Last night I needed something in a pinch and didn't have time for a lot of searching, so I went to a Youtube channel called Classic Hollywood Movies. I've watched a couple of their films previously, and while they aren't my go-to channel and don't have razor sharp prints like Kino Domain, they do have a fairly large selection of films from the 30s and 40s, obscure stuff mostly, but a wide variety. They've got Westerns and Horror, Musicals and Sci-Fi, Film Noir and Slapstick, just all kinds of stuff. A lot of it is low budget, some is Poverty Row (i.e. Monogram, PRC, et al), but I was hoping they'd come through for me tonight, because I needed a movie, a short one, and now!
Without bothering to IMDB it, I selected a picture called "The Last Alarm"(1940) from their Film Noir section. It ran 61 minutes - perfect! - so I pressed play, and.......at first I was gonna turn it off. The movie began at a dinner for a retiring fire captain. The fire chief makes a speech, lauding the man's career and wishing him many happy fishing trips as he sends him out to pasture.
The captain then goes home, to sit down to dinner with his wife (Scottish actress Mary Gordon, who was in a million movies). And instead of any forward motion of the plot or story, nothing really happens except a lot of what I'll call "regular conversation". It doesn't even sound like movie dialogue. Instead, it looks and feels as if the director just ad-libbed this dinner scene, and I was going "what kind of Film Noir is this, anyway"? It looked like Ma and Pa Kettle at home, making small talk. Basically, the captain is depressed at being forced to retire at 65 (actor J. Farrell McDonald looks 80, but everyone looked older than they were back then).
Okay, so in the first 5 minutes, it looked like it was gonna be a family drama, and a bad one at that. But then...
but then!
Boy am I glad I kept watching. The next day, the now-retired captain, whose name is Jim Hadley, goes down to the firehouse to hang out and shoot the breeze. He doesn't know what else to do. He didn't want to retire, doesn't wanna sit at home, so he goes to see the guys and play cards. It feels like old times, in fact it feels like just last week, and when the firebell rings and the crew jumps down the firepole, Jim wishes he could go along with 'em. He knows he could still contribute, if only the brass would let him.
The firemen are on their way to a huge conflagration. An oil refinery is ablaze, the flames shooting hundreds of feet in the air. Black smoke billows in enormous clouds. This is depicted from stock footage of the real thing, and holy smokes it looks cataclysmic. Firefighters on old hook and ladders shoot long jets of high pressure water at the fire, in a valiant effort to quell it, but by now it's become an inferno, driven outward by it's own thermal energy. One stock shot shows onlookers watching from the roof of a nearby building. A fireball explodes and appears to consume them, before they can run away. The editor cuts quickly to another angle, but you get the general idea. The director had little money but wanted to create a powerful setup, so he got ahold of the most intense firefighting footage he could find.
When the fire is put out, an inspector sifts through the debris, looking for indications of arson. He finds the ignition point and reports back to the chief. "The chemical analysis shows a gasoline signature". Jim Hadley, who's still hanging out at the station on a daily basis, is reminded of another recent incident. "Hey, that's the same thing we found at that warehouse fire last month".
"We could be looking at a firebug", says the Fire Chief. He goes on to explain the psychology of a serial arsonist, adding that they're the hardest kind of criminal to catch. On a side note, I should mention an interesting book on this subject : "Fire Lover" by Joseph Wambaugh. It's the true story of former Glendale fire captain John Leonard Orr, who in 1990-91 set over two dozen fires at retail establishments and big box stores. You may recall the terrible and deadly fire at Ole's home center in Pasadena during that period. He also burned down an entire neighborhood in the same area. Orr, at the time, was the most prolific arsonist in American history, and he may still hold that distinction, but the point is that he was very hard to catch, because who would've ever suspected a fire captain as the culprit? What finally gave Orr away was his need to play the hero. He kept arriving first at these fire scenes and finally someone got suspicious. It's an engrossing book (of course, it's by Wambaugh) and is highly recommended if you're a reader of True Crime.
Getting back to the movie, after it's established that arson is the cause, and gasoline the igniter, more clues are searched for. The fire inspector discovers a burned and twisted alarm clock face in the wreckage at the oil refinery. "Whoever it is, he's skilled at making time bombs".
During this time, Jim Hadley is wracking his brain, trying to think of any possible missing clue, something traceable that might connect the warehouse fire to the refinery. His daughter Joan (Polly Ann Young) asks him to be careful. She loves her Dad and wants him to take it easy, but Jim can't bear to be cut off from the case. Joan is engaged to "Frank Rogers" (Warren Hull), an insurance executive whose company happens to handle the refinery account. One night, they're out strolling in the city and happen upon an old antique store. Joan admires the silverware in the window, particularly a set of decorative salt and pepper shakers. "If I were getting married"......("and you are" chimes in fiancee Fred)......I'd like something like those as a wedding present".
