Beat the Devil (1954)

Beat the Devil (1954) or 1953 according to some sources, is a Bogie adventure movie that is just plain bad. Available on Netflix Instant, Carlos and I watched this film last night and we are still not sure what it was about. I'll try my best to give you a synopsis. Bogie plays Billy Dannreuther, a man who is tagging along with four crooks trying to score some uranium rich land in Africa. The video quality on Netflix Instant is very poor and the audio is even worse. Every time I heard the name "Danrreuther" I kept thinking they were saying Dan Rather! Billy (Bogie) is married to a sexy British/Italian woman named Maria, played by the vivacious Gina Lollobrigida. Billy encounters a British couple, the Chelms, who are also on their way to Africa. While they are stuck in Italy waiting for the ship to be repaired, Gwendolen Chelm (Jennifer Jones) annoys, interrogates and seduces her way into getting information out of Billy and giving too much information herself while at the same time falling in love with Billy. Jennifer Jones is all annoying and not the least bit charismatic in this film. There is a bit of wife swapping with Mrs. Dannreuther going for Mr. Chelm and Mr. Dannreuther macking out on Mrs. Chelm. Mr. Chelm is a loose canon and sinks the vessel. They get stranded on the coast of an unnamed African nation and it's Billy to the rescue! Oh yeah and Peter Lorre is somewhere in there playing Julius O'Hara, a German with an Irish surname, a weak joke made earlier in the movie. There is a twist at the end that makes only a little sense and neatly ties up the picture.

The movie is supposed to be funny seeing as it's a spoof but it fails miserably. It didn't help that the Netflix Instant copy of this film was so poor that I could barely hear the dialogue and the exotic locale looked as appealing as it would in a black and white photograph in a newspaper. The plot was convoluted and the characters were not the least bit interesting. I felt bad for Bogie and for Lorre for having to be reduced to performing in this drivel. If you've seen this movie and liked it, bless your soul because I just couldn't. The only redeeming part about the movie was the opening sequence which ties in very well with the ending. It throws you for a loop until you get through the whole movie (you are brave if you do so) and see how it ties in. Check it out here: Opening Sequence

All Through the Night (1941)

 All Through the Night (1941) is a cheesecake murder-mystery with some Nazis thrown in for flavor. Bogie stars as Gloves Donahue (::snickers::) has been eating Miller's cheesecake for nearly a decade. When Mr. Miller is murdered by Pepi (Peter Lorre), Gloves runs into a swell looking but mysterious dame by the name of Leda (Kaaren Verne) who may be able to reveal who and why Miller was killed. Gloves rounds up a tag team of compadres including Sunshine (William Demarest), Starchy (Jackie Gleason) and Barney (Frank McHugh) to help solve the mystery. But they find a lot more than they bargained for. A whole underground cell of Nazis who are plotting a major attack on the city. What's a cheesecake-loving thug to do?! The plot is convoluted, as most early films about Nazis were, but the film is still enjoyable to watch.

Humphrey Bogart carries this film really well even though he threatens to be overshadowed by an amazing cast of character actors.

A very very young Jackie Gleason. Look at those baby cheeks! Don't you just want to squeeze them? Gleason doesn't have many scenes in this film but the ones he does stands out because of his wise-cracking lines as well as the novelty of him being a young Jackie Gleason!

Phil Silvers plays the waiter who dares to bring Gloves (Bogie) a slice of cheesecake that isn't from Millers. He's got some great lines at the beginning of the film and his facial expressions are hilarious!

William Demarest plays Sunshine, Gloves' right-hand man. Most of the time in mysteries like these the hero is by himself most of the time he's doing his investigation. Not in this film! Sunshine is by Gloves' side ready to take punches and fall off of balconies whenever Gloves needs him.

Barton MacLane plays the disgruntled club owner Marty Callahan who has the noive of dissing Gloves' ma! He doesn't realize that his club is being taken over by a bunch of stinkin' Nazis until Gloves smacks some sense into him!

Frank McHugh plays Barney, Gloves' sidekick and driver. Barney is sexually frustrated and during the whole story he meets a dame, gets engaged, gets married but never consummates the marriage because he's too busy helping Gloves and Sunshine in investigating the moider. McHugh is probably the funniest character in the film and the most enjoyable to watch. He's given a lot of great scenes and lines.

Judith Anderson, of Rebecca (1940) fame, plays the evil Madame. A Nazi suspicious of Leda (Bogie's gal) and her motives. I don't know about you, but it's always a delight when Judith Anderson appears in a film. Even if she plays evil most of the time.

Peter Lorre plays the evil Pepi who murders Mr. Miller or Miller's Bakery. He's creepy and childlike. Whenever he pops up on screen, we know something bad is going to happen. Fun fact, Lorre and Kaaren Verne (who plays Leda) married in real life a few years after this film was made.

There are several other great character actors in the film but these were just my favorites! Please give this lesser-known Bogie film a try!

Bullets or Ballots (1936)

While I was watching the extras in the Humphrey Bogart: The Essential Collection (see my review and vlog here), a trailer for Bullets or Ballots (1936) caught my eye. I was so dazzled by the cast that I just went "gimme gimme". It went to the top of my Netflix queue and I eagerly anticipated it's arrival. 

It's a shame it didn't make it into the Bogie boxed set. It's more Bogie than most of the other gangster films he made with Warner Bros. Bogie plays one of his angriest roles as mobster Bugs Fenner. I've never seen Bogie make so many angry faces in one film! Bugs Fenner is part of a team of mobsters headed by Kruger (Barton MacLane) who takes his orders from 3 wealthy men who oversee the entire operation. Only Kruger knows who those 3 men are but Bugs Fenner isn't satisfied with being second to Kruger or third to the wealthy triumvirate. He wants all the power, he wants it now and he doesn't care who or what is in his way. In steps Johnny Blake (Edward G. Robinson), a police detective who's got an in with the mob and while he has always been good on his word is about to double-cross Kruger and all the mobsters in order to help the police bring the whole racket down. This is an excellent Bogie-Robinson film and it just gets better with the scenes showcasing spunky Joan Blondell as Lee Morgan, a numbers game gal whose making serious dough off of Harlem and the Bronx with her nickel and dime games.

Fenner (Bogie), Kruger (MacLane) and Blake (Robinson). The other triumvirate.

I'm angry, see? But I still look impeccable in my dapper suit and slicked back hair. 

Bogie and Robinson made 5 films together and this was their first one. The others include: Kid Galahad (1937), The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938), Brother Orchid (1940) and Key Largo (1948). I've written about all of them and I'm sad there are no more new Bogie-Robinson films for me to discover. Bullets or Ballots (the title makes little sense in terms of the plot), is an entertaining and fast-paced 1930s gangster movie that is enjoyable and worth a viewing. Robinson excels as a mock-mobster as well as a police detective and Bogie wears a scowl so well in this film you'd figure that was the way his face was fastened on!

Breakdowns from 1936

Lots of stars featured in this blooper reel fro 1936 including Warren William, Humphrey Bogart, Kay Francis, Edward G. Robinson, Joe E. Brown, Ann Dvorak, Leslie Howard and James Cagney. A lot of the scenes include actors cursing "god damn it" whenever they get something wrong. I wonder what other curses were left out? I think it's interesting too that several scenes show that movie studios crashed cymbals to end the scene instead of just yelling "cut". I found Breakdowns of 1936 in the extras for the DVD of Bullets or Ballots (1936) and lucky for us it's also on YouTube. Enjoy!