#Heinz Roemheld

[dweemeister]

The Strawberry Blonde (1941)

During the height of the Old Hollywood Studio System – when studios themselves contracted directors, actors, writers, and other craftspersons – Warner Bros. found its niche as the “dark” studio. Warners might not have invented the gangster picture, but they codified its archetypes and tropes, becoming synonymous with the subgenre. In the early 1940s, director Raoul Walsh (a film noir pioneer; 1940’s They Drive by Night and 1941’s High Sierra) was nearing the peak of his career and actor James Cagney (1938’s Angels with Dirty Faces, 1949’s White Heat) was perhaps Warners’ most bankable star. Walsh was known for his proto-noir works and crime dramas; Cagney arguably the era’s definitive gangster actor. By 1941, both needed something different to work with.

Adapted by brothers Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein from James Hagan’s pastoral stage play One Sunday Afternoon, The Strawberry Blonde was exactly what both men sought. The Strawberry Blonde – often billed as a romantic comedy because it is a much lighter adaptation than 1933’s One Sunday Afternoon (starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray) – is a celebration of simple, unadorned love. Though not a gag-a-minute comedy, Walsh’s uncharacteristic film shines through the performances from Cagney and especially Olivia de Havilland (three years removed from The Adventures of Robin Hood and two from Gone with the Wind). It is a joyous and nostalgic production; perhaps it should be no wonder it was a career favorite film for Walsh and a highlight for Cagney.

The Strawberry Blonde occupies two time periods. The film is set in New York City sometime in the late nineteen aughts or early 1910s, but primarily told through flashback during the late 1890s. In the flashback, Biff Grimes (James Cagney) aspires to become a dentist and yearns for a strawberry blonde socialite named Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth; whose singing voice is, in a fleeting scene, not dubbed for the only time in her career). Along with his buddy and soon-to-be business partner, Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson), they go on a messy double date with Virginia and her friend, the nurse and suffragist-leaning Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland). Upon first impressions, Biff considers Amy to be the less attractive, amusing, and sociable girl. When fate – or, more precisely, Hugo’s duplicity – intervenes, Biff and Amy find love together and marry. While Biff begins studying for a dentistry diploma by mail correspondence, the two navigate financial and personal travails. Despite the marriage, Biff harbors a stewing resentment towards Hugo and a lingering covetousness towards Virginia apparent in the film’s bookends.

Among the bit players are Alan Hale as Biff’s father; George Tobias as Biff’s and Amy’s Greek immigrant friend, Nicholas Pappalas; Una O’Connor as Mrs. Mulcahey; and George Reeves (a future television Superman) as a belligerent, loudmouth, mustachioed college man who – due to his sweater – I choose to believe is from Yale. The four actors listed here, all Warner Bros. contractees at the time, each have their memorable moments.

The Strawberry Blonde serves as a memorialization to the time of Walsh and Cagney’s upbringing, similar to Vincente Minnelli’s Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and, if one wants to draw a modern throughline, the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things. In many ways, the film also feels like a musical. There are numerous diegetic performances of songs – whether by our central cast or a band – popular during the turn of the century. “The Band Played On” (from which the film derives its title; “Casey would waltz with a strawberry blonde / and the band played on”), “Bill Bailey”, “The Fountain in the Park”, “Meet Me in St. Louis”, “Wait ‘Till the Sun Shines, Nellie”, and much more fill the soundtrack. Composer Heinz Roemheld’s (1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1947’s The Lady from Shanghai) work adapts many of these songs into a boisterous, energetic score. Roemheld knows when to dial his orchestra back during the film’s most intimate scenes, but this wall-to-wall score evokes the period. Ostensibly, according to the screenplay, it was a time of romantic walks and live music performances in almost all social settings. In a sense, these decisions make The Strawberry Blonde into a sort of half-musical.

With his most recent movie being the film noir High Sierra (1941) with Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart, the transition from a largely outdoors-set crime drama to interior-heavy romantic comedy nevertheless suited Walsh. Walsh receives immeasurable help from one of the best cinematographers ever in James Wong Howe (1941’s Abe Lincoln in Illinois, 1963’s Hud). Howe’s signature high-contrast, low key lighting – generally associated with film noir – is not present much in The Strawberry Blonde. But what Walsh and Howe accomplish is making a bygone decade contemporary again. Outside the film’s romantic scenes including Cagney and de Havilland or Cagney and Hayworth, the film’s frames overflow with activity. With masterful use of blocking and mise en scène in these moments, Walsh and Howe’s frames are always dynamic, moving – but not swooping – alongside masses of extras and supporting characters rather than staying put, as if taking still photography. A static camera during Biff’s dates out on town would immediately render The Strawberry Blonde as a dusty artifact, a creaky throwback. Stationary cinematography has its uses when there are plenty of actors on-screen, but such a decision would make this remake too much like its 1930s original. Instead, in conjunction with Orry-Kelly’s (1951’s An American in Paris, 1959’s Some Like It Hot) outstanding costume design, the past leaps out of the history books and memories to be present again.

The notable instances in which Walsh and Howe keep their camera as rigid as possible are when Biff finds himself at the park bench where he and Amy first met. The set for the park also happens to be art director Robert M. Haas’ (1941’s The Maltese Falcon, 1949’s The Inspector General) plainest craftsmanship in the entire film. These scenes are the most obviously soundstage-bound moments – the too-perfect grass, the flatness, and lack of discernible lighting – despite the extras strolling in the deep background. The Strawberry Blonde’s park scenes mark the beginning and the renewal of Biff and Amy’s relationship, rendering them arguably the romantic highlights of the film. The contrast from these scenes to places such as the beer garden, the Central Park Zoo, or the Statue of Liberty make them the least “present” of the film. Some viewers less experienced in Old Hollywood (or those who, wrongfully, dismiss the style altogether) might complain about the obvious artifice in those park bench scenes with Biff and Amy, but my goodness does the aesthetic contrast make one take notice. Not only that, but the Epstein brothers’ dialogue for Cagney and de Havilland here is gently funny, and filled with warmth.

James Cagney, with his vaudeville background, was known for his physically exaggerated performances that nevertheless maintained a raw emotional core. That works to his benefit throughout The Strawberry Blonde, in which the character of Biff often sounds calm and measured, but his words bely fearfulness and bitterness. Despite the tough-guy gangster persona he often played in Warners’ gangster pictures, there are shades of Cagney’s later performance as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy here. Look at the grace in his dancing at the beer garden, a seemingly spontaneous cartwheel upon learning wonderful news, and how he putters about restlessly when conversing with Amy for the first time while expecting Virginia to show up. But also notice his weariness during the film’s bookends, how he accepts – but does not despair about – his station in life.

Olivia de Havilland is Cagney’s equal in this film, and a great foil to Rita Hayworth (whose character of Virginia is depicted as more conventionally attractive, but possesses a casual cruelty and vanity that gradually reveals itself). A middle-class nurse is an unusual role for an actress known at the time for mostly playing rich women and/or Errol Flynn’s love interest in swashbucklers or Westerns. As Amy, de Havilland curiously receives two “introductory” scenes in the film – both radically different from the other in storytelling function, reflecting the rarity of a second first impression and Biff’s tendency to see only surface details. Seemingly reserved but playful when she wishes to be, de Havilland’s Amy is an absolute delight of a character from the moment she appears. One crucial moment late in the film – in which Biff is dancing around an implied truth so that he can soften the blow for Amy – is heartbreaking acting from both. De Havilland’s movement and her glance outside the window in that scene epitomizes the agony in that moment. Knowing both actors’ resumes, I initially came into The Strawberry Blonde thinking that, on paper, Cagney and de Havilland would be a romantic mismatch. What a happy surprise it is to be completely wrong.

Unlike contemporary films that might take a nostalgic trip to a decade like the 1970s, ‘80s, or ‘90s, The Strawberry Blonde feels, at times, truly transporting. The incredible attention to visual details and especially the diegetic music (too often those newer nostalgia-driven movies resort to pin drops of non-diegetic music) help immensely. Though the film suggests an immigrant experience that would have been appropriate for turn-of-the-century New York, The Strawberry Blonde declines to say more about it – most likely a result of the original source material (“pickaninny”, a derogatory term that refers to black or dark-skinned children, is casually used in a song’s lyric).

