Last night's movie was "Escape in the Fog"(1945), an espionage thriller directed by Budd Boetticher, another Tarantino favorite known mainly for his Westerns. If "Escape" is any indication, he was proficient in the spy genre too. "Eileen Carr" (Nina Foch) is a WW2 nurse on leave in San Francisco. Asleep in her hotel room, she has a nightmare, of German agents on the Golden Gate bridge. The fog is rolling in. A man's about to be killed. She screams and several hotel guests come running. William Wright (not to be confused with the ancient Wil Wright) is one of them. He wakes her up. Holy smokes and Sweet Jumping Jiminy : he's the same man from her dream, the one being stabbed by the Nazis!
She's grateful to realize it was only a dream, but it's certain she's not in Kansas anymore. Wright's a little unnerved by Foch's tale, but offers to take her out for a quick cup o' joe. "You could use some fresh air", he suggests. En route to an all-night cafe, he stops at an office building (always a red flag in an espionage flick.) "I'm just gonna run in to leave a message for my boss, so sit tight".
Inside, he's really meeting with his superiors on yet another Federal undercover operation, this time to run Japan out of China using radio controlled ships. Wright is given a set of documents to take to Hong Kong, but on that same night, as he and Foch cross the Golden Gate Bridge, they're ambushed by a carload of - you guessed it - Nazi agents - who jump Wright and try to steal the Top Secret papers. The leather pouch containing them falls into the water below, which sets off a mad scramble to find it before it sinks. Wright escapes death when a beat cop intervenes, and Foch now sees her dream as a premonition, which fortunately didn't end in Wright's death. "Maybe I'm your good luck charm", she proposes, and from there the tone changes from thriller to romp, or maybe a combination of both.
There's a "date movie" feel to the script at this point, as the Nazis become caricatures and Foch and Wright become death defying heroes, stalked by Zee Jare-mons as they make their way across the city. There's obvious humor, as when a Nazi with a heavy accent calls Wright's boss (Otto Kruger), pretending to be the head of the San Francisco Port Authority. The dashing duo are finally trapped in the basement of a Nazi hideout, with the gas turned on and no way out. Wright comes up with an ingenious means of escape, and I'm debating on telling you what it is...........oy, but I won't. It has to do with an insult to his Chinese allies, and it's clever enough to make up for any deficiencies in the plot, which has loopholes you could drive a truck through. As I said though, once the movie becomes a popcorn flick, it's strictly for fun, and is very enjoyable on that level. You get bad guys aplenty, and in addition to the Klutzy Krauts there are weasels, squealers and even a chiseler. A young Shelly Winters is in view for thirty seconds as a cab driver, and doe-eyed Nina Foch is charming as the Girl Friday.
Two Solid Thumbs Up for "Escape in the Fog", which succeeds on murky atmosphere and the dauntlessness of it's two leads. The Youtube print is razor sharp, watch it for a good time at the movies. ////
The previous night's film began with yet another prisoner being paroled, and I'm thinking that we might need to stop and investigate what's taking place here. Is there a subgenre of Parole Movies that we were previously unaware of? Maybe parole flicks were big box office for a while and we missed it? Hell, I dunno, but clearly something's up. We'll set it aside for the moment, so we can review the movie, but if we get another parole movie after this one, we'll do that full-blown investigation.
It was called "The Walking Target" (1960), and speaking of repeats, Ron Foster is back, playing "Nick Harbin", another variation on his Conflicted Hard Guy persona. Harbin's just been paroled. Before he leaves San Quentin, the warden questions his rehabilitation. "You've been a model prisoner, you act like you've learned your lesson, and yet I know it's not genuine because you've never told us about the money you hid. I think you've been biding your time until you could get out and recover it. Please Nick, I ask you not to do this. You're a smart guy. Please try to go straight. I don't wanna see you back here again".
Nick keeps a poker face. "Thanks for your concern, warden, but I've done my time. I owe the state nothing and it has no hold on me. My plans are to live a quiet life, if it makes you feel any better, but I have no obligation to anyone once I walk out of here".
Harbin was convicted of a payroll robbery that netted him a quarter mil. But one of his accomplices was shot dead during the job, and Nick feels guilty about that. It's in Ron Foster's contract that he Must Experience Doubt at some point in the story, in order to utilize his Method chops ( and don't forget he played against type in Highway Patrol, in which he Couldn't Have Been More Vanilla). So yeah, Foster's got us in a whirl about his level of talent, which might well have been semi-formidable. It more than suffices for his role in this film and we'll have to go on a tirade about him at some point. ;)
Anyhow, as Nick Harbin, recent parolee, he bides his time, fending off advances from his old girlfriend (Merry Anders) who pretends to still love him. She and his best friend throw him a Welcome Home party, in which it's all "so glad to have ya back" and "we never stopped thinkin' 'boutcha". There's back slaps aplenty, and "can I getcha another drink"?, but when Nick is in the kitchen and out of earshot - or so they think - the best friend pops the question to the girlfriend, the one that's really on his mind : "Aren't you gonna ask him about the money? Don't wait. He might pick it up and leave town. We can't blow it now, after waiting all this time".
