tells Nahreeb, and even Samarra tells her High Priest that she doesn't like what he does to his slaves. Francis L. Sullivan [Hell's Island] is better as the portly Bosra. Although Paul Cavanagh is listed in the cast, I couldn't spot him. Although he hasn't a line of dialogue as the mute Asham, who comes to work for Micah, James Mitchell is effective; most of his credits were on TV and All My Children. Little Sandy Descher [Them] plays the strange little girl, Jasmin, but she's not very memorable. Highlights of the film include Micah's battle with a determined vulture in a pit of skeletons and a man who sacrifices himself for Baal by throwing himself into a pool of fire. The film's religiosity never becomes overbearing.

Vwerdict: Not exactly the bible, but worth a look. *** out of 4.

TARZAN ESCAPES

Love story: Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan

TARZAN ESCAPES (1936). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Rita Parker (Benita Hume of Suzy) and her brother, Eric (William Henry of The Thin Man), come to Africa to see if they can importune their cousin, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), to come back with them to London, citing a complicated will that needs her attention. Rita and Eric hire Captain Fry (John Buckler) to take them into the dangerous territory where Jane resides with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), but he turns out to be an evil character who has sinister ulterior motives. Warned to watch out for the tribe of Bogonis, the group discover that an even more savage tribe is intent on killing everyone. For much of its length Tarzan Escapes is more of a cuddly domestic romance detailing Jane's idyllic life with her lover, Tarzan, but in the final quarter there is plenty of action. Reportedly Tarzan Escapes was considered too gruesome in its original form to be released and there was lots of re-shooting. When Jane and Tarzan take a swim as they did in Tarzan and His Mate, Jane now wears clothing. Although some bat monsters have been edited out of the film, there is a disturbing scene when one poor native is tied to two trees and then drawn and quartered, which is made clear if not graphically depicted (which makes one wonder what the 1936 censors thought of as "gruesome.") Late in the picture the group must escape through a cave that is filled with lakes of lava and gator-sized lizard monsters. One of the most interesting characters is Rawlins (Herbert Mundin of Charlie Chan's Secret),  whose first sight of Tarzan has him falling in a faint, although the two eventually become buddies. Rawlins later shows his bravery in trying to save the Ape Man's life, and pays a sad price for it. Of course, all of the victims, black or white, are forgotten by the end of the movie. O'Sullivan and Weissmuller make the most of their rather sensual romantic sequences, which are quite well-acted, and the other performances are all adroit. A scene with Tarzan killing a giant crocodile is lifted almost entirely from Tarzan and His Mate. In this picture, our favorite chimp -- now spelled "Cheetah" -- is female. Cheetah mischievously -- or bitchily -- places a little doe on a log and sets the animal adrift, necessitating Tarzan's rescuing the deer from said crocodile.

I wondered why I wasn't more familiar with John Buckler, who is quite good as the nasty Captain Fry, and discovered -- as is, sadly, often the case -- that Buckler died at age thirty after finishing this picture. He and his father, Hugh Buckler, also an actor, were in a car that skidded into the water in Malibu Lake, CA. Both drowned.

Verdict: Absorbing Tarzan epic. ***.

TARZAN FINDS A SON!

John Sheffield and Johnny Weissmuller

TARZAN FINDS A SON! (1939). Director: Richard Thorpe.

A young couple (Laraine Day; Morton Lowry) are killed in a plane crash in Africa but their infant son survives, and is in essence adopted by Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), who simply call him "Boy" (John/Johnny Sheffield). Greedy relatives August Lancing (Ian Hunter of The Sisters) and his wife (Freida Inescort), along with their Uncle Thomas (Henry Stephenson of Red-Headed Woman), and guide Sande (Henry Wilcoxon of Cleopatra), come to the Dark Continent to see if they can find any trace of the family, with the Lancings, of course, hoping they don't, for reasons to do with inheritances. Meeting Boy, Thomas suspects the truth, and Jane and Tarzan argue about whether or not to let Boy go back to claim his heritage. But August Lancing's duplicitous and evil mind, as well as a deadly native tribe called the Zembeles, may make it all moot. Tarzan Finds a Son! is a very entertaining Tarzan adventure, with very good performances from all, including a charming Sheffield, and many exciting scenes. There are more wild life shots than usual, as well as some excellent underwater sequences, especially one in which Tarzan and Boy go swimming with a baby elephant. Tarzan has a struggle with a kind of boar-hippo creature that nearly tramples Boy at one point. The Zembeles, who figure in the climax, don't just shrink heads, but entire bodies, in a process that isn't clearly delineated but seems rather frightful. Jane refers to Tarzan as her husband for, I believe, the first time. The movie has hardly any music, which would have added to its already considerable appeal.

Verdict: One of the better Tarzan adventures. ***.

TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE

Weissmuller and O'Sullivan

TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (1941). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) are leading an idyllic life above their escarpment in Africa, when along comes Professor Elliott (Reginald Owen of The Letter) and party. Elliott is a scientist looking for the Van-Usi tribe, and he is accompanied by photographer O'Doul (Barry Fitzgerald of And Then There Were None), and the guides Medford (Tom Conway) and Vandemeer (Philip Dorn of Underground). Unfortunately, the latter two prove up to no good as Boy shows them a piece of gold and tells the others that Tarzan knows where there is a rich vein of it. After some melodramatic moments, everyone comes afoul of some natives intent on murder. Tarzan's Secret Treasure is a kind of schizoid movie, beginning with the silly if charming antics of Cheeta and her "friend," Buli, the elephant, as well as the childish if cute scamperings of Boy, but it veers off into something much darker in the second half. The scene when a native is torn in half in Tarzan Escapes is repeated -- one way of getting around the censors as well as of saving money -- and when a second native is similarly killed in new footage, we aren't shown the trunks heading in separate directions, possibly another sop to the censors. There are several shots of natives being chewed on by crocodiles, and the sequence wherein Tarzan battles a giant croc underwater is repeated for a second time. There isn't much that is original in the picture, aside from a little native boy named Tumbo (Cordell Hickman) who has lost his mother and becomes friends with Boy in the film's most charming sequence. Jane was to have been killed off at the end of Tarzan Finds a Son! because she was tiring of the series -- we do see her being speared in the back at the end of that film -- but the public outcry necessitated her return. Although O'Sullivan was never a great beauty per se, she has never looked more attractive than she does in this movie. She gives a very good performance, as do the others in the cast, including little Hickman.

Verdict: Still some life left in the series. **1/2.

JAILHOUSE ROCK

Judy Tyler and Elvis!

JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957). Director: Richard Thorpe.

"Without money you might as well be dead."

Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) delivers one punch too many to an obnoxious guy in a bar, and winds up in stir for a year for manslaughter. There he meets aging country singer "Hunk" Houghton (Mickey Shaugnessy of King of the Roaring 20's), who gives him musical advice and signs him to a contract. Vince has a massive chip on his shoulder that puts up barriers between himself and the people he meets, including a woman, Peggy (Judy Tyler), who is in the recording industry and helps him get started. Becoming successful, insolent Vince plays around on Peggy. Then Hunk, newly out of jail, arrives and reminds him of that contract ... Jailhouse Rock is an entertaining flick that features a pretty good performance from Presley, whose hip-shaking movements remind one, oddly, of Rita Hayworth! Shaughnessy and Tyler are excellent, and we also have a bizarre scene between Presley and Percy Helton -- "bizarre" because of the juxtaposition of these two very different individuals --  with the latter playing a bar owner. Dean Jones has a brief appearance as a friendly DJ who dates Peggy. Movies like Jailhouse Rock aren't to be taken seriously, but the movie so glosses over details about the recording industry that it seems like a fantasy at times! S. John Launer, who plays the judge who sentences Vince, often played a judge on Perry Mason. Judy Tyler was an attractive and talented woman who starred on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Pipe Dream the year before this picture. She was killed at age 24 in a car accident before Jailhouse was even released. Whatever you think of Presley, there is no denying the man had presence in spades!

Verdict: The "Jailhouse Rock" production number is a hoot! *** out of 4.

FOLLOW THE BOYS (1963)

