'After the Dance' feels incomplete

After the Dance (1935)
Starring: George Murphy, Nancy Carroll, Thelma Todd, and Wyrley Birch
Director: Leo Bulgakov
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

An innocent song-and-dance man (Murphy) is sent to prison for manslaughter after his shady partner (Todd) refuses to clear his name. A series of events prompts his escape from prison, and he finds an opportunity to rebuild his life and show business career with a new partner (Carroll). All is going well until the woman who sent him to prison re-enters his life.

"After the Dance" is a strangely constructed movie that feels like it is missing large chunks. It starts in medias res with our hero already having accidentally killed a man while defending his dance parter. We get no introduction to any of the involved characters, and the way he gets jammed up for the murder comes out of left field and is never explained. It's like five or ten minutes of opening scenes and establishing who the characters are is missing.

Similarly, as the movie is reaching its climax, the hero's past catches up with him, and the evil vixen from the movie's beginning once again ruins his life, we once again have the feeling that we've missed parts of the film. Not only does the movie not such much end but stop, it does so without ever explaining fully why Thelma Todd's character is such an evil bitch, because the film's instigating event is never explained in any detail.

It's a sad fact of Thelma Todd's career that most of her main dramatic roles of the talkie era took place in films that either had weak scripts (such as "Corsair"), have come down to us in modern times in a state butchered by censors or damaged by the passage of time (such as "Cheating Blondes"), or which is mysteriously flawed like "After the Dance". Given when it was released--at a time when Hollywood's move toward self-censorship had gained full steam and the censors were hacking and slashing, left and right and center--and the pristine condition of the print used to make the DVD I watched, I'm guessing that the incomplete nature of the story here is the fault of censorship. So... yet again, we are left with Todd giving a fine performance in a flawed vehicle. Once again, we can only imagine what she might have become as an actress if her life hadn't been tragically cut short in December of 1935. We will never know what she might have brought us if she had played more dramatic roles as she grew as an actress. ("After the Dance" was one of the last films she made.)

Todd isn't the only actor in this film who gives a performance better than it seems to have deserved. Everyone shines in their parts, and this could have been an excellent film if it had only been complete. George Murphy isn't the most charismatic actor, nor the lightest-of-foot dancer, but he's good enough... and what he lacks, Nancy Carroll more than makes up for with her energy and grace. They make the song and dance numbers that anchor the film very enjoyable.

'Convict 13' is a wonderful blend of slapstick and absurdist humor

Convict 13 (1920)

Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, and Sybil Seely

Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A series of events leads a golfer (Keaton) to be mistaken for an escaped convict and get dragged off to prison. That's when things get really crazy.

The first few minutes of "Convict 13" is a fun bit of comedy based around golf, which at that time was a growing craze sweeping the nation, flowing downward from the upper-class to engage anyone who had the money for clubs and the time to play. It offers up a little social commentary that's relevant even today, as well having an African-American play the part of a black caddy rather than have someone in black face doing it. The part was substantive in the opening scenes, which makes this even more remarkable.  (I recently watched a Harold Lloyd picture that I think was from this same year, and there were numerous men and women made-up to look as if they were African-American but weren't.)

With no warning, however, the film takes a turn for the humorously bizarre. After he gets hauled off to prison in case of mistaken identity, his problems keep escalating following failed escape attempts, foiling his execution in place of the prisoner he's been mistaken for, and finally a prison riot during which his girlfriend, who also happens to be the warden's daughter (played with great charm by Sybil Seeley).

As with a couple of the other early Buster Keaton films I've written about here, I don't want to go into too much detail about the storyline and the wonderful blend of absurdist humor and slapstick gags that come rapid-fire at the viewer, because it would spoil a lot of the fun. (I will say that "Convict 13" has one of the funniest aborted executions scenes you are likely to ever see. Additionally, Sybil Seely really gets to show off her comic chops in this one; it's easy to see why Keaton reportedly wished he could have been able to work with her on more films.)

Although it's a little slow at first, once "Convict 13" gets going, it turns into a hilariously wild ride. What's more, it's tightly scripted, so gags set up other gags as the film unfolds. It is so good that I am even able to overlook the fact that it concludes using what I find one of the most annoying ways to wrap up a story, be it fiction or film; in fact, if I were to set aside my biases, I might even say that this is one of those very rare creations where that ending is actually appropriate.

I recommend that you sit back and watch this great movie, right now, via the embedded YouTube video below!

 

'One Girl's Confession' is barely worth hearing

One Girl's Confession (1953)
Starring: Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, and Glenn Langan
Director: Hugo Haas
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Tempered by the school of hard knocks from an early age, Mary (Moore) robs $25,000 from her mobbed-up employer out of revenge for him ruining her father many years earlier. She then confesses to the theft, but never reveals where she hid the money, so she is sent to prison where she is safe from retaliation. All she has to do is serve her time and then quietly retrieve the hidden fortune once she is released. But when the kindness shown to her by a professional gambler (Haas) inspires her to share the money with him to help him out of a tight spot, and he appears to repay her by stealing the entire secreted fortune, she sets out get "her" money back or to gain revenge.

I imagine that in 1953 "One Girl's Confession" had all the plot twists and reversals to keep viewers satisfied. Further, the acting is good, the cinematography is serviceable, and the direction is steady and well-focused. Personally, I think that Cleo Moore's character of Mary was a little too quick to develop such trust in Hugo Haas' character given her background, but if one accepts the idea that she was just a little girl at heart looking for decent father-esque figure.

But nearly seventy years later, the film's story comes across as feeling too straight-forward, too pat, and under-developed. When watching it, there are numerous complications that seem to be set up as the story unfolds, but which are brought to fruition. The mob angle is dealt with kinda-sorta, but it feels too easy for someone watching the film in 2011, and there are a couple of characters that are just begging to be revealed as duplicitous or as something other than what they appear to be on the surface. But, without spoiling anything, I can tell you that whatever twists you THINK might be coming, you'll only get a tiny fraction of the proverbial "storm" can one would expect to come down on Mary's head as she moves to collect the money she's "worked for."

Now, the plot twists that do materialize are all well-executed, and the signature "ironic twists" in a Hugo Haas picture are here in spades, but as "The End" flashed on the screen, I was left feeling like I'd somehow been short-changed. This isn't exactly a bad movie, it's just a little tame.

I suppose it might be a nice, light-weight introduction to the film noir genre if you have a 11-14 year-old girl in your household with a love of crime fiction and mysteries (and the same might be true of a boy, but I think it might be less likely), but I think time has left this movie behind as entertainment for adults. I'd move to hear other opinions, though.

'Women's Prison' isn't very arresting, but still worth watching

Women's Prison (1955)
Starring: Ida Lupino, Jan Sterling, Audrey Totter, Phyllis Thaxter, Howard Duff, Barry Kelley, Warren Stevens, Mae Clarke, Gertrude Michael, and Cleo Moore
Director: Lewis Seiler
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Amelia Van Zandt (Lupino) is the warden of a women's prison who runs her institution with an iron fist, dominating the lives of both prisoners and prison matrons. Her fiercely controlled world starts coming unraveled when her abuses of a delicate housewife incarcerated for involuntary manslaughter (Thaxter) and a prisoner who becomes pregnant (Totter) when her husband (Stevens)--who is incarcerated in the male side of the prison--breaks into the women's prison to an illicit rendezvous provokes both the anger of the prison doctor (Duff) and the prisoners.

Compared to the "women in prison" movies that followed in the 1970s, this is very, very tame stuff, even if the publicity campaign at the time if its release tried to position the film as if it wasn't. The still I chose to illustrate the film implies atmosphere and situations that are nowhere to be found in the film (while demonstrating that Cleo Moore was literally the poster-girl for Columbia Picture's marketing department when it came to "sexing things up"--her part in the film is very small, yet she is the subject of a publicity still). The prisoners here seem more like members of a professional association on a retreat than hardened criminals worthy of being locked away, the guards are all professional and appropriately concerned with the well-being of prisoners, the prison is neat and clean and well-lit. If not for the hell-beast of a warden, the prison in this film and the people in it are nicer than some places I've been on vacation at.

