Classic Film Review: They Won't Believe Me (1947)

They Won't Believe Me is a film noir which stars Robert Young as Larry Ballantyne. When the film opens, Larry is on trial for the murder of his mistress Verna (Susan Hayward). He recounts to the jury his version of events, beginning with his relationship with his first mistress Janice (Jane Greer) and the way his wife Gretta (Rita Johnson) reacted to that. Larry's tale is unbelievable but his life hinges on it. Will the jury believe his version of events?

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. My first experience of Robert Young was in The Bride Walks Out (1936, reviewed here) and it was good to see him in a markedly different role. He gives a subtle performance as Larry - there's often a lot more going on in his face than you might originally notice. The scenes in the hospital, particularly, are demonstrative of that. Out of the three women, my favourite performance came from the relatively unknown Rita Johnson as Gretta Ballantyne. She simultaneously shows that she needs Larry's love desperately while manipulating him with her wealth. The most sympathetic woman of the three is supposed to be Janice, but even this is tricky because she planned to run away with Larry at one point. Janice's presence in the courtroom - and her status as a witness - necessitates her importance in the film as a whole and, in that sense, the character works. She also assists in showing a different side to Larry at the beginning of the film and the contrast between his relationship with her and his relationship with Verna is fascinating.

Ultimately, Larry suffers because he's unwilling to give up Gretta's money but he can't face a life on a lonely ranch with her. He's a selfish man but events do spiral out of his control in the end. However, sympathy for him has to be tempered by what he would've done if he'd had to - maybe he deserved to be on trial.

The Won't Believe Me is a suspenseful film that doesn't really seem to dip much. The last five minutes, especially, are brilliant with two twists that I didn't see coming. Overall, an excellent film.

Classic Film Review: I Confess (1953)

I Confess stars Montgomery Clift as Father Michael Logan, a priest who hears a confession of murder from employee Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) and is morally unable to act on it. When the police, headed by Karl Malden as Inspector Larrue, discover that Father Logan has links to the dead man, he quickly becomes a suspect himself. Unable to break Keller's confession, Father Logan faces the ultimate penalty for holding his silence.

With a cast that also includes Brian Aherne as Willy Robertson and Anne Baxter as Father Logan's past love Ruth (now married to Pierre Grandfort (Roger Dann)), I Confess certainly holds a lot of promise. And, for the most part, it lives up to it. The atmospheric introductions to Quebec City at the beginning set up a tense film, a feeling only enhanced by the confession in the opening minutes. From then on, the film is carried by Clift and he is truly excellent as Father Logan. His faith and stoicism could portray him as a silly figure but Clift manages to convey this as a deep sense of belief in something more important than the prospect of being hanged for a crime he didn't commit. The rest of the cast works well, especially O.E. Hasse who has a difficult role to play in convincing the audience he would rather a priest hang for a murder he committed than risk himself.

I had one major niggle. The short flashback sequence which depicts Father Logan's relationship with Ruth before and after the war is superfluous, nothing that couldn't have been explained more briefly in words alone. At that point, music overtook the film in something of an irritating manner, when it was used so well at other moments. However, other than this, the film slots together very well and creates and sustains tension until the very end. I honestly wasn't sure what the final half an hour would bring. An underrated Hitchcock - in fact, one I hadn't even heard of - and one definitely worth dusting off for the central performance alone.

Classic Film Review: Notorious (1946)

Notorious stars Ingrid Bergman as Alicia Huberman, the daughter of a Nazi sympathiser who has been convicted of treason. Alicia is convinced by the government, spearheaded by Devlin (Cary Grant), to infiltrate a group of her father's friends in Rio. While waiting for her assignment, Alicia vows to change her ways and begins a relationship with Devlin. However, her fake relationship with Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains) quickly becomes serious - from his point of view - and he proposes to her, despite the misgivings of his mother (Leopoldine Konstantin). What follows is a game of cat and mouse that leaves Alicia's life in danger.

This is an excellent film. Cary Grant is at his suave best as Devlin, masking everything wherever possible, and Bergman's bad-girl-turned-good act is very appealing. There is definite chemistry between the pair, only really quantifiable when you compare the Alicia/Devlin relationship with that of Alicia/Sebastian. However, Rains is excellent in the film as a whole, particularly the last few scenes where his panic shines through. The supporting players add to the tension but, really, this film belongs to Grant and Bergman.

