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atomic surgery post img border 5px solid fbfe03 padding 2px thursday june 6 2024 angels over broadway 1940 yesterday s pain is tomorrow s joke fate draws together four disparate angels on a dismal rainy night in new york city and weaves a fairytale of redemption that can only exist on the screen mousey charles engle john qualen has embezzled from his domineering employer in an effort to win back his unfaithful wife contemplating suicide he takes himself out for one last night on the town where he meets slick grifter bill o brien douglas fairbanks jr and his latest pick up naive nina barona rita hayworth an out of work russian dancer bill connives to fleece engle in a crooked poker game not realizing he s all but broke enter gene gibbons thomas mitchell a drunken once renowned playwright who attempts to rewrite each of their stories to give them all a happy ending gibbons concocts a plan that will let engle to win just enough from the rigged game to repay his boss but allow him to escape without the hoods realizing they ve been taken the catch is that it requires the players act out their parts with a precision that their lives have never had mitchell qualen fairbanks jr hayworth angels over broadway 1940 also called before i die was nominated for an oscar for best original screenplay for hollywood s top script doctor and screenwriter ben hecht it was the first of two co directing collaborations between hecht and acclaimed cinematographer lee garmes garmes was a genius at creating an impossibly dream like reality through his camera lens and won an oscar working with josef von sternberg and marlene dietrich on shanghai express 1932 only his soft focus style could have a created a gossamer vision of a corrupt world in which broken dreams and lives could be remade hecht was a top broadway playwright e g the front page 1928 with charles macarthur before he was lured to hollywood where he wrote the stories or screenplays for a number of classic films viva villa 1934 the scoundrel 1935 stagecoach 1939 notorious 1946 he understood the seedy often corrupt world that put fantasies on the stage and screen for the public to lose themselves in when thomas mitchell describes his restaurant surroundings as one of the musical graveyards of the town caters to zombies hopping around with dead hearts and price tags for souls hecht is describing the entertainment business the caustic edge to hecht s dialogue was likely enhanced coming as it was one year after gone with the wind 1939 swept the oscar s hecht famously rewrote its script but having received no screen credit saw his own screenplay with macarthur for wuthering heights 1939 lose to the blockbuster similarly garmes is credited with filming most of the first hour of gone with the wind only to see its oscar for best cinematography go to ernest haller and ray rennahan it s easy to imagine these two talented but disgruntled artists wanting to take the industry down a notch the unreal world of angels over broadway has its archetypical characters moving like actors living out their lives in someone else s hecht s dream dialogue is delivered in soliloquies and the plot moves from one tableau to the next as the characters reposition themselves for the most dramatic effect none of this is a criticism however especially if you enjoy great dialogue delivered by actors giving top notch performances thomas mitchell was an actor who excelled at breathing life and pathos into flawed characters his sonorous gene gibbons shines the light of truth into the corrupt shadows of the hollywood a business first art a very distant second only in a hollywood dream could gene gibbons wake up from his drunken stupor forgetting the plot that he had set in motion and exit the film to find forgiveness with his unseen but much mentioned wife this leaves the panicked nina and bill to try to pull off the poker game double cross even as the wheels come off the departed gibbons plan if this was a film noir a genre only beginning to solidify in 1940 all of our remaining heroes would end up dead or worse left alive to continue their loveless hopeless existence anticipating a classic film noir trope the film opens with the voice over narration of a down on his luck rain soaked fairbanks huddled in his trench coat on broadway recounting the story of his sorry life in this one scene hecht and garmes set the template for every film noir hero who was to follow throughout the rest of the 40 s fortunately for engle literally angel in german nina and bill hecht has written a better ending for them all although things do not go as planned the plot resolves with engle avoiding jail and bill and nina coming together was there ever any doubt by 1940 rita hayworth s star was on the rise she had a minor role in only angels have wings 1939 but was about to achieve greater acclaim next to james cagney in strawberry blonde 1941 in angels over broadway rita gets to show off her comedic abilities in her first leading role in an a picture the breathless slightly ditsy curvaceous nina barona anticipates marilyn monroe s bombshell persona that was still a decade away the category for angels over broadway is not easy to pigeon hole drama like its themes are dark dealing with potential suicide and lives that should be in despair but it never approaches melodrama even when nina muses that she never knew anyone who wanted to die except myself it does not seem to prophesize any real danger for her neither is the film a comedy although it has many comedic moments farce like in places it is probably best considered a fantasy if only for its upbeat ending improbable in real life but the real currency of hollywood despite the biting nature of much of hecht s dialogue he still knows to give the audience what they want let s leave the final summation of the film to thomas mitchell s gene gibbons a tragic tale brother a little confused and badly constructed perhaps a bit harsh in my opinion but a fitting epitaph for an enjoyable film is angels over broadway worth my time reviews for this film are mixed but i enjoyed the well crafted dialogue delivered by interesting characters everyone here is a caricature but we ve all met someone like them even given the implausibility that hayworth or fairbanks jr could ever be the losers that they are written as the plot is secondary to the individual scenes but each is gorgeously composed by lee garmes at only 79 minutes it s a breezy romp that also features a number of good moments from the cast of minor players availability still available on dvd and some streaming services angels over broadway columbia pictures 1940 starring douglas fairbanks jr thomas mitchell rita hayworth john qualen written by ben hecht cinematography by lee garmes music by george antheil co directed by ben hecht and garmes 79 min posted by staq mavlen at 3 51 pm tuesday may 21 2024 destination murder 1950 a killer has only one destination murder frustrated by the seeming lack of