Movie review - Michael Shayne#2 - "Sleepers West" (1941) *** (re-watching)

 I like train movies and the stars - Lloyd Nolan, Lyn Bari, Mary Beth Hughes. It's a little Narrow Margin as Nolan escorts witness Hughes in a train to give evidence; Bari is a His Girl Friday type reporter desperate for the story. There's a neat subplot where Hughes romances an alcoholic married man.

The film loses some pace when it gets off the train - it's a shame it couldn't have stayed on the whole time.

Book review - "Foxy Lady: The Authorised Biography of Lynn Bari" by Jeff Gordon (2010)

A biography of Lynn Bari - why? But, when you think about it, why not? Bari was a very likeable, capable performer who did sterling work over a number of years, and is still remembered by buffs today for some excellent "other woman" parts in Sun Valley Serenade and Orchestra Wives.

There was more to her career than that of course - a long apprenticeship in Fox's B unit, becoming known as Queen of the Bs: few of these films gathered any sort of serious critical renown (though she popped up in Charlie Chans, Mr Motos and Michael Shaynes). She never quite became a star - Gordon argues she was kind of was one around the time of The Magnificent Dope, Moon Over Her Shoulder and Tampico. But she never really headlined a big hit and crashed through to the next level the way, say, Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Gene Tierney and Anne Baxter did.

Why that didn't happen is one of the things tackled by Gordon in his excellent, comprehensive biography, which benefits from extensive interviews with Bari. She was a co operative, hard working, highly professional actress who seemed to get along with most people. But her mother was a drunk who had a habit of calling the studio and complaining about her. She also had shocking taste in men, marrying agent Walter Kane who ripped her off and gave her bad advice, then Sidney Luft, who did exactly the same. Part of her appeal for producers was her placid nature but then she started complaining about roles and money at a time when (post WW2) the studios were reducing their contract lists.

Her decline as a film star/name was perhaps inevitable, even if she'd had that hit or two - but it's a shame she never got a great "second act" like a hit play or TV series. She tried a few series and did a lot of theatre and guest roles but never crashed through. Her protracted and vicious divorce/custody dispute with Luft may have had something to do with that, but it was also age and circumstance. Still she was rarely out of work.

The latter part of her life is depressing. After two dud marriages with agent types she hooked up with a shrink, who didn't like her to work, cheated on her, wasn't generous during the divorce settlement. She became an alcoholic, had a lot of health problems (an intense cigarette habit didn't help), stopped working... On the bright side, she had a lot of friends, had a good relationship with her son, kept her marbles to the end. And she became friends with Gordon, who interviewed her for what became this book, so that must have made her feel good.

This is a loving, affectionate look at Bari, with solid scholarship behind it. It presents a favourable interpretation of Bari's flaws (appalling taste in men, poor financial nous, etc) but doesn't obscure them. I particularly enjoyed the stuff about Fox's B movie unit, about which I knew little (apart from the Chans and Motos). It's a sad to read at times, but I'm glad she got a book.

Movie review – Shayne#7 – “Time to Kill” (1941) ***

Most Michael Shayne movies were based on stories that didn’t feature Michael Shayne – this one had the most illustrious ancestry, stemming from the Raymond Chandler story, ‘The High Window’. He’s hired by an old biddy to look for a brasher dobloun, uncovering blackmail and murder. The touch is light and fun, with Chandler’s story providing a strong basis for a film that doesn’t quite clock in at one hour; I enjoyed it a lot more than The Brasher Doubloun, mostly because of Lloyd Nolan and a decent support cast. (Although it cheats by not really giving a climax.) He romances a nightclub singer, the wife of a wastrel in this one as opposed to the craz girl.

Movie review – Shayne #5 – “Just off Broadway” (1943) **1/2

Shayne is a juror who tries solving the case in which he is involved. The tone is very light (Shayne goes undercover as a Swedish janitor, and once again pretends to be a girl’s fiancee) so it’s a surprise that he slaps a dame – that doesn’t feel like Lloyd Nolan’s Mike. Phil Silvers, as a publicist, gives some class to the support cast and Marjorie Weaver is fun as a girl reporter, another old friend of Shayne’s. There is a midget, too, an old friend of Shayne's - it was that sort of series. Good fun, apart from the scene where he hits the girl.

Movie review - Shayne #3 - "Dressed to Kill" (1941) **1/2

Interrupted matrimony was a big feature of the light-hearted Bulldog Drummond films of the 30s, so it's perhaps not surprising the similarly light Michael Shayne films borrowed that device. Shayne is about to marry Mary Beth Hughes when he gets drawn into a murder mystery involving some various actors. Its fast and good natured; the support cast includes Henry Daniell and William Demarest, indicating that the budgets were reasonably healthy (or else the producer was thrifty).

