Pickup on South Street.

Review #2541: Pickup on South Street.

Cast: 

Richard Widmark (Skip McCoy), Jean Peters (Candy), Thelma Ritter (Moe Williams), Murvyn Vye (Captain Dan "Tiger"), Richard Kiley (Joey), Willis Bouchey (Zara), Milburn Stone (Winoki), Vic Perry (Lightning Louie a.k.a. "Godkin"), Harry Carter (Detective Dietrich), George E. Stone (Willie, police desk clerk), George Eldredge (Fenton), and John Gallaudet (Detective Lieutenant Campion) Directed by Samuel Fuller (#1790 - Park Row, #2234 - The Steel Helmet, #2400 - The Baron of Arizona)

Review: 

"People living on the edge of society don't give a damn about politics. I wanted my film to be told through the eyes of the powerless. Cold war paranoia? Hell, these crooks were more interested in just getting by."

Sure, it's time again to encounter a Samuel Fuller movie. Pickup on South Street was his sixth feature as a director. With the finishing of Park Row, Fuller, under contract with Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox, was approached with a script called "Blaze of Glory" by Dwight Taylor (a former reporter for The New Yorker before becoming a writer with films such as When Tomorrow Comes [1939] and I Wake Up Screaming [1941]) about a woman lawyer falling in love with her criminal client in a murder trial. He liked it, but as a newspaper man in his old days, he knew those cases take time to play out, so he instead wanted to do a film about an outlaw and their gal but on the scale of small-time thieves. Alluding to hot button issues of the time such as fears of communists and secrets being sold (such as the mostly recent case of Klaus Fuchs), Fuller stated later that he wanted to "take a poke at the idiocy of the cold war climate of the fifties". Incidentally, the working title was "Pick-pocket", but executives thought it sounded too "European", so it eventually landed on a title that was inspired by Fuller's special memories of South Street in New York (in 1959, French filmmaker Robert Bresson directed a movie, called, well, Pickpocket). He soon did research on pickpockets through NYPD Detective Dan Campion, who he based the character Tiger on*. Fuller was given credit for the screenplay while Taylor was credited with the story. Despite grumblings from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover about the nature of the film (which never refers to the FBI at any point), the movie breezed through to release without a hitch, which saw it make double its budget of $780,000 back with audiences. In 1967, 20th Century Fox released The Cape Town Affair, a film shot in South Africa that basically was a remake (with Fuller being co-credited for the screenplay with "Harold Medford") that had James Brolin and Jacqueline Bissett cast in the lead roles alongside Claire Trevor.

All Fuller cared about was making a thriller about people on the margins, and he sure got it here with a satisfying feature that has a dark streak in people that wanted to get by with what they had. Even in a movie filmed on a set, you still have the feeling of seeing a tremendous city of strange seediness. It's a noir movie that is both rich and lean enough for all to enjoy for 80 minutes. It all rides on the cool nature of Widmark (who worked with Fuller once more with Hell and High Water [1954]), who is the usual cocksure self that is easy enough to like for what he does in the long run of tricks and guile. He doesn't care for flag-waving or people trying to get one over on him because if anybody is going to be the conman (physically or emotionally), it's going to be him. Fuller wanted an "average-looking woman" for the lead, which namely meant not wanting Ava Gardner or Betty Grable (contemporary articles apparently stated Grable rejected it, while Fuller's autobiography claimed otherwise) and landed on the bow-legged walking of Peters, who I guess is the kind of person who could make a guy like Widmark try to walk a semi-straight and narrow path, even if they have some offbeat scenes together; at one point, trying to confront someone breaking into his little shabby place. Widmark socks the first thing he sees, which happens to be Peters. Ritter (in an award nominated role) makes for quality support as a stoolie that still has a semblance of charm that shines right through to her final scene, an informant of the streets with standards right to the bitter end. The adversaries are the usual type of crook to lie within the lines of noir (really it could be anybody besides Commies), even if at a certain point you know where it's going to go. With a cast like this, it's got something for everyone with the type of people that show up every now and then. As a whole, if you like the hard touches of Fuller in tabloid narratives and being straight to the point, you'll have plenty to appreciate here. 

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*Daniel J. Campion served 27 years on the force, which saw him serve as a detective on the pickpocket squad beginning in 1929. He retired in 1954, and died in 1958 at the age of 54. 

You and Me.

Review #2009: You and Me.

