Flickers in Time

Night Train to Munich
Directed by Carol Reed
Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder from a story by Gordon Wellesley
1940/UK
Twentieth Century Productions Ltd.
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Charters: I bought a copy of Mein Kampf. Occurred to me it might shed a spot of light on all this… how d’ye do. Ever read it?

Caldicott: Never had the time.

Charters: I understand they give a copy to all the bridal couples over here.

Caldicott: Oh, I don’t think it’s that sort of book, old man.[/box]

This was written by the screenwriters on The Lady Vanishes and is in the same vein with comedy-tinged suspense, mainly on a train.  I liked it.

The story takes place during the year prior to the outbreak of WWII and on the day Britain declared war on Germany.  Axel Bomasch is a Czech scientist who has invented a superior form of armor-plating.  The authorities are determined to keep this out of the hands of the Germans and arrange to spirit him away to England on the day Czechoslovakia is invaded.  His daughter Anna (Margaret Lockwood) is arrested and imprisoned in a concentration camp before she can join her father.  She escapes the camp with Karl Marsen (Paul Heinreid) and the two proceed to England and begin to search for him.

The search takes Anna to a seaside resort where she meets secret agent Gus Bennett (Rex Harrison) and is reunited with her father.  But the Nazis are in hot pursuit and spirit father and daughter back to Germany.  Bennett, in the disguise of an SS officer, makes a desperate last minute bid at rescuing them and saving the formula for the good guys. With Basil Radford and Naughton Wayne as the prototypical British cricket fans and clueless tourists Chalders and Caldicott.

This is good fun and well worth seeing.  It has some of the most obvious matte paintings ever but this only added to the atmosphere in my opinion.

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All This, and Heaven Too
Directed by Anatole Litvak
Written by Casey Robinson based on a story by Rachel Field
1940/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Henriette Deluzy-Desportes: Happiness isn’t a little cake which we can cut up to fill our appetites.[/box]

Warner Brother’s polished and well-acted answer to Gone with the Wind was not really for me.

Some cruel girls find out their new French teacher’s secret and she sets them straight by telling the sad story of her past.  Segue to extended flashback.  The teacher, Henriette Deluzy-Desportes (Bette Davis), returned to her native France from England and despite being warned off by the old gardener (Harry Davenport) seeks employment as governess to the four children of a Duke (Charles Boyer) and his wife (Barbara O’Neill).

The children immediately fall in love with Henriette.  However, it soon becomes clear that the wife is hysterical, unbalanced, and pathologically jealous.  Her clinging ways have alienated the Duke who becomes attracted to Henriette.  Henriette, while lonely and attracted herself, will have none of it however.  The wife begins to persecute the governess and eventually pushes the Duke right over the edge.    With Motagu Love as the Duchess’s father and June Lockhart and Virginia Weidler as two of her daughters.

This is based on a scandal that rocked France in the 1840’s and is the true story of the novelist’s aunt.  I unfortunately found it overly long and not too gripping.  It does give Bette Davis the opportunity to show her softer side and Barbara O’Neill really earned her Oscar nomination as the harridan of a Duchess.  You could see how such a woman could drive her husband to desperation!  The production is lavish.  If this kind of romance appeals, do not let my comments dissuade you.  I am apparently in the minority.  The IMDb user rating is 7.7/10.

All This, and Heaven Too was nominated for Academy Awards in the catagories of Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (O’Niell), and Best Black and White Cinematography (Ernest Haller).

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I Love You Again
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
Written by Charles Lederer et al based on the novel by Octavus Roy Cohen
1940/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] George Carey: [reacting to Kay’s beauty] Boy! Eighteen days alone on a boat is certainly a long time to be alone on a boat for eighteen days![/box]

William Powell and Myrna Loy are as captivating as ever and Powell has the opportunity to do some fairly amusing physical comedy.

Larry Wilson (Powell) is a tee-totaling stuffed shirt and civic booster who bores the pants off everyone including his wife Kay (Loy), who wants divorce.  He gets a knock on the head while rescuing a drunk Doc Ryan (Frank McHugh) from falling overboard.  The blow cures the amnesia Wilson has been experiencing for nine years.  It turns out he is really high-living con artist George Cary and he has no memory of his life as Wilson.  He discovers Wilson has a large bank account and beautiful wife and that the people of Wilson’s home town are greedy and gullible and heads there to work a con.  While he is at it, he tries to win back Kay with his new-found personality.  With Edmund Lowe as another con artist.

This was a clever, if somewhat confusing, premise.  Although it isn’t where I would turn first for a dose of Powell and Loy, there are some pretty funny bits.

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My Favorite Wife
Directed by Garson Kanin
Written by Bella Spewak, Sam Spewak, and Leo McCarey
1940/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Nick Arden: Something’s come up. My wife.[/box]

If William Powell and Myrna Loy had the best chemistry in classic Hollywood, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne were not far behind.  This screwball comedy produced by Leo McCarey who directed 1937’s sublime The Awful Truth delivers the laughs beautifully.

As the story begins lawyer Nick (Grant) seeks to have a judge (Granville Bates) declare his wife – who has been missing, presumed drowned for seven years – declared legally dead so that he can marry Bianca (Gail Patrick).  Naturally, immediately after the wedding long-lost Ellen (Dunne) shows up at home to introduce herself to the children.  When her mother-in-law tells her about the wedding, Ellen rushes to the honeymoon hotel.  Nick is thrilled to see her but afraid to tell his new wife the news.  Misunderstandings and hilarity abound.  With Randolph Scott as the Adonis who was stranded on the desert island with Ellen.

This is a ton of fun and not to be missed by anyone who loved this couple in The Awful Truth.  The scenes with the judge are genius.

Trailer

Gaslight
Directed by Thorold Dickinson
Written by A.R. Rawlinson and Bridget Boland from the play by Patrick Hamilton
1940/UK
British National Films
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video

[box] Song at Cadbury Music Hall: It’s very aggravating when your love isn’t true…[/box]

I’m very glad I finally caught up with the original version of 1944’s Gaslight.  I loved it.

Paul Mallen (Anton Walbrook) and his wife Bella (Diana Wynyard) move into a long-disused mansion where a woman was brutally murdered 20 years before.  They also buy the empty house next door but Paul has refused all offers to lease it.  It soon becomes clear that the marriage is not a happy one.  Paul constantly berates his wife for forgetting things, losing things, and making things up and threatens her with commitment to an asylum.  He generally makes her life completely miserable.  In the meantime, retired detective Rough is sure he has seen Paul before as Harry Bauer. the chief suspect in the murder of his aunt for her rubies, which were never found.  He spends the rest of the story attempting to find evidence to support his suspicion before Bella slips into insanity for real. With Robert Newton as Bella’s cousin.

I generally love Anton Walbrook and he is great here.  In stark contrast to the suave, oily Charles Boyer, he portrays Paul from the start as the dispenser of the most vile emotional and verbal abuse.  I rapidly grew to hate this man but could not deny his fascinating but demented charm.  This version is also blessedly free of the romantic sub-plot but compensates by having a delightful turn by the cagey old Rough as Bella’s guardian angel. Diana Wynyard is suitably fragile and Cathleen Cordell as the flirtatious parlor maid Nancy is quite effective.  The film is taut and suspenseful right through.  I wouldn’t want to have to choose between this one and the Bergman version.  Very highly recommended.

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