Il misterioso Jack

Tom Walls was a very famous comedy actor in the thirties usually in very, very silly farces playing very, very silly characters. This is not one of those silly farces he was famous for, it's a routine comedy crime caper and it's not his "usual home" and I can see why the comments at the time were like: He should stick to what he's good at.

The problem with this is twofold: it's not that funny and the character he plays, an upper-class gentleman thief without any of the charm of say David Niven or Warren William would have had is not likeable. There were lots of likeable gentleman thieves in 1930s pictures but, without denigrating Mr Walls talents, they were played by proper actors, not comedians. He does his best to warm "Drake" to us - he steals from the rich, gives to the poor, helps sick children, builds hospitals, rights wrongs and is a general all round good guy but Tom Walls, as good a comedy character actor as he was, picked the wrong character to make a whole film out of.

Can you imagine TROUBLE IN PARADISE but with Miriam Hopkins and Kay Francis fighting over W C Fields instead of Herbert Marshall? I think the answer's probably no but I suspect that Tom Wall would probably have thought - yes - and I can do that as well.

The third problem I had with this - was the fact that sweet and lovely Lilli Palmer is 24 and she is meant to be head over heels in love with Tom Walls - not the most attractive man in the world when he was younger but now he's in his late fifties. He's old enough to be her father and looks like her grandfather - it just feels wrong! This was directed by Albert de Courville who was in his late fifties as well. He also made the (much better and much funnier) THERE GOES THE BRIDE several years earlier. In that, 24 year old Jessie Matthews (the sexiest and most beautiful woman in English cinema at the time) was herself head over heels with a guy also in his late fifties. I wonder did Mr de Courville have some issues he was trying to get out through his work!

Well no it is not a movie about lawn bowls and featuring Mick Molloy and other Australian actors, this is the British comedy of years gone by with Tom Walls and his typical farce and comedic stylisings. I have began watching Tom Walls comedies, in a race of filmographies with my brother and this is the third Walls comedy I have seen. This seems to be by far the best of them, and he appears to have honed his style. The beginning is especially memorable with the theft of diamonds and the switching of these around. The movie is very amusing and is well worth the watch, it is not an outstanding movie, and I am not as dedicated to Tom Walls as my brother is, but his movies are usually diverting and not terrible. This film is well worth a watch and is Tom Walls, watch this film to get a real understanding of the Walls filmography.

The Wonderful Lilli Palmer was very young when she made CRACKERJACK and she was a marvelous actress and a fabulously beautiful and charming actress and this film was just the beginning for her. She was rather unique in British films since most of the so called Gainsborough gals of the time were British such as Margaret Lockwood, Phyllis Calvert, Patricia Roc, Sally Gray, etc and only Miss Palmer, German born, went on to an international career and worked in Hollywood as well as in France and Germany over the years, coming back to British films from time to time. She was unique among the all British group of gals making names for themselves in the late 30s and 40s in British cinema. She married Rex Harrison, had a son with him and happens to be my favorite all time actress.

If you combine Robin Hood with a communist, you'd get Jack Drake (Tom Walls)...a high-class crook who delights in stealing from the rich and giving to various deserving charities in Britain. Despite being a crook, however, you cannot help but like Drake and his exploits. The same can be said of Drake in the story...he cannot help but like his exploits as well...so much so that he wrote his memoires and had them published anonymously. Now, millions of Brits can read about 'Crackerjack' (his alter ego) and his brushes with the law.

While you might think that the police would be Crackerjack's worst enemies, there is a vicious gang who want to capture him even more. Why? Because twice during the course of the film he outsmarts them and steals jewels the gang intended to steal. To stop him, the gang recruits an innocent lady...the Baroness (Lilli Palmer). But once she realizes her mistake, can she alert Crackerjack before their wicked plan is enacted?

Tom Walls is a middle-aged man in the film and not especially handsome. However, despite this, he is mega-charming and easy to like....and it's a shame that very few these days have even heard of this excellent actor. My advice is watch the film....he's amazingly good in it and manages to make a somewhat ridiculous plot work...and work well.

I've always liked Tom Walls' farces – this is a more straightforward comedy, full of frothy sometimes witty dialogue and period furnishings with music veering from staid British dance band to hot American and a corny yet cogent script. Mind you, it also had an innocent bystander shot by hoodlums at point blank defending "a string of duds" from being stolen.

Mysterious and confident cracksman robs to order for almost purely altruistic reasons, but takes great exception when he's embroiled with and considered by the police to be the head hoodlum of a rather nasty gang of thieves so decides decidedly to clear his alias. It's inventive and predictable at the same time, interesting and so-so – basically I enjoyed it! It was the first time of viewing, I really wouldn't mind taking another crack at it and viewing it again sometime. Tom Walls is urbane and monocled, Lilli Palmer is elegant and shrewd, Noel Madison is snarly and impetuous – and everything else runs true to form too. There seems to be even more of an age-gulf between Lilli and the rest of the cast which was ignored of course so we have to accept it too and put any qualms we may have down to our collective post-rock and roll cynicism. The other star of the picture is Art Deco – for example the "hotel" and its interiors and furniture where a lot of the story is based is quite breathtaking at times in its poignant gleaming beauty. Not so long ago this fashion was sneered at, now that it's becoming more obvious we're living in a completely styleless age the focus on the past only gets sharper.

And yes, that's clearly a sound mike seen dangling in the ornate mirror in Lilli Palmer's apartment at 46 minutes – even that's interesting to view! Enjoyable stuff, but probably only to those of us who appreciate British pre-War comedies.