Cast:

Sylvia Sidney (Helen), George Raft (Joe Dennis), Barton MacLane (Mickey), Harry Carey (Mr. Morris), Roscoe Karns (Cuffy), George E. Stone (Patsy), Warren Hymer (Gimpy), Robert Cummings (Jim), Adrian Morris (Knucks), and Roger Gray (Bath House) Directed by Fritz Lang (#333 - M, #500 - Metropolis, #1365 - Scarlet Street, #1619 - Destiny)

Review: 

As the story goes, Norman Krasna wrote up a story at the request of Paramount Pictures that would have George Raft as a star. Krasna, for those who don't know, had gone from an ambition to do journalism to work his way into becoming a drama critic before moving onto playwrighting to then becoming a studio writer, first with Columbia before moving onto others such as Paramount. In fact, one of his ideas for a script would become the basis for what became Fury (1936) at MGM, with Krasna receiving a co-credit and a subsequent Oscar nomination. Important to the story of the film that eventually became a film is that Krasna wanted to direct it. However, Carole Lombard read the script and found it interesting (after plans had been done to have Raft star with Helen Burgess), which then made Paramount want someone to direct who, well, had experience directing, because Raft and Lombard wanted someone with experience. At any rate, Krasna was let go from directing, which was meant to go for Richard Wallace before it eventually landed to Fritz Lang, as asked by Sylvia Sidney (who had starred in Fury and You Only Live Once (1937), as directed by Lang), who was brought on to star with Raft. Lang later called the film his first flop ("deservedly") while saying that he had wanted to make a "didactic" film while having influence from Bertolt Brecht, a good friend of his that had made a theatre style called Lehrstück that basically was a play that would teach you something. Virginia Van Upp (a child actress-turned-script writer/reader/casting director/agent) is credited with the screenplay, although Jack Moffitt did uncredited work as well. As for Krasna, he would eventually get his chance to direct, albeit in the 1940s with Princess O'Rourke (1943), which he also wrote.

The movie is an odd curiosity, that much is certain. It is probably not too hard to see why the movie did not make much of an impact with audiences, because it was an odd film to have a guy like Raft star in a film with Lang that is more of a quirky crime film rather than straight drama. Of course, it is a decent movie, one that is fairly watchable if one has the patience for a film that is just a bit off center when it comes to teaching about just where crime really can go when it comes to a businessman who wants ex-cons to work for him to give them a second chance at things that might as well serve as more of a means to one's end in streetwise foundation. Oh, and there is a bit of a romance alongside things as well. Raft once described his ambitions when it came to acting as simply wanting "to be me", which basically meant he wasn't trying to just stick to roles similar to his presence-making turn in Scarface (1932), which led to a handful of suspensions from the studios he worked with, since he did not want really want to play heels (hell, he was a dancer before becoming an actor). As such, his charm is basically room temperature, which means he reacts to the situations around him with the mildest of reactions, as if the only thing that can faze him is being behind the ball when the final score is up (of which I mean the score of life). Besides, with a passionate Sidney (who appeared a handful of gangster films in the time period, with some exceptions) around, one finds that the movie moves along well enough already. Her well-meaning procession of foolhardy attempts to keep the one she loves and the secret she holds just as dear firmly away from each other, and she does the best to make the dilemma matter (making a case of "you dummie" into "oh, poor dummie"). Of course, the real highlight is a sequence near the end in trying to point out just how much one really could make when robbing a store when detailing all of the costs that come with the setup, which she handles with splendid timing that makes a simple "go home and think about coming to work on time tomorrow!" all the more fun. The supporting folks are mostly there to fill the chorus of would-be returnees to crime, which work in small bits of charm that mostly come from Hymer and his demeanor. Maybe there is a sense of irony to see Carey, an actor known for his rugged frame actor (generally seen in Westerns) playing an owner who likes to hire parolees. At any rate, it is an strange curiosity, one that isn't merely a crime drama or a straight romance because of the fact that it likes to dwell on the absurdity that comes with trying to find where the real game is at when it comes to something as simple as "you and me". As a whole, it may stretch itself a bit thin for 94 minutes, but it is firmly watchable and certainly something that should be considered for viewing among the curiosities that made the career of Fritz Lang all the more involving for what he did end up bringing to the screen in vision.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Little Caesar.

Review #1701: Little Caesar.

