Last night, in "The Girl Who Came Back"(1935), "Gilda Gillespie" (Shirley Grey) is the only female member of a sophisticated counterfeit ring. These guys have class; they live in a mansion owned by their leader "Brewster" (Noel Madison), they wear tuxes as a matter of course, and when we meet them, they are standing around watching Brewster forge a painting. He's quite good. The gang had to switch mediums because they were caught printing money, though even in that case, none of them did time because the cops couldn't prove it.
They're the best at what they do, the cream of the crop, but Gilda wants out. Her Dad was a notorious convicted "engraver". She's inherited his talent but doesn't want the life anymore. Hoping to keep her on board, Brewster tells her about a jewel heist he's got lined up. Gilda agrees to go along, just so she can foil it. She ends up in possession of the gems and mails them back to their owner. Then she and her Aunt (May Beatty) move to California so Gilda can start a new life. Aunty likes to read racy magazines, which Gilda now decides are a no-no."No more Ballyhoo", she tells Aunty, referring to a tell-all mag. "From now on, it's Ladies Home Journal for you, and start working on your best Boston accent."
Gilda wants to "use her head for something besides a hat rack", which was actually in the dialogue, and I liked it because my Dad used to say that when we were kids: "Use your head for something besides a hat rack." She gets a job in a bank, and starts getting noticed by the manager (Sidney Blackmer) for her efficiency. One day she discovers a counterfeit bill that has fooled an experienced teller. Blackmer is impressed enough to promote her to his personal assistant. He's also falling for her, but doesn't know of her counterfeiting past in New York, the legacy of her father.
Then, at a party thrown by his mother, Blackmer is introduced to "Mr. Zarabella" (Torben Meyer), an artist who tells the story of a brilliant student he once had, a girl who turned out to be a counterfeiter. When Gilda arrives at the party, she sees Zarabella and freaks out. What is she to do? Blackmer the bank manager has no idea of her past, but the New York cops are also looking for her, in connection to the jewel robbery, and so is Brewster and his tuxedo gang, who -beneath their cultured exteriors - are ruthless killers when the need arises.
Brewster finds Gilda at her bank, and blackmails her into giving him the combo to the safe, which has 350 gees inside. She spills it, but she's smarter than he is. It's a setup; Gilda has alerted the cops. But the gang captures Sidney Blackmer, who by now is Gilda's fiance. All she wanted was to go straight but the gang wouldn't let her. A major-league shootout finishes the picture. The mid-1930s are an interesting time for movies. Big budget studios like MGM were already creating the Golden Age, with massive sound stage sets and stylish productions. This is when Movie Stars were raised to mythical status (an invention of the Silent era, but perfected in the early to mid-30s). But there were many actors and actresses of exceptional talent, who didn't make the A-list who were just as talented as the major stars. Shirley Grey is one. Sidney Blackmer went on to greater success, including a major role in "Rosemary's Baby" 33 years later. Grey did co-star in "Phantom Ship", however, a B-Horror classic w/Bela Lugosi. Two Big Thumbs Up for this clever, pre-Code programmer with an above average script. The picture is very good. ////
The previous night we found a Lippert/Hammer co-production called "Terror Street"(1953) starring Dan Duryea as a United States Air Force pilot returning to England to try and reconcile with his estranged wife. They met during the war, when Duryea was stationed at a British base. She worked for the Red Cross. They quickly fell in love and married, but flying was his life, and he deceived her by accepting a six-month commission in the States. Feeling unloved, she eventually accepted the advances of another man. Duryea is back to try and win her over. A fellow pilot has risked court-martial by smuggling him into England. His American superiors don't even know he's gone.
He goes to their old apartment, but she's not there. All her clothes are gone, the closet's empty. He goes to her best friends house, and after some prodding, gets the friend to admit that his wife has taken her own apartment, and - yes - she's seeing other men. Duryea goes there to talk to her, but there's another man there, who knocks him cold. Any time you see John Chandos in the credits of an English movie, you know you're in for trouble. He's the 1950s equivalent to George Zucco; always playing a bad guy, and not just any bad guy but the worst bad guy in the world. He is that here. After knocking out Duryea, he pulls a gun on his wife and demands "the tapes". Blackmail is apparent. When she claims she doesn't have them, Chandos shoots her dead, then puts the gun in the unconscious Duryea's hand, knowing the cops will find out they were estranged and think he killed her. It doesn't help that Duryea was drunk when he got there.
He wakes up in time to see the jam he's in, and leaves. Chandos has anonymously phoned the cops, who are on their way to the apartment. Using fire escapes and rooftops, Duryea manages to enter the flat of the wide eyed "Jenny Miller" (Ann Gudrun), who at first is naturally terrifed to find a man in her bedroom. but then, he very quickly gains her confidence, and - at the screenwriter's request -he explains the plot formula, the old familiar, "they think I'm a murderer and I've got 36 hours to prove my innocence". For some reason, she believes him. Maybe it's because she's a missionary who works in a London homeless shelter and wants to help the downtrodden. Duryea is also bleeding from hopping her barbed wire fence. Her nurturing instincts have caused her to overlook the fact that she doesn't know him, and he's just broken into her home. But he's Dan Duryea, and we've a plot to unfold, and hey! - he's just explained to her the 36 hour/innocence deal, so here we go. She's gonna help him avoid the cops. We've seen this in several movies.
The next thing he does is confront the doorman at his dead wife's apartment, who gets his jollies by listening in on residents' phones conversations. Duryea wrings out of this chap the names of his wife's male friends, and finds out where Chandos lives, at a big, swanky pad owned by a rich lady. Chandos claims to be with the embassy, in the Intelligence Division. "Yes," he tells Duryea, "I did know your wife, but only socially. We had a mutual friend." Duryea calls BS, because Chandos was paying for his wife's new apartment. He's staring to suspect Chandos may be the killer, when all of a sudden, back at his own flat, he's attacked by a knife-wielding psycho named "Henry Slosson" (Kenneth Griffith), whom he overtakes, being Air Force-trained in self defense. A cowering Slosson tells him the reason for the attack: "I was in love with your wife also. I wanted to kill you because I was told you killed her." Who told him that? John Chandos, of course. He isn't really with British Intelligence, he's just a con man living off of rich old ladies while sleeping with beautiful young ones. He's a sociopath who was using Henry Slosson to get rid of Duryea, but it backfired.
Duryea now asks Jenny Miller to help him get into a safe deposit box that may contain tape-recorded evidence of a schmuggling operation. Henry Slosson's uncle, an importer, smuggles diamonds. Chandos has been blackmailing him. Duryea's wife found out, and he killed her. One comment : who the hell named this movie? "Terror Street?" It sounds like a horror flick or a Jack the Ripper thriller. Instead, it's a "Man Against the Clock" Noir, about a guy trying to prove he didn't kill his wife. Sweet Jenny the missionary helps Duryea, while John Chandos plays the seemingly unstoppable Man of Evil. Two Big Thumbs Up. Lippert delivers as always. The picture is razor sharp.
And that's all for a Friday evening. My blogging music was "Summer in Paradise" by The Beach Boys, and "D.S. al Coda" by National Health. My late night is Wagner's Flying Dutchman. I wish you a nice weekend and I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment