A ROYAL SCANDAL

William Eythe and Tallulah Bankhead

A ROYAL SCANDAL (1945). Produced by Ernest Lubitsch. Directed by Otto Preminger. 

Devoted Russian soldier Lt. Alexei Chernoff (William Eythe), hearing of a plot against his empress, Catherine the Great, dares all to rush to her side and warn her. Catherine (Tallulah Bankhead) already knows of the plot but is almost instantly smitten with the handsome Alexei. Although Alexei is engaged to the countess Anna (Anne Baxter), it isn't long before he is ensconced in the palace, the commander of the palace guards -- and a colonel to boot. Knowing that Catherine has undoubtedly had a long line of "commanders" as lovers, Anna is not about to take this lying down. But Catherine is hardly the type to put up with insubordination either from her ladies-in-waiting or from her lovers. The fur will fly!

Anne Baxter, Charles Coburn, William Eythe

A Royal Scandal is a very funny royal farce with an outstanding performance from Tallulah Bankhead who brilliantly mines every comic gem in the script. William Eythe and Anne Baxter are no slouches and deliver excellent performances, and we also have adept and amusing work from Charles Coburn as the Chancellor, Sig Ruman as General Ronsky, Vincent Price as the French ambassador, Misha Auer as Captain Sukov, Grady Sutton as Ronsky's nephew, and others. Briskly directed and with a notable theme by Alfred Newman, this is a real treat. William Eythe was a talented actor who died tragically young at 38. Although he had a brief and unsuccessful marriage, he was the boyfriend of actor Lon McCallister. Eythe somewhat resembled Tyrone Power and had a voice that reminds one of Audie Murphy. 

Verdict: Delightful and stylish comedy with engaging and highly adept players. ***1/2. 

THE CHEAT

Tallulah Bankhead

THE CHEAT (1931). Director: George Abbott.

"If you're trying to appeal to my better nature, it's hopeless, for I haven't any."

Elsa Carlyle (Tallulah Bankhead) and her husband Jeffrey (Harvey Stephens) are feeling a financial pinch when Elsa makes matters worse by losing a bundle at cards. She compounds this error by making a very unsound investment. The oily Hardy Livingstone (Irving Pichel), a wealthy man who collects women like literal trophies, offers Elsa his help -- but at a price she isn't willing to pay, leading to melodramatic complications and a climactic courtroom scene. Except for her overacting at the finale, Bankhead is quite good, and while hardly a raving beauty, one can imagine she never lacked for dates. Stephens is adequate and Pichel is fine, although the movie might have had more of an edge -- and given Elsa more of a moral dilemma -- had Hardy been played by a sexier actor one could believe she was attracted to. The picture is minor but holds the attention and Bankhead is basically swell and appealing. Pichel was later the villain in the serial Dick Tracy's G-Men and directed many films, including The Most Dangerous Game (co-director) and Quicksand. Bankhead later appeared in everything from Hitchcock's Lifeboat to Die, Die, My Darling to the TV series' Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour and Batman.

Verdict: Creaky old pre-code melodrama enlivened by Bankhead. **1/2.

LIFEBOAT

LIFEBOAT (1944). Director: Alfred Hitchcock. 

The survivors of a freighter that was torpedoed by a Nazi U-boat discover that the German they have on board was actually the captain of the submarine that not only destroyed the freighter but ordered the lifeboats shelled. Despite this, he manages to take over the ship until ... Absorbing Hitchcock suspense film has plenty of both dramatic and thrilling episodes, and despite its one location is quite cinematic for the most part. Walter Slezak does not play a cartoon Nazi spitting out "schwein!" all the time but one who is fairly ingratiating and therefore more troubling. Among some powerful and moving sequences in the film one that stands out the most has a young mother (Heather Angel) who's lost her baby, awakening with her hands still "holding " the missing infant. Although Tallulah Bankhead nearly steals the show as reporter Connie Porter [first seen in the lifeboat in her mink], the entire cast is excellent, including Slezak, Angel, William Bendix as a poor sap who loses his leg; Mary Anderson as a nurse; John Hodiak as the commanding Kovac; Henry Hull as the wealthy Rittenhouse; Canada Lee as Gus; and Hume Cronyn as Sparks. [Hull was the Werewolf of London years before.] The movie has many lovely and interesting touches throughout. Characterizations and dialogue in Jo Swerling's screenplay [apparently taken from a story idea or treatment by John Steinbeck] are excellent. You could quibble that there's too much talking and card-playing, that there's not enough of a reaction to the realization that Slezak was the captain of the U-boat (although Hitchcock may have been saving the fireworks for a later moment), but essentially this is a fine and fascinating classic. Great ending. 

Verdict: Strong stuff. ***1/2.

DIE, DIE, MY DARLING

DIE, DIE MY DARLING (aka Fanatic/1965). Director: Silvio Narizzano.

Patricia Carroll (Stefanie Powers, the Girl from Uncle) is in England with her new fiance, Alan (Maurice Kaufmann) when she decides to pay a courtesy call on the mother, Mrs. Trefoile (Tallulah Bankhead), of her former fiance, Steven, who died in an accident. Unfortunately, the initially welcoming Mrs. Trefoile isn't right in the head, and is such a religious fanatic that she considers Pat to be Steven's wife. When she discovers that Pat is planning to marry someone else, Mrs. Trefoile keeps Pat a prisoner with the aid of a married couple, Harry and Anna (Peter Vaughn, Yootha Joyce), who work for her. This is Bankhead's entry in the "aging actress" horror film sweepstakes and she gives it her all, although it is unfortunate that she sounds like Daffy Duck most of the time. Powers is a bit affected, but she's more than competent as the harried young woman, and Vaughn and Joyce are as professional as ever. Donald Sutherland plays another servant who is mentally deficient, the kinds of roles he specialized in before he was somehow reinvented as an unlikely romantic lead. Die, Die, My Darling holds the attention, and has some very effective moments, but in general the direction is uninspired and the whole production has a kind of cheapjack feel to it. It's ironic that Bankhead, who was certainly a free spirit in real life, plays a woman who is repulsed by sensuality. A Hammer film released by Columbia. Screenplay by Richard Matheson from the novel "Nightmare" by Anne Blaisdell.

Verdict: Tallulah at her naughtiest. ***.

TALLULAH!

TALLULAH! The Life and Times of a Leading Lady. Joel Lobenthal. ReganBooks; 2004.

A very readable and thorough look at the life of Tallulah Bankhead, from her childhood, to her years on the London stage, her brief forays into Hollywood, and her triumphs and flops on Broadway – and her mostly upfront life as a "bisexual" adventuress. The book successfully debunks many of the myths about Bankhead, including her alleged lack of talent [many saw her merely as a personality], her supposed bad relations with Hitchcock during the making of Lifeboat [they actually got along quite well], etc. A problematic section of the book deals with her relationship with and pandering to gay fans of a certain stripe According to Lobenthal, Bankhead would try to give serious performances in plays but the gay fans – at least some gay fans -- would hoot at any halfway suggestive line and after awhile she catered some of her performances to this contingent, to the detriment of her art. [Lobenthal doesn't quite make it clear that these obsessive fans hardly constituted the entire gay community and that not every gay fan came only for Bankhead's camp value]. There are many solid interviews and good documentation of Bankhead's final years and performances. And plenty of humor, such as when Bankhead lies in wait in Gary Cooper's dressing room and he comes “bounding out with lipstick printed from forehead to chin.” The book is peppered with amusing anecdotes of Bankhead's sexual and alcoholic escapades but is always written with compassion and understanding.

Verdict: Good read. ***.