Halloween and the Precode Era

To celebrate Halloween, we decided to watch the 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi in the title role.  What can we say about this iconic film? To get a bit of perspective, we looked at a scene (the "I never drink...wine" scene) from the 1931 Spanish-language version which was shot on the same set as Lugosi's film.  Carlos Villar (also known as Carlos Villarias), who plays the infamous Conte Dracula, probably ends up being unfairly compared to Lugosi. Sure, he's good, but Lugosi's Dracula is charismatic. It is why, when we think of Dracula today, we still tend to think of Lugosi. He's overstated at times, but he is arresting. It is hard to take your eyes off of him.  And of course, they could not make this sensual a Dracula for years. Perhaps the Frank Langella version 1979 is an attempt to recapture the sexual nature of the Count on film. 

We also talked a lot about the  way in which certain films (this one and Frankenstein, in particular.  Both, by the way, from the Precode era. Frankenstein was released only a few months before Dracula) completely overpower their original work.  Frankenstein the movie, has so entirely kidnapped the book, that when we say "Frankenstein", who do we automatically think of? - the creature, of course. And it is the wonderful Boris Karloff that we remember. We forget that "Frankenstein" is the DOCTOR, not his creation. And I think, even with all the Frankensteins that have come after, we forget that there ever was a Creature other than Mr. Karloff. A tribute to his portrayal, and the wonderful makeup created by Jack Pierce.

Dracula, the book certainly is very sexual And it is wonderful that this mood was able to be captured on film.  Though, the film goes away from the book frequently (we lose Lucy the vampire, and Jonathan Harker does not go to Transylvania), we were rather taken from one major change - Renfield as the lawyer who ends up as Dracula's first victim.  It makes rather a nice touch to have this explanation for Renfield's madness (and an explanation as well for his rebellion against Dracula when Mina Seward is threatened).

This montage of clips from the film might be of interest:

Happy Halloween all!!

Gloria Swanson Sings!

For those of us only familiar with Gloria Swanson's work in Sunset Boulevard, Indiscreet is a revelation. No, this is not the Cary Grant / Ingrid Bergman film, but a 1931 romantic comedy which is a lovely vehicle for Gloria Swanson's many talents.  The story centers around Gerry Trent; we come in on her life as she breaks up with her cheating boyfriend, Jim Woodward (Monroe Owsley).  We find out quickly that their relationship is more than casual when Gerry hands Jim his golf clubs from her hall closet! 

Several months later, Gerry meets and falls in love with Tony Blake (Ben Lyon).  After much consideration, she decides to tell Tony about her prior relationship. He accepts her confession, asks that she not tell him the name of the man, and tells her that he wants to marry her.  Problems ensue when Gerry's younger sister returns with her fiance - Jim Woodward. Gerry is horrified, and attempts to break up Jim and Joan (Barbara Kent). However, her attempts appear to Tony to be an affair with Jim, and Tony decides to leave for Europe.  All is resolved when Tony releases that he is being an idiot and goes back for Gerry. They will marry on the ship.

This is a total vehicle for Swanson, with director Leo McCarey using all her varied talents, comedic and dramatic.  Swanson's pantomime skills, as she tries to convince party guests that she is loony, are a joy, as is a similar scene when she tries to sneak aboard the ship on which Tony is leaving the country.  She will have you in stitches.  But, she also sings (and isn't bad); and her Gerry is so sweet and sympathetic that she has you rooting for her all the way.

This is a delightful movie; a real surprise, and I heartily recommend it. We'll leave you with a clip of Ms. Swanson singing in the film.

Hell's House

Hell's House from 1932 is one of the precode era's social reform pictures. It is the story of a young man, living with his loving aunt and uncle after the death of his mother, who is befriended by a bootlegger.  In an effort to make a little extra money, young Jimmy (played by Junior Durkin) begins working for the bootlegger, is caught, and is sent to an horrific reform school, where the boys are routinely tortured by the cruel punishments. In an effort to save his dying friend Shorty, Jimmy escapes and tells his story to a newspaper.  Alas, it is in vain, Shorty dies from his punishment.  But Jimmy is saved when the bootlegger Kelly finally agrees to confess that he alone was responsible, and that Jimmy had no idea of Kelly's occupation.
It was strange to see Pat O'Brien playing such a callow fellow.  One is not used to seeing him as a villain.  And Bette Davis is in a very minor role as Kelly's girlfriend, a sweet woman (NOT a moll), who is horrified when she learns of Jimmy's fate, and that her boyfriend was the cause.

