The Great Lie (1941)

"If I didn't think you meant so well, I'd feel like slapping your face"

            Ever watch a film that just got on your nerves? Like, the acting was good but the story was beyond annoying? That is how I feel about the 1941 film The Great Lie. It is literally a lot of baby mama/daddy drama and fighting over a man drama.

            The story begins when Pete Van Allan (George Brent) marries Sandra Kovac (Mary Astor). Their marriage is quickly over because Sandra’s divorce from her first husband never went through. Pete then goes off and marries his old fiancée Magee (Bette Davis). Her people are not too happy about her marrying Pete since he ran off to be with another woman but they can do nothing to stop her from marrying Pete.

            Pete goes off in a plane into the jungles of South America and news comes up that Pete’s plane crashed. Sandra also comes with some news that she is having Pete’s baby. Magee makes a deal with Sandra to take of her and adopt the baby after it is born. The two women live out in the middle of the desert for a few months away from prying eyes since Sandra is a well-known concert pianist. Sandra has a baby boy whom Magee names Pete after his father.

            Surprise, surprise Pete is found alive! He comes home and Magee of course does not tell him the truth that baby Pete is not really her baby with him. And another shocking surprise, Sandra comes back into the picture and threatens to blow up the whole charade Magee has created by saying she wants the baby back and that she is going to try to win Pete back.

            Since this is an Old Hollywood story the ending is nicely wrapped up with Sandra agreeing to let Magee and Pete raise the baby.

            Seriously, the story of The Great Lie bored me to tears. I hate these kinds of stories. If I hate these kinds of stories so much why did I sit through The Great Lie you may be wondering to yourself. To answer your question, I sat through it because of the actors. Mary Astor was phenomenal as Sandra she was so perfect. But I must say I would have liked to have seen her as Magee and Bette Davis as Sandra but both actresses worked well in their parts. George Brent is one of my favorite Old Hollywood actors and I like him paired with Bette Davis.

            I am not upset I sat through The Great Lie because now I have an opinion on it. If you are a fan of the actors it is worth watching but drag your heels, it is not one to rush out to find. 

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

“I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But, well, if you lose a son, it's possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon.”

            When I think of a hardboiled detective I think of a man in a suit. He is usually a little disheveled from working long hours and possibly from some drinking to help forget the day or unwind. He does not take any shit from people, he has seen it all and does not have the time. He wants to get from point A to point B without any fuss. My though/idea for a detective comes courtesy of the film version of Dashiell Hammett’s story The Maltese Falcon and it’s lead character Sam Spade. 

            Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) was sitting in his office at his desk when his secretary comes in to tell him that a Mrs. Wonderly (Mary Astor) is there to see him. To put Sam in a better mood the secretary throws it out to him that Mrs. Wonderly is pretty. Same tells his secretary to let the potential new client in. Mrs. Wonderly is indeed very pretty and Sam sits intent listing to her case. Her younger sister has run away with an older man named Floyd Thursby and she needs to bring her sister home. Same takes the case and has Thursby followed by Miles Archer, his partner.

            Very early in the morning Sam receives a call that Archer has been killed and to come down to the scene. Same sees all he can and tells the police detective all he can about his and Archer’s case. Instead of going to tell Archer’s wife about her husband’s murder, Sam sends his secretary to do so.

            Same goes back to his apartment. It is not long before the two detectives from the crime scene come knocking on his door. They question Sam about going to see Archer’s wife and his whereabouts. Same gets impatient wanting to know why he is getting the third degree. Turns out Thursby was killed and they suspect Sam killed him for killing Archer. Without a warrant and without any real evidence against he tells the detectives to get out.

            The next day Sam goes to see Mrs. Wonderly at the apartment she is staying at. She confesses that she is frightened for her life because she is not a very good person and that her real name is actually Brigid O’Shaughnessy. She is also worried that Sam has told the police about her but he has not because he does not know much about her himself. Brigid reveals that she knew Thursby they both just came over from China together with some cargo. She is now afraid that their enemies will be able to track her down.

            Back at the office that night Sam is visited by a shady man named Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre). Joel pulls out a gun on Sam and the detective just laughs and manages to knock Joel out. As Joel is out Sam takes a look through his stuff to see what he can get out the guy who pulled a gun on him. When Joel comes to Sam just tells him to get out.

            Sam goes to Brigid’s place to tell her about her encounter with Joel. She knows who he is. Sam calls Joel to meet him and Brigid at his place to talk. Joel reveals he is looking to buy a sculpture of a falcon off of Brigid. They both mention a person they call The Fat Man.

            In the meantime, Sam notices that he is being followed. After talking to Joel and Brigid Sam tracks down the guy who is tracking him to the hotel where Joel is staying. Sam figures the guy is working for The Fat Man. Sam goes to see The Fat Man (Sydney Greenstreet) who’s name is Kaspar Guttman. Guttman explains the history of the Maltese Falcon and why it is so sought after. As Guttman explains the story of the falcon Sam begins to black out. Guttman had Sam’s drink drugged. Sam comes to hours later on the floor of the room Guttman was staying in.

            Sam pieces together that Brigid was behind giving Guttman a fake falcon and also behind the killings of Archer and Thursby.

            The cast of this film is perfect. I am not a huge fan of Humphrey Bogart but I wound up really liking him in this. To me Bogart as Sam Spade is the ideal detective. Whenever I think of what a typical detective looks like I think of Bogart as Spade. Mary Astor was perfection as Brigid O’Shaughnessy. She is also the ultimate femme fatale in how a femme fatale acts. Brigid was manipulative and that is usually what the femme fatales in Film Noirs are. I think Astor as Brigid set the precedent for femme fatales, not so much in looks (do not get me wrong Astor was a very pretty woman she was not Ava Gardner or Gene Tierney gorgeous) but in her attitude and the way her character was manipulative and how she carried herself. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are staples of Warner Bros character actors. They both played the same types of characters over and over again but I never mind seeing them do so because they were so good at it.

            This was director John Huston’s directorial debut. What a debut it was! Huston’s direction is incredible. He filmed the story from different angles. One of my favorite scenes is when the detectives come to speak to Sam. Huston filmed it looking over Sam’s shoulder to get his point of view. That was not normally done. The focus was always on the main character/actor. Scenes like that were usually filmed from a side angle where you can see all the characters/actors. I loved that scene it was genius. You can see the seriousness in the eyes of the detectives and the way Sam does not really react he just sits there calmly and listens.  

            When I first watched The Maltese Falcon I was just beginning my journey into the classic film world. I remember buying it when it was released in a special DVD collection. I also remember not really caring for it very much most likely because I did not really understand it. Years later and having watched so many more classic films since then and appreciating them more, I really liked and enjoyed The Maltese Falcon. Everything about The Maltese Falcon is perfect. The dialogue is straight out of Dashiell Hammett’s novel it is quick and witty and biting and sharp. The direction and the acting is flawless. If you have yet to see The Maltese Falcon do yourself a favor and go watch it as soon as you can. 

Silent Sundays: Oh, Doctor! (1925)

We all know a hypochondriac or we are one ourselves. I can be a bit of a hypochondriac I cannot lie about that but I am working on not being too bad. But imagine being someone who always thinks they are sick or if you know someone who always thinks they are sick? For both that would suck. The silent film Oh, Doctor! is the story of a hypochondriac who would never leave the house to being a daring adventurous person when he meets a girl he wants to impress.

            Rufus Billhop (Reginald Denny) was born with the projection that he was a sick boy and would not live long. He proved the doctors wrong and lived to boyhood with a thermometer in his mouth. And yet again, Rufus lives longer than expected and outlives his parents. Rufus goes to live with his aunt out in California. His aunt wants to feed him red meat and he almost has a melt down because he believes that red meat can kill him. He insists that he have a doctor. The aunt knows a doctor who lives next door and them over. The doctor turns out to be a big bulking woman who Rufus is not too comfortable having check him out. The doctor literally manhandles poor Rufus and he calls out as loud as he can for another doctor. Luckily for him a male doctor, Seaver, was walking by the house and comes in. He takes over for the woman and becomes Rufus’s doctor.

            Doctor Seaver hears about how Rufus has always believed he is sick and dying and asks his patient why he has not gone to a sanatorium. Rufus tells Dr. Seaver that he does not have the money but he will have the money in three years when he comes into $750,000. Dr. Seaver tells Rufus he knows a few people that could help him get that money sooner. He goes to see three men who can advance Rufus $100,000. Before they advance Rufus the money the four men have him checked out by other doctors. One doctor tells the four men that all Rufus is suffering from in hypochondria. They give Rufus the $100,000 along with his signing over his entire estate since he will not be dying any time soon.

            With the money he has been loaned, Rufus hires a specific nurse who is known as Death Watch Mary. She has the reputation that whoever she watches over will be dead within two weeks. Dr. Seaver and the three men freak out and immediately get Rufus a younger livelier nurse. The young nurse is Dolores Hicks (Mary Astor). She takes her job seriously and seems to look at Rufus as a little crazy. When Rufus first sees Dolores his heart starts racing and thinks his temperature is spiking out of control. Dolores gives him some dirty looks and he just laughs and says they will get along just fine.

            From that Rufus begins to do things he never would have thought to do until he met Dolores. He eats red meat, goes outside and buys himself some new clothes and even a new car. He hires a driver to drive him around a speedway. The driver is notorious for being a speed demon on the track and has killed two people within a month! Dr. Seaver and the three others have a panic attack and nearly die watching Rufus and the driver go around the track. Rufus takes over driving and immediate crashes.

            To make a long summary short, Rufus tells Dolores that he is doing all his crazy things because he is trying to impress her. She likes him for finally being brave. Dolores decides that now that Rufus is not sick anymore that he does not need a doctor he needs a lawyer. The lawyer draws up papers that the four men must sign so they do not take Rufus’s money. While doing an insane stunt Rufus makes the men so nervous that Dolores finally gets them to sign the papers. She gets Rufus to stop his stunt by telling him she will not marry him if he does not stop. He comes down from what he was doing and plants a kiss on Dolores which he never would have had the courage to do before.

            Oh, Doctor! is a cute silent film. I loved seeing Reginald Denny being this silly, anxious, eccentric hypochondriac. I am so used to seeing him as Frank Crawly from Rebecca and this proper handsome British man in his later films that seeing him as Rufus Billhop was so enjoyable. Mary Astor was great as this straight faced nurse. Her seriousness and tough attitude is life goals. Oh, Doctor! is a silent film I definitely suggest seeing. It is available to view in full on YouTube.