Three years after Greta Garbo was MATA HARI and Marlene Dietrich was DISHONORED, Myrna Loy had her own WWI counter-espionage assignment as a glamorous German spy undone by love. Released two weeks after the Hollywood Production Code began strict enforcement, this one still feels very Pre-Code with Loy perfectly willing to do overnights for love (with American civilian George Brent, livelier than at home studio Warners) or country (with C. Henry Gordon, the venal Turkish commander of the Dardanelles she’s been sent to expose). It gives a new meaning to undercover work! The best agent on spy master Lionel Atwill’s roster, she makes quick work of Leo G. Carroll’s traitor right after informing on lovestruck/useless Mata Hari, unaware she’s destined for the same fate. Or does she have a trick up her stylish sleeve that will save the day, her lover and her life? Heavenly nonsense, ravishingly shot by James Wong Howe (Loy rarely looked better) and neatly directed from a sharp Herman J. Mankiewicz script by an unusually energized Sam Wood. A snazzy slice of romantic entertainment, perhaps its Pre-Code manner in a Post-Code world kept it from being rediscovered. Don’t let that stop you.
DOUBLE-BILL: As mentioned above: From 1931, MATA HARI and DISHONORED. OR: Binge Myrna Loy with MEN IN WHITE; MANHATTAN MELODRAMA; THE THIN MAN; EVELYN PRENTICE; BROADWAY BILL and this, all from 1934.
No comments:
Post a Comment