A Dispatch from Reuters

I think I have a new favorite classic film sub-genre: biographical films starring Edward G. Robinson. Yesterday I saw A Dispatch from Reuters, the story of Paul Julius Reuter and how he started the famous news wire service with some passenger pigeons. I'm beginning to think I love Eddie G. in these kinds of roles more than the gangster films. Although Johnny Rocco is hard to top. 


The real Julius Reuter, also
well known for his sideburns.

 

Like another Eddie G. biopic I love, Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, Robinson here plays a character completely unlike any of his gangsters: an industrious, hard working man who wants to speed up the dissemination of news not for any profit, but because "the news belongs to everyone." He starts out providing stock prices via carrier pigeons, and just to be as fair as possible, he locks the subscribers in the room while he reads the prices, and then lets them out all at once so no one has an advantage over anyone else. This leads to some hijinks where one banker tries to cheat by tossing the prices out the window to his office boy; Reuter notices this and next time, gives the wrong prices and doesn't correct himself until he sees the office boy run away.

The story reaches its climax when Reuter is the first, by over 7 hours (because he has built his own telegraph line from Ireland to England), to get the news of Lincoln's assassination. He won't hold it back, not even to save his best friend from losing a bundle in the stock market. The news starts a panic, but when no other source can confirm it, the brokers decide Reuter made it up to crash the market, and that leads to a session of Parliament where the members argue about whether Reuter can or should be punished. Right when it gets the most tense, however, a messenger comes in with the news that Lincoln has, in fact, been murdered. All the MPs have egg on their faces, but they do apologize to Reuter, and the movies ends on this great triumph.


Sadly, Robinson did not grow
similar sideburns for the movie.

 

One person I felt was kind of unnecessary to the film was Eddie Albert, who plays Reuter's friend Max. They're in business together from the start (back in the days when the local village children call Reuter "the pigeon fool" and throw rocks at him), but Max is lazy and irresponsible, at one point letting all the pigeons get away. He does provide contrast by making Reuter/Robinson look all that more industrious, but I don't think he brought much else to the film, and Reuter looks hardworking enough on his own.

As always at Warner Bros, there is all kind of character actor goodness to be found in this film, including Otto Kruger (Reuter's father-in-law), Albert Basserman (Reuter's partner Geller), Nigel Bruce (Sir Randolph), Montagu Love (John Delane, head of The Times), and Gene Lockhart (Bauer the banker).



Heat Lightning

The title, Heat Lightning, caught my eye because it's roughly 112 degrees around here (or at least that's what it feels like) and because it listed among the cast members Aline MacMahon and Ann Dvorak, both great actresses who I think were overlooked in their day. I wasn't expecting a lot out of it (I assumed it was a B picture, as it's only 64 minutes long and has no big stars), but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Aline plays Olga, owner of a gas station/lunch counter/auto camp out in the Arizona desert, and as I had guessed, she's the unglamourous sister, spending most of the movie in overalls with a bandanna tied around her head, while Ann Dvorak (Olga's sister, Myra) gets to use all the makeup and wear dresses.


Oh, Warner Bros. Really?

(As an aside, Warners did the same thing to her more than once; in Gold Diggers of 1933, she's the only chorus girl out of the four roommates who didn't wake up in the morning perfectly coiffed and made up. I know she's not what Hollywood would consider a "traditional beauty," but really, did they have to go out of their way to make her the plain Jane all the time?)


Could I at least get some cover-up for my under eye shadows?

Various tourists drop by this desolate place, including two bank robbers on the lam (Preston Foster and Lyle Talbot), two ladies returning from their latest Reno divorce (Ruth Donnelly and Glenda Farrell, both delightfully snooty) and their much put-upon chauffeur, Frank (Frank McHugh).

Olga seems content to be a mechanic; it's her younger sister Myra who longs to get away (preferably with her shady boyfriend Steve) and lead a more exciting life. Olga is very strict with Myra and you gradually realize that Olga is trying to protect her sister from making the same mistakes she did.

