THE SEARCH FOR BRIDEY MURPHY

Louis Hayward

THE SEARCH FOR BRIDEY MURPHY (1956).  Director: Noel Langley.

Morey Bernstein (Louis Hayward) becomes fascinated by the practice of hypnotism. First he delves into the life and work of alleged "psychic" Edgar Cayce, then practises his hypnotism on a neighbor, Ruth Simmons (Teresa Wright). During one of their sessions, when Morey regresses Ruth back and farther back in time, he apparently discovers that she had a former life as an Irish woman named Bridey Murphy. Morey and his publisher try to find out what the facts are, and if Bridey even existed, while Ruth gives up more details of the woman's life, death, and after-life under hypnosis.

Hayward with Teresa Wright

The Search for Bridey Murphy was based on a popular non-fiction book of the same name, and the author, of course, was Morey Bernstein. After the book's publication it developed that there were all sorts of holes in Ruth's story (Ruth was actually a woman named Virginia Tighe), and eventually it was discovered that Bridey Murphy was actually the name of a woman who lived across from Virginia when she was a child. Having more or less been proven that the whole reincarnation story was so much b.s. -- Cayce was similarly discredited in later years --  the film proceeds almost like a documentary, and ends with Morey/Hayward admitting that reincarnation has not been proven, certainly not in this case. However, Hayward tells the audience that the most important thing they can take with them is that hypnotism is real and that it can offer genuine help to people in need.

Wright with Kenneth Tobey

So while The Search for Bridey Murphy can't be taken as a true tale of past lives, it is still a surprisingly entertaining picture, and the credit has to go almost entirely to the excellent performances of Louis Hayward and Teresa Wright. The scenes when Ruth tells of what the after-life, a kind of purgatory, is like are interesting if for no other reason that it's about time that someone in a movie asks a "dead" person exactly what things are like on the "other side." There is also an excellent and tense scene when a near-panicked Morey has trouble bringing Ruth out of her trance, afraid she may remain as "Murphy" forever. The two leads have good support from Nancy Gates [World Without End] as Morey's wife; Kenneth Tobey as Ruth's husband; and Richard Anderson as Dr. Deering. Other movies with the theme of reincarnation include I've Lived Before and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.

Verdict: Despite the basic phoniness of the whole premise, this is more absorbing than you might imagine. Two talented leads help a lot. ***. 

ENCHANTMENT

David Niven and Evelyn Keyes

ENCHANTMENT (1948). Director: Irving Reis.

During the London blitz an elderly man, Rollo (David Niven of The Pink Panther) thinks back on his life after he meets his niece, Grizel (Evelyn Keyes), who is an ambulance driver. Flashbacks tell the story of how Lark (Teresa Wright) came to his house in childhood after her parents were killed in an accident. A grown-up Rollo and Lark fall in love, but there is interference from Rollo's jealous sister, Selina (Jayne Meadows). Rollo tries to convince Grizel not to turn away from love with a soldier, Pax (Farley Granger), just because she was once hurt, sparing her his fate. I wanted to like Enchantment but somehow this romantic movie just doesn't work for me for several reasons. The going back and forth from the past to WW2 becomes tiresome, the characters never seem that dimensional, and Lark's actions and subsequent fate are slightly mystifying. The acting isn't bad, although Jayne Meadows plays her character like an all-too-obvious villainess. Gigi Perreau (introduced in this picture, although she'd appeared in several earlier films) and Peter Miles [Possessed] are excellent as Lark and Rollo as children. Miles was Perreau's brother and was also in The Red Pony and The Betty Hutton Show. Sherlee Collier is also good as Selina as a child; she died at only 35.

Verdict: Star-crossed but unconvincing love story. **.

THE CAPTURE

THE CAPTURE (1950). Director: John Sturges.

When a payroll is robbed, Lin Vanner (Lew Ayres) goes after the alleged thief, Sam Tevlin (Edwin Rand), and kills him. But it develops that Sam might not have been the robber after all. A guilt-racked Vanner goes off and encounters the man's widow, Ellen (Teresa Wright), and becomes both surrogate husband and a father to her young son, Mike (Jimmy Hunt). Not only does Lin have to wonder how Ellen will react when she learns the truth, but he still has to capture the real payroll thieves. Injured and bleeding, Lin tells his story to a local priest, Father Gomez (Victor Jory of A Woman's Secret). The Capture is half-baked and sets up an intriguing situation that it doesn't develop with any dramatic intensity. Ayres [Damian: Omen 2] isn't bad in the lead, but the part requires a more passionate actor. Wright [Something to Live For] and little Jimmy Hunt come off best, and we also have weird Milton Parsons for good measure. William Bakewell and Duncan Renaldo are also in the cast.

Verdict: Holds the attention. **1/2.

THE STEEL TRAP

THE STEEL TRAP (1952). Director: Andrew L. Stone.

A bank officer named Jim Osborne (Joseph Cotten), with a wife, Laurie (Teresa Wright), and a small daughter, hits upon a scheme of stealing a million dollars and taking his family to Brazil, where no extradition treaty exists. But getting out of the country with the loot proves no easy feat, as there's one complication after another involving passports in locked offices, missed flights, curious customs men, and the like. The Steel Trap is extremely suspenseful, especially at the nail-biting climax, and the two leads give superlative performances; Cotten is particularly effective. What perhaps prevents this from being a masterpiece is that the characterization is comparatively minimal. Johnathan Hale is fine as Osborne's boss, Mr. Bowers, and there are short appearances by two of the cast members of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman: William Hudson is a bank teller, and Michael Ross, who played the alien giant and the bartender in that film, is a building guard in this one. Wright and Cotten were most famously teamed in the earlier Shadow of a Doubt while Hale was in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. 

Verdict: Quite memorable and tense thriller. ***.

SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)

SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943). Director: Alfred Hitchcock.

Young "Charlie" Newton (Teresa Wright) is thrilled that her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) has come to the small town of Santa Rosa for a visit, but when she learns he's a suspect in the "Merry Widow" strangulation murders of three wealthy widows, the friendly visit becomes a battle of wills between two determined individuals. Shadow of a Doubt, bolstered by a script co-written by Thornton Wilder which features interesting, three-dimensional characters (perhaps young Ann is a bit too "cute" and precocious), is also quite talky and drags in spots, making it hard to sustain the tension. However, it holds the attention and spins a fascinating web around the two Charlies as they dance their sinister dance. Joseph Cotten never had a better role or gave a better performance, and he is matched by Teresa Wright. Patricia Collinge ("Birdie" from The Little Foxes) is strong and touching as the mother and sister who loves both Charlies, and there are a lot of good character performances. Hume Cronyn, who plays a friend of Charlie's father and is comedy relief, becomes a little tiresome after awhile. There are some nice Hitchcock touches in the picture -- Uncle Charlie's family walking ahead of him and out of camera range as he remains isolated (after they pick him up at the station); the tracking shot to the ring on young Charlie's finger -- but it is obvious that the beginning and ending of certain sequences (which open or end too abruptly) were left on the cutting room floor. Although well-photographed, the film still has the look of a B feature. One could also quibble about certain plot points.

Verdict: Despite imperfections, an effective and occasionally chilling picture with great lead performances. ***1/2.