Last night we found a melodramatic Noir called "Tarnished"(1950), in which the studious but versatile Arthur Franz stars as "Bud Dolliver", a Marine veteran of WW2 who returns to his hometown of Harbor, Maine (pop 3847) to find that everyone is just as suspicious and small-minded as they ever were. Bud has a questionable past, though its never spelled out what he did, but as the movie opens, rich kid "Joe Pettigrew" (Byron Barr) is leaving the bar with "Lou Jellison" (Dorothy Patrick) who he considers his gal, and his property. Joe shows what a spoiled brat he is by exceeding the schpeed limit, then leading a motorcycle cop on a high speed chase when the cop tries to pull them over. Lou begs Joe to stop but he won't, and he even manages to evade the policeman, which makes him feel more smug than he already is. But at that point, two things happen: they see a hitchhiker on the road, and Lou decides that she doesn't wanna ride with Joe anymore, unless she can drive. So, Joe pulls over, the hitcher gets in - it's Bud Dolliver - and Lou drives the rest of the way back to town. That's the opening scene, and it makes you feel like you're in for a straightforward crime film.
As it turns out, it's more of a Town Without Pity type of deal, but instead of scorning a rape victim, the town is trying to marginalize Bud because of some error in his past. The fact that he's come home a hero from the war makes them shun him even more, because it's like he's shown them up. He just wants a job and a place to live, and he applies at the local cannery, but the general manager there is Joe Pettigrew, the punk rich kid. Joe makes a point of turning down Bud's application because he didn't like the attention Lou showed him when they picked Bud up hitchhiking. The only one who will give Bud a chance is "Kelsey Bunker" (Harry Shannon), the owner of the town's boat yard. Bunker hires Bud as a laborer and lets him sleep in a shack on the dock. Bud at first hangs out at the bar and is approached by "Nina" (Barbara Fuller), a streetwise chickadee who is usually seen with "Junior" (Jimmy Lydon), a young geeky delinquent who wears a suit but has no job. Junior's a dweeb, but has a connection because his Dad is Kelsey Bunker, owner of the boat yard. When he's not drinking with Nina, Junior pals around with Joe Pettigrew. Both Junior and Joe find reason to dislike Bud because both their gals find him attractive and decent, unlike them. In Lou Jellison's case, she feels an immediate chemistry with Bud, and starts dating him over the objections of Joe, who tried starting a punchout with Bud, to his detriment because Bud knows Marine Corps self-defense techniques.
As thrillseekers, Joe and Junior are also petty criminals. They like burglarizing local businesses, so now they do it with the twist of framing Bud Dolliver, by breaking into his shack to steal his identifying belongings; his Marine knife, his dog tags, then dropping them at their crime sites.
The Sheriff is ready to arrest Bud for the break-ins, and the townsfolk want him jailed because they believe he's always been a no-goodnik, and his war hero status in the Marines only makes them resent him more. To top it off, Lou, a virtuous girl, swears by Bud and wants to marry him. She's even proposed to him (because he's shy) and they drive to Vermont to get a same-day marriage licence. Lou gives an affidavit to the Sheriff, swearing this to be the truth: "Bud couldn't possibly have done those robberies because he was with me in Vermont. The marriage licence clerk can verify this." That clears Bud of suspicion for the time being, but then Joe and Junior plan and carry out a scheme that will land Bud in jail for sure. That's all I can tell you, except that the scheme backfires and puts Junior in mortal danger. That's when we find out what Bud's job was in the Marine Corps, and why he was a hero in the war. "Tarnished" takes a few minutes to develop, but once it does it rolls along on several dramatic fronts until it's high-powered conclusion. Featuring a strong performance by Dorothy Patrick, it gets Two Big Thumbs Up and the picture is very good. ////
The previous night, Colonel Tim McCoy was back in a different kind of role, playing a telephone engineer in "Voice in the Night"(1934). As the movie opens, Tim learns the importance of keeping the main cables in operation, no matter what. When a gas ex-schplosion traps a linesman underground, he orders the main cable to be cut to free the man. Back at the office, his Dad - who owns the phone company (this must've been before Ma Bell took over) reads him the riot act. "You never cut the main cable!" "Even when a man's life is at schtake?" Tim replies. "Yes! Even then! Because by cutting the main cable, you have prevented people from calling an ambulance for sick relatives, all over the city. You've prevented crime victims from calling the police!" Dad gives Tim other examples but his point is made: the main phone cable is a lifeline for the populace. Tim retorts with "but that's supposition, Dad. No one can proven to be at risk at any given moment. I was dealing with a fact. A man was dying before my eyes!" But Dad won't budge, and during a board meeting to decide whether or not Tim will be fired, a messenger comes in to announce that the worker in question has died. Therefore, to the board members, Tim's rescue effort is moot as an excuse. But not to Tim. He thinks he did right by trying to save one man who was actually in danger, without considering the hypothetical dangers his Dad presented. Tim quits and schtorms out of the board meeting, vowing never to work for his Dad, or any telephone company, ever again.