There are genuine moments of tension and mystery, and with it being a Hitchcock film you're never quite sure where it will go. Some of the camera angles, particularly at the beginning after Alicia's drunken stupor, add to the effect and the scene of her 'realisation' later on is both perfectly shot and perfectly acted. You have to pay attention to the sharp dialogue at times and I did rewind to catch full meanings on occasion but it all conspires to create a riveting finale.

Notorious richly deserves its reputation as one of Hitchcock's best. I doubt the tension will diminish on second viewing or many viewings after that.

Classic Film Review: Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity stars Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff, an insurance salesman who gets drawn into a woman's plan to kill her husband for the insurance money. Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) is enticing to Neff and, together, they exact a plan to kill her husband in an accident which would trigger the 'double indemnity' clause of the insurance contract they have tricked him into signing. As an insurance salesman, Neff knows what works and what doesn't. He thinks he's developed the perfect crime but one kink in the armour and the shrewd investigations of his boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), throw a spanner in the works.

The tension of this film comes not from 'will they get caught' or 'who did it'. The film opens with Neff struggling into his darkened office and recording a confession for Keyes. From then all, it's all about how he got involved, how he tried to execute the plan and how it went wrong. It's about seeing how the dynamic changes between Neff and Phyllis and his growing friendship with her step-daughter, Lola (Jean Heather). Double Indemnity triumphs easily on this score: it's always interesting and small touches add to the tension throughout.

Even though the two protagonists are essentially unpleasant, the dark dynamic between them is what makes the film so good. Barbara Stanwyck was a revelation to me, having only previously seen her in the comedy The Mad Miss Manton (1938, reviewed here). There's so much going on behind the eyes that it's easy to think Phyllis is a blank but Stanwyck plays it very cleverly. MacMurray is as solid as usual and the rest of the cast fit in brilliantly.

This is definitely a classic and definitely a film I'm going to watch again. I think on second viewing I'll enjoy it even more.

Classic Film Review: Hotel Reserve (1944)

Hotel Reserve stars James Mason as an Austrian medical student living in France who is also a bit of an amateur photographer. His camera gets mixed up with someone else's and he finds himself arrested as a spy. The authorities believe his innocence but send him back to the hotel to investigate his fellow guests under the threat of having his naturalisation bid revoked. Among the people Vadassy has to investigate are the owner Suzanne Koch (Lucie Mannheim), who seems to be in a conspiracy with Emil Schmiler (Frederick Valk), and honeymooning couple, Andre (Herbert Lom) and Odette Roux (Patricia Medina).

While this film is peppered with tension, it didn't grip me as much as I thought it might. Mason is excellent as the anxious student stuck between doing something he really doesn't want to do and the threat of deportation. His scenes with Frederick Valk are particularly interesting but the film suffers from the audience knowing the truth all along. While this is meant to add to the suspense, it serves to make Vadassy's interactions with the rest of the cast a little redundant. For example, the innocent Mary Skelton (Clare Hamilton) would have been a viable suspect for her closeness to Vadassy, had the culprit not already been known. Plus, listing the suspects on the screen for the audiences' benefit was an annoying and lazy interlude.

Hotel Reserve does have some clever scenes - and some amusing ones too. The moment when Vadassy uses the brash Robert Duclos (Raymond Lovell) adds some lightness to a rather dark film. The finale chase was a little predictable but no less enjoyable for that fact. However, I do feel that the fate of Emil Schmiler could and should have been explored more, especially in its effect on Suzanne Koch. It was a subplot, yes, but one that needed more tying up than it had.

Overall, this is a good James Mason film, worth seeing for the leading man alone. While it is nothing spectacular, it does contain a grim foreboding of what is to come in France during the war.

Classic Film Review: Bedlam (1946)

Bedlam stars Boris Karloff as Master George Sims, fictional ruler of the famous Bedlam hospital in the eighteenth century. Nell Bowen (Anna Lee) becomes interested in raising money to improve the conditions at the hospital after seeing inside. However, Sims doesn't want her to disrupt his profitable and enjoyable system of control and mistreatment. He has her committed to Bedlam where she tries to alter things from the inside while her Quaker friend (Richard Fraser) and Whig politician friend (Leyland Hodgson) try to free her.