At the center of this rich period detail lies an honest love between two people flowing through life’s currents. Sometimes their love is troubled with melodramatics, but they find ways to comfort and help the other with humor and goodness. Sure, it can be sentimental stuff. But it endures an upsettingly difficult test. The Strawberry Blonde has no designs to being other than a sincere love story and a fond lookback of another time. As such, it triumphs – with just one more chorus of “The Band Played On”, if you please.

My rating: 7.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL). Half-points are always rounded down.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[iwtv2022]

undefined

Fitting that the score for AMC’s IWTV by Daniel Hart paid homage to Heinz Roemheld’s score for Dracula’s Daughter (1936), a queer-coded vampire film inspired by Carmilla, and which in turn inspired Anne Rice to write IWTV.

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: The Invisible Man

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★★★★

Plot: A scientist creates a potion that turns him invisible at the cost of his sanity.

Review: A fun, if occasionally silly, sci-fi horror with an unsettling central concept, exceptional special effects, and memorable set pieces.

Source Material: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells Year: 1933 Genre: Sci-Fi Horror Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 11 minutes

Director: James Whale Writer: R. C. Sherriff Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson Editor: Ted Kent Composer: Heinz Roemheld Cast: Gloria Stuart, Claude Rains, William Harrigan, Henry Travers, Una O'Connor

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Story: 3.5/5 - Interesting and tense, though some elements feel like they could have been explored more, such as Jack's initial experiments. Some comedic bits also go on for a bit too long.

Performances: 4/5 - Everyone does a very solid job, including Rains, who often has to rely solely on his voice.

Cinematography: 4/5 - Some really clever camerawork when displaying Jack's invisibility.

Editing: 3.5/5

Music: 3/5

Effects & Props: 5/5 - Just amazing. Pretty much every scene involving Jack looks remarkable, especially when he's undressing.

Sets: 3.5/5 - Not terribly memorable but they don't really need to be. Well laid out and dressed.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 4.5/5 - Jack's look as the Invisible Man is deservedly iconic.

Trigger Warnings:

Mild violence

Brief mention of animal abuse

[byneddiedingo]

Kay Francis, Warner Oland, and Ricardo Cortez in Mandalay (Michael Curtiz, 1934)

Cast: Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Warner Oland, Lyle Talbot, Ruth Donnelly, Lucien Littlefield, Reginald Owen, Etienne Giardot, David Torrence, Rafaela Ottiano, Halliwell Hobbes, Bodil Rosing, Herman Bing. Screenplay: Paul Hervey Fox, Austin Parker, Charles King. Cinematography: Tony Gaudio. Art direction: Anton Grot. Film editing: Thomas Pratt. Music: Heinz Roemheld.

You get what you might expect from a movie titled Mandalay: Orientalist hooey, with lots of gun-running and opium dealing in sleazy night clubs, with expat Europeans and Americans fleecing tourists with the aide of sinister Eurasians. (There was no other kind of Eurasian in Hollywood movies of the '30s; here they're played by Warner Oland, who made a career of the type before going straight into yellowface as Charlie Chan, and Rafaela Ottiano, who filled the bill whenever Gale Sondergaard was unavailable.) Kay Francis does what she can with a role that doesn't make a lot of sense: She's the Russian-born Tanya Borodoff, who has somehow fallen in love with Tony Evans (Ricardo Cortez), a gun-runner and all-around heel. When he dumps her, she becomes Spot White (no, I don't get the name either), the madam of the sleazy night club in Rangoon run by Nick (Oland). She doesn't want to fall that far from grace, but needs must. When she's threatened with deportation to Russia by the police commissioner (Reginald Owen), she blackmails him by reminding him that they once had a night together when he was drunk, and that she has her garter adorned with his medals to prove it. He gives her the money she needs to leave Rangoon and head for the "cool green hills" near Mandalay. Now calling herself Marjorie Lang, she boards a paddle-wheel steamer upriver, on which she meets an alcoholic doctor (Lyle Talbot) who intends to atone for accidentally killing a patient by working with black fever patients in the jungles. They hit it off and she helps him sober up, but, wouldn't you know it, Tony Evans resurfaces on the very steamer. This sounds like a lot more fun than it is, although Michael Curtiz's professionalism and Tony Gaudio's cinematography gives it some occasional finesse. Francis slinks about nicely -- a woman passenger tells her, "You certainly can wear clothes" -- but she doesn't have the spark she fires in her best roles, perhaps because Cortez and Talbot are such dull leading men. The ending is the sort of thing that would have the heads of the Production Code enforcers exploding, but even that isn't enough for me to recommend sitting through the rest of the movie.

