Twelve movies

[One to four stars. Four sentences each. No spoilers. Sources: Criterion Channel, TCM, YouTube.]

Double Jeopardy (dir. R.G. Springsteen, 1955). The story begins with a hapless drunk (Robert Armstrong) and his two-timing wife (Gale Robbins), then shifts abruptly to the digs of a posh executive (John Litel), his daughter (Allison Hayes), and her fiancé, who is also the executive’s lawyer (Rod Cameron). A blackmail scheme links the two worlds. The most interesting thing about the movie: the near-look-alike couples on the two sides of the class divide, Hayes and Cameron, and Robbins and her used-car salesman boyfriend (Jack Kelly). ★★ (YT)

*

Cloudburst (dir. Francis Searle, 1951). John Graham (Robert Preston), a Canadian cryptographer working for British intelligence, seeks vengeance for his wife’s death in a hit-and-run accident. I liked the scenes of the code room, with men and women toiling away with primitive tools (paper and pencil). And I liked seeing Robert Preston (!) playing a character bent on killing those who have wronged him, whatever the consequences. And I liked the British emphasis on duty that, finally, takes over the story. ★★★★ (YT)

*

Deep Valley (dir. Jean Negulesco, 1947). Ida Lupino is Libby Saul, a young woman living with her estranged parents (Fay Bainter, Henry Hull) in rural isolation and poverty. Libby is damaged: she’s spoken with a stutter ever since she saw her father hit her mother, and there’s at least a hint that she’s been the target of someone’s unwelcome advances. Into Libby’s life comes an escaped convict (Dane Clark) — and love. A variation on High Sierra (which paired Lupino with Humphrey Bogart), with great performances by the two principals, beautiful contrasts of light and darkness by cinematographer Ted McCord, and a particularly bitter kind of tragedy in the ending. ★★★★ (YT)

*

Lizzie (dir. Hugo Haas, 1957). From a novel by Shirley Jackson, who, despite what you might read at IMDb, was not unhappy with the movie. Eleanor Parker is Elizabeth Richmond, a quiet, asocial museum employee receiving threatening notes signed “Lizzie.” Figuring out who Lizzie is requires the uncovering of what Elizabeth’s psychiatrist (Richard Boone) calls “multiple or disintegrated personalities” and the exploration of very dark territory in Elizabeth’s childhood. A brave film of modest proportions, released several months before The Three Faces of Eve, with great shots inside the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, two songs by Johnny Mathis (huh?), and only occasionally appropriate comic relief from Joan Blondell as Elizabeth’s aunt and director Haas as a platonic pal next door. ★★★ (YT)

*

Knock on Any Door (dir. Nicholas Ray, 1949). “Live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse”: so says Nick Romano (John Derek), a young punk on trial for murdering a policeman, defended by a lawyer (Humphrey Bogart) who takes a special interest in his case, prosecuted by a vengeful DA (George Macready, with lighting and camera angles forever accenting the vicious scar on his right cheek). The courtroom histrionics go on too long, and the movie’s resolution is disappointing in its obviousness. Look for Jimmy Conlin (of a zillion movies), Sid Melton (The Danny Thomas Show), Allene Roberts (The Red House), Houseley Stevenson (Dark Passage), and in a nightspot, in the distance, at a piano, Dooley Wilson. ★★★ (CC)

*

The Case of the Howling Dog (dir. Alan Crosland, 1934). Perry Mason makes his screen debut as the head of large legal operation, with two switchboard operators, countless secretaries, and detectives and sous-lawyers galore. As Mason, Warren William is sharp, suave, and underhanded. His relationship with Della Street (Helen Trenholme) might be filed under F, for Friends with Benefits. Our household gave up on trying to follow the (bewildering) plot early on and enjoyed the clothes, the furniture, the presence of Mary Astor, and a wild scene in which a radio playing the song “Dames” is the background music for a murder. ★★ (TCM)

*

The Seventh Victim (dir. Mark Robson, 1943). Still one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen. Two years after a first and only viewing, I was surprised by how many scenes I could anticipate. Perhaps the strangest one this time around: the noisy crowd of actors, still in costume, exiting a theater and making their way to a tavern. The eeriest: the abrupt, startling ending. ★★★★ (TCM)

*

Whirlpool (dir. Otto Preminger, 1950). The Laura overtones are strong — Gene Tierney’s presence, a portrait on a wall (though not of Tierney), a disembodied voice playing on a sound system at the movie’s end — but it’s a very different story, focusing on relationships between a scheming astrologer/hypnotist (José Ferrer) and his former and present clients (Barbara O’Neil, Tierney). Richard Conte is not entirely convincing as a psychoanalyst; Charles Bickford is entirely convincing as a police detective. ★★★★ (YT)

*

Backfire (dir. Vincent Sherman, 1950). A mysterious visitor (Viveca Lindfors) comes to a hospital to tell Bob Corey (Gordon MacRae), a WWII vet recovering from surgery, that his friend from the service, Steve Connolly (Edmond O’Brien), is in pain and peril. As Bob questions people to find out what happened to Steve and where he can be found, the movie moves from one flashback to another. And in present time, one person after another is being knocked off by a mysterious assailant. With Ed Begley, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo, and other possibly familiar faces. ★★★ (TCM)

*

Craig’s Wife (dir. Dorothy Arzner, 1936). From a 1925 play by George Kelly. Rosalind Russell is Walter Craig’s wife Harriet, a woman intent on exercising panoptic control over her husband (John Boles) and her household servants (including Jane Darwell). A cold, terrifying picture of a marriage. Keep your eye on the vase. ★★★★ (YT)

*

Harriet Craig (dir. Vincent Sherman, 1950). Now with Joan Crawford and Wendell Corey as Harriet and Walter, in an even darker picture of a marriage. This time Ellen Corby is among the servants. Lucile Watson provides welcome relief as a party guest, cheating at cards and, later, telling an important truth. Hard question: to what extent, if any, do these movies invite an audience to feel compassion for Mrs. Craig? ★★★★ (YT)

*

The Garment Jungle (dir. Vincent Sherman, 1957). Overtones of On the Waterfront: a garment manufacturer (Lee J. Cobb) is determined to keep the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union out of his shop by any means necessary. His son (Kerwin Mathews), who comes back home after several years abroad and is forever a cipher, sees things differently. I was most struck by the performances of Robert Loggia as a pro-union worker, Gia Scala as his worried wife, and Richard Boone (from Lizzie) as what they used to call a legitimate businessman: “Everything for the Needle Trade.” ★★★★ (CC)

Related reading
All OCA movie posts (Pinboard)