Cast: 

Edward G. Robinson (Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Joe Massara), Glenda Farrell (Olga Stassoff), William Collier Jr. (Tony Passa), Sidney Blackmer (Big Boy), Ralph Ince (Pete Montana), Thomas E. Jackson (Sergeant Flaherty), Stanley Fields (Sam Vettori), Maurice Black (Little Arnie Lorch), and George E. Stone (Otero) Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (#596 - Random Harvest)

Review: 

There is an interesting curiosity one can find from movies made in the pre-Code era of Hollywood filmmaking. Sure, there were boards of censorship all across the country since the silent era, but one generally finds more interest in looking at the era of filmmaking when sound become prevalent in feature films. In other words, one sees things differently in film when you can hear the action to go along with it, regardless of the fact that public pressure would soon mount a Motion Picture Production Code that would soon oversee features for three decades. But that was in 1934, so let us jump back to 1931. This was the same year that saw the release of The Public Enemy (featuring James Cagney in the role that also made him a star) which came out three months after this feature, with each being based on written experiences in Chicago near gangster types, with this film being based off the book of the same name by W. R. Burnett (a novelist and screenwriter for decades who had resided in the city as a hotel desk clerk), with a screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee (each nominated for an Academy Award for their work here, which they lost to the writers for Cimarron), with un-credited work by Robert Lord and Darryl F. Zanuck. Incidentally, Robinson and Cagney would star together in a feature together in Smart Money (1931), a crime drama that was the first and only time they starred together. For all the speculation about inspirations within the gangster Al Capone for either The Public Enemy or this feature (which drew not so much entirely on Capone but also criminals such as Salvatore "Sam" Cardinella), this was also the same year that he was charged and convicted of tax evasion that saw him put in jail. At any rate, those aforementioned films also made stars of their lead actors; Robinson had emigrated to the States from Romania as a child, but his first interest was in law before acting. Years spent in the theatre served him well when he started to make regular appearances in film with The Hole in the Wall (1929), which would be one of a handful of films he appeared in that ranged from second to supporting role (primarily in the crime drama genre). Of course, the gangster film did not entirely start with this film either, since one could argue that Underworld (1927) as the proto-gangster movie, and Lights of New York (1928), the first all-talking feature (which alongside Public Enemy and Little Caesar was released by the studio) also had elements of the crime drama in it. At any rate, Burnett was also one of the writers behind Scarface (1932), which also has stood as one of the lasting key pieces of the gangster film, particularly in the pre-Code era. 

At the helm for this feature is LeRoy, who had graduated from a brief stint in acting to writing comedies to directing his own features in the 1920s. Little Caesar is one of over thirty features that he would direct in the 1930s for a decade with plenty of audience appetite for films. As a whole, it might not be as devastating in raw entertainment as The Public Enemy, but its lead performance by Robinson essentially carries it enough to the point where it does not matter too much because one is having too much fun with the gripping interest generated in 79 minutes. LeRoy was one of the hardest working directors of his time, and it certainly shows in both his successes and missteps presented here, one that has some fairly well captured shots from cinematographer Tony Gaudio to accommodate some static moments (as is the case with early sound films, and this even has a few intertitles) without seeming too constrained or too apart while serving as a blunt instrument of efficient filmmaking. There would be a variety of gangster films over the next few years, but Little Caesar managed to stay its welcome with its reasonable edge for the subject that didn't go straight for easy tricks such as indulging in violence or confusing its message in simplified or complicated gobbledygook - it helped to build the clichés to gaze upon in the gangster film for years to come, if you think about it. You get a tale of someone rising the ladder in organized crime that doesn't pull punches, and Robinson is at the forefront of making this role his with no complication. He would find himself typecast in a variety of tough guy roles over the next few years (even taking a role in Larceny, Inc (1942) to offset his image with a comedy, which I fondly remember enjoying), and it isn't too hard to see why, owing to his voice and mannerisms that make him undeniably interesting to view through the film, whether spent trying to strong-arm Fairbanks Jr or strong-arm himself into the next big thing; everybody needs a good death scene in a gangster film (no matter how prepared/un-prepared one is for it), and he makes that final line stick with the right sense of doom and folly required. Fairbanks Jr and Farrell are meant to match him in sensibility, which generally works out fine in useful engagement without detracting from the general experience. The supporting cast prove worthy enough in setting the seedy atmosphere required in terms of grimy strength (ones that could be thought of as faceless brutes). Jackson plays the authority with coarse charm that doesn't serve to make this a straight moral tale. As a whole, its portrayal of the rise and fall of a crime lord proves quite interesting in cultivating a worthy atmosphere and tension within a great lead performance and fair support from others in a proven feature that has endured well for itself after eight decades since its release, a fitting marker for a star and director that had plenty of time to follow up their successes in their field.

On the board for the Count to Ten Project, updated.

1921: 5, 1922-23: 8 each, 1924: 9, 1926: 7, 1929: 5

1930: 6, 1934: 4, 1935: 5, 1936-37: 6, 1938: 5

1940-41: 8 each, 1944: 7, 1948-49: 8 each

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Man with the Golden Arm.

Review #1391: The Man with the Golden Arm.

Cast: 
Frank Sinatra (Frankie "Dealer" Machine), Eleanor Parker (Sophia "Zosh" Machine), Kim Novak (Molly Novotny), Arnold Stang (Sparrow), Darren McGavin ("Nifty Louie" Fomorowski), Robert Strauss (Zero Schwiefka), John Conte (Drunkie John), Doro Merande (Vi), and George E. Stone (Sam Markette) Directed by Otto Preminger (#657 - Laura)

Review: 
Film almost always seems to generate more interest when it is allowed to push the envelope in boundaries for the time, such as the case with addiction with films like The Lost Weekend (1945) or this one. The 1950s had a clash of television and film that had the latter try various techniques and gimmicks to keep people with the cinema (at least until they realized they could utilize television to their advantage), but it was a decade with shifting tastes for a new key audience of teenagers along with challenges to the restrictive Production Code that would lead to it taking a final beating and end a decade later. One key figure in that fight was Austrian-Hungary director Otto Preminger, who had developed interest for the theater in acting before he was approached to direct for film with Die große Liebe (1931), which proved a success for the 26-year old despite having less experience with filmmaking than with the theater. He emigrated to the United States four years later and soon found a chance to direct on Broadway along with 20th Century Fox through Darryl F. Zanuck, which resulted in two completed films (1936's Under Your Spell (1936) and 1937's Danger – Love at Work) before being fired off Kidnapped (1938) by Zanuck that led to a hiatus for five years. Preminger found his way back to Fox and gradually found his way back to doing dramas and noirs (along with occasional acting) over the course of the next eight years that had its high point with Laura (1944). His challenges with the Production Code took place over two of his films in the 1950s. His 1953 film The Moon is Blue attracted complaints about its treatment of seduction and chastity, with United Artists deciding to release the film without Code approval (which resulted in a few places banning the film from being shown or restricted viewings for adults). He received attention from the code for this film, since it deals with drug addiction (implied to be heroin), a taboo subject in their eyes (other subjects included mixed-race romances and kidnapping). However, Preminger and United Artists persisted on and released the film anyway (both films eventually received PCA codes of approval in 1961). By the time he directed Anatomy of a Murder (1959), a frank courtroom drama film, the PCA did not object this time around. The talented but rough director would do over 35 films before his death in 1986.

The film was adapted from Nelson Algren's 1948 novel of the same name, which was significantly bleaker in tone when it came to its main character, with the most notable change being that he does not survive to the end in the book, having found himself trapped with no way out of his predicament caused by his inhibitions after inadvertently murdering his drug dealer. The changes made by screenwriters Walter Newman and Lewis Meltzer, along with a lack of compensation for his work, did not sit well with Algren when it came time to release. When it comes time to having a prime star for an envelope pushing film, one can't go too wrong with famed singer-turned-actor Sinatra, who studied rehab clinics in preparation for this film. He proves to the task of living up to such a fascinating role, proving to be quite gripping to the audience in his attempts to pull himself upward from a whirlpool of city seduction. Parker proves just as well in controlled anguish that does so while spending most of her time sitting down. Novak provides a warm calm presence whenever on screen, while Stang provides his a seedy and loyal dramatic turn for the notably comic actor. McGavin and Strauss both do well with providing the seedy elements of city life with the kind of conviction and allure one would expect from them. In any case, the film does well with showing a look into a person trying to escape the demons that haunt his personal life and himself, with Preminger and Sinatra doing well in making a capable tragedy seem useful to view, such as a cold turkey sequence with the latter that accompanies the climax. While the film may have aged a bit in the six decades since its release, there is certainly still a power that this film has that can't be swept away for curiosity, and it is a feature that can be recommended for public domain viewing without too much trouble.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Front Page (1931).

Review #1336: The Front Page.

