Cinzas do Passado

Ok film noir that has a plot similar to that of dozens of other noir and B detective pictures: private eye is hired to find a dame and twists ensue. There's nothing inherently wrong with this movie. It's actually pretty solid. But it's very familiar territory and the script isn't as snappy as I would like. Franchot Tone is also a bit flat. I doubt it would be a blip on anyone's radar if not for it apparently being considered lost for decades. Amusingly this was written by Roy Huggins, the creator of TV shows like Maverick and The Fugitive. He would use the character played by Tone to greater success later in 77 Sunset Strip.

Don't be put off by the frisky title: I Love Trouble isn't one of those dismal crime-cum-comedy hybrids so inexplicably popular in the '40s (true, a bantering element tries to creep in from time to time but it's held mercifully at bay; one routine, however, starring a hash-slinger named Miss Phipps, deserves to be bronzed).

It's a pretty hard-boiled private-eye yarn, very much in the Raymond Chandler tradition - maybe a bit too much. More specifically, I Love Trouble follows the footsteps tramped out by Murder, My Sweet and The Lady in the Lake, and follows them doggedly. And its subsidiary roles are filled with actors who make up a Who's Who of film noir: Janice Carter, Adele Jergens, John Ireland, Raymond Burr (barely visible, alas), Tom Powers, Eduardo Ciannelli, Steven Geray, Sid Tomack. Parts even smaller (it's a big cast) are filled to the brim with apt characterization.

The principal role of the gumshoe, however, goes to Franchot Tone, who plays it very much in the Powell-and-Mongomery-as-Marlowe style. He's hired by a tough businessman (Powers) to keep tabs on his elusive wife (Lynn Merrick). Tone traces the obligatory route from low dives to high places in his quest, from back alleys in Portland and fish dumps near the oil derricks of Santa Monica (Chandler's corrupt `Bay City') to gated mansions where swimming pools sparkle amid manicured lawns. All Tone knows is that, back in '46 (or was it '41?), Merrick came down from Oregon, where he learns that she was a bubble dancer in a mobbed-up nightclub, who absconded to Southern California with a cheesy comic (Tomack).

Or did she? When another woman claiming to be Merrick's sister (Janet Blair) fails to recognize her picture, Tone finds himself with a lot of pieces none of which seem to fit together. And the heavies from up north are joined by powerful folks in Los Angeles who firmly discourage him from looking any further (when he's not being eyed fetchingly by expensive wives and mistresses, he's conked on the head or drugged up at every turn). Getting warmer, he tries to coax more information from Tomack, only to find the funny fishmonger dead and himself a suspect. But when Merrick's body washes up under a pier, her death opens more questions than it answers....

The director, S. Sylvan Simon, shows considerable promise which was not to be redeemed (he died, at age 41, three years after making this movie). But most of the credit, however derivative, should probably accrue to its writer, and author of the novel on which it's based, Roy Huggins; he also penned Too Late For Tears, Woman in Hiding and Pushover, and, moving to television, would create 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files. It goes to show how cracking the books at the school of Raymond Chandler can pay off in the future. So what if I Love Trouble is knockoff Chandler, a cocktail shaken up from two films made from his novels? Chandler neat is a potent shot - even watered down it holds its deep, smoky flavor.

A new print of "I Love Trouble" was just screened last night (1/31/07) at Noir City 5, San Francisco's noted film noir festival. (http://noircity.com)

In short, it was amazing. Roy Huggins was very heavily influenced by Dashiell Hammett, but let me tell you he could go toe to toe with the best Hammett had to offer. Every scene was filled with killer lines, right up to the last line of the film (Girl who wants to kiss the protagonist: "I didn't know there'd be a line." Girl who's kissing him: "Honey, this is the end of the line.") Franchot Tone is perfect as the suave but funny private dick who always has a wisecrack, thinks on his feet, and one heck of a set of...nerves.

This is a must-see for any film noir aficionado. Alas, it's not yet on DVD and was never on VHS; if you see it coming on cable, Tivo it, tape it, miss work, skip your vacation, stand up your date, do what it takes as long as you DON'T MISS THIS GEM.

JL

I read the other reviews so I had to add my two cents. I liked Franchot Tone as the Private Eye. It would be easy to underestimate his toughness. The story is well written and well played by the actors. Glenda Farrell's part was especially entertaining. Unlike a couple of other reviewers I didn't find it slow or dull at all. I liked the pace of the story and the dialogue. My only complaint was the very poor quality of the print. One reviewer mentioned seeing it at a festival. I'd love to see a better copy. It's a shame that the PD version out there is so awful. Still, it kept me entertained despite the terrible, almost unwatchable print. Fans of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are bound to love the character Roy Huggins created for this film.

Roy Huggins who later wrote and produced and gained a big reputation on the small screen for quality, wrote the mystery novel on which this film is based. I Love Trouble clearly shows the influence of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler in both plot and characters.

Franchot Tone is our protagonist private eye Stu Bailey, a character name that would recur again on the big and small screen. Tom Powers hires him to find his missing wife. On the trail he's aided and abetted by his loyal girl Friday Glenda Farrell who is the most memorable character in the film in a movie chock full of good character performances.

A lot of people are interested in this woman including millionaire wife Janis Carter, her 'sister' Janet Blair, sleazy nightclub owner Steven Geray and his henchmen who include John Ireland and Raymond Burr. They're a memorable bunch, but almost as memorable as Farrell are spoiled wife Adele Jergens who makes a big play for Tone and nightclub comic Sid Tomack who is not above a little information peddling on the side that costs him dear.

I'm surprised Tone did not do more roles like this. He certainly displayed the proper and expected laconic behavior for a private detective. It was that typecasting he could never get away from. The studio brass wanted him in formal evening wear dispensing bon mots and generally losing the girl in A films to the likes of Clark Gable at his first studio MGM.

I Love Trouble is not anything like the Julia Roberts/Nick Nolte film of more recent vintage. Instead it's a nifty noir mystery from Columbia. In fact it's really two mysteries that sort of get jumbled together in Tone's investigation. Hopefully that whets your appetite to see it.