Tala Birell Movies

Mesnchen im Kaefig is the German-language version of the British melodrama Cape Forlorn (aka Love Storm). Based on a play by Frank Harvey, this is the story of William, a taciturn lighthouse keeper who marries dance-hall girl Eileen. Their already shaky relationship is further damaged when the husband hires a handsome young assistant named Gordon, who immediately inaugurates an affair with the wife. When Gordon is arrested for a killing committed by Eileen, she leaves her husband and returns to the dance-hall whence she came, there to patiently await her lover's release from jail. The stars of the British Cape Forlorn were Fay Compton (Eileen), Frank Harvey (William) and Ian Hunter (Gordon); in Menschen im Kaefig, these roles were essayed by Tala Birrell, Fritz Kortner and Heinrich George (also appearing in a lesser role was Conrad Veidt, the star of the 1919 silent classic Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Liebe auf Befehl is the German-language version of the American film The Boudoir Diplomat, with Johannes Riemann (who also co-directed) replacing the original film's star Ian Keith. The story concerns the carnal escapades of Baron Valmi, who literally sleeps his way to the top of the social ladder. After wooing, winning and abandoning several influential ladies, the Baron has convinced himself that he can never truly fall in love. It is then that he meets the beautiful Helene. Liebe auf Befehl translates as Command to Love, which was the title of the play upon which the film was based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A countess and a doctor embark on an adventure in Africa in order to find a cure for sleeping sickness, but superstitions and crocodiles get in their way. Of course, they end up together. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

It's Grand Hotel on the high seas, with a remarkable cast -- particularly for the usually parsimonious Columbia Pictures. As irascible captain Helquist (Walter Connolly) pilots his boat along the Atlantic, an assortment of subplots involving a vast array of characters play themselves out. Among the passengers are bond-thief Checkett (Fred Keating) and his girlfriend Janet Grayson (Helen Vinson), private detective Schulte (Victor McLaglen), "fallen woman" Mrs. Jeddock (Wynne Gibson), and her unforgiving husband (Wynne Gibson). In his final film appearance, former silent-screen idol John Gilbert gives an outstanding performance as pugnacious hard-drinking reporter Steve Bramley, forever putting the lie to the legend that he failed in talkies because his voice was inadequate. The Three Stooges also show up as musicians -- but only Larry has any lines (spoken in a Yiddish accent!). The story goes that Lewis Milestone filmed the picture on a real ocean liner to prevent John Gilbert and the other imbibers in the cast from having easy access to liquor -- a plan doomed to failure when someone smuggled several cases of booze on board. As the production went way past its budget and schedule, Columbia's business manager sent an urgent wire to Milestone: HURRY UP--THE COST IS STAGGERING. Milestone's answer: SO IS THE CAST. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story goes that Peter Lorre wanted to star in a film version of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, but was certain that Columbia Pictures chieftain Harry Cohn would turn the project down flat. So Lorre hired a secretary to type up a synopsis of the story in words of one syllable then submitted this simplified resume to Cohn. Enthusiastic over the project, Cohn gave Lorre the go-ahead -- but first he asked "Tell me -- has this book got a publisher?" Apocryphal story or no, the fact is that Lorre did star in Columbia's Crime and Punishment and in the bargain was directed by the ultra-stylish Josef Von Sternberg. As the arrogant sociopath Raskolnikov, who is convinced that he can get away with the murder of a nasty pawnbroker because he is "above" such intangibles as a conscience, Lorre is excellent, especially when his bravado is slowly eroded by the gentle but determined Inspector Porfiri (Edward Arnold). Like the aforementioned typed-up synopsis, the film oversimplifies the Dostoyevsky original, concentrating only on the crime, the pangs of guilt, the confession and the arrest: the punishment and its aftermath, so essential to the novel's overall impact, are dispensed with entirely. To make the film even more accessible to a mass audience, the story is subtly updated, though any distinctly "contemporary" touches such as automobiles, telephones and current slang are studiously avoided. The supporting cast is wildly inconsistent: Mrs. Patrick Campbell is fine in her brief scenes as the vitriolic pawnbroker, but Marian Marsh is all wrong as the streetwalker heroine Sonya. The principal strength of this Crime and Punishment is the film-long game of cat-and-mouse between the reckless Raskolnikov and the quietly methodical Porfiri. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having struck gold in 1934 with Grace Moore's One Night of Love, Columbia Pictures hoped to do the same with international favorite Lillian Harvey in Let's Live Tonight. The story concentrates on a romantic triangle, with millionaire Nick Kerry (Tulio Carminati) and his brother Brian (Hugh Williams) both in love with gorgeous Kay Routledge (Harvey). One glance at the billing order should tip off which of the two brothers wins the heroine in the final reel. Oddly, the loser is the most sympathetic character in the film -- even more so than Kay, who comes across as charmingly cold-blooded. Director Victor Schertzinger, who'd previously helmed One Night of Love (in which Carminati also co-starred), also wrote the songs for Let's Live Tonight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Lone Wolf Returns stars Melvyn Douglas as Louis Joseph Vance's reformed criminal Michael Lanyard, a.k.a. The Lone Wolf. Lanyard lapses back into his old ways when he attempts to steal an emerald pendant belonging to Gail Patrick, but he falls in love with the girl and remains on the straight and narrow. A pair of less sentimental crooks frame Lanyard and force him to participate in a high-stakes heist. The Lone Wolf turns the tables on the crooks and wins his lady love. Previously filmed in 1926, The Lone Wolf Returns was the first of Columbia's "B" series featuring the gentleman thief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tala Birell, one of the more talented of the Garbo wannabes of the 1930s, stars in the Universal quickie She's Dangerous. The star is cast as Stephanie, a glamorous private detective who's been hired to track down a gang of bond thieves. She charms her way into the confidence of gang leader Nick Shelton (Cesar Romero), knowing full well that the outwardly gracious Shelton won't hesitate to kill her if she's found out. Eventually, Stephanie proves too smart for her own good, and it's up to sidelines hero Dr. Logan (Walter Pidgeon) to bail her out. She's Dangerous bears a marked resemblance to 20th Century-Fox's 15 Maiden Lane, which also featured Cesar Romero as a charming-but-deadly crook. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Secret agent Jeff Clavering (Alan Marshal) is in the employ of a group of businessmen dedicated to world peace. In order to get the goods on war profiteer Kamarov (C. Henry Gordon), Clavering is ordered to romance Kamarov's wife Stephanie (Mady Correll). Our hero and heroine experience any number of thrill-packed adventures while uncovering the villain's nefarious scheme to plunge the World into war. Gee? if Kamarov had only waited a few months, he could have saved himself the trouble. Some much-needed comedy relief is provided by Herbert Mundin as a bumbling British detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For his first directorial assignment at RKO Radio, Edward Dmytryk was handed the mile-a-minute topical meller Seven Miles From Alcatraz. James Craig and Frank Jenks star as cynical Alcatraz inmates Champ and Jimbo, who manage to escape from the "rock" and then take refuge in the lighthouse maintained by Captain Porter (George Cleveland) and his pretty daughter Anne (Bonita Granville). Though concerned only about their own plight at first, Champ and Jimbo alter their getaway plans to foil a nest of Nazi spies who are using the lighthouse as their rendezvous. As Jimbo explains it, "We may be rats, but we're American rats!", which may be why he and Champ are granted a happier denoument than most Alcatraz escapees. Among the Nazis is a slim and youthful John Banner, two decades removed from his duties as cuddly Sergeant Schultz in TV's Hogan's Heroes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Song of Bernadette is a reverent recounting of the life of St. Bernadette of Lourdes. As a teen-aged peasant girl growing up in the tiny French village of Lourdes in the 19th century, Bernadette (Jennifer Jones) experiences a vision of the Virgin Mary in a nearby grotto. At least, she believes that she did. The religious and political "experts" of the region cannot accept the word of a silly little girl, and do their best to get her to renounce her claims. Bernadette's vision becomes a political hot potato for many years, with the authorities alternately permitting and denying the true believers' access to the grotto. No matter what the higher-ups may think of Bernadette, there is little denying that the springs of Lourdes hold some sort of recuperative powers for the sick and lame. Eventually, Bernadette dies, never faltering in her conviction that she saw the Blessed Virgin; years later, she is canonized as a saint, and the Grotto of Lourdes remains standing as a permanent shrine. The 20th Century-Fox people knew that The Song of Bernadette would whip up controversy from both the religious and the agnostic. The company took some of the "curse" off the project with a now-famous opening title: "To those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible." Jennifer Jones' performance in The Song of Bernadette won her the Best Actress Oscar in 1943. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in Japanese-occupied China shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this action/drama stars Alan Ladd as Mr. Jones, a cynically materialistic American who has no qualms about selling oil to the enemy; as far as he's concerned, their money spends as well as anyone's. Against the advice of his friend and partner Johnny Sparrow (William Bendix), Jones heads to Shanghai to negotiate a sale with representatives of the Japanese government. En route, Jones and Sparrow are caught in a massive rainstorm that leaves the roads all but impossible to navigate; the yanks are also stopped by Chinese guerilla troops, who force them to take on a group of schoolgirls and their instructor, an American named Carolyn Grant (Loretta Young). Between the patriotic Carolyn, the Chinese schoolgirls, and a baby that Sparrow rescued from the side of the road, Jones has a lot more going on than he's used to dealing with, but the situation forces him to take a long, hard look at his personal politics. When he discovers that one of the girls was brutally raped by Japanese soldiers after she tried to return to her family, Jones decides he can no longer stand alongside the Japanese and kills the three soldiers responsible. This was one of a small number of pro-China films made in the United States during World War II, when the two countries had a mutual enemy in Japan; however, a few years down the line, Hollywood's attitude towards China would be markedly different. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After several years' faithful service in supporting roles, Jack Carson was awarded his first Warner Bros. starring vehicle with 1944's Make Your Own Bed. Carson's costar is the pert Jane Wyman, with whom he'd previously been felicitously teamed in Princess O'Rourke. The nonsensical story is set in motion by wealthy industrialist Walter Whirtle (Alan Hale), who believes himself to be the target of a Nazi spy ring. Whirtle hires private detective Jerry Curtis (Carson) to protect him-intending to get full "value for money" by having Curtis double as the family butler. Coming along for the ride is Jerry's girlfriend Susan Courtney (Jane Wyman), who agrees to pose as Whirtle's maid. The problem is that Jerry and Susan are assumed to be a married couple, leading to all sorts of risque complications. Meanwhile, Whirtle's scatterbrained wife Vivian (Irene Manning) allows herself to be swept off her feet by obnoxious house guest Boris Murphy (George Tobias). After several slaptick setpieces, the plot rushes to a conclusion when the Whirtle household is invaded by those pesky Nazi spies (remember?) The film's level of humor can be ascertained by the fact that the comedy highlight occurs when practically everybody in the cast is bound and gagged. Relentlessly silly, Make Your Own Bed nonetheless served its purpose in establishing Jack Carson as a bankable leading man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide