Gilda Karlson (Dorothy Mackaill) has hit rock bottom. In order to survive after losing her job, she sees no other options but to work as a prostitute. She has basically accepted her fate; but when she arrives at an appointment and finds the client is Piet Van Saal (Ralf Harolde), the man who raped her, fired her from her job in his company, and then prevented her from finding another job, resignation flies out the window. She informs him that he is the only man on earth to whom she is off-limits; when he tries to again molest her, she hits him with a vase, and runs. The room catches fire, apparently killing Piet. With Gilda now on the lam for the murder of Piet, she is taken by her seaman boyfriend, Carl Erickson (Donald Cook) to a Caribbean island where she cannot be extradited. Though initially devastated by the revelation that Gilda is a hooker, Carl (who has just returned from sea duty to see her) still wants to marry her, but he asks her to promise to remain true to him while he finishes out his service on his current trip - a promise easier said than done on this island where women are at a premium. Gilda quickly discovers that she is Safe in Hell (1931). Without giving away the ending, this is not the happiest movie on the planet. Gilda's life IS hell, and life on this little island doesn't make it any better. For the most part, the members of my review panel did not enjoy the film, though I myself do like it. It's a tough movie, but the performance of Dorothy Mackaill makes it a standout for me. Gilda doesn't always make the best choices, but her strength and determination make her a character worth watching.
The part of the script that my group found most difficult to accept was Carl's
decision to bring her to this abysmal environment. First, she has to endure three days in a box in the hold of a ship, then she ends up on an island full of very nasty men. Yes, the island has
no extradition treaty with the U.S., but since Carl plans on bringing her
home once the furor dies down, one would think he could find a safer
place to stash her. This is, after all, not the age of the Internet -
drop her in a big city somewhere, give her money to live, change her
name and appearance a bit, and she can get lost for a good long time. Is Carl (as suggested by my colleague at Pre-code.com) punishing her for her actions or protecting her? Given the outcome of the film, it's hard to determine what his motivation could be. Perhaps what makes this film a film worth watching (besides Ms. Mackaill's exemplary performance) are the portrayals of Leonie (Nina Mae McKinney) and Newcastle (Clarence Muse), the only really good people in the film. This is notable because both Mr. Muse and Ms. McKinney are black. But, we are not treated to servile idiots. Both Leonie and Newcastle are intelligent and well-spoken. (This TCM article comments that the original script had the character doing the usual southern black dialect, but it seems director William Wellman changed it). Leonie and Newcastle work in this horrid environment, but they have not absorbed it. Their affection for Gilda is evident, as is hers for them. Ms. McKinney, who has a lovely singing voice, gets to do one song, the clip below features just that part of her sensitive performance:
Safe in Hell is reminiscent of several other precode films: Suzy, The Unholy Garden, and Mandalay all spring to mind - featuring a woman on the run and some very disreputable men. In fact, a New York Times review from 1931 (by critic Mordaunt Hall) specifically comments on the similarity to The Unholy Garden,and Mr. Hall was not keen on this film. But, what is equally interesting is this 2012 New York Times article on Ms.Mackaill, which presents a glowing discussion of Safe in Hell. Obviously, nearly 80 years makes a big different in attitudes.
It's a shame that Dorothy Mackaill had such a brief career. She started in silent films (she had two Broadway appearances around the same time - appearing in one of Florenz Ziegfeld shows in 1921). She was a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1924, and apparently made the transition to sound smoothly - in 1931, she appeared in 6 films. But by 1934, her star was starting to wain. She made two pictures that year, and then nothing until 1937 (last week's Bulldog Drummond at Bay). With that, she retired to care for her mother. In 1947, she married Harold Patterson, an orchid grower in Hawaii (they divorced the following year). She made Hawaii her home, living at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (sometimes called "The Pink Palace") for the rest of her life. In the 1970s, she appeared in two episodes of Hawaii Five-O - it was after all, filmed in her home town! When she died, her ashes were scattered off her beloved Waikiki Beach. She was 87 (Here is her obituary from the LA Times).
According to this articles from AFI, a number of different people were considered for this film, including Barbara Stanwyck and Lillian Bond as Gilda, David Manners as Carl, and Boris Karloff, with Michael Curtiz originally slated to direct. This would have been the time period in which Ten Cents a Dance and Night Nurse were released, so perhaps it was better for Stanwyck not to have been given the role of yet another woman with an "image problem."
We'll close with Dorothy's arrival in hell. I'd also like to recommend reviews from two of my fellow bloggers at Immortal Ephemera and Pre-code.com. Both have spoilers, but are excellent analyses of this difficult film. Next time, we'll discuss a comedy with another of our favorite actresses, Olivia de Havilland.
