morrison-dylan-fan With a poll coming up on IMDbs Classic Film board for the best titles of 1934,I started searching round a DVD sellers site,and I was pleased to spot a great sounding Film Noir,starring The Invisible Man himself: Claude Rains,which led to me getting ready to witness a passionate crime take place.The plot:Feeling confident that he has slithered his client away from a guilty verdict,a hot-shot lawyer called Lee Gentry leaves the court before the jury has even had the slightest chance to consider its verdict.Ignoring comments from the press over him getting criminals off the hook,Gentry gives all of his attention to cabaret singer Carmen Brown.Despite Brown expressing her love for him,Gentry is desperate to get rid of her,so that he can replace her with his latest piece of arm candy: Katy Costello,this leads to Gentry putting fake dating ads in the paper as Brown,in the hope she will get back with her ex Eddie WhiteWanting Brown to reveal the suspected affair,Gentry starts attempting to give signals to White that the relationship is back on,with planted evidence.Taking his fake evidence to Brown,Gentry is horrified when Brown is still not willing to say that she is having an affair.Getting into a fight with Brown,Gentry ends up accidentally shooting her.Fearing that he could face the chair for murder,Gentry begins making plans on how he can use his slippery skills to escape from his own verdict.View on the film:For what was his 4th film role, Claude Rains gives a marvellous performance as Lee Gentry,with Rains making Gentry look like he is completely covered in grease that slides down Gentry's slick suits,which is highlighted by Rains painting Gentry as a ruthless Film Noir character,whose only emotion is getting one over all the "bugs" below him.Dipping into his Invisible Man past,Rains pulls the "id/ego" out of Gentry,and shows the "invisible" ego of Gentry to be a smooth talker,whose self-centred narrow vision stops Gentry from seeing the direction that the "bugs" are taking.Making her debut,16 year old Margo gives a tremendous performance as femme fatale Carmen Brown,thanks to Margo giving Carmen a smoking hot glamour style,with cracks which hint at a darker past hidden away.Making their directing debut away from the studio system,writers/directors (with the uncredited,extremely generous help of Lee Garmes) Ben Hecht and Lee Garmes (who cameo in the title…with their wives!) unleash a charcoal Film Noir.Opening with a breath- taking opening effects scene designed by Slavko Vorkapich,Hecht & Garmes paint a world completely covered in grime. The directors superbly use overlaying images,to show Gentry's ego/ID overriding even the most basic morals,as tightly-held close ups of Gentry showing pushing away any doubts,with the knowledge that he will always win.Opening with Gentry saying that he views the public as "bugs" the excellent screenplay by Hecht and Garmes pulls open every inch of darkness within the film.Keeping away from giving Gentry any likable features,the writers show every inch of Gentry to be dripping with a rich,decaying nihilism,that soaks up any possible light in its surroundings,with the sole goal of dragging even the smallest light (such as Carmen Brown) into a vicious Film Noir,as Gentry begins to find a passion for crime.

kidboots Critics and public alike were dazzled by "Crime Without Passion" written, produced and directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, who had collaborated on many plays over the years. Having the Paramount Astoria, New York studio almost to themselves, photographer Lee Garmes and special effects director Slavko Vorkapich created many striking technical innovations often copied over the years.For the small percentage of the public who happened to see this independently made film - the astonishing first few moments would have shocked them out of their seats. Near naked furies rise from a murdered woman's blood and with breaking glass and maniacal laughter show the sordidness of tawdry affairs. Lee Gentry (Claude Rains) is a brilliant but cynical attorney who claims there would be no-one in prison if there were more attorneys like him to defend them. In his private life he is not so brilliant as he is completely besotted with icy but socially prominent Katie (Whitney Bourne) and far above (in his opinion) Carmen Brown (Margo), his current inamorata, who is clingy but passionate and loving.Lee thinks he knows all the angles involving criminal law which comes in handy when he accidentally kills Carmen - or does he??? Goaded on by his alter ego the all too human Lee, while setting up a certain Mr. White (Stanley Ridges, who was also excellent in "Black Friday" (1940)) to take a fall, accidentally drops a telegram on his way to Carmen's apartment, then bumps into a woman he wishes to avoid in the middle of setting up his alibi.All too soon it is over, as dazzling as it began. Claude Rains, seen for the first time by movie goes (he was only heard in "The Invisible Man") scored brilliantly in the lead and Margo, in her screen debut was appropriately warm and passionate as Carmen.

theowinthrop This rarely seen film was the third one made by Claude Rains, and only his second talkie. It was made just after THE INVISIBLE MAN, which gave Rains one of moviedom's best introductory film roles. So CRIME WITHOUT PASSION was sort of hidden by it's predecessor. This is rather curious because it was an early independent film, and it's creators were Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (the authors of TWENTIETH CENTURY and THE FRONT PAGE; Mr. MacArthur was also the husband of Helen Hayes). This was the first of two independent films made by them, the other being THE SCOUNDREL, a film about an amoral publisher played by Noel Coward. Both are interesting movies, though neither are above better - than - average. Being relatively cheaply made, their defects are too glaring (special effects are quite modest and...well cheap!).If people remember CRIME WITHOUT PASSION it is because of an early scene where Rains' clever lawyer wins an acquittal by putting a grandfather clock on the stand (symbolically, of course - it doesn't begin speaking and answering questions). The acting is uneven. Rains is superb, but Margo was always a heavy breathing/heavy speaking actress. Probably, she was available from Broadway productions in nearby Manhattan (the film was shot in the Astoria Paramount Studios).The role of the crooked "mouthpiece" probably was based on William Fallon, the leading criminal attorney in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Fallon frequently won acquittals of notorious gangsters, crooked politicians, and criminals. He was not afraid of going beyond the law - even getting into bribing juries. But he was a gifted attorney when he concentrated on his job (unfortunately he was also a heavy drinker, which destroyed his career and shortened his life). Unlike Rains, however, Fallon never killed anybody.

Glenn Andreiev One of the first indie features. Made by writers Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (Of "The Front Page""Twentieth Century" fame at the Paramount Astoria Studios outside of NYC. (Rumor has it the filmmakers had poster a sign- "Screw Adoplh Zukor" on the studio door. Zukor was then head of Paramount!) Film begins with a wild montage of near nude furies soaring over Manhattan and attacking various sinners. It's a scene that will floor you, and keep you glued to the screen! Then we go to the center of the story, attorney Lee Gentry (a superb Claude Rains), a womanizing, authority hating egomaniac. During an argument with his mistress, singer Carman Brown (Margo) Gentry accidentally fires a gun at Carman. Thinking her dead, he builds up an alibi. Torn by the fear that he might get caught by a legal system he belittles, he goes deeper into insanity and crime. I won't say what happens, but those furies get the last laugh. Obviously a small budget was used here, but this is fantastic film-making. Don't miss!