Aside from a few moments in the middle, this film wasn't as dark as I expected it to be. Much of the preamble takes place outside of Bedlam and focuses on Nell's interactions with Sims, her benefactor (Billy House) and her two friends. By the time she actually ends up in Bedlam there isn't as much tension associated with the prospect as I thought there should be. However, some of the scenes once she's inside more than make up for the lengthy preamble as she faces her fears and steadfastly opposes Sims.

Karloff puts in an impressive, occasionally subtle, performance as Sims, particularly engaging in his early scenes when he's putting on a mask of congeniality. Richard Fraser is perhaps too stern as the Quaker - although that is essentially his character trait - but Billy House as Lord Mortimer is enjoyable, infuriating and sometimes just odd. Special mentions must also go to Glen Vernon as the gilded boy, a very small part that was utterly enthralling, and Vic Holbrook as Tom.

And what of Anna Lee? At time during the opening and middle I found the character a little too upright, as though Lee was trying too hard to be aloof. As the character mellowed, so did the performance and I warmed to the character as the film went on.

Bedlam has several layers to it, depicting a few characters with tantalising backstories I wished were covered in more detail. While it isn't a spectacular film, it has a quiet intensity to it which builds throughout. Sims fate is one that I think will linger with me for a while and that's down to the power of Karloff's face. Worth a watch for the 'battle' scenes between Karloff and Lee alone.

Classic Film Review: Spellbound (1945)

Spellbound stars Ingrid Bergman as a psychiatrist who goes to great lengths to protect a patient while she works out the truth of his case. The patient (Gregory Peck) originally appears at the institution where Dr Constance Peterson (Bergman) works, masquerading as the new chief, Dr Edwardes. However, Constance soon works out that he's not who he says he is and suspects that he has something to do with the disappearance of Dr Edwardes. This is complicated by the fact that Constance has found herself immediately attracted to the patient. She conceals his location from the police then sets off to find and then cure him, uncovering the truth in the process.

This is an atmospheric Hitchcock film with a supporting cast that includes Michael Chekov as Dr Alexander Brulov and Leo G. Carroll as outgoing chief Dr Murchison. The concept of psychoanalysis is explained in sometimes clunky terms during the film but it makes a good basis for the plot. To be fully immersed in the story you may have to believe wholeheartedly in psychoanalysis but, on the other hand, it's a good film even if you're ambivalent. The short dream sequence devised by Salvador Dali is too short for my liking but certainly adds something to the film.

The beauty of this one, though, lies in the leading actors. Bergman is phenomenal, from her first moments as a calm and in control doctor through to the finale where she's fighting to save the man she loves. There are too many excellent individual scenes to mention but the climax between her and the villain takes some beating. Equally, Gregory Peck manages a role that could have become far too melodramatic very well. During his episodes, yes, the patient is unpredictable and weak but this contrasts nicely with his obvious affection towards Constance. Also excellent is Michael Chekov as the talkative Dr Brulov who lightens the tension a little with his non-stop chatter though there is more to him than that.

Of course, there are aspects of this film which were badly handled. The completely artificial ski scene was one, which could have been better handled with a director like Hitchcock. In addition, I felt that the superfluous characters who were introduced at the beginning (another doctor and a female patient) wasted a little bit of time. While they were there to set up Constance as a character, I don't think they entirely worked. However, these are small gripes. Overall, I found Spellbound to be a captivating film and one which would've cemented my love for Ingrid Bergman - if it wasn't already cemented, that is.

Classic Film Review: Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Bad Day at Black Rock is a riveting film which stars Spencer Tracy as John Macreedy, a stranger who gets off the train at Black Rock - the first time the train has stopped there in four years. It's a small town full of people suspicious at his appearance, more so when he starts asking questions about a Japanese farmer who used to live in the area. The main ringleader of the opposition is the intimidating Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), aided by his gang of friends including Hector (Lee Marvin) and Pete Wirth (John Ericson). However, two members of the community are more receptive to Macreedy's mission - Sheriff Horn (Dean Jagger) and Doc Velie (Walter Brennan). But as the search becomes more dangerous will Macreedy make it out of Black Rock alive?

Spencer Tracy gives a phenomenal performance as the one-armed stranger, especially considering he doesn't really talk that much. His mannerisms and quiet nature are central to the film and make for compelling viewing. Equally, the supporting cast are all very good, the most notable being Dean Jagger as the sheriff whose drunken state and nervous disposition contrast well with Tracy's Macreedy. Anne Francis also turns in a decent performance as Liz Wirth, though as the only woman in the cast she feels a bit of an anomaly at times.

There are two things that make this film exception apart from Tracy: the setting and the dialogue. The former is integral to the film, showing the desolation of Black Rock and Macreedy's isolation once he's there with no way of escape but it's used very effectively. One of the most important conversations of the film takes place on the railway track, a symbol about the inevitable progression of the story if ever I saw one. Equally, the dialogue throughout is sharp and rarely redundant. Almost every scene of this film is a work of art that moves the story forwards.

Overall, this is a tense film with some memorable moments, although these are as likely to be the 'quiet' ones as the moments of truth and revelation.

A Note About the Downton Deaths (Spoilers)

In the middle of series three of Downton Abbey I was one of many shocked by the sudden death of Lady Sybil following childbirth. I'll admit I was in floods of tears, then and the following twice I watched the episode. But, following the Christmas special that saw Matthew Crawley crash his car and die on the road, I was left a bit...cold actually. Luckily, I can easily ascertain why.

Sybil's death was sudden, yes, but it was as foreshadowed during the episode as Matthew's was. We saw her loving conversations with Tom, Mary and Cora; we knew the pompous doctor was going to lead to a dead end - possibly quite literally. But this foreshadowing didn't ruin the surprise because there was always a chance she'd pull through. After all, they'd be pretty stupid or brave to kill off such a popular character so swiftly. Whereas, with Matthew, the rumours about Dan Stevens's departure had been circulating for months. It was so damn obvious that he was going to bow out - if not in the Christmas special then in the early part of series four - that the emotion was sapped from the moment. It became all about the actor while Sybil's death was all about the character. I don't seriously believe that the cast and crew couldn't have kept silent if they'd really been induced.

Perhaps the most important aspect of any character death is emotional resonance. During Sybil's actual death scene I was invested, yes, but I didn't cry. What actually set off the tears were the reactions of the staff. Once Thomas started blubbing I did too. The difficulty with Matthew's death is that we had the 'event' but no emotional resonance afterwards. Okay, we saw Mary with her baby conflicting with the harsh images of her husband lying dead but there was no moment of revelation. There may be in the opening scenes of series four and, if there is, that will make it better but the actual death will have lost much of its emotional resonance by then. I can't help feeling that the audience has been let down a bit. There is, of course, the credible chance I'm in a minority on this one.

Classic Film Review: Heaven Knows, Mr Allison (1957)

Heaven Knows, Mr Allison tells the story of Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum), a marine who drifts to shore on a Pacific island to find that the only person there is Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr), a nun who has just buried the priest she accompanied to the island. They make plans to escape the island but these turn sour when Japanese troops turn up to make a base on the island. They are forced to seek refuge in a cave and see what happens next but the close proximity causes its own problems.

There are a few similarities in tone between this film and The African Queen (1951, reviewed here) but any notion of a love plot is complicated by Sister Angela's habit. The romantic tension between Mitchum and Kerr works a little but can't last. Essentially, we have to care about their survival and not any hope of a romantic conclusion. The film achieves this, in part, by making Cpl Allison a good, down to earth man who has no pretensions of intelligence. This role was the first of Mitchum's that I've had no problems with but it suited him perfectly. As for Kerr, her Irish accent did get a little grating at times (and some words got lost) but her best moments came as Sister Angela finally cracks while a drunk Allison is arguing with her. The veneer of calm she's managed to maintain throughout makes this moment all the more compelling.

The third star of the film is undoubtedly the setting. Beautifully directed and filmed on location, the island comes to life, playing an important role as the film progresses. Heaven Knows, Mr Allison is a decent film hampered partly by a bad title. It's worth a watch as an excellent Robert Mitchum film and as part of Deborah Kerr's catalogue of good performances.

