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Daily Archives: April 17, 2013

Evelyn Prentice (1934)

Posted on April 17, 2013 | 2 comments

Evelyn Prentice
Directed by William K. Howard
1934/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
First Viewing

Evelyn Prentice: There’s nothing wrong with those letters.They’re innocent.
Lawrence Kennard: Then why are you here?
Evelyn Prentice: There’s nothing safe with a man like you.

Engaging “women’s picture”/courtroom drama. John Prentice (William Powell) is a high-powered defense attorney whose practice keeps him away from home most of the time. Evelyn Prentice (Myrna Loy) is his long-suffering but adoring wife. Their happy home is threatened when a beautiful client (Rosalind Russell) throws herself at John and an unsavory “poet” insinuates himself into Evelyn’s life. With Una Merkel as Evelyn’s wise-cracking friend and permanent house guest.

Evelyn Prentice 1

I thought this one was a whole lot of fun. It goes to show that Powell and Loy were the perfect screen couple even when the material gets more serious as here. I had never heard of the director but he certainly keeps things moving right along. I adore Una Merkel and she has a meaty part here. This was Rosalind Russell’s screen debut. She was still finding her way. I seem to always get annoyed at courtroom dramas and here neither the judge nor the attorneys ever seem to have heard of concept “conflict of interest”. The film was strong enough that the improbable ending was fine by me.

Trailer

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Posted in 1934

Le trou (1960)

Posted on April 17, 2013 | 5 comments

Le trou (“The Hole”)
Directed by Jacques Becker
1960/France
Filmsonor/Play Art/Titanus
#353 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Second viewing
IMDb users say 8.3; I say 9.0

Roland: Poor Gaspard.

Jacques Becker’s meticulously wrought Le Trou does not need appealing characters to get an audience rooting for its prisoners. The director simply shows us prison conditions and the hard work and dedication of the men determined to escape its walls and we cannot help but wish them well. He packs in so much tension that the two-hour running time flies by.

The hole

Claude Gaspard is tranferred into the cell of four men who have lived together for some time. He is pending trial for attempted first-degree murder of his wife, which he claims was an accidental shooting during a scuffle after she drew a gun on him. While something seems slightly “off” about the more educated and wealthy Claude, the others decide they have no choice to trust him and reveal their plans to tunnel out of jail.

Le Trou 1

The bulk of the movie simply follows the men working to carry out their plan without detection by the ever present prison guards. We get so much information on how the men make their escape tools that we could practically replicate their feat. At the same time, Becker shows us all the reasons prison is hell. My favorite illustration is when the guard searches Gaspard’s package of food. He takes the same dirty knife to cut through sausage and smoked fish that he uses to stir through the rice pudding. The feeling of violation is profound. There is no music and long periods without much dialog but I sat there rapt.

Le Trou

I loved the economy with which the characters were developed and the fascinating glimpse of the routines of prison life. Becker has also given an electrifying study of group dynamics. The actors were all new faces – in fact, one of the actors actually participated in the escape on which the story was based. You could not have proved that they had no prior experience by me. They were all superb. This was Becker’s last film and a fitting swan song.