Russ Tamblyn and Paula Prentriss

FOLLOW THE BOYS (1963). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Liz (Janis Paige) and Bonnie (Connie Francis) are "sea gulls" who follow their Naval husbands around from port to port, grabbing what moments of intimacy they can. Bonnie is a newlywed married to Billy (Roger Perry of Count Yorga, Vampire), while Liz's husband is a Lt. Commander (Ron Randell of Most Dangerous Man Alive). who hopes to become admiral. Unfortunately, Liz is more interested in settling down with him and starting a family. In the meantime Toni (Paula Prentiss), a wealthy woman, shows up claiming she is engaged to playboy Lt. Langley (Richard Long); her parents hope to make a strictly business match that will increase everyone's coffers. Finally Michele (Dany Robin) is anxious to meet up with Langley herself, although for unexpected reasons. Assigned to escort Michele, seaman Smitty (Russ Tamblyn) winds up falling for Toni and vice versa. The actors are all professional, with Tamblyn [The War of the Gargantuas] and Prentiss making an appealing couple, and while the movie threatens to become another Connie Francis Movie it never quite gets there, despite a couple of song numbers. Francis is too self-consciously "cute" by far in this, and while it has some good scenes and entertaining moments, Follow the Boys eventually becomes an effort to sit through. The most interesting thing about the movie is Langely's recipe for a Torpedo: one part each of rum, vodka, brandy and creme de menthe, with a maraschino cherry, cucumber slice, lemon peel, a piece of orange, and bitters added for good measure. Having two of these beforehand may definitely make this or any other movie more entertaining!

Verdict: Torpedo this one! **.

ALL THE BROTHERS WERE VALIANT

Battling brothers: Taylor and Granger

ALL THE BROTHERS WERE VALIANT (1953). Director: Richard Thorpe.

"Joel Shore is not afraid of the devil himself -- just don't go lookin' for him, that's all."

In this remake of a silent film with Lon Chaney, Joel Shore (Robert Taylor) sets sail as captain of the whaling ship Nathan Ross with his new bride, Priscilla (Ann Blyth). Both of them assume that Joel's brother, Mark (Stewart Granger) is dead, but when he turns up alive talking of pearls and adventure and narrow escapes, it causes trouble between the brothers. Mark wants to go back for the pearls, but when Joel objects, afraid of how greed will decimate the crew, Mark convinces Priscilla that her husband is a coward. Then the men decide to mutiny ... Frankly this picture would have been better if they went after the pearls or just stuck to whaling. The only good and exciting scene in the entire movie is when they hunt down a whale whose enormous tail capsizes their much smaller boat [not the Nathan Ross but a special whale boat]. If the whole movie had been handled as well it might have amounted to something. The three leads do the best they can, and there are smaller roles for Lewis Stone, James Whitmore, and Keenan Wynn, all of whom are wasted. Director Thorpe does not seem overly enthused by the material, and even the mutiny is awkwardly done and has no dramatic flair. I could swear I spotted a bearded Paul Frees [Space Master X-7] as one of the sailors but he's not listed in the cast.

Verdict: Too bad the silent version is lost; it had to be better than this. **.

THE UNKNOWN MAN

THE UNKNOWN MAN (1951). Director: Richard Thorpe. 

Dwight Masen (Walter Pidgeon) defends a youth, Rudi (Keefe Braselle), who is accused of murdering a shop keeper's son as part of a protection racket. But there's a sinister figure behind the scenes, and when he gets murdered, too, Rudi also gets the blame. But the identity of this particular killer might be a big surprise. It would be criminal to give away the twists of this interesting, generally well-acted courtroom drama, but it certainly presents a bizarre, intriguing, and ultimately tragic situation. Lewis Stone is a judge, Ann Harding is Masen's wife, Richard Anderson is Dwight's son, and Barry Sullivan is the district attorney who prosecutes both cases. Pidgeon is better than usual. Konstantin Shayne is very affecting as the dead boy's devastated father. 

Verdict; A bit perfunctory but not without interest. **1/2.

THREE LITTLE WORDS

THREE LITTLE WORDS (1950). Director: Richard Thorpe.

A perfectly pleasant and completely undistinguished biopic about the not terribly distinguished song writing team of Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton). The casting pretty much insures that there won't be a heck of a lot of drama in this movie, and there certainly isn't, although the two men spend a lot of time bickering and having misunderstandings [although the humor is not of the laugh-out-loud variety]. Vera-Ellen is Kalmar's spouse and a warmer-than-usual Arlene Dahl is Ruby's better half, Eileen. Gloria DeHaven, Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter have smaller roles (walk-ons in the case of the last two). Gale Robbins is sexsational as Terry, the singer that Ruby initially falls for. Astaire's fans will enjoy his smooth and fancy foot work. As for the songs, well ... they're pleasant enough, tuneful, but Kalmar and Ruby were not exactly Rodgers and Hammerstein or Rodgers and Hart. They spend the whole movie trying to make a song out of a tune Ruby keeps playing and when they finally do at the climax it's only the utterly mediocre title number!

Verdict: If you don't expect much ... **1/2.

