Bait

Sir Cedric Hardwicke had the self satisfied look of a man whose check from Harry Cohn had just cleared as he narrates the beginning of Bait. He's playing none other than old Scratch himself as he tells how the devil can make people do wicked things.

I think old Scratch had a head start with Hugo Haas who was definitely short a whole suit in his deck of cards. Haas is a crazy old prospector who lost both a mine and a partner in the Rockies and he'd like to find the former again. But he's getting on in years and he needs a younger partner for the heavy lifting.

Enter John Agar and they do find the old mine, but he's not looking to split with a new partner. So the fiendish Haas hatches a scheme whereby he marries sluttish Cleo Moore who's a better girl than she let's on and brings her back to their cabin. I would think that curvaceous Cleo might have gotten the hint that something was amiss when Haas not only doesn't pay attention to her, but encourages her to be in Agar's company at every opportunity.

This turgid drama is as stupid as it sounds. Need I say more.

Another in the long line of the Trials-and-Tribulations (compounded by Misery and Irony) offerings from Hugo Haas. This time out his character, Marko, is searching for a lost gold mine with his young partner Ray Brighton and, despite the fact that Haas appears no more at home playing a prospector than Raymond Hatton would playing a Bulgarian diplomat, they find the mine. But Marko decides he doesn't want to share with his partner and figures out a devious and complicated scheme to get rid of him. (Shooting him in the head and burying him in the desert is far too simple a solution in a Haas film.) So, Marko ups and marries buxom young Peggy as a marriage of convenience, even though past experience would indicate any involvement with a character played by Cleo Moore would not be described as anything close to convenience. Rikor figures that after the three of them spend the winter together in a shack far from civilization, he will sooner or later catch them in adultery, and he can use the "unwritten law" to kill Brighton and thus escape punishment from the law. But "Murphy's Law" rears its ugly head.

Into the world of Hugo Haas and Cleo Moore yet again, this time with "Bait" from 1954.

I like what one reviewer said - Haas does these movies on no money, acts in them himself, and somehow, they work. Well, sort of.

In this one, Haas plays Marko, a man who once found a gold mine and has been unable to find it again searches every year.

However, he manages to talk a young man, Ray Brighton, to pay expenses and, should they find the mine, work it for 50% apiece.

Marko, however, has no intention of splitting the gold with anyone, of which he informs Ray. When Ray threatens to leave, Marko again agrees to their original terms.

Marko has an idea of how to get rid of his "partner." He marries an attractive woman (Moore) who has an illegitimate child and works where the two get their supplies. She's happy for a little security.

There's no question that she and Ray are attracted to one another, but she refuses to give into him. Marko is sure they will succumb to adultery, and then he will be able to kill Ray.

Now, I must point out, the beginning of this film was not shown in the film I saw. It is apparently a narration by Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the Devil, who says he can manipulate people to do things. Don't ask me what Sir Cedric was thinking of other than a paycheck.

The very pretty Moore wears baggy clothes throughout for some reason. Her character is thought of as a "loose woman," but she isn't.

Haas really acts nuts in this. Why anyone would want to spend winter in a cabin with him is beyond me.

I'm a fan of Huge Haas's films but this one was rather awkward and stilted, especially in the first half. It has a "lazy" feel to it as Haas didn't want to find the dramaturgical equivalent of his dark themes, including a sexual subtext that is never successfully realized.

Obviously one level of the sexual theme is quite explicit. But the suggestion of sexual impotence and misogyny and how that relates to the protagonist's interest in gold is never dramaturgically staged.

Especially awkward are the voice-overs, which suggests that Haas didn't know how to cinematically convey his ides except by stating them outright.

To be fair with only 3 main characters in the film, and, excluding the Haas character, only two, and with the other two isolated from each other, it's difficult to dramatically stage the themes in the film.

But Haas in my view was a cinematic genius, though he relies mainly on establishing shots for many scenes. Yet they are effective for what he wants to convey.

He himself was a superb actor and by far the best thing in the film. I've never been a fan of Cleo Moore though .Agar, who bore a striking resemblance to Jeffrey Hunter, acquitted himself fairly well.

Cinematically there is a remarkable scene where Moore and Agar are seated at a table when both their heads move into darkness. But mainly Haas relies on establishing shots that work quite well in the film.

For those who wish to explore Haas's career further, this is not the film to start with, for Haas made some very powerful films exploring the darker side of sex.

Not a terrible movie until the very end of the movie. A love triangle that really never was and an ending that left me thinking what the what. I like John Agar, but this movie just doesn't add up to be a classic.