This blog is a day late. I'll get back on schedule with the next one.
Last night's Noir had a redemptive theme, not usually pursued in the genre. In "The Invisible Wall"(1947), Don Castle stars as "Harry Lane", a WW2 vet with a gambling addiction. Before the war, he worked for a bookie named "Marty Floyd" (Edward Keane), in Beverly Hills. Now that he's back home, Floyd rehires him and sends him on his first job, to courier 20 Gees to Las Vegas. Floyd owes the money to some dame at the Flamingo Hotel, which - as an aside - is an actual location in the movie. It was brand new in 1947 and sitting by itself in the desert.
When Harry arrives, he learns the woman won't be there for another week. Floyd tells him to cool his heels, and keep his gambling under control. He knows Harry is an addict. "If you have to make a bet, use your own money, not mine". That works for one night. On the second, Harry meets "Richard Ellsworth" (Richard Gaines) at the roulette table. Over a drink, Ellsworth tells Harry he has a mathematical system to beat the odds. Harry's interested. At first, the system works. The two men cash in. They're each up by over a thousand dollars. But by the third day it breaks down. Suddenly, Harry's lost all his winnings. Now he's dipping into the 20 grand he's supposed to deliver. He goes through 5 thou of that before he finds out Ellsworth is a con man. Wanting his money back - Mr. Floyd's money actually - he goes to Ellsworth's house to confront him. They struggle; Harry punches Ellsworth, who hits his head and dies. Now Harry's on the run, on a train.
He meets a woman named "Alice Jamieson", only that's not her real name, she's really Mrs. Ellsworth (Virginia Christine aka "Mrs. Olsen"). She was spying on Harry and her husband back in Vegas. She's glad Harry killed him, because she was gonna do it herself and now she doesn't have to. It turns out he framed her for a con job. She spent a year in prison. Now she and Harry are allies. Soon they fall in love. But Harry has two problems. 1) He owes Mr. Floyd the five grand that he gambled away, and Mr. Floyd doesn't take kindly to deadbeats. 2) He killed Richard Ellsworth, and the cops are looking for him. He can claim self defense, which Mrs. Olsen urges him to do. But he thinks the cops won't believe him, because of what he does for a living. One night, after they're back in Los Angeles, a blackmailer tries to put the screws on the couple. He wants twenty five thousand bucks to keep his mouth shut. The only chance for Harry is to plead his case to Mr. Floyd. But will that get the blackmailer off his back?
"The Invisible Wall" (a strange title that doesn't seem to have anything to to with the movie) is a nicely layered film, mixing romance, friendship and broken trust in the context of compulsive gambling. Particularly interesting are the con job scenes when Richard Ellsworth first meets Harry. He's so good at what he does that Harry is completely relaxed in his presence. It's as if he has a new best friend, who's roulette system takes the pressure off his addiction. Harry seems grateful to have met him. It's rare to see this level of geniality displayed in a film noir setting. Don Castle is good as the obsessive Harry. He's the Gable lookalike you might remember from last year's "Madonna in the Desert". Virginia Christine was a movie actress before she went to work for Folgers. In a bit of cinematic premonition, there's a scene where she asks for a second cup of coffee.
I give "Invisible" Two Big Thumbs Up. It's sympathy for the protagonist is different from the standard pity usually coaxed from these scripts. It's highly recommended even though the print is a little soft. ////
The previous night we watched a British Noir, "Spin a Dark Web"(1956), also having to do with gambling. "Jim Bankley" (Lee Patterson) is a young Canadian boxer living in London. He needs a job. His fellow Canuck "Buddy" (Robert Arden) works for a Mafioso named "Mr. Francesi" (Martin Benson). Buddy says he can get Bankley into Francesi's racket. "All you gotta do is follow orders". Bankley's up for crime, but nothing violent. Buddy says, "don't worry. You'll just be running errands".
"Mr. Francesi" (Martin Benson) is a nice Mafioso. He likes his spaghetti dinners (meat sauce and garlic), he bets on dogs and ponies (after he fixes the races), and he's got a boxer who's willing to take a dive. He doesn't wanna hurt anybody, and he even tells his "boys", "look - I don't-a wanna no more trouble. Be-a nice when-a you talk to our clients". By "clients", he means anyone who owes him money. And he's serious about the pleasant p.r.. He's a genuinely friendly guy. All he wants is to rake in the dough - which he's good at doing - but he's got a sister, "Bella" (Faith Domergue), who's as ruthless as he is docile.
Bankley gets the gig, and everything is hunky dory until a loose cannon thug named McCloud murders Francesi's boxer. Now Scotland Yard is on the case. Mr. Francesi doesn't like it, but he still plays nice, even with McCloud, who asks for money so he can get out of the country. Now, Jim Bankley was a friend of the boxer. He's dating the poor guy's sister (Rona Anderson). Here's where the conflict kicks in. Mr. Francesi and Bella tell the cops they know nothing about McCloud. Jim Bankley's never met him. So as far as he's concerned, the Francesi's are telling the truth. But because the dead boxer was also his friend, he promises the cops (and the sister) that he'll turn over any information on McCloud, should he find it. This puts him at odds with Bella Francesi, who seduces him. She distracts Bankley enough that he forgets about the case, and instead starts to rise up in the Francesi organisation. He was a radio and telephone technician in the Canadian army, so Mr. Francesi (pronounced Fran-CHAY-zee) has him rig up a phone tap that will allow him to rig the odds on a horse derby. The gang makes off with a big haul, but McCloud hears about it and returns to steal the money. Now Bankley knows Mr. Francesi was lying about knowing McCloud, and he doesn't trust Francesi anymore. This sets Bella Francesi against him, and she kidnaps the dead boxer's sister. I hope that all makes sense (read it real slow if it doesn't).
Besides Martin Benson's performance as the cordial Mr. Francesi, Lee Patterson also turns in a good one as the pliable but ultimately decent Bankley. "Spin a Dark Web"also gets Two Big Thumbs Up, and would make a perfect double bill with "The Invisible Wall". You can do 'em both in under two and a half hours, or if that's too much, watch 'em two nights in a row. The picture on "Web" is razor sharp. ////
That's all for the moment. We said we were gonna list some notable flicks from 2021, so (using our trusty movie list), lets run off a quick Top 25 (in no particular order) :
1) Cleopatra (probably the movie of the year)
2) West Side Story (or this one)
3) Christ Stopped at Eboli
4) We Dive at Dawn
5) Cottage to Let
6) The History of Mr. Polly (#5 & 6 are from when we went on a john Mills kick)
7) Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (loved it!)
8) Where Eagles Dare (ditto)
9) Quo Vadis
10) Becket
11) Cimarron
12) The Blue Max
13) A Man for All Seasons (another movie of the year contender)
14) The Shout
15) Mr. Klein
16) Mary, Queen of Scots
17) The Great Waldo Pepper (loved it!)
18) Never Let Go (Peter Sellers as a psycho mobster)
19) Don't Talk to Strange Men
20) Guns, Girls and Gangsters (we love Lee Van Cleef!)
21) American Graffiti (another contender)
22) The Old Dark House
23) Mr. Emmanuel
24) Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill
25) Target Earth (for Bill Raynor and Mr. Reeves)
That's just from a quick run through of the list. There's a ton of other flicks we could mention, and we should give a shout out to things like the Crime Doctor and Whistler series, and also other actors we binged on, like the great Ron Foster and Glenn Ford. For now, that's a doggone good list. And, I left out "Blaise Pascal" from the tremendous Historical Series by Roberto Rossellini. That one gets an Honorable #26.
That's all for tonight. Hope your weekend was good. I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment