Release Date: May 20, 1939
Running Time: 79 minutes
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Billy Halop, Gale Page, Harvey Stephens
Director: Lewis Seiler
With a title as optimistic as this one it is odd that the film seems so pessimistic in comparison. There is a morality tale in here, of course, but the consequences in the end are too harsh for the crime, at least when it comes to Billy Halop’s character Johnnie. The central conceit would have also been helped by more screen time for Harvey Stephen’s character who spends most of the film absent even though his central drama drives the majority of the narrative.
Madge (Gale Page) and Fred Burke (Harvey Stephens) are engaged and planning to move to Boston thanks to an upcoming promotion Fred has received. A dark cloud hovers over their happiness though as Madge’s brother Johnnie has become involved with gangster Frank Wilson (Humphrey Bogart). The two rob a gas station, successfully eluding the police. Later, while planning to rob a pawn shop, Johnnie borrows Fred Burke’s gun. When Frank finds out he confiscates the gun, relegating Johnnie to lookout while he does the robbery. Things don’t go as smoothly this time out and when the man being robbed triggers the alarm Frank shoots him, then leaves Fred’s gun behind to incriminate the wrong man.
Shortly afterwards Johnnie and Frank are arrested because of evidence left behind at the gas station and sentenced to a few years jail time. Likewise Fred Burke is arrested for the murder of the pawn broker but he is given the death penalty. This creates the primary conflict between a Frank and Johnnie. Frank has no scruples about sending Fred to the chair, even arranging for more evidence to be planted at Fred’s apartment, while Johnnie is conflicted, wanting to admit what really happened but afraid of retaliation if he comes clean.
Billy Halop, in a rare early performance away from The Bowery Boys, struggles to be convincing as the conscience troubled youth Johnnie Stone. He is serviceable in the earlier scenes but when the script asks him to portray guilt and distress he leaves any subtlety behind and plays to the back seats. Director Lewis Seiler needed to reign in his actor so that as Johnnie struggles with the possibility of allowing Fred to be executed we get more than just lashing out at everybody loudly. This happens repeatedly throughout the second half of the film without a whole lot of subtlety. Frank doesn’t help the situation as he is constantly threatening Johnnie should his resolve weaken. The film expects us to believe Johnnie incapable of asking for protection from the prison officials along with that confession. Perhaps we are expected to think Johnnie’s youthfulness and inexperience prevents him from thinking of this but we are given no evidence of this.
The ending of this film is where things take a serious turn towards pessimism. First off we are expected to believe Fred Burke is sentenced to death on circumstantial evidence as if there was no chance a lawyer would argue for reasonable doubt. Second, and more dour, Johnnie only admits what really happened at the pawn shop after being mortally wounded at the hands of Frank. No amount of pleading from his sister and guilt tripping by Fred and a prison mentor, Pop (Henry Trevers), who suspects what is really bothering Johnnie, persuades Johnnie to confess. Only as he is dying does he finally speak up. This is disappointing and robs the final scene of much of its impact.
There are several things that could have made this film a lot better. We could have seen more sides to Johnnie’s conflict than just anger. We could have seen Johnnie wrestling with how he could save Fred without getting caught by Frank. We do get one scene late in the film where he tries to slip a confession note to Pop but that is quickly discovered and thwarted. We also could have been given a redemptive moment for Johnnie where he finds the courage to confess despite the threats to his person. Instead we have to be content with a deathbed confession when there is nothing more that Frank can do to him. This leaves Johnnie as a weak character who never finds the courage to do what’s right. Because of all this we are left with a film that is watchable but far from satisfying.
No comments:
Post a Comment