This is not a great movie by any means, but interesting to see the social concerns of the era. Certainly, the boys' lives in the detention center are no walks in the spring rain, but the "horrors" are mild by comparison of what we would see today. See it for an opportunity to view an early Bette Davis film, or Pat O'Brien in a completely different vein. Here's is a bit of the film's opening:

Children of the Depression

Wild Boys of the Road!  We laughed about the title for weeks. We were sure it would be quite silly We were WRONG.  This is a fascinating movie.  It focuses on three children - two boys and a girl, about age 15 - who set off on the road because the depression has made them a burden to their families. The boys, Eddie (Frankie Darrow) and Tommy (Edwin Phillips) are friends; Tommy's family is already feeling the poverty of the era, when Eddie's father loses his job. Eddie tries to help by selling his car, but it is not enough, so the two boys determine to leave home in order to find work.  Of course, they can't.  They meet other children in the same predicament and are chased from place to place, as their numbers grow and town citizenry become disenchanted with this gang of impoverished children.

The unique thing about Wild Boys of the Road is that none of the children are mean-spirited or cruel.  When Sally (Dorothy Coonan, who would become Wellman's wife) is raped, it is by an adult - her companions rush to her defense. When Eddie loses a leg in an accident, all the children work to support him.   Here's that scene:

The beauty of this film is the fact that director Wellman makes sure that the children are seen in a positive light.  Their existence is almost communal, with all the children staying together, all contributing to the support of the group.  Though they seem to lose track of their original goal, to support their impoverished families, we later discover they still hold that goal close to their heart.  It is just that the crushing poverty in which they find themselves make survival become the priority. The performances, especially Frankie Darrow, are a joy. 

We watched a few  minutes of the commentary (and I look forward to watching the rest of it at a later date); what we heard was fascinating. The ending is a positive one, but we learned that Welllman had wanted a far more downbeat ending.  We agreed with the commentator who said that we preferred the positive ending.  Had the film ended differently, I think it would have been unbearable.  [And - an aside - look at the picture on the desk of NYC judge. He will become famous as a TV actor in later life. The answer is in the commentary].

Don't let the title turn you off. Do watch this. We think you will agree with us, that Wild Boys of the Road is a forgotten gem.

A Precode Look at WWI

Heroes for Sale is nearly unrelenting in the intensity of pain that the character of Tom Holmes (Richard Barthelmess) goes through.  A soldier in the first World War, who is severely wounded in an enemy action, he ends up addicted to morphine when his German doctor can only relieve his pain rather than remove the shrapnel in his body. He returns to America to find that his fellow soldier George (Grant Mitchell) has been given awards for bravery for leading the action in which Tom was injured, while George hid in a foxhole, paralyzed with fear.  George attempts to help his friend, as much out of fear of being revealed as anything else, until Tom's addiction becomes known, at which point Tom is fired from his bank job and put into a rehabilitation center.

Cured of his drug problem, Tom starts over, marries (Loretta Young as Ruth), becomes successful, only to have everything taken away from him yet again.  He loses his job, his wife, his son and finally ends up one of the depression homeless, primarily because he refuses to live upon the pain of his fellow man.

William Wellman never lets up in this story. Just when you think Tom will make it, something else happens to him.  Richard Barthelmess is wonderful as Tom. We felt for him at every moment.  He had had a remarkable career in silents, which continued into the 1930's, finally petering out (unfortunately) in the 1940's.  We had previously seen him in Only Angels Have Wings, and looked forward to seeing him in a lead role; he was not a disappointment. 

Unlike the previously discussed Midnight Mary,  Loretta Young plays an innocent girl in Heroes for Sale, someone who loves her husband and son with her whole heart.  Young is quite good in what is really a small part.

Besides Barthelmess, though, the other actor of real interest is Aline MacMahon as Mary Dennis.  Of particular note is a scene during which she realizes that Tom has feelings for Ruth. Watch her face - Aline MacMahon will break your heart.

