Rudolph Myzet Movies
- 1944
Originally slated for PRC release, Voice in the Wind was eventually distributed by United Artists. The film was directed by the estimable Arthur Ripley, a graduate of 2-reel comedies who aspired to bring art with a capital "A" to the cinema. Francis Lederer stars as Jan Foley, an amnesiac Czech musician who has suffered mightily under Nazi tyranny. Living under a new identity on the island of Guadalupe, Jan tries to recall his past life while working for crooked refugee-smuggler Angelo (Alexander Granach). During a moment of crisis which results in Angelo's death, Jan suddenly regains his memory. He hurries back to the bedside of his ailing wife Marya (Sigrid Gurie), hoping against hope that he won't be too late to start life anew with her. As one critic put it, the film "could be bluntly described as one of the pictures that is considered brilliant because everybody dies at the end." Though Arthur Ripley's self-conscious symbolism doesn't wear too well, Voice in the Wind deserves credit for going against the grain of conservative Hollywood assembly-line entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Lederer, Sigrid Gurie, (more)
- 1939
Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Idiot's Delight starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway. Set in a lavish alpine hotel bordering an Italian air base, the story throws together several disparate people, each in his or her own way affected by the World War that threatens to erupt at a moment's notice. The only person who doesn't seem to have a political or economic stake in world affairs is Harry Van, a two-bit American entertainer who is stranded in the hotel with his travelling all-girl troupe, "Les Blondes." Harry is convinced that the alluring Irene, the foreign-accented "travelling companion" of munitions tycoon Achille Weber, is actually an American girl with whom he'd had a one-night stand years earlier, but Irene laughs off his insinuations. Eventually, Irene turns to Harry for comfort when Weber proves too disgustingly warmongering for her tastes. When war breaks out and the hotel is targeted for bombing, Harry makes sure that everyone gets to safety; he himself stays behind with Irene, with whom he has fallen in love. The two sing a hymn as the hotel is blown to oblivion. When Idiot's Delight was filmed in 1939, Norma Shearer did her best Lynn Fontanne imitation as Irene, while Clark Gable remained Clark Gable in his interpretation of Harry Van (his song-and-dance rendition of "Puttin' on the Ritz" is a classic of sneering insouciance). The film underwent an extensive "MGM-izing": while the pre-European affair between Harry and Irene is never dramatized in the play, the film shows Harry and Irene commiserating in a long prologue set in a seedy vaudeville house--and, in keeping with censorship restrictions, it is made abundantly clear that, while Harry befriends Irene, he does not sleep with her. The munitions manufacturer, here played by Edward Arnold, is depicted as an aberration, and not representative of "honest" business moguls (many of whom were close personal chums of MGM head Louis B. Mayer). And, while the ending of the play does not tell us whether or not Harry and Irene survive the bombing, the film permits the lovers a sun-streamed happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, (more)
- 1935
The old British musical-hall ditty "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" provides the title for this lightweight Ronald Colman vehicle. Colman, playing a refugee Russian prince, is the "man" in question, and the owners of the "broken bank"--that is, the proprietors of the Monte Carlo casino where Colman scored the big win--are anxious to get their money back. They dispatch the beautiful Joan Bennett to lure Colman back into the casino. He falls for her and loses his winnings in the process, but she has pangs of remorse when she learns that Colman had been gambling on behalf of his impoverished countrymen. Bennett joins Colman as he merrily heads off to chase another rainbow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Joan Bennett, (more)
