YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG (2009). Written, produced, and directed by Aviva Kempner.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is primarily a biography of Gertrude Berg, who played the much-beloved character of Molly Goldberg on the long-running radio/TV series The Goldbergs. (Her neighbor would yell out of her window, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg.") But it is also an evocation of a particular time in history, and a look back at the radio, television and motion picture industries as they were during a different era. In addition, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg also covers everything from WW2, the holocaust and anti-Semitism to the often tragic consequences of the blacklist in the fifties and its effect on many careers in show business. Berg, born Tilly Edelstein, became "the first woman to build a media empire." She wrote but originally had not intended to act on the radio show The Rise of the Goldbergs, but she was so suited for the lead role that she got it, and continued to play the part when it debuted as the TV series The Goldbergs on 1/10/49. Philip Loeb was excellent as her husband, but due to his liberal and labor causes he was branded a communist and CBS dropped the show when Berg refused to drop Loeb. However, Loeb finally had to leave the series when it became apparent that no other network would air the program as long as he was a part of it (he later committed suicide). 

The Goldbergs continued with first Harold Stone, and then Robert Harris, as Mr. Goldberg, but it lost much of its audience when the family moved from the Bronx to the suburbs. Although focusing on a Jewish family, it was the universal themes on the program that made it a hit with so many. Berg later wound up doing more than one project with, of all people, Sir Cedric Hardwicke! The movie is bolstered by interviews with the late Berg's relations, co-workers, and many people both in and out of the industry who were greatly influenced by her. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is charming, sad, and altogether excellent. NOTE: The DVD release of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg contains many extras, including a few episodes of the series itself. 

Verdict: This is a superb documentary on every possible level. ****

SOUTH SEA WOMAN

Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo

SOUTH SEA WOMAN (1953). Director: Arthur Lubin. 

Through a series of misadventures Sergeant James O'Hearn (Burt Lancaster), his buddy and rival Davey (Chuck Connors), and the woman, Ginger (Virginia Mayo), that Davey is in love with wind up on an isolated island that seems untouched by the war except that any soldiers there wind up in jail. O'Hearn only pretends that he's gone AWOL, but Davey wants no part of the war, with the result that O'Hearn, of all people, winds up court-martialed. The movie is a long flashback detailing how he wound up in such a situation with the story veering from Shanghai to the French island of Namou. Too much talk in the courtroom sequences slows the movie down but there's some good action near the end when a commandeered yacht helmed by O'Hearn takes on the Japanese fleet! The three leads all give very good performances, as does Viola Vonn as the Frenchwoman Lillie Duval, and Arthur Shields [Daughter of Dr. Jekyll] as another resident of the island. Paul Burke plays an ensign at the court martial. 

Verdict: Entertaining if unremarkable. **1/2.

KING OF THE COWBOYS

Roy Rogers behind bars

KING OF THE COWBOYS (1943). Director: Joseph Kane.

Rodeo star Roy Rogers, playing himself, is importuned to quit the show so he can go undercover to find some WW2 saboteurs. His sidekick, Frog Milhouse (Smiley Burnette),  goes along with him and they hook up with another show of which Judy Mason (Peggy Moran of Horror Island) and her pal Ruby (Dorothea Kent of Young Fugitives) are a part. The gals work with Maurice  (Gerald Mohr) -- the "Mental Marvel" -- who does a mind-reading act via which he communicates with his fellow spies. James Bush plays Dave Mason, the show manager, who may not be on the side of the angels. Lloyd Corrigan plays Karley, the governor's private secretary, who is definitely not on the side of the angels.

Kent, Moran and Mohr

King of the Cowboys is often mistaken as Roger's first starring role, but he starred in a great many films-- mostly for Republic Studios  --  before he made this one. The plot in this "modern" nominal western is negligible, but Rogers has a nice voice and the film's highlights are the musical numbers: "I'm an Old Cowhand;" "Ride, Ranger, Ride;" and especially "Prairie Moon." An odd moment occurs when the governor (Russell Hicks) tells Roy how his last agent was killed and that his final words were "following May." Rogers, who is not too swift, assumes that May was some hot tamale, says "sounds like nice work," and shows absolutely no concern for the agent who was murdered! Otherwise, Rogers is pleasant, handsome and bland, and Burnette is only mildly amusing. The two gals don't get much to do, but Mohr and Corrigan are as professional as ever. Irving Bacon, Ethel's dad on I Love Lucy, has a small role as well. In addition to other Roy Rogers features, as well as co-directing a couple of serials, Joseph Kane also helmed Jubilee Trail for Republic.

Verdict: Odd mixture of cowboys and spies with some good songs. **1/2. 

HITCHCOCK'S PARTNER IN SUSPENSE: THE LIFE OF SCREENWRITER CHARLES BENNETT

HITCHCOCK'S PARTNER IN SUSPENSE: THE LIFE OF SCREENWRITER CHARLES BENNETT. Edited by John Charles Bennett. University Press of Kentucky; 2014.

"I hate the talk of this being a young man's industry ... Not because I am an old man, but because I hate the notion you must be young to be hot ... Experience is terribly important, a tremendous help in writing." -- Charles Bennett.

This very interesting tome is essentially the memoirs of screenwriter Charles Bennett, with added chapters written by his son, John Charles Bennett. Bennett did several screenplays for Alfred Hitchcock -- Blackmail (from Bennett's play), The Man Who Knew Too Much, Foreign Correspondent etc. --  and much more work for the movies and television, along with plays and novels. While never denying Hitchcock's talent, both Bennetts seem to feel, rightly or wrongly, that the elder Bennett didn't get enough credit, and like many screenwriters, feels that directors walk off with the lion's share of the attention whether they deserve it or not. Bennett felt that Hitch was a great director, not a great writer. Bennett spends a lot of pages writing about his wartime experiences, in which he admits that he had it much better than most because of his wealth at the time. Bennett's first marriage ended when his wife left him for another man; she knew he had had numerous affairs with other women. His second disastrous marriage went on the rocks quickly but continued for many, many miserable years. The most affecting chapter in the book is one in which his son describes in heart-wrenching detail and effective prose how his childhood was all but ruined by his mother's alcoholism and emotional issues and his father's comparative neglect. Soldier, spy, writer and lover boy, the narcissistic Bennett remains a fascinating figure, but sadly, he wasn't much of a father, and the emotional scars endured by his son have clearly not quite healed. Charles Bennett, who did some wonderful screenplays for such films as Night of the Demon and Where Danger Lives, doesn't emerge for the most part as an especially likable character, but his comments on the age discrimination of Hollywood are well-taken. The chapters which describe his struggles to be taken seriously despite his advanced years make him a more sympathetic figure, at least during that period. For money, Bennett did several entertaining screenplays for Irwin Allen [The Lost World; Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea], which Allen would invariably muck around with to their detriment. When Bennett was in his nineties he was hired to write a remake of Blackmail, but the film was never made, although he briefly became a name again.

Verdict: Excellent bio-memoir from a Hollywood insider's pov and a highly interesting slice of film history. ***1/2. 

UP IN ARMS

UP IN ARMS (1944). Director: Elliott Nugent.

Danny Weems (Danny Kaye, in his film debut) is a hopeless hypochondriac who not only thinks he has every ailment imaginable but convinces others as well (in the film's funniest sequences). Danny is also hopelessly smitten with pretty Mary (Constance Dowling) who only has eyes for Danny's buddy, Joe (Dana Andrews of Where the Sidewalk Ends). Meanwhile, nurse Virginia (Dinah Shore of Follow the Boys) is unrequitedly in love with Danny. Then Danny and Joe get drafted and the two gals join up as nurses, wherein all four find themselves on a ship sailing into the Pacific war zone. Up in Arms is supposedly a remake of Eddie Cantor's Whoopee, with the setting transferred from the wild west to WW2, where the sight of singing and dancing on a ship sailing into combat seems pretty silly. Indeed, although the movie starts off quite well, it soon becomes a little too silly, although Kaye is a wonderful performer and emerged a major star after this. Andrews, Dowling and Shore are marvelous support, and Shore gets to sing two memorable numbers, "Wildest Dreams" and "I Had a Man." A very odd sequence occurs when the two men and the two gals are sitting back to back on a bus, carrying on a conversation while pretending (according to military edict) not to know one another, with the result that it appears as if Kaye and Andrews -- and Dowling and Shore -- are wooing one another! The decidedly homophobic reactions from the other passengers, considering the time period, are a little discomfiting! Other cast members include Lyle Talbot (typically bland as a sergeant); Louis Calhern as a colonel; Margaret Dumont [Shake, Rattle and Roll], looking rather slender in a scene in a movie theater lobby; Elisha Cook Jr., Benny Baker, and George Mathews as fellow sailors; and Virginia Mayo as one of the beauteous Goldwyn Girls -- in short order Mayo would be deservedly co-starring with Kaye in several pictures. Constance Dowling (sister of Doris Dowling) was a pretty, perfectly competent actress, somewhat reminiscent of Veronica Lake, who made her debut in this film and made just a few others, often in Italy.

Verdict: Amiable nonsense that has little to do with the actual war. **1/2. 

FALLING HARE

The Gremlin and the Rabbit

FALLING HARE (1943). Merrie Melodies starring Bugs Bunny. Director: Robert Clampett.

In this WW2 cartoon classic, Bugs Bunny laughs at the notion of "gremlins" committing sabotage only to encounter such a gremlin, who -- to Bugs' annoyance, consternation, and then terror -- manages to not only outwit the rabbit but employ the kind of tactics that Bugs generally employs on his nemesis, Elmer Fudd. The gremlin is a cute little fellow, albeit dangerous, culminating in a scary and hilarious scene when he tries to throw Bugs out of an airplane, which then runs amok and unpiloted over the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Will poor Bugs survive this encounter, let alone the gremlin? Writer Warren Foster supplies the clever and amusing answer.  The terrific voice characterizations are by Mel Blanc and the director, Robert Clampett. Believe it or not, some fans object to this cartoon because Bugs doesn't have the upper hand, and according to one critic, acts "like a coward and a weakling" -- how is he supposed to act being thrown out of an airplane? Get a life!

Verdict: Very funny Bugs-spectacular. ***. 

BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY

Hedy Lamarr

BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (2017). Director: Alexandra Dean.

Austrian-born and Jewish, Hedy Lamarr fled the Nazis and emigrated to America, where she was turned into a star after appearing in the controversial Ecstasy in her homeland. Her first American film was Algiers with Charles Boyer. A look at her films reveal an actress whose work could be uneven, but who could also offer effective, sensual, and warm performances in such films as Crossroads and Zeigfeld Girl. She turned to producing later on and worked on Edgar G. Ulmer's The Strange Woman with George Sanders. Bombshell concentrates less on her film career and more on her scientific work, which -- incredible as it may seem -- led to the wi-fi and blue tooth of today. Apparently Lamarr conceived of the idea of radio-controlled torpedoes during WW 2 (after reading of all the deaths at sea caused by German u-boats). Her main contribution was the idea of "frequency-hopping" to keep the Germans from interfering with the Allies' signals. This same frequency-hopping led to the cell phones and other devices that are commonplace today. The Navy rejected Lamarr's ideas (developed with the help of a friend, the American composer Georges Antheil), although they apparently used her technology anyway but never acknowledged it (or paid her for it) until she was an elderly recluse who had lost her beauty. Bombshell features interviews with her children, biographers and film critics, as well as comments from Lamarr herself from a taped interview she did with a magazine writer. If you're looking for an intensive exploration of her film work and/or comments from fellow actors, you won't find them, giving this otherwise excellent documentary a feeling of incompleteness. However, what we do get is undeniably absorbing, and the filmmakers were undoubtedly not interested in doing just another movie star bio. NOTE: This documentary can be viewed on Netflix and on DVD.

Verdict: Who knew Hedy was a genius? ***.

THEY MET IN THE DARK

James Mason and Joyce Howard

THEY MET IN THE DARK (1943). Director: Karel Lamac.

Richard Heritage (James Mason) receives a court-martial because fake orders were palmed off on him by an unknown person. He goes to see a young manicurist named Mary (Patricia Medina of The Killing of Sister George), who tells him she has something important to tell him and will speak to him later. She never makes the date but her dead body is found  by Laura Verity (Joyce Howard) in a house owned by Laura's uncles. When Mary's body disappears, the police want to put Laura in jai for supposedly lying and leading them on a chase, so she runs off with Richard in pursuit, neither quite trusting the other. Along the way they encounter a slimy mind reader named Riccardo (Karel Stepanek of The 2nd Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World); a radio singer named Lily (Phyllis Stanley); a theatrical impresario named Christopher Child (Tom Walls); a petty officer named Bill Grant (Robert Sansom of He Found a Star); and others, some of whom are part of a nest of spies. Meanwhile Commander Lippinscott (David Farrar of The Sea Chase) is surreptitiously trying to check out the story Richard told at his hearing. He and Richard discover that a certain song to be sung in a nightclub contains a secret code that could sink a ship ... They Met in the Dark is all too typical of WW2 spy movies that are cobbled together with elements lifted from Hitchcock films. These films are called "Hitchcockian" because of those elements but the simple truth is that it's Hitchcock's style of direction that sets his movies apart. Without that style -- and with a poor script and weak direction, as this has -- these movies have no reason to exist. As well, They Met in the Dark is almost stupefyingly dull. The actors, including Mason, can't be faulted, but this badly-constructed picture is an effort to sit through. Director Lamac seems to have no clue as to how to put a picture together in a compelling fashion, although even Hitch himself may have been defeated by the screenplay.

Verdict: Dreadful -- the kind of pictures Mason had to put up with in the earlier days of his career. *.

IN THE MEANTIME, DARLING

Jeanne Crain and Frank Latimore

IN THE MEANTIME, DARLING (1944). Produced and directed by Otto Preminger.

Maggie (Jeanne Crain of State Fair) is a somewhat spoiled, upper-class gal who arrives at a seedy hotel off base to marry Lt. Daniel Ferguson (Frank Latimore). Maggie loves Danny, but she is dismayed by the lack of privacy and living conditions in the hotel, which is run by the widow Armstrong (Jane Randolph), whose husband was killed overseas. Maggie tries to pitch in with the other gals but finds she has little training for anything. Then Danny mistakenly believes that Maggie has gotten pregnant ... In the Meantime, Darling is a minor but still significant film that looks at the problems of women who every day have to face the fact that their husbands may go off to war and never come back, and there is an air of poignancy and sorrow because of it. There is an especially lovely and sobering scene when Maggie goes into Mrs. Armstrong's apartment and sees the wedding pictures and other photos, then comes upon the announcement of her husband's posthumous awards from the Army. Crain and Latimore both give excellent performances as the lead couple, and there is nice work from Gail Robbins [The Fuller Brush Girl] as another wife named Shirley. (One can't realistically imagine this marriage lasting, however, as Shirley's husband, Phil, played by Stanley Prager, is not only fat and homely but rather insensitive to his wife's needs as well.) Clarence Muse is also notable as Henry, the black porter for the hotel, who does not play in a subservient fashion and whose character's son is also in the Army overseas. Henry is treated as a three-dimensional African-American character, a rarity in this time period. Other cast members include Eugene Pallette, Mary Nash (as an especially disagreeable mother-in-law), Olin Howland, Elisabeth Risdon, Glenn Langan, and even Blake Edwards in the acting phase of his career in an uncredited bit. This was the first picture for Latimore, who also appeared in 13 Rue Madeleine with James Cagney, Shock with Vincent Price, and ultimately amassed 70 credits.

Verdict: Warm and sentimental in the right way, and very well-performed. ***.

STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM

Dick Powell and Mary Martin

STAR SPANGLED RHYTHM (1942). Director: George Marshall.

"I just can't make it tonight -- Veronica Lake is going to show me her other eye. " -- Bob Hope.

In this all-star Paramount wartime picture, the main plot has to do with Johnny Webster (Eddie Bracken), a sailor on leave who comes to Hollywood with his buddies. Eddie's father was once "Bronco Billy" Webster (Victor Moore of Carolina Blues), star of silent pictures, but is now reduced to being a guard at the studio gate. Ashamed of this comedown, Billy has lied to his son and told him that he is head of the studio! Eddie's girlfriend, Polly (Betty Hutton of the "craptastic" Betty Hutton Show), helps "Pop" put over the deception but needs some big help from the stars when Pop foolishly promises that his Paramount stars will put on a show for the sailor boys ... Star Spangled Rhythm has some slow stretches -- the whole second half consists almost entirely of acts, including one stop-the-movie-dead skit where four men play poker as if they were women -- but it also has its share of delights, including a hilarious bit when Polly enlists the aid of two men to help her get over the wall of the Paramount studio. Dick Powell and Mary Martin and an uncredited black group (the Mills Brothers?) do an excellent "Dreamtime" number on a train; there's a splendid and rather sexy production number called "Swing Shift" in a factory; and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson stars in another vibrant and all-Black dance number called "Sharp as a Tack." Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, and Paulette Goddard spoof their images in "Sweater, Sarong, and Peekaboo Bang," and Sterling Holloway [Shake, Rattle & Rock], Walter Catlett and Arthur Treacher play the same ladies in drag. William Bendix has a funny shower scene with Bob Hope. Bracken, Hutton, and Moore are all on the money; Walter Abel scores as the real studio head, as does Anne Revere as his secretary; and Cecil B. Demille proves a perfectly adept actor playing himself. Cass Daley does her weird shtick, buck teeth and all. George Marshall keeps the pace fast and makes things visually interesting as well.

Verdict: Enjoyable romp. ***.

DUET FOR BUGS

Bugs Bunny and the Fabulous Elmer Fudd

STAGE DOOR CARTOON (1944). Director: Friz Freleng.
HERR MEETS HARE (1945). Director: Friz Freleng.

The DVD for Hollywood Canteen features two vintage wartime Bugs Bunny cartoons. In the first, Stage Door Cartoon, the "wascally wabbitt" is chased by Elmer Fudd into a theater, where the luckless hunter is forced to perform on stage for an audience, including a bit where he does a frightfully high dive into a very, very small glass of water. In Herr Meets Hare, Bugs takes a wrong turn at Albuquerque and winds up in Germany, where he encounters a Nazi hunter and even Adolf Hitler. At one point Bugs pretends to be a diva in a Wagnerian opera (recalling the classic What's Opera, Doc?). As usual, Mel Blanc does his brilliant voice characterizations.

The strange thing is that the latter cartoon features a disclaimer from TCM (which released the DVD) about ethnic and racial stereotyping, but the only stereotypes in the cartoon are of Nazis. Have we become so ridiculously politically correct that we have to worry about offending Nazis? Oy vey!

Verdict: Amusing, fluid, and well-done cartoons. ***.

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944). Director: Howard Hawks.

Charter boat captain Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) meets up with adventuress Marie (Lauren Bacall) in Martinique just after France has fallen. Needing money, Harry agrees to bring two members of the French resistance, De Bursac (Walter Szurovy) and his wife (Delores Moran of Old Acquaintance), into Martinique, but he comes afoul of the corpulent Captain Renard once they arrive. Renard wants their whereabouts, and captures Harry's old sot friend, Eddie (Walter Brennan) to achieve his ends. But Harry may have a trick  or two up his sleeve ...  If you're expecting a serious or faithful version of Ernest Hemingway's novel of the same name, look elsewhere, for this movie is pure Hollywood and little else. Bogart and Bacall, who fell for each other while making this movie -- they were married the following year -- certainly had a unique chemistry despite the difference in ages and attractiveness. This was Bacall's first picture, and she's fine, probably due in no small measure to Hawks' special tutoring . Dan Seymour [Return of the Fly] is just plain strange as Renard, but amusing, speaking in musical cadences as he makes silent threats with his eyes and belly. Walter Brennan is Walter Brennan. The presence of real-life songwriter Hoagy Carmichael as Crickett, the piano player in a club, almost turns this into a semi-musical. The best thing about the movie is the ending, with both Bacall and Brennan boogieing their way out of the club, albeit in entirely different manners. As a thriller, if that's what it is, To Have and Have Not is almost a complete failure, as scenes that should crackle with tension are flat (if well-acted). The movie holds the attention for the most part, but it's a little too odd and Hollywood-ish to be effective. This was remade as The Breaking Point, which is a much better and much more serious picture.

Verdict: Not much to do with Ernest Hemingway. **1/2.

THE HASTY HEART

Patricia Neal and Richard Todd

THE HASTY HEART (1949). Director: Vincent Sherman.

In Burma at the very end of WW2, a Scots soldier named Lachie (Richard Todd) is shot in the kidney. That one kidney is destroyed and the other is defective, meaning he only has a short time to live. In the hospital, the other patients are told to make what time he has left as convivial as possible, but it won't be easy because Lachie has a massive chip on his shoulder and is extremely unpleasant. But can they and the sympathetic nurse, Sister Parker (Patricia Neal), be able to get through to the man? Based on a play by John Patrick, The Hasty Heart presents a sad and intriguing situation and makes the most of it, bolstered by an outstanding lead performance from Richard Todd [Lightning Strikes Twice]. Patricia Neal is lovely in the movie, and there are also fine jobs from Ronald Reagan [Bedtime for Bonzo] as the American, and  from Ralph Michael, Howard Marion-Crawford, and John Sherman as the other patients in the ward. Orlando Martins is given the thankless role of the near-silent tribesman, Blossom, but he, too, is effective. An amusing if odd sub-plot has to do with the fellows trying to find out if Lachie wears anything under his kilt -- their attempts to peek underneath it get a little obsessive at times. Todd's best scene is his reaction when he learns the truth about his medical condition, but, while he's perhaps a bit older than the character, he is on top of his game throughout. Todd played the role on Broadway after Richard Basehart left the cast. Aside from Neal and Reagan, the supporting characters aren't that well developed, and in truth, we don't learn all that much about those two, either. But somehow it doesn't matter, as the film is completely absorbing and deeply moving. This was remade as a telefilm with Gregory Harrison and Cheryl Ladd (!) and it gets a higher rating on imdb.com than the original, but I can't imagine it's better than this. Vincent Sherman also directed The Damned Don't Cry and many, many others.