Cast: 
Adolphe Menjou (Walter Burns), Pat O'Brien (Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson), Mary Brian (Peggy Grant), Edward Everett Horton (Roy V. Bensinger), Walter Catlett (Jimmy Murphy), George E. Stone (Earl Williams), Mae Clarke (Molly Malloy), Slim Summerville (Irving Pincus), Matt Moore (Ernie Kruger), Frank McHugh ("Mac" McCue), Clarence Wilson (Sheriff Peter B. "Pinky" Hartman), Fred Howard (Schwartz), Phil Tead (Wilson), Eugene Strong (Endicott), and Spencer Charters (Woodenshoes) Directed by Lewis Milestone (#901 - The Racket)

Review: 
As the phrase goes, laughter can be the best medicine. The silent era had plenty of comedies to go around, whether short or feature-length, all with their own level of imagination in terms of craftsmanship of gags and actors to play with amusing situations. Obviously this would continue with the sound era, only now you had a voice to go with amusing situations, along with the rise of one notable section of the comedy genre: the screwball. There exists plenty of subgenres to comedy, ranging from slapstick to romantic comedies. The screwball associates with those particular genres with its own twists on the conventional love story alongside characteristics such as fast-paced overlapping dialogue, situations bordering on farce and other various tactics helping with making prime escapist fare. The decade was prime for the screwball comedy, with the most famous example being It Happened One Night (1934). Plenty of directors found a name for themselves in the decade, or at the very least settled into the transition of the silent era without too many snags. Lewis Milestone fell into the category of continued success. Although his body of work for the decade was nearly half from the last decade, he managed to create several interesting and memorable films in varying genres (after all, he is the only man to win an Academy Award for Best Director for comedy and drama), such as the epic war film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), or the novella adaptation Of Mice and Men (1939). Simply put, Milestone had a career spanning six decades for good reason. It should not prove surprising to see Howard Hughes listed as producer, with this being his follow-up after Hell's Angels, since he had produced Milestone's Two Arabian Knights (1927) and The Racket (1928).

The film was adapted to the screen by Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer based on the Broadway play of the same name, which had first premiered in 1928 from the creation of Chicago reporters-turned-playwrights-turned-film writers Ben Hecht (who you may remember from his work on Underworld in 1927) and Charles MacArthur. Louis Wolheim was to play the lead role, doing nearly a week of rehearsals before he died unexpectedly of what is now attributed to stomach cancer. In his place is Menjou, who had a near five decade long career in silent and talkie films. He does a tremendous job in garnering sharp laughs, spot on for a rough-and-tumble yet resilient role like this, never turning it into a complete cliche. O'Brien handles himself fairly well, rolling well whenever needing to generate interest with making chemistry with a gamely strong Brian or with the quirky co-star reporters, such as the banjo-playing Moore, and others such as Wilson prove just as well in inducing chuckles. The film has a compact pace, juggling its subplots in 101 minutes with the strokes of a director in his element to make entertainment that impacts the viewer with enough sense in humor and style to keep the audience locked in their seats with anticipation for what amusement could come next, mixing cynicism and sentiment without too much trouble. By the time the film wraps up its subplots up neatly (complete a memorable way of getting around the censoring of a certain word), one is left fairly satisfied by what they have seen. The play would not stop with just one adaptation. In 1940, it was adapted again, this time with the Hildy character being a woman and ex-wife to the Burns character in His Girl Friday, with director Howard Hawks attempting to have even faster-paced dialogue present. Like this film, it also happens to be in the public domain. The film was then remade in 1974 by Billy Wilder and subsequently revised to have the character work in television reporting with Switching Channels (1988), for which neither were particularly big hits. In any case, The Front Page is a fine piece for its era, worthy of a viewing for the curious that yearn for some quick sharp laughs for a worthwhile time in a worthwhile age.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Racket (1928).

Review #901: The Racket.

Cast:
Thomas Meighan (Captain James McQuigg), Louis Wolheim (Nick Scarsi), Marie Prevost (Helen Hayes), G. Pat Collins (Patrolman Johnson), Henry Sedley (Spike), George E. Stone (Joe Scarsi), John Darrow (Dave Ames - Cub Reporter), and Sam De Grasse (District Attorney Welch) Directed by Lewis Milestone.

