LET 'EM HAVE IT

Richard Arlen with Bruce Cabot in the background

LET 'EM HAVE IT (1935). Director: Sam Wood.

Federal agents Mal Stevens (Richard Arlen), Van Rensseler (Harvey Stephens), and Tex Logan (Gordon Jones of The Green Hornet) are up against a formidable foe in Joe Keefer (Bruce Cabot), who has organized a gang of ex-cons, many of which he sprung from a prison farm, to engineer a series of bank robberies. Joe was originally a chauffeur for Eleanor Spencer (Virginia Bruce), who was once very close to Van but now has feelings for Mal. Unfortunately, Eleanor gets angry with Mal when he is unable to prevent her kid brother, Buddy (Eric Linden), from becoming a G-Man, with tragic results.

Eric Linden and Richard Arlen

Under the direction of Sam Wood, Let 'Em Have It is a fast-paced, well-acted, and entertaining cops vs robbers movie. Although mostly forgotten today, even by film buffs, Richard Arlen (Island of Lost Souls) was a handsome and charismatic leading man for most of his career, which comprised nearly 200 credits. Other players in this flick include Alice Brady [When Ladies Meet], as Eleanor's man-hungry Aunt Ethel, and Barbara Pepper as one of Cabot's blond molls, Milly. Pepper later gained a lot of weight and appeared more than once on I Love Lucy. Sam Wood also directed Goodbye, Mr. Chips in 1939 and a great many others.

Verdict: Snappy picture hasn't a dull moment. ***. 

SARATOGA TRUNK

Ingrid Bergman

SARATOGA TRUNK (1945). Director: Sam Wood.

"I don't have money, either, but I know how to turn a trick." -- Clint.

"Common. Common as dirt."  -- Angelique to Clio.

"Shut your mouth -- or I'll send you away somewhere to starve." -- Clio to Angelique.

After her mother's death,.Clio Dulaine (Ingrid Bergman) travels from France to New Orleans with a weird entourage consisting of old Angelique (Flora Robson), who takes care of her as she did her mother before her, and little person, Cupidon (Jerry Austin), who is only a couple of feet tall but feisty and fun. Clio is in New Orleans to get revenge on all of those who turned on her mother, a supposed murderess of her father, but this plot is quickly resolved once she meets cowboy Clint Maroon (Gary Cooper). After a love-hate courtship, Clint leaves for Saratoga and Clio follows, hoping to snare the wealthy if weak, supposedly mother-dominated Bartholomew Van Steed (John Warburton of Secret File Hollywood). But are Clio and Clint really sure that they are out of each other's systems? Saratoga Trunk is a weird movie that loses its focus and grip early on, but offers an excellent performance from Bergman -- who has never been photographed more beautifully -- and a good turn from Cooper. The problem with the film, among many, is that the most exciting scene has to do with a railroad clash -- and crash -- where two trains collide, men jump off the trains, and a rousing fight scene ensues -- unfortunately, none of this has much to do with the main plot of Saratoga Trunk (and the whole business with the railroad is tedious aside from the aforementioned scene). Apparently playing a black woman, British actress Robson [Caesar and Cleopatra] is wonderful as Angelique; Austin offers a winning performance as Cupidon; and there are splendid turns from Florence Bates [Rebecca] as a Saratoga society lady who helps Clio, and Ethel Griffies as the formidable termagant mother of Van Steed, who is out to expose Clio as a phony. Throughout the movie the love-hate badinage between Clio and Angelique is priceless. This is based on a novel by Edna Ferber.

Verdict: Lots of good things in this movie, a striking performance from Bergman, but a half-baked and over-boiled story that doesn't quite work. **1/2.

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.

GUEST WIFE

GUEST WIFE (1945). Director: Sam Wood.

Chris Price (Dick Foran) and his wife Mary (Claudette Colbert) are about to depart for Manhattan for a second honeymoon when in blows Chris' best friend, reporter Joe Parker (Don Ameche). Parker has told his boss, the unctuous and moralistic Arthur Truesdale Worth (Charles Dingle) that he has a wife, even going so far as to send him Mary's photo. Mary is importuned to pose as Mrs. Parker in New York, which leads to embarrassing complications, and so enrages Mary that she pretends she's fallen for Joe just to get even with both men, one of whom is a creep (Joe) and the other a thoughtless fool (Chris). Colbert's spirited performance is the only reason to watch this fairly leaden "comedy" with unlikable and unsympathetic male characters. There is a mildly funny bit with a nosy shoe salesman in a nightclub, as well as a sequence wherein a bartender assumes the three principals are having a menage a trois, but otherwise this is pretty much a waste of an hour and a half. Sam Wood may have directed A Night at the Opera, but he couldn't do much with this script. Ameche is okay and Foran is as amiable as ever.  

Verdict: Don't be a "guest" in this movie. **.

BEYOND THE ROCKS

BEYOND THE ROCKS (1922). Director: Sam Wood.

Theodora Fitzgerald (Gloria Swanson) is married off to a much older man, Josiah Brown (Robert Bolder). He's kind to her, she's a good wife, but along comes Lord Bracondale (Rudolph Valentino, pictured) who falls for her and awakens in her strong feelings of romantic passion. Bracondale had saved Theodora's life on two previous occasions, making him not just romantic in her eyes but downright heroic. This triangle situation (based on a novel by Elinor Glyn) was probably nothing new even in 1922, but Beyond the Rocks is touching, beautifully acted by the three leads, especially Swanson, and has many memorable sequences, particularly the suspenseful scene when Theodora nearly falls off a cliff. Call it hokey and sentimental it you like, but it works. A new score by Henry Vrienten (as well as a few sound FX) adds immeasurably to the drama's emotional impact. Well photographed and directed as well.

Verdict: Good (mostly) silent show! ***1/2.