Transatlantic

Though this does go a bit off course from time time, a boat - like a train - does provide for quite a good stage for an engaging mystery peppered with loads of melodrama. "Greer" (Edmund Lowe) is the suave and debonaire gent who hopes to make an easy living on the cards and on the roulette wheels abroad this liner. He quickly becomes aware of a cunning wheeze by a gang of crooks to relieve wealthy tycoon "Graham" (John Halliday) of some of his wealth but declines to get involved. "Halliday" is not so happily married to "Kay" (Myrna Loy) and so keeps mistress "Sigrid" (Greta Nissen) in the style to which she wishes to remain accustomed. That brings us full circle because she and "Greer" have some history together. Things become distinctly choppier on board when news reaches all that the financier's bank has gone bust and that has devastating effects on poor old "Kramer" (Jean Hersholt) who is travelling with his daughter "Judy" (Lois Moran) and who is now completely broke. What now ensues is quite an entertaining marriage of the criminal, the comedic - especially the steward (Billy Bevan) with his shallow obsequiousness - and the lightly romantic. As the threads tie together these characters have to reconcile the bankruptcy and the infidelities - all before the ship docks and they can all go their merry ways. It's really more of an ensemble effort with a competent Lowe at the top of the bill holding together the conflicting themes and whilst I could maybe have done with a little more of Loy, it still looks good and flows well enough - if predictably - for eighty minutes before quite a lively denouement deep in the gunwales. I suppose the "code" would have put paid to it had it been made three years later - too many sinful and naughty shenanigans.

Made in the early-morning of talking pictures, this belies any notion you might have of early talkies, with fast editing, a deleriously moving camera, and sharp script. Sets are magnificent, with the luxury liner where the action takes place assuming the atmosphere of some Byzantine palace. Best of all, it's capped off with a tour-de-force cat-and-mouse shoot-out through the vast engine room, which James Wong Howe's photography turns into a visual wonderland-maze of catwalks, huge machines and glossy steam. Script, story and playing are all top-notch.

"Transatlantic" didn't feature any names I'm familiar with besides Myrna Loy and Jean Hersholt. It starred Edmund Lowe as Monty Greer, someone of nebulous dealings. He, as well as a host of other characters, was on a cruise ship named "S. S. Transatlantic." The people of interest were Henry Graham (John Halliday), Kay Graham (Myrna Loy), Sigrid Carline (Greta Nissen), Judy Kramer (Lois Moran), Jed Kramer (Jean Hersholt), and Handsome (Earle Foxe).

Henry Graham (John Halliday)was a wealthy banker whose bank failed, yet he seemed eerily unfazed by it. He was having a grand old time on the Transatlantic messing around with Sigrid Carline (Greta Nissen) right under his wife Kay's nose. Henry was a loathsome person. He was cheating on his wife and cheating his customers. While they were losing everything with his bank's failure he'd withdrawn all of his money and assets from the bank. Jed (Jean Hersholt), one of his customers, was despondent. He went to Henry in hopes he may do something or offer up some advice. Instead Henry shooed him away as though he were a leper.

While Henry was publicly embarrassing Kay (Myrna Loy) by being seen with Sigrid, Kay was trying to remain a dutiful wife. In fact, she readily accepted Henry back once he was done with playing with Sigrid. It turns out that even though Henry was a foul cheat, he didn't want his mistress Sigrid to be fooling around with anyone else. When he saw Sigrid and Monty (Edmund Lowe) in the room together he'd had enough of her and went back to his wife who was ever the soldier.

Monty was mixed up with everyone. He found himself entertaining Judy Kramer (Lois Moran), the young daughter of Jed Kramer. He was dodging Handsome (Earle Foxe), a thief scheming on Henry Graham's loot. He evidently once had a relationship with Sigrid who now had her eyes on Henry Kramer and his money, which put him smack-dab in the middle of the Grahams marital affairs.

"Transatlantic" was pretty good. It looked like it could've been a model for movies like "Grand Hotel" (1932) and "Manhattan Tower" (1932), both movies that involved many characters in one enclosed location.

A pretty fair movie -- look for Myrna Loy as she begins her ascent to Queen of Hollywood. The real star for me in Jame Wong Howe's magnificent photography, lovely deep focus work ten years before Greg Toland 'revolutionized' pictures with it.

We are introduced to a cast of characters about a cruise ship and I'm afraid it is not clear whose story we are following. Their lives are inter-linked so just go along with the story even if you are not entirely sure what it is about and who is holding down the main plot. The film also seems to have been made in French and some of the scenes have sections where actors speak but no dialogue is heard as well as a scene early on when Edmund Lowe first appears on the ship and reads a newspaper headline which is written in French. They should have given a translation for this as it is important to your understanding of the film. It says that police are hunting someone down and that someone is Lowe. Now that you know this, the end scene will make sense and you will understand his character a bit more and how come he has certain acquaintances on board the ship.

The story itself is ok if a little confusing at first nd provides tense moments especially when Lowe and floozy Greta Nissen (Sigrid) come face to face outside the cabin of wealthy John Halliday (Henry) whom everyone seems to have a motive for killing. There is a shoot-out at the end but I find these kind of endings rather tiresome - bang bang - someone gets shot. Boring. The ship's décor is interesting, though.