Movie Review: The Woman In The Window (1944)

Genre: Noir Crime Drama

Director: Fritz Lang

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Raymond Massey

Running Time: 99 minutes

Synopsis: With his family on vacation, stodgy Professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) meets alluring model Alice Reed (Joan Bennett), who invites him for drinks at her place. Before long another man bursts in, a struggle ensues, and Richard kills the stranger in self defence. Fearing his life will be ruined if he calls the police, Richard plots with Alice to dump the body and tell no one. But District Attorney Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey), who is also Richard's friend from their social club, starts to assemble the clues, and the threat level rises when crooked ex-cop Heidt (Dan Duryea) shows up with blackmail on his mind.

What Works Well: Playing on classic noir themes of an innocent man who succumbs - just once - to a temptress and tumbles into a pile of trouble, director Fritz Lang and writer Nunnally Johnson accentuate the details. Richard is a studious professor of crime, and therefore attempts to carefully think his way out of his predicament. But in a study of unintended consequences, his every step and every statement expose him to self-incriminating risks. Edward G. Robinson is a perfect bourgeois in over his head, Joan Bennett sells dangerous allure, and Dan Duryea arrives in the second half with bags of oleaginous ill intent.

What Does Not Work As Well: The District Attorney is very quick to connect the dots, and while cleverly delivered, the ending chooses a safe pathway over edgier alternatives.

Conclusion: One mistake is all it takes.



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Movie Review: Nob Hill (1945)

A mixture of romance, politics and music in a quasi-western setting, Nob Hill defies any one genre but still provides decent if rough-around-the-edges entertainment.

The setting is the early 1900s in San Francisco, known then as the "Paris of the USA". In the working class Barbary Coast neighbourhood, Tony Angelo (George Raft) runs the large and lavish Gold Coast nightclub, where his romantic interest Sally Templeton (Vivian Blaine) is the star performer. Tony is an astute but also kindhearted businessman, and agrees to care for young Katie Flanagan (Peggy Ann Garner) after she arrives alone from Ireland only to discover her uncle already deceased.

At a church service Katie and Tony meet Harriet Carruthers (Joan Bennett), who resides in the elite Nob Hill neighbourhood overlooking the city. Sparks immediately fly between Tony and Harriet, much to Sally's disappointment. But Harriet may have an ulterior motive: her brother Lash is running for election as District Attorney and needs Tony's support. Romance and politics get entangled, threatening Tony's business.

Colourful, rowdy, and packed with people and incidents, Nob Hill never lacks energy and momentum. But the film is also short on polish and tonal consistency, director Henry Hathaway and star George Raft an uneasy fit in a musical milieu. Vivian Blaine carries the load to perform several songs surrounded by a gaggle of can-can style burlesque dancers, jugglers and back-up singers. The Twentieth Century Fox production lacks smooth choreography and stylish staging, settling instead for a choppy, throw-everything-at-the-show approach.

The plot compensates with multiple themes. The romantic triangle featuring Sally, Tony and Harriet crackles with envy, deception and hidden agendas. The class divide between Nob Hill and Barbary Coast is either a permanent schism separating the riffraff from the snobs, or an exaggerated creation in Tony's head. The election sub-story reveals neighbourhood dependencies but also the potential for pragmatic exploitation in search of political gain. And Katie's arrival in the new world is a window to the hopes, dreams, and risks embedded in the immigrant experience.

Nob Hill benefits from four memorable characters. George Raft aims at a Rick Blaine vibe and gets close. As the town's prime entertainer Vivian Blaine shines on stage but is otherwise given little to do. Joan Bennett's role is smaller but more manipulative as Harriet wields the charm weapons available only to the rich. And young Peggy Ann Garner steals the show, injecting wide-eyed tender innocence and no shortage of courage as she first seeks to understand the adult world then strives to make it better.

It may not always be the talk of the town, but Nob Hill is still worth the climb.



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Movie Review: Highway Dragnet (1954)

A man-on-the-run thriller, Highway Dragnet delivers decent dusty action but is constrained by an ultra low budget.

While unwinding at a Las Vegas bar, Korean War veteran James Henry (Richard Conte) tangles with floozy Terry Smith (Mary Beth Hughes), a former fashion model. As he attempts to head out of town the next day, James is arrested and accused of Terry's murder. Protesting his innocence, he escapes from the clutches of Detective Joe White Eagle (Reed Hadley) and goes on the run, intent on clearing his name.

On the Nevada highways he finds a ride with fashion photographer Mrs. Cummings (Joan Bennett) and her model Susan (Wanda Hendrix). With Mrs. Cummings hiding her own secret, the two ladies start to grow suspicious of James as the police chase intensifies, although Susan also starts to feel attracted to the fugitive. After a stop at a motel, James is forced to take the two women hostage and drives into the desert to avoid the police cordon, but more surprises await.

An Allied Artist production and the first movie to carry a Roger Corman credit (for the story), Highway Dragnet is a quick and dirty 71 minutes of straight ahead chase action. Richard Conte and Joan Bennett both finds themselves mired in material well beneath their talent, but go along for the ride as director Nathan Juran points the camera and shoots, plastic acting and single takes holding hands regardless of the howling wind obscuring the dialogue and no budget for dubbing.

The on-location filming in the stark and sun-drenched desert straddling the border between Nevada and California provides points of interest, the sturdy motor vehicles munch through the terrain with satisfying grunt, and the climax at the flooded Salton Sea offers further unique vistas. But the final act is also the setting for the movie's absolute low point, one character panicking in shallow water to laughable effect.

In terms of plot, this is standard fare wrongly-accused-man-on-the-run stuff, the police acting as incompetently as possible to stretch out proceedings, and romance blossoming despite the triple mortal dangers of starvation, dehydration, and a killer on the loose. The plot twist, if it was ever intended as a twist, is telegraphed in bold letters two or three times, just to make sure the steam from overheated radiators does not obscure the real villain.

Highway Dragnet roars through the desert, well short on dollars but enjoying high revs all the same.



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Movie Review: Secret Beyond The Door (1947)

A woman-in-danger psychological suspense thriller, Secret Beyond The Door overcomplicates then deflates.

After she inherits a fortune, Celia (Joan Bennett) goes on vacation with her friend Edith (Natalie Schaffer) and meets charming architect Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave). Within days Celia and Mark are married. During the honeymoon Mark's behaviour suddenly changes. He hints at financial trouble and quickly leaves on a business trip. 

At the Lamphere estate Celia meets Mark's sister Caroline (Anne Revere) and secretary Miss Robey (Barbara O'Neil), who insists on hiding a facial scar. But Celia is most shocked to learn Mark was previously married and has a moody son David. Mark's erratic behaviour continues, and Celia is introduced to showcase rooms where he has painstakingly recreated murder scenes. One room is off-limits to all, and Celia's starts to suspect her husband may be emotionally disturbed, obsessed with death and planning to kill her.

Although director Fritz Lang deploys film noir stylings to excellent effect, no amount of shades, shadows and silhouettes can rescue Secret Beyond The Door from an inane script by Silvia Richards. The attempt to delve into the psyche of a deeply troubled man remains laughably superficial, Mark's damaged condition, wild mood swings and simplistic triggers only trumped by his instantaneous positive response to Celia's prescient intervention.

Celia's narration is more profound than befits the narrative, and the shredded sub-plots involving Mark possibly eyeing Celia's wealth, Miss Robey's warped perspective (she harbours a secret crush and has a troubled relationship with fire) and son David's passive aggressiveness (he blames Dad for inflicting pain) twirl around in a vacuum of distraction. And when Mark gives a tour of his macabre rooms to a houseful of guests and describes the gory details of the crime scenes, Secret Beyond The Door spirals into too much information with little relevance to the main story.

Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave do their best to survive the prevailing clunkiness. Bennett allows Celia to demonstrate laudable resilience, while Redgrave holds on as best as he can to Mark's disorderly ups and downs.

Secret Beyond The Door actually has plenty of doors hiding too many secrets, none of them terribly convincing.



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Movie Review: Scarlet Street (1945)

A drama and tragic romance with pricks of humour, Scarlet Street applies noir touches to a story of calamitous naivete and deception.

In New York City, Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a meek cashier and amateur painter stuck in a loveless marriage with Adele (Rosalind Ivan). On his way home from a dinner marking his 25 years of employment, he stumbles upon part-time actress and model Katherine "Kitty" March (Joan Bennett) being assaulted by her boyfriend Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea). Chris chases Johnny away and is awestruck by Kitty's apparent sophistication. She mistakes him for a rich artist. 

But Kitty and Johnny are a despicable duo. He is a leach always looking to make a quick buck without working for it, and he convinces Kitty to milk Chris for all he is worth, believing his paintings sell for thousands. Kitty leads Chris along and convinces him to rent a studio for her, forcing him to start pilfering funds from his employer. Johnny next attempts to sell Chris' unremarkable paintings, leading to events spiralling out of control.

Scarlet Street travels to the merciless gorge at the bottom of the slippery slope formed by desperation meeting false assumptions. Director Fritz Lang and writer Dudley Nichols adapt the French novel and play La Chienne (literally The Bitch) into a mesmerizing noir, teasing out the ironies inherent in the ill-advised human desire for overreach.

