December 8 1964

The Theodore Huff Memorial Film Society

Two Melodramas from 1933

Although a surprisingly minor film for Wellman to be directing in '33, it should be remembered that in those days the important thing was to keep busy and to maintain a steady flow of product, so that the really versatile directors - Wellman, Curt, Dieterle - constantly found themselves shunted back and forth between As and Bs, specials and programmers. Looking for Trouble is enjoyably typical of the breezy programmers of the period: it gets off to a fine start, maintains a snappy pace throughout, and neatly interweaves elements of comedy, melodrama, and gangster action. Jack Oakie quite steals the show, perfectly cast as the brash buddy, and cool and lovely Constance Cummings is as appealing as always. Just when the fairly formula plot seems about to reach its logical conclusion, somebody in the front office seems to have realised with alarm that the picture was running too short - so an entirely extraneous and additional sub-plot is added to give us an extra reel. But we're not complaining, since this brings in a remarkable earthquake sequence from left field. Having seen this footage in later years (and especially in Universal serials) as stock footage, I had always fondly assumed it to be silent Universal material – but no, it was quite obviously shot for this film. The matching-up is just too good for it to be stock, and the costumes and cars are strictly 1933. There are some differences in the qualitative style and texture of the camerawork, but this may well be the result of using more than one camera on the sequence. Actually, it's all confined to a couple of sets, and isn't exactly major spectacle, but it is big and elaborately rigged stuff, and it still seems odd to find it in a film of this size. It seems more than possible that it was all intended for quite a different film which may have been abandoned after some special effects rigging was done, and Wellman was therefore able to take advantage of a sequence which would normally have been beyond his budget. Whatever the reason, it makes an unexpected and spectacular finale. Today, for an extra gimmick, they'll throw in Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis in an unadvertised guest spot; thirty years ago, they threw in earthquakes! Those were really the days!

Somewhat of a cross between The Dawn Patrol and The Eagle and the Hawk, The Ace of Aces came late enough in the World War One aerial cycle started by Wings and Hell's Angels to be almost as standardised as a Western, with its alternating dog-fight episodes and simple "war is hell" philosophies. Its one claim to novelty is that normally stalwart and true blue Richard Dix goes into somewhat of a moral decline and tells his girlfriend (lovely Elizabeth Allan, beautifully photographed, and giving her usual sensitive performance) quite bluntly that he has only 48 hours leave and no time to waste in holding hands! Despite the pregnant fadeout, we can never quite believe it of our Richard Dix! For the rest, it's fine, vigorous jingoistic stuff, not too spectacular (most of the crashes are cunningly done fakes) but certainly exciting enough, and full of goggles, flying scarves, spitting machine-guns and all the martinets, green kids and heroic nurses that we've gone to love and expect in this kind of fare. Normally rather dull and prosaic (Java Head, Secret Service), director Reuben has given this one a great deal of verve and vitality.

-------------- William K. Everson --------------