Last night we had a buddy movie of a different kind in "I Am A Criminal"(1938), the misleading title of which suggests bank jobs and prison breaks, but instead is an ironic play on words for a racketeer who's trying to change his image. "Brad McArthur" (John Carroll), is a big shot casino owner in an unspecified Midwestern city. He's so arrogant he introduces himself to the town's new DA, offering a handshake and, of all things, assistance, saying "If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know." The DA replies by telling him, "Yeah, there's something you can do - leave town. Because I'm gonna put you out of business." McArthur scoffs. Then, in a six minute opening scene, he opens a dialogue with the DA, asking him, "What's so bad about what I do, anyway? I'm not forcing anyone to come to my clubs and gamble. I give them music and entertainment. If people want to risk their hard-earned money, that's their business." "Yeah, says the DA, "but it's a business the voters don't want in this town."
McArthur scoffs again and leaves, saying, "Listen bub, many DAs before you have tried and failed to close me down. I pay my lawyer more in a week than you make in a year." "The DA says, "I know what else you're doing in the back rooms of your joints. One day you'll slip up, and when you do, Ill put you away."
He soon gets his chance when a drunken rich kid starts a fight in Brad's main club. The bouncers try to throw him out, but because he's a judge's son, he can potentially make trouble. Brad tries to talk him down, but the kid's an entitled punk. He tries to throw a punch but slips, then falls out a windum to his death. A whole roomful of people have seen it was an accident, and that the drunken kid was the aggressor, but Brad knows the DA's gonna pin the death on him, and he does: a charge of manslaughter.
This is where the plot changes from crime film to buddy movie, and in hindsight, you could see it going in this direction because of the casting choice of John Carroll, a likable, handsome and distinguished actor with a radio announcer's voice. As Brad McArthur, he's not rotten enough to be a true mobster, so his redemption is the theme. We've seen he was not at fault in the death of the rich kid, but he's still facing a potential ten year prison sentence. His lawyer suggests hiring a publicist, to sway public opinion before the trial: "It'll rig a jury in your favor." Under the publicist's direction, he donates to charities, makes headlines for helping the poor, and finally he "adopts" a street urchin paper boy, all to make it look like he's a wealthy do-gooder, like when a Mafioso buys an apartment house for disabled people or old ladies.
But when Brad "adopts" Bobby the paperboy (played by Martin Spellman, a real-life paperboy who worked at the MGM lot, hooray!), the whole movie changes, in a Shirley Temple "isn't the kid cute" way. Bobby is older than Shirley was, about 8 or 9, but he's got the same moxie, and in 1938, that kind of Kid Stuff was still selling tickets at the end of the Depression era. The scruffy-but-wise waif. It must be noted that Bobby's got one heck of a head of hair. Brad McArthur's 6-foot-tall vixen of a girlfriend (Kay Linaker) can't stand Bobby and starts a rivalry with him that she loses. She's two-timing Brad with the publicist, so he kicks both of them out of his mansion, then decides to run from the law as his case goes to trial. He takes Bobby in his maid's old jalopy to a lodge up in the mountains (filmed at Lake Malibou in Agoura). There, he signs in as John Smith and son, and meets "Alice", the pretty counter girl (Mary Kornman). The rural atmosphere brings out the better side of Brad's nature, and we see that he really isn't a criminal, just a guy with a big heart who took the wrong path. Thus it's a Buddy Flick plus Redemption, with a "Bad Guy Saves Kid from Drowning" motif thrown in. The whole thing works on the chemistry of John Carroll and Martin Spellman, who could've taken their act on the road. The DA tracks them down at Lake Malibou (which is supposed to be in Ohio), but by now, Brad has found his true calling, playing father to Bobby as he falls in love with Alice and forms his own little family. He makes one last attempt to escape when the DA closes in, but then gets shoulder-shot and resigns himself to his fate, with Alice and Bobby promising to stand by him no matter what happens. It's a heartwarming ending; the only problem with the trial aspect of the story is that it's clear from the start that Brad is not at fault in the death of the judge's son, so the manslaughter charge against him seems bogus. Other than that, Two Big Thumbs Up and a high recommendation. The picture is very good. ////
The previous night's movie was "The Crime of the Century"(1933), a classic murder mystery from Paramount, thus with better production values than a similar Poverty Row whodunit from the same era. Jean Hersholt (of the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award fame) heads a solid cast, playing "Dr. Emil Brandt", a hypnotist, who turns himself into the police one night, saying "Please, you've gotta lock me up. I'm about to commit a murder!" It's a slow night at the precinct. "Police Captain Riley" (Robert Elliott) is playing cribbage with his lieutenant (David Landau) and a crime reporter named "Dan McKee" (Stuart Erwin) when Dr. Brandt walks in. The three men listen to his tale, which involves Brandt's hypnotism of a bank clerk, who he's programmed to steal one hundred thousand dollars.
