Review: Strange Cargo


Prisoner on Devil’s Island Clark Gable flirts with pretty club entertainer Joan Crawford (who knows that getting involved with a prisoner will result in getting the boot from the island) before getting involved in an escape attempt, with Christ-like Ian Hunter (who turns up out of nowhere) acting as a moral compass for everyone, predicting fates and helping to save souls, all the while emanating a certain quiet, serene quality. Paul Lukas plays a cheerfully amoral lady-killer stubbornly refusing to be persuaded by Hunter’s sermonising (He’s the most interesting character in the film). Albert Dekker is the hardened (yet apparently homosexual) escape leader. Peter Lorre scores marvellously in an underwritten role as a sleazy bounty hunter/snitch called ‘Pig’, with designs on Crawford.



1940 Frank Borzage allegorical prison escape picture is quite possibly the strangest studio picture of the time, possibly ever. It doesn’t exactly work, but it sure is a fascinating film, with fine performances, particularly from Gable, Crawford (looking every bit the star), Dekker (albeit saddled with an odd pirate accent), and especially scene-stealers Lukas and Lorre.



Worth chasing down if you want to see Gable in one of his oddest films, but one has to admit that it doesn’t all gel together exactly. Gable and Crawford certainly gel, in their eighth and last film together, there’s a definite spark. It’s more the film itself that’s a bit screwy. Fascinating screwy, though. Scripted by Lawrence Hazard (“The Spoilers”, with Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott) and Lesser Samuels (“No Way Out”, with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier), it’s based on a Richard Sale (“Woman’s World”, “Torpedo Run”) book.



Rating: B-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more