Verdict: When dramas were dramas and not sitcoms. ***1/2 out of 4.

STALAG 17

William Holden and Peter Graves

STALAG 17 (1953). Director: Billy Wilder.

In a WW2 German POW camp, Sefton (William Holden) is a slick, callous wise guy who makes money anyway he can, whether it's from his fellow officers or from the German guards. When two hopeful escapees are discovered and shot, the other men suspect that someone in the barracks is feeding information to the buffoonish Schulz (Sig Ruman). The main suspect is Sefton, his accusers including the Security man, Price (Peter Graves); the barracks chief. Hoffman (Richard Erdman); blustery Duke (Neville Brand); and the two camp clowns, Shapiro (Harvey Lembeck) and "Animal" (Robert Strauss); among others. When it is clear that the Germans, represented by Commander Sherbach (Otto Preminger), intend to kill newcomer Lt. Dunbar (Don Taylor), who led a successful anti-German bombing raid, the group try to figure out a way to spirit him out of the camp without the quisling's knowledge. But is Sefton really the traitor? Stalag 17 might have made a great picture if there wasn't such insistence on catering to popular tastes and making a "feel good" movie about a Prisoner of War camp. No one expects Italian neo-realistic grimness in a Hollywood movie, but the comedy relief -- especially as it pertains to the bumbling and irritating Shapiro and Animal --  at times threatens to overwhelm everything else, as if it's a sitcom -- in fact, this movie with its cartoon Nazis was undoubtedly the inspiration for the series Hogan's Heroes, which even included a fumbling "Schulz". It's too bad, because the more serious aspects of the film are generally well-done. Holden gives his usual competent once-removed performance, and Graves [Beginning of the End] and Erdman [Cry Danger] and some of the others are fine, but Neville Brand is especially notable and dynamic as Duke. Holden won a Best Actor Oscar that he didn't really deserve, as it was well within his range and nothing at all special. Wilder and Strauss [September Storm] were nominated, but Brand should have been. The men in the camp talk about Betty Grable, but not once does anyone mention or even seem to think of wives and other loved ones back home aside from a brief scene when the POWs receive mail -- including letters from the finance company (!) -- from the States. [Apparently the Red Cross helped ship U.S. mail to Germany via neutral Sweden, but letters from the finance company are doubtful!] The film even tries to milk humor out of a throwaway scene when a prisoner realizes his wife is pregnant by another man but can't face up to it. (Trying not to over-sentimentalize, the movie goes to the other extreme.) There's a charming scene when the men all dance together in the absence of women.

Verdict: German POW camps as filtered through superficial Hollywood. **1/2.

ARCH OF TRIUMPH

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman

ARCH OF TRIUMPH (1948). Director: Lewis Milestone.

"A refugee without a passport has lost his membership in the human race."

In pre-WW2 Paris two strangers meet and become unhappily involved. One is Ravic (Charles Boyer), who was tortured in Austria by the Nazi Haake (Charles Laughton), and has taken illegal asylum in France. Joan (Ingrid Bergman) is a woman of "easy virtue" whose latest lover has just died. The couple seem to fall in love, but Ravic's illegal status and very real fear of jail and deportation, means he cannot get married. Then there's the added complication of Alex (Stephan Bekassy), with whom Joan gets engaged during a period when she is alone, and who is very possessive of her. Arch of Triumph, based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, should have been a powerful film, and it does have its moments, but it never emerges as the dramatic triumph that it could have been. A big problem -- besides the fact that everything is too prettified -- is that Boyer and Bergman have absolutely no chemistry, and even if one might acknowledge that Ravic might be a rather dour character, Boyer's emotionless and often perfunctory performance -- one of his worst -- doesn't help. Bergman is much, much better, and the picture is nearly stolen by Louis Calhern [Athena] as a friend of Ravic's who works as doorman at a Russian nightclub. Charles Laughton [They Knew What They Wanted] is excellent, as usual, as the repulsive Haake, but much more should have been made of his very final confrontation with Ravic. The fake "prince" Michael Romanoff, who opened his own Hollywood restaurant, plays the captain of the aforementioned club, and is rather unprepossessing. Ruth Warrick comes and goes too quickly to make any impression. William Conrad [East Side, West Side] , who later starred in TV's Jake and the Fat Man, has a terrific bit as a police man who corners Ravic and questions him after the former tends to an injured woman on the street. This is, I believe, the one and only picture made by Enterprise studios.

Verdict: Not terrible by any means, but not at all what it should have been. **1/2.

THE SEA CHASE

THE SEA CHASE (1955). Producer/director: John Farrow.

