Movie-a-Day week one
The project has begun, and I'm already behind! 6 movie review capsules after the cut.
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1: The Maltese Falcon (USA,1931) Directed by Roy del Ruth, written by Maude Fulton and Brown Holmes, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett.
This is the first of three films adaptations of Hammett's hit novel which Warner Brothers mad between 1931 and 1941. The '41 version is the famous Bogart version, and this one doesn't quite stack up. The sets are more lavish, and the story is sexed up in a way that wasn't allowed in 1941, but the lead performance by Ricardo Cortez (who would later play Perry Mason in The Case of the Black Cat) lets the film down. His rendition of Spade is smug and sleazy, a smirking womanizer whose final dilemma fails to come across because by that time it's hard to believe he cares about anyone. The rest of the cast is decent: Bebe Daniels and Una Merkel, better known for 42nd St., are Miss Wonderly and Effie Perrinne, respectively, Dwight Frye (Renfield in Dracula the same year!) plays Wilmer the "gunsel," and Thelma Todd (Monkey Business and Horse Feathers with the Marx Brothers) has two scenes as Iva Archer. The film contains long stretches of dialogue from the novel, but adds a few scenes, including a very unnecessary jailhouse scene at the end which only makes Spade look like even more of a jerk. Purchased DVD
2: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (UK/USA,2008) D: Andrew Adamson, W: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, based on novel by C. S. Lewis.
Second in a projected series of 7 (now apparently derailed by mediocre box office), Prince Caspian follows the further adventures of the Pevensie siblings from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as they return to Narnia, only to find that centuries have passed and their kingdom lies in ruins. The magical peoples of Narnia are almost wiped out by the invading Telmarines, whose fugitive Prince Caspian may be the only hope for the remaining Narnians. Long, very pretty, punctuated by amusing character bits and vigorous action scenes, but still long. I've never read the book, but I would hope the theological allegory presented therein is both more nuanced and better concealed than the Faith 101 "God helps those who helps themselves/ moves in mysterious ways" message featured here. Still, not a bad entertainment, with good performances all around, including Peter Dinklage as a surly dwarf (natch) and Eddie Izzard providing the voice of the flamboyant and bloodthirsty Narnian mouse Knight Reepacheep. DVD rental
3: Night Key (USA,1937) D: Lloyd Corrigan,W: John C. Moffitt, Tristram Tupper, from a story by William Pierce
A lesser Karloff film from Universal, basically a crime thriller with a slight sci-fi twist. Karloff plays kindly old inventor David Mallory, who has devised a new alarm system, and sells it to the man who squeezed him out of their security business years ago. unsurprisingly, his ex-partner screws him again, and Boris sets out on a campaign of revenge, armed with a device which cancels out the alarm system he invented. His campaign of prank-like breaking and entering (no stealing!) is soon taken over by unscrupulous criminal "The Kid," and the real trouble begins. Romance supplied by Mallory's worried daughter (the extremely pretty Jean Rogers, Dale Arden in the previous year's Flash Gordon) and sympathetic security man Warren Hull (later to star in chapter serials as Mandrake the Magician, The Green Hornet and The Spider!) Features some interesting pre-due-process activity on the part of the privately employed security guards. Purchased DVD
4: The Mad Magician (USA,1954) D: John Brahm W: Wilbur Crane
Essentially a cheaper black and white knockoff of the previous year's House of Wax (also written by Crane), The Mad Magician features Vincent Price as a circa-1900 designer of magic tricks attempting to break out on his own as a performer, only to be hampered by his former employer who claims ownership of his new "lady and the buzz-saw" trick. His career ruined, he is left with no choice but to seek... Revenge! In 3-D!!! One murder leads inevitably to another (victims include Eva Gabor as Vince's no-good ex-wife), as Vincent tries to divert suspicion by disguising himself as his victims after the deed is done. His former Beautiful Assistant and her policeman boyfriend (an expert in that new-fangled fingerprint stuff) eventually begin to suspect, but he's finally undone by a nosy landlady with a hobby of writing mystery novels. Amiable bit of melodrama, with a brief running time of less than 75 minutes, but could have been either more inventive or just a little grislier (no-one even gets threatened with death-by-buzz-saw). DVR
