Fifty Years of Film in 50 Weeks, #20: Escape, 1940

"This is far and away the most dramatic and hair-raising picture yet made on the sinister subject of persecution in a totalitarian land, and the suspense which it manages to compress in its moments of greatest intensity would almost seem enough to blow sizable holes in the screen." (from the 1940 NY Times review by Bosley Crowther.)

Escape, 1940

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Writers: Arch Oboler and Marguerite Roberts, from a novel by Grace Zaring Stone
Cinematographer: Robert H. Planck
Produced by: Mervyn LeRoy and Lawrence Weingarten for MGM
Starring: Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, Conrad Veidt, Nazimova, Felix Bressart, Albert Bassermann, Philip Dorn, Bonita Granville

Why I chose it
This one was recommended by two film friends. It was a tough choice, but I was in the mood for an MGM film with one of the "Queens" of MGM, Norma Shearer. Considering WWII was underway in Europe and looming for the US in 1940, it seemed appropriate to pick a war-themed adventure.

'No-spoiler' plot overview 
Mark Preysing (Robert Taylor) is an American who travels to Bavaria in 1936 to meet up with his actress mother Emmy Ritter (Nazimova), who as a German citizen had come back several years before to settle her husband's estate. What Mark learns, after considerable trouble, is that his mother has been captured by the Nazis and placed in a concentration camp because of perceived financial irregularities. He enlists the aid of a friendly doctor and local friends, along with the Countess von Treck, formerly an American, to navigate the hostile regime, personified by the Countess's boyfriend General von Kolb (Conrad Veidt), to get his mother out of Germany before she is executed for her "crimes." With the help of the doctor, they induce a death-like coma to try to smuggle Emmy out in a coffin. Complications ensue.

Production Background 
This film was the second of the year MGM star Robert Taylor made with director LeRoy; the first was the fan favorite Waterloo Bridge, another war-themed drama, with the emphasis on the romance. His romantic partner here, MGM queen Norma Shearer, was looking to end her acting career and was just finishing out her contract. Filling out the cast were several actors who had recently fled Germany: Conrad Veidt, whom LeRoy had pursued vigorously for the role of the General; Albert Bassermann, who made his Hollywood debut in 1940 and was cast in six films, including Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent also in 1940; Felix Bressart, a reliable character actor playing parts calling for a European; and Philip Dorn, who worked in Germany but was originally from the Netherlands. Hitler banned the movie for its antagonistic stance towards his regime, and later banned all MGM films.

Some other notable film-related events in 1940 (from Filmsite.org):

• Disney's groundbreaking Fantasia (1940), an outgrowth of the "Silly Symphony" series, was comprised of classical music pieces and matching animation. The film received a special certificate at the 1941 Academy Awards for its revolutionary Fantasound (early stereo or 'surround-sound').
• Vaudeville and radio stars Abbott and Costello made their big-screen film debut in One Night in the Tropics (1940). However, the two comics were not the major stars of the film, but just minor contract players (they reprised some of their famous stage acts, including a rudimentary "Who's on First"). 
• Actor/director/producer/writer/composer Charlie Chaplin released his first "all-talking, all-sound" feature film, The Great Dictator (1940). Charlie Chaplin was the first to ever receive three simultaneous nominations, as producer, actor, and screenwriter for the film. 
• Walter Brennan became the first performer to win three Academy Awards for acting with his win in 1940. He won Best Supporting Actor for his performances in alternating years, for Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938), and The Westerner (1940).
• The musical Down Argentine Way (1940) featured the first starring role for Betty Grable. It also featured Don Ameche and Carmen Miranda in her US film debut.

My Random Observations

• Escape grabbed my interest from the opening, in which we see Nazimova as Emmy Ritter prostrate in the hospital ward of a concentration camp. She's desperate but indignant and not afraid to mock her captors. Her heartreading emoting sets the tone for the film. 
• Norma Shearer played her usual heroine combining elegance and pathos, but she seemed especially subtle here, especially when dealing with her Nazi lover (Veidt). I was delighted to find this tidbit: in his book The American Cinema, critic and writer Andrew Sarris briefly analyzes and categorizes the work of directors during the Golden Age, and places Mervyn LeRoy in the "lightly likeable" category. While he mostly points out his perceived flaws, Sarris singles out LeRoy's direction of Norma Shearer and Conrad Veidt's scenes together as a career high point. 
• Is our hero Mark Preysing's naivete typical of the American public at the time? His mother is German, and yet he seems shocked everytime he faces examples of the totalitarianism and threats of the Nazi regime. I found it a stretch that it took him so long to realize he was facing tall odds to break his death-row Mom free. Of course, my twenty-first century perspective may warp my expectations of how characters behave in these situations. 
• I need to see more of Philip Dorn's work; as the sympathetic doctor he was quietly charismatic. Despite his soft, friendly features, you never were sure he could be trusted. 
• Overall, a compelling film, that despite some implausible plot developments and coincidences, captures the ominessness of the Nazi regime on the verge of the U.S. entry into WWII. I'm rather surprised it isn't better known. It's not a classic like Casablanca, but it's aided by innovative visuals and the committed performances of the leads and the European emigres.

Screenshots

The doctor (Philip Dorn) tells captured Emmy Ritter (Nazimova)
that he may be able to help get a message to her son.

Preysing (Robert Taylor) encounters his first unfriendly Nazi.

Dr. Henning (Albert Bassermann) struggles to tell Preysing
he needs to abandon the search for his mother.

Preysing walks into a Nazi minefield looking for his mother.

I love the position of the Nazi symbol here.

A winter scene in small-town Bavaria: Preysing meets the 
Countess.

The General holds his teenage girl audience captive with
his charm and storytelling skills.

The Countess and the General in a relationship reckoning.

You know it's love when the Countess blows off the town 
parade to have tea with Mark Preysing in an empty cafe.

An awkward situation at the opera when your American escort is 
under suspicion by the Gestapo and you have to introduce him around.

The Doctor has an unusual interest in Preysing's business,
but all can be settled over a couple of beers.

Old friend Fritz Keller (Felix Bressart) tries to talk 
sense into Preysing.

Preysing plays solitaire to calm his nerves when the Nazi guards
at the next table decide he needs their company.

Let's make sure that Emmy Ritter is really in that coffin!

Bonita Granville (right) plays her usual venomous teen role
while the Countess tries to be nonchalant.

The General grills Preysing while a concerned Countess
contemplates how she'll get out of this jam.

Mother and son together--things are looking up.

Where to Watch

The film isn't available on any of the usual streaming services, but is released on DVD in the Warner Bros. Archive line. I borrowed a copy from a friend.

Further Reading
Read the TCM article here, full of production tidbits as usual.
The full text of Bosley Crowther's NY Times review is here.

Lana Turner--femme fatale (?) in JOHNNY EAGER (1942)

In this noir, beautiful blond Lana Turner completely bewitches her handsome co-star and sets in motion a series of decisions that ultimately lead to his demise. No, it's not The Postman Always Rings Twice. In that film, she takes her place among the most recognized femmes fatale, including Jane Greer in Out of the Past, Ava Gardner in The Killers, Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. Here, we're discussing what was perhaps for Turner a warm-up for that one--Johnny Eager (1942), in which it's Robert Taylor who falls prey to her charms. 

This post is my contribution to the Classic Movie Blog Association's Spring Blogathon about femmes and hommes fatale in film noir. Click the image to see all the terrific posts over the past few days.

"The town's full of women and I have to pick the most dangerous one in town." 

-- Robert Taylor as Johnny Eager.

So I'll be clear up front: in Johnny Eager, Lana Turner's character is not a true femme fatale. Yet, with the seductive way she goes about her business for the first half of the film we really not sure of her motives; that and the deadly plot spiral in the final act, make her part a juicy one to dissect. (Warning: spoilers below.)

Lana Turner and director Mervyn LeRoy
on the set of Johnny Eager

According to Robert Osborne, the beloved late host of Turner Classic Movies, this film, from a short story and screenplay by James Edward Grant, was a departure for MGM, the 'cadillac studio' that rarely made movies about the criminal element. They had a star in Robert Taylor, but decided that in order for his films to attract male fans, they needed to rough up his image and cast him as a gangster! (Just a year earlier 20th Century Fox successfully employed that strategy with Tyrone Power in the similarly named Johnny Apollo.) Twenty-year-old rising star Turner was cast opposite Taylor and was seen by MGM as their female sex symbol since Jean Harlow. While this minor noir is not as well known today, Johnny Eager made over $1 million in profit when it was released.

Robert Taylor in a publicity
photo from the 1930s

Turner was only four years removed from her first significant role, in They Won't Forget (1937), where her discovery by director Mervyn LeRoy was rewarded when he showcased her enticing blend of sexiness and innocence, and she was dubbed 'the sweater girl'. The film was aptly named, as audiences did not forget Turner, who was in a steep rise to stardom. Versatile LeRoy had a hit with the gangster classic Little Caesar (1931), and success with Turner in the earlier film--her comfort level with him made him a good fit for Johnny Eager. To promote the film MGM created an evocative shorthand for their star pairing of Taylor and Turner -- TNT--and indeed sparks flew between them both on and off the set. (For a detailed description of their pairing in this film, see my fellow CMBA blogger Aurora's post here.)

While Turner heats up the screen in her scenes, the film spends more time with the title character. Taylor is serviceable in his role as the titular big city boss and racketeer, as ruthless and hard-hearted as he is handsome. He's recently out of jail on parole and while appearing to go straight, finds ways to keep his crime organization active and has even greater ambitions to profit from a dog racing track operation. Getting in his way is the district attorney John Benson Farrell (Edward Arnold), who is one of a few not taken in by Taylor's cover as a suave mustachioed cab driver(!) Also serving as minor nuisances are his girlfriend Garnet (Patricia Dane) and his alcoholic right-hand man, Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin in his first and only Oscar-winning role).

Things get significantly more complicated when Lisbeth Bard (Turner) turns up. We first see her early in the film when she's at court at the same time that Taylor is meeting his parole officer Verne (Henry O'Neill), and she takes note of the handsome stranger. Though the aforementioned officer refers to her and her friend (Diana Lewis) as 'sociology students', Turner projects a more mature and glamorous persona. And her look after seeing Taylor signals to us she has more than studies on her mind. She questions Verne about Johnny, and her comment "he looks to have more ambition than just driving a cab" makes us wonder if the criminal in him is enticing to her. In fact, the more she hears about his past, the more interested she looks. In this first scene, she seems like a good candidate for femme fatale, the concept that is neatly summed up by Foster Hirsch in Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen: these women are "malevolent temptresses, their power confined almost entirely to a sexual realm, their strength achieved only at the expense of men."

Lisbeth Bard contemplating Johnny's criminal record

Lisbeth's pursuit of Johnny begins in earnest when she shows up to his 'home' along with his parole officer with 'field work' as her rationale. Their mutual attraction is evident...and the camera is also smitten.

Lisbeth and Johnny check each other out

Once Lisbeth Bard's young beau turns up at a party, we think she may be an innocent student after all, infatuated with Johnny's good looks and potentially dangerous persona. But then she mysteriously appears in the office of a restaurant manager whom Johnny starts to shake down before noticing her presence. She's unfazed, and begins to come on strong, dropping any pretense of naivete: "You don't want me talking about this (incident) to Mr. Verne--he might think you've been lying to him." She then moves in on him, strokes his suit jacket lapels, and with a hardened jaw says "Don't lie to me Mr. Eager--I have no intention of reporting you." When she gets in his car, she suggestively says to him, "No, I don't want you to take me home", and their first clinch follows. When eventually they do arrive at her home, Johnny is unpleasantly surprised to meet her stepfather - the D.A. John Benson Farrell (Arnold).

Lisbeth, the 'killer'

A short time later, Eager is attempting to make room in his life for Lisbeth--he promptly dismisses his girlfriend while openly defying the two-faced Farrell's threats and bribes to stay away from his daughter. But, lest we think that Lisbeth, in femme fatale fashion, will break Johnny's heart to her own ends, almost the exact opposite happens. Johnny sees an opportunity to use Lisbeth for profit. He sets up a staged scene (which isn't revealed as being staged until after it's complete) where he goads Lisbeth into shooting his underling Julio (Paul Stewart) after he appears to threaten Johnny's life. We later learn his goal is to blackmail Farrell into agreeing to permit his dog racing track. Horrified by believing she killed Julio, Lisbeth promptly retreats into a catatonic, pitiful state for several days. We understand now that she is a victim like most other humans Johnny's life touches.

For the time being, Johnny goes back to his usual mob boss shenanigans, getting what he wants from Farrell and outsmarting most everyone else he meets. After a few days he's convinced to visit the distraught Lisbeth, only after prompting by her ex-beau, and shows some compassion at her condition. When she proves herself willing to sacrifice her freedom for him, he professes his love for her and admits he framed her. His subsequent unselfish and risky decisions then lead to his demise, and the picture ends with him dying in the street in the arms of his friend Hartnett.

Johnny's final confrontation looks as noir as they come

Lisbeth breaks down as Johnny confesses his love

So, if Lisbeth is not a femme fatale, what is she, really? Lana Turner is too glamorous to convince us she is a naive student. (Ironically, when this film was released, the 'femme fatale' wasn't yet a thing, at least in the noir genre, since it was so new. Audiences would not have come into the film with the same expectations as modern audiences looking back.) We wonder what her history with other men has been, despite the desire of her father. It may be her father is over-protective, influencing her to follow danger, take great risks even and get herself in over her head. Turner is perfect at letting slip that vulnerability that just might be part of her irresistibility to Johnny. Her breakdown near the end is truly heartbreaking.

When Lisbeth proves to be as self-sacrificing as Johnny is selfish, promising to turn herself into the police only after Johnny's no longer in danger as an accessory, she breaks the wall of ice around Johnny's heart. When she redeems him, his doing the right thing causes his death - so, literally, she is as dangerous to him had she been a nefarious character. If Lisbeth's not a true femme fatale, for Johnny, the end result is the same.

Sources consulted:
Lana: the Lady, the Legend, the Truth, by Lana Turner, E.P. Dutton, Inc, 1982.
Mervyn LeRoy: Take One, by Mervyn LeRoy and Dick Kleiner, Hawthorn Books, Inc, 1974
Lana: The Memories, the Myths, the Movies, by Cheryl Crane (Turner's daughter) with Cindy De La Hoz, Running Press, 2008.
The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir, by Foster Hirsch, A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc., 1981.