Sorry, Wrong Number

Talkie of the Week: Sorry, Wrong Number

USA 1948, 89 minutes, black & white, Paramount Pictures. Director: Anatole Litvak, Written by Lucille Fletcher, Based on the radio play “Sorry, Wrong Number” by Lucille Fletcher, Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Harold Vermilyea, Ed Begley, Leif Erickson, William Conrad, John Bromfield, Jimmy Hunt, Dorothy Neumann, Paul Fierro

Plot summary: Leona Stevenson overhears two men plotting a murder of a woman who turns out to be herself.

Review: Today, the lovely Barbara Stanwyck would have celebrated her 105th birthday. In dear memory of an unforgettable leading lady, I have thus decided to present Sorry, Wrong Number, a film noir for which she received her fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 1949.

Originally a radio play that featured Agnes Moorehead in a solo performance in 1943, Sorry, Wrong Number was turned into a screenplay by Lucille Fletcher, the playwright herself, and conquered the silver screen in the fall of 1948. Starring Barbara Stanwyck as invalid Leona Stevenson who overhears two men plotting a murder on the phone, the story is dark and suspenseful in writing, as well as in effect. Told in real time with the use of explanatory flashbacks, Leona’s desperate attempt to inform the authorities are as futile as her effort to reach her husband. The phone, as her only medium of communication with the outside world, turns into a beacon of hope and sorrow when she finally realizes
that the victim is going to be herself. Haunting in her desperation, Barbara Stanwyck’s performance is never quiet but rather striking in its fierceness and color. Supported by an excellent co-star, Burt Lancaster, as Henry Stevenson and an overall convincing cast, Ms. Stanwyck’s fear and constriction reaches an almost tangible level with every phone call she places, every secret she learns. Her face reflects the horrid situation she finds herself trapped in, the mere panic she begins to absorb. It is the music by Franz Waxman and the expert use of shadows and light which does the rest, affecting the audience with a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Reclaiming her role as Leona on CBS’ Lux Radio Theater in 1950, Barbara Stanwyck showed her full range of emotions in a part that was the last to get her the attention from the Motion Picture Academy until she finally received an Honorary Oscar in 1981. As one of her many films that left a mark until today, Sorry, Last Number is a classic that never gets old but has the potential to attract an entire new generation of fans. With its enthralling style and Ms. Stanwyck’s powerhouse performance, the film is perfect to bring sunshine to an autumn-like July and a beautiful way to honor her today.

Available on DVD, CD and as radio podcast.

Please Murder Me

Talkie of the Week: Please Murder Me

USA 1956, 78 minutes, black & white, Distributors Corporation America. Director: Peter Godfrey, Written by David T. Chantler, Ewald André Dupont, Donald Hyde and Al C. Ward. Cast: Raymond Burr, Angela Lansbury, Dick Foran, John Dehner, Lamont Johnson, Robert Griffin, Denver Pyle, Alex Sharp, Lee Miller, Russell Thorson

Plot summary: Attorney Craig Carlson falls in love with his best friend’s wife and asks for his approval to marry her. When his friend is found dead a week later, his widow is accused of murder and Craig defends her only to discover her darkest secrets.

Review: In Please Murder Me, Raymond Burr was cast as attorney Craig Carlson who falls in love with Myra Leeds, his best friend’s wife, played by Angela Lansbury. That was in 1956, the same year he started working on the Perry Mason pilot before she show went on the air on CBS to be a great success from 1957 – 66. The movie was Raymond Burr’s test run as a successful lawyer and a way for him to prove his leading qualities. A supporting actor since 1946, he finally got the break he deserved and made the best of it. Always immersing himself in his parts, Raymond Burr brought a lot of ruthless energy to his performance and built up a beautiful chemistry with his female co-star.

Angela Lansbury, a Hollywood veteran since 1944, brought an eerie quality to her performance, creating suspense and sizzling moments with Raymond Burr. As character actors, they both took the plot and made the best of it by adding depth to this emotional drama.

As a “typical” film noir, it is hard to summarize the plot without giving too much away. It is safe to say however that this film won’t leave you untouched. Thanks to the profound talent and expressiveness of its two leads, the film takes the step from diverting to excellent. Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr aside, Please Murder Me was blessed with a decent cast of actors who breathed life into their characters and made the story believable. The perfect film for this moody April weather and a rainy Sunday night.

