Triomphe de la jeunesse

1933's "This Day and Age" was certainly an unusual choice for director Cecil B. DeMille, a modern tale of vigilante justice sandwiched between more typical historical assignments such as "The Sign of the Cross" and "Cleopatra." Charles Bickford gets top billing as Louis Garrett, a ruthless gangster well known to authorities, due to his ability to beat the rap every time. After he murders an elderly Jewish tailor much loved at the local high school, then putting a neat frame on an innocent student, the entire student body bands together in an intricate plot to gain a rock solid confession. First, lovely Gay Merrick (Judith Allen) must use her seductive wiles to distract Garrett's number one bodyguard (Bradley Page), while the others kidnap his boss, tie him up, and hold him prisoner over a pit filled with rats! (one wonders how they discovered this weakness, but it's not important). Most of the featured youngsters didn't enjoy successful careers, while certain uncredited ones remained quite busy over the decades, especially Donald Barry and Sidney Miller. Richard Cromwell's career reached a high point here, while Judith Allen went on to play W. C. Fields' daughter in "The Old-Fashioned Way" (reduced to bit parts by 1940). The most interesting billing goes to 'John Peter Richmond,' who would soon permanently change his name to 'John Carradine,' seen (with moustache) only in the opening moments as Assistant Principal Abernathy, who simply announces the names of our most prominent students (this was the only time in the three years he used that name that he was actually billed on screen, 22nd out of 23 players listed). Carradine actually debuted with Richard Cromwell in 1930's "Tol'able David," where he was listed as 'Peter Richmond'; his birth name was 'Richmond Reed Carradine,' but for some reason his mother always called him 'Peter!' Apart from 1956's "The Ten Commandments" (DeMille's last film), Carradine's early work for the director included voiceovers and bits in "The Sign of the Cross," "Cleopatra," and "The Crusades." Other similar efforts from the early 30s included "The Cat's-Paw," where mayor Harold Lloyd conquers big city corruption, and especially "Gabriel Over the White House," where the President himself (Walter Huston) takes the law into his own hands.

Utterly preposterous story of civic-minded high-school kids who perform a vigilante mission to bring down a local crime boss. I understand that it's only a movie; the possibility of this actually happening is almost nil, but the story doesn't even make sense on its own terms. How did the gangster Louis Garrett even get away with the murder of Herman the Tailor when there was an eyewitness who saw him emptying the till and the dead body lying four feet away? Anyway, Louie beats the rap and the kids go Bronson on him, kidnapping him and coercing him to sign a confession in front of a judge or else be dropped into a pit of live rats. It would have been funny if Louie, who's not such a nice guy, had stayed in character, refused to sign the confession and then had the kids prosecuted, since they committed about a half dozen violations of the US Code themselves. But like I said, it's only a movie. Pure fantasy at its dumbest.

Great performance from Charles Bickford, and a cameo appearance by John Carradine at the beginning of the film with a moustache. Apart from seeing how student power can make things work, I didn't think much of the characters. It doesn't mean that the acting wasn't any good, it's just that the writing of the characters lacked substance. Because Bickford would go on to appear in 'Tarzan's New York Adventure' and 'Reap the Wild Wind' in the same year, this film is significant because Cecil B. DeMille could draw out a performance from Bickford that would set him on the road to antagonistic characters. This film isn't story led, it is performance led. You learn nothing from the story, but it is a good calling card for Bickford and indeed Carradine.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** A Cecil B. DeMille film that no one remembers? You bet, and this is it! Still under copyright to Paramount Studios this film is not technically available commercially but luckily there is a print at the Library Of Congress and they'll be happy to screen it for you if you make an appointment with them some 2 weeks in advance (see what I go through to write these things!) Originally I wanted to see this because it is one of John Carradine's earliest roles and some reference books list him as being the "graduating class valedictorian". I found that amazing because in 1933 Long John was about 27 and to see him play a high school student really piqued my curiosity. Well it turns out he plays Mr. Abernathy, the assistant principal and he gets billed as "John Peter Richmond". It is by no means his only DeMille movie, he is heard but not seen in SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932) and THE CRUSADES (1933) and you can spot him if you look quickly in CLEOPATRA (1934). Now as to the movie itself. The story takes place in Smalltown, USA where the local tailor is idolised by the school kids. When the nice old man is murdered on orders from the local gang boss (Charles Bickford) the kids find clues the cops overlooked but the man is acquitted anyway for lack of evidence. Knowing he is guilty the kids appeal to the adults in charge but all they get is one lecture after another about how they don't understand the adult world and how they will learn for themselves when they take their place in the real world. (I fully expected one of the old fogey's to say "Tut tut my boy." but no one does, thank goodness.) When the kids try to get the goods on the man themselves they only succeed in getting one of their group framed on a charge of attempted murder. This pushes the clean cut kids over the edge and they decide real fast that since fighting clean does not work it's time to fight dirty.