MAN-PROOF

MAN-PROOF (1938). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Mimi (Myrna Loy, pictured) is heartbroken when Alan Wythe (Walter Pidgeon), the man she loves, marries Elizabeth (Rosalind Russell) instead, and she swears that she'll never stop wanting him or hoping to land him, even though her wise mother Meg (Nana Bryant) tells her to spend her energies elsewhere, as does her mother's friend -- and Mimi's "dutch uncle" -- Jimmy (Franchot Tone). Mimi does go to work for a newspaper as a commercial artist, and eventually tells Elizabeth that she is over Alan and the two of them can just be friends. Unfortunately, things are not as easy as all that. A familiar, but nonetheless provocative, situation isn't developed with any particular skill, even though some of the dialogue is snappy and the performances good. The whole result may hold your attention but it's ultimately just blah. And very predictable.

Verdict: Not quite a waste of 75 minutes but almost. **.

WHITE CARGO

WHITE CARGO (1942). Director: Richard Thorpe.

"I am -- Tondelayo."

1942 audiences must have gotten awfully impatient waiting for the lusty new Hedy Lamarr to show up as the sexy Tondelayo because she doesn't make her entrance for a full thirty minutes (over a third of the running time.) But after that she certainly causes a lot of mischief. Tondelayo is an Arabian-Egyptian beauty (she was Black in the original story) who does her best to ensorcel the men supervising the tending of rubber plants on a lonely outpost in Africa. Her latest target is Langford (Richard Carlson), who's continuously hoping to get "acclimatized" to the environment. Tondelayo also has a hankering for Larry Witzel (Walter Pidgeon), Carlson's belligerent co-worker. Frank Morgan is the tippling doctor who seems more interested in getting stewed than in fraternizing with Tondelayo. Lamarr isn't bad as the temptress, and the others offer vivid performances as well, with Morgan the cast stand-out. Amusing, entertaining picture takes a while to get started but once it does it's fun.

Verdict: Let Tondelayo make you "tiffin." **1/2.

A DATE WITH JUDY

A DATE WITH JUDY (1948). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Young Judy (Jane Powell) is dating Oogie (Scotty Becket) but falls for an older man (Robert Stack) when he’s inveigled into taking her to a high school dance. Unfortunately, Stack also meets a beauteous young Liz Taylor at the dance, and Liz sets her sights on the handsome soda jerk. An added complication occurs when Judy erroneously comes to the conclusion that her father, (a somewhat subdued Wallace Beery) is having an affair with dance teacher Carmen Miranda, who is only teaching him to rumba. You can call this dated, hokey, quaint and everything else, but it’s an undeniably charming picture with many amusing lines and sequences. Powell and Taylor are perhaps a bit too sophisticated to be typical high school girls, but Scotty Becket hits the right note, as does Selina Royal as Judy’s mother. Carmen Miranda is at her snappiest, and seeing her teamed with Beery is bizarre to say the least. Miranda’s song Canto le gusta certainly gets across that "let’s go off anywhere to do anything even if we’re broke" attitude of devil-may-care youth. Judaline is a strange number, although it sounds much better when it’s reprised. Corny Side is a pretty bad song, but it’s very well performed by Powell and Beckett. (The best number, of course, is It’s a Most Unusual Day.)

Verdict: This is easy to take and lots of fun if not exactly a great classic. ***.

NIGHT MUST FALL (1932)

NIGHT MUST FALL (1937). Director: Richard Thorpe.

This first film version of Emlym Williams' play certainly holds the attention and has a very interesting story, but it requires the genius of a Hitchcock to make it really come alive and the pedestrian director Richard Thorpe was never on that level. Robert Montgomery is generally excellent as Danny, who enters the household of the prickly, unlikable old lady (Dame May Whitty) when he becomes romantically entangled with one of her housemaids. Danny is intelligent enough to know exactly how to play the woman, but he can't quite fool the poor relation (Rosalind Russell) who also lives in the house and works for the old woman. Unfortunately, Russell isn't entirely immune to Danny's charm, and slowly begins to fall for him even as she becomes more convinced that he's responsible for a gruesome murder in the neighborhood. Russell isn't really up to the task of exploring all the psychological ramifications of her character, but Whitty is simply superb as the old woman. While most of the film isn't remotely scary and has little atmosphere, the scene when she's left alone in the house is quite eerie and well done, and her subsequent encounter with Montgomery is extremely effective and well-acted. What a shame that this assignment wasn't given to the Master of Suspense – Hitch would have turned this into a nail-biting and psychologically penetrating classic.

Verdict: No classic, but has its moments. **1/2.