How's this for perfect casting? In The Sea Chase John Wayne plays Karl Erlich, the Captain of a German freighter (the Ergenstrasse), who supports his country but is no fan of Hitler. Lana Turner is cast as Elsa Keller, a kind of Mata Hari German spy who winds up as the only female passenger among a bunch of horny sailors. While it can't be said that Wayne and Turner have great chemistry, the odd thing is that the movie actually works and both stars are more than adequate in their roles. Erlich sets sail from Sidney just as war is declared, and an old friend, the British officer, Jeff Napier (David Farrar of The Echo Murders) -- he was one of Elsa's many conquests -- doggedly pursues him. Complications ensue when Chief Officer Kirchner (Lyle Bettger) takes it upon himself to murder some innocent fishermen who are shipwrecked on a supply island, making Erlich and his crew not only murderers but wanted war criminals. Erlich also has a conflict with Schlieter (James Arness) who has a chip on his shoulder and hates taking orders from his captain. Not only is The Sea Chase suspenseful, but you get caught up in the unusual storyline and begin to care about what happens to the characters and their ultimate fate. Bettger [No Man of Her Own] is especially good as Kirchner, and there's also excellent work from Farrar and from John Qualen [Dark Waters] as Chief Engineer Schmidt. Richard Davalos, Tab Hunter, Paul Fix, Arness, and Claude Akins (whose name is misspelled as "Akin" in the credits) also have some fine moments. Clearly this picture would not have been made just a few years earlier. In WarnerColor.

Verdict: Memorable "forgotten" Wayne film with an intriguing and different plot. ***.

RETURN FROM THE ASHES

Ingrid Thulin and Maximilian Schell

RETURN FROM THE ASHES (1965). Director: J. Lee Thompson.

"I was revolted, curious, shocked -- even thrilled."

"A man should always marry a woman with beautiful eyes. That way there's always something to love, no matter what happens."

"I came to you for advice, not the truth."

Michelle (Ingrid Thulin), a wealthy widow who also happens to be a doctor, falls in love with a poor chess player named Stanislaus Pilgrin (Maximilian Schell) in pre-WW 2 Paris. After the Nazis occupy the city, Stan marries the Jewish Michelle more as an act of defiance than anything else, but immediately after the wedding she's taken off to a concentration camp. After four years of Hell and a fifth in a sanitarium, Michelle makes her way back to Paris. At first Stan not only doesn't recognize his own wife, but thinks she must be dead and this woman her mere lookalike. He asks her to "pretend" to be Michelle -- herself -- so that he and her step-daughter, Fabienne (Samantha Eggar), can claim her 30 million franc fortune. And things get more twisted after that ... In a pre-credit sequence set on a train taking Michelle to Paris, a mischievous little boy falls through the door, and an old man remarks to his wife that Michelle, who has absolutely no reaction to the child's death, must have an "incredible lack of feeling." Then he sees the numbers tattooed on her arm and realizes why she is emotionally dead inside ... The trouble with Return from the Ashes is that nothing else as powerful as this opening sequence ever occurs in the movie, which turns more or less into a comparatively ordinary suspense film. On the other hand, Return sets up some intriguing situations, isn't entirely predictable, and boasts excellent performances from the entire cast, including Herbert Lom as a doctor friend of Michelle's. Attractive Thulin [The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse] gives an assured and authoritative lead performance; Schell [Judgment at Nuremberg] makes a charismatic "bad boy;" and Eggar expertly limns the petulant, sexual woman-child. The film also has interesting characters and some excellent dialogue. Still one might have hoped that such a momentous occurrence as the Holocaust might have developed into something a little more explosive than a fairly standard murder mystery. Attempts to equate atheism with "evil" are a little tiresome. J. Lee Thompson also directed Happy Birthday to Me.

Verdict: Despite disappointing aspects, this is an absorbing suspense film with some fascinating elements and several fine performances. ***.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1962)

Glenn Ford and Ingrid Thulin with backdrop of Notre Dame

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1962). Director: Vincente Minelli.

