The Return of Doctor X (1939) *1/2

Release Date: December 2, 1939

Running Length: 62 minutes

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan, John Litel, Lya Lys 

In 1939, well after Humphrey Bogart made a name for himself playing thugs and gangsters, He found himself signed on to star in what he would consider his absolute worst film, nearly tied in his esteem with the earlier film Swing Your Lady. In Swing Your Lady Bogart was cast against type in a comedy, something he would later perfect in such films as We’re No Angels and, to a lesser extent, Beat the Devil. In The Return of Doctor X, Bogart tackles a genre that he would never be involved in again, horror. Whether this is from his personal dislike of the picture or studio mandated is unknown. What is known is that it is the only such film in his filmography and is thus an oddity.

The film begins with an apparent murder. Actress Angela Merrova (Lya Lys) is found by reporter Garrett (Wayne Morris), dead on the floor of her apartment, a surgical cut to her torso and her body apparently drained of all blood. When the police arrive at the scene her body has vanished and, without any signs of foul play, Garret’s story of murder isn’t taken seriously. When he publishes the story in the newspaper things become even more puzzling. Angela shows up at the paper intent on suing them for the story. Garrett is promptly fired.

Garrett knows what he saw though and takes his observations to Dr. Rhodes (Dennis Morgan), a friend of his who deals with blood transfusions. Rhodes is skeptical but agrees to consult with a colleague, Dr. Flegg (John Litel), the leading specialist on all things blood related. Upon hearing the story, Dr. Flegg is quick to dismiss it as the delusions on an alcoholic. 

A second body is found with the same sort of surgical cut to the torso and blood loss, Garrett and Rhodes examine the crime scene and discover blood at the scene that doesn’t match the victim. The police identify it as type 4 blood but Rhodes is certain that is incorrect. It has properties that don’t match anything he has ever seen. Furthermore, the victim has the same type of rare blood as Angela Merrova. Rhodes takes a sample of the blood to Dr. Flegg for further analysis but Flegg is once again dismissive, insisting that there is nothing special about the sample. Flegg’s assistant, Marshall Quesne (Bogart) appears to assist in the examination but something seems off with him. For starters he is very pale, almost like the victim drained of his blood. His mannerisms also seem odd but Flegg claims this is just because he has suffered a severe shock and has not yet fully recovered. We immediately know he is involved in the killings in some capacity, directly or indirectly.

All of this is setup to a premise that would blend well in with the myriad of other B-film horror/science fiction films of the day. Many of these have long since been forgotten to all but the genre fans who seek them out. If it weren’t for Humphrey Bogart’s presence in it, this one too would suffer the same fate. There is just nothing otherwise to make it stand out amongst its piers. Worse than being unremarkable though, is that it is boring at times, too. The mystery isn’t really a mystery and the journey to the big reveal is plodding at best. The film is barely an hour long and is fifteen minutes too long at that. It would have worked better as a fifty minute television episode broken up by commercials.

Humphrey Bogart is the sole stand-out amongst the cast. His portrayal of Marshall Quesne (pronounced, a little on-the-nose, as Cane) is odd indeed. He is made up to look pasty faced with a streak of white in his hair. Bogart seems a little at a loss on how to play Quesne, and thus what we get is a little one note but certainly memorable. Everyone else, however, are as generic as you can get. Garrett is the fast talking reporter who knows he is right despite the evidence. His friend, Rhodes, is the loyal friend who stands by Garrett even when the story he is being told seems ludicrous. Flegg, the blood specialist, is one step removed from the doctors in other such films, convinced that what they have done is not wrong.

This film is not horrible. There are plenty of like films that fall into that category. But it is not good in any way. Like Marshall Quesne, it is odd. Watching the story play out it is not hard to see why Bogart would rather forget he was ever in it. He was a bigger star, even then, then this film indicates. You can tell he is trying to elevate it but you can also tell that he didn’t want to be there. It is worth watching to see him in this performance, but not much else about this is worth the time.

Across the Pacific (1942) ***

 Release Date: September 5, 1942

Runtime: 97 minutes

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet

Directed by: John Huston

1942 was a boom year for films dealing with the many facets of World War II. It was also one of the biggest years for films that championed the USA and it’s allies against the many faces of war. During the previous year the attack on Pearl Harbor had occurred and the United States turned it’s gaze on the Eastern front of the war. The war was no longer just about the Nazi’s. Across the Pacific was being filmed during this time, even getting delayed because of the bombing, and when it arrived on screens the following September viewers couldn’t help but feel the real fear of Japanese terrorism attacks. This gave the film a real world scare that isn’t as sharp nowadays.

The film begins with Captain Rick Leland (Humphrey Bogart, still months away from his star making roll in Casablanca,) being court marshaled for the crime of theft. Disgraced, but still wanting to play a part in the war, he attempts to join the Canadian Light Infantry but is rebuffed when it is discovered who he is. Instead, he boards the Genoa Maru, a Japanese ship, ostensibly to sail to China to fight for Chiang Kai-shek. The vessel is destined for Yokohama via the Panama Canal and Hawaii. 