Chris, Kitty and Johnny are three deeply flawed individuals not satisfied with their lot in life. Chris is 25 years into an invisible career, barely scraping a modest living and married to a nightmare. Yet he dreams of romance with a beautiful young woman, and suddenly Kitty falls into his life. He overlooks all her obvious conniving and just formulates an idyllic love in his head, leaving himself vulnerable for exploitation.

Oblivious to her own plight, Kitty is confined to her own version of hell with the less than useless Johnny. He abuses her physically, emotionally and financially, and yet she loves him, her self-esteem shattered beyond believing she can do better. From her moral gutter underlined by lethargy (her nickname is "lazy legs") she assumes Chris is a rich and famous artist (he is dressed the part for his 25 year celebration dinner), a case of two people blinded by their own failings.

And finally Johnny is an utter heel one step away from being defined as a pimp, a man whose big talk crumbles next to his miserable non-achievements. A serial exploiter, he pressures Kitty into giving him anything she has, then moves onto Chris.

Lang finds immense joy in taking the second half of Scarlet Street to unexpected destinations. Chris' artwork suddenly becomes the focus, and ever so briefly, vicarious happiness is in reach. But layers of lies make for an exceptionally poor foundation for bliss, and a tragic trajectory is reestablished.

The film features two magnificent performances. Joan Bennett sparkles in the role of a woman using basic seductive charms to weasel her way into a fool's heart, her best moments coming in the flashes when Kitty realizes, to her brief astonishment, just how gullible Chris is. Meanwhile Edward G. Robinson is almost heartbreaking as a tentative sad man, hanging onto pride and an unlikely dream of finding a soulmate, quickly sinking into the swamp prepared for him by two scoundrels.

When Chris encounters Kitty on Scarlet Street everything is briefly possible for both of them, but some streets are deceptive dead-ends.

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The Movies Of Joan Bennett

All movies starring Joan Bennett and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Little Women (1933)

The Woman In The Window (1944)

Nob Hill (1945)

Scarlet Street (1945)

Secret Beyond The Door (1947)

Father Of The Bride (1950)

Highway Dragnet (1954)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: Father Of The Bride (1950)

A heart-warming comedy, Father Of The Bride pokes fun at a father's befuddled emotions, with Spencer Tracy in top form and Elizabeth Taylor blossoming into adulthood.

Kay Banks (Taylor) suddenly announces to her parents Stan and Ellie (Tracy and Joan Bennett) that she will be marrying boyfriend Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor). The news that his only daughter is about to fly the nest comes as a complete shock to Stan, who does not even know who Buckley is, let alone what he does for a living, how he will support Kay, and who his parents are.

After overcoming the initial shock, Stan meets Buckley and then his parents Doris and Herbert, and the family starts planning for the wedding. Although everyone desires a small ceremony and reception, the event quickly grows into a major and expensive event, complete with a snooty wedding planner. And just as the big day approaches, Kay and Buckley encounter a crisis.

Capturing every father's frazzled feelings when he realizes that his baby girl is about to belong to another man, Father Of The Bride is a bittersweet comedy. The film strikes all the perfect tones, as Stan progresses through the shock of receiving the news, anxiety about his future son-in-law, pride in his daughter, financial panic as the wedding arrangements threaten to get out of hand, and finally sweet resignation to just go with the flow. Spencer Tracy brings plenty of sincerity to the role, allowing the comedy to remain soft and grounded in genuine emotion.

All of the humour comes from the disconnect between Stan's bluster and his actual actions, as he misses every opportunity to actually get to know Buckley and his parents. Stan is of course clueless that he is the architect of his own angst. And when the wedding arrangements move into high gear, his natural inclination to want to solve problems collides with the expensive reality of professional event planning, and he is eventually sidelined into one role: paying the mounting bills.

At the heart of the movie is the tender relationship between father and daughter. The king loves his princess beyond what he can ever convey, and the idea of her heart being tied to another man is agonizing. Yet Stan cannot help but be proud of his role in the woman that Kay has become, and Tracy's performance finds that line between personal loss and unbridled joy.

Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor are more physically busy than Tracy as the wedding day approaches, director Vincente Minnelli placing dad at the centre of the storm and therefore the point around which everything else revolves. Bennett and Taylor effectively portray women caught up in one of the biggest events of their lives, Ellie and Kay finally marginalizing Stan into an observer, ironically the perfect vantage point to come to terms with his emotions.

With wit and pathos hand in hand, Father Of The Bride walks down the aisle with pride.

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