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. 

THE SINISTER MONK

 

This is one of the better entries in the series of German films made in the 1960s based on the works of British mystery writer Edgar Wallace. This Krimi has an iconic title character, a hooded, cloaked figure who carries a whip and is quite proficient at using it. Like many of the other German Edgar Wallace thrillers, THE SINISTER MONK was directed by Harald Reinl. 

The story centers around Darkwood Manor, a former monastery which is now the home of the Gilmore family. During an obligatory dark & stormy night, the elderly Lord Gilmore passes away, and his family schemes to get control of the estate, especially after they learn that Lord Gilmore's granddaughter Gwendolin (Karin Dor) is meant to inherit. The manor is being used as a girl's boarding school, which is run by Gilmore's daughter (Ilse Steppat, who Bond fans will recognize from ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.). Gwendolin is invited to stay at the manor by her greedy relatives, and she learns that a number of girls from the school have gone missing or have been murdered, and the grounds are supposedly haunted by a whip-wielding monk. She also learns that there's way, way much more going on around the estate than she can even imagine, and her life is very much in danger. 

THE SINISTER MONK has all sorts of things going on in it. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot, and numerous shady characters and red herrings. As expected from a German Krimi, the sharp, expressionistic black & white cinematography adds much to the atmosphere, and Harald Reinl keeps the story moving. 

This Krimi doesn't have as many of the familiar faces one encounters in this genre--Klaus Kinski and Joachim Fuchsberger are not in this one--but veterans Karin Dor and Eddi Arent pick up the slack. Dor is once again appealing in the damsel in distress role, and Arent plays another comedic servant, although this time he's much more subdued, for a very important reason. The girls school element (a common plot device in plenty of Euro genre films) gives the movie an excuse to feature a bevy of young lovelies, including Uta Levka, who would later appear in SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN. The girls wind up being victims in an international kidnapping scheme, run by the Sinister Monk himself. One point that must be made about this picture is the music score by Peter Thomas. Thomas' Krimi soundtracks have a tendency to be over-the-top, but this one is so flamboyant that one wonders if it was written for another movie altogether. You'll either be annoyed or amused by it. 

The titular Monk doesn't have a lot of screen time, but maybe that's just as well, for the character would probably lose effectiveness with more exposure. When the Monk was finally unmasked, I was absolutely surprised, as will anyone who watches this film for the first time with some knowledge about Krimi actors. 

The unexpected ending of THE SINISTER MONK adds to the overall entertainment value of the movie. It's a wild, crazy ride, and it has the bonus of even having some scenes that were actually filmed in London. There's a number of Krimi films I haven't seen yet, but out of the ones that I have, THE SINISTER MONK ranks at the top. 

PUBLIC HERO #1

 

PUBLIC HERO #1 is a 1935 MGM gangster story with some comedic elements. Much of the film is inspired by the criminal life of John Dillinger. 

The movie begins with Jeff Crane (Chester Morris) being incarcerated in a large prison. Once inside, Crane goes out of his way to cause as much trouble as possible--so much so, you just know there's a reason for it. Sure enough, Crane is an undercover Federal agent, and he's trying to earn the trust of his cellmate, Sonny Black (Joseph Calleia). Sonny is the leader of the notorious Purple Gang, but he's in jail on a lesser charge, and the Feds are hoping to use him to track down the rest of the gang. Jeff and Sonny escape, but the latter is wounded while fleeing the law. While the two men hide out, Jeff is sent out to find the drunken doctor (Lionel Barrymore) who provides medical services for the Purple Gang. While finding the doc Jeff encounters a pretty young woman named Terry (Jean Arthur). She is trying to find her brother, who she hasn't seen in years--and Jeff learns that her sibling is none other than Sonny. Jeff is determined to bring Sonny and the Purple Gang to justice, but he also doesn't want to hurt Terry, since the two have fallen for one another. 

PUBLIC HERO #1 starts out as a hard-boiled prison drama, and it immediately reminds one of THE BIG HOUSE, a famous tale about convicts that was also made at MGM and starred Chester Morris. Once Jeff goes off on a stormy night to find the tipsy doctor, the movie almost becomes a screwball comedy, as Lionel Barrymore's wildly hammy antics and Jeff and Terry's back-and-forth patter take center stage. The climax goes back to crime thriller mode, as the downfall of Sonny and his gang parallel major events in John Dillinger's life. The gang has a hideout in Wisconsin called "Little Paree" (Dillinger and several other gunmen hid out in Little Bohemia, Wisconsin), and a major gun battle takes place there, much like the one that actually did happen in Little Bohemia. After getting away in the chaos of the gunfight, Sonny attempts to change his appearance through plastic surgery (as Dillinger did), and eventually he's gunned down in an alley near the "Bijou" theater, while Dillinger came to his end outside the Biograph in Chicago. 

The always-surly Chester Morris is perfect as Jeff Crane, although his tough-guy act while in prison is way too obvious. Jean Arthur is appealing as always as Terry (one big twist is that she goes out of her way to attract Jeff's attention, instead of the other way around). There are times when it feels as if Arthur is acting as if she's in another film altogether, and it's hard to believe that the blonde, perky actress could be the sister to the dark, brooding Calleia. (Ann Dvorak would have been much more fitting as Terry.) It's also hard to believe that Terry would have such loyalty to her brother, especially when she finds out what he has done, and considering how he treats her. Instead of acting like the typical brash & bold big shot gangster, Calleia gives Sonny a quiet, snakelike menacing aura that works very well. Paul Kelly plays Jeff's boss, a tough Federal agent determined to wipe out the Purple Gang. (Ironically Kelly spent time in prison himself due to a manslaughter conviction.) 

Lionel Barrymore gets top billing as the drunken doctor, but he's character is basically a nuisance, and the actor overplays outrageously (even for him). The Purple Gang features such tough-guy actors as Paul Hurst and George E. Stone, and among the supporting cast are Lewis Stone as the warden of the prison in the beginning of the film, and Bert Roach and Arthur Housman, who have comedic roles. 

PUBLIC HERO #1 was directed by J. Walter Ruben, who doesn't have much of a legacy among classic Hollywood studio directors (probably due to the fact that he died quite young). The real talent behind this film is cinematographer Gregg Toland, who gives the crime scenes an expressionist feel, while making Jean Arthur look fantastic at the same time. 

I'm a huge Jean Arthur fan, but I must say that PUBLIC HERO #1 might have been better if her character had not been in it, and the story was just a straight crime thriller. Despite the lead billing of Lionel Barrymore and Arthur, their characters only serve as distractions from the main drama between Chester Morris and Joseph Calleia. Perhaps MGM was hoping that Barrymore and Arthur would steer the movie away from being a violent gangster tale and getting in trouble with the Code--it is rather brutal at times for a picture made at that particular studio.