Kim Marries a Stranger

A man brags that he has ten thousand dollars in cash with him; the next day he is found murdered. That same day, new bride Millie Baxter (Kim Hunter) is on the train to New York City to meet her groom, Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger). A traveling salesman, Paul left almost immediately after the wedding; the couple married having only known each other for four days. Millie is about to find out what happens When Strangers Marry (1944).

A suspenseful film that keeps you on guessing throughout, this is a fun way to spend an evening. It's not a perfect film by any means, but it has some redeeming values, not the least of which is the performance of Dean Jagger.  It's unusual to see Mr. Jagger as a romantic lead. Often, he is the older, wiser man, but here he is love interest. Casting him threw this audience off balance; we are so used to him in more sinister roles that it was easy to accept that he might be the murderer. Paul Kelly, another actor with a bit of a sinister background (you can learn a bit more about his past in this post), was also considered for the lead (AFI catalog).

Kim Hunter also contributes to the film's success, though one has to shake their head at the character's stupidity.  Millie comes across as a traveling salesman groupie.  She's already had one unsuccessful relationship with Fred Graham (Robert Mitchum) - it ended, he said because of his job.  Yet Millie marries Paul after having been with him for four days in a three month period. This certainly makes Paul all the more suspect, but it also makes Millie appear very, very naive - almost to the point of stupidity. How can she have married someone she barely knows, who then disappears for an extended period of time?

Kim Hunter began her film career in 1943, with a lead role in The Seventh Victim. After several years, she went to New York, where she joined the Actor's Studio, and was cast in the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire as Stella DuBois Kowalski, a role she reprized in the film version. She continued to appear on Broadway on television in the 1950s, despite being blacklisted (Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era by Milly S. Barranger). Television would continue to be her main medium until 1968, when she was cast as Zira in Planet of the Apes. She would appear in two more of the franchise's films. She died of a heart attack in 2002 - two years after the death of her husband of 49 years, Robert Emmett - at the age of 79.

This is one of Robert Mitchum's first credited roles. We are, of course, used to Mitchum as the cool leading man. At this point in his career, he is still learning, and it is obvious. Towards the end of the film, he overacts quite a bit.  Of course, it may have been that he was truly afraid for his life. The film was produced by Frank, Herman, and Maurice Kozinsky, aka the King Brothers (TCM article).  Mitchum agreed to do the film as a one-time thing, but the Brothers were eager to sign him to a contract. According to Kim Hunter, he would be harassed daily by men who Mr. Mitchum claimed had guns.  Luckily for him, filming was over in seven days, after which he signed a contract with RKO (Robert Mitchum: "Baby I Don't Care" by Lee Server). Once at RKO, he started to get parts in films like The Locket (1946), Crossfire (1947), and Out of the Past (1947).

 

William Castle was offered the opportunity to direct the film. The Kings told him that, if he could finish filming in 7 days, he would be given a $1,000 bonus. He asked his cast if they would consent to a rehearsal period of one week (with no pay!). They did, and filming was completed in the one-week period.

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When the film was reissued in 1949, there was a change in title - it was now Betrayed, which kinda gives a lot of the plot away. It also had a new star.  Mr. Jagger was now third billed, with Mr. Mitchum dominating the poster (above). 

The film got good reviews on release - James Agee in Time, and Variety both were enthusiastic in their praise.  Orson Welles actually talked to William Castle about working together following this film's release.

While we didn't love this film, it was certainly a pleasant way to spend an evening - an interesting film noir, good performances, and a chance to see Robert Mitchum learning his trade. What's not to enjoy? We'll leave you with a scene from the film:

Vincent's House is Haunted

Millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) is having a haunted house part for his wife, Annabelle (Carol Ohmart). He has invited five strangers to the House on Haunted Hill (1959), with the understanding that he will pay them each $10,000 for spending a night. Once the doors are locked at midnight, they cannot leave until 8am. The "guests" - pilot Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), psychiatrist Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal), office worker Nora Manning (Carol Craig), columnist Ruth Bridges (Julie Mitchum), and the house's actual owner Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook) all need the money. But can they survive the night?

If you like short, campy movies with special effects so low budget that you can see the wires, this is the film for you. The inimitable William Castle directed and produced the production which goes, as always, for the shock value. A believer in promotion, Mr. Castle felt it "should be an integral part of the entire movie going experience." (Showmanship: The Cinema of William Castle by Joe Jordan). He would design gimmicks for his films, like vibrating motors attached to some seats for the thriller, The Tingler (1959) or voting on the main character's fate in Mr. Sardonicus (1961). The House on Haunted Hill, too, had its gimmick, which we'll discuss later on.

