Up There

UP IN THE AIR-1940-Comedy drama/murder mystery set in a radio studio. When the vain, pain in the ass Rita Wilson (Lorna Gray), star of a popular radio show is killed, Frankie, a page (Frankie Darro) and Jeff, a janitor (Mantan Moreland) team up to solve the murder. Some suspects include the show’s producer (Tris Coffin), cowboy Tex (Gordon Jones) and the radio company's boss RJ (Dick Elliot). At one point Frankie and Jeff perform a routine based on one that Moreland did with his real comedy team partner FE Miller, with Darro in black face. When their boss makes Darro clean his face, Moreland says “Don't touch me. I don't rub off.'' Rita's replacement is newcomer Anne (Marjorie Reynolds). When the killer is found out Moreland foils his plan of escape (though accidentally). 

This was one of several short movies Darro and Moreland starred in together. Director Howard Bretheton directed mostly westerns and the Charlie Chan mystery THE TRAP.

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Chan's Magic

BLACK MAGIC aka MEETING AT MIDNIGHT-1944-With his boss Charlie Chan going back to Hawaii, Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) gets a job as a domestic servant at the home of a medium named William Bonnar (Richard Gordon). During a seance in which Chan's daughter Frances (Frances Chan) is attending Bonnar is shot and killed after a mysterious voice asks him where he was on Oct. 5 1935. Police Sgt. Matthews (Joseph Crehan) arrives on the scene and soon the great detective (Sidney Toler) is involved. No gun can be found and there's no bullet in the body! While Charlie does his investigation, Frances and Birmingham do their own. 

Suspects include Nancy Wood (Helen Beverley) who's father was driven to suicide by Bonnar, his jealous wife Justine (Jacqueline deWit) who's in cahoots with a couple who provide effects for the seance, Edwards (Harry Depp) a guy who makes magic props, Hamlin (Paul Jacquet) also being blackmailed by Bonnar and jilted mistress Harriet Greene (Geraldine Wall). 

After Mrs. Bonnar in a trace state jumps off a building to her death Chan discovers she was under the influence of a powerful drug and hypnotized. Later he's drugged and hypnotized and almost commits suicide. Matthews more competent assistant Rafferty (Ralph Petters) helps out. Chan reveals the murderer and murder weapon at his own seance. 

A not bad mystery that again can't help but throw in some racist humor with Moreland but uses Chan's daughter to good effect and should have used her in future stories. Director Phil Rosen directed many more in the series. For it's re-release the title was changed to MEETING AT MIDNIGHT to avoid confusion with another film called “Black Magic” starring Orson Welles.

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Next in the series: THE JADE MASK

Charlie Chan Again

THE BLACK CAMEL-1931-In Hawaii, movie star Shelah Fane (Dorothy Revier) has doubts about marrying actor Allen Jaynes (William Post Jr.) She sends for mystic Tarneverro (Bela Lugosi; soon after DRACULA) to help her. Her friend Julie (Sally Eilers) doesn't like him but she’s too busy being wooed by real estate agent Jimmy Bradshaw (Robert Young). Later Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) makes his first appearance at the Royal Hawaiian hotel and confronts Tarneverro about his activities in Honolulu. He mentions the 3 year old Lenny Mayo murder case and maybe the fortune teller could help. Later Shelah visits the mystic and under duress admits she was in Mayo’s house the night he was killed. Later she receives an orchid from a guy named Bob Fyfe (Victor Vaconi). Her butler Jessop (unbilled Dwight Frye) is in love with her maid (though she says she’s not in love with him) and says he would do anything for her. After frolicking on the beach Julie and Jimmy find Shelah dead. Thus begins the scenario that was typical of so many Chan films to follow. A roomful of people, nearly each one a suspect.

Warner Oland debuted as Charlie Chan earlier in the year in CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON which unfortunately is now a "lost" film. In fact the next three entries are also lost. The next surviving picture with Oland is CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON.

 I liked THE BLACK CAMEL because Bela has a large pivotal role but I dislike it because of the racist characterization of Chan’s dumb overzealous Japanese assistant Kashimo (Otto Yamaoka). Much more degrading and annoying than any of his sons ever were! For some reason director Hamilton MacFadden is un-credited.

“Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here”

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Funny Axis?

