Seven Keys to Baldpate

In the second sound version of George M. Cohan's play based on the Earl Derr Biggers novel, Gene Raymond is the novelist come to a closed hotel. He has bet a friend he can write a novel in 24 hours, and has been offered the site, free from distraction, because he has the only key. As the title tells you, there are six others, and a variety of beautiful, wacky and threatening characters keep him amusedly distracted from his typewriter.

There are, fittingly, a total of seven big-screen version of this story, although a couple seem missing in action. I don't think this is the earliest source novel in the Old Dark House genre. I believe it arose as a burlesque of the Gothic Romance. However, it seems to have seniority in the movies. The supporting cast, includes Moroni Olsen, Margaret Callahan, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Eric Blore, Grant Mitchell, Walter Brennan, and Henry Travers as a woman-hating hermit and part-time ghost.

This average, comedy of errors and irony about a mysterious object in a locked inn and the people who have keys to the inn was reference from a CBS News story about origins of the name Baldpate, an inn located in Estes Park, Colorado that took its name after the original novel that one of several movies including the 1935 version came from. The movie typical for its dashing, handsome hero along with two mysterious, gorgeous women, and a number of male strangers are introduced making this movie into a comical mystery thriller. With a stodgy acting style typical of the era, a relatively decent plotline, the movie moves along an acceptable pace and typical script and plot devices. Entertaining, if somewhat brainless, and appropriately predictable, this movie is worth taking a look, if you're bored, any nothing to do and you want to veg out on oldie goldies.

George M Cohan's success as a songwriter and performer has obscured the fact that he also wrote or co-wrote many plays, most of which were very successful in their day. But Cohan's plays have dated badly. He relied heavily on one very contrived device. Most of Cohan's plays feature a wide assortment of very old-fashioned stock characters, contrasted with a wise-cracking slang-slinging protagonist (often played by Cohan himself) who speaks directly to the audience, and who comments on the stiffness of all the other characters in the cast.

'Seven Keys to Baldpate', which Cohan adapted from a novel by Earl Derr Biggers -- now remembered as the creator of Charlie Chan -- is the only Cohan play which is still revived with any frequency. Even this one is squeaky and creaky. The story has been filmed (to date) *seven* times under its original title, with some disguised remakes such as 'House of Long Shadows' and Gene Wilder's wretched 'Haunted Honeymoon' (which ripped off its one and only funny gag from the unjustly obscure comedy 'Murder, He Says').

This 1935 edition is probably the best film version, which isn't saying much. It modernises the material somewhat, deviating significantly from Cohan's original play. Gene Raymond portrays a novelist who comes to the old abandoned Baldpate Inn so as to get some peace and quiet while he writes a novel. He expects to be left alone because he possesses the one and only key to Baldpate ... so nobody else can get in. But then a succession of oddball characters show up, each one weirder than the last ... and each one possesses what he or she claims is the one and only key to Baldpate.

There's a 'surprise' ending that's quite obvious, especially if you've seen 'Haunted Honeymoon'. The best performance in this 1935 movie is by Henry Travers, as a crusty hermit who's misogynistic with it, and who is busy writing a manuscript denouncing womankind. 'Hey, mister!' he shouts, interrupting just as Gene Raymond is about to smooch bland leading lady Margaret Callahan. 'If I start a sentence with the word 'women', do I *hafta* use a capital W?' That's a typical example of the weak humour on offer here.

Cohan's original play ended with a startling piece of meta-fiction, a coup de theatre in which we learn that the events we've just witnessed are actually the contents of the novelist's manuscript, which he has already written. It would have been an improvement if this 1935 film version had attempted something like that, instead of the flat obvious ending which this movie has. I'll rate it 3 out of 10, mostly for its fine cast of supporting actors.

"Seven Keys to Baldpate" (1935) is the fifth version of this story from Earl Derr Biggers (originator of the Charlie Chan character) and George M. Cohan. It's the second sound version and an additional sixth version was released in 1947. In other words, it's been done again and again and again....and definitely a few times too many. This is because the story might have seemed fresh and enjoyable back in the day, but by 1935 it was incredibly dated.

A writer has rented an old mansion in the middle of nowhere in order to write a novel in some peace and quiet. However, from almost the minute he arrives, one person after another interrupts his peace and quiet. Many of them seem to be criminals looking for some stolen loot in the house...and at the end of the picture, there's a long explanation as to who everyone REALLY is and, of course, there are lots of contrived surprises and a happy ending.

To say this is old fashioned is like saying the pyramids in Egypt are a tad old! The story originally was a book (by Derr Biggers) and the play by Cohan debuted in 1913. For its time, it might have been original and enjoyable....but times change. To have such a long exposition at the end was sloppy by 1935 and so much of the story came off as stagy and dull...and very talky. Again, for an old play, this might have been okay...but the film needed a massive re-write to make it work well on the big screen.

As for the acting, it's hard to say who is good and who isn't because so many are simply caricatures...not realistic people. Henry Travers, for example, is one-dimensional...always talking about how he hates women (which will likely offend a lot of folks). And the crooks are all crooks...nothing more. Gene Raymond in the lead is very enjoyable...but his taking everything in stride and enjoying all this did seem strange. Overall, a film that is a bit dull and too old fashioned to be taken seriously. It is better than the 1929 version...but this isn't saying much. I really would love to see the silent versions (if they exist) to see if they work any better.

One of Earl Derr Biggers' most popular novels (which had been turned into a play by George M. Cohan), "Seven Keys to Baldpate" was adapted for the screen no less than six times; this was the fifth time. And although the movie admittedly can't reach the REALLY high class of the famous 1917 version, where Cohan himself played the leading role, and after more than 20 years the story may already seem a little bit worn-out and much-used, it's nonetheless hilariously lively, funny and at the same time pretty suspenseful, with a neat cast (especially Gene Raymond as the fearless, wisecracking novelist) and an unusual, but really successfully balanced mix of - a gangster movie and a 'Dark Old House' mystery!

The story has been altered a bit, and the supporting characters get more space for all kinds of jokes (especially the women-hater, 'hermit' Henry Travers); and the gangsters' slang and tough guy attitude make a wonderfully strange contrast to the cool and clever ways of the young novelist - and of course, to the classic settings with secret panels, candle-light and groaning staircases...

With a running time of just a little more than an hour, this movie nicely keeps a good pace and leaves no room for boredom; great entertainment for lovers of the genre!