THE EARLY SHOW, PT. 39

Obscurities rule the day here, as, I suppose, they always do. All are worth a watch but for different reasons. Unfortunately, none of them apply to anybody but me.

BE YOURSELF! (1930): So associated is Barbra Streisand to Funny Girl is that
it's almost impossible to remember there really was a Fannie Brice. It doesn't help that she starred in only two movies (her first, made in 1928, is long lost), while took supporting or guest roles in just five others. As with her fellow Broadway star Frank Fay, Brice could never make a successful transition to film. If Be Yourself! is any indication, the problem could be bad scripts.

"Dopey" is the only description that could be given to the movie itself. Be Yourself! is the story of entertainer Fannie Field who, with her younger brother Harry, takes over the management -- and drops plenty of dough on -- punch-drunk boxer Jerry Moore, with whom she is inexplicably in love. Fannie's rival, Lillian, drops her boxer boyfriend McCloskey for Jerry as his star rises and head grows fat, which was likely supposed to remind audiences of Brice's ill-fated real-life marriage to layabout criminal Nicky Arnstein. I'm sure she appreciated the writers' thoughtfulness.

While Brice's comedic Yiddish accent comes and goes depending on her mood, Harry Green (as her brother) puts his into overdrive; initially amusing, it quickly becomes grating, as does his character -- Fannie paid for his education, and all he has to show for it is winning six cents in damages for a client. But nobody is worse than Robert Armstrong as Jerry, whose allegedly funny delivery is poor beyond belief. And neither he nor G. Pat Collins as McCloskey, are remotely believable as boxers -- or as professional actors. (Armstrong would do better in dramas starting with King Kong.)

This leaves Fannie Brice to save whatever day is left by singing six songs. What's most interesting is how her looks change with each style -- plain with pop, goofy as comic, and unexpectedly pretty with torch, thanks to a combination of camera angles, make-up, wardrobe, and acting. She's a talent, no question, but Be Yourself! is strictly for movie nerds and Fannie Brice fans -- are than any around for a woman who died in 1951? -- and is best appreciated as 62 minutes of history that give a faded idea of why she was popular everywhere but movie theaters. 

BONUS POINTS: Early on, Jerry Moore tells Fannie, "Gee, you're a funny girl." Coincidence?  

THE BLACK CAMEL (1931): Unlike other Charlie Chan movies, the real fun in The Black Camel is everything but the mystery. (If you're interested, actress Shelah Fane is murdered a few years after the murder of her lover, with a self-styled seer named Tarneverro being the likely suspect.)

OK, on to the good stuff. The Black Camel was one of the five original Chan movies thought lost in Fox Film's film storage fire in the mid-'30s, before a print unexpectedly turned up decades later. It was also the only one filmed on location in Hawaii (Chan being an Inspector on the Honolulu Police Department), allowing us to see the then-territory long before it became a relatively common tourist destination. The classy Royal Hawaiian Hotel allowed filming on its property as well; if it's still as beautiful as it was then, you just know the tourists aren't as well dressed.

But the cast! The cast! Bela Lugosi co-stars as Tarneverro, the same year as Dracula. Dwight Frye, legendary as Dracula's slave Renfield, is a suspicious butler. Robert Young, 40 years before Marcus Welby, MD, is Jimmy Bradshaw, dreaming of becoming a professional slogan writer (a typical '30s movie trope). Mary Gordon, the housekeeper in the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies, who has information that helps Chan break the case wide open.  I almost needed a tranquilizer to handle The Black Camel's parade of iconic character actors. (A familiar character here is the starving artist with a British accent and pseudo-philosophical dialogue.) 

The movie also provides a rare scene with Chan's 12 slang-slinging children at the (long) breakfast table. None of the sons were old enough yet to be his incompetent sidekick, leaving that job to Otto Yamaoka as Kashimo, who spends most of the time running around Waikiki on wild nene chases. (If you know that the nene is Hawaii's state bird, it's a funny joke.) Yet for my money, the best moment is when Lugosi first meets Oland. Bela appears to genuinely enjoy their bantering, as if relieved to be rid of the Dracula cape in order to play a "normal" character part. While Charlie Chan at the Opera (co-starring Boris Karloff!) is often cited as the best Chan picture, The Black Camel is the most entertaining.

BONUS POINTS: In the strangest moment of any Chan movie, a bunch of real locals and tourists stand around gawking at the filming of The Black Camel on a beach. Good thing cellphones and TikTok hadn't been invented yet.

