Monthly Archives: September 2014

 Edge of Darkness
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Written by Robert Rossen from a novel by William Woods
1943/USA
Warner Bros
First viewing/Errol Flynn Adventure Collection DVD

[box] Gerd Bjarnesen: What sacrifice? What are you giving up? Your life? Maybe they’ll take that from you whether you fight or not? Your farm? It isn’t yours anyway until you fight for it. Your peace? What peace is there when a body of troops can come in the middle of the night and arrest you as a hostage. To be shot, for something you never did or never even thought of. To live in constant fear. Have blackings at your windows. Talk in whispers. Have guards at your church doors.[/box]

The plight of Norway under Nazi occupation apparently was especially moving to audiences of this time.  This is the second film on the topic I’ve seen in the past few days. See my review of Commandos Strike at Dawn with Paul Muni, also a Warner Brothers project.

The opening shot reveals a town square filled with the dead bodies of Nazi soldiers and local residents.  The story is told in flashback as a couple of other Nazis investigate.

A Norwegian coastal village has suffered under Nazi occupation for a couple of years.  The only resistance the villagers have been able to muster is to contaminate fish processed at the cannery, which is owned by Karen Stensgard’s uncle, a true Quisling.  Karen’s father (Walter Huston) is the town doctor and doesn’t want to get involved in politics.  Her brother collaborated with the Nazis when he was in Oslo.  Karen (Ann Sheridan) herself is a proud patriot and is in love with fisherman Gunnar Brogge (Errol Flynn), who is the “leader” of the group meeting in secret to plot against the Nazis.

Then the English supply villages up and down the coast with arms.  The plotting gets more definite as the conduct of the soldiers under their ideologue commander gets more and more brutal.  The story builds up to some satisfying action scenes of the revenge of the villagers.  The film ends with President Roosevelt’s words exhorting Americans to “look to Norway” if they are wondering if war could have been averted.  With Ruth Gordon as Karen’s gentle mother and Judith Anderson as a patriot.

This movie captured my interest and is a above-average Hollywood drama.  When I am watching these things sometimes I think the portrayal of the Nazis is over-the-top for propaganda purposes.  Then I remember that they were actually far worse than anyone imagined even at the time.

I didn’t know until doing research for this film that Errol Flynn was rejected as 4-F from every branch of the service due to previous bouts with malaria and TB and a weak heart.  He saw the several war pictures he made during the conflict as a way to contribute to the war effort, according to a biographer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSJz3bEP_4s

Clip

Day of Wrath
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Written by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Poul Knudsen, and Mogens Scot-Hansen (all uncredited) from the play “Anne Pedersdotter” by Hans Wiers-Jenssen
1943/Denmark
Palladium Productions
Repeat viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] Anne Pedersdotter: I see through my tears, but no one comes to wipe them away.[/box]

Director Carl Th. Dreyer didn’t make many films but he made masterpieces.  This is one of them.

The action takes place in 17th Century Denmark.  Anne Pedersdotter is the young second wife of Rev. Absalon Pedersson, a middle-aged devout cleric in their small town.  The couple lives with Absalon’s mother Merete who views the May-September pairing as “scandalous” and freely admits that she hates Anne.  Absalon has a grown son, older than Anne, named Martin that is expected to come home and meet his new stepmother for the first time.

On the day Martin is to arrive, the local council of clerics announces that it is arresting Herlofs Marte as a witch.  We see the old woman selling herbs gathered under the gallows as a remedy before she runs off into hiding.  She shows up at Absalon’s house and begs Anne to hide her.  She informs Anne that she protected Anne’s mother from a witchcraft charge herself.  But Marte was spotted entering the house and is dragged out of the attic kicking and screaming.

Apparently part of the deal is that the witch must confess.  We move on to some non-graphic but nonetheless horrific torture scenes. Poor Marte is defiant but terrified and demands to talk to Absalon.  She tells him she knows he falsely ruled that Anne’s mother was not a witch in exchange for permission to wed Anne and threatens to disclose this if he does not likewise protect her.  But Absalon only exhorts Marte to repent and save her soul.  Marte replies that she is not afraid of heaven or hell, only of dying.  The torture proceeds and Marte finally confesses.  She refuses to name anyone else as a witch however.

In the meantime Anne and Martin are getting acquainted.  All this talk of Anne’s mother being a witch with the power to invoke the living and the dead gets Anne wondering whether she has any powers herself.  Sure enough, she can “invoke” Martin to her side and the two begin an affair.  It is a troubled union due to Martin’s great guilt.  Anne, however, is transformed into a laughing, defiant girl who stops taking orders from her awful mother-in-law.  She admits she has speculated on the happiness that could be hers if Absalon were dead.  She resents the fact the loveless marriage has robbed her of her youth.

As Herlofs Marte awaits her execution at the stake she curses Absalon, Anne, and another clerical torturer.  These curses rapidly seem to take effect.

I don’t know how to convey the beauty of the images and compositions Dreyer creates except to say each frame seems to me to resemble a great Dutch Master painting.  He didn’t allow his actors to wear any makeup at all, saying that he would paint their faces with light. He certainly did do that.

Another thing I love about Dreyer is that his films are so thought-provoking.  They always leave me with more questions than answers. What I find intriguing about this story is that every character in it actually believes in witchcraft.  The accusations are not cynically made.  In fact, the plot development seems to suggest that something more than coincidence is at work.  But, equally, this film is about man’s terrible inhumanity to man in the name of religion.  I also find Anne’s submission at the end intriguing.  She may believe herself to be a witch but just as likely she might feel she has nothing else to live for.

