Traqués

Woman in the Shadows (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Lightweight but entertaining crime/drama about a man (Ralph Bellamy) released from prison and deciding to stay alone in his cabin so that his bad temper won't get him back into prison. Everything's going well until a woman (Fay Wray) shows up being chased by her psychotic lover (Melvyn Douglas). There's nothing overly special about this "B" film from the Biograph Company but the three stars make it well worth watching. The pre-code elements with Wray's dress slipping down or the close-ups of her legs being shown are nice touches. Also known as Woman in the Dark. Directed by Phil Rosen who would go on to direct several Charlie Chan films as well as Spooks Run Wild and Return of the Ape Man.

I've known of Ralph Bellamy for most of my life. During the fifties and sixties, he was a bit of a staple in television dramas and had a fairly extensive movie career. Rediscovering him in some of these old films, he appears to have a quality that was utilized. He was frequently used as a very masculine character, a kind of dominator of women. He seems to be characterized as a person who once he makes his mind up, won't listen to anyone. This is no exception. He has been framed and put in prison for manslaughter, his temper getting the best of him. It isn't long before he is in trouble again, hooking up with Fay Wray (who really was quite beautiful) and alienating a few people in his community. The problem with all this is that we are expected to believe that people will act in such knee jerk ways, not looking at evidence. Of course, the good guys don't help because instead of pleading their cases, they just take off. Shootings occur and people end up making deals when a simple explanation would have probably circumvented the whole thing. This is a sort of pleasant movie, but not worth a whole lot. There is some pretty bad comic relief that only distracts from what is supposed to be serious.

Interestingly, this isn't a Hollywood film - it was made in New York at the old Biograph studios. That's about the only interesting thing about this other than wondering why reasonably high profile actors ended up in this low budget rubbish. The story behind that might be more interesting than this film?

The difference between this and something from a major studio is blatantly obvious. It looks decidedly amateurish. It's directed with all the skill of an arthritic chimpanzee trying to teach the tango in a dance school. It's hard to believe that some of these people are proper actors and that they have actually seen a camera before. I don't however harbour any pre-conceived notions that the cinematographer had seen a camera before.

It's just entertaining enough that you'll probably watch it to the end but you'll have the feeling that you've just watched a local amateur dramatics society put on a play in a church hall.

It's also a perfect example of how not to efficiently use your film time. They seem to have forgotten that in a movie you can have more than one thing going on at the same time. This results in weird long gaps in dialogue whilst each member of the cast waits in turn to read their lines. For example, He asks Her a question - does she reply? Yes but only after she's walked for about 5 seconds in silence to the other side of the room (where the microphone is?) to reply. It makes it so slow. 'Speak as you walk' you'll be wanting to shout.

I wonder if this explains why Fay Wray's career didn't go anywhere after Kong?

"Woman In The Dark" holds a certain curiosity value: a bunch of big-name actors appear in an obviously penny-pinching production. Fay Wray is soooooooo gorgeous - you can't take your eyes off her, and you don't want to, either. She and the other actors certainly invest more into this film than the producers did. ** out of 4.

Out on parole, John Bradley (Ralph Bellamy) has no intention of returning to prison. His first night home, he is visited by Helen Grant (Nell O'Day) whose father is the sheriff. It was over Lil that John got into a brawl that ended in a man's death. John is encouraging her to leave when a woman, Louise Loring (Fay Wray) dressed in a white gown arrives at his house. She's hurt her ankle trying to get to the train station - and away from Tony Robson (Melvyn Douglas). Louise thought that Robson lent her money for her singing career - but it was an investment and he wants a return that isn't monetary.

Robson is there with a drunk friend (Reed Brown Jr.) who kills the dog that accompanied him (setting my teeth on edge), goes after Louise, is hit by John, and sustains a concussion, though John thinks he's dead. Tony informs the sheriff, and John and Louise go on the run to his cellmate Logan's (Roscoe Ates) place. It goes from there, with the police showing up yet again.

This is an okay movie, with the comedy coming from the visit at the Logan's -- he's an ex-jewel robber who is dying to get his hands on the jewels Robson gave Louise. Bellamy's career in films spanned 59 years, and his stage career spanned thirty. Here he's 30 years old, playing a somewhat laconic role, though flirtatious with Louise - his sonorous voice making him instantly recognizable.

Fay Wray was supremely beautiful and does a good job as Louise - though why anyone would walk in total darkness through what looked like woods to get to a train station is beyond me. I've seen too much true crime, I guess.

There was nothing special about this film, it was just nice to see the beautiful Wray and handsome Bellamy as a young man.