Billy Zane: Don’t do this, Derek.
Hansel: Listen to your friend Billy Zane. He’s a cool dude.

Maj. Gen. George Broulard: Aside from the inescapable fact that many of your men never left the trenches, there’s the troops’ morale, don’t forget.
Col. Dax: The troops’ morale?
Maj. Gen. George Broulard: Certainly. These executions will be a perfect tonic for the entire division. There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die.
Col. Dax: Well, I never thought of that, sir.

Kym: You’re a lawyer?
Kieran: Was. For about five minutes.
Kym: Say something legal.
Kieran: Tort.

Jack’s Mother: Uh, what is it you do, Mr. Staggliano?
Vinny Staggliano: College professor.
Jack’s Mother: Oh! Uh, what do you teach?
Vinny Staggliano: College stuff. What are you, a fucking cop?

The screenplay (written by Robert Buckner, Don Ryan and Kenneth Gamet) is based on a stage play “Chalked Out” co-written by Jonathan Finn and Lewis E. Lawes, who was once actually Warden of Sing Sing prison. Lawes’ most famous work is probably Twenty Thousand Years In Sing Sing, which was made into a movie in 1932 starring Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis.

The film’s main protagonist, Johnny, is played by Billy Halop one of the original Dead End Kids. Halop appeared with Bogart twice before – in William Wyler’s 1937 crime drama Dead End (with Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea; man’s man) and Michael Curtiz’s 1938 gangster flick Angels With Dirty Faces. While Halop is eclipsed by Bogart (how could he not?), he does a pretty great job with role. Johnny is a kid who, despite his sister’s pleas, gets caught up in the romance, if you will, of the gangster lifestyle. Bogart’s Frank is just too charming and Johnny will follow wherever he leads. Unfortunately, he ends up following him all the way to prison.

I just really love Bogart when he plays villains. I mean, I love his tough-guy anti-hero roles, too. But there is just something really special when he plays truly bad men. I can’t really think of anyone I like more as a villain.

I also just have to talk for a second about how beautiful he is because damn. Just look at him. Just look. Gaze. Take in the beauty. Bask in it.

Henry Travers is one of my favorite character actors ever. His role as a seasoned prisoner/ librarian really reminded me of the Brooks character in The Shawshank Redemption. Makes me wonder if Frank Darabont was perhaps a fan of this film.

Watching this film I was trying to remember where I’d seen Gale Page before but I wound up having to look her up. It turns out I’ve seen quite a few of her films. I think she is probably best known for her role in Michael Curtiz’s 1938 film Four Daughters; she’s the only daughter not played by one of the Lane sisters. It’s also famous for John Garfield’s Oscar-nominated debut performance. Page is luminous as ever in this film, though the role is maybe not the most original. It’s a little too similar to the role played by Sylvia Sidney in Dead End, though Sidney was able to transcend beyond the character’s limitations.

I’m not gonna lie, the end of this film had me tearing up a bit, even though it was a bit cheesy. Regardless, this film is an interesting film, partly because of its exploration of allure of the gangster lifestyle and also because it’s one of the last pure villain roles Bogart ever played.

Disclaimer: This review is based on a review disc given to me by the Warner Archive, though the opinions are all my own.

June: Tell me about the movies you make.
Griffin Mill: Why?
June: Because I want to know what you do.
Griffin Mill: I listen to stories and decide if they’ll make good movies or not. I get 125 phone calls a day and if I let that slip to 100 I know I’m not doing my job. Everyone who calls, they  want to know one thing. They want me to say yes to them and make their movie. If I say yes, they think that come New Year’s it will be just them and Jack Nicholson on the slopes of Aspen. That’s what they think. The problem is I can only say yes, my studio can only say yes 12 times a year. And collectively we hear about 50,000 stories a year. So it’s hard. And I guess sometimes I’m not nice and make enemies. That’s what I was to David. An enemy.
June: Was his story one of the 12?
Griffin Mill: No, it wasn’t.
June: Why?
Griffin Mill: It lacked certain elements that we need to market a film successfully.
June: What elements?
Griffin Mill: Suspense, laughter, violence. Hope, heart, nudity, sex. Happy endings. Mainly happy endings.
June: What about reality?

Woody Allen won for his original and Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash won for their adapted screenplay. It looks like The Descendants is primed to win at next Sunday’s Oscars (Moneyball is the only real threat). I wouldn’t say Midnight In Paris is a lock because The Artist was not eligible for the Writer’s Guild Awards, and it has been winning things left and right. I really hope, though, that the Academy follows suit and Woody gets his third  (yes, he’s only won twice for his writing, though his latest nomination was his 13th in the category) writing win.

Audrey ‘Lulu’ Hankel: Charlie, what do you do for fun besides steal candy bars?
Charlie Driggs: You were right.
Audrey ‘Lulu’ Hankel: I was?
Charlie Driggs: Yeah. I’m a rebel. I am! I just channelled my rebellion into the mainstream. That’s all. [beat] I’ll give you an example. In ’81, I went long-term munis. Everybody said ”Driggs, you’re crazy, don’t do it.”
Audrey ‘Lulu’ Hankel: Munis?
Charlie Driggs: Municipal bonds. Tax-free. Hell, I was locking in close to 15%. I may look straight, but deep down, I got what it takes.

It’s a shame they didn’t fully go with all the themes explored in Thayer’s novel, which I understand also includes lesbianism. Also, even though this was made during the pre-Code days, the studio edited out fourteen minutes of footage before releasing it. One wonders what racy bits were removed?

Regardless, the film tackles some interesting issues. Loy’s character, Ursula Georgi,  is a Eurasian woman who wanted to “cross the color line,” and pass as white. While attending a posh finishing school (this is all events alluded to, but that take place before the film begins), she is denied membership in an exclusive sorority. Years later she plots the deaths of the thirteen women whom she blames for her lot in life by controlling a clairvoyant swami, who convinces them all to either kill each other, kill other people (and thus land in jail) or go crazy.

Loy is so wonderfully wicked as Ursula. She even goes so far as to try to blow up a young child; never once does she break with her icy cool exterior. The back of the dvd describes the character as being “unalloyed and unapologetic(ly) evil,” but I’m not sure that’s right. I mean, she is unapologetic about her quest to kill everyone, but “evil” suggests she doesn’t have her reasons. As far as I’m concerned she’s got good reasons, I mean as far as villainy goes. Not that I’m condoning murder or anything. I would never. . .

Not all thirteen murders are shown, but the one’s that are, are pretty sweet. While some of the acting is a little stiff (Hollywood was still working out that whole sound thing), there is some artistry in the way the film was made that many films from the era do not have, which is refreshing. Again, the transfer for this Warner Archive edition is as beautiful as ever.

Irene Dunne’s name is first in the credits (Loy’s is actually 4th, which is odd because she is really the lead), and she gives a great performance, though perhaps not her best. It’s fun to see her as a strong-minded woman, who refuses to be irrationally scared like the rest of her friends. The showdown between Loy and Dunne’s Laura at the end of the film is truly chilling.

This film wasn’t much of a box office or critical success when it was first released, but I hope now that it’s available for home viewing it will get a sort of cult-following, it surely deserves it.

Disclaimer: This review is based on a review disc given to me by the Warner Archive, though the opinions are all my own.

Mozart: “Confutatis maledictis” – when the wicked are confounded. “Flammis Acribus Adictis.” How would you translate that?
Salieri: “Consigned to flames of woe.”
Mozart: Do you believe in it?
Salieri: What?
Mozart: A fire which never dies, burning you forever?
Salieri: Oh yes.
Mozart: Possible.