Daily Archives: December 21, 2013

Letter of Introduction (1938)

Posted on December 21, 2013 | Leave a comment

Letter of Introductionletter of introduction poster 2
Directed by John M. Stahl
Written by Sheridan Gibney and Leonard Spigelgass; story by Bernice Boone
1938/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box]Tagline: Truly Great Entertainment – Great in theme…great in cast…and the great scalawag Charlie McCarthy[/box]

This is a truly odd little movie and not particularly interesting either.

Kay Martin (Andrea Leeds) is a struggling young actress who lives in a theatrical boarding house with a dance team (George Murphy and Rita Johnson), a ventriloquist (Edgar Bergen) and Cora (Eve Arden).  She has been carrying around a mysterious letter of introduction for months, believing it will get her a break in the theater.  Barry, the male half of the dance team, is in love with her.

When aging alcoholic movie star John Mannering (Adolphe Menjou) returns to town with his fiancee (Ann Sheritan), Kay takes the letter to him.  It is a letter from Kay’s mother informing Mannering that he is Kay’s father.  Mannering is overjoyed at the news but reluctant for the public to find out since he thinks it would age him to have a daughter about the age of his fiancée.  But he does want to spend lots of time with Kay, leading everyone, including Barry and the fiancée, to believe they are having a fling.

Letter of Introduction 1

Any movie with Eve Arden can’t be all bad and there is nothing exactly wrong with this one despite some melodrama.  The odd thing is that some long sequences of Edgar Bergen’s comedy act with Charlie McCarthy have been shoehorned into the story.  Whether this adds to the movie will depend on your opinion of the act.

 

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Posted in 1938, Movie Reviews

The Divorce of Lady X (1938)

Posted on December 21, 2013 | 2 comments

The Divorce of Lady X
Directed by Tim Whelan
Written by Lajos Biró, Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis from a story by Gilbert Wakefield
1938/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus

[box] Logan: Modern woman has no loyalty, decency, or justice; no endurance, reticence, or self-control; no affection, fine feelings, or mercy. In short, she is unprincipled, relentless, and exacting; idle, unproductive, and tedious; unimaginative, humorless, and vain; vindictive, undignified, and weak. And the sooner man takes out his whip again, the better for sanity and progress.[/box]

Although it has one of those “idiot” plots, this is enjoyable for its acting.  It is also the first British Technicolor movie I have seen.

It is a foggy day in London town when divorce lawyer Everard Logan (Laurence Olivier) checks into the Park Plaza hotel.  Attendees of a costume ball at the hotel have been advised that they should not attempt to drive home in the thick fog.  The management asks Logan if he will allow some of the stranded guests to overnight in his suite’s sitting room. Logan refuses but, through sheer unmitigated gall, Leslie Steele (Merle Oberon) manages to overnight in Logan’s bed while Logan is stuck in the sitting room.  Despite her bad behavior, the couple naturally fall madly in love over breakfast.  Leslie comes home and tells her father, who of course is the judge in Logan’s upcoming trial, that he is the man she will marry.

The next day Lord Mere (Ralph Richardson) consults with Logan because he has decided to divorce his wife, the notorious Lady Mere (Binnie Barnes) who was spotted leaving a room in the Park Plaza shortly before a man also exited.  Logan comes to the instantaneous conclusion that he was that man.  When he later confronts Leslie about this she plays along.  Well, the course of true love never did run smooth.

There is nothing wrong with this film but there is nothing outstanding about it either.  I found Oberon’s character quite irritating.  But she does look lovely and it is good to see Olivier as comic leading man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI6NpbQEwpk

Clip

 

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Posted in Movie Reviews