Once the two robbers come along, however, it's a different story, because Olga knows one of them from her life "up in Tulsa," where she was a cabaret singer and apparently led a rather unsavory life. He could care less about her, but she obviously still has feelings for him, which he exploits in order to rob the Reno ladies of their jewels. Things don't turn out quite as planned, though. I usually try not to spoil endings, but since the movie poster did it for me, what the hell.



It's still worth a look, though, and happily, it's been released on DVD as part of the Warners archive collection.

White Heat

According to some of the film historians who commented on this film in the special feature, Cagney wanted to do something "different" playing a gangster this time, and he decided to play Cody Jarrett as a complete lunatic. Congrats, Jim! It worked beautifully.

I love this film in a special kind of way because Cody is so bananas. You get the adventure and suspense of the usual crime movie, but Cagney's performance adds an extra layer of entertainment. He makes you wonder what he's going to do next, and just how far he will go. Oh, the guy he locked in the trunk of his car wants a little air? Cody will give him air -- via the six bullet holes he shoots into the trunk. While casually eating a chicken leg. I often enjoy a little black comedy with my gangsters.

My favorite scene is one of the most famous: Cody is in the prison mess hall, and learns from the grapevine that his mother has been killed. Cue full-on, beserker freak-out. The best part is that none of the extras knew what was coming, so the looks to surprise on their faces are genuine. Edmund O'Brien, who plays Vic Pardo and is sitting directly across from Cagney, has the best "oh my God!" face of them all.

Cagney just told Raoul Walsh, the director, to put the two biggest extras on either side of him (so he could boost himself up on their shoulders) and to keep the cameras rolling, no matter what. When I hear about acting tricks like this, I usually think they're kind of gimmicky, yet with Cagney it seems like a brilliant idea, and he pulled it off beautifully.

Made it, Ma! Top of the world!



Hot summer movies

It's hot and humid here in lovely Philadelphia, and with that comes a yen to watch certain movies. Although I'm not a big fan of being out in this weather, I love movies about other people who are. Here are some tried and true favorites I've been rewatching lately.

1. Objective, Burma! - (please note that official title includes the punctuation, haha) Poor Errol Flynn. He made this movie in an attempt to help with the war effort, and the British press just chewed him up for it, feeling that he was trying to take all the glory of the Burma fight for the Americans. Although he wanted to, he was unable to serve due to health issues (recurring malaria and a heart murmur) that of course Warners would never let him admit to. However, I agree with George Tobias that I would "follow him down the mouth of a cannon." Lots of adventure, highly recommended.




2. Key Largo - Oh, Eddie G., how I adore you. I know he got tired of the gangster roles, but he is so delicious in this one. I could usually take or leave Bogart, but I love him this time. Poor Lionel Barrymore was really in a wheelchair (L.B. Mayer had the role written specifically to accomodate him) and I always wince when he takes a dive trying to sock Johnny Rocco. One of my favorite scenes is when Frank asks Rocco what he really wants out of life...Rocco isn't sure, until Frank says he just wants "more." "Yeah, that's it, I want more!" Rocco exclaims. Will he ever get enough?, Frank asks. No, Rocco says, he hasn't ever before, so he doesn't suppose he ever will. A brilliant summation of all the gangsters Robinson played.




3. Rain - I've talked about this one before; Crawford is just amazing in the role of Sadie Thompson in one of the many film adaptations of Maugham's story. The scene near the end when Walter Huston loses control still makes me jump, although I know it's coming.




4. Red Dust - I watched this one last night and I was delighted to remember how funny Harlow can be. It's not always what she says, but the way she says it. "You won't grow up to be a big strong boy like Grandpa here if you don't eat your din-din, Fred." Watch it and see if it doesn't make you chuckle, too. (The line comes at 1:10.) Gene Raymond is a little too "gee whiz" for my tastes, but in a way that makes him better for the role of the husband.

Squeeeeeeeeeeee!

