Daily Archives: September 14, 2014

Crossroads
Directed by Jack Conway
Written by Guy Trosper; John H. Kafka and Howard Emmett Rogers
1942/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Warner Archive DVD

[box] Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid. — Hedy Lamarr[/box]

[box] “It’s about time”, in reference to her 1996 Electriconic Frontier Foundation award for the invention (with composer George Anthiel) of frequency hopping, a technology now widely used in cellular phones  — Hedy Lamarr[/box]

This is a nice little noirish thriller with some beautiful atmospheric cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.

Years ago, French diplomat David Talbot (William Powell) received severe head injuries in a train crash that left him with total amnesia.  After 13 years of treatment by neurologist/psychiatrist Dr. Tessier (Felix Bressart), everything is looking up for Talbot.  He has been married for just three months to the ravishing Lucienne (Hedy Lamarr) and looks certain to get an appointment as French ambassador to Brazil.

Then out of nowhere, a man appears claiming that Talbot is really Jean Pelletier and owes him one million francs.  At Talbot’s trial for this debt, Pelletier is revealed to have been a murderer and thief.  The man’s claim is backed by a Mme. Allain from Pelletier’s past (Claire Trevor).  However, at the last minute, Henri Sarrou (Basil Rathbone) saves the day by testifying that Pelletier died in the train wreck.

But the trial testimony is but a prelude to an elaborate and ruthless blackmailing campaign by Sarrou, assisted by Mme. Alland who claims to have been Pelletier’s mistress.  The rest of the story details Talbot’s efforts to keep his wife in the dark while dealing with the increasingly dire threats coming from Sarrou.

 The ending is a bit too abrupt and pat but the film is an enjoyable watch with a particularly menacing performance by Rathbone.  The cinematography is the equal of anything done by the multiple Academy Award winning Ruttenberg.

Crossroads

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Directed by John Rawlins
Written by Lynn Riggs, John Bright, and Robert Hardy Andrews based on the story “His Last Bow” by Arthur Conan Doyle
1942/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] [first lines] Voice of Terror: [off-screen] Germany broadcasting. Germany broadcasting. People of Britain, greetings from the Third Reich. This is the voice you have learned to fear. This is the Voice of Terror. Again, we bring you disaster: crushing, humiliating disaster. It is folly to stand against the mighty wrath of the Fuhrer. Do you need more testimony of his invincible might to bring you to your knees? …[/box]

This is an OK war-time entry in the Sherlock Holmes series.

“The Voice of Terror” emerges on the radio from some unknown source to predict with unerring accuracy calamities to be visited upon the British by the Nazis.   The “Intelligence Inner Council” calls in Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to root out the culprits.  With the help of Watson (Nigel Bruce) and a patriotic London low-lifer (Evelyn Ankers), Holmes gets to work but not fast enough to satisfy naysayers on the council.  When “The Voice” uncharacteristically predicts an attack on the Scottish coast in the future, all begin to fear that an invasion of the island is at stake.  With Reginald Denny as a council member and Thomas Gomez as a Fifth Columnist.

I thought this was one of the better entries in the Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes cycle, though that doesn’t make it a must see except for fans.