Beer and Blood

 THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

For sheer villainy with very little charm and a purely (and intentionally) misogynistic bent, "The Public Enemy" is the James Cagney gangster picture of the 1930's era. There were many others but this one has steam rising and emanating from the screen - it is raw, visceral and accepts no substitutes. Though not exactly the best of its kind, it does show the Pre-Code danger and edge in these types of gangland pictures and it makes no apologies.

Divided into chapters showing an onscreen title of the year, "The Public Enemy" charts the rise and fall of Irish-American and Chicagoan Thomas Powers (James Cagney) who has no compunction as a youth to steal. He steals roller skates for his friend's sister and she refuses them when she finds out he stole them. Tom's father, a policeman, is a brute and heavily beats his son with very little reaction from the tot. Over the years, the kid and his childhood partner, Matt Doyle (Frankie Darro), become embroiled in petty theft crimes (one goes awry with regards to the theft of furs), work as streetcar drivers and eventually rise to the level of wealthy businessmen while bootlegging. Of course, murder by getting even percolates when Tom decides to kill Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell), the man who helped the kids in the past and decided to flee after that fur snafu. Sensible people started to see that Tom was up to no good.

Tom's mother (Beryl Mercer) loves him like a baby yet Tom's brother (Donald Cook), a World War I vet, sees through him and has heard and disapproves of his "beer and blood" enterprise. Even Tom's girlfriend Kitty (Mae Clarke) hates him and he decides to squish a grapefruit in her face in one of the most famous scenes in American cinema! In one scene, drunken Tom is seduced by a woman (Mia Marvin), who helps him and his crew hide out from a rival mob, and he smacks her the following day learning of this seduction he slept through. Leaving aside women (and a thankless though sparkling role by Jean Harlow), not even horses are safe around this guy.

"The Public Enemy" is rough and tough and a completely unsentimental picture though not especially illuminating (unless you were unaware of the notion, as served in prologue and epilogue title cards, that being a gangster was anything but a solid career choice). Still, I have to give the film credit for painting these criminals without an ounce of romanticism. There is none evident in a single performance, especially Cagney. As I said earlier, the film makes no apologies for its in-your-face violence and raw nerve. Neither did James Cagney.

Proletarian noir mixed with chipped glass

 THIEVES' HIGHWAY (1949)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Jules Dassin's "Thieves' Highway" is a curious noir picture because all the usual elements are forged and in place for a tough, tightly-paced picture and yet it gives us more than the expected. The noir trappings are there but we also get lost in the lonely world of truckers, golden apples, waterfronts, Italian prostitutes and in the minutiae of dangerous truck driving, the money at stake, who's robbing whom to make a buck and so on. In 2022, in a proposed world of driverless truckers, there is much here that almost makes it a docudrama of the rough terrain of truckers.

The fabulous Richard Conte is perfectly cast as Nick Garcos, a man who returns to his family in Fresno bearing gifts. Everything seems idyllic until he discovers his father (Morris Carnovsky), a former trucker, was bilked of wages during a bad accident where he lost his legs. The bilking was done courtesy of the corrupt Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb, a punchy and vibrant performance), who runs a produce market in San Francisco. Nick wants the money owed to his father so while partnering with the dubious truck jockey, Ed Prentiss (Millard Mitchell) who bought Nick's father's truck, a bargain is struck and the two hit the road with the shipment of apples to deliver to Figlia. None of this will be accomplished so easily.

It is clear from the plot that this could've been fairly standard, clockwork noir with the tension being whether Nick can get the money owed from Figlia or die trying. Being that this is a Jules Dassin flick and based on the A. I. Bezzerides' proletarian novel "Thieves' Market," the film is also far more invested in the relationships between the truckers, Figlia's manipulative ways that involve violence and the machinations of charging people whatever price floats in his head, and Nick trying to be righteous and realizing this world is amoral at best. But there is also the curious Italian prostitute Rica (Valentina Cortesa) who seems intent on manipulating any man to befit Figlia's corrupt ways but she may also be duplicitous. Curiously Dassin and writer Bezzerides keep us guessing as to her motives - is she money hungry or will she do right by Nick? Does she have to do right by him since men lunge themselves at her all the time. An early funny scene shows her at the cafe with a cigarette asking for a light and several men offer at the same time - an old joke that only shows she's capable of summoning and stealing a man's heart through his wallet, or their lighters. 

