Escape (1930)

 

 

Gerald Du Maurier

 

 

Oh dear ... this just isn't very good. You know a film isn't going to be very good when the first six minutes is simply documentary footage of a fox hunt:

 

Based on a play by John Galsworthy, Escape is the story of a foxhunter and a war hero, Captain Matt Denant (played by Gerald Du Maurier - the father of novelist Daphne Du Maurier) ...

Gerald Du Maurier

 

... who is imprisoned for manslaughter and frustrated by life in prison decides to escape and go on the run on Dartmoor.

 

He is imprisoned after he intervenes to prevent a prostitute (Mabel Poulton) being arrested in Hyde Park. He punches the arresting officer who falls, hits his head and dies.

 

Mabel Poulton & Gerald Du Maurier

Mabel Poulton & Gerald Du Maurier

Mabel Poulton & Gerald Du Maurier

Ian Hunter & Gerald Du Maurier

The scene is interesting because it reminds a modern audience of what a hive of activity Hyde Park used to be: crowds gathered at the bandstand, people promenading, courting couples and - rather actively - prostitutes. It appears the park was one of London's most notorious locales for soliciting. I also noticed lots of Guardsmen walking around the park. Police reports from the 1930s note that the park was also notorious for homosexual pick-ups, with young Guardsmen being active in the 'trade'. As a point of trivia, police investigations at the time revealed that there were even price lists in circulation in the Guards barracks for what they should charges for sexual favours.

 

In a nutshell, the film is rather ridiculous. After his escape, everyone he meets is either stupid or sympathetic. A woman (played by Edna Best) who finds him hiding in her bedroom is less worried about assisting an escaped convict than she is by the thought that he might see her underwear:

Edna Best hides her stockings and knickers under a cushion

She does however happily wave her stockings at him from her bedroom window to alert him of the arrival of a policeman:

Edna Best

Personally, I think she should have been more concerned about how this would have looked if anyone had seen her waving her stockings at an escaped convicted who been hiding in her bedroom. I suspect her husband would have suspected all manner of frightfulness and considered this grounds for divorce. But no, she resists telephoning for the police on the grounds that "You look such a sport." Yes, she actually said that.

 

It seems that Du Maurier has an odd effect that seems to get women waving their stockings around. When he meets some hikers, Phyllis Konstam removes her stockings as well:

 

It seems, he really is popular with the ladies.

 

Whilst later being chased by villagers, he seeks shelter in another house, where he again receives shelter and Madeleine Carroll says "I can't bear to see a man like that chased by a lot of yokels." The message seems to be that the middle classes should stick together, even if it means assisting a man who has killed a policeman.

 

Having started the film with scenes of a foxhunt, the film's director Basil Dean rather labours images comparing Du Maurier to a fox fleeing the hounds:

 

So, what was the most interesting thing about the film? I suppose it was spotting the extras:

Madeleine Carroll & Marie Ney

Austin Trevor

Jean Cadell (centre) who later played Gordon Jackson's mother in Whisky Galore

Ann Casson and Gerald Du Maurier. Casson was the daughter of the actress Sybil Thorndike. Casson made her penultimate screen appearance in 1940, only returning to the screen fifty years later in 1990 for 'I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle'

 

George Curzon (centre) - about to deliver one of film's most ridiculous lines: "Nothing to see - it's only a corpse."

Nigel Bruce (left) before he found fame as Dr Watson

And finally, Gordon Harker ...

Gordon Harker & Gerald Du Maurier

... who was the great uncle of the actresses Susannah and Caroline Harker:

Caroline Harker

Susannah Harker

Trivia 1: Whilst on the run, Du Maurier visits the Warren House Inn on Dartmoor.

 

It's still there.

 

Trivia 2: Du Maurier had a brand of cigarettes named after him, in turn the name was borrowed by Jan Ludvik Hyman Binyamin Hoch, who took the name Du Maurier when he first joined the British Army during World War 2. He later changed his name to Robert Maxwell. The rest of the story you probably know.

The film is currently available from Network DVD in Volume 1 of the Ealing Studios Rarities Collection.

 

Davy (1958)

 

This was the fourth from last film produced by the legendary Ealing Studios. It's a rather maudlin tale of a music hall act, the Mad Morgans, a family act whose most talented member Davy (played by Harry Secombe) dreams of becoming an opera singer...

 

Harry Secombe

... much to the concern of the rest of the act who fear that without him their days are numbered.



