Movie Review: They Made Me A Criminal (1939)

A drama about a boxer forced to abandon his life then discovering a new way to live and love, They Made Me A Criminal is a hard-boiled and uneven split-decision.

In New York, boxer Johnnie Bradfield (John Garfield) wins the championship title. Publicly he pretends to be a clean-living model of good behaviour, but privately he is a cynical womanizer and heavy drinker. At a private party, his manager gets involved in a scuffle and kills a reporter then flees with Johnnie's girlfriend Goldie (Ann Sheridan), pinning the blame on Johnnie.

The boxer is forced to disappear and drifts across the country, finally arriving at the Arizona palm tree and dates ranch run by Peggy (Gloria Dickson) and her grandmother (May Robson). Peggy also houses a group of ex-New York juvenile delinquents (the Dead End Kids). Johnnie befriends the boys, getting them in and out of trouble, while trying to spark a romance with Peggy. Meanwhile, detective Phelan (Claude Rains) is determined to catch up with the fugitive boxer.

Only six years after 1933's The Life Of Jimmy Dolan, Warner Bros. dusts off the same script and produce a remake, this time as a showcase for John Garfield and the Dead End Kids. The story carries inherent power and Garfield is effective and more than sufficiently caustic in the leading role. But despite many scene-for-scene recreations, this version stumbles upon weaknesses exposed by suspect choices.

Song and dance extravaganza maestro Busby Berkeley somehow ends up in the director's chair for a mostly grim drama. A few high-angle shots are impressive, but otherwise Berkeley demonstrates no interest in artistically enhancing the intensity of Johnnie's predicament. Gloria Dickson as the main love interest is an unfortunate non-entity in a de-emphasized role. More damaging is the casting of a clearly disinterested and therefore over-indulgent Claude Rains as Phelan, his role whittled down to a handful of scenes and losing much of its impact.

But perhaps the fluffiest deficiency resides in the remake's raison d'etre. Once the Dead End Kids enter the movie at the start of the second half, Johnnie is relegated to the sidelines of the boys' antics and escapades. The fledgling romance with Peggy is shoved far to the background and becomes a clumsy afterthought dealt with in boorish strokes. For fans of the Kids this is all well and good, but otherwise They Made Me A Criminal deflates for a substantial stretch until the climax picks back up.

Despite still delivering a decent punch, They Made Me A Criminal is also on the receiving end of some solid self-inflicted blows.



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Movie Review: Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

A post-war deep dive into home front antisemitism, Gentleman's Agreement tackles the thorny topic with courage, and thrives in uncovering the subtle forms of discrimination that silently eat away at human dignity.

Widowed writer Philip Green (Gregory Peck) moves to New York with his young son Tommy (Dean Stockwell) and accepts a writing assignment from magazine publisher John Minify (Albert Dekker) to prepare a series of articles about antisemitism. As Philip struggles to find a suitable approach to the topic, he starts a romance with Minify's niece Kathy Lacey (Dorothy McGuire). His mother Mrs. Green (Anne Revere) tries to help him find inspiration for the research. Finally Philip settles on an angle: he will pretend to be Jewish for six months, and write about his personal experiences.

As soon as Philip starts introducing himself as a Jew, he begins to encounter subtle forms of prejudice and stereotyping. He finds antisemitism even at the magazine offices, where his own secretary Elaine (June Havoc) and the human resources manager harbour unspoken discriminatory attitudes. More troubling is the mindset among the wealthy middle class as represented by the well-bred Kathy and her social circle, where silence and shunning are often more cutting than the spoken word. With Philip beginning to suffer under the strain of his assignment, he reconnects with his Jewish wartime buddy David Goldman (John Garfield), who has been suffering from antisemitism all his life. Philip also finds an unlikely ally in the form of the magazine's fashion editor, the sassy and outspoken Anne Dettrey (Celeste Holm).

Directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, Gentleman's Agreement is a somber exposition of anti-Jewish discrimination as it lurks in respected circles. The film is both powerful and preachy. There is no denying the clever angle of focussing on subtle hate in middle and upper class America, and unmasking inaction and silent acquiescence as the foundations on which little men with moustaches can stand and unleash terror. But Kazan (who co-wrote the script) is too direct, eschewing subtlety as Green calls out every encounter that he experiences and rails with barely restrained anger at the insidious discrimination.

And Philip Green transforms from curious writer to indignant victim in a hurry. Gentleman's Agreement stops being about reporting on antisemitism, and becomes instead one man's fight to vigorously stand up to it. In doing so he also demands that all around him join the fight, and Green becomes the focal point for a reform movement rather than the interested observer. The script understandably goes in this direction to generate a sense of personal injustice and feed the craving to make a stand and improve society, but the "change the world, now!" rallying cry is only credible in an unsophisticated cinematic context.

Despite the head-on approach, Gentleman's Agreement takes some courageous chances. With Green standing solidly on the side of right, the Kathy Lacey character emerges as the conflicted emotional centre of the film. As a romantic and life partner Kathy seems perfect for Philip, but her dilemma starts when she is forced to deal with his temporary Jewish persona, and Kazan allows the relationship to repeatedly stumble on the invisible personal and familial demons that Kathy has to confront.

Gregory Peck offers a typical upright performance, emphasizing Green's uncompromising stance but, particularly in the film's second half, at the expense of character depth. Peck turns Green into a bull rampaging through the china shop of prevailing social conventions, willing to wreck the place and its people in order to save them all.

With Peck on the straight and narrow path, it is left up to Dorothy McGuire to navigate with exceptional nuance the complex churn where righteousness and getting along collide, as Kathy undergoes the most interesting evolution. Albert Dekker, John Garfield and Celeste Holm provide sparkling support, with Holm creating in Ann Dettrey a particularly modern and memorable career woman.

With the horrors of the Holocaust still fresh, Gentleman's Agreement is an important achievement, delivered with professional purposefulness. It won the Academy Awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (for Holm), and was nominated for five others. It may lack some circumspection, but serious topics sometimes deserve the harsh spotlight to chase away the shadows.

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Movie Review: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

The first English language screen adaptation of James M. Cain's steamy tale of sex and betrayal, The Postman Always Rings Twice benefits from Lana Turner on fire. She ignites the initial noir plot of passion and murder, but once the story takes a turn for the manic, the plot spirals out of control, loses its taut focus and not even Turner can save it.

It's the depression, and drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) finds casual employment at the rural roadside diner operated by Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) and his much younger and clearly dissatisfied wife Cora (Turner). Frank and Cora are immediately attracted to each other, and their mutual desire invariably leads to thoughts of getting rid of Nick. An initial attempt to bump him off in the shower fails. A subsequent staged car crash succeeds, but it only signals the beginning of trouble with the law for Frank and Cora, and their headaches multiply when first Frank strays and then they are both blackmailed.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is two thirds of a good film. The immensely watchable first hour is filled with longing, attraction, lust, and the delectable scheming of a desperate couple. Frank and Cora cannot help but imagine a better life, and all they need to do is stage a murder. But after Nick is killed, the zing is lost. The narrative requires everything to go sideways because that's what the murderers deserve, but the execution is simply frantic. Once Cora and Frank turn on each other, the court proceedings race past in a muddle, and the sub-plots related to Cora's mother, Frank's infidelity, and the half-baked blackmail scheme are all rushed and soulless.

Ironically the movie becomes more plodding as events spiral out of control, in a case of too much drama yielding diminishing returns. Towards the end there is little director Tay Garnett can do except perform traffic control duties, the characters not given time to properly digest and react to the flurry of calamities thrown their way.

Like the film, Lana Turner and John Garfield are better when they are lusting after each other and plotting different ways to get rid of Nick.Tuner sizzles as she openly invites first adultery and then murder, Cora far too ambitious for the boring and penny-pinching life that Nick provides. Cora never gives the impression of actually genuinely caring for Frank beyond him being the most convenient tool to help her get rid of Nick, and conveniently help scratch a physical itch while he happens to be around.

Garfield is less memorable, Jack Nicholson's performance in the 1981 version defining the role of Frank and leaving Garfield's turn in the shadow. While functional, there is a disconnect between Garfield's non-intimidating screen presence and the character's fundamental shady scrappiness and depression-era resourcefulness.

Hume Cronyn is notable as the sharp lawyer with unconventional methods who petrifies Cora before representing her in court.

The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Frank and Cora always make all the wrong decisions for all the wrong reasons. When they are propelled by lust and botching their lives, they are fun to watch, but when they are miserable and misguided, the ringing is just hollow.

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