Strange Illusion.

Review #2058: Strange Illusion.

Cast: 

Jimmy Lydon (Paul Cartwright), Warren William (Brett Curtis), Sally Eilers (Virginia Cartwright), Regis Toomey (Dr. Martin Vincent), Charles Arnt (Prof. Muhlbach), George Reed (Benjamin, the butler), and Jayne Hazard (Dorothy Cartwright) Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (#797 - People on Sunday, #803 - Detour, #943 - The Man from Planet X, and #1364 - Bluebeard)

Review: 

The basis for the film is two-fold: Adele Comandini wrote the screenplay based on a story by Fritz Rotter that the studio bought the rights to. Of course, there is a tiny little nugget of inspiration with William Shakespeare's Hamlet, as evidenced by the dreams that the lead character experiences that may or may not give him an inkling into figuring out the death of his father as murder rather than the accident people believe that just happens to coincide with his mother about to re-marry a certain man. Incidentally, the play featured its title character doing an act of going mad while the film features a lead character midway through the film voluntarily going into a sanatorium for psychiatric evaluation (of course, there is no Ophelia in this film, but I'm sure you figured that or didn't really ask). So, who ended up being the director of such an odd little film that seems right for the king of the cheapies in Producers Releasing Corporation? Well, who better but Edgar G. Ulmer? I picked this film for one particular reason: it happens to have been the film released between two other distinct Ulmer features: Bluebeard (1944) and Detour (1945). So that is what you get here for an 87-minute feature that is readily available in the public domain, although obviously seeing the film with the best quality is advisable. 

I think you can tell that the film will live and die on just how much you roll with its young star in the 22-year-old Lydon, who had broken into acting eight years earlier (most notably starring in a film series called Henry Aldrich for nine films). He can only go so far with such, uh, let's say "youthful spirit", but the dream sequences that occasionally come through undoubtedly do the best job in keeping the film as watchable as possible (so one rolls their eyes at the kid for a bit, but he at least makes a useful effort in not being a miserable presence). That part draws the most attention because it talks about the unconscious mind and just what the hell lurks in one mind that seems right and less than right in reality-shifting times. Ulmer takes it about as seriously as one should expect, which thankfully doesn't strain itself too hard in the mystery of just what the fuss is all about with this random man present in the here and now. Besides, I don't think you need a really-dragged out process to figuring out just who is actually making sense when we are talking about a quick-paced film. With that in mind, William (once called "King of the Pre-Code" in his third-to-last film appearance before his death in 1948) is probably the most effective choice to play it both ways, one who can be engaging on the one foot and slimy on the other side that probably could have made a quality King Claudius if he had the chance on the stage. Eilers is wrapped in the middle, ordinary but useful. Toomey and Arnt are the standard character presence that you would see in films like this, and that is totally fine when one is meant to be playing a second-fiddle to canoodling crime. As a whole, the film never really rises above what one's expectations are when it comes to cheap-rate noirs based on happenstance and murky foundations, but Ulmer is the right guy to move things around to satisfactory results in spending time broadening the horizons of picking films beyond the usual suspects. PRC, Eagle-Lion, whatever floats your boat, you will do just fine with this film.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Meet John Doe.

Review #1356: Meet John Doe.

Cast: 
Gary Cooper (John Doe/Long John Willoughby), Barbara Stanwyck (Ann Mitchell), Edward Arnold (D.B. Norton), Walter Brennan (The Colonel), Spring Byington (Mrs. Mitchell), James Gleason (Henry Connell), Gene Lockhart (Mayor Lovett), Rod La Rocque (Ted Sheldon), Irving Bacon ("Beanie"), Regis Toomey (Bert), and J. Farrell MacDonald ("Sourpuss") Directed by Frank Capra (#102 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, #319 - It's a Wonderful Life and #456 - It Happened One Night)

Review: 
Frank Capra was a director of tremendous skill who came out of the rags to make great memorable entertainment in the 1930s and 1940s. He had emigrated from Italy with his family at the age of five to America, eventually ending up in Los Angeles. By the time he was 25, he had done a variety of jobs before and after graduating college, ranging from selling newspapers to working at the laundry facility at the California Institute of Technology (where he graduated from in chemical engineering). He would serve in both World Wars, serving as a teacher of mathematics to artillerymen in the former and as a director for war information documentaries (Why We Fight) in the latter. He found his way to films in gagwriting and luck. He directed his first film with independent Fireside Productions in 1922 with Fultah Fisher's Boarding House, getting the job by touting his experience with film (which was scant) but it proved effective. He also wrote gags for the Our Gang series alongside scripts for comedian Harry Langdon, which led to his feature film debut with The Strong Man (1926). After one more film with Langdon, he was fired by the comedian. He eventually found himself with newly named Columbia Pictures, which at the time was a start-up studio in minor status compared to the big icons that had their own facilities and distribution. From 1928 to 1939, he made 25 features for the company, including numerous classics such as Lady for a Day (1933) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) among others, winning Best Director at the Academy Awards three times in a period of four years. This film was one of two films that he did with Warner Bros (the other being Arsenic and Old Lace) along with the last before America entered World War II. The screenplay was done by Robert Riskin (his tenth and last collaboration with Capra) with story from Robert Presnell that was adapted from Richard Connell's A Reputation, a 1922 story originally published in Century Magazine.

Of course who better to headline the film than Cooper and Stanwyck, both veteran actors who had previous experience with Capra that would have decades-long careers of success. They both prove important to the film's success in material that is dark but still relevant in its message about the everyman and creeping corporate influence when dealing with hope. Cooper makes it worth his while as a folksy everyman, rising to the occasion through gradual evolution from anonymous tramp to club-creating philosopher. Stanwyck proves just as well, ambitious but warm to follow along with in her zealous energy. Arnold proves a conniving clever presence, and Brennan proves a worthy tramp foil for Cooper alongside Byington for Stanwyck. Gleason makes a worthy hard-driving role, particularly in one scene where he reveals a deception about to take place to our star while espousing about the good done by him (including unwittingly creating a grassroot movement) to folks that need it. Lockhart and the rest prove just as worthy with filling the details for the film to make its statements without needless aspects for a diverting 122 minutes. The ending is certainly an interesting one. There were numerous ideas shot or edited that found their way into previews, owing in part because Capra hadn't had a clear idea of how it should end when production began. All of them revolved around the exposing the truth of John Doe (done at a convention), with one ending directing ending on the convention scene with his disgrace. Another apparently ended up with him committing suicide, while others involved him being saved or the reforming of Arnold's character. A comment from a preview led to a fifth and eventual ending, where some of the club members show up to express their still-present belief in him and the club (along with a statement by Stanwyck's character about how another "John Doe" already gave himself up for humanity). The film holds itself together without too many troubles, making its point about media and hope without becoming sanctimonious or overly cynical. It's a fair comedy-drama, balancing its way through with enough competency worth a viewing alongside other Capra movies. In fact, it is an easy one to do because of its public domain status (occurring due to a failure in copyright renewal). For each of its main talents at stars and director, it's a good one to go with for curiosity and perhaps some subsequent discussion afterwards.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

His Girl Friday.

Review #1352: His Girl Friday.

Cast: 
Cary Grant (Walter Burns), Rosalind Russell (Hildy Johnson), Ralph Bellamy (Bruce Baldwin), Gene Lockhart (Sheriff Hartwell), Porter Hall (Murphy), Ernest Truex (Bensinger), Cliff Edwards (Endicott), Clarence Kolb (the Mayor), Roscoe Karns (McCue), Frank Jenks (Wilson), Regis Toomey (Sanders), Abner Biberman (Louie), Frank Orth (Duffy), and John Qualen (Earl Williams) Directed by Howard Hawks (#951 - The Big Sleep)

Review: 
Everybody needs a remake now and then. Or, at the very least, an adaptation of material that strives to improve what had been done before without seeming like a complete cash-grab or unnecessary. In other words, it makes sense to have someone like Howard Hawks at the helm of directing an adaptation of The Front Page, which had been adapted nine years prior. It was a chance meeting with cinematographer and future director Victor Fleming (while racing on vacation) that helped him get his first film job in 1917, serving as a prop boy for In Again, Out Again. After serving in World War I (serving in the US Army Air Service), he returned to Hollywood. Over the next few years, he gradually moved from producer on short films to production editing before his eventual directorial debut with The Road to Glory (1926) for Fox Film. He worked with that studio for three years with marginal success, but over the next four decades he worked as an independent producer-director, with The Dawn Patrol (1930) helping in his transition from silent to sound. He directed in various genres, ranging from romance to comedy to westerns to noir to action. Although he received just one nomination for Best Director, he received an Academy Honorary Award in 1974, three years before his death at 81. Hawks aspired to make a fast-paced adaptation, utilizing multiple microphones (which needed to be turned on and off by the sound technician for scenes, which could be done as much as 35 times) and even using a sound mixer to try and speed up the dialogue to be faster than The Front Page. Hawks encouraged his actors to be spontaneous, with improvisation in the lines serving to help in having the film run a few days over schedule. The main difference between the two films is the character of Hildy being played by a woman, with Hawks being inspired by the actor auditions (or more specifically, someone reading lines belonging to a character) and how his female secretary was saying the lines. Charles Lederer (co-writer of the previous adaptation) was brought in to write this film, which would keep some of the dialogue from before. In any case, this is a wonderful movie, having plenty of charming moments within a quick 92 minute pace that lives to its potential through a solid duo in Grant and Russell. Whether bantering with each other or with others, each does their part in generating amusement while following most of the beats from before without seeming old-hat or too familiar. Grant can be quite conniving with charm, and Russell (who was quite talented in both comedic and dramatic roles) holds up with her own energy, with her even hiring an ad-writer to give her more clever lines, which only Grant seemed to notice. Bellamy holds up just as well with being the straight man to these quirky folks, while Lockhart and Kolb make for a crooked pair of chuckles. The others provide a chuckle or two, with nobody seeming too out-of-place in the long run. It's a charming movie, one that runs fast to please and joke around with through some clever work by Hawks and his cast that makes this a worthy comedy to sit through (perhaps more than once). After all, the film lapsed into the public domain, so one can view it any-time they please without trouble, so there really is no reason to avoid this movie and have your curiosity rewarded. A solid remake that improves on the original - no question there.

Next Review: Sonic the Hedgehog.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.