Corsair

For Todd fans the first part showcases her lively appeal. Here, she's cast as a pampered debutante used to getting her own way. Then she meets football hero Morris who's self-disciplined down to his toes, and surprisingly rejects her romantic overtures. Unfortunately, Todd's stellar role soon recedes as the murky storyline with Morris's hijacking scheme takes over. Too bad for Todd fans.

The film's pre-Code 1931, but here there's surprisingly little innuendo to reflect those pre-censorship years. Still, there remains the lingering drama of Prohibition, and that's what the plot turns on, as Morris is out to prove that he's as effective at becoming rich as Todd's ruthless Wall Street father, Steve. The rivalry's set up when Morris refuses, as an employee in Steve's brokerage, to bilk an unfortunate old lady at Steve's command. Morris's heated exchange with his boss amounts to a telling snapshot of a time when stock markets were crashing and Wall Street needed money no matter how ruthlessly gotten. Thus football hero Morris shows his principled core despite the desperate tenor of the times. But how will he prove that his ethical approach to riches is as effective as Steve's unprincipled methods like bilking an old lady.

Here the story turns a couple of twists, as arrogant Steve bootlegs for needed money by running an offshore smuggling operation, while the ethical Morris surprisingly hijacks that operation with his gunboat, the Corsair. So it looks like the steely Morris has turned to a form of crime in order to compete with rival, Steve. So what's going on with the film's apparent hero. Has he lost his sense of right and wrong by becoming a hijacker even if it is for illegal booze.

Anyway, that's the nub of a good plot. Trouble is that on screen it plays out in fuzzy, dispersed fashion that fails to generate much suspense or involvement. In short, the story's potential is squandered along with actress Todd. Nor does it help that Kohler, the chubby gang boss Big John, mugs-it-up to a clownish distractive degree . All in all, the flick's no tribute to ace director West or to those who fleshed out the screenplay. Still, there are memories of the incandescent Todd shortly before her tragic death. Too bad she didn't get the screen time here that she so richly deserved.

Corsair (from 1931) is a real moldie-oldie, that, in spite of its obvious age and creakiness, still manages to be fairly entertaining, in the long run.

This 83-year-old Comedy/Romance/Adventure story tells the roundabout tale of how dashing, college, football hero, Johnny Hawkes, meets cheeky, spoilt, heiress, Alison Corning.

Before long Hawkes finds himself captain of the Corsair (a sleek, high-speed gunboat).

Imminent danger lurks everywhere once Hawkes and his crew begin dealing with ruthless, modern-day pirates involved in big-time liquor smuggling.

With its story set mainly in the West Indies, Corsair (at 72 minutes) certainly had its fair share of high-seas action, violence and double-crosses.

This fast-paced story starred blond beauty, Thelma Todd (murdered at 29) and early-talkies heart-throb, Chester Morris (suicide at 69).

This is really enjoyable. Its low IMDb rating is mainly because it's compared with Roland West's other two 'masterpieces.' It's not a great picture but if you like early thirties movies, you'll like this - it's still one of the better films of 1931.

Roland West was unquestionably a genius in terms of pushing the boundaries of the filmmaking technology to the limits and beyond. His first two sound features, the fabulous ALIBI and the interesting THE BAT WHISPERS were amongst the most outstanding and impressive very early talkies. His technical skill is also evident with this one but there's a problem. By 1931 other talented directors had caught up with him in terms of technical prowess and these seemed to understand what movies now needed to be. It wasn't enough just to be a technical genius, a director needed to get his actors to be real people.

Although in terms of imaginative camera angles and innovative fluidity conveying action, Mr West's direction is superb but his direction of his actors simply doesn't make them come alive to us . Like you find in a lot of films from the very early days of the talkies, the dialogue is horribly stilted with each actor saying their lines with the next one waiting in turn to say theirs. This however is not from the very early days of the talkies - it seems at times like you're watching a film from 1929. His style doesn't seem to have moved from the 20s to the 30s.

ALIBI immersed you a wonderful expressionist dream world. BAT purposely had a theatrical feel where stagey acting worked in that particular context. This however is meant to be realistic and Mr West doesn't quite manage to create that sense of reality. His leads played by Chester Morris and Thelma Todd are fascinating characters but we don't get to know them. Why they're the way they are is absolutely intriguing so you desperately want to know why they're like that and what makes them tick. In the hands of a more modern (well for 1931!) director, the characters' personalities are emotions could have been explored but West, the silent movie genius now seems like yesterday's man.

Possibly this turgidity was hampered by his choice of leads because his supporting actors are really good in this. He actually gets great natural performances from Ned Sparks and surprisingly even from Mayo Methot - in fact if these had been given the leads, this might have been a classic. Frank McHugh is also in this - looking younger than ever and as always, he's great fun.

Chester Morris however is completely unauthentic and out of his depth as the good guy who turns into a ruthless gangster (that role would have been ideal for Ricardo Cotez or even Fredric March but that's by the by). Thelma Todd might be fine as a foil in comedies but she's definitely not cut out as a dramatic leading lady (Mr West was of course somewhat enamoured with her at the time).

The poor characterisation of Morris and Todd doesn't however make this a bad film - it's actually head and shoulders above a lot of films from 1931. It's exciting, full of clever twists, it's beautifully put together and will keep you watching - it's just that you feel it should be a lot better.

Ex-football player Chester Morris, egged on by rich girl Thelma Todd, tries bootlegging and piracy as a career. Will he continue to triumph over the villainous gangsters whose cargoes he hijacks, with friends Ned Sparks and Frank McHugh, or will Big John get his revenge on the crew of the CORSAIR?

This isn't a great work of art, and no new ground is broken. But once the plot gets rolling (it takes about a reel), this is a darn good action flick with a nice straightforward leading-man performance out of Morris, a surprisingly sympathetic turn out of Ned Sparks, and much of the fluid, frequently beautiful camera work and staging that is characteristic of director Roland West. Mayo Methot probably gets the best acting scene, and, in this case, is helped by her director, who has the sense to let the scene play out with simple lighting and staging. The director, indeed, helps himself by downplaying some of the camera showiness on films like Alibi and The Bat, and by improving, significantly, his direction of actors and his pacing of the story.

We do not have a perfect film here. Thelma Todd is around to look pretty, but she had not found her dramatic acting chops at the time this movie was shot. Also, the ending of the movie is utterly wrong and too drawn out. But in its middle reels, this movie is as spry and well-paced as a typical Warners movie, and suggests that Morris could have had a much better movie career with more films like this. Worth seeing -- particularly if you think 1931 movies are all people standing around and declaiming while the camera stays put.

This film is available on Alpha Video in a decent print and is most noteworthy as the final film of Roland West's career. He made three sound films, all with Chester Morris in the lead. This is also the least popular and in some ways the least artistic of the three. An additional behind-the-scenes interest of this film, is that Thelma Todd is the female lead, billed as "Alison Loyd" in an obvious attempt to distinguish her as a dramatic actress. She is fine in the film, but has a rather skimpy part.

The plot involves a young man who has just graduated from college who begins to work on Wall Street after being teased by Todd's character and clashes with his boss, who is her father. To prove his point and to get revenge, he becomes a modern day pirate, stealing liquor from illegal shipments at sea. Chester Morris is excellent in the role of John Hawkes, the young man.

Some great sharp camera angles and one very dark, sinister scene involving "Fish Face" and a female, Sophie, do not entirely make up for the fact that this film does not advance the techniques of film-making as ALIBI and THE BAT WHISPERS did. West's combination of editing with sound effects and music in ALIBI were a revelation in early 1929. And with THE BAT WHISPERS, he took miniature work to a new level in sound films with his 'bat's eye' camera moves through the cities and towns. CORSAIR seems rather routine in comparison.

That is not to say this is not a good little gangster film. Fred Kohler is solid as the bootlegger, Big John, and Ned Sparks along with Mayo Methot are great in support. The editing is crisp and the overall film has the dark touches you would expect from Roland West. It still holds up as one of the more effective gangster films of the early 1930s.