So in reality, it's not such a warm-hearted welcome. His girlfriend and best friend have been making the scene ever since Nick went to prison, which he suspected anyway since she never came to visit him once in the five years he was incarcerated. Now that he's overheard them, his suspicions are confirmed. Nick plays it cool, however, pretending he doesn't know. He doesn't wanna give them - or anyone else - a clue to where the money is, or indeed that he ever even hid the stolen money. Better to just keep silent and not reveal his intentions.
It turns out that his girlfriend and best friend are working for a Big League Honcho - a Dallas oilman type - who knows about the hidden loot and wants it for himself. He's promised the duo a cut, provided they don't double cross him. There's also a rogue policeman who'd like to get his hands on the cash. He dogs Nick, threatening to bust his parole, thinking he'll reveal the location of the cash if he keeps the hammer down.
Because of Ron Foster's contractual obligations, the tone changes, from one of Take The Money And Run, to Maybe I Should Give It Away. As I mentioned, he feels guilty about his partner who was killed in the heist, so he goes to see the guy's widow (Joan Evans), who runs a diner. Screenwriting 101 : once you place a diner in the scenario, especially a Lonely Old Roadside Diner, you're setting an opportunity for two characters to fall in love, or leave for parts unknown, or both. Roadside Diners are where conflicts are resolved, or come to a head, or whatever. But one thing is certain : once you, as a movie character, enter a Roadside Diner, nothing will ever be the same. And that's especially true if you're Ron Foster, the Enigma's enigma. He's recovered the money by this time and offers it to the dead man's widow. When she refuses, because "it's blood money", he falls in love with her and they do a Motion Picture Makeout Clinch. When this happens, especially in a Roadside Diner, the fates of the two characters become Permanently Entwined.
Ultimately, the widow convinces Nick to turn the money in to the police. "Then you'll truly be free and we can go away". But it's not gonna be that simple, because the two-timing couple and their Big Honcho Bossman have followed Nick to the diner, and - if you can dig it - the crooked cop has in turn followed them. Everything culminates there, in following dramatic law, and while I won't reveal what happens, it's an exciting finale, and there's that full on Ron Foster 180 as well, so you get your money's worth.
I give "The Walking Target" Two Big Thumbs Up. Edward L. Cahn once again directed, the second time we've seen him with Foster in the lead, the first being "Secret of Deep Harbor" (viewed a couple weeks ago). Merry Anders was also in that picture, so it's a trio. They work well together and we'll look for more from them. At this point we oughta do a Ron Foster film fest, as we did with Sir John Mills back in April.
Well, that's all for the moment. I'm listening to The Beach Boys' "Smile", I'm reading "The President's Daughter" by Bill Clinton and James Patterson, and I've just discovered I've got Skeeter Syndrome. You might recall that last Summer I complained of (and was astounded by) some Industrial Strength mosquito bites I received, which swelled up like big red bullseyes on my arms. I'd never had such huge bites before, and at the time I just chalked 'em up to The Year of Covid, and everything being bigger and badder than it had been before, like "murder hornets" and such. But the skeeter bites were truly awful, and I remarked at the time that I would've rather had them hurt, like a bee sting, than to experience the itch that resulted, which was relentless and felt like my arms were on fire. I mean......it was godawful.
Finally they went away and I forgot about them.......sort of. And this Summer I was pretty lucky, until this week. Then on Tuesday I woke up with two mosquito bites on my right elbow. Right away I could see they were swelling, so I put an ice pack on 'em. It helped to keep the itch at a minimum (praise the Lord), but I couldn't hold it there all day, and the swelling continued, until today my whole elbow was very swollen extending halfway down my forearm. I did some Googling - "mosquito bites that cause swelling" - and discovered the aforementioned Skeeter Syndrome, which is basically an allergic reaction to said bites. Judging from the images of other sufferers, I'd say I've got a middling to slightly above average case. Some folks get fevers to go along with the swelling; thank goodness I haven't had that, nor the rare case of anaphylactic shock (God forbid), but it's just weird that you (meaning me) can go all your life with just an ordinary reaction to mosquito bites, and then all of a sudden.........whammo!
But apparently there's evidence that Skeeter Syndrome can develop suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, and this may be linked to genetics. Researchers in England did a veddy Brrrittish study of Skeeter Syndrome and discovered a chromosomal link that may be passed on by one's parents, so maybe that's the case with me. I also developed Dupuytrens out of nowhere, beginning when I was 53, and of course both my folks had the bent fingers which result from that condition. Dupuytrens comes on in mid-life, so maybe in my case Skeeter Syndrome did too. The Dupuytrens turned out to be no big hindrance. I still play guitar with a few left hand adjustments, and I still grip things mostly as I did before. I've got three bent fingers but five straight ones, and two good thumbs (which is why we can do Two Big Thumbs Up!).
But this mosquito thing is a little more worrisome until I get it figured out, and get the hang of preventing the bites. It's not life threatening or even anything requiring treatment, but the swelling is semi-extreme, and oh man that itch. They say that the damn skeets can't bite through clothes, so for me it's gonna be long sleeves and long pants all the way, especially at night. Take that, you freakin' skeeters!
Well, sorry to complain but I just thought I'd mention it, cause I never knew there was such a thing as Skeeter Syndrome, and I'm glad it's been researched and explained.
Have a great weekend and thanks for reading. I send you Tons and Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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