An entirely different object catches Fred's eye. "Well looky there. They've got a statue of Vulcan!", he says to Joan, pointing at a footlong clay figure. "Know how I knew that? A full year of ancient religion in college. Whoever owns this shop must be well versed in Roman myth. Vulcan is their Fire God".
They walk on, but Joan keeps in mind the shakers, which she intends to inquire about the next morning. Meanwhile, her father Jim has remembered a piece of rare wood that was found in the rubble of the warehouse fire. He asks the inspector if anything similar was discovered at the refinery. "We didn't find anything like that, but I'll go back and look again".
Meanwhile, Joan goes back to the antique shop in the morning. I must cut in here to say that I've been debating whether to give you a spoiler, and I know I usually do (and I hope you don't mind), but in this case, because the identity of the arsonist is a huge deal, I at first thought I shouldn't reveal it. But then I decided I had to, or I wouldn't be able to go forward with the review. In addition, the plot is more about how they catch him, rather than who he is. So I'm gonna give you the spoiler, and here it is : the arsonist is the owner of the antique shop.
You were gonna find it out anyway, because while Joan is on her way to the shop, we cut inside, to the back room, where the owner is shown at a worktable. He's sawing a piece of wood to make another bomb box. He's got a wicked leer on his face, and he's talking to the statue of Vulcan, sitting beside him on the table. "Oh, Great Fire God, I hope my work is pleasing you. Everything I am doing is in service to you, and I pledge my fidelity as your servant. Ahh, great Vulcan, I shall make you bigger and better fires. Those fools will never catch me and I'll grow stronger and more powerful with your blessing. Together we'll set the world on fire".
Okay, so we've gotta talk about this antique shop guy, because he's a Looney Tune of the Highest Order. There are movie villains and then there are Movie Villains, and then there are straight-up nut job creepy crawlers like Dwight Frye or Anthony Hopkins, where you think "this guy's really like that"! Where you think they hired a psycho right off the street to play the part. That's what's going on here with George Pembroke, the actor playing the shop owner. It's a spooky portrayal, and I'll tell you no more about it so you can discover it for yourself.
Joan enters his shop and asks about the shaker set. Told it's only ten dollars, she looks in her purse but hasn't enough cash on hand. "Could you deliver it to my house? I could pay you then". "I'd be glad to", says the owner, in a voice that'll make your skin crawl. It's when he delivers the salt and pepper shakers that he makes his first mistake. I won't tell you what it is, because again, catching him is the main mystery. When he knocks on Joan's door, she's there with her father, her fiancee and the fire chief. They're mourning the loss of a fireman, who's succumbed to burns suffered in the refinery fire. The headline is on a newspaper sitting on the kitchen table. Looks like the antique shop guy picked the wrong time to deliver the shakers. He tries to play it cool, "Oh.....I'm sorry for intruding. May I offer you my deepest sympathy"? But he can't keep that maniacal grin off his face. They think he's weird, but they're occupied with the tragic news and take no further notice........until he gives himself away in the way I can't reveal. But even this doesn't prove he's the arsonist. The fire chief needs conclusive evidence. The search for matching wood at the refinery yielded nothing, so the chief obtains a warrant to search the antique shop itself.
For a bottom-dollar programmer, the filmmakers went to a lot of trouble to make it authentic. Besides the incredible stock footage of horrendous fires, they also included the mention of a spectroscope to analyse the wood, and the use of a chemical by the arsonist that causes the fire to rapidly expand. But the main draw is George Pembroke, a heebie-jeebie inducing weirdo if there ever was one, making Ted Kaczynski look downright level headed.
Despite it's low budget and un-razor sharp print, "The Last Alarm" gets Two Huge Thumbs Up. It's highly recommended, and whatever you do, don't miss it. Three final notes : 1) J. Farrell McDonald, who plays retired Fire Captain "Jim Hadley", was born in 1875, making him one of our earliest actors (the record is still 1859, by I-Can't-Remember-Who). 2) Polly Ann Young, who plays "Joan", is the older sister of Loretta Young, one of our favorite actresses here at the blog. The resemblance between the sisters is striking. 3) At one point near the end of the movie, when George Pembroke is raving in ecstasy, having set what turns out to be his final fire, he's overcome by his omnipotence. In his mind he's supplanted Vulcan, who he's carried along with him to the fire scene. Holding the statue in his hands, he brags : "Now I am the God of Fire"!
