Last night we saw Tim McCoy in "The Traitor"(1936), in which Tim, as "US Marshal Tim Vallance", goes undercover to bust up a gang of schmugglers. As the movie opens, Tim is doing another kind of busting, that of broncos at a ranch. After taming a particularly wild horse, he gets a hand delivered letter from his captain telling him to head over to Placerita Canyon, because a lyching is about to go down. Before he leaves, sweet "Mary Allen" (Frances Grant) offers him a job taming broncs at her ranch, should he ever need work. On his way to stop the lynching, several honchos tell him not to go. "That mob will stop you, even kill you. They want those killers dead, and they don't care if you're a Marshal." Well, if there's anything we know about Tim McCoy, it's that he can't be in-Tim-i-dated (ha! I just made that up), so he continues on, one man against a mob, and because he's always the fastest draw in every movie he's in, he backs the mob down from the lynching. The two men to be hung are "Pedro Moreno" (Pedro Regas) and "Jimmy Allen" (Frank Melton), also known as The Texas Kid, who turns out to be the brother of Mary. Marshal Tim doesn't know that yet, and in a strange early twist, he lets both men go free. "If I don't, this mob will just come back tonight and finish the job when it gets dark. But make no mistake," he tells Pedro and Jimmy, "I'm coming after you at sun up, and when I catch you, you'll have a trail, and because I know you're gulty, you'll be hung by the law." So they shouldn't get too excited about being set free, in other words. McCoy believes in law and order, and once he stops the lench mob, he's gonna go after these criminals.
Well, would you believe that when he rides back to the Marshals office, the captain fires him in front of all the deputies! Yep, and with a full dressing-down: "You're a coward for letting those murderers go!" the captain says. "Turn in your badge!" When McCoy does, and the deputies leave the room, the captain pats McCoy on the back, returns his badge, and tells him it was all a ruse to establish his undercover credentials. "I want you to go back and infiltrate that mob. Find out who's running the schmuggling gang. We'll print a headline that you've been fired for being a traitor". That gives Tim an "in" to join the gang.
As we've seen in many movies, It's always easy for Tim to infiltrate gangs, but the problem this time is that Jimmy the Texas Kid is sweet Mary's brother. Tim hates to bust him, because he's fallen in love with Mary. And to make matters worse, Tim is under such deep cover that even the deputy marshals don't know about it. All they know about him is what they read in the paper, that he's been fired for being a traitor. So when they see him apparently in cahoots with Pedro Moreno, the killer who was about to be hung, they tag him as a criminal and hunt him down. He finally gets shot as he rides into Walker Ranch. There isn't a major bad guy in this one, no Charles King or Ted Adams or Harry Woods, it's from Puritan Pictures (super cheap), but it's got a well developed schcript, and it makes a statement about mob violence. It's a hybrid western that takes place in a Undetermined Time Zone, because it's the Old West, but the schmugglers use an airplane, and beautiful Frances Grant wears stylish clothes. The captain gets killed late in the movie, after a battle with Pedro Moreno, and it looks like Tim is gonna be railroaded for the murder because the deputies think he's a traitor. But in the final 90 seconds, he gets a reprieve that keeps him from the gallows. Watch and see why! "The Traitor" is one of the best Tim McCoy films we've seen, and gets Two Big Thumbs Up. It's highly recommended and the picture is razor sharp! ////
The previous night's movie was "Stranded"(1935) from director Frank Borzage, a top Hollywood Craftsman who helmed such films as "The Mortal Schtorm" and "A Farewell to Arms", in addition to other Noirs and melodramas that we've seen over the years. About a decade ago, we discovered the actress Kay Francis and became instant fans. If you're a long time reader of the blog you may remember her. Kay Francis is the long lost great star of the Golden Age. She should've been as big as any actress you can name, and for a time she was the highest paid, making nearly ten times the weekly salary of Bette Davis. Kay Francis had it all, looks, the prettiest smile in the business, onscreen charm and style, and was known as a clotheshorse. She had an interesting voice that hid a lisp, and she should've been huge. In fact, she was on her way to being so, and then she got into a contract dispute with her studio (studios owned actors in those days), and that was the end of that. She was branded as "trouble", made a few more pictures of lesser stature and retired. But boy, was she great. Kay Francis was a true Hollywood Original, and you'll see why in this movie.
