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from April 15, 2001 |
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CORRIDOR OF MYSTERY |
DARK
CORRIDORS VOL. 2, No. 20 |
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MYSTERY MOVIES YOU PROBABLY NEVER SAW |
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Some wonderful mysteries
seldom show up on video
of TheColumnists.com
TELEVISION is now the principal home of good mystery movies, thanks to PBS' venerable "Mystery!" series, the A&E cable network's "Mysteries to Die For" franchise, the growing interest of Canadian television in producing original mystery movies and the durability of "women in jeopardy" movies on the networks.
But the bad news is that some of the most interesting classic mystery movies seldom turn up on television, aren't in general release on video or DVD and almost never get revival bookings on the big screen except at the most creative repertory cinemas in the biggest cities. I fear they'll be totally forgotten if some of us don't keep talking about them with those who share the love of mystery.
It might be a good idea if we all started keeping a master list of the neglected mystery movies others tell us about, so we'll remember them in case we get a rare chance to see them. Those rare moments do come along--as they did in the San Francisco Bay Area last year when David Packard's Stanford Theater ran an extremely rare 3-D film festival and revived two seldom seen mysteries from 1953--"The Glass Web" with Edward G. Robinson and the original version of Mickey Spillane's "I, the Jury"--both in their original 3-D glory.
I know I'm dying to see the early Nero Wolfe movies nobody ever revives, all the Mr. Moto films I missed as a kid, the many Lone Wolf films I've never seen, the Crime Doctor pictures I haven't seen since childhood and the rest of the Michael Shayne mysteries with Lloyd Nolan that slipped by me.
Here are some of my favorites, most of them seldom revived today:
1. THE BLACK CAMEL (1931)
This is one of the few Charlie Chan mysteries that hasn't been rerun to death on TV in recent years and isn't in any of those boxed sets of Chan films you'll find at every video store. Adapted from one of Earl Derr Biggers' best Chan novels, the movie stars Warner Oland as Chan and is now the second oldest Chan film that survives today. It takes place in Chan's actual home territory--Hawaii--and involves the murder of an actress. It also features Robert Young as a young romantic lead--and Bela Lugosi is the same year he starred on film as "Dracula." You can find this film on video through specialty houses, but the quality is marginal. Still, it's a superb Chan mystery everyone should see.
2. NON-STOP NEW YORK (1937)
One of my all-time favorite movies, but hardly anyone has seen this. It's a very Hitchcock-like thriller that much resembles "The Lady Vanishes," which Hitch made the following year. The wonderful Anna Lee plays a young British woman who witnesses a murder on a quick and dizzy trip to New York, but isn't quite sure what she saw by the time she returns to London. When the wrong man is about to be convicted of the murder, Anna has to be rushed back to New York to name the real killer. This sets up the film's wild premise: Anna and romantic interest John Loder must board the world's biggest and fastest skyliner--a bizarre hotel of the air with multiple decks, outdoor observation platforms and all kinds of places for the bad guys to lurk, trying to knock off Anna before the trip is over. Directed with great flair by Robert Stevenson, who was then Lee's husband and directed her in the original "King Solomon's Mines" with Paul Robeson the same year. This film is available through Sinister Cinema and Foothill Video, two specialists in classic public domain videos.
3. DARK WATERS (1944)
Based on the book by Francis Marion Cockrell, this is a fanciful little mystery in which orphaned near-drowning victim Merle Oberon comes to the remote Louisiana estate of her aunt and uncle to recuperate and, hopefully, get over her water phobia. Local doctor Franchot Tone is very helpful, especially once Merle suspects these aren't her real relatives, but a pair of homicidal impersonators. Directed by Andre de Toth ("House of Wax") and written by Hitchcock alumnus Joan Harrison ("Rebecca," "Suspicion," "Foreign Correspondent"). This is one of those murky swamp mysteries with lots of quicksand. Boy, do I love those! And it has Oscar winners Thomas Mitchell ("Stagecoach," 1939) and Fay Bainter ("Jezebel," 1938) as the fake aunt and uncle, along with the genially murderous Elisha Cook, Jr. Available on video, if you look long enough.
