The Grand Inquisitor

Mickey Rooney first appeared on screen in 1926 in a short called "Not to be trusted" His last movie was "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" (2014) which adds up to an unbelievable 88 years I stumbled on the "The Grand Inquisitor" on the Turner Movie Channel a few days ago (10/17/17) and decided to watch it based on the short description in my DirecTV guide. The movie was short but the acting was good and it held my attention from start to finish. TMC usually replays their movies every 2 3 months. Check the TMC site and watch for re-showings and do not miss the next time they show it

We were tricked into watching this miserable little piece of dreck because it came on immediately after a Noir Alley presentation, before Eddie Mullet's ending monologue.

I LOVE Mr. Muller's commentaries about the film noir movies he curates - he's insightful and informative without (usually) giving away too much. But after Raw Deal (7/30/22), this short came on without notice or intro, BEFORE Muller's closing bit.

Ugh. It was awful! The acting was leaden and dry; the plot was predictable and uninspired; and the production values were completely blah.

Eddie! What were you thinking!?!?

To force this on an unsuspecting audience while we fiddled with the set trying to figure out what was happening - is just terrible! But with such poor quality - even worse! Please - never do that again!

I didn't like the story - as I saw (almost) what as going to happen right away. But the acting by Marsha Hunt was amazing. You would never know she was 90 by the intensity of her acting.

I had never heard of Ms. Hunt, but TCM was running a series of movies on her. I saw (part of) two 1940's movies in which she seemed both beautiful and highly intelligent. The last movie shown was "The Grand Inquisitor", and she brought the same intelligence to a much darker and more dramatic role. Watch the movie for her. (The other actress is good as well.)

On a trivia note, I had always thought that John Wayne had the longest film career, with movies stretching from 1926 to 1976. But Ms. Hunt's movies go from 1935 to 2008, beating him by almost 20 years.

"No One...BUT NO ONE... Will Be Admitted After The Start of Each Performance." Viewers should take Hitchcock's "Psycho" warning to heart and see this 22 minute shocker from the beginning.

Adapted by director Eddie Muller from his short story of the same name, "The Grand Inquisitor," with its twists and turns, fits squarely in the tradition of master storytellers Poe and de Maupassant.

Jonathan Marlowe's cinematography looks like a million "technicolor-on-a-budget" bucks. From the jet black of Leah Dashe's bobbed hair, the vivid pink, white, lavender and yellow of her outfit to the blood red stripe that runs along Marsha Hunt's blouse, the colors tell a story of their own.

Our tale begins with a young woman knocking on the door of an elderly homeowner. She's the ultimate mix and match Vintage Girl: vintage hair, vintage clothes and vintage name, Lulu. The older woman, Hazel, invites her in. Empty liquor bottles are stacked everywhere. Like in a nightmare, there's incessant background noise from a TV or radio.

Hazel searches for the name of the actress who popularized Lulu's hairstyle. "That's a beautiful dress" says Hazel, the 40's style evoking other memories. Is this a long, lost granddaughter or a ghost from her past?