The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

The Barretts of Wimpole Street (Dir: Sidney Franklin, 1934).

Adapted from the play by Rudolph Besier, The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a lavishly mounted dramatisation of the real life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. 

Initially conducting their courtship through correspondence; Elizabeth’s joyless existence under the watchful eye of her repugnant, overbearing father is transformed by the arrival of aspiring poet Robert Browning. Much to the consternation of Dad who plots to part the lovers for his own selfish want. 

Three bonafide acting legends head the cast of The Barretts of Wimpole Street; each basking in the glory of a recent Oscar win. Top-billed is Norma Shearer as love-lorn Elizabeth, giving a surprisingly animated performance in spite of spending much of the movie’s runtime in a reclining position. Fredric March, meanwhile, seems slightly uncomfortable in the role of beau Robert Browning but is to be applauded for a non-showy performance in which he never tries to outshine Ms Shearer. Ultimately, the movie belongs to the marvellous Mr Charles Laughton as the overbearing patriarch; only slightly less despotic and as equally hissable as his turn as Captain Blyhe in the following year’s Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd, 1935).

Rounding out a superior supporting cast are Tarzan’s regular mate Maureen O'Sullivan as Liz’s younger sibling Henrietta, an excellent Una O’Connor as the spirited lady’s maid Wilson and Leo G Carroll, always a delight however small the role may be, as here with his brief turn as family medic Dr Ford-Waterlow. Also worth mentioning is the Barretts’ charming pet pooch Flush; an adorable spaniel who gets a surprising amount of screen time and who I would reach in through the screen and stroke if I could. 

With the action largely confined to Elizabeth’s boudoir, coupled with the fact that it is a movie of dialogue rather than deeds, the theatrical origins of the movie are all too obvious. However, thanks to Sidney Franklin’s slick direction and a smart and occasionally witty screenplay from Ernest Vajda, Claudine West and Donald Ogden Stewart, it is none the duller for this. Compensating for the movie’s inherent staginess is it’s impressive production; the beautiful interiors and gorgeous gowns are evidence of why this kind of lavish literary adaptation was bread and butter at MGM, the studio considered the most prestigious of all in Hollywood’s Golden Age. 

The Barretts of Wimpole Street is, perhaps, not the best introduction to 1930s cinema as it doesn’t particularly represent the best of the era. Regardless of this, what initially gives the impression of being a stuffy movie about people in stiff clothing is a remarkably still pretty fresh romantic drama 90 years after its original release. As an entertaining escape into the past for a couple of hours and for fans of the stars, Laughton especially, it is an easy recommend. 

Web of Evidence aka Beyond This Place (1959)

Web of Evidence aka Beyond This Place (Dir: Jack Cardiff, 1959). 

This 1959 British crime drama was distributed in the UK by Renown Pictures Corporation as Beyond This Place and based upon the A J Cronin’s 1950 novel of that name. In the US the movie was released by Paramount Pictures under the slightly snappier title Web of Evidence. 

20 years after the Second World War, evacuee Paul Mathry (Van Johnson) returns from the US to his former Liverpool home town. Seeking information about his father (Bernard Lee), Paul is surprised to learn Dad has spent the last two decades in prison, rather than killed in air raid as he had previously believed. Convicted of a murder around which doubt exists of his guilt, Paul enlists the help of librarian Lena (Vera Miles) to clear pop’s name and secure his release. He soon finds his own life at risk as he attempts to untangle a seedy mess of flawed femmes, corrupt coppers and bent businessmen. 

The basic premise of Web of Evidence is undoubtedly an interesting one. However, the pace at which the story unfolds is too slow to create any real intrigue. The obvious plotting and somewhat flat dialogue courtesy of screenwriter Ken Taylor doesn’t really help matters. Neither does some injudicious casting; aside from bearing little resemblance to Bernard Lee, Van Johnson is far too old to properly convince in the role of a former WWII evacuee. Aged 43 when the movie was released he is a good 15 years older than the character he portrays and looks it. This was, presumably, even more apparent to contemporary audiences, as all but those with the shortest of memories would be aware that Johnson had been an established star in his mid 20s by the early 1940s, just a couple of years after the events of the Liverpool Blitz depicted here. This robs the film of any real plausibility from the outset. There is little evidence of chemistry to be found in the chaste romance between Johnson and female lead Vera Miles, although in fairness to both players, this is largely thanks to a plot mechanism which has Miles fearful of men. The rest of the cast fairs better. Although underused, Lee does well as the embittered ex-con, while fans of vintage British cinema will welcome the familiar faces of Jean Kent, Leo McKern, Geoffrey Keen, Vincent Winter and Danny Green in smaller roles. 

Also, amusingly, this a film set entirely in Liverpool with nary a Liverpudlian accent to be heard! I guess in the pre-Beatles era most of the audience would have been unaware of this but it is rather jarring today. Yet, in spite of these criticisms, I did find the movie to be quite entertaining. Director Jack Cardiff creates a nice moody atmosphere among the Liverpool backstreets on which it was shot. It also benefits from its personable players, as miscast as some of them may be. At roughly 85 minutes it is short enough to not outstay its welcome. 

Ultimately, the problems with cast and plot are a little too much for Web of Evidence to overcome. I couldn’t honestly say that I wholeheartedly recommend it, but for fans of the stars and of British cinema history it is worth a watch if you stumble across it. 

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (Dir: Curt Geda, 2003). 

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman is a feature length animated movie based on the long running comic book character created by the legendary Bob Kane. 

Mystery of the Batwoman is a tricky movie to synopsise without revealing too much plot and thereby giving away the mystery at its core. Suffice to say a new crime fighter is in Gotham City; the Batwoman has co-opted the caped crusader’s look and high tech style of battling the bad guys, piquing the interest of the Batman aka Bruce Wayne who is less than happy sharing the skies with this ambiguous anti-hero. Bruce makes it his mission to unmask the new bat on the block as do fan favourite felons the Penguin, Bane and mob man Carlton Duquesne whose weapons smuggling operation is the focus of Batwoman’s vigilante vengeance. 

Since the turn of the 21st Century Warner Bros. Animation has, seemingly, been churning out made for the home market adaptations of DC Comics titles to create the DCAU (DC Animated Universe) to run concurrent but separately from the bigger budgeted live action DCEU (DC Extended Universe) series of cinematic movies. When Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman hit video and DVD shelves in 2003 the idea of feature length superhero movies was still a relatively fresh idea, with …Batwoman only the third title in the burgeoning series. 

For DC and Warner Bros. it is easy to see the thinking behind these movies. The glory days of critically acclaimed blockbusters Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) and Batman Returns (Tim Burton, 1992) were now a decade ago and the franchise reviving Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005) was still a couple of years away. Batman as a viable live action cinematic endeavour was effectively killed by the lacklustre performance of Batman & Robin (Joel Schumacher, 1997); an overtly camp and kitschy affair that failed to capture the imagination of critics and audiences alike. Warner did, however, have an ace up it’s sleeve in the form of the superior Saturday morning cartoon Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95) and its successor The New Batman Adventures (1997-99). These, along with the equally well received Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000) convinced Warner execs that feature length animations were the most viable direction to take the ailing franchise. 

A theatrical release had already been granted to Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Eric Radomski & Bruce Timm, 1993) a spin-off from Batman: The Animated Series which, despite a disappointing box office, received excellent reviews and quickly garnered a devoted cult following. Encourage by the positive reception a straight to video sequel followed in the form of Batman & Mr Freeze: Subzero (Boyd Kirkland, 1998). Sales of ...Subzero were healthy enough to see production of a further feature Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (Curt Geda, 2000), which effectively saw the beginning of the series in earnest. 

While the Saturday morning cartoons had seen the series adopt a moodier atmosphere more sympathetic to the contemporary comic books, especially in comparison to Schumacher’s cinematic caped crusader, they had still retained a family friendly aesthetic. This was also true of the early animated features, although the series would soon largely abandon the kid friendly approach with increasing graphic violence, sexually suggestive scenes and some unfortunate misogyny. Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman somewhat represents a transitional period for the franchise; more adult in tone, but nothing particularly troubling for older children or young teens. 

I will be honest with you, I’ve never really been a reader of superhero comics so I am no expert on the DC characters and the universe they inhabit. I have, however, seen a few of the DC movies, animated and live action. As a layman my opinion my opinion may count for little, but I gotta say, I enjoyed Mystery of the Batwoman and consider it one of the stronger DCAU entries. From a technical standpoint, the 2D animation is clean and surprisingly fluid for a non-theatrical production. It is also far more appealing than later 3D animated films in the series, some of which look positively ugly to this animation fan. The voice work is stellar; Kevin Conroy is, perhaps, the actor who has best embodied the Dark Knight, while the legendary David Ogden Stiers as the Penguin proves equally adept at playing comic book villains as he is mechanical timepieces. 

Plot wise, writers Alan Burnett and Michael Reeves have crafted a story that gets a little convoluted but essentially remains compelling throughout the movie’s short 75 minute run time. The mystery at its heart is kinda predictable but its denouncement still provided a twist I hadn’t foreseen. ...Batwoman is decidedly lighter in tone than much of the DC cannon, with a little love action for Bruce thrown in amongst the beating up bad guys. I’m sure many would blanch at this but I honestly feel it adds a little more depth and dimensionality to seemingly perpetual bachelor Bruce.

Like I said, I am no Dark Knight devotee but, for what it’s worth, I enjoyed Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. Granted, those deep into DC lore won’t necessarily agree with my opinion and why should they? For casual fans, however, while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend you seek it out with any great purpose; if you happen across it, it is certainly well worth a look!