4. WHEN STRANGERS MARRY (1944)
Why on earth this film remains obscure is unfathomable. Directed by William Castle, who's best known today for his hoopla-heavy horror movies of the 1950s ("House on Haunted Hill," "13 Ghosts," etc.), it's a devilishly clever noir thriller made for Monogram pictures, starring future Oscar-winner Kim Hunter ("A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951) as the young bride of future Oscar-winner Dean Jagger ("Twelve O'Clock High," 1949), who may be a homicidal killer. Her only ally in solving the mystery is her former boy friend, future superstar Robert Mitchum in his first leading role. This is a gem of a mystery and ought to be right up there with "Detour" among the celebrated low-budget films of the 1940s.
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5. SHOCK (1946)
This is a very efficient little noir in which Lynn Bari witnesses a murder that so disturbs her that she has to undergo psychiatric therapy, not realizing that her psychiatrist is the real killer. It gave a strong leading role to Vincent Price, who hadn't yet become a movie "monster."
6. THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE (1947)
Almost nobody pays any attention to Lawrence Tierney these days, probably because his heavy drinking habit ruined his career when he was one of Hollywood's hottest new tough guys after playing the notorious gangster in "Dillinger" (1945). This is Tierney at his nasty best in a grim RKO noir film as a hood who commits a robbery-murder, then hitches a ride with average guy Ted North, who's been drinking a bit too much. Tierney made a comeback in his sober older years as Vinnie, the friendly bartender in the "cops saloon" in the "Police Story" TV series.
7. PIER 23 (1951)
Though my memory of this is hazy, it starred Hugh Beaumont as a private eye-type whose specialty was waterfront mysteries. I believe it was a collection of half-hour pilot episodes for an aborted TV series that were strung together into a movie and released by the bottom-feeder producer, Robert L. Lippert. But I remember I really loved this and thought Beaumont was a very suave sort of investigator--and nobody thought casting him was such a goofy idea since he hadn't yet become Ward Cleaver in TV's "Leave It To Beaver." The movie co-starred Richard Travis and Ann Savage, two of my favorite B-movie people. I'd love to see it again myself, so it's still on my "must see" list.
8. THE GLASS WEB (1953)
This extremely clever mystery is set in the world of network television, circa 1953, and stars Edward G. Robinson as the expert research consultant for a reality-based crime show who uncovers the real facts behind a case that's being dramatized. With a solid performance by John Forsythe in an offbeat role for him. Adapted from the novel by Max Simon Ehrlich called "Spin the Glass Web." If you ever get a chance to see this in its original 3-D version, don't miss it!
9. BLACK WIDOW (1954)
Not to be confused with Bob Rafelson's 1987 film of the same name with Debra Winger, this is an early CinemaScope film, based on the Patrick Quentin novel featuring Van Heflin as Broadway producer Peter Duluth, working to solve the murder of a young writer played by Peggy Ann Garner, who's found dead in his apartment. Patrick Quentin, like Ellery Queen, actually was two writers (Hugh Wheeler, Richard Wilson Webb) working under a phony name. The Duluth series of novels ran from 1936-48. Leonard Maltin's video guide doesn't rate this film highly, but I found it clever and intelligent with an all-star cast that included Ginger Rogers and George Raft. Seldom seen in its original widescreen version.
10. THE DETECTIVE a.k.a. FATHER BROWN (1954)
Most
younger mystery readers know very little about the great G.K.
Chesterton's clerical sleuth, Father Brown, who made his literary
debut in 1911, but was still showing some spark 70 years later
when Kenneth More played him in a British TV series that turned
up on PBS' "Mystery!" series. But this 1954 film gave
the great Alec Guinness his one and only chance to play Father
Brown at his whimsical best, tackling the mystery of some stolen
art works. Look for future Oscar winner Peter Finch ("Network,"
1976) in the fine supporting cast, along with the immortal Ernest
Thesiger, best remembered as the mad scientist who shrinks people
and puts them in bottles in "The Bride of Frankenstein."
This is available on video, but seldom revived elsewhere.
© 2001 by Ron Miller.
The "Dark Waters" photo is © 1999 by Films Around
the World. The "Black Widow" photo is © 1954 by
Twentieth Century Fox.
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You can comment on this column or contact Ron Miller with an email to: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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