"I can't believe I did this, Captain. I am supposed to be a healer, and I'm normally an honest man, but I was temped by the fact that my patient works for a bank. He's going to bring me the money tomorrow night, after which I'm going to kill him to eliminate him as a witness, if you don't help me by putting me in jail. Please, you've got to believe me!"
Captain Riley, the LT and reporter McKee are somewhat bemused by Dr. Brandt's claim, though he sounds serious and doesn't seem to be a nutjob. "Dr. Brandt", the Captain finally says, "I can't arrest you for something you haven't yet done, but what I can do is have the lieutenant here spend the evening with you at your house. He'll be there to prevent any trouble before it starts. I'll visit myself later on, to make sure you're okay." With that assurance, Brandt is driven home by the LT, and later, the captain does visit. But by now, Brandt's wife "Freda" (Wynne Gibson) has come home, so he tells the Captain that no further police protection is necessary. What Brandt doesn't know, is that Freda has a boyfriend and the two of them know about Brandt's hypnosis/bank robbery plan. They, in turn, plan to steal the money from him as soon as it's delivered.
Dan McKee, being an aggressive, scoop-oriented reporter, stakes out the Brandt house without telling the police. He's eyeing he proceedings from the sidewalk, watching the comings and goings of the LT, the Captain, and Freda. He then enters the house through the back door after seeing Freda's boyfriend climb through the front windum at almost the same time as the hyp!-no!-tized! bank clerk arrives with the stolen money. McKee is trying to catch everyone "in the act", to solve the case before the cops do, so he can show them up. Then the lights go out, in classic Ten Little Indians fashion, and when they come back on, the hypnotised bank clerk is dead, murdered. Dr. Brandt catches wife Freda trying to sneak out of the house with the money. He phones Captain Riley to come back: "I'm sorry, Captain, now I do need you after all. I think my wife just killed the bank clerk."
But Dan McKee, who was in the room when the lights went out, thinks different. That same night, he tracks down Dr. Brandt's daughter "Doris" (Frances Dee) at her apartment, and she agrees to help him solve the murder. We've already seen that she can't stand Freda, her stepmother, who wears a skin-tight gold lame dress as all wives did in these kinds of movies. The cops are now back on scene, and color is added by the Brandt's German immigrant cooks, who argue over how much schnitzengruben und cabbage was eaten at supper. Then, at the one-hour mark, the Fourth Wall is broken when the scene fades to black and we cut to a spotlit theater stage, where an MC informs us that we are watching a movie, not reading a book or attending a play, and therefore the plot is rushing past us: "Unlike those mediums, which can be paused (a book) or have intermissions (a play) a movie gives you no time to solve the mystery, yet you've been given all the same clues the police have. You'll now have one minute to guess the perpetrator before the movie resumes." I thought this was cool; a novel gimmick we've never before seen. But I didn't guess correctly.
After the minute is up, we cut back to the Brandt house, where the lights go out again, followed by another murder, which eliminates a major suspect. I shant tell you anymore, except to say that a heretofore unidentified character is introduced at the last minute who you'll think "just has to be" the murderer. But the cops have already arrested Dr. Brandt, who they say had a motive, and has already admitted he was going to kill someone. It's called "The Crime of the Century" because it's supposed to be the perfect, unsolvable murder. Two Big Thumbs Up, and once again a very high recommendation. A textbook example of how to do a "puzzle" mystery. The picture is razor sharp. ////
That's all I've got for tonight. I was saddened yesterday to see on Facebook (from Valley Relics) that The Great Wall Chinese restaurant on Sherman Way has gone out of business. During my 11 1/2 years with Pearl, The Great Wall was one of our favorite restaurants, for birthdays, Mothers Days, or just any old day for the lunch special. As Valley Relics pointed out, many movies, shows and TV commercials used The Great Wall as a location, my favorite being "Drive" with Ryan Gosling, in which there's a scene where Albert Brooks calls him in his car and actually says, "Meet me at The Great Wall." Then Gosling drives there and parks in the back parking lot! Man, it was a great place. I love Sherman Way and Reseda.
My blogging music tonight was "Caravan and the New Symphonia" by Caravan, my late night is Handel's Amadis of the Gali Opera. I hope you had a nice Saturday, and I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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