I happened to be watching TCM today (it's Michael Curtiz today, which translates, for me, into Errol Flynn day) and they ran an ad for their new Warners Archive Collection. Lots of new movies never before on DVD, they promised! And I have to say, Ted Turner has delivered. Some of my favorite movies are now on DVD, so I scooped up a bunch: Idiot's Delight, Laughing Sinners, Dance Fools Dance, Possessed, Chained, and Forsaking All Others. There's a couple others I have my eye on, but I tried to restrain myself. ;) Maybe when I win the lottery.

Confessions of a (Mediocre) Nazi Spy

So, onward to Confessions of a Nazi Spy. This was one of the first anti-Nazi films, and I'm hearing various things about whether it was a hit or a flop at the time. I was kind of disappointed that Robinson didn't show up until the second half of the film, but the rabid Germans were enough to hold my interest until then. When I saw George Sanders in the credits, I assumed he would be playing some suave British agent, with that great purring voice of his. Turns out he was one of the lead Nazis, with a "high and tight" haircut and fairly good German accent. In his first scene he's giving a speech to some fellow Nazis and almost frothing at the mouth. As the camera moved in tighter on his face, I kept thinking, "That looks a little like George Sanders. But it can't be. Is it? No, it can't be." It was more difficult than I would have expected to recognize him with the haircut and accent.

As for the Nazi spies...well, let's say it was no surprise they got caught (in the real life case, FBI historian John Fox pointed out, only 3 of the 18 conspirators were caught; in the film they convict about 6, and 2-3 get kidnapped back to Germany by the Gestapo to a fate, we are to assume, worse than death). They all follow the same pattern: first, hysterical denial and demands to be let go. The German consulate will protest this!

Once they realize the jig is up, they all start singing like canaries. If the spy in question happens to be confronted by his menacing colleagues, there are more hysterics along the lines of, "Oh, please, don't send me back to Germany. I can't go back to Germany!" Five minutes ago you were singing the praises of the Fatherland, and now you don't want to go back?

The spy who begins the story gets his job by writing to a German newspaper and volunteering his services. You heard me. All through the movie, he keeps asking George Sanders how much he's going to get paid. No wonder you were the first domino to fall, Schneider. I'm sure a lot of the gratification for audiences came not only with the bad guys getting caught, but getting caught because they were so monumentally stupid.

Robinson is fine as FBI agent Renard; his part is less substanstial than I would have expected, but he does a good job as an FBI agent who gets all the spies to spill their guts. One loose end the movie left was the fate of Schlager/George Sanders. He's not caught or tried, it seems, but we never really see him escape, either. He just disappears about 2/3 of the way through the film and is never mentioned again. Overall, though, it was a pretty good WWII movie, and I would recommend it.

Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet

I'm skipping ahead of myself to talk about Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet. I love a bio pic if it's done well, and this one was. One of my litmus tests: after I see the movie, do I want to learn more about the person? Would I buy a biography of them, if one was available? In this case, the answer was yes. There were so many interesting bio pics back in the 30's and 40's: Marie Antoinette, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, and Queen Christina, to name just a few. (Yes, I realize these movies all took liberties with the facts.) And there are many more fascinating stories to be told; Hollywood, I'm looking in your direction. Why not find someone interesting and historically important, like Paul Ehrlich, and do a bio pic of them, rather than Mission Impossible 4 or a remake of a classic film that was fine in the first place, and yes I mean you, The Women. Ugh, let's not go there. I'm not even going to link it. The trailer commercials I'm seeing now make me grit my teeth.

Anyhow, back to the movie. I was really surprised that the film revealed the true subject of the bulk of Ehrlich's research: syphilis. After all, this is the Code age of Hollywood, (the film was released in 1940) when references to venereal disease were specifically forbidden (along with a bushel of other things). I can't imagine how this one got by Joe Breen, whose enforcement of the Code was "rigid and notorious." They do actually use the word "syphilis" (despite what IMDB would have you believe); there is in fact one amusing scene when Ehrlich, at a society dinner with a potential benefactress, is asked what he's working on, and he matter-of-factly says, "Syphilis." Everyone at the table stops cold and gasps; several reaction shots are shown. (His benefactress is not bothered at all, and does end up funding his research.)