She plays "Lynn Palmer" a social worker for The Traveler's Agency, a federal program during the Depression that was designed to help displaced persons get back on their feet. If you came into San Francisco (where the movie is set), via train or boat, and you had no money, no job, and no place to go, the agency would help set you up. Lynn Palmer loves her job, loves helping people, and is going about it when one day "Mack Hale" (George Brent) walks up to her counter at the train station to ask about a Polish steel worker he's in need of. Hale is the project manager for the Golden Gate Bridge, in charge of the whole doggone thing. It's interesting to remember that the bridge only opened in 1939, just 21 years before yours truly was born, but like all things from the past, Before You Were Born always seems like a million years ago. Yet it wasn't, it was just a generation earlier. In the movie, we're shown footage of the bridge under construction, in many scenes, and its fascinating schtuff. With Lynn Palmer's help, Mack Hale finds his steelworker, then gets involved in a labor dispute - a plot that constitutes half the movie. The other half is his romance with Lynn, who agrees to a date with him after their initial meeting. They fall for each other and intend to get married, but as they get to know each other better, they discover they don't agree on social philosophies. Lynn believes in helping people down on their luck. It's the Depression and the nature of her job is assistance. She believes folks are basically good, and with a boost from the government, any one can make it through hard times. She's a socialist, in other words, but of the old Rooseveltian school, where you get a handout but then pull yourself up. However, Mack disagrees with everything she stands for. He thinks if you're in a bread line it's your own fault and indicative of your character.
"How do you think we're building this bridge?" he argues, "with no-good layabouts and alcoholics? No! We've got men who're willing to not only do the hardest jobs on the planet, but to put their lives on the line for a fair day's pay." He thinks if you're in the gutter, you belong there. Lynn loves him, and off-work he's a great and personable guy, and he loves her, and its for real, but when he asks her to quit her job "because it's not important work, you're only helping bums who won't succeed in the long run" she stands her ground and breaks off their engagement. Once again single, Mack throws himself back into his work, which requires 24/7 dedication because they're undertaking one of the biggest engineering projects in history, but he's hit with a demand from "Mr. Sharkey" (Barton MacLane), the boss of a "protection agency" who threatens to disrupt the construction of the bridge if he isn't paid five grand a month.
Sharkey is nothing more than an extortionist, whose "agency" is Mob-related, and Hale tells him to get lost. "This is a union job. The men here get good wages and you won't find any to bribe or flub a weld." But Sharkey doesn't give up. When Mack still won't pay, he embeds a man on the bridge crew who gets the workers drunk. This leads to multiple firings by Mack, because you can't drink and work on a bridge. After Sharkey does this a few times, Mack has fired so many workers that the rest of the men rebel and stage a walkout. Then a tragedy happens and Mack is held responsible. He's about to be fired himself, which will ruin his career, when who should come to his rescue but Lynn Palmer, his ex-fiance and the woman whose social welfare politics are anathema to him. Mack of course has an epiphany about life's circumstances when he gets through his trial by fire, and Mr. Sharkey gets his comeuppance, but that's all I'm going to tell you. This is a classic Kay Francis film, and a good introduction if you've never seen her before. I guarantee you'll want to see all her movies, and "Stranded" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. You can't see it on Youtube, so find it at the Libe or watch it on Netflix. The picture will be razor sharp! ////
That's all I know. I'm listening to various songs by Dio (the band) as I write, and also Mahler's 7th last night. I'm also liking the new King's X song "Let It Rain", and can't wait for their new album in September. I hope you are enjoying the start of Summer. I wish you a nice weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always!
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