[saturdaynightmatinee]

CALIFICACIÓN PERSONAL: 6 / 10

Título Original: British Intelligence

Año: 1939

Duración: 61 min

País: Estados Unidos

Dirección: Terry O. Morse

Guion: Lee Katz. Obra: Anthony Paul Kelly

Música: Heinz Roemheld, Bernhard Kaun

Fotografía: Sidney Hickox (B&W)

Reparto: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Bruce Lester, Leonard Mudie, Holmes Herbert, Austin Fairman, etc

Productora: Warner Bros. Pictures

Género: Romance; Thriller; War

PELÍCULA COMPLETA:

[signalwatch]

PodCast 257: "The Invisible Man" (1933) - A Halloween 2023 PodCast w/ Jamie and Ryan Watched:  10/21/2023 Format:  BluRay Viewing: Unknown/ First Decade:  1930's Director:  James Whale For more ways to listen Jamie and Ryan are transparent in their madness about this 1930's cinema classic! It's a ghostly good time as they get wrapped up in a conversation that makes it clear, you can see right through them when it comes to their enjoyment of this film. SoundCloud  The Signal Watch PodCast · 257: "The Invisible Man" (1933) - A Halloween 2023 PodCast w/ Jamie and Ryan YouTube Music: Invisible Man Theme - Heinz Roemheld  The Invisible Man - Queen, The Miracle  Halloween 2023 The Signal Watch PodCast · Halloween 2023 All Halloween and Horror Playlist The Signal Watch PodCast · Halloween and Horror https://ift.tt/nQ8Vp7w via The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/oiJC5Hp October 25, 2023 at 10:25PM

[farm2turntable]

Bill Cullen with wife Ann, flanked by Jack Narz and Ann’s sister Mary Lou Narz.

[cinesludge]

Movie #1 of 2020: The Roaring Twenties

[re-animatresse]

23 ottobre 2017, #3: Tod Browning's and Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931) is my favourite of the Universal monster classics. this sequel, starring the beautiful Gloria Holden in her first leading role, doesn't quite measure up to the former but has its own charms

it's likely to be the first lesbian or bisexual vampire film ever made; though censors from the Production Code Administration made certain that Countess Zaleska's sapphic inclinations are not overt, it's still fairly obvious whom she prefers. this is also the first film, to my awareness, to feature the reluctant vampire trope, à la Anne Rice's and Brad Pitt's Louis de Pointe du Lac, with Holden's performance seemingly made more poignant by her displeasure at being assigned the role — i guess auditioning worked differently in the 1930s

the acting, setting designs and filming all have the look and feel of a stage play. the film's alluring string-heavy score is composed by Heinz Roemheld, music supervisor of Dracula and uncredited composer of the stock music used in Werewolf of London, Reefer Madness and about a hundred other films

i'd love to see this movie remade with more emphasis on the titular character's sexuality — let her leave two puncture marks on the breasts of her victims rather than in the jugular — and the ending rewritten and brought up to date. i like the film as it is, though, and recommend it for fans of Dracula and other Universal Studios classics. be sure to bring the kiddies!

