Daily Archives: December 13, 2014

When Strangers Marry (AKA “Betrayed”)
Directed by William Castle
Written by Philip Yordan and Dennis J. Cooper; story by George Moskov
1944/USA
King Brothers Productions
First viewing/for rent on YouTube

[box] I’ve still got the same attitude I had when I started. I haven’t changed anything but my underwear. –Robert Mitchum[/box]

What a nifty little B noir from poverty row!  The King Brothers got their hands on a great cast early in their careers, including Robert Mitchum in his first leading role.

A face wearing a lion’s mask fills the screen.  It belongs to the very drunk Sam Prescott who aims to party all night long and is flashing around a wad of bills.  The bartender asks him if he would be willing to let a patron, whose back is facing us, use his room for the night as all the hotels are full up with a convention.

There is a change of scene and Mildred Baxter (Kim Hunter) takes a seat in the compartment of a married couple.  We find out she is a naive young newlywed traveling to New York to meet up with her husband, whom she hasn’t seen since their wedding day. She is unable to tell her traveling companions exactly what he does or much else about him because she went on exactly three dates with him before their marriage.

Mildred proceeds to the named hotel but her husband has not checked in.  She runs into an old boyfriend, Fred Graham (Mitchum), almost immediately.  He keeps her company through many hours during which she does not hear from the husband.  When she finally does, he does not come to the hotel but asks her to meet him in the seedy part of town. Graham, although he has been spurned for another man, keeps a watchful eye on Mildred.

When we finally meet Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger), he is living under an assumed name and wants to keep his wife strictly to himself.  There is an atmosphere of secrecy over everything he does and eventually Mildred catches him in a series of lies.  It would not be fair to continue describing the many twists and turns in the plot.

I did not know quite what to expect from a film directed by schlock-master William Castle but I thought he did a great job.  He is a master of the shocker jump cut and it worked quite well with the story line of this shortish film. It is remarkably polished for a low-budget effort.  Mitchum was born to play these parts and is already a master at it this early in the game.  I enjoyed every minute and would recommend it as a fun minor noir gem.

Clip

Dark Waters
Directed by André de Toth
Written by Joan Harrison, Marian B. Cockerell, and Arthur T. Horman from an original story by Francis and Marian Cockerell
1944/USA
Benedict Bogeaus Productions
First viewing/You Tube

[box] “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt (You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life)[/box]

Is this a gothic thriller or a film noir?  Whatever, it kept me guessing until the end and I enjoyed it despite the subpar print available on YouTube.

We meet Leslie Calvin (Merle Oberon) recovering from a horrendous ordeal at sea in the hospital.  She was only one of four survivors when a German torpedo hit a freighter at sea and has been suffering terribly from PTSD.  The same sinking killed both her parents.  She seems to be recovering though and her doctor reaches out to her only relatives, an aunt and uncle she has never met.  The relatives welcome her, saying they are currently staying at an old family plantation in the bayou country of Louisiana.

No one is there to meet Leslie at the train station on her arrival, and the strain causes Leslie to faint.  Local doctor George Grover (Franchot Tone) takes her under his wing and rapidly develops a more than professional interest in her.  He takes her out to the plantation where she meets the tenant Mr. Sidney (Thomas Mitchell), her Aunt Emily (Fay Bainter) and Uncle Norbert (John Qualen), and Cleeve (Elisha Cook Jr.)  the lecherous property overseer.

It is soon made clear to us that something mighty peculiar is afoot but Leslie is in the dark somewhat longer.  Her relatives are very protective of her fragile health and discourage any contact with the outside world.  They also draw her out about the ship sinking, further upsetting her. Then Leslie starts seeing and hearing things.  Somehow in the midst of all of this a romance with the doctor blooms.   It would be criminal to further relate the plot.

Well, I was sure something was wrong but not quite what it was until the third act. This alone recommends the film to me.  The performances are what one would expect from this fine group of character actors.  I cannot judge the cinematography due to the poor print quality and the YouTube video currently available contains disconcertingly unsynchronized sound that makes it kind of tough to watch.

Clip -Elisha Cook Jr. in quicksand (near the end and somewhat of a spoiler)