The Narrow Corner

For an alleged 'B' movie they sure threw a budget at this, with not one but two storm-at-sea scenes. This should have been a better movie: Doug Jr is ideally cast as Fred Blake, and the other male parts are well cast, even Ralph Bellamy as a Dane once you get used to the idea, and the accent which seems more Norwegian than Danish to me. The main problems are two: (1) the girl is too young and inadequate to the part, and (2) they tried to get too much of the book into a bit over an hour: the entire sequence about the manuscript could have been deleted without loss, and there are a couple of other very entertaining incidents in the book that could have replaced it. Or maybe it should have been made to a 80-90 minute length. This seems to have been a case of Warner Bros. Still not quite knowing what exactly it was doing ... and blaming Doug Jr.

W. Somerset Maugham certainly loved the South Seas. Like some more of his favorite works, Rain and The Moon And Sixpence, The Narrow Corner is also set in that location.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. has just killed a man in Sydney and is looking to make a fast escape. His father Henry Kolker charters Arthur Hohl's schooner to make for the Dutch East Indies. Hohl is a real bottom feeder who has stomach problems. They pick up Dr. Dudley Digges who is another of those Europeans who has 'gone native'. He's Maugham's presence as a character in the story.

When they finally settle on an island to their liking it's got both the lovely Patricia Ellis and Danish settler Ralph Bellamy there. When Fairbanks arrives it becomes a triangle and it ends in tragedy for one of them.

It seems that a common theme in these Maugham stories that the tropics somehow loosens the inhibitions that civilization puts on us. Definitely the case for the cast of The Narrow Corner.

The Narrow Corner is not as good as the other two Maugham stories I've cited. It has some fine special effects with Fairbanks trying to steer his schooner past a reef barrier during a windy and wavy tide. The high point of the film.

If you're a Maugham fan or fan of any of the cast, I'd try to see this one.

In Sydney, Australia, bear-drinking captain Arthur Hohl (as Nichols) is hired by likewise burping Sidney Toler (as Ryan) to take handsome Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (as Fred Blake) on an extended South Pacific Ocean voyage. Harboring some dark secret, Mr. Fairbanks must lay low for approximately a year. They pick up opium-addicted doctor Dudley Digges (as Saunders) before setting sail. After a storm, Fairbanks takes off all his clothes and swims to an island where he meets pretty Patricia Ellis (as Louise Frith). They fall in love, but she is promised to reliable Ralph Bellamy (as Eric Whittenson). The romance is strained and the otherwise interesting W. Somerset Maugham characters come across as hysterical.

**** The Narrow Corner (7/8/33) Alfred E. Green ~ Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Patricia Ellis, Ralph Bellamy, Dudley Digges

According to Turner Classic Movies, following "The Narrow Corner" Warner Brothers dropped Douglas Fairbanks Junior's contract. While he isn't bad in the film, I could understand why. While not a bad film, it is very undistinguished and a bit bland despite its tropical locale.

When the film begins, three rogues are fleeing Australia. You really aren't sure why but the three have various dark secrets and they long for some tropical isle where they can forget their pasts. Fred (Fairbanks) is young and handsome and you wonder why he's with the doctor and sleazy captain of their boat.

The three and their tiny crew arrive at some Dutch-controlled island in the Pacific. There, surprisingly, they find some folks who speak beautiful English--including the cute and very friendly Louise (Patricia Ellis). But Fred is torn...he has fallen hard for Louise but a real nice guy, Eric (Ralph Bellamy) is already in love with her and Fred isn't the type to hurt a friend.

The tropical location was Catalina Island and despite looking warm and lush, apparently it was rather cold...and the ending must have left Fairbanks and Ellis soaking wet and freezing. Overall, not a bad film but one with many lulls and not enough to recommend you rush to see it....more a time-passer than anything else.

Unevenness of pace and the lack of any real pizzazz in the script keep this pre-Code effort from being engaging, despite its short run time (just 69 minutes). The film is lethargic in its setup, and eventually we see the main character's backstory in a diagonal split-screen flashback, but not until about the 45 minutes point. He's killed a man, and is now trying to keep out of sight by being taken out into the South Sea by a dyspeptic skipper, that is, until a storm takes him to an island. There he meets a young woman, her suitor, and a cantankerous old man. The film eventually rushes at breakneck speed through melodramatic events that stem from a love triangle and a couple of other subplots, but the weak setup hinders their impact. Pretty Patricia Ellis and shirtless (and at one point nekkid) Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. try to boost the sagging story and they have their moments I suppose, but it's not enough. Very forgettable.