Ron Randell, Susan Shaw, Bill Owen and George Relph (the father of the film's director Michael Relph)

Right from the start it's clear they are not experiencing great success with their act, playing at the Collins Music Hall, a rather down-at-heel theatre in a dingy London street.

This story of the dying days of the music hall (where the 'stars' dream of getting a slot on television) was a rather fitting project for Ealing Studios whose own star had waned and which had been reduced to producing comedies as poor as this one.

Because it is poor: really poor. The plot is weak, there is little comedy, it is poorly paced and rather depressing, yet without any real charm to commend it. You know a film is bad when the most memorable scene is a monkey in a dress drinking coca cola:

The attempt at injecting glamour into the film - basically Susan Shaw in her underwear and getting her bum painted on stage -

Susan Shaw

Susan Shaw, Harry Secome and Bill Owen

counts for little. And Shaw is hardly the glamour girl she was ten years earlier - although I suppose that's the point.

There's little to say about the film apart from to have a look at some of the bit-players:

Bernard Cribbins (in an uncredited role, only his second film appearance)

Kenneth Connor (with Bill Owen and Harry Secombe)



Joan Sims, Gladys Henson and Liz Frazer (Elizabeth Fraser in the credits)

Whilst Sims, Connor, Fraser and Cribbins would become screen regulars in the years ahead (as would Ron Moody who had a 'blink and you miss it' role as a unicyclist) Gladys Henson was one of the old guard - someone who'd already made their career - often as Jack Warner's onscreen wife. Another of the old guard was Frank Atkinson ...



Frank Atkinson (right)

 

... who had started his film career in 1930, had starred in 'Death Drives Through' (see earlier post) ...

Death Drives Through (1935)

 ... played a bit part in 'The Man in the White Suit' ...

Frank Atkinson in 'The Man in the White Suit'

... and was also a screenwriter, having ten scripts produced in the 1930s and a TV series in the 1950s. He died in 1953.

 

Finally, Susan Shaw's son was played by Peter Frampton, the son of Harry Frampton who worked as a make up artist on 'Davy' and many other Ealing Studios productions. Frampton junior followed his father into the industry and was the chief make-up artist on Braveheart.

 

Peter Frampton

 This poster is currently available from Greg Edwards:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Blackout (1950)

 

Starring Maxwell Reed (later to become Mr Joan Collins), Blackout is the story of a blind man who stumbles upon a murder scene but, after regaining his sight following an operation, goes on the hunt for the killers:

 

Maxwell Reed

Maxwell Reed

Maxwell Reed

Maxwell Reed

Released from hospital, he returns to the crime scene only to discover no evidence or report of a murder, instead a woman (Dinah Sheridan) ...

Maxwell Reed & Dinah Sheridan

... is living there with her father. The two are grieving for the death of the son of the family, who went missing after a plane crash. He shows Sheridan the ring he had found at the scene of the crime which  had belonged to her brother. Believing his story, the two team up to investigate exactly what happened on the night of the murder.

 

The film seems like a desperate attempt to cash in on the popularity of American Film Noir (not that it had been given that name in 1950). However, whilst it might fall into the category of British Noir, it just doesn't work. There's nothing wrong with the plot - a blind witness regaining his sight and trying to solve a mystery, is perfect film noir fodder - but Reed can't carry off playing this character. Raincoats and hats; cigarettes and sneers; shadows and smartarse comments, don't turn a man into Humphrey Bogart.

 

The trouble with the film is that Reed's character is an engineer, not a detective, and isn't even believable as an engineer. Put simply, he doesn't have the acting ability to convince the audience he is an engineer who is trapped in a web of mystery. If it was me in his situation, I would just go to the police. But no, he has to try his whole 'Philip Marlowe' routine.

 

And that's where everything goes wrong. Reed swaps his suits for a raincoat ...

Maxwell Reed

Maxwell Reed

 

... and starts playing the tough guy. When Sheridan pleads with him "Just stay out of trouble" he replies "I'll think about it." When he is tied to a chair and under interrogation by the 'bad guys' ...

Maxwell Reed

Maxwell Reed

... he makes jokes about the bosses henchmen (above) - "I see you've got your girlfriends with you." - despite having a gun pointed at him by men knows have already killed once. If I ever find myself in his situation I will go straight to the police, present them with the evidence (the ring), get the family to explain the situation, then let the police get on with their job.

 

But if I have one problem with this film - one thing that irritated me more than anything else - were Maxwell Reed's eyebrows:

 

They just looked a little bit too plucked and shaped for my liking.