Last night we watched a psychological Noir called "Dial 1119"(1950), in which a murderer escapes from an institution for the criminally insane. Marshall Thompson stars as "Gunther Wyckoff", the nutjob in question. After busting out of the booby hatch, he takes the bus back to the greyhound terminal in L.A. and heads for the MGM back lot, where he attempts to see the psychiatrist (Sam Levene) whose testimony put him away for life. But the doc isn't home, so he walks over to the nearest bar, where "Chuckles" (William Conrad) is tending to a small group of regulars, including the soused "Freddy" (Virginia Field). It's only 1950, but Chuckles already has a futuristic flat screen wall TV, 36 by 48 inches. All he can get are wrestling matches though, and he hates the thing. He only turns it on for the customers, and he basically thinks humanity is scum; the curse of the bartender who's heard too many stories.
Suddenly, the wrestling match is interrupted by a police bulletin. Gunther Wyckoff is thought to be in the area and is armed and dangerous. He's already killed a bus driver. If you should see him, dial the title of the movie! Chuckles tries to do just that, and Wyckoff plugs him. Then he tells the patrons to sit down against the wall and shut up, and from here, the movie becomes one of those "lives converge" stories where everyone reacts to the crisis according to their life history and personal psychology. Fortunately, it's not an extreme example of that format (which is easily overdone), and the focus remains on Wyckoff, who is as quietly psycho as a psycho can get. I mean, he is just plain cuckoo, but completely withdrawn to the point of catatonia, until he starts talking about the war and what he went through when he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. It's some spooky, gripping stuff, and he concludes his spiel by saying "I didn't care about the medal!", which leads you to assume he's a Purple Heart awardee who later had a nervous breakdown.
The police eventually find out where he is when a patrolman happens by and Wyckoff shoots him, but he escapes. The news then shows up with a big TV truck and it turns into a standoff. Wyckoff calls the pharmacy across the street to get the lead detective on the phone, and he tells him he's gonna start shooting his hostages if they don't get his shrink in there to talk to him. The cops wanna use the air duct system to get to Wyckoff (this is depicted in a very realistic way), but the shrink pleads for a chance to talk to him and it's finally granted.
Wyckoff then shoots him dead, after he exposes Wyckoff's big secret in an attempt at on-the-spot psychoanalysis. The secret is a humongous plot twist, and leads to the conclusion of the film, which is not developed beyond the hostage drama. The characters in the bar are thinly sketched : there's a young bartender whose wife is having a baby, an older man (Leon Ames) who is trying to hit on a woman who lives with her disabled mother. She's prim-and-proper and is only in the bar to try and live a little. There's a newspaperman, who was about to quit his job at the beginning of the movie and now has a potential scoop, if he can get out alive. And, there's the alcoholic Freddy, who must have downed a dozen drinks even before Gunther Wyckoff showed up (it would be fun to count how many she has in the whole movie. I'm betting at least twenty).
The main draw is Marshall Thompson's performance, which is truly spooky and reminds one of the sullen, angry character played by Tim Robbins (who Thompson resembles) in "Arlington Road". But it's the other way around, and I'll bet Robbins based his performance on Marshall Thompson. He's crazier than a hoot owl in this movie and mighty scary. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Dial 1119", it's highly recommended and the picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night we found another legendary Western actor who's a new discovery for us: Harry Carey, one of the first and biggest cowboy stars in the Silent era. We talked about Tim McCoy being born a dozen years before Johnny Mack Brown and Tom Tyler, and figured that was a big deal. Well, Harry Carey was born in 1878, a bakers dozen before Tim McCoy! He started out making shorts for DW Griffith in 1910. I mean, we're talking early cinema here. By that time, he was already 32 years old, and by the time he made "Ghost Town"(1936), he was 58 and had 200 films under his belt. Though he has a craggy face and a smoker's baritone voice, he's still thin and in shape in this movie, agile on a horse and looking sharp in a tailored all-black outfit and black oversized hat. You can see why he was a huge star and he presaged the more laconic cowboys like John Wayne and (cue the choir) RANN-daw-holph Scott! - loners who were badass and didn't try to charm.
In "Ghost Town", the plot combines Westerns and Crime Films. It's Cowboys vs. Gangsters, as two elderly mine owners are being harassed by three hoodlums in a car, who want to steal their mine. The hoods also find out about 10 grand in cash that is being carried by the mine owner's partner across the country in an old jalopy. The cash is going to be used to finance the restart of their "Ghost Town", which they originally built with the profits of the mine. When the mine ran dry, the town died out. But now they've discovered a mother lode, with the help of their young assistant "Bud" (David Sharpe), and their fortunes are looking bright again. The hoodlums won't let up, though. They find a spot in the road at Brandeis Ranch where the old guy in the jalopy is sure to pass by, and they block it with a tree trunk. When he's forced to stop, they shoot it out and wound him. His car goes over a cliff as he tries to escape, and they think he's dead. Later, when they get down into the ravine, they search his car and can't find the ten thousand bucks. That's because Harry Carey got there first. He actually met the old guy on the road before the crooks ambushed him. When he finds him near death, he hides the guy in a mine tunnel and secures the 10 grand for him. The crooks - frustrated at not finding the money - decide to frame Carey for the murder of the old man. They get the Sheriff, who locks Carey up after discovering the 10K in his pocket. Now the crooks are trying to find the cash in the Sheriff's house, where he's hidden it in his bookcase. Bud the young mining assistant is guarding it with a rifle. He sends the Sheriff's daughter (who's also his girlfriend) over to the jail to bring Carey a meal, but Carey escapes and goes after the crooks who framed him. He also gets a doctor to go look after the old jalopy driver, who is still hidden, wounded, in the mine tunnel.
We've mentioned cowboy stars who are action heroes versus ones who are good actors but not as physical. Harry Carey is perhaps the original action hero, and maintains what I assume was his youthful vigor here, at 58. He can ride a horse and climb rocks like the younger stars, but he doesn't play nice like our other favorites (JMB, Tyler, Crabbe). Carey is taciturn but has a look and onscreen charisma that make up for his lack of charm. There's no romance or comic relief in "Ghost Town", no diversions to the saloon or plot twists. It's just the hoods in their car trying to rob the mine owners, but it's jam packed with gun-totin', fast riding action. We'll be watching a lot of Harry Carey movies (and man, we're on what seems like an endless Western kick!), but we'll have to slot 'em in between all the other greats we're discovering. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Ghost Town". It's highly recommended and the picture is very good. ////
That's all for tonight. I'm gonna go for my walk. I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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