Movie review – Shayne #5 - “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die” (1942) **1/2

Michael Shayne shoe-horned into another film for which he wasn’t originally considered. This feels different to others in the series – a bit more spooky and horror film like. Shayne is called into investigate some weird stuff at an old house by an old female friend (Marjorie Lawrence, who was in the first Shayne film but who here plays a different character, although it’s a similar sort of role, i.e. little rich girl). To enable him to investigate, they pretend to be married which enables some fun Shayne comedy – one of the big attractions of the series. 

This one is notable for its number of spooky scenes: wind-swept house at night, digging up corpses, silhouettes of killers with glowing eyes. The support cast includes Henry Wilcoxon, and Jeff Corey (later acting coach).

Movie review – Shayne#4 – “Blue, White and Perfect” (1942) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

Mary Beth Hughes returns as Shayne’s girlfriend, although she has a different name – these B picture series were always a bit shonky when it came to continuity. Fed up with Shayne, she’s determined to marry someone else. Eventually Shayne talks her around, then pretends he’s given up detective work by going to work at a plane factory. In fact he’s investigating sabotage by going undercover – WW2 hits the Shayne series. In the course of his adventures, Shayne impersonates a riveter, a southern gentleman, several different businessman… all the while avoiding his fiancée.

This wasn’t based on an original Shayne novel, but a story by Borden Chase – which may explain why 30 minutes in Shayne winds up going undercover on a cruise ship and we introduce a whole new bunch of characters, including an old female friend of Shayne’s (one of the refreshing things about B film detectives was they always seemed to have bantering relationships with women who they treated as equals – provided said females didn’t want to marry them), and George Reeves as a gigolo with a moustache.

Two decent twists – Reeves is an undercover agent, and the revelation of the baddie. Shayne visits Hawaii prior to Pearl Harbour and at the end of the film takes off for Manila. He evidently got out of there in time for his next adventure!

Radio review – “Michael Shayne” **

Audio version of the popular detective. He’s just another tough-talking gumshoe here without the humour that Lloyd Nolan brought to the role. Not very memorable.

Movie review – Shayne #2 - “Sleepers West” (1941) **1/2

Entertaining Shayne adventure has the PI escort a witness (Mary Beth Hughes) across country. Lynn Bari is always fun in this sort of thing and so she is here, playing a female journo who figures out something is up with Shayne – so does her fiancée, who is a baddie.

Shayne doesn’t do a super amount in this film – he turns down a bribe and banters with Bari but more time is devoted to subplots, especially Hughes’ romance with a fellow drunk passenger (I saw this as a teenager and always remembered the subplot about the two passengers who found love getting drunk together on the train, one of whom has a big forehead). This might be because it was based on a non-Shayne novel adapted for Shayne (a not uncommon practice at the time) he characters hop off the train towards the end, and the film loses pace as a result. 

(A thought - There are no more train films. I guess its harder to make without back projection and people taking lots of trains.)

Movie review – Shayne#1 - “Michael Shayne Private Detective” (1940) **1/2

There was a period in the late 80s when Bill Collins would introduce B films late at night on Channel Ten – Mr Motos, Charlie Chans, etc. (Some of my most fond movie watching memories are seeing these on a little black and white TV in my bedroom – I’d also see The Untouchables TV show like this and it’s the best way to see it.) Among the films Collins showed were the Michael Shayne series, not as well known as the others, but nonetheless taunt, well-made entertainment.

They gave a star role to Lloyd Nolan, one of those excellent support players (wonderful speaking voice) who were never going to become a star, but were comfortable supporting in “A”s and could easily star B films, or TV series. Shayne is an enjoyable character – he’s tough and honourable but he has a sense of humour, a light touch; he’s often behind the eight ball as to what is going on, but figures it out eventually.

Shayne is assigned to look after the troublesome daughter of an old friend. He winds up accused of murder. Shayne spends most of his time trying not to be arrested by that PI staple, the hostile police (in lighter films like this the copper is idiotic; in the Philip Marlowes they tend to be menacing)

Bright support cast – Marjorie Weaver (very pretty) as the sprightly girl, Elizabeth Patterson as a murder-mystery-obsessed little old lady, and old reliable Douglas Dumbrille as a villain and Walter Abel as a sort of character who is always played by an actor fourth in the cast list in these films. The script has some clever stuff involving a suicide note (is it real or fake) and a gun (is it Shayne’s or not).

It benefits from being a B picture from a major studio – there’s good photography, decent sets and actors, etc. – although the writers can’t come up with a decent reveal apart from a long confession.