Daily Archives: June 22, 2018

Her Man
Directed by Tay Garnett
Written by Tom Buckingham; story by Tay Garnett and Howard Higgin
1930/USA
Pathe Exchange
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Tagline: YOU’LL NEVER FORGET IT! The blood-firing romance of a girl WHO DARED THE WORLD FOR LOVE! She was tender, young and beautiful, but she knew LIFE in the raw, vivid, colorful, elemental! Daring and soul-stirring is the story of a girl who found real love in the crucible of flaming desire and elemental thrills![/box]

Unsung pre-code gem is a heady mixture of lowlife atmosphere and tender romance told to the tune of “Frankie and Johnny”.

The film begins in the chaotic world of a dockside dive in Havana.  We see the interaction of sailors, hoods, drunks, and prostitutes.  Gradually, the story focuses in on Frankie (Helen Twelvetrees), a tough but good-hearted bar girl who specializes in petty larceny while drinking with the clientele.  She yearns for a better life but is squarely under the thumb of mean, evil pimp Johnnie (Ricardo Cortez).

Then Dan (Phillips Holmes) walks into Frankie’s world.  He is immediately attracted to the goodness and vulnerability he senses from her.  But Frankie must play tough to protect him from Johnnie.  One beautiful day, however, Dan takes Frankie out on the town and she can resist no longer.  The film closes with a nail-biter battle between Dan and Johnnie.

This movie really drew me in.  I was so worried that it would end tragically that I could hardly bear to watch.  I had fallen in love with Holmes and Twelvetrees and their romance. This is the first movie I have seen with Twelvetrees in it and I will be looking out for others.  She was excellent.  Unfortunately, her career did not much outlast the pre-Code era,  Recommended.

Clip

The Doorway to Hell
Directed by Archie Mayo
Written by George Rosener from a story by Rowland Brown
1930/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Title Card: [closing title] The “Doorway to Hell” is a one-way door. There is no retribution – no plea for further clemency. The little boy walked through it with his head up and a smile on his lips. They gave him a funeral – a swell funeral that stopped traffic – and then they forgot him before the roses had a chance to wilt.[/box]

Second banana James Cagney steals this movie out from under the feet of preppy gangland boss Lew Ayers.

Louie (Ayers) is bootlegging beer in the big city.  He envisions himself as a Napoleon of crime and has the clout to order other mobsters to “organize” under his control.  After this scheme works peacefully for several months, Louis is ready to get out of the game and marry the fickle Doris, who would really rather play around with his right-hand man Mileaway (Cagney).  Louie leaves Mileaway in charge while he takes Doris on a honeymoon to Florida where he  has a touching reunion with his beloved kid brother.

All hell breaks loose without Louis on his throne.  He resists repeated calls to return but the gangsters figure out a way to get to him through his brother.  Vengeance and fate draw Louie back into a bloody gang war.

One of the most interesting things about watching these pre-Code movies is seeing future stars developing their personae.  Cagney’s is fully formed in only his second film – his first as a mobster.  The story is notable mostly for the fact that Ayers is totally miscast. He’s just too inherently nice to keep company with a bundle of mean street-wise energy like Cagney.  And I like Ayers in most things.  Otherwise routine gangster fare burdened  by early talkie technique.

Any one looking for “a love story beyond compare” need not apply! – LOL – note Dwight Frye toward the end

Clip – Cagney’s star quality is present from the beginning