Monthly Archives: August 2014

Moonrise
Directed by Frank Borzage
Written by Charles F. Haas from a novel by Theodore Strauss
1948/USA
Republic Pictures/Marshall Grant/Chas. K. Feldman Group Productions, Inc.
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video

[box] “It is unfortunate that in most cases when the sins of the father fall on the son it is because unlike God, people refuse to forgive and forget and heap past wrongs upon innocent generations.” ― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly[/box]

This is a poetic coming of age story, with touches of the Gothic.

The story is set in rural Virginia.  Danny Hawkins’s father was hanged for shooting a doctor who refused care to his mother. Danny was haunted by the execution in his childhood nightmares and relentlessly taunted by his schoolmates by day.  This has made Danny (Dane Clark) a bitter loner.  His one real friend is Mose (Rex Ingram) with whom he goes coon hunting in the mountains.

When he is grown, he gets into a fight with the local banker’s son Jerry (Lloyd Bridges) on the subject and during the fracas kills him with a rock.   Jerry is not a popular boy and at first investigators think his disappearance was due to embezzlement from his father’s bank.

That same night, he declares his love for schoolteacher Gilly Johnson (Gail Russell).  She initially resists him but eventually succumbs.  She does not understand why Danny wants to keep their relationship secret or why he acts increasingly disturbed the longer the investigation continues.  With Harry Morgan as a deaf-mute, Allen Joslyn as a compassionate Sherrif, and Ethel Barrymore as Danny’s grandmother.

This is quite a beautiful movie to look at and has a kind of dream-like quality and lots of moonlight. The main link to noir is by way of the tormented protagonist.  I enjoyed it.

Moonrise was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound, Recording.

Clip – Rex Ingram and Dane Clark – cinematography by John L. Russell

The Dark Mirror
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Written by Nunnally Johnson from a story by Vladimir Posner
1946/USA
International Pictures
First viewing/Olive Films DVD

[box] Dr. Scott Elliott: Not even nature can duplicate character, not even in twins.[/box]

This somewhat predictable thriller is lifted by one of Olivia de Havilland’s most interesting performances.

Terry and Ruth Collins (de Havilland) are identical twins.  One of them has clearly murdered a doctor who was getting ready to propose.  But which one?  The twins refuse to talk and no one can tell them apart.  Legally, Lt. Stephenson (Thomas Mitchell) can’t hold either one of them, for fear of arresting an innocent person.

Psychologist Dr. Scott Elliott (Lew Ayers) is an expert on twins and tells Stephenson that the characters of identical twins can definitely be told apart.  He talks the twins into assisting in his research for pay.  Inevitably, he falls in love with Ruth and decides Terry is insane.

Meanwhile, the stress is getting to Ruth to the extent that she experiences hallucinations and Terry gets increasingly jealous and suspicious.  Stephenson is worried that Terry’s next victim may be Ruth.  He resorts to a daring ruse.

De Havilland is really good here.  She plays Ruth more or less as herself but gives Terry a subtle hard edge that lets the audience know who is who from the start.  This one did not scream film noir to me either in the content or in the style.

The Dark Mirror was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNhiI1I9g1g

Clip – cinematography by Milton R. Krasner