Review:
It only took until February to cover a silent film for the new year, but it's good to get back into the voiceless spirit, especially with a movie that was lost for years until it was found in the collection of producer Howard Hughes' after his death.This was one of the films nominated at the 1st Academy Awards for "Outstanding Picture", though it lost to Wings (#349. Fun fact, that year also had a category named Unique and Artistic Picture (which #499 - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans won), while also having Best Director for both Comedy and Dramatic Pictures). The Racket was based off the play of the same name (which like the film was banned in Chicago), and it certainly feels like a play at times, using only a few sets (such as the police station), but the film manages to have snappy action and efficient characters, moving at an efficient pace. Wolheim certainly has the look of a villain (due to a football injury to his nose in college), and he does a fine job at making this gangster a decent counterpart to Meighan, who also does pretty good as the authority figure, having a stern but workable attitude that certainly looks the part. The rest of the cast is also pretty good at their roles, not doing anything too over-the-top and Prevost being a fine player who doesn't get involved in romance scenes (though her chemistry with Darrow is serviceable at least). At 84 minutes, The Racket runs at a fine pace while also being the kind of crime drama that pulls all the right buttons and moves the right motions in its nifty cast and action at the right times, made just before gangster films became more prevalent. On the whole, it's a efficient film.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Scared Stiff.

Review #835: Scared Stiff.

Cast
Jack Haley (Larry Elliot), Ann Savage (Sally Warren), Barton MacLane (George Markham), Veda Ann Borg (Flo Rosson), Roger Pryor (Richardson), George E. Stone (Mink), Robert Emmett Keane (Prof. Wisner), Lucien Littlefield (Charles Waldeck / Preston Waldeck), Paul Hurst (Sheriff), Arthur Aylesworth (Emerson Cooke), Eily Malyon (Mrs. Cooke), and Buddy Swan (Oliver Waldeck) Directed by Frank McDonald.

Review
Scared Stiff (also known as Treasure of Fear) is the kind of movie that falls into someone's lap if one is either bored enough or just stumbles into public domain territory, with this being a comedy/murder mystery. Haley (who appeared in just six more films after this) plays a bumbling chess reporter (of course he does) who is assumed to be a murderer due to a dead guy on the same bus being found with a chess piece near him (seriously), alongside the other weirdo passengers, including his girlfriend, a boy genius (who throws a smoke bomb into a room at one point), and his mentor professor. Hijinks (and I put that extremely loosely) ensue in a mystery lumpier than mashed potatoes. There is a subplot about retrieving chess pieces from an antique chess set from the 13th century, which seems better than the main character, actually. Do you like a bumbling character played for some sort of laugh? Well, you'll have to find a better movie. Haley isn't very interesting to watch, becoming tedious to watch after a while. There really isn't much energy to the cast, which just go through the motions of a sluggish script. There really is no chemistry between Haley and Savage. The killer is in the movie briefly, to the point where he has no defining characteristics. The length of the movie is 65 minutes, which is some ways is it's own relief. On the whole, there are countless other movies from this time period that are more interesting to watch than this, ultimately. It doesn't inspire many laughs, nor elicit any interest in the mystery, simply put. You know the people that remake movies and the ensuing reactions over it? Try remaking this and see what happens, which is a better idea than watching the movie.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 10 stars.

The Vampire Bat.

Review #708: The Vampire Bat.

Cast
Lionel Atwill (Dr. Otto von Niemann), Fay Wray (Ruth Bertin), Melvyn Douglas (Karl Breettschneider), Maude Eburne (Gussie Schnappmann), George E. Stone (Kringen), Dwight Frye (Herman Gleib), Robert Frazer (Emil Borst), and Rita Carlisle (Martha Mueller) Directed by Frank R. Strayer.

Review
Well, it's certainly a quick movie. At 63 minutes, this is a movie that was released just a month before another Atwill-Wray movie would be released (Mystery of the Wax Museum), but this one was released by Majestic Pictures, a studio known for cheap flicks made quickly. And since this is in public domain, you can find this movie anywhere on the Internet. But the question is would you want to? That depends. The sets look nice and scenic, fitting well with what the movie is trying to do so quickly. The characters are fine, save for Eburne's comic relief character, an anxious panicky character who almost ruins the balance that Wray and Douglas have with each other. Atwill is a good lead character (who pops up in numerous 1930's films). The ending is at least something different from most vampire films, though your reaction may vary on your level of disbelief. Extra points for having Dwight Frye as a supporting character, which is always welcome. If you're up for some quick cheap horror thrills, I'd say this movie is for you. Is it an old flick? As the old saying goes, 82 is the new 40. Or 30.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.