Film Round-Up: TCM Edition

We've watched several movies on TCM in March.

The first was The Case of the Howling Dog, starring Warren William as Perry Mason and Mary Astor. The main reason I wanted to see this was that Bette Davis refused to do this film. She had been loaned to RKO for a brilliant performance in Of Human Bondage. When she returned to Warner Brothers, this was supposed to be her next film. Mary Astor is a good actress, but didn't have much to do in this film, which is probably why Bette turned the part down. I like Warren William; he may not be a great actor, but he has a kind of sophisticated charm. I've watched him in films with Bette before (Three on a Match, Satan Met a Lady, The Dark Horse) and as the Lone Wolf in another B movie series and miscellaneous other films.

A week later, I caught another Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Curious Bride with Warren William and Margaret Lindsay. I also learned about Margaret Lindsay from Bette Davis films. She was often cast as Bette's rival (Dangerous, Bordertown, Jezebel) but played her sister in Fog over Frisco (great title.) I was also interested to see that Michael Curtiz directed; he directed my favorite movie among others. Not much of a film, the main thing I remember is Perry's awesome office and built-in bar.

TCM returned to showing Torchy Blane movies on Saturdays. We saw Torchy Gets her Man and Torchy Blane in Chinatown. I think Torchy Gets her Man is one of the best in the series. She's usually a few steps ahead of her boyfriend Steve in solving the cases. In this entry, Steve saves Torchy and his driver Gahagan because the villain mentions that Torchy enjoys a steak dinner. The steak dinner was a tiny bit of characterization continuing from the first film. Full circle. 

Torchy Blane in Chinatown was okay; the most interesting part was that James Stephenson was in the cast. His best role (at least what I have seen) is with Bette Davis (yes, I'm obsessed with her) in The Letter.

I am distressed that I missed Torchy Runs for Mayor; I forgot to record it. It was the last of the series with Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane. I did see this years ago, but the details are sketchy.

Jeff recorded Torchy Plays with Dynamite, the last film and the only one starring Jane Wyman as Torchy and Allen Jenkins as Steve. I saw it years ago but haven't watched this recording yet.

On the 15th, TCM played eight Bette Davis/George Brent films. I recorded a few that I hadn't seen in a while. In The Rich Are Always With Us, Bette played the third lead: she mooned over George for the whole movie. Ruth Chatteron smoked up a storm--I'm not sure Bette lit up at all. I wonder if Bette got the smoking moves from her.

I also watched Housewife and Front Page Woman. Bette was the other woman to Ann Dvorak in Housewife. One of the Torchy films copied an idea from Front Page Woman--a weird circle of life for Warners Brothers movies.