I don't buy the happy ending of "Thieves' Highway" nor does it feel warranted (a surprise coming from Dassin who later on created one of his darker noir endings in "Night and the City"). Still I was pulled in by the cast and especially Richard Conte's proletariat-led idealism - he is jovial in the beginning and slowly such joy dissipates till he has some sort of implied rebirth. The idealism is etched on his face, and you can feel it - he is somehow the perfect postwar worker type that you might ever see during this era. Valentina Cortesa is excellent in her low-key performance, never pushing for any extremes yet we are never too sure of her intentions (Nick refers to her as chipped glass, a great line). The low-keyedness is also evident with Millard Mitchell as Ed and we discover through him that, hey, we all have to make ends meet somehow on these treacherous roads. Speaking of treacherous, there are two thrilling truck scenes, one involving a deadly crash, that have to be seen to be believed - Dassin was quick on the trigger when it came to making these scenes realistic and snappy. Tension-filled in every frame and often sprinkled with a touch of empathy towards characters you least expect to get any, "Thieves' Highway" is, dare I say it, truly evocative proletarian noir. Try saying that three times.  

One of the most lushly romantic love stories ever made

 THE QUIET MAN (1952)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Lush, wonderfully colorful and vibrant in tone and rhythm, "The Quiet Man" is one of John Ford's best films. It is a purposely rocky, humorous romantic story set in Ireland that is about as unusual a romance as you might expect. It's not just a romance between two stalwart acting titans like John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, it is the romantic vision of Ireland as a place where true blooming love can exist. Not that it is easy for love to bloom there.

John Wayne is an Irish-American ex-boxer named Sean Thornton, who returns to his birthplace of Ireland, specifically Inisfree, to buy back the cottage he was born in. Naturally there is a heated disagreement through his neighbor, an embittered Red Will  (Victor McLaglen), who doesn't want Thornton as a neighbor. Red Will also wants Sean to stay away from his Irish lass of a sister, the spinster Mary Kate (the truly wonderful, spirited Maureen O'Hara). Of course, you can't keep a fiery redhead and a headstrong Irishman apart for long (this culminates in Wayne and O'Hara's famous first kiss while the wind blows in the background and through the cottage. It is a scene that can stop time, not to mention a strong moment of intimacy in a rainstorm by a graveyard). 

There are Irish traditions of courting that are at odds with Thornton's American traditions. For one, there is to be no physical contact during the courting, which is accompanied by the horse carriage driver and matchmaker Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald). Sean must not put his arms on Mary Kate if he is to lift her off of the carriage, a simple clasping of hands will do. The other tradition is that the brother must give away his sister (their parents are no longer around), and Red Will refuses simply because he himself is not married and needs a woman to run the house. There is a set-up during a horse race that is better seen than explained (it involves bonnets) and it shows how difficult it is to marry a woman - the process seems a bit grueling.

The cast works to perfection. Wayne and O'Hara make one of the best silver screen couples ever and it shows how much love there is despite the rocky roads (quite literally). Wayne shows a more gentle tough guy at first - later on, this guy is rather rough when dragging Mary Kate over 5 miles of rough terrain for a climactic fight with Red Will. O'Hara also shows gentleness yet a fierce demeanor at the same time - she will not bow down to just any man (she can deliver a punch and is forthright about her emotions). I can see why O'Hara thought of this movie as her favorite - after all, it probably helped that she was born in Ireland as well.

