MOVIE OF THE DAY: "CRIME WITHOUT PASSION" (1934)

As the Greek Furies of vengeance swoop over New York in search of their next victim -- yes, you read that right --  they land in a courtroom where Lee Gentry, the self-described "Champion of the Damned", is smoothly clearing another (guilty) client charged with murder.

But what Grant doesn't count on is eventually firing a trigger. Having accidentally shot his ex-flame Carmen Brown, Grant must now use every trick he's ever used to clear himself of murder. 

Retracing his steps, destroying some pieces of evidence while creating others, he appears to be on the verge of his greatest triumph yet -- emphasis on "appears". No wonder why the Furies are laughing like Greek hyenas.

 

Would you trust this man to clear you of
murder?

 The first of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's four picture deal with Paramount, Crime Without Passion was also Claude Rains' first movie following his talkie debut in The Invisible Man, thus allowing audiences a view of the face behind the voice. 

While his (apparent) toupee and Snidely Whiplash mustache are initially distracting -- perhaps he's supposed to look like a caricature of the archetypal sleazy lawyer -- Rains' silky delivery, matched with his undeniable talent quickly put any trepidation aside. 

"Look at me when I'm lying to you!"

Rains also convincingly plays Grant as a self-pitying cad juggling two women at once. The first, Whitney Bourne, is a high society dame, while his sidepiece, Carmen Brown, dances at a Times Square nightclub.  Carmen threatens suicide after being cut loose, leading to the chain of events that puts the crafty lawyer in jeopardy.

 

 

Never trust a lawyer you can see through.

Grant panics -- he's not used to being on this side of a crime. Only one person is smart enough to provide advice: himself, appearing in ghostly form, reminding Grant of all the ways he's gotten clients off the hook. He obviously never heard the cliche about a person acting as his own lawyer having a fool for a client. But at least Grant is a classy fool.

 

They're more interesting than pigeons flying,
overhead, that's for sure.

More than other Hecht-MacArthur pictures, Crime Without Passion is
often a technical marvel, thanks to cinematographer/associate director Lee Garmes, and  Slavko Vorkapich, who helped create the montages and remarkable prologue of the Furies wreaking havoc over Manhattan. Bizarre today, they must have been overwhelming in 1934.

MacArthur (left) and Hecht (right)
buttonhole their star.

 

Crime Without Passion has a few in- jokes for observant audiences. Hecht and MacArthur share a cameo as newspaper reporters -- their original profession --  talking to Grant following another courtroom triumph. That's one way of keeping production costs down.

Helen Hayes notices the camera while
Fanny Brice seems to be scrolling through
her 1934 iPhone.

Another surprise for the sharp-eyed are Broadway stars Fanny Brice and Helen Hayes sitting in a theater lobby as Grant creates an alibi. Further in-jokes: Hayes was married to MacArthur, while Brice's "Baby Snooks" character was parodied earlier in the movie by another actor. These private japes are almost as dizzying as the montages.

 

 

What's the matter with these kids today?

  Filmed at Paramount's Long Island City studio, along with a handful of West Side location shots, Crime Without Passion drags only when the character of Carmen Brown is onscreen, due to her syrupy dialogue, and the fact that her portrayer, Margo (yes, just Margo) was only 16. Her whiplash dance routine, where it appears her head is ready to fly off, more than makes up for it.

 

 

As with the other Hecht-MacArthur Paramount productions, Crime Without Passion is unavailable on DVD but easy to find on YouTube (in a somewhat muddy print) and Ok.Ru video in far better condition here. It's one of the few movies on this blog where "you've never seen anything like it" is a compliment. Just watch out for the Furies. They take no prisoners.

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Another Hecht-MacArthur production, Soak the Rich, can be found here.