Available on DVD and online.

The Third Man

Talkie of the Week: The Third Man

UK 1949, 104 minutes, black & white, British Lion Films. Director: Carol Reed, Written by Graham Greene, Based on a story by Graham Greene, Music by Anton Karas. Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard

Plot summary: Western pulp writer Holly Martins has arrived in Vienna to meet up with his friend Harry Lime who was found dead shortly before his arrival. By trying to find out what happened to Harry, Martins is being sucked into a spiral of lies and deceit in a city that’s divided by mayhem and the emerging cold war.

Review: Who doesn’t know it, the famous score from The Third Man written and played by Anton Karas on his zither?! A musical theme that’s both entertaining and haunting. One of those famous songs that will never leave you after you’ve seen the movie, after the music drew you deep into the plot and followed you all the way through, from beginning to end. It’s the kind of theme that adds suspense to a story that’s already thrilling. It supports a brilliant cast of actors who know better than only to entertain. They leave us in the dark about their characters, their motivation and fate like they only did in film noir when a melancholy end was still enticing and a happy end not a necessity.

I suppose it would be interesting to watch The Third Man without its score. I must admit I’ve never tried to divide the heart from the soul, because, after all, isn’t that what a good score is all about?! It breathes life into a film to make it make it work beyond the pictures and the words. To make it memorable. I feel that’s how it is with most great films – they have that lasting effect on you because every detail was carefully composed: the cast of actors, the storyline, cinematography and then the music. Together they create a mood, a look, something you will take with you and remember. And in the case of The Third Man, it all starts when that zither starts to play and the credits begin. You are being sucked into the story like Holly Martins is sucked into post-war Vienna and the untimely demise of his friend.

We get a glimpse of antebellum Europe, of its history and the people who have survived murder and mayhem, who are tired of questions and betrayal. We meet people who are adapting to their new situation, who have learned to overcome a war and want to forget. We also meet our American hero who doesn’t fit in. Who, like us, doesn’t belong into this world and is trying to understand it. Who is fascinated by a city in a state of division, who is unwilling to accept the boundaries of that reality.

The Third Man will surprise you in many ways. It is clever, exciting and well played. There is also something about the movie I cannot explain. It’s one of those classics people will recommend to you and you may find yourself reluctant to see the reasons for all the praise. All I can say is this: give The Third Man a chance and have a look at it from a fresh, untainted perspective and you may find a gem you keep whistling the score of all day.

Available on DVD and Netflix. The 3rd Man trailer

The Clay Pigeon

Talkie of the Week: The Clay Pigeon

USA 1949, 63 minutes, b&w, RKO Radio Pictures. Director: Richard Fleischer, Screenplay: Carl Foreman. Cast: Bill Williams, Barbara Hale, Richard Quine, Richard Loo

Plot summary: When Jim Fletcher wakes up at a Navy hospital in California, he cannot recall what’s happened to him but he is certain that he is not the traitor the doctors say he is. In order to prove his innocence, he takes flight and finds, despite a rocky introduction, help from his war buddy’s widow Martha Gregory.

Review: The Clay Pigeon is a post-war film noir, tightly knit and narrated in a good pace with beautiful shots to underline the suspense. Based on a true story, the film is not one of its kind in post-war America, but it has the right mixture of conspiracy, adventure, mystery and romance to stand up to the variety of star-studded competition.

Bill Williams stars as Jim Fletcher who wakes up in San Diego and is haunted by a past he cannot fully remember. His portrayal is solid and good-natured. He knows to sell the story of a good sailor who’s wronged and rather fights than face court martial for something he hasn’t done. He is supported by his wife of then three years,Barbara Hale, whose acting complements her husband’s in the best of ways. Her Martha Gregory is a joy to watch from her first encounter with her on-screen spouse’s supposed murder, to the fight she puts on as a hostage, up to the turning point when Martha realizes that Jim may indeed be innocent.

It’s not surprising to find a sparkle of chemistry helping them along, but home field advantage or not, the couple makes the story work. And sixty-three minutes, although well timed for the plot, seems way too short for them to leave us towards the end. Adding to that sentiment is the fabulous cast of supporting actors, including Richards Quine and Loo. The often narrow setting of the film helps the film to run along, leaving the audience panting with our protagonist, fearing for his life.

All in all, The Clay Pigeon is a small but clever film with an eye candy cast of often falsely categorized B actors. Barbara Hale and husband Bill Williams have starred in a number of movies together, always adding spice, quality and heart to sometimes meager stories. This film may not have made it in the Best Picture category of the Academy, but it sure is a gem that’s worth watching on more than one cold Sunday night.

The Clay Pigeon sample scene

The Houston Story

Talkie of the Week: The Houston Story

USA 1956, 79 minutes, black & white, Columbia Pictures. Director: William Castle, Producer: Sam Katzman, Written by: Robert E. Kent as James B. Gordon. Cast: Gene Barry, Barbara Hale, Edward Arnold, Paul Richards, Jeanne Cooper, Frank Jenks, John Zaremba, Chris Alcaide, Jack Littlefield, Paul Levitt, Fred Krone, Pete Kellett

Plot summary: Frank Duncan plays a game of double-cross with Houston’s syndicate, trying to steal one of the mobster’s girl while getting rich  on black gold.

Review: The Houston Story is a classic film noir with all its sultry elements of crime, drama and suspense. Gene Barry plays Frank Duncan, an oil field worker who is trying to outsmart the local mob by getting to their money in order to get rich himself. His scheme is dangerous and reckless, especially when he starts to play with fire and gets involved with one of the mobster’s girlfriend, a lusciously enigmatic night club entertainer. As convoluted as the plot, the characters’ fate is inevitable yet inscrutable in a gripping way.

Gene Barry gives an absorbing performance as Frank Duncan who is trying to keep ahead in his own bold venture. He is surrounded by a stunning cast of supporting actors, who tease out the ruthless morale of their characters to a tee.

Barbara Hale plays Zoe Crane, the female lead who is full of allure. An enigma of her own making, elegantly walking a tightrope to survive the dangerous game she finds herself entrapped in. It is not clear if she’s a victim or a player, if she tries to escape or trick the men surrounding her. She is positively mysterious, a captivating beauty with her cropped platinum curls, a seductress whose glittering introduction merges class with sin. Her enticing wardrobe and memorable performance of “Put the Blame on Mame” (originally introduced in Rita Hayworth’s famous film Gilda in 1946) set the tone for the entire movie and beautifully tie in with Zoe Crane’s fatal attraction, her doom.

All in all, The Houston Story is the kind of film you cannot watch and iron to. It is fast and keeps its audience on its toes, wondering who will survive this mess of greed and violence. It is beautifully shot with a fantastic cast of actors, a real gem you may find yourself returning to over and over again.

Sample clip from The Houston Story one: Zoe Crane sings “Put the Blame on Mame”

Sample clip from The Houston Story two: Duncan meets Zoe

Available on VHS and DVD. The Houston Story trailer

Barbara Hale

Most people who are familiar with the name Barbara Hale will probably remember her as Perry Mason‘s ever loyal and faithful secretary Della Street. Only few people know that she had a movie career going before her most prominent role determined so many years of her life.

Career: Originally from Rockford, Illinois, Barbara Hale started out as an art scholar who began to model for fellow students while she was attending the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Soon after, she started modeling for a comic strip called Ramblin’ Bill and found additional work as a fashion model before she was sent out to California to test for RKO where she received a six-month tryout contract with the studio which included singing and dancing lessons. After a couple of uncredited appearances in RKO movies, Barbara got a full contract and made her debut as a supporting actress opposite Frank Sinatra in 1943’s Higher and Higher.

In 1944, she landed her first big part in the Zane Grey Western West of Pecos, opposite Robert Mitchum, and secured herself bigger parts in six more movies, including First Yank into Tokyo and The Window, as well as in A Likely Story and The Clay Pigeon alongside her newly wed husband Bill Williams, before she left the uncertain RKO studio situation in 1948. She managed to win a new contract with Columbia and convinced the studio of her talents opposite Larry Parks in Jolson Sings Again. In 1949, she reunited with former RKO colleague and Lady Luck co-star Robert Young for And Baby Makes Three, before she starred alongside James Stewart in The Jackpott one year later. In 1950, Barbara reunited with Larry Parks for Emergency Wedding before she managed to get the lead in Lorna Doone. In 1953 then, Barbara returned to making Westerns and was cast for Last of the Comanches. A couple of other successful Westerns produced by Columbia and other studios followed, including Seminole and The Lone Hand in 1953, The Far Horizons in 1955, 7th Cavalry in 1956, The Oklahoman and Slim Carter in 1957.

After the birth of her children, Barbara slowly cut back on her film career and, starting in 1953, took on more and more TV work, also to support her husband’s flourishing career as TV’s Kit Carson. In 1957, after a number of guest appearances on popular shows, she was finally cast as Perry Mason‘s infamously steadfast secretary Della Street. Although reluctant about accepting a regular supporting role at the time because her children were still small, Barbara signed her contract without imagining that the show would last as long as nine years. The part of Della Street did not only earn her worldwide recognition and fame, but also two Emmy nominations, including one win for best supporting actress in 1959.

After Perry Mason was terminated in 1966, Barbara reclaimed her guest starring qualities and starred in several popular TV shows of the time. In 1971, she became the television spokesperson for Amana kitchen supplies while she continued working as a supporting actress on a couple of movies, including Airport in 1970 and Big Wednesday in 1978, before  Perry Mason successfully returned to the small screen in 1985 for another ten-year run. Since the completion of the Perry Mason TV movies in 1995, Barbara unfortunately has not appeared in any other TV or movie role. However, recent interviews with her are available on the 50th Anniversary of Perry Mason DVD.

Characters: Barbara’s most iconic character, without a doubt, is Della Street, the always devoted secretary to Raymond Burr’s equally iconic Perry Mason. It is also the most recognized one, both by the industry and by a worldwide TV audience who has cherished her talents, as well as her on-screen chemistry with her lifelong friend Raymond Burr. Della Street, although smart and independent, is also very different from the characters Barbara Hale used to play before committing herself to that part.

In the 1940s and 50s, Barbara’s film characters were strong, opinionated women. Stubborn at times. But rarely as quiet as Della Street used to be. Her parts differed from movie to movie, something she greatly appreciated. She was a tough army nurse in First Yank into Tokyo, who does her best to cope with the harsh realities of war captivity. In West of Pecos, she was a stubborn but lively upper class city girl who tries to adapt to the Wild West by posing as a boy. In A Likely Story, she portrayed an artist who not only took care of her baby brother, but also came to New York to have her big break before she falls in love with a stranger. In The Window she played a hard-boiled lower Est Side mother of a boy with a very vivid imagination. In Emergency Wedding she was a doctor whose profession means more to her than being married or settling down…

The list is endless, the variety of her characters’ backgrounds, stories and attitudes is as vast as the genres she starred in: film noir, Western, drama, comedy. She mastered them all with her congenial on-screen presence, her Midwestern charm and genuinely warm voice. She easily handled the stories about the all-American women she so often played: housewives, pioneer women, academics, working girls or divorcees. And despite these different characteristics, her parts all have one thing in common: Barbara Hale’s warmhearted depiction of them. No matter how tough, demure, funny or hysterical a character supposedly was, Barbara showed their emotional side without exaggeration. She made them believable, down-to-earth. Turned them into real people. Something that mattered most to her.

Although not every role allowed her to use her radiant smile, Barbara always managed to find a way to add diversity and empathy to her parts. Something that makes the audience feel for her characters, side, cry or laugh with them. In The Houston Story for instance, which is a rather unusual example for Barbara’s work, she starred as platinum blonde Zoe Crane, a nightclub singer who is basically trying to survive in a criminal world she cannot really control. Although sultry and manipulative, Zoe Crane wins over the sympathy of her audience. She is not going to be pigeonholed. And the same goes for Barbara’s many other characters who always showed an alluring mix of heartiness, skill and and energy. Not that Della Street didn’t, but as the 1950s secretary, her attitude had to be way more subtle, more dignified, and a lot less bubbly than most of Barbara’s other memorable characters. In the 1980s and 90s however, Barbara also got to add a little more spice to her longtime alter ego which tied in beautifully with her genuine sensibility, her great intuition for supporting Perry Mason.

Family business: In 1946, Barbara Hale got married to fellow RKO contract player Bill Williams whom she had met on studio grounds in 1944. They were happily married for 46 years and lived a rather “quiet” life in the San Fernando Valley area until Bill died in September 1992. Together they had three children, born in 1947, 1951 and 1953, and several grandchildren.

Barbara and her husband starred together in several movies and TV projects, including West of Pecos, A Likely Story, The Clay Pigeon, Young Couples Only, Slim Carter, Perry Mason, Buckskin, Insight, The Giant Spider Invasion and Flight of the Grey Wolf.

Barbara also starred alongside actor son William Katt in Big Wednesday and The Greatest American Hero, as well as in nine Perry Mason TV movies.

Filmography:

• 1985-1995 Perry Mason Returns (TV movies) – Della Street, 30 episodes
  
• 1982 The Greatest American Hero (TV series)  – Who’s Woo in America (1982)
• 1978 Big Wednesday
  
• 1978 The Young Runaways (TV movie)
• 1976 Flight of the Grey Wolf (TV movie)
• 1975 The Giant Spider Invasion
• 1974 Marcus Welby, M.D. (TV series) – The Faith of Childish Things (1974)
• 1973 Chester, Yesterday’s Horse (TV movie)
• 1972 The Doris Day Show (TV series) – Doris’ House Guest (1972)
• 1971 Adam-12 (TV series) – Pick-up (1971)
• 1971 Ironside (TV series) – Murder Impromptu (1971)
• 1970 The Most Deadly Game (TV series) – Model for Murder (1970)
• 1970 The Red, White, and Black
• 1970 Airport
• 1969 Lassie (TV series) – Lassie and the Water Bottles (1969)
• 1969 Insight (TV series) – A Thousand Red Flowers (1969)
• 1968 Buckskin
• 1967 Custer (TV series) – Death Hunt (1967)
• 1957-1966 Perry Mason (TV series) – Della Street, 9 seasons, 271 episodes
• 1955-1959 G.E. True Theater (TV series) – Night Club (1959), The Windmill (1955)
• 1958 Desert Hell
• 1957 Slim Carter
• 1957 The Oklahoman
• 1956-1957 Playhouse 90 (TV series) – The Blackwell Story (1957) (unconfirmed), The Country Husband (1956)
• 1956 7th Cavalry
• 1956 The Millionaire (TV series) – The Kathy Munson Story (1956)
• 1956 Crossroads (TV series) – Lifeline (1956)
• 1956 Star Stage (TV series) – The Guardian (1956)
• 1952-1956 The Ford Television Theatre (TV series) – Behind the Mask (1956), Remember to Live (1954), The Divided Heart (1952)
• 1956 The Houston Story
• 1956 Damon Runyon Theater (TV series) – The Good Luck Kid (1956)
• 1956 The Loretta Young Show (TV series) – The Challenge (1956)
  
• 1955 Climax! (TV Series) – The Day They Gave Babies Away (1955)
• 1955 Science Fiction Theatre (TV series) – The Hastings Secret (1955), Conversation with an Ape (1955)
• 1955 Celebrity Playhouse (TV series) – He Knew All About Women (1955)
• 1955 Screen Directors Playhouse (TV series) – Meet the Governor (1955)
• 1955 Studio 57 (TV series) – Young Couples Only (1955)
• 1955 The Far Horizons
• 1953-1955 Schlitz Playhouse (TV series) – Tourists–Overnight (1955), Vacation for Ginny (1953)
• 1955 Unchained
• 1955 Young Couples Only (TV short)
• 1953 A Lion Is in the Streets
• 1953 Footlights Theater (TV series) – Change of Heart (1953)
• 1953 The Lone Hand
• 1953 Seminole
• 1953 Last of the Comanches
• 1952 The First Time
• 1951 Lorna Doone
• 1950 Emergency Wedding
• 1950 The Jackpot
• 1949 And Baby Makes Three
• 1949 Jolson Sings Again
• 1949 The Window
• 1949 The Clay Pigeon
• 1948 The Boy with Green Hair
• 1947 A Likely Story
• 1946 Lady Luck
• 1945 First Yank Into Tokyo
• 1945 West of the Pecos
• 1944 The Falcon in Hollywood
• 1944 Heavenly Days
• 1944 Goin’ to Town
• 1944 The Falcon Out West
• 1944 Prunes and Politics (short)
• 1943 Higher and Higher
• 1943 Around the World
• 1943 Government Girl
• 1943 Gildersleeve on Broadway
• 1943 The Iron Major
• 1943 The Seventh Victim
• 1943 Mexican Spitfire’s Blessed Event
• 1943 Gildersleeve’s Bad Day