5: The Strange Door (USA,1951) D: Joseph Pevney W: Jerry Sackheim from the story "The Door of the Sire de Maletroit" by Robert Louis Stevenson
Featured on the The Boris Karloff Collection (along with Night Key and three others) The Strange Door is a sort of Gothic swashbuckler starring Charles Laughton (Island of Lost Souls' Dr. Moreau) as the evil Sire de Maletroit, who seeks a roundabout vengeance on the daughter of his despised brother. See, his brother "stole" the woman he loved, who died in childbirth, so he keeps his bro locked up in a secret room(since he's gone mad there's no point in killing him.) The Sire's evil plan is to marry his innocent niece to a scoundrel! That'll show them all! Of course, the scoundrel turns out to be a better man than suspected; he falls in love with the niece and they attempt to escape with the help of faithful old Voltan (Karloff). There's a grand finale involving a water wheel and a cell with closing walls. Over-baked and implausible, but reasonably entertaining fluff. Purchased DVD
6: Think Fast, Mr. Moto (USA,1937) D: Norman Foster W: Norman Foster, Howard Ellis Smith, from the novel by John P. Marquand
The first of the eight Mr. Moto films, all starring the great Peter Lorre, six of them directed by Norman Foster (who would direct three Charlie Chan films as well, then later go on to direct Disney's "Davy Crockett" series and four episodes of "Batman"!!!) Moto is not an official detective like Charlie Chan, but a more mysterious figure (a spy for the Japanese government in the novels, an agent of a shipping company here). A master of disguise, with contacts throughout the Pacific rim and armed with expert Judo moves, Moto is a formidable opponent for any crooks. In Think Fast... he helps the heir of a shipping line foil a smuggling ring in Shanghai. Sinister foreigners, exotic back alleys night clubs and curio shops, shipboard romance, energetic action scenes and a healthy dose of misdirection by Moto add up to a ripping good action flick. Featuring Virginia Field (two more Moto films, as different characters, one Charlie Chan film, and Morgan le Fay in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court), Thomas Beck (one more Moto and four Chans) Sig Ruman (one more Moto, and had previously been in A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races), and John Rogers (one Moto, 3 Chans, and two Bulldog Drummonds.) Half-Japanese, half-Hawaiian Lotus Long as Lela Liu (one more Moto and all four Mr. Wong films) is one of two actual Asian-American actors with speaking roles, the other being the uncredited Shanghai police chief (William Law, according to IMDB). Good start to a good series. DVD rental
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1: The Maltese Falcon (USA,1931) Directed by Roy del Ruth, written by Maude Fulton and Brown Holmes, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett.
This is the first of three films adaptations of Hammett's hit novel which Warner Brothers mad between 1931 and 1941. The '41 version is the famous Bogart version, and this one doesn't quite stack up. The sets are more lavish, and the story is sexed up in a way that wasn't allowed in 1941, but the lead performance by Ricardo Cortez (who would later play Perry Mason in The Case of the Black Cat) lets the film down. His rendition of Spade is smug and sleazy, a smirking womanizer whose final dilemma fails to come across because by that time it's hard to believe he cares about anyone. The rest of the cast is decent: Bebe Daniels and Una Merkel, better known for 42nd St., are Miss Wonderly and Effie Perrinne, respectively, Dwight Frye (Renfield in Dracula the same year!) plays Wilmer the "gunsel," and Thelma Todd (Monkey Business and Horse Feathers with the Marx Brothers) has two scenes as Iva Archer. The film contains long stretches of dialogue from the novel, but adds a few scenes, including a very unnecessary jailhouse scene at the end which only makes Spade look like even more of a jerk. Purchased DVD
2: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (UK/USA,2008) D: Andrew Adamson, W: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, based on novel by C. S. Lewis.
Second in a projected series of 7 (now apparently derailed by mediocre box office), Prince Caspian follows the further adventures of the Pevensie siblings from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as they return to Narnia, only to find that centuries have passed and their kingdom lies in ruins. The magical peoples of Narnia are almost wiped out by the invading Telmarines, whose fugitive Prince Caspian may be the only hope for the remaining Narnians. Long, very pretty, punctuated by amusing character bits and vigorous action scenes, but still long. I've never read the book, but I would hope the theological allegory presented therein is both more nuanced and better concealed than the Faith 101 "God helps those who helps themselves/ moves in mysterious ways" message featured here. Still, not a bad entertainment, with good performances all around, including Peter Dinklage as a surly dwarf (natch) and Eddie Izzard providing the voice of the flamboyant and bloodthirsty Narnian mouse Knight Reepacheep. DVD rental
3: Night Key (USA,1937) D: Lloyd Corrigan,W: John C. Moffitt, Tristram Tupper, from a story by William Pierce
A lesser Karloff film from Universal, basically a crime thriller with a slight sci-fi twist. Karloff plays kindly old inventor David Mallory, who has devised a new alarm system, and sells it to the man who squeezed him out of their security business years ago. unsurprisingly, his ex-partner screws him again, and Boris sets out on a campaign of revenge, armed with a device which cancels out the alarm system he invented. His campaign of prank-like breaking and entering (no stealing!) is soon taken over by unscrupulous criminal "The Kid," and the real trouble begins. Romance supplied by Mallory's worried daughter (the extremely pretty Jean Rogers, Dale Arden in the previous year's Flash Gordon) and sympathetic security man Warren Hull (later to star in chapter serials as Mandrake the Magician, The Green Hornet and The Spider!) Features some interesting pre-due-process activity on the part of the privately employed security guards. Purchased DVD
4: The Mad Magician (USA,1954) D: John Brahm W: Wilbur Crane
Essentially a cheaper black and white knockoff of the previous year's House of Wax (also written by Crane), The Mad Magician features Vincent Price as a circa-1900 designer of magic tricks attempting to break out on his own as a performer, only to be hampered by his former employer who claims ownership of his new "lady and the buzz-saw" trick. His career ruined, he is left with no choice but to seek... Revenge! In 3-D!!! One murder leads inevitably to another (victims include Eva Gabor as Vince's no-good ex-wife), as Vincent tries to divert suspicion by disguising himself as his victims after the deed is done. His former Beautiful Assistant and her policeman boyfriend (an expert in that new-fangled fingerprint stuff) eventually begin to suspect, but he's finally undone by a nosy landlady with a hobby of writing mystery novels. Amiable bit of melodrama, with a brief running time of less than 75 minutes, but could have been either more inventive or just a little grislier (no-one even gets threatened with death-by-buzz-saw). DVR
5: The Strange Door (USA,1951) D: Joseph Pevney W: Jerry Sackheim from the story "The Door of the Sire de Maletroit" by Robert Louis Stevenson
Featured on the The Boris Karloff Collection (along with Night Key and three others) The Strange Door is a sort of Gothic swashbuckler starring Charles Laughton (Island of Lost Souls' Dr. Moreau) as the evil Sire de Maletroit, who seeks a roundabout vengeance on the daughter of his despised brother. See, his brother "stole" the woman he loved, who died in childbirth, so he keeps his bro locked up in a secret room(since he's gone mad there's no point in killing him.) The Sire's evil plan is to marry his innocent niece to a scoundrel! That'll show them all! Of course, the scoundrel turns out to be a better man than suspected; he falls in love with the niece and they attempt to escape with the help of faithful old Voltan (Karloff). There's a grand finale involving a water wheel and a cell with closing walls. Over-baked and implausible, but reasonably entertaining fluff. Purchased DVD
6: Think Fast, Mr. Moto (USA,1937) D: Norman Foster W: Norman Foster, Howard Ellis Smith, from the novel by John P. Marquand
The first of the eight Mr. Moto films, all starring the great Peter Lorre, six of them directed by Norman Foster (who would direct three Charlie Chan films as well, then later go on to direct Disney's "Davy Crockett" series and four episodes of "Batman"!!!) Moto is not an official detective like Charlie Chan, but a more mysterious figure (a spy for the Japanese government in the novels, an agent of a shipping company here). A master of disguise, with contacts throughout the Pacific rim and armed with expert Judo moves, Moto is a formidable opponent for any crooks. In Think Fast... he helps the heir of a shipping line foil a smuggling ring in Shanghai. Sinister foreigners, exotic back alleys night clubs and curio shops, shipboard romance, energetic action scenes and a healthy dose of misdirection by Moto add up to a ripping good action flick. Featuring Virginia Field (two more Moto films, as different characters, one Charlie Chan film, and Morgan le Fay in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court), Thomas Beck (one more Moto and four Chans) Sig Ruman (one more Moto, and had previously been in A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races), and John Rogers (one Moto, 3 Chans, and two Bulldog Drummonds.) Half-Japanese, half-Hawaiian Lotus Long as Lela Liu (one more Moto and all four Mr. Wong films) is one of two actual Asian-American actors with speaking roles, the other being the uncredited Shanghai police chief (William Law, according to IMDB). Good start to a good series. DVD rental