NAZTY NUISANCE-1943-Bobby Watson returns as Hitler in this WW2 comedy sequel to THE DEVIL WITH HITLER. The Fuhrer visits a mythical middle eastern nation to sign a peace agreement. Joe Devlin is Mussolini and Johnny Arthur is Sukiyuki, the Japanese counterpart. Frank Faylen is a shipwrecked seaman who poses as a local island tribe's magician. There's a lot of politically incorrect and outright racist humor and slapstick gags involving magic and an orangutan. Jean Porter plays a native girl who helps Faylen out. Henry Victor (WHITE ZOMBIE) is one of Hitler's emissaries. The stupid trio wind up on a German sub (which Americans hijacked) trapped at the bottom of the ocean. The axis partners get shot out head first into a sand dune at the end. Ian Keith and Emory Parnell are also in it.

Though it was directed by Glenn Tryon who also did THE DEVIL WITH HITLER this isn't nearly as good. Star Watson played Hitler in at least 10 features!

Early Oz

THE WIZARD OF OZ-1925-Though unfortunately forgotten today in the 1920’s actor/writer/director Larry Semon was a major film rival to Charlie Chaplin. He made over a hundred two reelers beginning in around 1915.

At the height of his career he made this feature length film based on the L. Frank Baum classic. He even got Baum’s oldest son to co-write the screenplay!

But besides the title and the use of it’s 4 most famous characters this has nothing to do with the book!

An old toymaker (Semon) tells a weird story to his young granddaughter about how the kind Prince Kynd was disposed by the evil prime minister Kruel in the land of Oz. Dorothy (Dorothy Dwan, the director‘s wife who looks around 30!) lives on a farm with her Aunt Em (Mary Carr) and very cruel uncle Henry until she learns on her 18^th birthday that she is actually the princess of Oz! She, Henry and two farm hands (Semon and Oliver Hardy) get swept away to Oz and a black farm hand named Snowflake later joins them. This of course leads to plenty of racist humor. The actor who plays Snowflake, Spencer Bell is even billed as “G. Howe Brown”! For a while they dress as the famous characters. Hardy is the tin man, Bell, the cowardly lion and Semon, the scarecrow (he looks a lot like Ray Bolger!). There’s a lot of slapstick and it’s all quite bizarre.

It was a box office failure at the time (and wrecked Semon’s career) and now is really just a curiosity piece. Hardy was two years away from teaming with Stan Laurel for their first film (he of course had a small role in a 1921 Stan Laurel short LUCKY DOG).

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The Fur Flies

WHO KILLED DOC ROBBIN?-(1948)-This is a Technicolor haunted house mystery produced by Hal Roach and starring a bunch of "Little Rascals" wannabes. There's a freckled face coward, a smart guy, the tough leader, 2 girls and two younger black kids "affectionally" called Dis & Dat which takes ethnic stereotyping to new heights (or depths). "The Gang" spends a lot of time in the haunted home of a dead scientist, where they are terrorized by an ape (guy in a costume ), trap doors and other nonsense. In a flashback we learn "Doc" is a suspicious doctor (George Zucco) who wants the invention of an old man who is a friend of the brats. Although it is dated 1948 some "war time" references to Japan seem to say it might have been made earlier.

If you want to see low budget color mysteries watch SCARED TO DEATH instead. Not only does it have Zucco but it's Bela Lugosi's only color film...and it's narrated by a dead woman!!!!

CATMAN OF PARIS-(1946)-Republic Studios was best known for their low budget westerns and serials but occasionally ventured into adventure, action or like this entry, horror.

Carl Esmond (a US actor born in Austria who had a short Hollywood career) plays author Charles Rene who may turn into a catman due to a bout with tropical fever. Douglas Dumbrille plays his friend. Lenore Aubert (later in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN) is his fiance'. He has bouts of amnesia and can't remember where he was when a murder occurs (so you know right away he ain't the killer!).

He has a wild fight in a cafe with four guys (including Anthony Caruso and John Dehner). It turns out that the cat like creature appears every once in the while when the planets are aligned a certain way. Massacre of Christians, Middle East wars and the victims of Ivan The Terrible are all blamed on him! The wild police team of Gerald Mohr and Fritz Feld try to figure it all out.

A creature does show up at the end ("It really is a catman" declares Mohr) with furry face, fangs and pointy finger nails. Everyone has terrible French accents. Director Lesley Selander was an assistant director from 1925 to 1936 before he directed his first film. He made over 130 movies until his retirement in 1968. Star Esmond was later in low budget stuff like FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON and AGENT OF H.A.R.M. Douglas Dumbrille usually played villains or corrupt officials several times against The Marx Bros. and Abbott & Costello. Gerald Mohr was an actor and narrator who voiced "Reed Richards" in the first FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon show in the '60's.

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