Flickers in Time

‘G’ Men (1935)
Directed by William Keighley
1935/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing

Jeff McCord: We’re gonna make the word “government” poison to them if it’s the last thing we do.

There is something so comforting about putting a James Cagney movie into the player.  I can count on him being good and usually the movie is good as well.  In this case, the movie is quite good.  With this film, Warner Brothers transformed the gangster genre into something the Hayes Code could live with while boosting an FBI that had just received the right to carry weapons and federal crime laws to enforce.

Cagney plays Brick Davis, a guy who grew up on the mean streets of the East Side but was financed by a bootlegger through law school.  When his government agent law school friend is gunned down by mobsters, Davis decides to join the Bureau, severing his ties with his benefactor and Jean, the nightclub singer who is sweet on him (Ann Dvorak).   In Washington, Davis is put under the tutelage of crusty veteran agent Jeff McCord (Robert  Armstrong) who thinks him “soft”.  Davis rapidly sets McCord straight and also impresses with his street smarts and inside info on the criminals he came up with.

The film is full of violent action, perhaps more of it than in the earlier gangster films.  Davis’s colleague is slaughtered by the mob while trying to transport one of their number to prison and there is a montage of armed bank hold-ups.  Later, after the Bureau is armed, there are a couple of spectacular gunfights.  In keeping with the Code, there is no gore and the bad guys are thoroughly despicable and thoroughly vanquished.  With Margaret Lindsay as Jeff’s sister and Brick’s love interest.

This movie sinks or swims on the back of Jimmy Cagney and he does not disappoint.  He has the same cocky charm and energy that Tom Powers had, with the appeal of being in the right, and a good script to work with.  Robert Armstrong plays his part with a healthy dose of humor, refreshing after his super-earnest work in King Kong.  The bad guys are all interesting.  Ann Dvorak was fine, but where did they get her dresses?  I don’t think I’m a Margaret Lindsay fan.

Re-release trailer

Poor, poor Ann Dvorak and her unfortunate costume (and routine!)

Charlie Chan in Shanghai
Directed by James Tinling
1935/USA
Fox Film Corporation
First viewing

Charlie Chan: Hasty conclusion like hind legs of mule – kick backwards.

Master-detective Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) travels to Shanghai ostensibly to visit the land of his ancestors but really to assist in a secret investigation.  But the British agent he was to assist is murdered at Charlie’s welcoming banquet and Charlie soon finds himself dodging murder and kidnapping attempts.  An American agent arrives and he and Charlie start on the trail of a gang of opium smugglers.  With Keye Luke as Lee, Chan’s “Number 1 Son.”

This is a competent, fairly standard entry in the mystery series.  It is notable for giving Oland a chance to show off his rich baritone singing voice when he entertains some children.  Number 1 Son, whom I had not encountered before, is somewhat silly but also comes to his father’s assistance in this one.

Mark of the Vampire
Directed by Tod Browning
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing

Prof. Zelin: We must all die. There’s nothing terrible about death, but to live on after death, a soul earth-bound, a vampire. You don’t wish any such fate for your beloved.

This is a sound re-make of the famous lost silent horror picture, London After Midnight, which starred Lon Chaney.  It also shares a lot of themes with Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula.  The film begins in the same ambiguous Middle European milieu with the peasants all convinced that there are vampires in their midst.  Soon Sir Karell, a local aristocrat, is found dead with tell-tale marks on his throat and his body drained dry of blood.  The doctor names the cause of death as vampire attack but the police inspector (Lionel Atwill) is not buying it.  Sir Karrell’s daughter’s (Elizabeth Allan) wedding plans are disrupted and she goes to live with her guardian (Jean Herscholt).  A year later, the daughter is visited by a shrouded female  apparition on the terrace and a Van Helsing-like  professor (Lionel Barrymore) is called in.  With a mostly silent Bela Lugosi again in his Dracula cape as “Count Mora”.

To those that like this sort of thing, this will be a hell of a lot of fun.  The mechanical bats with their visible wires and the possums lurking in the creepy castle only add to the experience.  The plot doesn’t bear much scrutiny but I found it satisfying in the end.  The cast is top-notch and any over-acting works in this context.  The comic relief maid is less annoying than many such characters.

I watched this as part of the Hollywood Legends of Horror collection which gathers six MGM horror movies of the 1930s.  I particularly liked the commentary track on this one.

Trailer – soooo camp!  so fun!

Man on the Flying Trapeze
Directed by Clyde Bruckman
1935/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing

Ambrose’s Secretary: It must be hard to lose your mother-in-law.

Ambrose Wolfinger: Yes it is, very hard. It’s almost impossible.

No trapeze here.  A day in the life of Ambrose Wolfinger (W.C. Fields) begins with two singing burglars in his basement.  We then follow the henpecked family man on his adventures in jail, at work, driving a car, and at a wrestling match.  All ends well, as usual.  With Kathleen Howard, Grady Sutton, and Vera Lewis as Ambrose’s obnoxious wife, brother-in-law, and mother-in-law and Mary Brian as his loving daughter.

The saving grace of this movie comes near the end when Fields actually stands up to his family and even punches his horrible brother-in-law!  Otherwise, watch the clip.  If you think Fields fiddling with his socks and putting off his encounter with the burglars is amusing, the rest of the film will be even funnier.  As for me, after the first minute of the clip, I am just waiting for him to get on with it already.

Clip – opening