Just a couple of short reviews this time, as I am still recovering from the bout of food poisoning detailed in the previous blog. But at least we have two movies!
Last night, a crime classic from director Edward L. Cahn. James Brown and Merry Anders (who we just saw paired in Cahn's "When the Clock Strikes"), are back again, this time in "Police Dog Story"(1961). If you like dog movies, this is a great one, even for a low budget film. "Wolf" (Wolf) is a gorgeous German Shepherd who runs wild in the hills of Los Angeles. He's scavenging for food and driving the police department nuts because of all the phone calls he generates. An officer shoots Wolf with a "hypodermic rifle", to tranquilize and capture him. This gives reporter "Terry Dayton" (Anders) an idea. She's been writing about Wolf's exploits in the wild. Now she says "why don't you make a police dog out of him"? The cops are unsure. Wolf is feral and combative. He doesn't trust humans and maybe can't be trained.
"Norm Edwards" (James Brown) is a veteran patrolman. His ex-partner "Bert Dana" (Barry Kelly) knows Norm worked with dogs in Korea. He suggests Norm give Wolf a tryout. The dog trainer at the academy stresses love and rewards are the key to Wolf's success. Norm at first doesn't want the job, he thinks Wolf is just a project to promote Terry Dayton's career. "That dog can't be rehabilitated, he's been on his own too long". Norm is proved right when Wolf escapes the compound. He jumps the fence but then falls into a gully. Norm rescues him with a rope, and it is then that Wolf comes to trust him. Because of Norm's prior experience with police dogs in the Korean war, Wolf learns quickly and outpaces all the other dogs in the training school. He graduates with honors and is now on the beat. Wolf shows his mettle (and talent), as he subdues muggers and thieves. Then he and Norm are assigned to an arson investigation involving warehouse fires.
To Norm's surprise and horror Bert Dana is involved, his former partner, who suggested Wolf to him in the first place. Dana is on the take from the arsonist, a "Mr. Wellman". Wellman is a crooked businessman who's got the insurance scheme all figured out. He forms "front companies" to buy warehouses, then he stocks them with cheap merchandise, after which he burns them to the ground. The insurance companies pay the claim, Wellman gets rich. You'd think they'd suspect him after the second fire, but that's what the front companies are for. It just looks like an arsonist hitting random warehouses.
Anyhow, Norm is flabbergasted when he finds out about Bert Dana. He implores his old partner to get out of Wellman's grip. "I'm sorry Norm, but I need the money", Dana tells him. "Thirty years on the force, and what do I got? Nothing. Besides, we aren't hurting anybody. The insurance companies make a fortune to begin with". Norm feels torn. He knows he should report Bert to the captain in charge of the case, but Bert once saved his life, so he's loyal. He pretends not to know about Bert's involvement, while at the same time going all out to stop Wellman.
One day, Wolf bites Wellman when he comes to the station to be questioned. Wellman knows the police have nothing on him, so he threatens to sue them over the dog bite. They can't afford the bad publicity, especially because the public knows, from Terry Dalton's reporting, that Wolf was a wild dog in the past. So they make the decision to quarantine him, then later to put him to sleep. This causes Norm to confess to his captain that he knew about Bert Dana's involvement all along.
The police dog program will be doomed if Wolf is destroyed, so Norm begs for one chance to catch Wellman. During his undercover investigation, Wolf escapes from his cage and hops the fence again. He runs back to the hills, but he's devoted to Norm by now, so he sets out to rejoin his friend and master. Using the police dog techniques he's learned, he follows Norm's scent twelve miles until he finds him at a warehouse, trying to trap Wellman in another arson. By this time, Bert Dana has had a reckoning. He's there too, and out to stop Wellman himself. That's all I will tell you about the plot, but you know the conclusion will depend on Wolf, and I promise you, you won't be disappointed. I loved "Police Dog Story" and give it Two Big Thumbs Up. If you love Dog Movies, this will be one of your favorites. It's highly recommended and the picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night, we saw a terrific British murder mystery of the Agatha Christie type. "The Case of the Frightened Lady"(1940) stars the great Marius Goring and Helen Haye (not Hayes), as "Lord" and "Lady Lebanon" respectively, the Grand Dame and son of a noble English family. They live in an enormous mansion, naturally. The frightened lady of the title is "Isla Crane" (Penelope Dudley-Ward), Lady Lebanon's niece and secretary. As the movie opens, she runs down the stairs, thinking someone is trying to kill her in her sleep. There's a shadow on the wall. Two large and creepy servants seem to be stalking her.
Lady Lebanon tells her, "you've got to get a hold of yourself", and for the time being, she settles down. Lord Lebanon charms her with his piano playing. But somebody has put a bolt on the outside of her door, to trap her in her room. The next night, a costume party is held, at which the maid's boyfriend is murdered. He was the Lebanons' chauffeur. The maid is a married woman. Scotland Yard comes in, and at first they suspect her husband. He too works for the Lebanons, as their gardener. And he's got a nasty temper. But suspicion soon shifts to Lady Lebanon's doctor (Felix Aylmer), a cold hearted-schemer who seems to be blackmailing her Ladyship. The chauffeur was strangled with a scarf from India. Lord Lebanon tells detectives he served with the doctor in Bengal. "He probably brought the scarf home with him", says the Lord. But then the doctor is strangled, so that clears him.
There's a room in the house that is permanently locked. An architect hired for renovations finds a hidden passageway. What is going on that Isla Crane must not find out? And why has Lady Lebanon insisted that her son must marry Isla? The answer is in the blood, as the Lady keeps repeating, meaning the family genetics. There's a very subtle secret being revealed, that didn't sink in for me until the next morning. It's actually pretty creepy (not to mention weird), but it explains why Lady Lebanon is so determined to keep it "all in the family". "The Case of the Frightened Lady" is a Deluxe Version of the all-suspects-under-one-roof genre. It's an upgrade on the Ten Little Indians formula because of the expanded psychological theme and plot, and in this case a much larger budget. Every actor stands out, including the little known Roy Emerton as the intrusive houseman "Gilder". Marius Goring delivers, as always, a standout performance. He deserves to be known as one of the great actors to come out of England. But also, in a smaller role there is Felix Aylmer as the doctor. Watching him here, as a man who's only after Lady Lebanon's money, it's hard to remember that he also played "Mr. Emmanuel", that saint of a shopkeeper, who - in the movie of the same name - risked his life to help a child in Nazi Germany. Man, those Brits can act.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Case of the Frightened Lady", an exceptional mystery. It's also highly recommended, and the picture is very good. ////
So there you have it, a disparate pair of good films. That's all I know for this evening, and I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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