Tag Archives: Kenneth Harlan

Film Review: Hitler — Dead or Alive (dir by Nick Grinde)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1942 film, Hitler — Dead or Alive, opens with two reporters visiting a prominent industrialist named Samuel Thornton (Russell Hicks).  They are curious about a statue of three men that stands outside of Thornton’s mansion.  Thornton proceeds to tell them the story of the three men.

In 1939, shortly after the Nazis invaded Poland and with the United States still pursuing a policy of neutrality, Thornton independently offered a million dollars to anyone who could bring Adolf Hitler to justice, dead or alive.  Accepting the offer were three ex-cons who had just been released from Alcatraz, Steve Maschick (Ward Bond), Hans “The Dutch” Havermann (Warren Hymer), and Joe “The Book” Conway (Paul Fix).  (As you may have guessed “The Book” is the intellectual of the group and yes, he wears glasses.)  After Thornton makes clear to them that they’re going to have to make sure that they either capture or kill the real Hitler and not one of his many doubles, the three men join the Royal Canadian Air Force and, along with ace pilot Johnny Stevens (Bruce Edwards), they head for Germany.

Made for an obviously low-budget, this B-movie is a bit of a curiosity.  It starts out as a comedy, with the three cooks cracking jokes about going straight and a lengthy sequence in which they try to work up the courage to parachute into Germany.  Even after they get caught by the Gestapo and sent to a prison camp, much of the film is played for laughs.  It’s not until they escape from the prison and Johnny sacrifices his life while shooting it out with the Nazis that the film starts to take a more serious turn.  Steve, who starts out the film only caring about the money, comes to realize that there are more important things than just finding a quick payday.

Steve, Hans, and Joe end up at the mansion of Else von Brandt (Dorothy Tree), a secret member of the German resistance who is so trusted by the Nazis that Hitler himself (played by Bobby Watson) will be stopping by for a visit.  By this point, Steve explains that he no longer cares about the money.  As far as he’s concerned, he’s now working for free.  After learning about all of the people who have been killed by Hitler, Steve is determined to stop him, even if it means sacrificing his own life.

There are still moments of humor to the found in the latter half of the film.  When Steve, Hans, and Joe confront Hitler, one of the first things that they do is shave off his mustache.  But the film’s conclusion is ultimately a very serious one and features one particular act of violence that I imagine stunned audiences in 1942.  Having told the story of the three men and their mission to get Hitler, Samuel Thornton ends the film by saying that it doesn’t matter whether Germany is being led by Hitler or Hitler’s double.  What matters is eradicating all of the Nazis from the Earth.  In the end, the message of the film is a simple one.  It’s okay to laugh.  It’s okay to joke.  But, in the end, everyone must do their part.

Hitler — Dead or Alive was made for an obviously low-budget and there are a few scenes, especially in the beginning, where the pace feels a bit off.  Just as with Beast of Berlin, the film’s version of a German prison camp feels like it could have been lifted from a dozen American crime films.  But Ward Bond is a strong hero and he delivers his lines with conviction, especially when he discusses why nothing is more important than stopping Hitler.  He gets good support from both Paul Fix and Warren Hymer.  The film may start out as a comedy but it’s anti-Hitler message comes through loud and clear.  Seriously, how can you not appreciate a film about defeating the Nazis?

Horror Film Review: The Walking Dead (dir by Michael Curtiz)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this 1936 film (which has absolutely no relation to the AMC zombie show), Boris Karloff plays John Ellman.  John Ellman is perhaps one of the unluckiest guys ever.  Seriously check this out:

John Ellman was once an acclaimed concert pianist.  However, he was wrongly convicted of killing his wife and spent ten years in prison.  Now that he’s finally been paroled, he can’t get anyone to hire him.  Meanwhile, the judge who originally sent him to prison is in the news for having defied the mob and sentenced a well-known gangster to prison.  The mob is out for revenge but, rather than take the fall themselves, they’d rather frame a patsy.  And who could be a better patsy than a man who everyone already knows has a grudge against the judge?

Nolan (Ricardo Cortez), a crooked lawyer, arranges for Ellman to be given a job.  Ellman is told that he simply has to spy on the judge for a few nights to determine whether the judge is having an extramarital affair.  Ellman agrees and soon finds himself being set up.  The gangsters kill the judge and plant the body in Ellman’s car.  Ellman is arrested and sentenced to die.  It doesn’t matter that there are witnesses who know that Ellman’s innocent.  No one is willing to cross the mafia.

