THE RAT (1937)

Remembered today, if at all, as the vain, age-denying wife of Walter Huston’s plainspoken businessman in William Wyler’s superb 1936 adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’s DODSWORTH, Ruth Chatterton found her highest acclaim in the role; and, at merely 44, a full stop to her Hollywood career.  Previously known for sex-hungry Pre-Code feminists, she tried England for two final pics before hanging it up as far as film was concerned.*  Here, in spite of that off-putting title, she found something of a return to her daring Pre-Code heyday as a French society lady stringing along an older SugarDaddy to foot the bills while seeking sexual excitement and the thrill of danger in a low-down joint in Montmartre.  She finds it in Anton Walbrook, still new to British film after leaving Nazi Germany, a cat burglar more interested in her pearls than herself.  Always on the verge of getting caught, Walbrook is currently stuck with a pretty young thing, his ward René Ray, daughter of a condemned pal who swore him to watch over her; the platonic pair sharing a garret above the bar/brothel where he’s something of a local hero.  Robbery, rape, defenestration, redemption, they all lead to a notorious court case where each of our principals either lies to protect someone or ruins a reputation with honesty.  A feast of renunciation.  Director Jack Raymond isn’t much known, but with Herbert Wilcox producing from a play by Ivor Novello & Constance Collier, got names like Art Director David Rawnsley, cinematographer Freddie Young, and actors Felix Aylmer & Leo Genn to play a few scenes as counselors-in-court.  Surprisingly good stuff.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *The same year, Kay Francis, another Warners star dimmed by strict enforcement of the Production Code, got similarly good results with similar elements in CONFESSION/’37. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2015/12/confession-1937.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Note the title card billing that has Chatterton first-billed (on the left), and Walbrook top-billed (on the right).  A first?