8/10

[foodiefilms]

The Black Cat

The Black Cat, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (1934)

• This is the best Karloff/Lugosi movie from Universal. The direction is not just efficient, it is also creative and distinct. Ulmer had a vison and he did a masterful job putting it on screen. • The movie is an interesting mixture of psychosis, sadism, sensuality, the occult, and the macabre. Awesome stuff that is somewhat ahead of its time. I am surprised it was even allowed to be made. That was wild subject matter for the 1930s. It is even wild in the 2010s. • The visuals are a knockout. The design of Poelzig’s mansion is wonderfully modern and sterile. Also, the room with his incased wives is wonderful. The cinematography is stellar, as is the use of light and shadow. • The music deserves mention. On second viewing, I noticed more Classical Music call backs than Tchaikovsky. Heinz Eric Roemheld puts his own spin on works by Chopin, Liszt/Berlioz, Beethoven, and Schubert. Rad stuff. I would love to own the soundtrack for this movie! • The story is sinister, tragic, and engaging. What more can you ask for? • The finale of the movie is rad. A black mass followed by torture. I am there for it. Something cool happened during the mass. The shots of the attendees’ faces reminded me of the coronation scene in Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible from 1944. Very cool! • Unlike the other Karloff/Lugosi movies, this one has the strongest cast and most engaging characters. Let’s talk about some of them:     o Karloff is chilling as the quietly sinister and devious Poelzig. He is great in this part.     o Lugosi is magnetic as the vengeful and tormented Werdegast I like how this character is just as sinister as Poelzig… maybe even more sinister. He is a definite anti-hero. This is one of Lugosi’s best roles, for sure.     o Jacqueline Wells, as she was known at the time, is an alluring damsel in distress as Joan.     o David Manners is less of a dupe and more of a proactive and charismatic hero as Peter.

[iwtv2022]

Last three tracks from the OST are going up tonight. I love the soundtrack so much. It takes some delicious cues from Heinz Roemheld’s score for Dracula’s Daughter, a film which inspired AR. Compare this to Daniel Hart’s “Overture.”

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: Dracula's Daughter

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★★★

Plot: After her father's death, Dracula's daughter seeks to undo her vampiric curse and rejoin society.

Review: Though there are issues with the story and pacing, an interesting early portrayal of a conflicted vampire and queer subtext make this worth a watch.

Source Material: "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu Sequel to: Dracula (1931) Year: 1936 Genre: Vampires, Gothic Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 9 minutes

Director: Lambert Hillyer Writer: Garrett Fort Cinematographer: George Robinson Editor: Milton Carruth Composer: Heinz Roemheld Cast: Gloria Holden, Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan, Irving Pichel, Gilbert Emergy

------

Story: 2.5/5 - Messy. Its recapping is awkward and climax rushed. It also devotes too much time to inessential comedic relief. Still, Marya is a tragic character, and Jeffrey and Janet's relationship is fun.

Performances: 3.5/5 - Holden, echoing some of Lugosi's mannerisms, is the standout as a vampire combating loneliness. Also, Kruger and Churchill play off each other well.

Cinematography: 3.5/5 - Not as gothic and distinct as its predecessor, but still features some striking shots.

Editing: 3/5 - A few really good uses of dissolves.

Music: 2.5/5 - Generic.

Sets: 3/5 - Proficiently dressed and realistic if a bit generic.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 3/5

Trigger Warnings:

Mild violence

[byneddiedingo]

Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in The Lady From Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947)

Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloan, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia, Erskine Sanford, Gus Schilling, Carl Frank, Louis Merrill, Evelyn Ellis, Harry Shannon. Screenplay: Orson Welles, based on a novel by Sherwood King. Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr., Rudolph Maté, Joseph Walker. Art direction: Sturges Carne, Stephen Goosson. Film editing: Viola Lawrence. Music: Heinz Roemheld. 

Like most of Orson Welles's Hollywood work, The Lady From Shanghai is the product of clashing wills: Welles's and the studio's -- in this case, Columbia under its infamous boss Harry Cohn. And as usual, the clash shows, sometimes in Welles's brilliance, such as the celebrated shootout in a hall of mirrors at the film's end, and sometimes in his indifference to the material: Is there any real excuse for the farcical courtroom scene that so violates any sense of consistency in the film's tone? Welles miscast himself as the protagonist, Michael O'Hara, a two-fisted Irish seaman, complete with an accent that he must have picked up in his youthful days in the Dublin theater. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Rita Hayworth, was forced upon him by Cohn, whom he angered by having her cut her hair and dye it blond. Her Elsa Bannister is the epitome of the treacherous film noir femme fatale, but it's hard to say whether the screenplay -- mostly by Welles -- or Hayworth's limited acting ability prevents the character from coming into focus. The real casting coup of the film is Everett Sloane as as Elsa's crippled husband, Arthur, and Glenn Anders as his partner, George Grisby. I use the word "partner" intentionally, because the film dodges around the Production Code in its hints that Bannister and Grisby are more than just law-firm partners, evoking the stereotypical catty and mutually destructive gay couple. Welles insisted on filming on location, which means we get some fascinating glimpses of late-1940s Acapulco and San Francisco, shot by Charles Lawton Jr. and the uncredited Rudolph Maté and Joseph Walker. In short, the movie is a mess, but sometimes a glorious mess.

