Sun 28 Nov 2010
A Movie Review by Walter Albert: CLUB HAVANA (1945).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Films: Drama/Romance , Reviews[6] Comments
CLUB HAVANA. PRC, 1945. Margaret Lindsay, Tom Neal, Don Douglas, Marc Lawrence, Eddie Hall, Renie Riano, Ernest Truex, Eric Sinclair, Gertrude Michael, Paul Cavanagh, Pedro DeCordoba, Carlos Malina, and Isabelita. Director: Edgar G. Ulmer. Shown at Cinefest 28, Syracuse NY, March 2008.
The program notes referred to this as a bargain basement Grand Hotel, with direction by Ulmer continuing his tradition of making sparsely budgeted films look good. (Maybe somebody should do a book on directors who were consistently better than the films they directed.)
The setting is a vaguely Art Deco night club, with a Latin band, and undistinguished musical numbers that add little to the interlocking stories.
The main plot involves a gangster (Marc Lawrence), suspected of a murder but released when a witness goes missing.
Club Havana is his hangout and he learns that a young musician (Eric Sinclair) saw the murder, has called the police and will identify Lawrence when they arrive.
The mounting suspense as Lawrence arranges for a hit on Sinclair is interspersed with music and comic turns (rich, ugly widow Renie Riano agreeing to marry gigolo Paul Cavanagh and both knowing exactly what they’re getting into; Ernest Truex attempting a reunion with his indifferent wife) prolonging the thin plot.
This is entertainment by the ’40s numbers, with a little cinematic gloss provided by Ulmer’s ingenious camera and smooth direction of his competent cast.
Editorial Comment: This somewhat hard to find movie has also been reviewed by James Reasoner over on his blog.
November 29th, 2010 at 5:26 am
I would enjoy this and will be on the look-out for it.
November 29th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Thanks for a very interesting review!
I haven’t seen CLUB HAVANA.
But there is a long study of other Ulmer films on my web site:
http://mikegrost.com/ulmer.htm
It opens with a checklist of Ulmer’s techniques and films.
November 30th, 2010 at 12:04 am
When you said “long,” Mike, you weren’t joking around. If anyone’s interested in Ulmer’s work, they really have to read what you have to say. You must have seen the movies you cover several times! Most of the films I haven’t even seen once yet, or if I have, it’s only been once. That’s never enough to follow the story and pick up on everything else as you have.
November 30th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Steve, that’s why the checklists are there. People can read these opening checklists quickly, and get a good idea of a director’s themes and techniques.
Around 60 of my film articles now have such checklists.
December 1st, 2010 at 4:31 pm
I just browsed through Mike’s Ulmer checklist. I was particularly interested in the connections made with films directed by Murnau and Lang.
December 1st, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Ulmer was directly in the tradition of Murnau and Lang: the giants of German Expressionism. All of these men wound up coming to the United States, partly to flee from Hitler.
I just love Ulmer’s films. Have only seen around half of them.
His daughter is helping them to be restored, and more and more come out on DVD.