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Tuesday, February 25, 2020

BLACKMAIL (1939)

Bookended by two strong roles @ Warners (CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY; DR. EHRLICH’S MAGIC BULLET*), Edward G. Robinson tucked in this B+ programmer on loan-out to M-G-M. Decent enough, but so much like a disposable Warners pic, why bother? Nine years after escaping from a Southern chain gang, Eddie G.’s in danger of losing home, family & oil-field firefighting business when Gene Lockhart’s man-from-his-past shows up at his doorstep to blackmail him. That’s rich! Lockhart’s the guy who did the robbery Robinson served time for. Worse, Lockhart manipulates their payoff arrangement to trap Robinson in a web of half-truths; and it’s back to shackles & swamps for Eddie. Known for helming lighter fare, this is a rare serious outing for the underrated H.C. Potter and he pulls off some nice effects on the big oil fires, but too much comes across as farfetched or a bit tired. Hard to believe Eddie G. in some of the physical action, too, his short, chubby legs would get stuck in the muck. Ruth Hussey seems bemused to find herself romantically attached to Robinson, and crybaby Bobs Watson, as their little boy, is always a pain, tearing up on cue. On the other hand, Lockhart is plenty creepy while Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams earns legit laughs as Eddie G.’s easy-going partner. Okay, but largely a time waster.

DOUBLE-BILL: *Check out the two bookends mentioned above. Definitely not time wasters. OR: Robinson and Lockhart in peak form in THE SEA WOLF/'41.

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