action by the police laura mansfield joyce mackenzie is determined to find the people that ordered a hit on her father in this speedy little low budget crime drama cum b noir produced and directed by edward cahn for rko rather than identifying hit man jackie wales stanley clements to the police laura starts dating him him to i guess find out who his boss is after jackie gets beaten up by eponymous gangster armitage albert dekker laura suspects his involvement takes a job at his night club complications ensure when laura falls in loves with no 2 man stretch norton hurd hatfield initiating a triangle with armitage s mistress alice wentworth myrna dell who is also putting the moves on stretch and hoping that he ll rub out armitage for her joyce mackenzie and hurd hatfield like any good femme fatale alice also has her own hidden agenda she cons jackie into writing a confession that they can use to blackmail armitage but that she ll hold onto by doing so she plans for jackie and armitage to knock each other off and hopefully the bothersome laura as well leaving stretch to her and the business to both of them in the background is the film s only sensible character police lieutenant brewster james flavin who seems to be two steps ahead of everyone but is stymied by laura s rogue determination to solve the case on her own much like the big sleep 1946 trying to justify the logic of the plot and the characters actions is a mug s game in a film where internal logic is trumped by a forward momentum that will keep you hooked destination murder has enough solid film noir touches to keep you from noticing when joyce mackenzie s wooden performance applies the brakes to any scene that she is in but otherwise it s full speed ahead in this fun minor b film hatfield and albert dekker classic noir scenarios include jackie wales stepping out on his date during a 5 minute movie intermission to kill laura s father later he is beaten by armitage as a player piano drowns out the violence while a disinterested alice coolly adjusts her makeup cinematographer jackson rose gave this and other scenes featuring myrna dell his best nicholas musuraca like noir lighting touches director edward cahn is best known for directing the our gang comedies from 1939 to 1943 he always knew how to get the most out of the low budgets that he had to work with rarely turning out a less than highly entertaining film his work in the horror and sf genre during the 50 s produced a series of minor but much loved b movie classics such as the she creature 1956 invasion of the saucer men 1957 it the terror from beyond space 1958 and many others including invisible invaders 1959 that is seen today as a precursor to night of the living dead 1948 a decade later top billed joyce mackenzie once described herself as a poor man s movie star destination murder was a rare top billing for her but she made her mark on a number of a films including being the only female character uncredited in twelve o clock high 1949 and supporting roles in broken arrow 1950 with jimmy stewart the racket 1951 with robert mitchum and deadline u s a 1952 with humphrey bogart stanley clements is best remembered as leo gorcey s replacement as the leader of the bowery boys in the final entries of the film series although he appeared in a number of bigger budget films before ww ii despite the leaden acting of mackenzie most of the film s other character actors deliver solid if unremarkable performances the exceptions being the galvanizing myrna dell s conniving bad girl alice and james flavin s measured police lieutenant gorgeous blonde myrna dell had enough charisma to become a bigger starlet but she often found her best film roles playing the hard bitten bad girls that all low budget b noirs thrived on when called on she could be evil incarnate as she was playing the ruthless daughter of rancher lon chaney in bushwackers 1951 destination murder suffers a bit when both her alice and clement s jackie are bumped off relatively early in the film when their blackmailing double cross goes sour this leaves the film to wrap up with at least one semi surprising character revelation and a humbled laura finally realizing how really deep over her head she had actually been although all of the bad guys get their due viewers will be left scratching their heads as to why the screenwriter don martin had laura s father murdered in the first place i can t let this review conclude without praising the work of james flavin above flavin appeared in 100 s of films during his career but rarely got a screen credit he was typecast as no nonsense policemen and most of his appearances were brief but he shared screen time with almost every big star in the 30 s and 40 s including carole lombard and william powell my man godfrey 1936 henry forda grapes of wrath 1940 famously hitting fonda in the face joan crawford mildred pierce 1945 and king kong 1933 hey it s kong kong s coming his comedic side shone through in larger roles such as errol flynn s fast talking pugnacious brother in gentlemen jim 1942 here flavin gives a grounded performance as lt brewster although most of his scenes are in his office he arrives at the film s climax to go mano a mano with the criminal mastermind to save laura who finally learns to her chagrin who ordered her father killed lastly a tip of the hat has to go to composer irving gertz who worked on many notable productions including the alligator people 1959 curse of the undead 1959 the leech woman 1960 voyage to the bottom of the sea 1964 and land of the giants 1968 is the destination murder worth my time the prefect film to wind down the day with ignore the convoluted plot and enjoy the ride watching myrna dell and james flavin walk away with this untidy but entertaining film availability not on dvd as far as i know but a watchable copy is currently available at archive org destination murder prominent features inc 1950 staring joyce mackenzie stanley clements hurd hatfield albert dekker myrna dell james flavin written by don martin directed by edward l cahn distributed by rko pictures 72 minutes posted by staq mavlen at 8 06 pm older posts home subscribe to posts atom blog archive 2024 2 june 1 angels over broadway 1940 may 1 2023 5 august 1 april 1 march 1 february 1 january 1 2022 7 november 1 august 1 june 1 april 1 march 3 2020 13 november 2 august 1 july 1 march 4 february 3 january 2 2019 15 december 2 november 10 october 3 2016 6 march 1 january 5 2015 29 october 5 september 6 august 2 july 4 june 9 may 3 2014 25 november 12 october 10 september 1 august 2 2013 9 june 1 april 1 march 2 february 1 january 4 2012 30 december 8 august 1 june 1 may 7 march 3 february 4 january 6 2011 35 december 1 november 6 october 6 september 2 august 3 july 2 june 3 may 3 april 3 march 2 february 2 january 2 2010 63 december 3 november 2 october 8 september 4 july 1 june 4 may 8 april 7 march 8 february 8 january 10 2009 66 december 12 november 3 october 7 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