On board the Genoa Maru Rick becomes acquainted with the beautiful Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor), who claims to be from the small town of Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada. A light hearted romance ensues. Also traveling on the Genoa Maru is Dr. Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet), a professor of sociology from the Philippians who feels strongly that America needs to withdraw from the country and set it free. He also has a deep love for the Japanese, feelings that make him unpopular in his home country. Dr. Lorenz is traveling with his servant, non English speaking T. Oki. Dr. Lorenz sizes Rick up and ascertains that he is former Army and Rick assures him that he will fight for anyone who is willing to pay him enough.

As is expected with this type of film not all is as it seems. There are plenty of twists along the way, most of which are easy to predict. This film isn’t about holding it’s cards too close to the chest, though. It wants you in on most of the secrets, revealing the majority of them about halfway through the rather slim runtime. Once the big reveals are out of the way it becomes a race to the end involving military secrets, kidnapping, and a plot to cripple the allied forces in Panama through a stealth terrorist attack. It is during these latter moments that the film starts to feel rushed. The first hour takes it’s time providing us with great characters and dolling out tidbits of story but the final act rushes through at a breakneck pace, completely at odds with the rest of the film. One feels like it could have benefitted with another ten minutes of runtime in the final reel.

Bogart is in fine form in this film. He was mere months away from becoming one of the biggest stars in Hollywood but he shows off the charisma here that would propel him to that stardom. Likewise, Mary Astor, who had worked with Bogart the previous year in The Maltese Falcon, is also fantastic. Her character is both strong and tremendously vulnerable. For most of the film we know she is hiding something and when that is finally revealed we understand that vulnerability and can sympathize with it. She pulls it off in such a way as to be completely convincing. We never quite trust her but we want to.

The only real weakness is Sydney Greenstreet. His performance isn’t bad, but it is a little too one note. We have him sized up almost from the start and there is no nuance to it. We may not know right away what his game is but we know where he stands in it. Only in his final scene do we feel anything for his character and by then it is too little too late.

Across the Pacific is a fun, if not remarkable, film to watch. Bogart and Astor elevate it above the more traditional war movies from the period, but it still fails to really soar. The twists are fun to watch unroll but don’t really offer any surprises. Greenstreet does his best to elevate a poorly written character but can only do so much with what is written. It is competently made and doesn’t drag out too long. It also needed just a little bit more to propel it above the B-movie war films of the era. 

The Great O’Malley (1937) **1/2

 Release Date: February 13, 1937

Running Length: 71 minutes

Starring: Pat O’Brien, Sybil Jason, Humphrey Bogart

Directed By: William Dieterle

Pat O’Brien stars in this remake of The Making of O’Malley (1925) about a police officer so determined to uphold the law that he fails to see the human element behind the laws. He has no problems citing people for such minor infractions as a shop awning being 6 inches too low or a boot black having too many stools at their stand. His rigidness has made the citizens, most of them good honest people struggling during the depression, to be weary, or fearful, of him. His commanding officer tries to teach him to temper his judgements with mercy as strict adherence to the law will only lead to the people mistrusting the peace officers. “We need the people on our side,” he admonishes but O’Malley feels that he is just doing his duty.

This leads to an incident where he pulls over John Phillips (Humphrey Bogart) for driving his car with a busted muffler. Despite his pleas that the delay will cause him to be late for his first day at a job he desperately needs, O’Malley cites him causing him to lose that job for being five minutes tardy. This spirals into a crime of opportunity where Phillips steals from a unsympathetic pawn broker and gets arrested leaving his wife and crippled daughter without support of any kind.

O’Malley is chastised for how he handled the situation and, failing to see what he did wrong, is given an assignment designed to motivate him to quit the force and rid the police of his merciless interpretation of the law. From here there are no real surprises where the story goes and anyone who stops to think about this story will have the entirety of it figured out right out the gate. Therein lies this films greatest weakness.

Pat O’Brien is fine in the leading role. He genuinely comes across like a man who feels he is in the right, even when it is obvious he is being too literal in his enforcement of the laws. He gleefully reads through the law book looking for minor infractions to cite those around him, even going so far as to threaten his mother with a citation when she goes to toss some crumbs out the window for the birds as it is illegal to throw anything out into the street. 

Bogart is equally great as the unfortunate John Phillips who starts out happy to have finally found work during the depression only to turn bitter and frustrated to have all that snatched away from him over a simple busted muffler. His theft at the pawn shop is made more sympathetic by being punctuated by a nasty pawn broker who doesn’t hold our sympathies in the slightest. 

A major highlight is child actress Sybil Jason who at one time was considered a real rival to Shirley Temple. She is perfect here as the young daughter to Phillips who suffers from a broken leg that was never properly set and therefore cannot run and play with the other kids in her class. Her scenes late in the film where she must convey the frustrations and sadness of being left out are real highlights to an otherwise rote second act. Watching her act it is easy to see how she could have challenged Miss Temple for America’s little princess. 

As mentioned earlier, this film offers no real surprises and doesn’t try to challenge itself to be more that a simple morality tale. Even so, it is a charming little film that is never boring and is just short enough to not overstay its welcome. It’s breezy and inoffensive , just not very deep and thought provoking.