CinemaSerf

It's pretty nigh impossible to condense this Dickens story into twenty minutes, but I think that they have made quite a decent fist of it here as Charles Rock takes on the role of the miserly "Scrooge". It's a bitterly cold Christmas Eve and poor old "Cratchit" (George Bellamy) can't even enjoy the carol singers outside of the window but his curmudgeonly boss chases them away. His journey home, via the inn for some unseasonal victuals, takes "Scrooge" to his chilly house where he encounters an apparition. The first of four, as it happens, with the others reminding him of his past, suggesting he appreciates his present and finally foretelling his future. Now on this point I'll admit to being no cinema historian, but I thought the way the production presented their ghostly presences on screen was really quite impressive for 1914! Thereafter, we heavily abridge the remainder of the story - which suited me as I have always (I know, bah humbug!) found the "Tiny Tim" sentiment just a little on the nauseating side. Bellamy makes for a decent Cratchit and Mary Brough a jolly wife for him, but it's really all down to Rock who manages to effectively deliver a myriad of emotions in a short space of time and hopefully encourage us to find a longer version. I felt a bit sorry for the butcher at the conclusion. He seemed to have an awful lot of unsold turkeys in his shop on Christmas morning!

The complexities of the plot don't readily make for a succinct summary but the interweaving stories of "Frank" and "Danny" (Burgess Meredith) make themselves pretty clear from the mysterious outset. It's "Frank" who narrowly avoids some falling masonry only to awaken in hospital with what appears to be a completely different identity. Inexplicably pursued by a strange man (Sheldon Leonard), he visits his erstwhile home only to find his wife "Virginia" (Louise Platt) had moved on over a year ago. When he finally tracks her down, she is shocked to see him and that's just the first shock as his memory loss fails to explain just what happened in the intervening year, nor explain to him just whom "Danny" is. Gradually retracing his recent life, he not only discovers that he is wanted for murder but also that he also has a feisty girlfriend (Claire Trevor) who is quite possibly involved with the people who know more about the crime than is being let on! The plot itself isn't the most taxing, to be honest, but once the characterisations have mapped out there are quite decent performances from a Meredith who mixes his stronger and weaker personas quite seamlessly whilst Trevor stirs the pot nicely. Perhaps truth all rests with the bedridden and mute grandmother (the scene-stealing Adeline De Walt Reynolds) who blinks once for yes and twice for no? Can "Frank" get her to reveal anything, though? The ending is all rather hastily arrived at, but there is enough substance along the way to keep it intriguing without overwhelming us with relentless dialogue. It's a perfectly watchable mystery.

Richard Rowntree exudes loads of charisma here as he takes on the role of the shrewd Harlem private investigator "Shaft" who finds himself embroiled in some fairly brutal New York politics. He's drafted in by local gangster "Bumpy" (Moses Gunn) when this man's daughter is kidnapped. He doesn't know by whom or why - there are no ransom demands nor many breadcrumbs to follow, but there are plenty of suspects. Initially he suspects that it might be the "Black Power" movement but after some plausible, if double-edged, tip-offs begins to suspect that some other hustlers are planning on bumping off his employer and muscling in on the lucrative rackets of the city. "Shaft" knows full well that the truth is being drip-fed to him, and that both "Bumpy" and police officer "Androzzi" (Charles Cioffi) and trying to manipulate him as he tries to track down "Marcy" (Sherri Brewer). It's a very slick and classy production, this, with Rowntree navigating the racial tensions of his city deftly and engagingly. His "Shaft" is quite a likeable rogue, and though many of the scenarios do tax even the most vivid of imaginations, he manages to more subtly and skilfully illustrate just how unintegrated this supposedly integrated society actually was. There's a bit of violence and some sex, but they are mostly implied as the story gathers pace in an unforgiving community where the goodies and baddies do not follow all of the expected stereotypical assumptions. Isaac Hayes's theme complements the whole look and feel of the early 1970s with big cars, big shoes, big hair and big opportunities and though it has dated, it's still builds on a solid story that delivers well.