Some people see this as an allegory for Nazi persecution but Dreyer always denied having any such intention.

If you have patience for a slow, sedate pace, this is truly not to be missed.

Clip – opening

Les visiteurs du soir (“The Devil’s Envoys”)
Directed by Michel Carné
Written by Jacques Prevert and Pierre Laroche
1942/France
Productions André Paulvé
First viewing/Hulu Plus

This will surprise you, but I don’t know if I had a vocation – whether I was really mad about the cinema. When I thought of working on films, I thought of being an assistant director or set manager. Or, in moments of great vanity, a production manager. But I didn’t think of directing at the time. – Michel Carné

I waited in vain for this movie to make a point.

The story is set in the 15th Century.  Minstrels Gilles (Alain Cuny) and Dominique (Arletty) have been sent out into the world by the Devil (Jules Berry) to sow despair.  In this case, as so many others, the Devil’s strategy is to make people fall in love.  The ministrels arrive at a feast celebrating the upcoming marriage of Renaud and Anne.  Gilles easily conquers the pure Anne’s heart.  Dominique, after revealing her disguise as a boy, goes after both Renaud and Anne’s father.

Dominique is wildly successful.  However, Anne is so truly in love that she wins over Gilles to her side.  The Devil is concerned enough that he makes a personal visit to further screw things up.

This movie is two hours along and I felt every minute of it.  If the message is that love conquers all, and I’m not 100% sure it was, it took Carne much too long to get there.  The screen comes alive whenever Berry appears on it.  Unfortunately he doesn’t show up until the last third of the movie.  Until then, there are way too many scenes of long meaningful glances between the lovers.

The film was hugely popular in France on release, in large part because people saw it as an allegory of France under occupation with the Devil representing Hitler and the lovers representing the still beating heart of France.  Carne denied that this was his intention until his death.

Trailer (no subtitles)

Saludos Amigos
Directed by Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, and Bill Roberts
Written by Homer Brightman, Ralph Wright, et al
1942/USA
Walt Disney Studios
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] [first lines] Narrator: Here’s an unusual expedition: artists, musicians and writers setting out for a trip through Latin America to find new personalities, music and dances for their cartoon films. So, adios, Hollywood, and saludos, amigos.[/box]

Made to boost the U.S. Good Neighbor Policy during World War II, this shortish feature cartoon is a kind of travelogue of South America with some funny bits by Disney characters to liven things up.

This is a compilation of several short cartoons that were originally intended to be released separately, linked by live footage that gives information about each country.  The cartoon segments are:  1) Donald Duck takes a perilous journey by llama in the Peruvian Andes; 2) Pedro, the baby airplane, fills in for his parents to take the mail from Chile to Argentina over the Andes (a la Only Angels Have Wings); 3)  Cowboy Goofy is transformed into a gaucho and transported to the Argentinian pampas; 4) Joe Carioca the parrot shows Donald Duck around Rio de Janeiro.  The film ends with a Fantasia-like animation set to the song “Brasil”.

I’ve spent a bit of time in South America and really enjoyed this film.  It could have gone so wrong but ended up hitting just the right note, I thought.  If “Brasil” had been written for this movie, it would have received my vote for best song.

Charles Wolcott and Ned Washington were nominated for an Academy Award for their original song “Saludos Amigos”.  The film was also nominated for Best Sound, Recording and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Clip – “Brasil”

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.

Star-Spangled Rhythm
Directed by George Marshall
Written by Melvin Frank, George S. Kaufman, Norman Panama, Arthur A. Ross, and Henry Tugend
1942/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing/Bob Hope Tribute Collection DVD

[box] [In front of Old Glory and a plaster Mt. Rushmore] Bing Crosby: [singing] Germans, Italians, and Japs / Can’t kick us off our Rand-McNally maps.[/box]

This is one of those compilation movies that tries to weave a bunch of unrelated acts around a central story.  These are usually only moderately successful, as is this one, despite its cast of Paramount stars and songs by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.

The framing story involves a sailor, Johnny Webster (Eddie Bracken), who is on shore leave in Hollywood.  His father, William ‘Bronco Billy’ Webster (Victor Moore), is a security guard at Paramount studio who has boasted of being head of the studio.  Telephone operator Polly Judson (Betty Hutton) is in on the scheme and has been writing to the sailor.  The couple has fallen in love via these letters.  Polly and Billy conspire to spirit producer B.G. DeSoto out of his office and fool Johnny and his buddies.  They get deeper and deeper into hot water until Billy ends up promising to host a big variety show for the whole shipful of sailors.

The show features musical numbers by some of Paramounts biggest stars including Bing Crosby (singing “Old Glory”); Dick Powell and Mary Martin (“Hit the Road to Dreamland”); Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson (“Sharp as a Tack”) and more.  Johnny Johnston sings to dream girl Vera Zorina as she dances to “That Old Black Magic”.  Comedy sketches feature Alan Ladd, Franchot Tone, Fred McMurray, Ray Milland, William Bendix, Susan Hayward, Marjorie Reynolds, and many more players.  Bob Hope emcees the whole thing.

The singing and dancing is more successful than the mostly sophmoric comedy.  This movie hasn’t aged particularly well but does give viewers the opportunity to see many second-tier stars of the era gathered in one place.

Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen were nominated for an Oscar for the song “That Old Magic”.  Star-Spangled Rhythm was also nominated for Best Music, Original Scoring of a Musical Picture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFaxtUiscuo

Trailer – good also for a catalog of many the stars that were under contract at Paramount in 1942