While it's not stated outright that the men (and only men, although one female patient of another doctor is mentioned) Ehrlich treats caught the disease by sleeping around, it is hinted at in oblique ways; Ehrlich tells one patient he can "never get married," and the patient later kills himself.

However Warner Bros. got this one by the censors, I applaud them for doing so, because it is a film well worth seeing. The movie is also stuffed with character actor goodness, including appearances by Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp, Sig Ruman, Donald Meek, Henry O'Neill, Harry Davenport, and Montagu Love.

Dr. Clitterhouse, you ARE amazing!

Today I would like to speak of my current classic movie boyfriend, Edward G. Robinson. Between TCM's Eddie G. day on "Summer Under the Stars" and a DVD or two, it has been a regular Ed-fest around here.

Last night I watched The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse. Having watched Little Caesar on Sunday, it was naturally quite a contrast to see Robinson as a character who is intelligent, urbane, cultured, kindly, and has a gentle speaking voice. From what I've read about him, this seems like a role that would be fairly close to his real life (well, except for one thing, which I'm not going to specify because it would spoil the ending). It was a treat to see him in this role after all the "Meh, see?" squealing of LC. Although that also has its place, and I love him in those roles, too.

The movie had my attention from the start; I thought I understood the premise from the summary on my cable recording, but it took me awhile to be sure one way or the other. I love a movie that keeps me guessing like that, and has a few tricky turns on the way to the ending (one plot point in particular had me very surprised). To me, this is one of the most satisfying kinds of movie viewing experiences.

The roles of the gang members and police were filled by some familiar and well-loved character actors (Ward Bond, Allen Jenkins, Donald Crisp, Maxie Rosenbloom), which always adds more to a movie for me. As corny as it sounds, it's like running into old friends to see them listed in the opening credits. You know they're going to give a solid performance, no matter what the role. I enjoyed the interactions between the gang members and Dr. Clitterhouse; I found the respect they had for their "professor" rather touching.

The movie is being released on October 21 as part of the Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 4, and it's already on my Amazon wish list.

Next up on the discussion list: Confessions of a Nazi Spy.

Canteen, get your canteen right here

Nothing like a nasty head cold to give you time to catch up on a movie or two. This week on TCM I happened to catch Hollywood Canteen, the movie I really wanted to see when I rented Stage Door Canteen from Netflix. I saw SDC last year, and looking at the cast on Netflix (Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Ray Bolger, and Ethel Merman, among others) I can't say I really remember any of them from the film. It kind of made a non-impression on me, probably in part because I was expecting it to be another movie entirely. But the main plot was three soldiers meet three girls, and I suspect the reason why all the famous faces didn't stick in my memory is because they had very little screen time.

HC, by comparison, was a treat. The cast includes almost all of the Warner Bros. stars, with the "notable exceptions" (says Robert Osbourne) of Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan (and, I note, James Cagney). Ann was offered the lead (played by Joan Leslie) but refused it, because she didn't want any part of a movie that would make a GI think he could come to the canteen and marry a movie star. I guess I see your point, Ann, but come on, do you really think many people would actually believe that? It's for the war effort! Well, Joan did a nice job, and I think she is a better match for Robert Hutton as Cpl. "Slim" Green. Joan has that girl-next-door quality, and Ann I would consider more of a siren, so in this case I think Joan works better in the role. (Although Ann can be quite a good ingenue, as evidenced by her performance in Angels With Dirty Faces. But I tend to think of her more like this.)

The story is based on the actual Hollywood Canteen, founded by Bette Davis, although I don't know if it was actually filmed on location. It was made during the war, so I guess it's possible. During the film John Garfield, another founder, gives a speech about the origins of the canteen, which you can read about at the link above.

(Side note: I was horrified to learn that something called the Hollywood Canteen was reopened in 2001, and "caters to some of Hollywood's biggest names including: Paris Hilton, Marilyn Manson, Keith Jardine, Vince Vaughn, and Lindsay Lohan to name a few." Oh, vomit. Where do I start? If you're going to call it a canteen, then it should be free for service members, like the original was. Oh, wait: Wikipedia tells me that a canteen doesn't necessarily refer to a military eating place, but is rather a type of food service location in which there is little or no table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school. Point taken. But still. There's a lot of history behind that name. That sound you hear is Bette Davis spinning in her grave.)

The list of movie stars who volunteered their time to the original canteen is lengthy and impressive. I doubt very much you would see many of today's "stars" (and I use that term loosely) doing anything like this. But maybe that's just cynical me.

(Somewhat related aside: I admire Kathy Griffin for going to Iraq with the USO to entertain the troops, and I love it when she uses that fact to shame loudmouths like Bill Maher who bust on her: "I recently got back from Iraq, when are you going?")

Anyhow, the movie. While the romance between Slim and Joan Leslie is rather hokey, it's still cute and not overplayed. The stars who appeared in the film seem very natural, and you see them not just performing (Andrews Sisters, etc.), but waiting tables (Jack Carson) and washing dishes (Paul Henreid). From the little I've read on the canteen, it seems they really did get out there and mingle with the troops quite a bit. (Another aside for a funny story: a soldier at the canteen bet his friend $5 he couldn't get a kiss from Bette Davis. Bette kissed the soldier when he asked and gave him $5 to pay the bet. Then she gave the other soldier $10 and said, "thanks for believing in my virtue." Heh.)

One of my favorite moments from the film is when Dane Cook, as Sgt. Nowland, is dancing with a woman and says to her, "Has anyone ever told you you look just like Joan Crawford?" The couple pans around as they dance..."By the way, I am Joan Crawford," Joan Crawford says. Another funny moment was the bit with Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.

[after unintentionally scaring away a marine sergeant]
Peter Lorre: [sadly] All I wanted to ask him is to join me in a cigarette!
Sydney Greenstreet: He didn't trust us, Peter.
Peter Lorre: No... and we are such gentle people!
Sydney Greenstreet: Are we? [bugs eyes out in menacing manner]

(<-- as close as I could get)











Peter Lorre: [Backs away, frightened]

Overall, this movie was a combination of several thing I love to see in a classic film: behind the scenes glimpses of Hollywood, a ton of stars and character actors, a morale boosting WWII movie, and a good portrayal of the times. I would definitely recommend this one.

Inside jokes are hilarious

Today I rewatched an old favorite, "It's a Great Feeling," with Jack Carson, Doris Day, and Dennis Morgan. I love this film in part because it's one huge inside joke; Doris Day is a young girl from Gurkey's Corners, Wisconsin who's in Hollywood to become a movie star, and she's discovered by Morgan and Carson, who play themselves. As do a host of other Warner Bros. stars, such as Edward G. Robinson, Joan Crawford (whose scene I just adore, it's so funny), Gary Cooper ("Yep"), Sydney Greenstreet, Danny Kaye, Patricia Neal, Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman (and daughter Maureen Reagan), and directors Michael Curtiz (who famously said, "Bring on the empty horses!" the title of David Niven's autobiography), King Vidor, and Raoul Walsh. The running joke is that no one at Warners' wants to work with Jack Carson because he's "such a ham." Which he sometimes was, but I love him for it. He was so great in "Mildred Pierce." I love his line, "Oh, boy, I'm so smart it's a disease."

Doris Day goes through various adventures trying (with help from Jack and Dennis) to win the attention of studio head Arthur Trent. In the end (and I have to spoil the ending because it is so damn cute) she winds up going home to Wisconsin to marry her fiance, Jeffrey Bushdinkle, played in a wee little cameo by...Errol Flynn. I fall out laughing every time I see that. The movie overall is really funny, and I highly recommend it, if you should happen to come across it on TCM.