A Funny Thing Happened While Watching Black Narcissus

I've watched some cracking classic films this year (so far - it's not quite over yet and my hard disk recorder is full of them). However, along with All About Eve (1950), Indiscreet (1958), Bringing Up Baby (1938) and Monkey Business (1952), one of my favourites was Black Narcissus (1947) which starred Deborah Kerr, David Farrar and Kathleen Byron. Something happened while I was watching it that was a little bizarre but I didn't relate at the time - it's not really the kind of thing you put into a film review and I forgot to write a follow-up post about it.

Anyone who's familiar with Black Narcissus will know that it's a deeply atmospheric film with the constant sound of wind blighting the convent that sits high up in the Himalayas. Just as things were getting very interesting, I heard a squeaking coming from the kitchen. Shaken, I hit the pause button and glanced sideways. The dog was fighting with what I thought was a mouse. I yelled at her and she dropped it under the utensils trolley. There was a long moment then the thing reared up, bounced across the room making the most hideous noise and went straight into the crate of paperwork we have stored under the table.

Now, being a brave and mature girl, the first thing I did was call my father down from upstairs. I think I garbled something like - 'dog mouse will you - just get down here!'

He came downstairs, a little disgruntled because he still didn't know what I was babbling about and proceeded to have a look under the table. All the while, the television screen is fixed on a terrifyingly dark vision of a desolate convent.

It wasn't a mouse, it was a baby bird. That explained, perhaps, why the noise had been so violent (squawking not squeaking) but raised the question of how the dog had got hold of the creature in the first place. She's a docile little thing, scratches you by accident occasionally but doesn't have a vicious bone in her body. She wouldn't have pounced which means the poor thing must have fallen.

Anyway, my father took it outside and I waited a good few minutes before I put Black Narcissus back on. The rest of the film was seen with the memory of a dying squawk in my ears - it certainly added to the tension.

Classic Film Review: The Towering Inferno (1974)

This famous disaster film probably needs no introduction: an exceedingly large building catches fire putting lots of people in grave danger. The Towering Inferno alternates between epic spectacle and mediocre characterisation and dialogue - with a few exceptions.

Because of the scale of this disaster we're introduced briefly to numerous people. Chief amongst them is architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) whose effective but costly plans for the building have been ignored in favour of cheaper options by Jim Duncan (William Holden) and his son-in-law Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain). Doug is also embroiled in a secret love affair with Susan (Faye Dunaway) but they're not the only ones keeping secrets - Danny Bigelow (Robert Wagner) has been sleeping with his secretary Lorrie (Susan Flannery) and they've decided to turn the phones off for a little peace and quiet while conman resident Harlee Claiborne (Fred Astaire) has been planning to work his magic on Lisolette (Jennifer Jones) but when disaster strikes she's worried about saving the children of a deaf woman who she fears hasn't heard the alarm go off. There are many other characters we're introduced to during the course of the film but the most important of those unmentioned so far is Chief Mike O'Hallorhan (Steve McQueen) who has to coordinate the rescue attempts and an increasingly volatile situation.

It's difficult to care about most of the characters in this film because we're only fleetingly introduced to them. At one point I was more bothered about a cat being saved than most of the humans. Unsurprisingly, one of those I had most affection for was the conman played by Fred Astaire - he added a little charm to the opening sections and proved that even if he was past his dancing days he could still make a walk look musical. His love interest, Lisolette, is the character I think the audience takes to most. Her efforts to save a pair of children then combat her own fears to try and get to safety provide some of the most tension-ridden moments of the film. Because, although the spectacle of disaster films can enjoyable, tension must come out of caring for characters and what happens to them. That wasn't present far too often in this film.

On a visual level, The Towering Inferno is a joy to watch. It fails on an emotional level with some terrible dialogue and bizarre decisions to move the plot along. The set-up feels as though it takes too long, especially given that the time doesn't really endear the 'important' characters to the audience, and then the time between the fire starting and actually taking hold is also too long. In the midst of this there was supposed to be character tension but that really didn't work for me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching this as a disaster film with some excellent stunts and moments, although it isn't one I'll be eager to revisit in the future - if I do it'll be purely for Fred Astaire and Jennifer Jones (and the cat).

