Something rings a bell here. (I LOVE A MYSTERY used to be a radio show.) There's a slim possibility I might actually have seen this on television at some point.
Maybe. Nowadays the inclusion of George Macready and Nina Foch in the cast might tempt me. I do like the sound of a
'weird death sentence from the mystic East' - but I doubt I have the necessary endurance anymore.
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Despite the great poster and much as I love Gale Sondergaard, I KNOW I've never seen this continuation (I'm guessing) of the character she played in SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SPIDER WOMAN. Who she's striking back at in this movie I don't know but her character's name is Zenobia Dollard - that alone is enough to give me pause. But I notice that creepy Rondo Hatton shows up as well. You see Rondo, you know it's not a feel-good fest.
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I've read that this is not a great movie. Still, I do like that poster. PLUS I love Warren William. But no fun seeing the dapper and dashing WW humiliated by Gracie Allen, yes, yes, of the Burns and Allen comedy team. S.S. Van Dine actually wrote this?
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Fabulous poster featuring the ever popular screen duo of William Henry and Linda Stirling. Wait. WHO? P.S. What is that guy sniffing from that beaker and why?
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Another terrific poster - this one with a wonderful rendering of a very sinister looking Bela Lugosi. But I'm afraid that's not enough. Maybe if they'd featured a black dragon or two breathing fire....Nah, even that wouldn't change my mind. Call me shallow, I just can't get over that woman's hairdo.
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Helen Gahagan billed over Randolph Scott? Excuse me? I'm not making this up. That's what it says down there in the lower right hand corner. Oh and I see Nigel Bruce. Let me think a moment...Nope, even Nigel (who went on to bigger and better playing Dr. Watson opposite Basil Rathbone in the Sherlock Holmes movies) can't make me want to watch this. I must disobey She Who Must Be Obeyed.
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Look, I love a man in a fez as much as the next woman, but I'm going to skip this movie anyway. Though I must admit the cast is tempting: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature and Ona Munson. Maybe not entirely household names, but close. And directed by Josef von Sternberg too....Jeez, that fez sure is tempting. Hard to imagine Victor in a fez. Well, maybe at a jaunty angle.
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I probably read the Perry Mason book this movie is based on, but never mind. Ann Dvorak and Donald Woods are playing, I suppose, Perry and Della. Here's my question: Where's Warren William? (Be still my fluttering heart.) Now HE, I'd go see - starring as Perry, that is. I've been meaning to buy the WW Perry Mason movies - only way I'm ever going to see them, that much I know. But Donald Woods? Gotta' admit though, that title is one of the very best Erle Stanley Gardner ever came up with.
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I've never seen these films and I don't really want to. Please don't make me. Please nobody tell me I'm overlooking a gem, I simply refuse to believe it. But there's no getting around the fact that the posters are spectacular. I'd love to hang these on my walls (if I had any space left, that is).
Okay, okay, I admit it: Back in the day, I'd probably be lured into the theater in spite of the posters. What did I know? I was young then and lacked taste and discrimination.
Ha.
Since it's Tuesday once again, don't forget to check in at Todd Mason's blog,
Sweet Freedom, to see what other movies, television or other audio/visuals, other bloggers are talking about today. We're a delightful bunch.
Yes, Van Dine did write that and I've read it (not seen the movie, though). The book is fun in an odd kind of way--but not Van Dine's best.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine that the movie would work, at least in the way it's described. But it might have been funny I suppose. Maybe.
DeleteI should have known you'd read it, Bev. You've read everything. :)
I am intrigued by the poster for H. Rider Haggard's "She," which says - in very small print under the acting credits, "AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS." Thousands, mind you! Ah, the early days of Hollywood spectacles...
ReplyDeleteThey get an A+ for exaggeration. :) I think people expected hyperbole in those days. Part of the movie experience.
DeleteMy pick of this grouping is "SHE." I can't resist admiring the image of parting flames as though they were a curtain!
ReplyDeleteYeah, good one. In the story 'She' gets to walk inside the flame. She was a hot broad. Ha.
DeleteThose posters are fabulous, I agree. I don't think I've seen these, although the Perry Mason one, maybe. I watched everything with him in it, but maybe not this, as I don't recognize the actor's name.
ReplyDeleteGene Tierney -- I'd see anything with her in it. I have to see if my library has this movie, zany as it appears.
The hairdo in the Black Dragons? I had a high school trigonometry teacher who had blondish/reddish hair with a very strong perm like the one in that poster. She was one of the best teachers I ever had: no nonsense, just teaching and I learned the subject well.
A few for me to check at the library.
I was just being snarky. :) These ARE fabulous posters. Agreed. :)
DeleteTheir beautiful! I'd love to hang them on my walls too! I've not seen any of them and probably never will either. Thanks for sharing them with us!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Peggy Ann. I love poster posts - lots of fun to put together. Glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteYup...SHE is pretty damned good. Better than the novel, as far as I got with that...
ReplyDeleteI never could get into the novel either, Todd. Nope. Couldn't get into KING SOLOMON'S MINES either. Loved the film though. Probably because it was very different from the book.
DeleteI have that Gracie Allen poster on my wall, but I've never seen the movie either. As art, it speaks to me!
ReplyDeleteSpeaks to me too, C.W.!! I wish I had it on my wall. :)
DeleteYvette, I'd watch most of these movies if I could, and I probably can online, though I'm not familiar with many of the actors.
ReplyDeleteYeah, know what you mean, Prashant. I'd probably take a look if they were available online. I'm SO contrary. Well, maybe not the Spider Woman thing and the Gracie Allen movie. HA!
DeleteI also liked Gale Sondergaard, wasn't her husband the writer
ReplyDeletethat was blackballed in Hollywood? Gracie was cute.
Gosh I used to like Nina Foch. Good post., I am fogged in this morning.
yvonne
Yes, I believe that the her husband was stigmatized. What a terrible time that was. I liked Nina Foch in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and always thought Gene Kelly would have been better off with her. No fog here. Just bright sunshine and breezes. Very nice day.
DeleteI know what you mean Yvette - I have seen a few of these (OK, more than a few) and most are not really worth the trouble, I agree - and yes, love the artwork - thanks chum, great fun.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Sergio. Glad you enjoyed the post. I do love vintage posters. :)
DeleteGale Sondergaard's spouse was Herbert Biberman, who was one of the Hollywood Ten, those blacklisted during the McCarthy period. Biberman made the wonderful film, "Salt of the Earth," about copper miners, and their wives, who play leading roles in their strike.
ReplyDeleteApparently, there is a film about their relationship and the making of this great film. I saw it when I was 10 years old at my father's union hall; he was an organizer for the same union portrayed in the film.