The next time we see him, he's playing polo (he's a rich kid, remember), but during the match, his horse collides with another rider. The rider is injured, and Tim springs into action, jumping off his horse to run to his car, which he drives onto the polo field to whisk the injured player to the hospital. But the hospital, for whatever reason (maybe it's in the boondocks), doesn't have good phone service. A nurse tells Tim that their phone lines are down, yet the polo player needs a surgeon - stat! "Where's the phone company located?" Tim asks "why, it's just down the schtreet". Tim drives like Barney Oldfield to get there, and when he does, he barges into the the wiring and connection room to find the technician who is slacking. "There shouldn''t be a problem with your phone lines!" he yells. "Someone is likely sabotaging them." He fixes the immediate problem and suspects the company engineer of being a saboteur. This leads the owner of the company to ask Tim to work for them, but he doesn't want to because he's sworn off phone company jobs.
But then, the owner tells him he'll be helping to save lives, because a major cross-country connection is about to be completed. A line is being joined across a dam gorge that will connect to the Western U.S. But then we see that the sabotage effort is not limited to the home office. A gang of men is shown chopping down telephone poles, with wires attached, and as an aside, this is actually done in the movie. We see guys with axes, chopping away like they're felling trees. They fall, wires and all, and it looks like they're on Devonshire Boogalord. Then there's a major league sabotage at the gorge crossing that kills a lineman. By now, Tim knows that there has to be a Big Shot behind the sabotage gang; the phone company engineer is just a stooge. Then a rainstorm comes, and floods the area around the gorge. The flood is threatening not only the completion of the gorge connection, but also the train tracks that are precariously holding on as the storm pounds down. And, a train is coming as the saboteurs plan their final action, the dyno-mite!-ing of the gorge. Will Tim be able to save it in time? He'll have his hands full, because the gang have also kidnapped "Barbara" (Billie Seward) the phone company owner's daughter, who Tim is in love with. Boy, does this movie ever call for a restoration. If it had one, we'd give it Two Huge Thumbs Up. The gorge scene alone is spectacular, and a precursor to the legendary ski lift battle in "Where Eagles Dare". The flood scene is also well done, considering the budget and the special effects of the era. I hate to say, therefore, that the print is quite damaged, but don't let that stop you from watching "Voice in the Night." Tim McCoy is great as always and it's very highly recommended. ////
Now then, how about a bonus movie? Can you deal with "Johnny Guitar"(1954)? Make sure before you say yes, because this is one of the most intense, and emotionally weird, Westerns that we have ever seen. It boils down to the central issue that "Vienna" (Joan Crawford) paid for her saloon by sleeping with every man in town, while waiting for Guitar to get out of prison. He used to be a gunslinger, but five years wears a man down, and when he gets out, all he does is shred on guitar. He also holds a torch for Vienna, but - and this is one interpretation - so does "Emma Small" (Mercedes McCambridge), who owns the bank. Emma, repressed and with an overflowing supply of rage, has already tried sleeping with "The Dancin' Kid" (Scott Brady), who - according to Vienna - makes Emma feel like a woman. But the Kid is sweet on Vienna too, which makes Emma jealous, but what she's really jealous of, I think, is that all the men get to have Vienna and she doesn't. So, because she can't have Vienna, she wants to kill her, and that's the subtext that got Nicholas Ray in trouble at the time, and why this movie has the reputation that it does. It's highly impassioned, and shows the kind of jealousy that only deep secrets could produce. There are many traditional Western elements, such as the outlaw gang run by The Dancing Kid, who get blamed for every crime in town, even the ones they don't commit. Ernest Borgnine plays the Kid's henchman, who hates Johnny Guitar. They get in a knockdown-drag-out because it's in Borgnine's contract to play a troglodytic thug....
....but I mean, hang on a sec. Rewind to the beginning and answer me this: what kind of movie has a character named Johnny Guitar? I mean...you're kidding, right? And he shreds, too. I looked it up to find the film's year of release, to see if it coincided with the emergence of Elvis Presley. If anyone was Johnny Guitar, he was (even though he was a rudimentary guitarist). But the thing was, the movie came out in 1954, before anyone outside of Memphis knew who Elvis was. And, there was no such thing rock and roll yet, so what kind of trip did you have to be on to have a gunslinger switch to guitar, not only in practice but in his name-change as well? It's weird, weird, weird, I tell ya, and even moreso because it's Sterling Hayden who's doing the shredding, a big macho man. This is one Freudian flick, and Joan Crawford steals the show. If you've ever wondered why she was considered a great actress (and she was, despite all the Mommie Dearest iconography) then watch this movie. Even the Meryl Streeps of the world could not pull off the role of Vienna. That's how great Joan Crawford was, and the movie is loaded to the gills with tremendous actors. Two Huge Thumbs Up! You'll have to get it from the Libe, however, or watch it on a streaming service, as it is not available on Youtube. ////
And that's all I know. Tonight, I am listening to the music of Bobby Fuller on the anniversary of his passing. Talk about Johnny Guitar, he was one of the greatest, and would've had a huge and lasting career had he not been murdered on this date in 1966.
I hope your week is off to a good start, and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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