Without Vincent Price, this movie would be nothing. He gives it cache - he plays the role with his tongue firmly implanted into his cheek. As a result, the audience can sit back and enjoy the proceedings, understanding that taking ANY of it seriously would be a drastic mistake. Mr. Price had just lost a role in a Western film - he was judged too tall to play opposite the new star, Alan Ladd. Mr. Castle offered Mr. Price the lead in The House on Haunted Hill, which was in development. In exchange, Mr. Castle gave him a piece of the movie, which ended up netting Mr. Price a new painting for his extensive collection, and a new career as the king of the horror film (The Price of Fear: The Film Career of Vincent Price, In His Own Words by Joel Eisner).

Vincent Price was very much a Renaissance man. He began his acting career in London with The Mercury Players, after having worked as a teacher and studied fine arts. By 1936, he was working on Broadway, playing Prince Albert to Helen Hayes' Victoria Regina. He would appear in 11 Broadway productions, including the Mercury Theatre production of  Heartbreak House, starring Orson Welles (1938),  Angel Street (1944), and Richard III, playing the Duke of Buckingham to Jose Ferrer's Richard (1953). He'd moved to Hollywood by 1938, with a co-starring role with Constance Bennett in Service de Luxe.  While he played good guys on some occasions, it seems he was destined to specialize in villains or weaklings, like Nicholas Van Ryn in Dragonwyck (1946) and Shelby Carpenter in Laura (1944). He moved easily from film to radio to television (where he appeared as one of my favorite villains in "The Foxes and Hounds" episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E). A highly regarded art collector, Mr. Price donated works from his collection to form the basis for The Vincent Price Art Museum, so that students at East Los Angeles College would have access to a teaching collection. He also wrote several books on gourmet cooking with his second wife, Mary Grant.  His final on-screen film role was in Edward Scissorhands (1990), but he contributed his vocal talents to a number of films, and even to the music video Thriller. Mr. Price died of emphysema in 1993 at the age of 82.

I was unimpressed with Carol Ohmart when I saw her in The Scarlet Hour; the group opinion was not any different. She's an expressionless actress, who thinks making a moue with her mouth is the epitome of fine acting. It's not. In 1955, James Bacon called her a "female Brando" for her "savage realism" (Chicago Daily Herald, 3 July 1955).  One wonders how much Paramount paid him for that compliment. 

Carol Craig gets to scream a lot during the film. The one character who is truly terrified by what is going on, Nora has the brains of a pea. She goes wandering off behind curtains and into empty rooms. Why someone that frightened would be wandering this revolting house alone is beyond us.

Though she doesn't have a lot to do (except for some Lady Macbeth hand cleaning), Julie Mitchum is worth noting as Robert Mitchum's sister.  We also enjoyed Richard Long as the "hero" of the piece. He's effectively stalwart, with not a lot of screen time. And let's not forget Elisha Cook, who keeps warning the audience about the dangers of the house and the ghosts. He's a puzzling character, who remains a question even as the film ends.

The exterior of the house is a Frank Lloyd Wright home - Ennis House, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles (The house was also used as Spike and Drusilla's residence in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer). (Los Angeles Conservancy) The inside is studio created - it's an upscale albeit rather dirty haunted house, though you might find a head in your luggage.

Always the showman, William Castle devised a special gimmick for this film. Called "Emergo," it involved a glow-in-the dark skeleton appearing over the audience's head at a pivotal point in the movie (TCM article). According to Joel Eisner, the first time he tried this trick was at a private screening for major producers. The skeleton was operated from a fishing reel in the projectionist's group, which worked at first. Unfortunately, the line snapped, and fell on the assembled producers.  Mr. Castle had to redesign the skeleton, so that, if it fell in a real theatre, it was light enough to not hurt any audience members!.

The New York Times review  by Howard Thompson, called the film "a stale spook concoction. " However, in a review of a 1999 remake, Lawrence Van Gelder said the new film was "a sorry reincarnation of the 1950s William Castle horror film". That rendition starred Geoffrey Rush in the Vincent Price part (AFI catalog). Today, Mr. Price's version is considered a cult classic.

We'll leave you with a trailer: 

Barbara Screams

Barbara Stanwyck's final role on the big screen was in a William Castle horror/suspense film entitled The Night Walker (1964).  Its major claim to fame (besides being Stanwyck's last go at movies) was that it reunited her with her former co-star - and former husband - Robert Taylor.  Stanwyck plays Irene Trent.  Married, unhappily to jealous tyrant Howard Trent (Hayden Rorke), Irene's sleep is plagued by dreams of a fantasy lover (Lloyd Bochner).  When Howard is killed in a freak accident in his laboratory, Irene's not heartbroken, and happily leaves their damaged home in the hope of escaping from the stressful dreams.   But the dreams begin to escalate in intensity; terrified she is going mad, Irene goes to her husband's attorney, Barry Morland (Robert Taylor) for help.

On some levels, one wonders what would prompt Ms. Stanwyck to appear in this rather ludicrous story.  Though hired first, she ends up billed under her ex-husband, Robert Taylor.  According to this article in the Florence Times, from May 9, 1964, Stanwyck was willing to appear with her ex, if he and his wife (German actress Ursula Thiess) agreed.  Taylor said it was fine with him, but when asked, the current Mrs. Taylor allegedly said "not necessarily."  

While Stanwyck gets second billing, it is clearly her film.  Even with an outlandish plot, special effects that are laughable, and an ending that makes you want to go "Huh?", Stanwyck is still excellent.  In an age when older actresses were having to become laughingstocks in the Grand-Guignol style (think What Ever Happened to Baby Jane), Stanwyck is still elegant, and even regal.  Her beauty was even more striking as she aged (my father - a huge fan - always said she got better looking every year), and at age 57 she looks like a youth when compared to much less well-preserved (and 4 years younger) Robert Taylor.  (The book Barbara Stanwyck: Miracle Woman  by Dan Callahan also comments on the physical differences between the stars.  Be aware - there are spoilers).

Interestingly, Joan Crawford is alleged to have been William Castle's first choice for Irene.  She declined, perhaps because she was at that point committed to Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, a role that was ultimately given to Olivia de Havilland when Crawford became ill (or, perhaps just couldn't stand the thought of working again with her rival, Bette Davis).

Possibly the biggest problem with the story is the lack of continuity.  Howard Trent is horribly jealous. Why?  He has a laboratory in the attic. What is he doing there? Irene owns a beauty salon, which she owned before she met Howard.  Why did they marry?  Why is Howard blind?  The questions go on and on, but we get no answers.  We're supposed to wonder why Irene is having these odd dreams, but given her rather strange marriage, it's no wonder that she is dreaming of a handsome man who adores her.  And if you listen carefully, you actually can figure out WHY "The Dream" is someone who actually exists.  It's quite probable that Irene met him at some point. 

It was very pleasant to see Hayden Rorke in a film role - he actually had a very lengthy film career in character parts before he became so very familiar to us all as the much put-upon Dr. Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie.  While this was not his last film role, he primarily did television after this movie.  He'd started film acting in 1943; prior to that, he'd appeared on Broadway in 6 plays (including The Philadelphia Story, with Katharine Hepburn - he played Mac, the night watchman).  He continued working until 1985, and died in 1987, age 76.  He was survived by his partner, Justus Addiss.
Also in the cast, in tiny parts, are Jess Barker (who we saw in Good Luck, Mr. Yates) and Rochelle Hudson (probably best known as Shirley Temple's older sister in Curly Top).  Blink, and you'll miss Ms. Hudson as Hilda, the manager of Irene's beauty shop.  Barker at least gets a few minutes screen time as Mr. Malone, the inspector of the damaged house, at the beginning of the film.  A shame really, that they didn't get more to do.

As Bosley Crowther in his New York Times review states, "the whole thing would not be worth reporting if it didn't have Barbara Stanwyck in the role of the somnambulistic sufferer and Robert Taylor as her husband's lawyer who tries to help."  Small wonder that Ms. Stanwyck eschewed further big screen roles in favor of television.  Her next role would see her in the part of the inimitable Victoria Barkley, with star billing as MISS Barbara Stanwyck  for the four-year run of The Big Valley.   That role would earn her four Emmy nominations, and two wins.  She also would win another Emmy in 1983 for her performance as Mary Carson in The Thorn Birds.  (Obviously, the Emmy voters were a lot smarter than the Oscar voters!)

We'll leave you with this trailer from the film.