Ms. MacMahon began her career in 1931, and continued working until 1975.  She had started on Broadway, appearing in The Madras House in 1921 - she would continue to work on the New York stage until 1975.  She spent her film career in supporting roles, like Trixie Lorraine in Gold Diggers of 1933 and Mrs. Murray in The Search.  Married once (from 1928 until her husband's death in 1975), she retired in after completing For the Use of the Hall.  She died in 1991, aged 92.  

Here's a scene with the always wonderful Aline MacMahon and Richard Barthelmess:



Next week, we conclude this particular precode set with Wild Boys of the Road.

Meeting "Midnight Mary"

The discussion for today will focus on Midnight Mary.  We were all fascinated to see Loretta Young play a prostitute/gun moll. One is NOT used to her playing anything but the sweet innocent. However, she was excellent in this, a tribute to her abilities as an actress.  Though Midnight Mary IS a traditional woman's picture, it is also a condemnation of the Great Depression, and the conditions that women faced as a result. Mary Martin ends up in reform school, primarily because she is an orphan and has no one to defend her (when it is her friend who is stealing).  When she returns to the community, she is unable to find work, and ultimately turns to prostitution just to pay for food.  We noticed that there are real similarities to the situation facing Myra in Waterloo Bridge (we were discussing the the 1931 version - because it fit our "precode" focus, but this certainly applies to the the 1940 version as well).

Quite a bit of our discussion was about Ricardo Cortez, this time playing Leo, the mobster (who is a really awful human being). He is, of course, so very different in this than his role in Torch Singer.  We found an interesting comparison to Franchot Tone's Tom, who is our hero in the film.  Though he marries another woman after Mary rejects him, we felt that Tone made the character a lot stronger than we would have expected.  We also liked Mary's relationship with him.  Her desire to protect him from her past was lovely; we also felt that he was well aware of her past, and that it made no difference to him.

Here's a scene, featuring Loretta Young and Ricardo Cortez:



Next posting will be about another very interesting William Wellman film: Heroes for Sale.

Ruth Survives the San Francisco Earthquake

San Francisco was not the first movie to show the devastating effects of the San Francisco earthquake. In fact, Ruth Chatterton's Jenny in this week's Frisco Jenny also made it out of the wreckage. However, unlike the latter movie, the earthquake begins this movie, setting up a chain of events that drive our heroine to unwed motherhood and prostitution.  Of all the movies we've seen so far, this one had the most traditional "code" feeling. Jenny may become wealthy as a madam, but she had no happiness, and justice is served in the end (I won't reveal the ending). 

Our discussion focused on comparison to a few other movies we had seen in the past. First, we considered Female, also starring Ruth Chatterton. While that too results in a rather traditional ending, the character does not get her "just desserts" (if you will), and she is going to live happily, in spite of her rather unfettered lifestyle.  We also ended up looking at the earthquake scene again, and then comparing it to the earthquake scene in San Francisco.  We were fascinated that, in the latter, the earthquake is shown almost entirely in close up. A broken wagon wheel here, some falling bricks there, a face looking up - all seen almost exclusively from Blackie Norton (Clark Gable's) perspective, making for a very personal, very emotional set of scenes.  Frisco Jenny avoids close-ups, and Jenny is almost entirely removed from the action once she sees her father killed by falling debris.  Thus, the earthquake here IS the actor. Wellman combines stock footage with studio shots to show the destruction of the City from quake and fire.  It works beautifully, but is less a city of people than the latter film will be. When we return to Jenny, it is at least seven months later, and Jenny has concerns other than rebuilding the City. (Too bad she didn't run into Jeannette MacDonald in her distress. Imagine how much happier her life would have been!!)

Here is a trailer:



Next week, we venture on to precode Loretta Young!  Join us then.

Stanwyck Sings too!

Perhaps we should call The Purchase Price Torch Singer II, since Barbara Stanwyck also plays a torch singer of spotty reputation and also does her own singing (though to far less beneficial effect than Ms. Colbert in Torch Singer. One understands why Ms. Stanwyck was later dubbed in Ball of Fire!  We have a trailer below, with her singing included.) Stanwyck's Joan Gordon wants to marry; however her lover Eddie Fields (Lyle Talbot) quickly informs us and reminds her that he is already married. She has a possibility - a young man of wealth named Don Leslie (Hardie Albright), who dumps her because his father has discovered her relationship with Fields. She leaves town - mainly to get away from Eddie. Then, she changes places with a hotel maid to travel to North Dakota as the mail order pride of Jim Gibson, played by George Brent.