[giallofever2]

Post in 🇮🇹 & 🇬🇧

Dedicated to ... Edgar Allan Poe ...

Il Dottor Miracolo aka Murders in the Rue Morgue aka Double assassinat dans la rue Morgue aka Убийство на улице Морг aka Mord in der Rue Morgue aka Los crimenes de la calle Morgue aka Paris mysterier aka Zabójstwa przy Rue Morgue

(...very loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story)

Data di uscita: Usa 21 febbraio 1932

Italia 06 Luglio 1932

In Usa re-release on April 15, 1949.

Regista: Robert Florey

Music by Heinz Roemheld (stock music, uncredited)

Adattato da: I delitti della Rue Morgue

Scritto da: Edgar Allan Poe

🇮🇹 Curiosità

liberamente tratto dal racconto di Edgar Allan Poe I delitti della Rue Morgue (1841).

Il film fu prodotto dall'Universal Pictures. Le riprese de Il dottor Miracolo si svolsero nell'arco di un mese circa, dal 19 ottobre 1931 al 13 novembre 1931 come documentato dal New York Times. Tuttavia, per competere con il successo di Frankenstein (1931), lo studio chiese di aggiungere qualche scena aggiuntiva e quindi si effettuarono ulteriori riprese dal 10 al 19 dicembre 1931. Il budget stanziato fu di circa 190,000 dollari.

Prima dell'inizio della produzione del film, il regista Robert Florey, e il protagonista Bela Lugosi, erano stati contattati per il progetto del trattamento cinematografico del romanzo Frankenstein di Mary Shelley. Tuttavia, con l'arrivo del giovane regista James Whale, Florey venne rimosso dal progetto. Come compensazione, al regista venne affidato Il dottor Miracolo, con Bela Lugosi, che avrebbe dovuto interpretare il mostro nella riduzione di Frankenstein prima dell'arrivo di Boris Karloff.

Florey avrebbe voluto ambientare la storia nella Parigi del 1840 per restare fedele al racconto di Poe il più possibile. Tuttavia, la produzione chiese al regista di "modernizzare la storia". In risposta, Florey fece preparare due adattamenti della trama. Alla fine, ci fu un compromesso, con l'ambientazione ottocentesca voluta da Florey e qualche cambiamento ai personaggi originali per rendere la storia più moderna come richiesto dalla Universal.

🇬🇧 Murders in the Rue Morgue was filmed in approximately one month, from October 19, 1931 to November 13, 1931

Murders in the Rue Morgue received quite mixed reviews. In an issue of Photoplay magazine from 1932, the critic claimed they "shook and shuddered when (they) saw this picture and so will you." Because of the increasing popularity of horror films due to the success of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931), there was a lot of hype surrounding the release of this film. The New York Daily News commented that Murders in the Rue Morgue, "sends your thumping heart up into your throat!" Much praise is also given to cinematographer Karl W. Freund for giving the film a "German Expressionistic" look.

A writer for The New York Time wrote, "The entire production suffers from an overzealous effort at terrorization, and the cast, inspired by the general hysteria, succumbs to the temptation to overact."

Cast

Bela Lugosi: Dottor Miracolo

Sidney Fox: Mlle. Camille L'Espanaye

Leon Ames: Pierre Dupin

Bert Roach: Paul

Betty Ross Clarke: Mme. L'Espanaye

Brandon Hurst: prefetto di polizia

Noble Johnson: Janos

Herman Bing: Franz Odenheimer

[signalwatch]

PodCast 257: "The Invisible Man" (1933) - A Halloween 2023 PodCast 

Watched:  10/21/2023

Format:  BluRay

Viewing: Unknown/ First

Decade:  1930's

Director:  James Whale

For more ways to listen

Jamie and Ryan are transparent in their madness about this 1930's cinema classic! It's a ghostly good time as they get wrapped up in a conversation that makes it clear, you can see right through them when it comes to their enjoyment of this film.

