The Flame

This is told by way of the reading of a letter that explains the story of how "George" (John Carroll) has frittered away his family inheritance and is now dependent on his half-brother "Barry" (Robert Paige) - a situation which he bitterly resents. A solution to his predicament presents itself when he suggests that his girlfriend "Carlotta" (Vera Ralston) take up the position of nurse to the ailing "Barry". Their plan is quite simple, really. She befriends him, gets him to fall in love with her and then they marry. Once married, "Barry" will meet his end and she will be free to marry "George" and inherit the family fortune. It's not so much a flame this as a flicker. It's pretty obvious what's going to happen, and but for a few scenes with the scheming "Ernie" (Broderick Crawford) and Henry Travers as the well meaning "Dr. Mitchell" this story proves to not quite have the courage of it's convictions. It's all just a little too formulaic in the end. Blanche Yurka does her best impersonation of Queen Mary as his aunt "Blanche" - no fool, herself and Hattie McDaniel livens things up, sparingly, too - but sadly this all just goes the way of the damp squib after a promising start.

John Carroll has spent all his inherited money and lives on what his brother, Robert Paige gives him. He's a good egg, and when Carroll fell ill, Paige hired nurse Vera Ralston for him. They fell in love and were going to be married, until she changed her mind and married Paige. Now here's Broderick Crawford, blackmailing Carroll lest he Tell All.

Under director John Auer, this one hits almost all the Film Noir tags: movie told mostly in flashback, femme fatale -- although Mrs. Herbert Yates, as she was known when the credits weren't rolling, is one of those inadvertent types who changes her mind more or less honestly, perhaps -- quirky angles, dark lighting...... except no Venetian blinds, for some reason. It's also well acted, except for Mrs. Yates, who is typically wooden and whining in her performance. Republic was quite capable of footing the bill on a pretty good movie, and did so, except for the female lead. Her husband wanted to make her a star, despite a lack of interest in anyone not on his payroll. THe result is pretty good anyway.

"The Flame" stars John Carroll, a second-tier actor who made a living mostly playing sleazy or cocky guys. In many ways, he's Republic studio's answer to Dan Duryea. In the second lead is Vera Ralston, the girlfriend of the head of the studio that made the picture. While her Czech accent was problematic, she was pretty good in this movie...although she has a reputation as a terrible actress who only got to where she did because of her connections. Regardless, she's good in this picture.

The story begins with George (John Carroll) shooting someone to death. In the process, he himself is shot. Soon, he phones the police to report the killing...and then the film goes into flashback mode where it stays most of the picture. Oddly, occasionally the viewpoint changes from his to his ex-girlfriend (Ralston)...something that seems sloppy when they both address the camera. In other words, is it his story to tell or hers? Regardless, the tale is about blackmail and it's an odd case where another blackmailer discovers the blackmail and begins to blackmail the original blackmailer! What exactly is going on here? Watch the film.

Despite the changing narration and Ralston's odd accent (she's supposed to be French...but just sounds Czech), the plot is quite engaging and the film is very well written considering it comes from Republic...a studio mostly known for B-movies...and mostly with cowboys. It is a very unique film...one that is excellent for folks who want to see something gritty and different.

By the way, although Victor Sen Yung was not a big-time actor, mostly assigned to secondary roles such as playing sons for Charlie Chan, here he really showed his talents in a scene late in the movie. A tiny scene...but an amazingly well acted one.

Surprisingly interesting and fascinating for being branded as a B-feature, this is a fascinating web of relationships and how they get disturbed. John Carroll is a better actor than his reputation, and here he smears his part with a suavity which greatly enhances the general intriguing character of the plot. Robert Paige is his half brother, who apparently suffers from some incurable and mortal disease and constantly plays the organ in his rich millionaire's mansion by the sea - the settings here are extremely romantic and luxurious, like in "Rebecca". It appears that the brothers are in love with the same girl, Vera Ralston, who is engaged as a nurse for Paige, who falls in love with her and wants to marry her, strongly against his aunt's wishes, who rules the house. The fact that Carroll hasn't given up on Ralston is observed by a blackmailer, Broderick Crawford, as nasty as ever, which complicates things. He on his side has another girl, Constance Dowling, who makes a spectacular performance in a night club - this film is made in the "Gilda" year - which could be seen as the highlight of the film. The rhythm of the film is dead slow, you don't understand much of the intrigue to begin with, until gradually the skies are clearing and the clouds lifting, and the plot appears as gloomy and fatal as you could well wish for any classical noir. This is definitely underrated and should deserve a place in the canon of the best noirs.

So dull I spent the middle part of the action re-casting the lead roles to James Stewart as Barry, Ingrid Bergman as Carlotta and Clark Gable as George, Broderick Crawford escaped the cull. The plot starts brightly, the house, the amazing staircase and the uninspiring Barry's organ playing are so 'Dracula's Castle' but the middle thirty or so minutes is so heavily padded with superficial and insincere romantic interludes it becomes mind numbingly dull. How do the characters manage to afford an appartment with designer furniture, modern lighting and curtains (if they bother to ever draw them) when they are scraping around for ten bucks ?