Availability:

• DVD: Higher and Higher, The Falcon in Hollywood, The Falcon Out West, West of Pecos, The Boy with Green Hair, The Clay Pigeon, The Window, Jolson Sings Again, And Baby Makes Three, The Jackpot, Emergency Wedding, Lorna Doone, The First Time, Seminole, A Lion in the Streets, Young Couples Only, Unchained, Far Horizons, Crossroads, The Oklahoman, Perry Mason TV series, Airport, Ironside, Adam 12, The Giant Spider Invasion, Flight of the Grey Wolf, Big Wednesday, The Greatest American Hero, Perry Mason Returns
• VHS: The Seventh Victim, A Likely Story, First Yank into Tokyo, The Jackpott, The Last of the Comanches, The Houston Story, 7th Cavalry, Perry Mason, Buckskin, The Red White and Black, The Giant Spider Invasion, Flight of the Grey Wolf, Big Wednesday, Perry Mason TV movies
• Online: Adam 12 – “Pick-Up”, Custer – “Death Hunt”, The Doris Day Show – “Doris’ House Guest”,  Insight – “A Thousand Red Flowers”, Ironside – “Murder Impromptu”, Young Couples Only

Personal recommendations (in alphabetical order):

• Adam 12 – “Pick-Up”, 1971
• Buckskin, 1968
• The Clay Pigeon, 1949
• The Falcon in Hollywood, 1944
• The First Time, 1952
• Ford Television Theatre – “Remember to Live”, 1954
• G.E. True Theater – “Night Club”, 1959
• G.E. True Theater – “The Windmill”, 1955
• The Houston Story, 1956
• Insight – “A Thousand Red Flowers”, 1969
• The Jackpot, 1950
• Jolson Sings Again, 1949
• A Likely Story, 1947
• The Lone Hand, 1953
• The Oklahoman, 1957
• Perry Mason TV series, 1957-66
• Perry Mason TV movies, 1985-95
• The Window, 1949

Sources for more information on Barbara Hale:

• Barbara Hale on imdb
• Barbara Hale homepage
• Big Dave’s Barbara Hale Annex
• Barbara Hale playlist on youtube

The Window

Talkie of the Week: The Window

USA 1949, 73 minutes, black & white, An RKO Radio Picture. Director: Ted Tetzlaff, Screenplay by: Mel Dinelli, Based on the story The Boy Cried Murder by Cornell Woolrich. Cast: Barbara Hale, Bobby Driscoll, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman

Plot summary: 9-year-old Tommy has a vivid imagination. Vivid enough to get him into trouble with his family. When he witnesses a murder late one night, his parents don’t believe him. He has told too many lies. The police does not believe him either, after all he’s just a boy who is infamous for stretching the truth. So Tommy is left with the murderers who know he has witnessed their crime. They don’t want to rely on Tommy’s incredibility and try to hush him for good.

Review: The Window is a little known film noir for which Bobby Driscol earned an honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of a distressed Tommy. Apart from the young protagonist, the rest of the cast gives convincing and sometimes stellar performances as Tommy adversaries.

Tommy’s parents, Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy, create a believable setting for the boys nature and the trouble he has gotten himself or them into in the past. Their reaction, their credibility about the hardship of raising a family in New York’s Lower East Side – all of these elements add to the crucial element of suspense. Tommy is not a perfect child. His persistence, his simple-mindedness make him appear annoying at times. It is apparent why his parents don’t believe him. But they love him nonetheless. And so does the audience when he runs for his life while he learns the lesson never to cry wolf again.

Side note: The movie was shot in 1947 but not released before August 1949.

Available on DVD and VHS.

Personal note: This gem is one of many I came across because of the lovely Barbara Hale. You will find her work presented here on a frequent basis.