New York City District Attorney Thatcher Colt (Adolphe Menjou) is tired. He needs a vacation badly, and the only way to get one is to go away and not tell anyone his destination. So, he throws a dart at a map of NY State, and settles on a small upstate town. He arrives to find the circus is in town, and with it the mystery of murder attempts on the life of star aerialist Josie La Tour (Greta Nissen). Thus, The Circus Queen Murder (1933) brings Thatcher and his secretary Miss Kelly (Ruthelma Stevens) very far from a restful countryside. The Night Club Lady was made the previous year, and was intended to be the first in a series of three movies about DA Thatcher Colt. However, Circus Queen Murder was the only other one that was made. It's not really clear why, though perhaps the enforcement of the Production Code played a part in it. Eventually, Thatcher Colt returned in 1942's The Panther's Claw (starring Sidney Blackmer). This TCM Article goes into greater detail about the films.
None of us was familiar with Ruthelma Stevens (pictured above), who played Miss Kelly, Colt's secretary, confidant, and more-or-less love interest (he can't go on vacation without her...) She's excellent in the film; in fact, she is the most appealing part OF the film. She is a strong actress, with an
interesting voice and appealing, intelligent face. She appeared mostly in B films and in
small parts in major films (like The Fountainhead and The Scarlet Empress), as well as on Broadway. She died at age 84 in
NYC. Though Ms. Stevens is the person you most remember, it is not her that is pictured on the poster - that honor goes to Greta Nissen. The poster makes it appear that Thatcher Colt is involved with Ms. Nissen, which he most definitely is not. Another notable actor in the film is Donald Cook, who is best known as James Cagney's brother Mike in The Public Enemy. Featured here as Josie's love interest Sebastian, the character comes across as a gentleman, who is gutsy enough to risk his own life to protect his lover. And though Josie is married, it's really hard to condemn her for loving Sebastian. Her husband Flandrin (Dwight Frye) is an insane stalker. (Of course, this IS a precode film...) We've seen Cook before as one of Barbara Stanwyck's lovers in Baby Face; he's not the strongest actor ever, and while he is good, he is not the character you will best remember from the film. It's a well known fact, that he was originally cast in the role of Tom Powers, in The Public Enemy, however Cagney so completely blew him off the screen that the parts were reversed. Though Cook's film career did not go much beyond the 1940s (he made a few film in the 50s), he had a substantial career on Broadway, appearing in 20 plays, most notably in The Moon is Blue. He died in 1961, at age 60. There were several bits in the film that we found quite intriguing. First was the use of a bulletproof vest! Though we were unaware of it, bulletproof vests were being developed as early as 1561. Also, the film establishes quite early that Miss Kelly is quite proficient at reading lips, a talent that will be important to the film action. Unfortunately, the one bad aspect of the movie was the tendency to telegraph quite early later action: for example, the knife thrower has the vest to protect his target, so we are waiting for it to be used. So too the film's title also gives away too much information.
The one aspect of in the film that was a bit off-putting were the circus cannibals. It turns out, they were a much larger feature in the book on which this film is based - in fact, their chief helps Colt investigate the threats against Josie. We felt they should either have been eliminated or put to better use.
All in all, though, we enjoyed the film. And we enjoyed Ms. Stevens enough that we'll be viewing another of her films next time.
The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939) is a light little comedy that is quite funny. Hilda (Joan Bennett) has been "working" for Floyd (Marc Lawrence) as his moll and his shill. She's sick of it, and decides to leave him, returning to the home where her mother, Olga (Peggy Wood) works as housekeeper. There should be plenty of room in the house, as the family is about to go on vacation. However, the son and heir, Robert Randall (John Hubbard) decides to stay behind. He has ambitions to become an crime reporter, and, encouraged by Hilda, he heads to the newspaper office, where he offers his services to Editor Wilson (Donald Meek). Reporters Deakon Maxwell (Adolph Menjou) and Ed O'Malley (William Gargan) are covering the murder of Gladys Fontaine (Lilian Bond). Randall, in a druken stupor (Deak and Ed have gotten him drunk) is told by Benny - the actual murderer, more on him later - that Glady's dead body was thrown off a house boat. When that hits the papers, Robert becomes a hero - and the target of Floyd's ranker. This flick has a little bit of everything - romance, suspense, mystery, and random silliness. And while a couple of scenes became tiresome (Deak and Ed on the roof of the Randall house throwing fireworks at each other got ridiculous after a few minutes), mostly this is a fun picture that keeps your attention. Especially funny were two interactions towards the end of the film between Mrs. Randall (Leila McIntyre) and Editor Wood. Mrs. Randall's particularly deadpan response to the chaos around her was an absolute riot.