It was a great casting coup to get the boisterous Victor McLaglen as the stubborn Red Will, who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and through his bulky physicality. Also worth mentioning is Ward Bond as a priest, Father Peter Lonergan, who hates to be interrupted when catching a fish. And let's not forget Barry Fitzgerald as the chaperone and matchmaker Michaleen Flynn - he also imbues the spirit and sweetness of himself and the townsfolk yet he clings with an iron hand on upholding tradition.

"The Quiet Man" may have its Irish stereotypes (the guys at the bar singing and drinking to their heart's content, the betting over a fistfight) but they add immeasurably to the proceedings - you believe them as a fun-loving group who only want to be content. Same with Sean and Mary Kate and though the romance takes its time beyond their marriage and a little matter involving her dowry, the same richness and optimism of their very souls gives us something to aspire to. The Irish setting (astounding Technicolor cinematography by Winton C. Hoch who later lensed "The Searchers") with its rock beds, rocky bridges, the slightly grayish sea, the rolling green hills, and the cottage with its green doors makes this one of the most beautiful and lushly romantic love stories ever made. "The Quiet Man" is one of the greatest, most pleasurable entertainments ever produced by a Hollywood studio.

Shamefully and Shamelessly funny

 SCARED TO DEATH (1947)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

What a shame that "Scared to Death" was not directed by Ed Wood because it might have been a bigger hit with the cult movie circuit and probably would've made more sense. Or not. "Scared to Death" might end up as the transcendental trashy Z movie that is so bad it is phenomenally good, kind of like Tommy Wiseau's "The Room." In both cases, they are actually not about anything yet they hold a certain attraction because, at least, they tried. Or maybe not.

This is the first movie to be narrated by a corpse (I thought the great and tantalizing "Sunset Blvd." was the first, but oh well). This may also be the only movie in history where the corpse is not only narrating beyond the grave but also from a slab at the mausoleum (every few minutes, the movie cuts back to her on the slab which is more than likely the same shot repeated ad nauseam). The story goes that a frustrated woman (Molly Lamont) died because she became literally scared to death of a floating green mask that reminded her of her magician husband (her second husband is someone she's seeking a divorce from). The question is who was wearing the green mask and who scared her? Is it an apparition? Was it Bela Lugosi as Professor Leonide, himself a magician, or his dwarf assistant named Indigo (Angelo Rossitto)? Was it the stoic doctor named Dr. Ee who was treating her (George Zucco)? Was it the inquisitive reporter or his girlfriend? Was it the comical cop at the asylum (Nat Pendleton, such a comically entertaining performance that is at odds with the rest of the movie) who is hoping for a homicide so he can solve it and get back on the police force? Will anyone care? Should I give away what happens? I suppose we can say that the green mask (and a green scarf) have something to do with this woman selling her first husband out to the Nazis! It is not clear if he has come back as a phantasm or does the woman only imagine him as a ghost, or who knows what. The disembodied voice travels through the walls and can be heard by others so I dunno.

"Scared to Death" is based on a one-act play called "Murder on the Operating Table," which was apparently based on a 1933 murder case involving Dr. Alice Wynekoop (this particular true-life case is far more fascinating than the farcical mischief of this movie). This movie's main distinction is that it is one of two or three films to have ever had Bela Lugosi appearing in color. The colors are from a Cinecolor process, which looks like the tinting process used by Ted Turner back in the 1980's to colorize B&W films. Shamefully bad movie, no matter how it looks, and shamefully and shamelessly funny in an idiotic good/bad movie way. 

Marginally exciting John Wayne/Johnny Mack Brown western

 HELL TOWN (1937)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I am a sucker for older black-and-white westerns from the 1930's and 40's. Anything to do with the frontier, the local town with a general store, cattle rustling and so on, I watch avidly. Not of all these one-hour long westerns of this period (before John Ford and Howard Hawks improved on them hundredfold) are terrific entertainments, and some are rather wobbly paced. "Hell Town," also known as "Born to the West," is not terrific but it is marginally exciting for what it delivers. Its got John Wayne wearing a 10-gallon hat and it has the sweet sugar on top with the added presence of the charismatic John Mack Brown (the only film they appeared in together).