I wondered to myself if Arthur Brown had seen the movie. ////
The previous night we watched a British mystery called "Shadow of Fear"(1955), in which "April Haddon" (Mona Freeman), a college student, returns home to England from UC Berkeley, following the death of her father. When she arrives, she finds that her stepmother Florence (Jean Kent) has overturned the place, giving away all the old furniture ("dust collectors"!) and replacing the old, homey decorations with modernist art. I'd be alright with some de Kooning or Kandinsky, but the paintings she's chosen are downright spooky.
April's mother also died while she was away at school, which led to the marriage of her father and Florence, who was previously his nurse. The father was an elderly man who perished in a mysterious boating accident. According to Florence, he fell overboard and drowned. "It's tragic, but he had no business trying to sail at his age", she tells April. She doesn't seem too upset, however, perhaps because Mr. Haddon's death has left her in charge of the entire estate, and with both of April's natural parents now gone, Florence is her legal guardian. "Yes, but I'll be 21 in three weeks". April reminds her. Already she cannot stand the woman.
It's easy to see why. Florence is a complete witch, disapproving of everything April enjoys. "There'll be no smoking and no drinking in this house". She's even put April's childhood dolls in a drawer ("they're dust collectors, my dear"!). She makes April feel guilty for complaining about all the new rules of the house, which not only weren't in place before she went to college, but shouldn't be there now. Who is this woman, who thinks she can just come in and turn the family's traditions and values on their heads? And yet Florence is stern, but cagey. She knows just when to pull back to gain April's sympathy. "Oh I'm so sorry my dear, for being such a harpy. I don't know what comes over me. I've been heartsick over your father's death". But of course it's an act.
Florence gaslights April from the get go, confusing her by twisting her emotions. Early on, and knowing of April's fondness for a drink, she makes it look like April drank a whole bottle of brandy, which causes her to miss her father's funeral. In reality, she only took a sip for a nightcap. Florence drugged her for the desired effect, which caused April to pass out and be hung over upon awakening. Even the local doctor believes Florence's trained opinion that April's an alcoholic, just like her late mother.
But one day, while walking down by the family's private pier, April stops to look at her father's boat, and notices a dent in the bow. Hmmm, how did that get there? She mentions it to Florence, who coolly responds : "Are you certain, my dear? I know of no dents. Maybe what you saw was worn paint". April also tells her neighbor "Michael Elder" (Maxwell Reed), a handsome young man she had a crush on as a teenager. Michael agrees to look at the boat with April, but when they go back to check it, the dent is gone. It's obvious Florence has had it repaired but she denies it. "It's as I told you, April. There never was a dent".
A meeting is called for the reading of Mr. Haddon's will. It doesn't turn out quite as Florence expected. She learns that April will inherit the estate as soon as she turns 21, which is just on the horizon. You can see her eyes harden as the lawyer reads the words; April sees this too, and asks : "but what if I should die before that time? What would happen to the estate in that case".
Florence's expression changes like a chameleon, from steely to sweet. "Oh, but my dear, you're a healthy young woman! Nothing's going to happen to you, you're going to live a long long life".
April looks directly at the lawyer and repeats her question : "Yes......but what if I were to die? "Who would inherit the estate"?
"It would go to your stepmother Florence", says the lawyer.
This sets the stage for the final 30 minutes of the 76 minute picture, as April tries to avoid being killed in her sleep until she can be legally rid of Florence, a stone cold Broom Jockey if there ever was one. Jane Kent is excellent in the role, and Mona Freeman - a Howard Hughes contract girl - is very good as April. The story progresses well after the opening set-up, the only problem - and it's significant - is that the mystery is telegraphed. The whole idea behind Florence is whether she's telling the truth about Mr. Haddon's death. Yes, we know she's a harridan, but the townspeople think she's a saint ("caring for that old man all these years, and now he's gone, poor woman"), and Florence is a genius at presenting two separate faces to the world. She's nuanced, sometimes her grief seems real. So for a while, the "whodunit" aspect is gripping : was Mr. Haddon's death an accident on not? "Maybe it was"! - the viewer. But the director doesn't do a good job with his sleight-of-hand. In fact he throws you back at Florence, time and time again, as if to say : "don't get any false ideas about what happened. It's this bitch who did it, and now I'm gonna show you again"!
So the only mystery left is if April will survive, but we know the answer to that because she's on to Florence (and there's a ridiculous scene involving a car with no brakes). The first half is great, and the conclusion is satisfying, so I'm gonna be generous and give "Shadow of Fear" Two Solid Thumbs Up. It could've been a whole lot better with a more talented director, but it's still recommended and has good acting. ////
That's all for tonight. I hope you're having a nice holiday weekend and listening to some Steve Hillage or National Health. Beach Boys you say? Great choice! I send you tons of love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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