Ellman is convicted and promptly executed but his story isn’t over.  A scientist named Dr. Beaumont (Edmund Gwenn, who later played the man who might be Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street) knows that Ellman is innocent.  He takes Ellman’s body and, through an artificial heart and a bunch of other science-y things, he manages to revive Ellman.  John Ellman lives again!  Of course, he’s a bit of a zombie now and he doesn’t have any memory of his former life.  And yet, he instinctively knows who set him up to be executed and he sets out for revenge.

What’s interesting is that Ellman doesn’t kill anyone.  Even after he’s revived and presumably has no concept of right and wrong, John Ellman remains a rather passive zombie.  For the most part, the racketeers die because of how they react to the sight of the previously dead Ellman coming towards them.  For that matter, Beaumont isn’t the typical mad scientist that you might expect to turn up in a film like this.  He’s a benevolent man who was simply doing what he thought was the right thing.  Though the film ends with a warning about playing God, one can’t hep but get the feeling that, unlike Frankenstein, the film is overall very supportive of the idea of reviving the dead.

Directed by Michael Curtiz (who also did Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and countless other classic films), The Walking Dead is a combination horror/gangster film.  The film’s plot is a bit too convoluted for its own good but, overall, The Walking Dead works because of Boris Karloff’s performance.  He’s poignantly pathetic as the living John Ellman and then rather chilling as the vengeance-driven, recently revived Ellman.  The film’s most effective scenes are the ones where he just stares at his enemies, fixing them with a gaze that takes no prisoners and offers no hope.  It’s a great performance that elevates an otherwise uneven film.

Lisa Watches An Oscar Nominee: San Francisco (dir by W.S. Van Dyke)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

San_Francisco_(film)_poster

As I sit here writing this, I’m snowed in, my asthma’s acting up, and our cat is quickly losing patience with me.  On the plus side, however, this weather has given me an opportunity to watch some more of the old best picture nominees that I had saved up on my DVR.

For instance, I just finished watching the 1936 best picture nominee, San Francisco.

San Francisco was one of the first disaster films, a film that follows a group of characters as they attempt to survive the 1906 earthquake that destroyed the town of San Francisco.  And it has to be said that, nearly 80 years after the film was first released, the climatic earthquake remains effective and scary.  San Francisco, of course, was made long before there was any such thing as CGI.  Many of the film’s sets were built on special platforms that were designed to shake back and forth, just like in an actual earthquake.  When you see walls and buildings collapsing in San Francisco, you know that those walls are breaking apart and collapsing for real and the extras running for their life are literally doing just that.  After the earthquake, Clark Gable, as the film’s hero, walks through the ruins of San Francisco with the haunted look of a true survivor.  Gable was such a confident actor that it’s still jarring to see him looking overwhelmed.

Unfortunately, before you get to that spectacular earthquake, you have to sit through the rest of the film.  It’s a massive understatement to say that the pre-earthquake portion of San Francisco drags.  Clark Gable is Blackie Norton, a notorious gambler and saloon keeper.  Blackie may be a rogue but he’s a rogue with a heart of gold.  His childhood friend, Father Tim (Spencer Tracy), wants Blackie to run for the board of supervisors.  Blackie, however, is more interested in Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald), the newest singer at his club.

From the minute she first appears to the very end of the film, Jeanette MacDonald is singing.  Even when she’s not at the center of the scene, you can often hear her singing in the background.  And, after a little while, you just want her to stop singing.  But, whenever that happens, she tries to act and you realize that the only thing more boring than Jeanette MacDonald singing is Jeanette MacDonald acting.

Anyway, the film goes through all of the expected melodrama.  Blackie wants to reform.  Blackie decides not to reform.  Father Tim believes that there’s good in Blackie.  Father Tim gives up on Blackie.  Father Tim decides to give Blackie another chance.  Mary loves Blackie.  Mary fears Blackie.  Mary leaves Blackie.  Mary comes back to Blackie.  Mary leaves Blackie again.  Mary sings.  And sings and sings and sings…

But then, just when you’re about to fall asleep, the city starts to shake and all is forgotten in the wake of a natural disaster.  Even earthquakes serve a purpose…

San Francisco was a huge box office success.  It was nominated for best picture.  Somehow, Spencer Tracy received a nomination for best actor, despite the fact that he’s really not that impressive in the film. (His role is primarily a supporting one and he’s consistently overshadowed by Gable.)  The only Oscar that San Francisco won was for best sound recording and it must be said that, after all these years, the earthquake still sounds terrifying.

As for the film itself, I’d suggest skipping ahead to the earthquake.  That, after all, is the main reason anyone would be watching the film and, by skipping ahead, you’re spared having to sit through an hour and a half of Jeanette MacDonald singing.