The Kiss Before the Mirror

Though Universal had acquired prestige with the Oscar-winning ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930), it was still not regarded as a major studio at the time; consequently, most of their productions were allotted a B-movie budget and barely lasted over an hour and a quarter (this one, in fact, clocks in at 68 minutes) – even those made by their top director of the era, Whale! In fact, this one is partly filmed on the memorable Expressionist sets from his first great success FRANKENSTEIN (1931) – notably the forest, laboratory and university auditorium, converted here to a private garden, prison cell and courtroom – which lends the whole added texture and renders it fascinating viewing for horror buffs!

Even so, this proves a melodrama with a uniquely tense and compelling premise: a lawyer defending his best friend, accused of killing his faithless wife, begins to suspect that his own spouse is cheating on him – so that his impassioned (and sensationalistic) speech, tinged with personal angst, results in the acquittal of the murderer! Marked by elaborate camera-work (courtesy of the renowned Karl Freund), the film also features constant mirror imagery (playing on the all-important theme of duplicity). The acting often resorts to histrionics (Paul Lukas, in his first of 3 roles for the director, as the defendant virtually spends the whole trial with face buried in his hands!) but is nonetheless impressive – especially Frank Morgan's protagonist lawyer, since he is mostly known for befuddled comedy roles!; also on hand are Gloria Stuart (appearing as the murder victim and, thus, killed off in the very first scene!: she also worked 3 times with Whale, including 2 of his horror classics), Walter Pidgeon (an early role as her lover) and Charley Grapewin (as Morgan's assistant, who is something of a frustrated philosopher!).

Interestingly, Whale felt he could improve upon the film and remade it just 5 years later as WIVES UNDER SUSPICION (in which Morgan's brother Ralph played the accused!); however, though I recall liking it quite a bit when I watched it 5 years ago {sic}, I feel this is the superior version (if still some way behind his seminal horror work)...since, by then, the director's career was already in decline and, so, the resources were even more meager!

With a very serious and leading role by Frank Morgan. Not a trace of the harmless blithering bumbler he played over at MGM in the 30s and 40s.

Morgan plays Viennese attorney, Paul Held. Paul is called to be defense attorney to his good friend, Walter (Paul Lukas) who has shot his wife to death when he finds out she is having an affair. More than this, his wife was undressing in her lover's home in preparation for some passion when Walter sent her to her maker under most embarrassing circumstances. Paul tries to get out of Walter exactly what made him suspect his wife. Walter says it was how she was admiring herself in her mirror in a way that only a woman meeting a lover would do. So he followed her, and when he actually saw her infidelity he killed her.

Paul returns home and finds his wife (Nancy Carroll) doing the exact same thing - saying she is going out with girlfriends, but dressing and admiring herself in her big vanity mirror in a way a woman would only do for another man. Paul follows her just as Walter followed his wife, and discovers that his wife Maria is meeting another man.

Paul returns to Walter, says that he now knows what Walter feels and that he intends to use every argument available to get Walter out of jail. If he is a successful and Walter is acquitted, then he knows the argument works and he will kill Maria and know that he too can be acquitted. Lukas plays this well as the tortured killer. Paul's mistake is to think that the fact that they both have cheating wives gives them comradery, when in fact Walter is consumed by guilt.

It is so odd to see Frank Morgan playing such a dark vengeful character, tormenting Maria by wanting her in court each day, to tell her that death is the just fate of all such unfaithful wives. She knows he knows, she knows he might kill her, and yet he hasn't come out and threatened her or accused her.. It's all very Hitchcockian a decade before many people knew about Hitch.

There is a really interesting attorney who works for Paul - Jean Dixon as Hilda Frey. She has a kind of tough exterior with a wise cracking and confident persona that matches Eve Arden. She is somebody I would have liked to see more of, but she has a very small part. It seems like the film is hinting that she could be gay, but that was all you could do at this point in history was hint.

There is a very good score and art design in this one. Even Walter's prison cell is interesting to look at with excellent cinematography by Karl Freund.

What did I not like? The commentary on the Kino Blu talks of absolutely nothing but how the women characters in the film are such victims! OK, Walter's wife and her bullet riddled corpse - maybe some room for argument there. But both Paul's wife and Walter's wife seem to have married money and taken lovers because they were bored. But they had no intention of leaving their walking paychecks. To me this film was more about the strong connection between obsession and love. I guess I should be glad that Kino actually put a commentary track on this rather obscure film.

Ah yes, the old "he killed her because he loved her" defense. A wife cheats on her husband and he has a "right to avenge his honor," a literal quote from the protagonist. The attitude this film takes (or the mirror it holds up to 1933, if you will) is unfortunate, because it mars an interesting premise, some fine performances, and skilled directing. Despite the misogyny, I thought this small pre-Code film which flies by in 69 minutes was worth watching.

To open things, a society woman cheating on her husband is followed by him and murdered. Despite her small part, Gloria Stuart at 23, 64 years before Titanic, is enchanting. There's something romantic and dreamy about her scene with Walter Pidgeon, even though she's committing adultery, which is a distinctly pre-Code impression. Her husband admits to the crime and is then represented by a sharp lawyer (Frank Morgan) and his crack team (Jean Dixon and Charley Grapewin).

Where the film gets interesting is when the lawyer's wife (Nancy Carroll) begins acting in ways that eerily resemble those of the woman who was killed - that is, as she's getting dressed up, it seems as if she's going out to meet a lover, not her friends. His client described his wife at her dressing room table in front of the mirror, humming a tango, getting upset with his affections because it would muss her up, and so it happens with the lawyer, him knowing by her expression in a shocking moment that she reviles him. The transformation Carroll affects is very well done, as her pretty face goes from tenderness to anger brilliantly, and I liked the use of many mirrors in the scene as well. Even the two pairs of lovers (Stuart/Pidgeon and Carroll/Donald Cook) resemble one another, mirror images if you will.

The angst of the two men when they confer as lawyer and client, but also as two cuckolds, is amplified by the light and shadows that director James Whale gives us, which makes the film seem like a forerunner of film noir. The case takes on very dark tones as he pledges to get his client off even if he has to lie to do so, and then to kill his own wife.

While the setup is strong, it falters in how it plays out. As I mention above, there's a theme of women cheating on their husbands and then deserving to die, which is unpleasant. Even in its minor characters we see this. Early on, a prisoner looking out of a strange subterranean cell has no qualms over having killed his wife, and hopes she's now in hell. Later, when a man showing up to the court for his own case involving his longtime sweetheart's lawsuit involving "breach of promise" is told by the bailiff that this case involves murder, he says it's a "very good idea." Women are also shown to be crowding the courtroom and amorously clamoring to see the murderer. Women, ya gotta watch 'em and keep 'em in line, right?

It's in Morgan's character and his impassioned defense of the murderer that we see it most of all, however. He talks about a "personal law," an "unwritten law" of vengeance a betrayed husband may mete out, and then challenges the jury:

"Most of you, perhaps all of you, believe you know at this moment where your wife or husband is, for faith is the greatest element in love. And exclusiveness of possession is all that makes marriage worthwhile. Therefore, ask yourself, what you would do if both of these were destroyed, and if upon leaving here you found the one you loved and trusted disrobing at the bedside of a lover. What would you do?"

There are great performances here - Morgan in his vulnerable, hurt moments as well as his courtroom speech (much as I disliked its contents), and Carroll's as well, showing fear and guilt. Her character itself needed more depth, and the way she has to perform it has to match the way the film ends, but she did very well with the role she had. I just wish this thing had gone some other route, maybe something supernatural based on the similarities of the infidelity and all those mirrors, but unfortunately it slips into becoming a morality tale, something that should be apparent from the title of its 1938 remake, "Wives Under Suspicion."

This film begins with a husband following his wife to a rendezvous with her lover. There, he savagely kills her with a revolver--shooting her repeatedly as she fell to the ground. The husband, Paul Lukas, immediately phones the police to turn himself in for murder. However, his lawyer (Frank Morgan) works hard for his acquittal or a lenient sentence, since the husband was driven to this by his wife's behavior. Morgan's insistence of Lukas' innocence is important, since Morgan himself realizes his wife is also committing adultery and proving Lukas' innocence is, in a way, vindication for Morgan if he, too, decides to kill his wife.

As for Morgan, his performance is quite atypical. Instead of the usual nice guy or comical figure, here he plays a highly emotional and almost unhinged man. He's a bit over the top in his acting, but his melodramatic behavior is fun to watch.

The film was directed by James Whale--the same man who directed Boris Karloff and Colin Clive in the first two of Universal's Frankenstein movies. Like these films, THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR is notable for having many quiet moments where there is no incidental music. This is important because it adds to the tension and drama--producing a stark but intense film. Additionally, the film manages to do a lot in only a little over an hour--a sign of excellent direction. The only negative is that the final scene with Morgan's wife is a bit too melodramatic--too shrill to be realistic.

Overall, rather entertaining and different.

Kiss Before the Mirror, The (1933)

*** (out of 4)

An attorney (Frank Morgan) defends his best friend (Paul Lukas) accused of killing his wife (Gloria Stuart) after learning she's having an affair. The attorney soon discovers that his own wife (Nancy Carroll) is having an affair so the trial because a learning process so that he can discover whether or not he could get away with murder. Fans of the director will certainly want to check this film out as it features some of his typical comedy as well as stylish director. The film is a rather dark one about madness and this comes through with the performances. Some might call the performance of Lukas over the top but I see it as pure madness. The scene where he goes over what he has done before breaking down has a nice intensity to it. Several other scenes also have this including the final courtroom scenes as well as the opening murder. The opening murder sequence is brilliantly filmed by the director who makes this one of his most stylish scenes. The way the camera captures everything in a couple rooms then cuts to the outside looking in was very well handled. Whale also mixes in some black comedy with most of it coming from an unmarried woman working with the defense who makes several jokes about women being killed. Morgan and Carroll are both very good as is Stuart in her small role. Walter Pidgeon and Donald Cook play the lovers in the film. Fans of Whale's FRANKENSTEIN will also be very interested in watching this because this film uses the same sets as the horror classic. It's was rather funny seeing the jail cell being the same place that the monster was tied up. The village is the same and several sets take place inside Frankenstein's castle. Ted Billings, a bit player in FRANKENSTEIN and THE INVISIBLE MAN, appears here briefly. Whale would remake this five years later in WIVES UNDER SUSPICION.