Wayne is Dare Rudd, a penniless cowhand who travels with his partner, Dinky Hooley (Syd Saylor), an anxious lightning rod salesman who tries to sell lightning rods to anyone. The twosome ride into Montana with Dare hoping to make his way to Wyoming. After a gunfight during a cattle stampede in Montana, they come across Dare's own cousin, Tom Fillmore (Johnny Mack Brown), a cattleman and banker who Dare jokingly says, "he's half of Wyoming." Love comes calling when Dare is smitten by Judy (Marsha Hunt) who is Tom's girl. Well, gee, who would Judy prefer? 

"Hell Town" is not really a love story and in its 55-minute running time, we need room for poker games where the decks are switched by the bartender; a cattle stampede, which is practically par the course for any western landscape (directly lifted in the opening sequence from random stock footage); several gunfights; rattlesnakes; a double-dealing poker player who is "the best poker player west of the Mississippi," and the usual camaraderie between cowhands about who to trust. Since Dare is about to earn 10,000 dollars for delivering cattle, you know someone is looking to make a buck for themselves. 

John Wayne's role as a troublemaking gambler who needs protection, especially in poker games, is contrary to the type of tough cowboy he would famously play later on. Johnny Mack Brown has a certain kind of cool charisma that proved its worth in several low-budget westerns he appeared in. Syd Saylor is frontier comic relief and welcomed in this rudimentary western. "Hell Town" (its new title upon its first reissue) is an engaging enough western as a reminder of the genre's roots in simplicity before evolving into the grander, sometimes darker vision of John Ford and others that followed.

FOOTNOTE: Both John Wayne and Johnny Mack Brown played football in their early years.

Are we not men?

 ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When you watch the creepy, far too effectively haunting "Island of Lost Souls," you are watching a film that could've been made by a madman. By all accounts, director Erle C. Kenton ("House of Frankenstein") was no madman but he did make a maddening masterpiece of horror that went beyond anything else in theaters at the time. All masterpieces tend to have minor flaws (no film is really ever perfect though they may be perfectly realized) yet "Island of Lost Souls" is practically flawless in its unsavory atmosphere, restrained performances and execution of disturbing subject matter. It is a horror film yet I must say that in retrospect with all the released horror pictures of the 1930's including "Frankenstein" and "Dracula," it is quite horrific.

From the start, something is afoot. A shipwrecked, unshaven survivor, Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) awakens as if he has seen something horrific. The following day, he's ready to embark on a voyage to meet his fiancee yet the captain doesn't want him on board and throws him out. Parker didn't like the way the captain treated M'ling (Tetsu Komai), a servant to a certain Dr. Moreau, yet notices a distinctive feature in M'Ling, a furry ear! So Parker ends up on Dr. Moreau's boat and they are off to Moreau's island. Big mistake because it turns out that the white-suited Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton, a devilishly undercooked performance) is a scientist who has an island full of half-men, half-animal hybrid creatures. They all speak and they know the Law (the laws include repeated phrases like "Are we not men?" and "Do not eat meat" and "Do not spill blood"), obeying their master as if he was some deity. There is much here that may remind some of the famous Joseph Conrad novel, "Heart of Darkness," which of course was later adapted into "Apocalypse Now."

There is also a timid woman on this island, Lota (Kathleen Burke), a former panther creature who is practically wholly human female. Moreau wants to do further experiments (changing animals through vivisection into humans) and hopes that Parker will impregnate Lota! And if that doesn't work, well, there is Parker's fiancee, Ruth (Leila Hyams), who locates Parker in this island and is more than dismayed by these hybrids. If Parker won't impregnate Lota, then perhaps one of the bulkier half-ape creatures will do their due diligence with Ruth!

As you can imagine, this movie's story (based on H.G. Wells late 1890's novel) was too much for 1930's audiences and certain scenes and lines of dialogue were censored for American audiences. "Island of Lost Souls" was also banned in nine different countries, including Great Britain. Though most of it might seem diluted compared to many other horror films of the last 80 years, few have the verve and outright manic tension of "Island of Lost Souls." Every scene, every nightmarish shot is maximized by a foggy atmosphere (par the course in those days) and an undercurrent of complete discomfort. The introduction of Lota by Dr. Moreau is underscored by tension, that somehow her very presence smacks of something unclean and perverse (which of course it is). Those are the quiet scenes, and then we have the House of Pain which is the lab where the nasty experiments occur. Noises, screams of agony are heard everywhere in the soundtrack, not just in the House of Pain. 

Everything is heightened in this movie except for the performances. Charles Laughton, one of the finest actors of the 20th century, exudes a great deal of reserve in his Dr. Moreau and no wonder - had the character been too colorful or too over-the-top, it would dilute the horror. Same with Richard Arlen, the straight man who is repulsed by what is happening on this island. Kathleen Burke is a stunningly agile actress, and her very movements sometimes seem panther-like (Burke actually retired from acting at the age of 25!) Only Leila Hyams as Ruth is generally wasted - I suppose the role of a blonde fiancee was needed amidst all the creatures since her role was invented and is not to be found in H.G. Wells' original novel. Let's not forget Bela Lugosi as one of the hybrids, the actual Sayer of the Law who famously repeats the phrase, "Are we not men?" He's got one horrifying close-up that has become part of the iconography of this film.

A few thoughts occurred to me while watching "Island of Lost Souls." If these animals become men, are they still animals? If they are men, do they have souls? The one true animal in "Island of Lost Souls" is Dr. Moreau, a sadist with no soul. Frightening thought, frightening and vital piece of horror cinema.

Sherlock Holmes is largely absent

 THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1939)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is unusual to see Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in an abbreviated role as the famous grand sleuth - naturally his presence is barely felt throughout "The Hound of the Baskervilles." This is the first film to feature the iconically cast Rathbone as the violin-playing, cigar-smoking and occasionally needle-needing Scotland Yard detective whose powers of intuition surprise everyone except himself. If only there was more of him.

The opening scenes at the moors of the Baskerville estate in Devonshire suggest Universal horror imaginings, evoking something supernatural. An older man, Sir Charles Baskerville, runs through the foggy moors from a fierce and hungry dog or a wolf, falls over and dies. There is the legend of the Baskerville curse and the story goes that several centuries earlier, Sir Hugo Baskerville was killed by this devil dog, this alleged hound from Hell. Every since then, all generations of Baskervilles have been killed by the same dog including Sir Charles. What does this all mean? And will Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene), the last of the Baskervilles, be the next intended victim or is there a grander scheme involving a huge family fortune?

Now how on earth is the witty Sherlock Holmes going to deduce anything worthwhile out of this except to prove that the hound theory is hogwash? Back at Baker Street, Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill) who was good friends with Sir Charles, is trying to determine that Sir Charles died from heart failure following the prospect of an attack from the hound. So Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce), Holmes' assistant, is sent by Holmes to investigate the matter at Devonshire, although why send Watson packed with a gun for protection? Probably because the character's slight incompetence in determining a murder case's probable outcomes was not marked as a hindrance in this entry - Watson's weak analysis of details only progressed in subsequent Holmes films. Leaving dear Sherlock out of this story (as was the case with the book) is problematic and doesn't serve the narrative or build any real momentum either. The real truth is that author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had no intention to make this a Sherlock Holmes story, and I am sure that also meant leaving out Dr. Watson altogether.

This is the case where the book is far more fun to read than seeing the film adaptation. "Hound of the Baskervilles" is still one of the weaker Holmes stories and one of the weakest Basil Rathbone entries (just as weak is "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror" which had Rathbone's Holmes sans his deerstalker cap in a WWII scenario involving Nazis) yet it is still sort of fun to watch once Holmes is involved in the case towards the last twenty minutes (he disguises himself as an old coot selling various trinkets). For Holmes completists, check it out and for others, prepare to be bored by the first half of the movie.