Round Up 1941, Part Two

Also in 1941 we have William Dieterle's classic The Devil and Daniel Webster (aka All That Money Can Buy). I caught a bit out of the middle of it on television within the last five years or so and was struck by its unusual, bleached cinematography and odd atmosphere -- at least in the scene I saw which, granted, was the initial 'deal with the devil' sequence, which I seem to recall took place out of doors and may very well stand apart from the rest of the picture. Legal genius Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) takes the Devil (Walter Huston) to court to win back the soul of a New England farmer who got the prosperity he contracted for but lost his family in the bargain. Criterion have seen fit to include this one in their library. This one makes the list.

The Ghost Train (Dir: Walter Forde) They had me at 'haunted train station'. Unbelievably, this is the sixth filmed version of the 1923 British play by Arnold Ridley, wherein a group of passengers stranded over night at an out of the way station are frightened by the station master's dire warnings that they should find someplace else to be before the titular engine arrives, as all who see it die. I don't think it really ruins anything to add that the conclusion is less spectral than it is Mrs. Radcliffe (or, for you youngsters, Scooby Doo). All the reviews go out of their way to caution that this version was recast as a vehicle for hyperactive music hall moron Arthur Askey, though they also agree that this may have been his best film. I have to admit that old Arthur holds a certain historical interest, but I'm not sure that of the seven versions extant at that time, this is the one I would choose. Unless, of course, it was available in its entirety on Youtube, which it is: *

 

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (Dir: Alexander Hall) Well, what an utterly useless title for a fantasy film. I mean, it communicates nothing at all, does it? I don't like Heaven Can Wait (the title under which it was remade with Warren Beatty) much better, but at least it's descriptive. Prize fighter Robert Montgomery (I'll believe that when I see it) has a near death experience in a plane crash, which an inexperienced angel misinterprets as a full-death experience, resulting in his winding up in Heaven 50 years early. It's a bureaucratic bungle on a cosmic scale, and in order to make up for it the powers that be send him back to earth in the body of just-dead business mogul, murderer and all-around stinker Claude Rains, to the consternation of the man's wife and her lover, who just got finished killing him in his bath. At some point a love interest in the form of Evelyn Keyes comes into the picture. Apparently all of this is much better than it sounds, as its scriptwriters won Oscars, and AMG's Hal Erickson calls it 'one of the most consistently clever romantic comedies of the 1940s'. I'm in.

 

Topper Returns (Dir: Roy Del Ruth) Roland Young sees dead people again in the third of the popular Topper films, but this time he does so in an old dark house, and the ghost in question wants him to discover who murdered her. I've never seen a Topper movie, and it's high time I did.

And that's it for 1941.

* Update: Having had a look at The Ghost Train on Youtube I can now report that there is a very fine print of the film available that is plagued with one unfortunate blemish on nearly every frame: Arthur Askey. Imagine Harpo Marx with a voice, but absent any comedic ability, and up in your grill for the entirety of a cold and dreary nine hour stop-over in an isolated train station. From his very first appearance, when he stops the train in order to retrieve his lost derby, you can't help but sympathise with the grumpy cricket champ who wants to put the little idiot's lights out. The cinematography, station set and supporting cast are all good, including a youthful version of the old man who played Uncle Tom in the excellent Rumpole television series starring Leo McKern. And, again, Askey is worth seeing if only as a specimen (bottle) of what the British music halls once had to offer.