Movie Review: The Seventh Victim (1943)

Genre: Suspense

Director: Mark Robson

Starring: Kim Hunter, Tom Conway

Running Time: 71 minutes

Synopsis: Boarding school student Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter, in her debut) arrives in New York to look for her missing sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks). The search leads to stern beauty salon owner Esther Redi, hairdresser Gladys, private investigator Irving August, Jacqueline's lover Gregory Ward, lyrical poet Jason, psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd (Tom Conway, reprising his role from Cat People), and an elderly couple running an Italian restaurant. Eventually, Mary stumbles upon a secret Satan-worshipping cult. 

What Works Well: The atmosphere is sometimes pleasingly spooky, and the commentary about death as a life obsession carries hints of potential.

What Does Not Work As Well: An inauspicious debut for director Mark Robson, this bizarre RKO Pictures concoction is a mishmash of awkwardly juxtaposed ideas. Overstuffed with characters acting with incomprehensible ineptitude, the DeWitt Bodeen script must have suffered harsh budget or self-censorship cuts. The wedged-in romance between a schoolgirl and a married man, the endlessly shifting perspectives, and the multitude of impossible-to-follow incarcerate-then-release actions involving Jacqueline, her allies, and enemies are almost laughable. The Satan worshippers are as threatening as an afternoon tea gathering for the elderly, with the cultists finally and firmly chastised...by the Lord's prayer.

Conclusion: Viewers can be added to the victim count.



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Movie Review: Cat People (1942)

Genre: Psychological Suspense Horror

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph

Running Time: 73 minutes

Synopsis: In New York City, sketch artist Irena (Simone Simon) and boat designer Oliver (Kent Smith) meet near the zoo's wildcat enclosure. They date, fall in love, and marry, although she refuses any intimacy. Irena fears ancient legends from her Serbian homeland that she descends from evil ancestors who transform into murderous cats upon arousal. After referring Irena to psychiatrist Dr. Judd (Tom Conway), Oliver starts to respond to romantic overtures from co-worker Alice (Jane Randolph). Jealous and isolated, Irena unleashes her rage.

What Works Well: Director Jacques Tourneur and writer DeWitt Bodeen conceive of a low-budget monster movie where the horror is mostly unseen and only referenced obliquely. The outcome is a love triangle threatened by spooky ancient legends personified in a vulnerable immigrant, with ominous wildcat growls, shadows, footsteps, and reflections conveying psychological malevolence. Irene's cacophonic pet store impact introduces her aura, and Simone Simon embodies fragile danger with subtle cat-like gestures. The coiled power residing within sexuality and jealousy combines with the influence of deeply embedded cultural beliefs to form intriguing subtexts.

What Does Not Work As Well: The seemingly intelligent Oliver jumps all too quickly into a marriage with a woman he barely understands, while the unstated potential for violence lifts a heavy load during otherwise routine scenes of domestic turbulence. The rushed ending exposes the budget limitations.

Conclusion: In the shadows, a cat's yowl carries outsized menace.



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Movie Review: Whistle Stop (1946)

A faltering film noir of sorts, Whistle Stop stretches to reach some appealing dark and seedy ingredients but does not quite achieve the right mix.

After two years in Chicago, Mary (Ava Gardner) returns to her humble small hometown of Ashbury located by the rail tracks. Two men immediately vie for her attention: Kenny (George Raft) is an ex-lover, an altogether unimpressive and unemployed loser who spends most of his time playing cards. Lew (Tom Conway) is Kenny's rival and a successful businessman who runs the local hotel and bar. Gitlo (Victor McLaglen) is the popular bartender who works for Lew but is good friends with Kenny.

With Mary attracted both to Kenny's genuineness and Lew's riches, Gitlo tries to get Kenny involved in a plot to get Lew out of the way and steal some of his money, using the annual town fair as cover. But Lew has dark plans of his own to disrupt any chance that Kenny has to find happiness with Mary.

Whistle Stop suffers from the absence of any sympathetic characters to ground the turgid drama. Mary is the catalyst but she is unfortunately sidelined for the second half of the movie as the men engage in a distasteful battle of wills to assert dominance. While Kenny is supposed to be the anti-hero worth cheering for, his character seems quite beneath Mary, while Lew is boorishly unlikable. Mary seems best off with neither of them, and yet the film hinges on the battle for her affection between two unworthy men. When Kenny and Lew start plotting against each other, the only conclusion is that they both deserve to lose.

Russian - French director Léonide Moguy never quite made it in Hollywood, but here he does create some limited ambience in a rather depressing small town where evil thoughts can find the desperation to grow. Ava Gardner's presence and performance are several notches above the material, although she suffers from dubious character motivations. Why Mary left Chicago is never explained, and what she could possibly see in a loser like Kenny is even more difficult to fathom. George Raft, Tom Conway and Victor McLaglen do what they can, but the shallow script constrains all the performances.

The soundtrack by Dimitri Tiomkin adds some much needed class to the film, but Whistle Stop is simply drowned out by roaring indifference.

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