In fact, the prisoners are so nice that the over-the-top hysterics of the poor housewife who is sent up for killing a child with her car become very irritating after a while. While she doesn't deserve to be straight-jacketed or thrown in solitary for being frightened, it's a mystery where her over-reaction to normal prison procedures came from, since every prisoner she meets is nice and chatty and no different than the girls at the hair salon or in the grocery store checkout line. Hell, one prisoner could even find work as a tour guide, I'm certain, given how quickly she steps up to show the "new kid" ropes.

Although the strangely gentile nature of the inmates seemed a bit odd to me, I did appreciate the fact that the film didn't try to paint them as victims of the justice system like some other prison movies I've watched. Most of the inmates are exactly where they belong, and they make no bones about it. I also liked the fact that the matrons and guards were shown as decent human beings who were just doing their jobs.

I also liked the fact that the decency and professionalism of the prison's staff was contrasted with the indifference of the men's prison warden (Barry Kelley)--who may have worked his way up through the system, but who somewhere along the way forgot that the inmates and those working under him are human beings--and the calculated cruelty of women's prison warden, the aforementioned Ida Lupino. In fact, Lupino does such a great job at portraying a sociopathic cast-iron bitch that I almost wished her end had been a little less predictable and pathetic... I wanted her to get a "top o' the world, ma!" sort-of memorable exit, even if the way the film does dispatch her is adequate and dramatically fitting.

Well-acted, well-scripted, and effectively paced, "Women's Prison" is worth a look if you're a fan of Ida Lupino and have a high tolerance for melodrama. But this is not the place to look if you have a hankering for a Roger Corman or Jess Franco "birds in cages"-type sleaze.

'Jailhouse Rock' shows Elvis capable of more than swiveling his hips

Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Starring: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, and Vaughn Taylor
Director: Richard Thorpe
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A violent young man (Presley) is sent to prison for manslaughter. Therem his cellmate (Shaughnessy) teaches him to play the guitar and sets him on a path that, with the help of a beautiful music promoter (Tyler) will put him on a path to fame and fortune. But will the corruption of the entertainment industry--with its collection of crooks more sinister than any prison ever held--and the soul-blinding light of stardom save him or ruin him?

"Jailhouse Rock" is a neat little rags-to-riches-to-ruin-to-redemption story that remains surprisingly fresh and entertaining to this day. Although the plot offers few surprises and the characters are about as stock as they can be, the acting performances are solid and the film moves along at a fast clip, with well-staged scenes and great editing. Presley fans can enjoy the further treat of some excellent performances by "The King", with the title song, perhaps being the single greatest Elvis recording ever, being enhanced by a great presentation.

While the plot offers no surprises, Elvis Presley does. If you've tried to sit through some of Elvis' pictures from the 1960s, you will find yourself wondering what happened to the talent he displays here. Presley shows a range in this film that I've never seen in other of his cinematic vehicles, managing to even make some eye-rollingly corny moments in the film bearable and even infuses some of the more dramatic scenes with real power.

Even if you're not much of a fan of Elvis Presley, this is film worth checking out. It's an interesting look at what might have been, if he had put more energy into developing his skills as an actor, and if he and his management had taken more care in choosing the film projects he got involved with.

'The Last Mile' is one to avoid

The Last Mile (1932)
Starring: Howard Phillips, Preston Foster, Alec Francis and Albert Smith
Director: Samuel Bischoff
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Dick Walters (Phillips) is wrongly convicted of murdering his business partner and just before his execution, he is caught up in a death-house uprising led by "Killer" Mears (Foster). Will Walters survive long enough to learn that he's received a last minute stay of execution?


"The Last Mile" is one of those movies that puts the drama in melodrama. Overacted in every conceivable way and showing its roots as a stage play so obviously one wonders why they credited a screenwriter at all, it moves along slowly and predictably. The film also never misses an opportunity to flog its anti-death penalty message, although one wonders why any of the writers thought Mears would make a good spokes-character for the inhumanity of capital punishment. If anything, he's an argument for taking murderers straight from the courthouse to a gas chamber.

I imagine dedicated opponents of capital punishment might find this film a good reaffirmation of their faith, if they can tolerate over-the-top acting from just about the entire cast. As for me, I just found it dull and a little of the mark.