WARNING WARNING! I have to talk about how the movie ends but it is vital that I do so to properly analyse this film. If you don't want to spoil it for yourself skip the next paragraph. If you want to learn more, by all means continue.

The kids from all the high schools work together to kidnap the gang boss. The local "good girl" pretends to be a trollop to distract the bosses right hand man so the boys can grab him. (Don't worry, she gets away before the lecherous gunsel can do anything to her!) Taking him to a construction site they resort to the sort of brutality usually used by the gangsters themselves. The gang boss is suspended by ropes over a pit of live, very hungry rats and slowly lowered into it until he confesses to the murder and the framing of the boy. His gang, however, shows up armed to the teeth and not about the hesitate machine gunning the kids if they don't release their boss. Luckily for once the cops arrive on time and this time there is enough evidence to put everyone away for a long time.

OKAY, ALL OF YOU WHO DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW HOW THE MOVIE ENDED CAN REJOIN US NOW.

Admittedly DeMille overdoes it a bit here. Carrying the trussed up gangster into town on a palate the kids sing a medley of patriotic songs and the sequence goes on a little too long, ultimately blunting the impact of the powerful scene preceeding it. This detraction is not enough to ruin the whole film though. Performances are very good. You'll spot Charles Middleton (2 years away from immortality as Ming The Merciless in FLASH GORDON) on the side of the law as a DA. Watch for character actors like Guy Usher (DEVIL BAT), Paul Hurst (ISLAND OF LOST SOULS) and Billy Gilbert in supporting roles. Yes, it is a hard film to find, but well worth all the effort.

Cecil B. DeMille was one of Hollywood's most famous filmmakers, and his legendary career spans the period from its very origins (The Squaw Man 1914) to his last film in 1956--three years before his death at the age of 78 (The Ten Commandments). Most of his movies are well known---some (of course) better than others. Several have achieved classic status. But in this great man's large body of work, he made a few films that for one reason or another have slipped into obscurity and generally disappeared from the public's consciousness. One item in this category is This Day and Age (TDAA) (1933).

TDAA was the vehicle DeMille chose to direct immediately after making his blockbuster The Sign of the Cross (1932)---a story somewhat similar to Mervyn LeRoy's later spectacle Quo Vadis (1951). While TDAA falls within that small time period between two of DeMille's most celebrated "big" cinematic achievements (The Sign of the Cross and Cleopatra (1934)), it emerges as a "small" film that deals with contemporary social issues rather than epic adventure or historical pageantry. The problems of today's society generally constituted an area that did not particularly interest DeMille (the original version of The Ten Commandments was a notable exception) and TDAA does not resemble most of the films that the public had grown to expect from him over the years. He usually subscribed to Samuel Goldwyn's reputed observation that if a filmmaker wanted to send the audience a message, he would be better advised to do this via Western Union.

TDAA has a large cast of mostly twentyish aged actors who---true to Hollywood tradition---play high school students with varying degrees of believability. It has an ending that will remind some viewers of Fritz Lang's classic M (1931)and possibly William Wellman's The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). And it did touch upon some very substantial issues of the day: corruption of public officials, the negative effect of organized crime on "civilized society," the influence on young people of a lack of appropriate adult role models in shaping their behavior, how vigilante justice might be administered in attempting to resolve a breakdown of law and order in small town life, how heroism often arises in the most unlikely citizens in a time of crisis---among others. In determining the outcome of this story, a number of critics have accused DeMille of incorporating some elements of fascism. Whether true or not, TDAA is thought-provoking and quite interesting while it spins DeMille's vision of how in the end, the inherent good in most folks can conquer their worst tendencies to bring order out of chaos---particularly when led by inspired young people. It may be naive, but it is also sincere.

While Goldwyn could have been right in his message observation, DeMille offers us a film that makes a respectable argument for an opposing opinion. TDAA is hard to find, but it is currently available on the Criterion Channel. Check it out!