CALL HER SAVAGE

 

Last night Turner Classic Movies showed the notorious 1932 Fox Pre-Code film CALL HER SAVAGE, starring Clara Bow and Hitless Wonder Movie Blog favorite Thelma Todd. It was a first-time viewing for me. 

CALL HER SAVAGE starts out with a Native American attack on a wagon train, and that's one of the more routine things in this movie. The attack takes place in the Old West, and the wagon master is caught off guard, because the married man is busy fooling around with another woman. This sequence sets up the idea that the sins of the wagon master will be visited upon his heirs, namely his future granddaughter Nasa Springer (Clara Bow). 

Nasa grows up rich and spoiled on a large Texas ranch, and among the things she gets away with are: taking a whip to a rattlesnake, and then using the same whip on a part-Native American part-white man named Moonglow (Gilbert Roland), who has a crush on Nasa. (He has such a crush on her that he stands absolutely still and takes it while the young woman violently strikes him over and over again--in a too-obvious metaphor, he's literally her whipping boy.) Less than a minute after the attack on Moonglow, she's coyly flirting with him, but soon she's smashing a guitar over the head of a ranch hand. She's sent to a special school in Chicago by her disappointed father, but Nasa disobeys him and marries dissolute rich playboy Larry Crosby (Monroe Owsley). Nasa soon finds out that Larry married her just to get back at his mistress (Thelma Todd), so she decides to live it up and spend as much of Larry's money as possible. The money runs out, and Nasa discovers she's pregnant, and her problems get worse and worse.....but her biggest obstacle is her tempestuous nature. 

CALL HER SAVAGE was considered a comeback of sorts for Clara Bow. The "It Girl" had been away from acting for a while due to her many personal problems. The Fox Corporation signed Bow to a big contract, and they went all out to make the story stand out. The movie is now considered one of the prime examples of the Pre-Code era, but what hurts the picture is that it tries to be so salacious it winds up bordering on the absurd. Nearly every scene deals with a major issue or problem that Nasa has to deal with, and among the things that come up are catfights, a sexual assault by her estranged (and deranged) husband, and an attempt at prostitution in New Orleans after she winds up broke and her baby needs medicine. 

There's all sorts of urban legends about how Clara Bow's film career turned out when talkies arrived. All I can say is in CALL HER SAVAGE her voice sounds perfectly fine, and her line readings are natural and unaffected. Her best moments as Nasa are those without dialogue, as she ably shows how behind the woman's tough exterior there's a deep well of pain and sadness (no doubt the actress' own personal life had an impact on how she played the role). Bow looks great, and she gets to wear plenty of outfits that show off her figure and her cleavage. The main explanation for Nasa's outlandish antics is that she is the result of a fling between her mother and a Native American--an idea that is of course patently ridiculous, and doesn't take into account the fact that Moonglow, who has a similar racial background, is kind and gentle. (If anything, Nasa's actions make one believe that she's very likely bipolar.) 

Thelma Todd and Clara Bow in CALL HER SAVAGE

Thelma Todd once again plays the "other woman" role, and she once again makes such an impression in such a short time that one wishes she had more to do. (The catfight between Thelma and Clara is one of the big highlights of the entire Pre-Code era.) Monroe Owsley is a true Pre-Code villain--his Larry Crosby is such an arrogant jerk that one wonders what any woman would see in him, no matter how rich he might be. (Not only does Larry assault Nasa, he shoves Thelma Todd straight over a chair--luckily Thelma had plenty of experience in falling down due to her association with Hal Roach.) Film geeks will notice among the supporting cast Mary Gordon, Bert Roach, Three Stooges veteran Symona Boniface, and Mischa Auer, who starts a brawl in a Greenwich Village eatery that Nasa and her escort happen to be visiting. (Said eatery also features a couple of flamboyantly gay singing waiters--this is a Pre-Code film, after all.) 

Fox put a lot of effort into CALL HER SAVAGE, and director John Francis Dillon provides a few expressionistic touches. Pre-Code fans consider most movies made during that era as wild & crazy romps--but I wouldn't put CALL HER SAVAGE in that category. It's very gruesome at times, and while Clara Bow does very well in a difficult role, Nasa Springer isn't the type of person you want to spend a lot of time with. This film also has a dark undercurrent to it when one realizes how many emotional & mental issues Clara Bow dealt with. The actress made only one more film after CALL HER SAVAGE, and then she retired from the screen for good. When one thinks about how the role of Nasa Springer might have affected Bow's fragile mind, that decision was probably for the best. 

TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN

 

A Tarzan movie?? The main reason for this blog post is that TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN (1949) stars Evelyn Ankers, the lovely Universal scream queen of the 1940s. 

Ankers plays Gloria James, a famous aviatrix who has been presumed dead since she disappeared while flying over Africa 20 years ago. Gloria is still alive--after bailing out of her plane, she stumbled onto a secret valley which contains a village of white-skinned natives who, due to the powers of a nearby fountain of youth, never age. Tarzan (Lex Barker) knows about the valley, and guards its secrets. But Jane (Brenda Joyce) comes upon a newspaper article stating that Gloria's fiancee might beat a murder charge if the aviatrix was alive to give testimony. Tarzan travels to the lost valley, brings Gloria back, and she travels to England to help the man she loves. Gloria's arrival at a local trading post attracts the attention of a couple of nefarious characters (played by Albert Dekker and Charles Drake), who want to know the reason why the woman has not aged. Gloria soon returns, with her now-husband (Alan Napier). Being away from the valley has caused Gloria to return to her natural age, but she wants to go back to the spot with her husband to regain the years they were apart. Tarzan reluctantly takes her to the valley, but the goons from the trading post intervene, causing trouble for everyone. 

I haven't seen a lot of Tarzan films, but the ones I have mostly follow the same basic pattern--a group of white interlopers, greedy for a treasure, or some sort of element, take advantage of Tarzan and Jane's good natures and create havoc in the jungle. TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN uses this pattern, but the subplot involving Gloria James and the lost valley makes it stand out. Actually, the story of the missing aviatrix and the village containing a fountain of youth would have been enough for a whole movie on its own, and it might have been better without all the Tarzan trappings. Gloria James' story is far more interesting than whatever Tarzan and Jane are up to, and the supposed zany antics of Cheeta the chimp just slow the movie down. 

By the time this film was made, the Tarzan series had moved from MGM to RKO, and the entries had more of a lower-budget B picture aspect to them. TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN was Lex Barker's debut as the King of the Jungle (he was the first actor to succeed Johnny Weissmuller in the role). Barker is a decent Tarzan, but he's not all that charismatic. While this was Barker's first time in the series, this was also Brenda Joyce's last outing as Jane, and both Barker and Joyce are unable to make as much of an impression as Evelyn Ankers and the bad guys. 

Ankers gets one of the better roles in her screen career as Gloria James. She gives a fine, understated performance as the lost aviatrix (and the makeup she sports for her natural age is understated and effective as well). She pleads to Tarzan to return her to the hidden valley, but she's not a vain woman desperate to regain her youth--she just wants to be able to finally spend time with the man she loves. Albert Dekker and Charles Drake make a dangerous pair (Dekker even gets a very dramatic close-up during his death scene), and Henry Brandon (who played Scar in THE SEARCHERS) plays an antagonistic native of the lost valley who mistrusts Tarzan. The original movie Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln, has a small cameo. 

Lee Sholem directed TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN, and the story was co-written by Curt Siodmak, who wrote many of the Universal horror films Evelyn Ankers starred in. The film works best when it deals with the lost valley--there are several impressive matte shots as the characters travel to and from there--but the scenes with Tarzan, Jane, and Cheeta are dull. The result is that this is a Tarzan film where the main character is overshadowed by a story that will remind viewers of both Amelia Earhart and Frank Capra's LOST HORIZON. 

BARNACLE BILL

 

BARNACLE BILL (1957) was one of the last of the famed Ealing comedies made in England, and the last Ealing film that Alec Guinness appeared in. It's another very light comedy involving a naval theme, quite similar to THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE, the subject of my last blog post. (In America the movie was titled ALL AT SEA.) 

Alec Guinness plays Captain William Horatio Ambrose, a man who is descended from a long line of British naval heroes. This Ambrose, however, starts to get queasy as soon as he even sees water. Because of his affliction, Ambrose's military career has been rather limited. Ambrose has always wanted a command of his own, and he gets it as a civilian by buying a rundown amusement pier. The Captain starts to build the place back up, but the local town council is against him--they have plans to tear the place down. Ambrose comes up with a out-of-left-field idea--he registers the pier as a sea-going vessel, and attracts customers to stay on it by advertising that it's the only cruise ship that is not affected by the ocean waves. The new "ship" is a big success, but Ambrose must confront his seasickness problems to save his command from being sunk by conniving local politicians. 

