Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: Keeping It Confidential Edition, Part I

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies

Keeping It Confidential Edition

Part I

I don't know why, but I think of November as the season for secrets.

Perhaps it has something to do with it being the height of election season? Or with the holidays creeping up on us? Being trapped indoors?

I don't know.

But there are all sorts of secrets to keep... family secrets, secret trysts, business secrets, government secrets, secret pacts...

Why... I'll just bet you have a few of your own - I know I do!

So, what do you say we take a look at these movies which do their utmost to keep it all quite 'confidential'.

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Very Confidential

(1927)

"Eye filling! Nerve thrilling!

(A fashion model in a sporting goods store learns that a famous sportswoman is to spend the summer in Alaska and conceives the idea of impersonating her at another resort in the hope of winning the heart of a man who does not know, but greatly admires the famous female athlete. Despite her lack of experience, she manages to carry off the charade while handling speed boats and racing cars alike, winning the love of the man she so adores.)

(Starring Madge Bellamy, an actress popular in the 20's and 30's. But, with the development of sound pictures her career took a nose dive. By 1940, it was pretty much over for Ms. Bellamy. Then, on January 20, 1943, a scandal finished her for good. Her former lover, a wealthy lumber executive, broke off their five year relationship without warning. When Bellamy found out he then married a model shortly after, she went to San Francisco to confront him. She stalked him for four days before firing a gun at him three times - two of the bullets hit his car, while the third missed altogether. The shooting and a subsequent filing for palimony generated publicity for Bellamy, but effectively ended her already fading career.)

(Bellamy certainly had her picadilloes. She once married a fella in Tijuana, only to file for divorce four days later because the man ate ham and eggs for breakfast, which she considered "plebian".)

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Confidential

(1935)

"Comedy, melodrama, suspense in a unique 'G' man story."

(To avenge the murder of a friend, a federal agent must go undercover to infiltrate a gang of criminals. All seems good, until one of the gang members starts to think the agent looks vaguely familiar.)

(Donald Cook had a successful and lengthy career as an actor. He was the first man to play Ellery Queen. He was married to Princess Gioia Tasca di Cuto from 1937 until his death in 1961. At the time of his death, he was in the midst of rehearsing a new play bound for Broadway. Walter Matteau assumed the role.)

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Confidential Agent

(1945)

"You'll see the screen cook when 'The Lover' meets 'The Look'!

(In 1937, Agents on opposing sides of the Spanish Civil War travel to the United Kingdom in order to secure coal contracts to fortify their war efforts. Meeting, romance is in the air as they valiantly strive to undermine the endeavors of the other.)

(Based on a novel by Graham Greene, this romantic potboiler almost brought an end to Bacall's career. The critics were dismissive, terming her performance 'pretty amatuer'. Scenes for her film with Bogart, The Big Sleep were reshot "to rectify performance issues with Bacall identified in Confidential Agent." In her own autobiography, Bacall wrote of how she begged not to do the film, but she had no choice as it was too early in her career to break her contract. Still, she felt her career never recovered.)

(Author Graham Greene disagreed with the critics, later praising not only Bacall's and Boyer's acting, but Herman Shumlin's direction as well, citing it as the only film to do justice to one of his stories.)

(French-American actor Charles Boyer enjoyed a lengthy and successful career, appearing in 80 films and garnering four Best Actor Academy Award nominations in the process. In addition to French and English, the smooth talking Boyer spoke Italian, German, and Spanish. He met the love of his life, British actress Pat Patterson, at a dinner party. After a quick three month courtship, the two were married. They had one son, who committed suicide at the age of 21 while playing Russian roulette after a break-up with a girlfriend. After that, Boyer found life in L.A. unbearable and moved to Europe. Sadly, he too committed suicide in 1978; death by Seconal, at a friend's home in Scottsdale, AZ, where his wife had died of cancer two days before.)

(Actor Peter Lorre is a favorite of mine. Such an odd presence in film, yet he made a career of it. His distinctive voice and big doe eyes pegged him as either a villain or a sidekick. Due to gall bladder issues, he became addicted to morphine. It was during the popular Mr. Moto series of films that he managed to kick the habit. Yet, he never fully recovered, blaming it for the professional disappointments that plagued the last years of his career.)

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Kansas City Confidential

(1952)

"The picture that hits with bullet force and blackjack fury!"

 (Framed for a million dollar armored car robbery, an ex-con tries to clear his name by traveling to Mexico in order to find the real culprits.)

"The true solution to this shocking crime still hasn't been entered on police records!!"

(Starring leading man, John Payne, an actor who made a name for himself in film noir crime stories and musicals for 20th Century Fox. He'd go on to star in Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge and the popular holiday film, A Miracle On 34th Street.)

(Payne had a thing for actresses; he married actresses Anne Shirley and Gloria DeHaven, and had a torrid affair with co-star Colleen Gray. In 1961, he was crossing Madison Avenue in New York City when a car, driven by billionaire Bernard Selz, struck him. Payne then truly lived up to his name: he landed face-first into the windshield. After five and a half months of surgeries - hip and face reconstruction - he made a full recovery.) 

(This film is now in the public domain.)

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Confidential Report

(1955)

AKA: Mr. Arkadin

"First citizen of suspense!"

(An American professional smuggler is hired by a mysterious billionaire to investigate his past, plunging him deep into the landscape of cold-war Europe.)

(Written and directed by Welles, the film was shot on location throughout Europe. With story elements lifted from various radio serials, rumor had it that the character Mr. Arkadin is based on a real-life arms dealer named Basil Zaharoff.)

(Film historians believe there are seven different versions of the film and story. Another two were later discovered; as a novel and a play. When Welles missed an editing deadline, the film was taken out of his hands, hence the various versions. As for the novel, though it bore his name, Welles claims he never wrote it, seeing it for the first time in a bookstore.)

(In a 1982, Welles called the film "the biggest disaster of his life," due to loss of creative control. The film - a Spanish/French production - was not released in the United States until 1966)

(The film features Countess Paola Di Girfalco, under her stage name, Paola Mori. She and Welles would begin an affair during the making of the picture and eventually marry.)

(Dark-haired beauty Patricia Medina was married to actor Joseph Cotton. Cotton would appear in Robert Aldrich's Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, which, in turn, led to Medina being cast in Aldrich's production of The Killing Of Sister George.)

(Robert Arden's performance was universally panned. One critic deemed it "wholly inadequate." Welles had worked with Arden on the radio serial that would form the basis for the film's story. When Welles called Arden to offer him the pivotal role of the investigative reporter, Arden initially dismissed it as a prank call.)

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New York Confidential

(1955)

"When these guns go off they set off the biggest screen explosion about the violence and vice merchants ever made public!"

"The screen hits 'em and hits 'em hard!"

"It spare you no shock - because you are entitled to know the whole savage set-up behind New York's running war against the terrifying new killer-breed!"

 (Corrupt politicians, in league with a top mob boss, make a habit of combining multi-million deals with cold-blooded murder, until agents of the law get wise to their dangerous grift.)

"The picture that throws away the silencer - and hits the big story of big time violence and vice merchants full blast!"

(The producers initially hoped to get George Raft and Paul Muni for the lead roles. They ended up with Broderick Crawford and Richard Conte.)

"A vast city held in a stranglehold of violence and vice... and now the whole blistering story can be told, blasted out by the gun of  Nick Magellan... No.1 killer for a crime empire."

(Broderick had spent a career toiling away in B-movie roles until 1949 when he won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Willie Stark in All the King's Men, significantly altering the trajectory of his career. Conte enjoyed a long and distinguished career, appearing in over 100 films, including I'll Cry Tomorrow with Susan Hayward, Ocean's 11 and The Godfather. )

(Marilyn Maxwell, a favorite of Bob Hope, was also, much to the chagrin of his wife Nancy, a favorite of Frank Sinatra.)

(What can one say about Anne Bancroft? What a beauty. What a dame. She was married to actor/director/writer/producer Mel Brooks. The pair starred in 1983's To Be Or Not To Be. During her lifetime, she won an Academy Award (Best Actress, The Miracle Worker), two Tony Awards, two Golden Globes and two Emmy Awards. Trivia: she was originally signed on to play the lead in 1973's The Exorcist, but producers balked when she requested that filming be delayed until after the birth of her son, Max.)

(I don't know why, but I love this photo of Anne Bancroft getting smacked across the face by Broderick Crawford.)

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Chicago Confidential

(1957)

"Exclusive! It rips through 'chi' like a hurricane!"

"Hushed-up frame-up of a union biggie!"

"The domestic dames for foreign report."

"State and Sin Street - headquarters for the world's dirtiest racket!"

(When the whistle-blower treasurer of a labor union in Chicago comes up dead, the union boss looks good for the murder... which is exactly what  a crime syndicate trying to take over the labor union wants the cops to believe.)

"Out of the secret files of a great city comes the shock story of the year!"

"Puts the finger on the B-girls!"

"Puts the blast on the mob that invaded the Windy City."

"Puts the heat on the hoods."

(Edward Small, who produced New York Confidential, hired Robert E. Kent to produce this potboiler.)

"Rough, real and raw!"

(Sounds like a Friday afternoon at the prairie!)

(Both stars Brian Keith and Beverly Garland would enjoy success on the small screen. Keith played the patriarch in Family Affair and Garland appeared as the new step mom on My Three Sons.)

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Hong Kong Confidential

(1958)

"Treachery in the orient!

"Terror in the Arabian powder kegs!"

(An American secret agent masquerading as a nightclub singer struggles to locate a kidnapped Arab prince during the cold war. The prince is a pawn being used by the Soviets to prevent the United States from installing missiles in a Middle-Eastern country.)

"Treachery in the Orient!"

"...Terror in the flaming mid-east!"

(Gene Barry is best known for his leading roles in 1952's The Atomic City and  1953's The War of The Worlds, as well as his numerous television appearances.) 

(Beverly Tyler is considered a minor MGM leading lady. She toiled away in B-films, mostly comedies and crime dramas. She missed out on every shot she had to move up a tier, to A-pictures. She was under consideration for such roles as  Betty Schaefer in 1950's Sunset Boulevard, Eve Harrington in All About Eve, Georgie Elgin in 1954's The Country Girl, and Marylee Hadley in 1956's Written on the Wind, but she never got the break she was looking for.)

(Former beauty queen  Allison Hayes' career got derailed when she was severely injured while filming Sign Of The Pagan for Universal in 1954. She sued the studio for the injuries sustained, resulting in the studio letting her go. Columbia pictures picked up her option. Her climb up the ladder ceased once more in 1956 when she fell from a horse filming Gunslinger. When she returned, it was B-movie time, which provided her with her best known role in 1958's The Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman. Sadly, as time wore on, she found herself in extreme pain due to her past injuries. This had a negative effect on her personality, making her all but unemployable. It turned out the pain was primarily due to a calcium supplement she'd been taking for years. After reading an article on metal poisoning, she recognized her symptoms and took the supplement to a toxicologist who discovered that it contained large quantities of lead. She then mounted a campaign to have the FDA ban import or export of the supplement. Unfortunately, her health did not recover. She was soon diagnosed with leukemia and became an invalid. She passed away at the age of 47 and was buried in an unmarked grave. On the day she passed away, she received a letter from the U.S. Government commending her for all her help in passing legislation to monitor the ingredients of imported supplements.)

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High School Confidential!

(1958)

"Behind these 'nice' school walls a teachers' nightmare! A teen-age jungle!"

(There's a new kid in town. A street tough from the wrong side of the tracks muscles his way into controlling the drug scene at his new high school in this film featuring plenty of nihilistic beat poetry, some incredible fifties-era slang and a moralistic, naïve view of drugs.)

"Not since Blackboard Jungle such shattering drama of the tough, troubled teenagers of our time!!"

(Rocker Jerry Lee Lewis makes a cameo in the film and sings a song with the same title as the film over the opening credits. It ended up becoming a Top 40 hit for Lewis, peaking at #21.)

(Starring former beauty queen Mamie Van Doren. At age 18, she was all set to marry boxer Jack Dempsey, but, when Universal studios offered to put her under contract, the wedding was off. When she won the title of Miss Palm Springs, she caught the eye of millionaire Howard Hughes. The two dated and he helped put her on the map by featuring her in several RKO films. In 1951, she became a pin-up girl, drawn by illustrator  Alberto Vargas. She also became known as one of 'The Three M's' - as in Monroe, Mansfield, and Mamie. )

"Exposes teen-age terror in bold drama!"

"Here are the 'good' family kids in the 'nice' schools living the truths that explode in your face! Not since Blackboard Jungle such shattering drama of the tough, troubled teen-agers of our time."

"Never before such timely revelations on the screen!"

(Actor Michael Landen - Bonanza, Little House On The Prairie, Highway To Heaven - is featured in the film. It was one of three he made that year. The previous year he'd made his mark starring in I Was A Teenage Werewolf. )

"Your own kids will never tell you, some won't, others dare not!"

(Jan Sterling's best roles as an actress were behind her. She'd received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 1954's The High and the Mighty, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, though her best performance is considered opposite Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder's 1951 film Ace in the Hole.)

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Suburbia Confidential

(1966)

"It starts where the Kinsey Report left off."

"Confidential files revealed! Psychiatrist tells all!"

"In gorgeous Astravision."

(The psychological profiles of several sexually-frustrated suburban housewives are reviewed by Psychiatrist Dr. Henri Legrand. In revealing fashion, these sex-starved women are shown engaging in sex - including bondage, lesbianism, and transvestitism - with salesmen, bellboys and repairmen in scene after titillating scene.)

 

"So startling the lab refused to process it!"

(Director Stephen C. Apostolof was a contemporary of Ed Wood, Jr., with whom he often collaborated. Suburbia Confidential uses psychiatry largely to set up sex scenes, but also to give the film some semblance of 'redeeming social value'. This is the first in a series of three films made by Apostolof in the late 1960's dealing with the 'confidential' sexual appetites of different segments of society, the other two being Campus Confidential and College Girl Confidential.)

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Free Love Confidential

(1967)

"Here it is... the whole depraved story of the pleasure cults of the hippie generation. Witness scenes that will shake the moral code of human existence. "

"New, for the first time you can see the real sordid world of  the hippies filmed in shocking scenes of pleasure never shown before." 

(Two bored housewives answer a classified ad; sex, blackmail and whippings ensue.)

(Here's the Amazon description: "Swap 'til you drop! Unhappy with her hubby, blonde bombshell Kaye teams up with dizzy French broad Giselle for some Free Love Confidential! Answering a 'Models Wanted' ad in the L.A. Free Press, the horny housewives rendezvous with a hip photographer, get high on grass, then take pictures of each other making it with him. But free love comes with a price, and when the gals try to retrieve the photos, they encounter a whip-wielding cross-dressing lesbian who wants some free-lovin' of her own. After a bungled attempt at burglary, the girls eventually agree to buy the pics for $500 at the Club Mojo where an LSD orgy is in progress, and the whole scene turns into one big psychedelic freakout.")

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Motel Confidential

(1969)

"Rooms rented by the hour... day... night."

"An expose of the hot sheet industry."

 (At the Quickie Motel, a wide variety of customers come for romantic trysts, raunchy sex and all sorts of afternoon delights.)

(Another directed by Stephen C. Apostolof. To get a sense of these films, here's a review from IMDb: "Part of the Sleazemania series, Motel Confidential offers a peek at the events that transpire in a slummy city motel run by a comedic Italian and his son. If you've ever seen Surburban Confidential, then you'll know what to expect: same old black-and-white soft-core antics, but with worse double-entendres. I suggest this only to those interested in ancient sleaze.")

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And that's all for now.

Tune in next week...

Same time, same channel!

High School Confidential - Jerry Lee Lewis