Daily Archives: June 22, 2014

Bombsight Stolen (AKA Cottage to Let) (1941)

Posted on June 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Bombsight Stolen (AKA “Cottage to Let)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Written by Anatole de Grunwald and J.O.C. Orton adapted from the play by Geoffrey Kerr
1941/UK
Gainsborough Pictures/Gaumont British Picture Corporation
First viewing/Internet Archive

 

[box] Mrs. Barrington: I can do no better than to quote the words of our great Prime Minister to the gallant boys of the RFA: Never have so much owed so many to so little.[/box]

I really enjoyed seeing the gathering of great British actors of the period in this wartime mystery/thriller.

Dr. Barrington (Leslie Banks) is an inventor who latest work is an advanced bombsight for the RAF.  The only people admitted to his laboratory are himself and his assistant (Michael Wilding).  His dizzy wife, who is full of wartime good works, has given a cottage on the property simultaneously to an evacuee (George Cole), a wounded RAF pilot (John Mills) and a proper tenant (Alistair Sim).  All these people are suspected at various times of being involved in fifth column activities, including securing the bombsight for Germany.  It would be criminal to say more about the convoluted plot.

The plot is perhaps a little too hard to follow and one actor goes straight over the top at the end but these quibbles are minor compared to the many superb moments of comedy and drama in this film.  It was nice to see Leslie Banks in a non-psychotic role and everybody else is just wonderful.  Recommended for fans of the genre or of the actors.

The film is in the public domain and is available complete on YouTube or on Internet Archive, where I watched it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCuBfOLYu90

No clip available so a lovely 7 minute tribute to Alistair Sim

And a shorter one!

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Posted in Movie Reviews

Ladies in Retirement (1941)

Posted on June 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Ladies in Retirement
Directed by Charles Vidor
Written by Garrett Fort and Reginald Denham based on a play by Denham and Edward Percy
1941/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD

[box] Ellen Creed: Hell is like the kingdom of Heaven. It’s within.[/box]

This is a nice creepy story with some excellent female character performances.

Ellen Creed (Ida Lupino) works as a housekeeper/companion for retired actress Leonora Fisk.  Ellen has been responsible all her life for her two dotty sisters, Emily (Elsa Lanchester) and Louisa.  Emily, in particular, is out of control.  She collects trash to “tidy up the moors” and deposits it all over the house.  She also does not like anyone to tell her what to do.  Louisa is more gentle and sweet in her madness.

Emily gets a letter from London saying that if she does not remove her sisters from the home where they are staying the landlady will call the police.  She asks Leonora to let them visit for a few days but tells her sisters they will stay there always.  Leonora rapidly gets fed up and Emily, supposedly the “sane” one, takes drastic action to protect them.

Then distant relative Albert Feather (Louis Hayward) comes to get bailed out of an embezzling offense.  After seducing the housemaid (Evelyn Keyes), he rapidly figures out a way to wrap Ellen around his little finger.

This thriller had me on the edge of my seat by the end.  Louis Hayward is so deliciously vile that the viewer doesn’t know just what he will resort to.  Ida Lupino is quite understated in comparison.  Elsa Lanchester is, as always, a standout.  Recommended for those in the mood for a rather dark period piece, with a little comedy from the mad sisters.

Ladies in Retirement was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White and for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture.

For clips on TCM go here:  http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/480270/Ladies-In-Retirement-Movie-Clip-My-Treasures.html

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Posted in 1941, Movie Reviews

The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)

Posted on June 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Bride Came C.O.D.
Directed by William Keighley
Written by Kenneth Earl, M. M. Musselman, Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein
1941/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box] Sheriff McGee: One of you’s gonna get married and the other one’s going to jail, so you really got a lot in common.[/box]

Bette Davis proves a flair for comedy in this enjoyable outing with James Cagney.

Bandleader and publicity hound Allen Brice (Jack Carson) announces his engagement with Joan Winfield (Davis), whom he has known for only four days,  from the stage.  When the news hits the papers, Joan’s father (Eugene Pallette) is determined to stop the marriage.   Allen hires pilot Steve Collins (Cagney) to fly the couple to Las Vegas for the wedding but Steve’s plane is about to be confiscated for failure to make the payments.  He hatches a scheme with Joan’s father to kidnap her to Amarillo for a fee that will allow him to keep the plane.

Instead, Joan tries to parachute out of the plane and Steve crash lands during his attempt to keep her inside.  They land in the middle of the desert where they find a old prospector (Harry Davenport) living in a ghost town.  Multiple misunderstandings, fights, and hijinks ensue before the inevitable ending.  With William Frawley as the sheriff.

This is essentially a Wild West version of It Happened One Night with quite a bit more slapstick.  I have seen Cagney in comedy parts before but I was particularly impressed with Davis’s timing.  She falls into a cactus quite expertly!

Trailer

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Posted in 1941