SoundCloud 

The Signal Watch PodCast · 257: "The Invisible Man" (1933) - A Halloween 2023 PodCast w/ Jamie and Ryan

YouTube

Music:

Invisible Man Theme - Heinz Roemheld

The Invisible Man - Queen, The Miracle 

Halloween 2023

The Signal Watch PodCast · Halloween 2023

[in-dicas-blog]

British Intelligence | 1940 | Espiã Fascinadora

Durante a Segunda Guerra, a espiã Helene von Lerber chega a Londres para viver com a família de um oficial de alto escalão britânico. Lá, ela encontra o mordomo Valdar, também um espião, e o ajuda a descobrir os planos secretos britânicos.

Data de lançamento: 29 de janeiro de 1940 (mundial) Direção: Terry O. Morse Música composta por: Heinz Eric Roemheld Produção: Bryan Foy Produtora: Warner Bros. Entertainment

During World War I, Franz Strendler, a master German spy has cost the British dearly. In desperation, they send for their best agent, currently undercover in Germany. Pilot Frank Bennett (Bruce Lester) is sent to pick him up, but the Germans are forewarned and Bennett is shot down. Luckily, he survives and is rescued by friendly soldiers. While recovering in a hospital, Bennett is tended by a pretty nurse, Helene Von Lorbeer (Margaret Lindsay). He tells her he loves her, but she informs him she is leaving, and they will not see each other again. However, after Bennett falls asleep, she kisses him on the cheek.

Von Lorbeer turns out to be a spy herself. She is recalled to Germany to receive a high honor sent personally by the Kaiser and to undertake a new mission. Posing as a refugee named Frances Hautry, she infiltrates the London household of Arthur Bennett (Holmes Herbert), a cabinet minister, and, coincidentally, Frank's father. She takes her orders from Valdar (Boris Karloff), the butler. However, unbeknownst to her, he is a British double agent. Valdar later secretly reports to Colonel Yeats (Leonard Mudie), the head of British Intelligence.

When Bennett's secretary, also a German spy, taps out a secret message in code on her typewriter, Yeats is present and recognizes it. Since only Hautry is also in the office at the time, he sets a trap for her. A captured spy named Kurz seemingly escapes from the British and flees to Hautry's bedroom. She hides him in her closet, but then betrays him when Yeats and his men show up. Afterwards, she tells Valdar that she knew "Kurz" was an imposter.

Frank Bennett unexpectedly shows up, his squadron and others having been recalled to London for some reason. He is surprised to find his former nurse there and under a different name. Hautry is forced to reveal that she is loyal to the British. However, Valdar overhears their conversation.

That night, the British cabinet meets in Bennett's home. It is the moment Valdar has been waiting for. He forces Hautry at gunpoint down in the cellar, where he has set a bomb to blow the house up under cover of a Zeppelin bombing raid. Hautry tells Valdar that she had no choice but to make up a story to allay Frank's suspicions. Convinced when she shows him the award she was given, Valdar finally reveals that he is Strendler.

Fortunately, Valdar has been under surveillance. Yeats and his men rush to the cellar door. When Valdar escapes through the coal shute, Hautry unlocks the door and informs Yeats about the bomb. Valdar rushes to his hideout to transmit the stolen British plans for the spring offensive, pursued by the British, but, ironically, a Zeppelin bombs the location and kills him and his confederates before he can send his information.

Directed by Terry O. Morse Produced by Bryan Foy (uncredited) Written by Anthony Paul Kelly (play) Lee Katz (screenplay) Starring: Boris Karloff Margaret Lindsay Music by H. Roemheld Cinematography: Sid Hickox Edited by Thomas Pratt Production company : Warner Bros. Distributed by Warner Bros. Release date: January 29, 1940 Running time: 60 min. Language: English