BARNACLE BILL was directed by Charles Frend, who made a number of fine films (such as THE CRUEL SEA), and written by T.E.B. Clarke, who penned many of the best Ealing comedies. Despite this, and the fact that it has a superior cast, the movie feels more on the level of a TV sitcom story instead of a witty British classic. The humor is more silly than truly funny, and the quirkiness of the characters and the situation seems forced. Due to his seasickness, one expects Alec Guinness to be playing a timid, Don Knotts type of fellow, but Captain Ambrose is a tried and true military man, and a stickler for efficiency, so one never gets the feeling that the odds are all that against him. 

Where BARNACLE BILL really shines is in its cast. Film buffs and Hammer fans will recognize plenty of notable character actors: Percy Herbert, Harold Goodwin, Victor Maddern, Maurice Denham, Charles Lloyd Pack, George Rose, Lionel Jeffries, Miles Malleson, and Sam Kydd. Jackie Collins (sister of Joan and future novelist) has a small role, and smaller roles are filled by Joan Hickson (who gained fame for playing Miss Marple on TV in the 1980s) and Donald Pleasence. (Pleasence's role is so small that one wonders why such a striking performer was put into it.) It appears that Alec Guinness was trying to make Captain Ambrose more than just the typical strange nerdy comedic leading character type who fights against the system. (According to multiple sources, Guinness didn't think much of the movie, and he only appeared in it as a favor to the director.) As in THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE, Guinness gets a chance to show his stuff on the dance floor. 

BARNACLE BILL is well-done technically. The cinematographer (working in black & white) was Douglas Slocombe, and most of the story was filmed on an actual pier in Norfolk, England. (The pier is established a few times by some effective miniatures and special effects.) The overall production just doesn't grab you the way THE LAVENDER HILL MOB or THE LADYKILLERS would. As I mentioned in my last post about THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE, I got the Kino DVD that contains both films at a discount, and I have to say I wouldn't buy it at full price. BARNACLE BILL and THE LADYKILLERS are certainly not bad films, but they are not standout entries in Alec Guinness' big-screen career. 

THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE

 

Among my recent purchases from Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers was a $6 DVD, a Kino double feature of two 1950s British comedies starring Alec Guinness, one of my favorite actors. Today I'll be discussing THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE, a 1953 film produced & directed by Anthony Kimmins. 

THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE concerns Henry St. James (Alec Guinness), who is in charge of a ferry ship running back and forth from Gibraltar to Kalik in Morocco. The Captain believes he has found the key to a perfect life. In Gibraltar he's married to Maud (Celia Johnson), a gentle Englishwoman who is dedicated to being the ultimate housewife. In Kalik, the Captain is married to Nita (Yvonne De Carlo), an exotic Spanish nightclub dancer who enables James to live out his wild side. Of course, the situation is too good to last, and the Captain realizes he doesn't know his two loves as much as he thought he did. 

One can assume all sorts of wild complications when reading a plot description of THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE, and if the movie had been made in America, it probably would have fulfilled them. But this is an English film, and the tone is more down-to-earth and subtle. While watching this a viewer will react with chuckles rather than long laughs. Alec Guinness plays the Captain as a cool customer rather than a screwball type, and he does it very well. Guinness does get to show off his dancing chops with Yvonne De Carlo, and he also gets to speak multiple languages in a few scenes. Guinness also prevents the Captain from coming off as self-absorbed and arrogant (which in some ways the character is). 

The real highlight of this movie is Yvonne De Carlo as Nita. She's definitely alluring, but she makes the woman more than just an obvious sexpot. There's more to Nita than meets the eye, something that the Captain (to his regret) learns too late. De Carlo and Guinness might seem one of the strangest romantic couples in screen history, but the two of them have a great rapport here, and they're impressive on the dance floor as well. (If you've ever wanted to see Obi-Wan Kenobi and Lily Munster cut a mean rug together, this is your chance.) De Carlo also gets some dance numbers of her own. 

Celia Johnson gets the less showier role of Maud, the domesticated lady (the Captain buys her presents such as a vacuum cleaner and a sewing machine, while he buys Nita lingerie). As expected, Maud and Nita wind up meeting each other, while being unaware of the other's status. Their meeting doesn't precipitate the ending of the Captain's paradise....it's the Captain taking the women for granted that causes problems. (Maud wants to go out and get more out of life, while Nita wants to stay home and be a "normal" wife.) The plot of the film, and the Captain's treatment of his two wives and his expectations for each of them will offer plenty of material for 21st Century gender studies types....but I just see the movie as a lighthearted comedy. 