This remake of the silent film of the same title has been updated to WW Two. Argentinian Madriaga (Lee J. Cobb) is dispatched with rather quickly, and most of the story takes place in Paris, where an initially superficial Julio Desnoyers (Glenn Ford) has an affair with the married Marguerite Laurier (Ingrid Thulin of The Silence). Julio's father Marcelo (Charles Boyer) had deserted Army service years before and begs his son to fight the Nazis, unaware that Julio has already joined the resistance. This leads to the movie turning into a ersatz spy picture that has Julio going off on a suicide mission and a final confrontation with his cousin Heinrich (Karl Boehm of Sissi). Other characters include Julio's sister Chi Chi (Yvette Mimieux of Light in the Piazza) who joins the resistance much sooner; Marguerite's husband, Etinne (Paul Henreid); and Heinrich's father, Karl (Paul Lukas). It's amazing that adding all the excitement and peril of WW Two, plus technicolor and CinemaScope, has not resulted in a better movie than the original, but a far worse one. A middle-aged Glenn Ford is horribly miscast -- Minelli wanted a more appropriate Alain Delon but MGM nixed it -- and his love affair with Marguerite never for a minute seems passionate or believable. Scenes that should crackle with tension and drama are frittered away by Minelli's lacklustre direction. Not a single actor ever gets a close up, further distancing us from the characters, and Andre Previn's musical score can best be described as insipid. Milton R. Krasner's cinematography is a plus, but the sweeping vistas do little to pull us into the story. Other changes from the silent version include more wartime interaction between the two families -- one French, the other German -- and Etienne is not blinded. A bizarre sequence has Marguerite telling her husband she's leaving him for Julio the exact instant after he shows up, shattered by being tortured, after months away -- what perfect timing! Badly written and poorly made despite all the technological advances, this is a colossal bore. Of the cast, only Charles Boyer makes much of an impression. Like the silent version, this also has shots of phantom horsemen floating through the skies, and this time it seems even hokier.

Verdict: Stick with the original. ** out of 4.

THE BRIGHTON STRANGLER

John Loder and Michael St. Angel

THE BRIGHTON STRANGLER (1945). Director: Max Nosseck.

Reginald Parker (John Loder of Old Acquaintance) has made a name for himself playing Edward Grey, the notorious Brighton Strangler, on the London stage. When he is hit on the head during the blitz, he loses his memory, is presumed dead, and imagines he really is Edward Grey, with highly unfortunate results. "Grey" takes the train to Brighton where -- between murders -- he is befriended by April (June Duprez of The Thief of Bagdad) and her family. April has a secret husband in Bob Carson (Michael St. Angel), who begins to suspect that there's something wrong with the pleasant Mr. Grey. The Brighton Strangler is a minor thriller, but it does have moments of genuine suspense and several interesting sequences, the best-handled of which is the murder of Inspector Allison (Miles Mander) in his own home. The performers all give competent if second-rate performances. Although Rose Hobart [Conflict] isn't bad as Dorothy, the playwright and Parker's girlfriend, there is one especially tense sequence in which Hobart -- "Dorothy" having learned that Parker is not only alive but may be strangling people -- registers all the emotion of someone ordering dinner in a restaurant. Ian Wolfe plays the ill-fated Brighton mayor. Michael St. Angel also appeared in The Velvet Touch using the name Steven Flagg.

Verdict:  Stay out of Brighton. **1/2.

ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE

Sean Connery and Lana Turner as lovers

ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE (1958). Director: Lewis Allen.

"Odd, how the presence of someone you love can make a whole place beautiful."

In 1945 London reporter Sara Scott (Lana Turner) falls in love with BBC journalist Mark Trevor (Sean Connery). Unfortunately, Mark tells Sara that he is already married. Sara will never find out if Mark would have stayed with Sara or gone back to his wife, Kay (Glynis Johns), because he's killed in a plane crash shortly after his disclosure. After some time recuperating from her grief in a sanitarium, Sara travels to Cornwall where Mark lived and in a rather contrived development winds up meeting, and then living with, Mark's widow and his young son, Brian (Martin Stephens). The plot is pure soap opera, but it does present an intriguing situation, if only the characters were more dimensional (especially Sara) and if the script rose above its fairly trite level. Turner is okay, but she only indicates whatever her character is feeling without really exploring it, but Glynis Johns [The Vault of Horror] is excellent as Mark's widow. Although Sean Connery [Marnie] was "introduced"in this film, he'd appeared in several movies before this, and gives a more than satisfactory performance as Mark, convincingly making love to Turner, who was ten years or so older at the time. Barry Sullivan [Night Gallery] has the thankless role of Sara's boss, who has been in love with Sara for some time, and was even engaged to her before she met and fell in love with Mark. Sullivan is meant to be a stoic type who keeps his emotions to himself, but he adds no nuances or complexities to his performance, albeit his part is also underwritten. Johns and Connery come off the best, with a nod to little Martin Stephens, who is very good and charming as Brian.

Verdict: "Another Movie" -- or script --  might have helped, but this has its moments. **1/2.