EL FANTASMA DE CONVENTO (THE PHANTOM OF THE MONASTERY) (1934): Well, that title
is one way to get audiences to think of an earlier horror movie. Still, this Mexican thriller stands on its own, and without a falling chandelier in sight -- even if, by the end, we see one has already fallen.

After getting lost on an evening hike, married couple Eduardo and Cristina, along with their friend Alfonso, are led to a centuries-old monastery by a strange monk. Hoping simply for a night's shelter and a little dinner, the trio encounter empty coffins, self-flagellation, the shadow of an invisible bat, and over a dozen of the weirdest old monks south of the border. As Cristina and Alfonso fall in lust, the padre tells them the story of a fellow monk who sought shelter there after desiring his best friend's wife... and summoning Satan in order to get the guy out of the way... only to have Satan kill the wife and eventually the monk, who now won't let himself stay buried. Cristina seems to believe this is a good risk for Alfonso to take, while he gradually comes around to her way of thinking. Ahh, young love!

As with other Mexican horror movies of the time, The Phantom of the Monastery is heavy on religious imagery atmosphere, eerie sounds, and an occasionally bombastic score which often distracts from the previous three things. But nothing can distract from the amorous looks Cristina gives Alfonso right in front of her husband, who is the only one who realizes that something very strange is happening all around them and wants to scram. (Sometimes what appears to be cowardice is actually intelligence.)

The scariest moments, other than the dead monk lying in his bed, are the most subtle. Two of them are courtesy of Marta Roel (Cristina), whose lust for Alfonso are signaled with just a brief change of facial expressions -- she's definitely under the control of something (or someone) otherworldly. The other is from Enrique del Campo (Alfonso), whose decision to hire Satan for Eduardo's murder is seen only in his eyes. I couldn't tell if it was a trick of the lighting, del Campo's acting skills, or both, but it's one of the movie's most memorable moments. While its predictable finale goes a little long, The Phantom of the Monastery proves that Mexico could, in its own way, match, and maybe surpass, the creep factor in Hollywood horror/thrillers, while throwing in a few surprises of its own.

BONUS POINTS: The mummified dead monk letting Alfonso know where to find Satan's instruction book. You have to see it to appreciate it.

HITLER: DEAD OR ALIVE (1943): Imagine Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds with a budget of a two-week car rental, and you've got Hitler: Dead or Alive. Three goofy gangsters -- Steve, Dutch, and Joe -- have been promised one million dollars by a patriotic American if they successfully kidnap Hitler and bring him back the US to face justice. Sound impossible? Not when the trio join the Canadian Army; hijacks a military plane to parachute into enemy territory, where every German speaks perfect English; and the country is filled with citizens willing to help them. Why didn't anybody think of this in real life?  

Contemporary audiences unfamiliar with movies like Hitler: Dead or Alive would likely be astounded how a silly, low budget piece of claptrap that made no sense entertained ticket-buyers in 1943. Easy! War-weary folks wanted to be distracted by silly, low budget pieces of claptrap that made no sense -- especially at a time when civilization was hanging in the balance. It was just one of many farces like Hal Roach's The Devil with Hitler and Nazty Nuisance turning Shicklgruber into a laughingstock. 

The biggest actor here, figuratively and literally, is Ward Bond as Steve, while familiar comedic wise guy Warren Hymer does his usual "Gee, boss" routine as Dutch. Bobby Watson, who portrayed Hitler in the two Roach comedies, repeats the role here, where he's billed as Bob Watson, perhaps reflecting his more serious portrayal. That is, as serious as can be when Ward Bond forcibly shaves off the moustache hiding a scar to make sure this Hitler isn't a body double. 

Things get dramatic at the climax when German soldiers, having captured the gangsters, mistakenly kill the clean-shaven Hitler before turning their rifles on four neighborhood children just because. Ward Bond gives an impassioned speech straight to the camera warning us that the Nazis must be stopped. When you consider Bond was one of Hollywood's most passionate right-wing antisemites, it's a brilliant performance. If nothing else, Hitler: Dead or Alive gives an idea of what movie audiences willingly sat through anything to get away from bad news. Which means you might enjoy it today.

BONUS POINTS: As cheap as any movie ever made, The Devil with Hitler was filmed at something called Fine Arts Studios.

                                                     *********************