We promised more information on the character of Little Benny. As portrayed by George E. Stone, you know almost immediately that there is something not quite right about Benny. Regardless, the women in the film, our victim Gladys Fontaine and Hilda, both seem to find him cute, and both agree to be "his girl". For Gladys, that promise spells her doom when Benny, who is a master at making poisoned coffee, inadvertently kills Gladys when Benny prepares his deadly potion, intending it for Floyd (who Benny sees as a danger to Gladys). Stone manages to give Benny a spooky, but also rather cute, demeanor. The film has a number of rather appealing actors. Adolphe Menjou is particularly appealing, not the least because it is the older woman, Olga, who captures his heart. He spends most of the film getting into trouble with a twinkle in his eye. Also present in the film (he's listed WAY down in the credits) is Victor Mature as Lefty, one of Floyd's gang members. He's probably the only member of the gang who is likeable, because he is the only one who seems to care about Hilda. On the other hand, we found John Hubbard
(Robert Randall) to be a rather banal actor. It turns out we've all seen him on TV and none of us recall him; in fact, I had JUST seen him on an episode of Maverick, and could NOT remember who he was.. Unfortunately, with so many
strong character actors, Hubbard just fades into the background. Joan
Bennett is quite lovely. Her Hilda is strong and attractive, both physically and emotionally. She is a good influence on Robert Randall, trying to encourage him to follow his dream. She is kind to Benny, and a loving daughter. Her biggest fault, of course, is that she lies to her mother and to Robert about her prior "employment". Bennett had a very long career. Beginning in the silent era (1916), she worked until 1982. Among her notable films are the 1933 Little Women, Scarlet Street, Woman in the Window, and Father of the Bride. As her career started to wane, she became a regular on a soap opera, entitled Dark Shadows, which brought her new fame. "I feel positively like a Beatle." she is reported to have said about the reactions to Dark Shadows. She died at aged 80 in 1990.
A quick note about Lilian Bond, the lovely actress who played our murder victim. She was, it seems, photographed in the nude by Alfred Cheney Johnston, a photographer who specialized in nudes, and was the photographer for the Ziegfeld Follies (Bond was in both the Follies Earl Carroll's Vanities). She had a fairly long career - from 1929 until 1958.
One notable appearance - a tribute to her beauty - is as Lily Langtry, the object "Judge" Roy Bean's adoration in The Westerner. She died in 1991, at the age of 83. We leave you with a brief snippet from the film:
In 1933's Brief Moment, Carole Lombard plays Abby Fane, a
nightclub singer who is loved by - and loves - wealthy Rod Deane (Gene
Raymond). Despite the objections of his family, Rod and Abby marry, and
have an extensive honeymoon in Europe. When they return to their home
in New York, they find that the home that Abby has hoped to design has
been completely done over by Rod's dilettante friend, Sigrift (Monroe Owsley), who
spends most of his time encouraging Rod to overspend and over-drink.
Abby is heartbroken at her husband's lifestyle, finally telling him that
he has one choice - to find gainful employ, or to lose her.
One thing that is rather odd about this film is the relationship between Rod Deane, his brother Franklin, and their
father. Mr. Deane runs a huge business, yet he has totally cut his
sons out of the running of the enterprise. Son Franklin is a
vice-president, but does nothing all day but play the horses. Why?
Because his father will not share the responsibility of the firm. One
wonders what will happen when Mr. Deane is no longer able to work. Then again, Mr. Deane isn't working all that much - he is MUCH more interested in his stable of horses. Given that the action is contemporary to 1933, one wonders how the family survived the Depression with their wealth intact. One interesting scene involves the writing of a check - we see the monthly allowance that is going to Rod - $4,000. In 1933, that would have been more than the yearly salary for most people. One can only imagine the shock of seeing that number being given out to a young man who is doing absolutely nothing with his life.
While
this is a slight little movie, the costuming is wonderful (Carole has
some lovely dresses), and our Ms. Lombard is just lovely as the noble
Abby. Abby is reserved and gracious - she has much more "class" than her upper-class husband and his obnoxious family. Gene Raymond is fine as Rod (though Raymond is not one of our
favorite actors). It is interesting to see Donald Cook again (just two
years after he appeared in Public Enemy). The actor that stands out, though, is Monroe Owsley, who is (again) playing a cad. He does it so well, and when he is on screen, he is fascinating to watch.
Certainly not one of Ms. Lombard's best films, but certainly worth a quick look.
