24 Hours

Much of the problem with "24 Hours" might be because of when it was made. Many of the films from 1929-31 are a bit stilted and slow compared to ones made just a few years later. And, stilted and slow is definitely the way I'd sum up this film. This is really weird, however, as the film is filled with murders (one is particularly vivid and brutal), adultery and more....but the characters seem unperturbed and behave pretty much like like they are bored or talking about stamp collecting. This is definitely true of the leads, Kay Francis and Clive Brook...a couple who are cheating on each other yet there is no energy at all when they admit this to each other. There are some sparks from Regis Toomey and Miriam Hopkins...but not enough to recommend this rather boring film. And how they could make this plot boring is beyond me! The film could have definitely used an infusion of energy and zip!!

Clive Brook (Jim) and Kay Francis (Fanny) are an upper class married couple who no longer get along with one another. They are both having affairs and part ways. Clive heads off to a down-market bar where his mistress Miriam Hopkins (Rosie) entertains middle-aged men. It's not really entertaining, though. Have you heard her sing??!! See this film and you'll understand what I mean. Anyway, she is also married. Being a singer in a dive-bar, her husband is, of course, a no-good gangster type who murders people. Say hello to Regis Toomey (Tony). Their marriage is also in difficulty and whilst she wants rid of him, Toomey wants her to take him back and give him money. The focus of the story is on Clive's storyline as he gets drunk and hangs out with Hopkins.

Whilst there is plenty of plot that is covered during this short film, unfortunately, three out of the four main characters are annoying. Clive's drunk character never gives off any personality whatsoever. He just comes across as arrogant and his unpleasantness is impossible to relate to and so it's hard to sympathize with him as the leading man. Mr boring. That leads us to the impossible scenario of Kay Francis character being totally in love with him and willing to sacrifice her own happiness to fit in with his arrogant ways. No fricking way! Her character is poorly written. Then there is Regis Toomey - again, it's impossible to relate to such a stupid character. Imagine talking to landlady Lucille La Verne like that. Something may well tell you that she might get the last laugh! The men are awful in this film. Miriam Hopkins runs the show whilst she is on screen. So, because of the cast, I'm afraid the film gets dragged down in its entertainment value to no more than a passable 'ok' status.

Clive Brooks and Kay Francis have a marriage that's falling apart. She is having an affair. He drinks heavily and is also having an affair with nightclub singer Miriam Hopkins. Hopkins in turn has a failing marriage to small time hood Regis Toomey. Toomey murders Hopkins while Brooks is asleep in the next room. Brooks is blamed. This pre-code crime melodrama fits a labyrinthine plot into just over an hour and still has time for Hopkins to sing two songs. They seriously do not make them like this anymore. This one's a load of fun with a batch of colorful characters all doing nasty stuff to each other. Lucille La Verne stands out as a rugged old battleaxe who does in Toomey. The film's title comes from the fact that the entire plot unfolds in only 24 hours.

"24 Hours" is a well-produced precode with a great cast, including Clive Brook, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins, Regis Toomey, and Lucille Laverne. Seeing Regis Toomey this young was a shock.

The film, as you might guess, takes place in a 24-hour period and we see the clock start the 24 hours and finish it. There's the added effect of snow.

Brook and a glamorous Francis are an unhappily married couple, Jim and Fanny Towner. They both admit they are miserable; Jim, drunk, leaves and walks in the snow. As he's walking, he sees a murder. He stops in a bar and drinks more and then heads to see Rosie (Hopkins), a nightclub singer. Her husband Tony (Toomey) shows up but she holds him off and takes Jim to her place so he can sleep it off.

The outraged Tony breaks in and kills her accidentally. When he realizes she's dead, he becomes terrified and runs.

Jim wakes up in the morning and finds Hopkins dead. He's arrested for murder. When Francis reads about his arrest, she rushes to the police station.

As good as some of the actors are, Miriam Hopkins has the best role and makes the most of it. She sings two great songs looks floosy-ish but great. She is one of the most underrated actresses in film history. Everyone is good, with a great turn by another unsung actress, Lucille Laverne.

Despite being on the slow side, and some of the actors lacking energy, these films are valuable for showing us life and mores, in this case 84 years ago. Plays, films, and movies were written about the upper class - with the depression and writers like Odets, that would soon change, and the common man would take over.

In 24 HOURS, Clive Brook drinks, Miriam Hopkins sings, Kay Francis suffers, and Regis Toomey acts. Only two of them will survive to the end of this engrossing movie. Can those two find happiness, or at least a little recognition for their fine performances?

It's always a surprise to find a gem hiding in a shady corner of the internet, and distressing to find that the only way to discover this one is through a wanton copyright violator (now shut down). In this case -- I think the reason for the obscurity is lack of TCM exposure, and a copyright owner who has not found the hook to release an 83 year old movie, because the director isn't Wellman, Hawks, Lubitsch, Ford, or Curtiz, and the stars, while certainly well enough loved by fans of the pre-code, don't get a lot of notice today.

This is a real shame, in this case, because this one is a real find, helped by the very strong acting and a plot with a strong strain of melancholy, and sense of doom which. with the striking photography, suggests film noir. Colin Clive and Regis Toomey are responsible for a lot of arid celluloid, but in this case, the director has drawn out strong performances out of both of them. Kay Francis delivers a good performance out of the one thankless role (the suffering wife), and Miriam Hopkins does real well with the nightclub singer who has more personality than voice.

I'm sure the movie will reappear again -- as long as copyright owners bury their lest well-known product -- violators of 80 year old copyrights will flourish. But, really, this one deserves a reissue in a shining new print. Olive Films? Criterion Collection? TCM? Universal? How about it?