The film is enlivened by actual location shooting at Gibraltar, although it appears that none of the main cast actually went there. The supporting players are decent enough, but they lack the cult names that one finds in English movies made during this period (Miles Malleson does have a small role). THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE is in full frame and black & white. 

I liked THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE, but while watching it I kept thinking how different the presentation would have been if it was made by Americans, and had starred American comic actors. I discovered that Alec Coppel's story for this film was nominated for an Academy Award, and the basic idea of a man with two happy marriages at the same time is a good one--but I felt that this idea could have been developed a bit more. The main virtues of THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE are Alec Guinness and Yvonne De Carlo. 

THE STRANGE COUNTESS

 

This is another entry in the German Rialto series of Edgar Wallace Krimi thrillers. THE STRANGE COUNTESS (1961) concerns a young London secretary named Margaret Reedle (Brigitte Grothum). Margaret is getting ready to take on a new position, but she's getting threatening phone calls, and there's even been attempts on her life. Her current boss (Fritz Rasp) assigns a detective named Mike Dorn (Joachim Fuchsberger) to keep an eye on Margaret, and she starts her new job, working for a mysterious Countess Moron (Lil Dagover) and living in the elderly woman's large castle. Despite her protection and new employment status, things get even worse for the woman, as she gets tangled up in a 20-year old murder case, and becomes the unwitting patient of a bizarre sanitarium. 

THE STRANGE COUNTESS is quite different from the usual German Krimi film. The action revolves around Margaret Reedle's problems, and there are no international crime syndicates, nefarious supervillains, or hooded killers dressed in black. One would think that this would make the film unappealing, but Margaret Reedle isn't a glamour girl, or a helpless damsel in distress. As played by the likable Brigitte Grothum, she's a relatively normal, straightforward person, and this encourages a viewer in taking interest in her plight. THE STRANGE COUNTESS has more of an Agatha Christie vibe than Edgar Wallace, and it even has some Hitchcock-like aspects to it as well. 

The movie still has some of the expected Krimi elements, such as the striking black & white photography, jazzy music by Peter Thomas, and a stalwart hero played by Joachim Fuchsberger. There's also Eddi Arent as the Countess' quirky son, and Klaus Kinski as a mental patient (talk about obvious casting). Kinski gets a big showcase here--he's the first person in the movie that you see onscreen--and he gives it his all, with one of his most creepiest and jittery performances. Kinski's mental patient reminds one of Dwight Frye's Renfield in the '31 DRACULA--especially in how he seemingly escapes from the sanitarium at will--and at times Kinski even looks a bit like Frye. 

Lil Dagover was one of the major stars of early German cinema--she's best known for being the female lead in the legendary THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. Her countess is a Norma Desmond/Grand Dame type of role, and Dagover brings plenty of screen presence to it. It's a treat for film geeks to see Dagover and Fritz Rasp, another major German screen figure, sharing scenes together. 

Lil Dagover in THE STRANGE COUNTESS

THE STRANGE COUNTESS was well directed by Josef von Baky. Despite the lack of usual Krimi outlandishness, the movie is still diverting enough, with a plot that is toned down a bit from most examples of this genre. It also contains one of Klaus Kinski's most notable performances. 

THE BAT WHISPERS On Blu-ray From VCI

 

Director Roland West's THE BAT WHISPERS is a 1930 sound remake of his silent 1926 film THE BAT, based on the popular play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood. THE BAT was one of the main progenitors of the "Old Dark House" mystery thriller story that had a major impact on American popular culture in the first half of the 20th Century. 

West actually made two versions of THE BAT WHISPERS--a full frame "regular" version, and a widescreen 65mm "Magnifilm" version. VCI Entertainment has released a new 2-disc Region Free Blu-ray set which contains three cuts of the film--a full frame American version, a full-frame British version, and the widescreen version. All three versions have been restored and remastered for home video. 

I had already owned the old DVD release of THE BAT WHISPERS from Image Entertainment, which included the full-frame and widescreen versions. The movie itself is a decent example of its genre, but if it wasn't for Roland West's attempts at visual wizardry and the widescreen version, it wouldn't generate a lot of attention. The story is very stagy at times (which is to be expected), and it has way too much comic relief. If you thought Maude Eburne was annoying in THE VAMPIRE BAT, you'll find her incessant caterwauling in this movie as a cowardly maid to be insufferable. Her mediocre stooging is matched by Spencer Charters as a moronic caretaker and Charles Dow Clark as a so-called detective who appears to be an ancestor of Barney Fife. While watching Eburne, Charters, and Clark, one wishes that The Bat would kill them.

Chester Morris plays a very belligerent police inspector, and Una Merkel is very cute as the ingenue, but the visual tricks of THE BAT WHISPERS are far more interesting than the cast. The Bat himself is presented most effectively, but it's very easy to guess who the culprit is (just go by how dramatically lit each character is). One big problem with THE BAT WHISPERS is the lack of any background music. 

All three versions of THE BAT WHISPERS on this set have subtle differences from each other. Among the many extras on this release are featurettes that compare the three versions. Out of the three, I believe the widescreen version looks and sounds the best overall, but it doesn't have many of the striking close-ups presented in the full-frame versions. The full-frame British version, in my opinion, looks and sounds better than the full-frame American version. (The full-frame versions are on disc one, and the widescreen version is on disc two.) 

The extras include a 10-page booklet that has an article on the restoration of the film and stills from the production. There's a poster & stills gallery, along with a comparison between the silent 1926 THE BAT and THE BAT WHISPERS (this video proves that Roland West remade the film scene-by-scene). There's also a presentation of restored scenes from THE BAT (which will be released on Blu-ray itself soon). There's a new audio commentary as well, by Mick LaSalle, but it is a very disjointed and haphazard discussion (the talk is attached to the widescreen version). The 1959 version of THE BAT is also here as a bonus--it appears to be a print that is in the public domain, and it has not been remastered in any way. The '59 version has an interesting cast (Vincent Price, Agnes Moorhead), but I've always thought it was very mediocre. 

VCI has made this release of THE BAT WHISPERS a very enticing package, with three versions of the film and plenty of extras. It's a good thing that this has all sorts of bells & whistles, because the movie itself isn't as impressive as the technical tricks involved in making it. THE BAT WHISPERS and this Blu-ray set will be more appreciated by film geeks than a general audience. 

THE RED CIRCLE

 

This is another Krimi thriller from Germany, one of the earlier ones, actually the second in the Rialto series of Edgar Wallace films. THE RED CIRCLE (1960) was based on Wallace's THE CRIMSON CIRCLE. 

The movie gets your attention at the start, with a sequence showing a botched attempt at an execution in France by guillotine. The criminal who was sentenced to die later escapes from prison, and years later winds up in London, where he blackmails several affluent folk, and kills them if they don't pay up. His calling card is marked by a red circle, and the fiend is given this moniker. A veteran Scotland Yard inspector named Parr (Karl-Georg Saebisch) is assigned to the case, but the Red Circle seemingly continues to commit crimes at will, even after a smooth private eye (Klausjurgen Wussow) agrees to help out. 

THE RED CIRCLE isn't as outrageous as the later Edgar Wallace Krimis of the 1960s, but it has most of the basic elements, including sharp black & white photography, rain-slicked streets, plenty of suspicious characters, and a jazzy music score. The title menace is one of the many main Krimi villains who dress all in black, wear a hood, and speak in a low, threatening voice. One of the main plot points here is that the Red Circle consistently commits crimes right under Inspector Parr's nose, causing Scotland Yard to be embarrassed by the state of affairs. (In all honesty, Scotland Yard doesn't come off very effective in any of the German Krimis.) The combination of the pudgy, middle-aged, thoughtful Parr and the more leading-man type P.I. is a good one, although it might have been better if the duo were played by genre mainstays Gert Frobe and Joachim Fuchsberger. 

The one familiar Krimi face in THE RED CIRCLE is comedic actor Eddi Arent, who plays a police sergeant whose main function appears to be annoying his superiors at every opportunity. The leading lady role is played by an actress named Renate Ewert, who shows plenty of spunk and screen presence as a young woman named Thalia, who gets involved in the various schemes going on and keeps the audience guessing as to what her ultimate agenda is. German silent screen legend Fritz Rasp gets a supporting role. 

THE RED CIRCLE isn't as fast-paced as later Krimis, but there's plenty of story threads going on....so many that at times it's a task to keep track of everything. The best part of the film is the climax, which springs a major surprise as to the identity of the Red Circle, and also provides a couple of other clever twists as well. 

I don't think THE RED CIRCLE belongs among the best of the Edgar Wallace Krimis, but it is a decent mystery story, and one will appreciate it more if you stick all the way through the end.