We've liked George Brent in pretty much everything we've seen him in, but not this one. His Jim is a creep. His near-rape attempt of his stranger bride on their first night together we found revolting, and his assumption that molesting her immediately was his right as a "husband" doubled our dislike of Jim.  I can't speak for my fellow movie watchers here, but I know I found Eddie a lot more attractive (and wife or no wife, I would have gone off with him. He's a much nicer man, and cared more about Joan's well-being than Jim ever does).

The other creep in the movie was Bull McDowell (played by David Landau), who offers to advance Jim money IF Joan will act with a house maid (with benefits, of course). We also found the rather odd man who stands around barking rather disturbing (we couldn't figure out WHY he was barking!)

Stanwyck, who is good in everything, is wonderful in this, and the movie is worth seeing just for her. There is no question about Joan's character. We see her return a house key to Eddie, as she goes off to marry. But she attempts to be a good wife (in all but the physical sense) to Jim, as she tries to win him over. She is good to her neighbors, and smart and strong. We loved the scene where she goes off to assist a woman newly delivered of an infant; alone, and  still too weak to care for her newborn and young daughter, Joan steps in, cooks, cleans and gets the family back on an even keel. At that point, I dare anyone to NOT be in love with Joan.

 As promised, here is a trailer with Stanwyck singing:

Tune in next time for Frisco Jenny.

Other Men's Women

 After Bill (Grant Withers) succeeds in ducking his marriage to Marie (Joan Blondell), his pal Jack (Regis Toomey) offers to put him up. Jack's wife, Lily (Mary Astor) has no objections, but as time goes on, Bill and Lily start to have feelings for one another.

Other Men's Women is rather an odd movie. The consensus of our group was that it didn't quite know what it wanted to be: a romance for the women, or an action-adventure movie for the men. It did have both elements, with the love story between Grant Withers and Mary Astor playing out within the context of railroad men.  Mary Astor's character, Lily, disappears for most of the end of the movie, and one wonders why she would leave her now-blind husband even with the danger of a ensuing flood.

We did enjoy this early James Cagney appearance. His characterization of Eddie was a delight - from his first appearance atop a railroad car to the scene where he meets his girl friend at a fancy club in work clothes - then proceeds to strip down to the tux he had donned underneath.  Add to that a little dance step of joy, and you can't help but smile at the man who will launch to "overnight" success as Tom Powers in only two months. He was an amazing dancer; it's a shame he didn't get to do more of it, but it does make what we have even more to be appreciated.

The juxtaposition of the beginning and ending scenes, both set in the same cafe, really gave you a good look at the development of Grant Wither's Bill White.  A nice advantage of seeing these on DVD is the ability to go back and compare the two scenes. 

Here's a brief scene with Mary Astor and Grant Withers:


Next week, on to The Purchase Price.

Buster Crabbe goes PreCode

Search for Beauty is the final entry in the Pre-Code Hollywood DVD set, and what a hoot. Buster Crabbe (of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers fame) plays an Olympic swimmer who becomes an editor for a health magazine, only to discover the owners are interested in a sex magazine. One interesting point is that the movie opens at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, showing Crabbe's character, Don Jackson, winning the gold medal in the 400 meter swim meet - the event for which Crabbe actually won his gold medal. His best girl is played by Ida Lupino (appearing as a platinum blonde!). Both are hired by the magazine to give it credibility, while the publishers fill the rag with salacious pictures and stories.

There is lots of innuendo here; there are also male and female swimmers in showers; beauties in bathing suits and tight training outfits; ladies dancing on table tops in lingerie.  In this musical number, you can get a glimpse of some of the milder aspects of the movie:


But parts of the movie are even a bit racier:  there are also naked male bottoms. Early in the film, we venture into the locker room at the Olympics, to witness several young men running to showers bare bottomed. 

We found the combination of Buster Crabbe, as our upright hero, and Robert Armstrong, as our loose-moraled publisher (his character, Larry Williams, just got out of jail as a result of selling non-existent oil wells) amusing. And, of course, it is never hard to have James Gleason in a movie, even when his character is not quite on the right side of the moral.

Finally, do watch to see the scene in which Ida Lupino listens to two female writers relating the sensational stories they have written for the magazine. These two look like they should be teaching Latin, not writing salacious stories!

Next week, we start Forbidden Hollywood, 3