Classic Film Review: Victim (1961)

This is truly a ground-breaking film for the simple fact that it is reportedly the first English language film to use the word 'homosexual'. It stars Dirk Bogarde as married barrister Meville Farr who becomes embroiled in a blackmail case after a young man Barrett (Peter McEnery) commits suicide when he believes pictures of him and Farr together are going to be exposed. The beginning of the film concentrates on Barrett's escape from the police and Farr's wilful ignorance of his attempts to contact him, believing that Barrett is trying to blackmail him. This mistake compounds the guilt Farr feels on hearing of Barrett's suicide and he is determined to unmask the blackmailer and seek out other victims.

It feels as though the preamble (Barrett's escape) goes on a little longer than necessary but it does introduce the main characters and suspects. After that, it settles down nicely to become a very tense film, full of hidden meanings and lives. First amongst these is Farr himself and relationship with his wife Laura (Sylvia Syms). Perhaps my main criticism of this film is Syms's performance. A combination of poor dialogue (the dialogue suited the male characters but not her) and a restrained acting style which felt wrong in the situation, served to make her distinctly unmemorable in this film. I can only assume the role didn't suit her because I was more than impressed by her performance in Conspiracy of Hearts (1960).

Dirk Bogarde outshines himself as Melville Farr. He is a successful man with a happy home life who has tried to reject the desires which have plagued him. He has been completely honest with his wife but is prepared to sacrifice both her and his career to do the right thing. There are also some stellar performances from the rest of the cast, particularly John Barrie as the detective dealing with the blackmail case and Norman Bird as Harold. Special mention has to go to Mavis Villiers who plays Madge, an easy-going model who seems to be friends with half of the gay crowd in London and is perfectly comfortable with it. It's a shame to discover she starred in comparatively few films.

This is a dark film with some excellent performances throughout. While I think the scenes between Farr and his wife could've been better, I have few gripes with the rest of this film.

'I've Seen This Somewhere Before...'

Foreshadowing is one of those things that rarely occurs in first drafts. Unless you've got the multi-tasking mind of a genius, that is. I barely manage to keep track of my characters, keep a vague idea of my plot, and grasp the realisation that I have to draw it to a conclusion at some point without worrying about the intricacies.

Then came the rewriting stage and I started panicking - yes, I was telling a story, but did my novel work on any other level. I was whining constantly to myself: I want to create something that'll last. Well, to be fair, isn't that what we all want?

Something that adds another dimension to a novel is foreshadowing. I'm a huge fan of Jessica Page Morrell's book Between the Lines, a masterclass in writing the subtle elements of fiction. Although many writing books can feel like repetitive wastes of time and money, this one gives practical advice and uses many examples to back up the theories.

According to Morrell, foreshadowing can be used to lay the groundwork for three specific things: set pieces, character transformations and secrets. The one that I've been focusing on in my latest rewrite is the notion of set pieces.

One dramatic scene towards the climax of my novel involves my heroine being thrown violently against a table, garnering herself a nasty head wound in the process. This action in itself is unsurprising given the situation but I wanted more so I dropped in clues along the way that everything was about to spiral out of control. More than this, I concocted a mirror scene to take place in an earlier chapter.

Lily, my heroine, has a perfectly plausible fall down some steps after suffering a night of panic and exhaustion. She is cleaned up by her friend, Marie, in a scene that foreshadows the aftermath of the table incident detailed above. By inserting this scene I aim to increase the tension a little as the reader realises that Lily isn't immune to injury. Also, I wanted the echoes in the second clean-up scene to confuse the reader. Marie's intentions are ambiguous throughout and I feel this unseats logic even more.

Added to this, screenwriters are often told to repeat important images. This fixes something of importance in the viewer's mind and highlights the significance of it. Marie's helping Lily says a lot about her as a character at both junctures.

See? Not something I could've accomplished in my first draft!

Something to try if you're struggling with foreshadowing is to imagine the individual beats along the way to a particular incident. If A has to happen for B to happen so that C can occur what about the bit between A and B? If it's exposition of some variety then perhaps it can be utilised to foreshadow forthcoming events as well as filling in backstory or plot detail.