Thu 10 Sep 2009
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS (1935).
Posted by Steve under Films: Comedy/Musicals , Reviews , SF & Fantasy films[9] Comments
NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS. Universal, 1935. Alan Mowbray, Florine McKinney, Peggy Shannon, Richard Carle, Theresa Maxwell Conover, Phillips Smalley , Wesley Barry. Based on the novel by Thorne Smith. Director: Lowell Sherman.
Speaking of the Obscure and Bizarre, I had the good fortune to run across a tape of Night Life of the Gods, a long-lost comedy based on a book by Thorne Smith, from a studio that was never much good at comedy.
Despite the typical Universal clumsiness — or maybe because of it — Night Life captures the flavor of Smith’s unique style quite nicely. The plot (something about a scientist who can turn people into statues and statues into people) lurches forward in typical Smith fashion towards nowhere in particular as our hero-scientist (Alan Mowbray) contends with insipid relatives, a loving secretary, a host of soliloquizing drop-ins and amorous women, all of whom, in typical Smith-fashion, seem to be pursuing plots in books of their own.
The result is hardly Great Comedy (Thorne Smith was always more whimsical than humorous), but it’s an effective translation of Smith’s peculiar ethos from page to film.
As for the actor playing the lead — in a flattering wig with his chins taped up — Alan Mowbray was always one of my favorite Unknowns. He generally played pompous, rather dull Englishmen (no one who sees him in THE KING AND I will ever remember him), and if you recall him at all, it’s probably as the Shakespearean ham in a couple of John Ford Westerns, but he was by all accounts a witty and charming man off-screen — he was one of the loyal coterie of friends who looked after John Barrymore in his later years — and his film career included highlights like the rakehell Cpt. Crawley in Becky Sharp, a bizarre Butler in the Topper films, The Devil once and George Washington twice.
September 10th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Mowbray may also be the only man to ever play Watson and Sebastian Moran. One of the more charming members of the Hollywood Raj who worked steadily for most of his career with easy charm and a nice touch in comedy.
And give him his due, the scene in Ford’s My Darling Clementine where his nervous actor flubs his speech and Victor Mature’s Doc Holliday finishes it is brilliant on all counts.
I’m curious about this one since by many accounts it is one of Smith’s best books. Still, I agree Smith’s best books usually get by on whimsey rather than belly laughs, though there are a few of the latter in both I Married a Witch and Turnabout.
September 10th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I’ve made a quick search for the film on video tape or DVD. Obviously Dan has one (or he did), but I’ve not been able to find anybody currently offering to sell copies online.
One IMDB comment says, in part: “The film itself is lucky to have survived. Apparently the only known print was held by a collector who turned it over to the UCLA Film Archive in the 1980s, where it remains. A video copy was made before the print was locked away, and all copies now in circulation derive from that 20 year-old dub, which is why the image quality is so poor.”
As for Thorne Smith, he was quite a favorite of mine when I was in high school, but I haven’t read him since. Besides the Topper series, his work hasn’t been adapted very often for either the movies or TV, I’m surprised to see.
He was rather risque for his time. I wonder how well his novels would work out as source material today, if some premium cable channel tried to do fairly close adaptations of them?
Or are they simply outdated?
September 10th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Smith’s only mystery, Did She Fall? might make a good little film, and you could probably still do I Married a Witch and Turnabout with a few changes, but I don’t know about this one or the The Bishop’s Jaegers.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
By sheer coincidence, I have a copy of DID SHE FALL? right here beside my desk, less than six inches from me, and it didn’t even occur to me that it was there when I posted Dan’s review.
Nor have I read it. Something in the laws serendipity tells me that I should.
— Steve
December 10th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
I saw this movie probably in 1935 or 1936 when I was 9 or 10 years old. The loony, boozy, sexy world it portrayed was mesmerizing to me. A few years later I stumbled across the novels of Thorne Smith, and read most of them. It is no surprise to me that the world I encountered in my great good time was a lot like Thorne Smith’s world, minus the supernatural, of course. I still yearn to see the movie again.
April 26th, 2012 at 2:58 am
Great to find this little review of Night Life of the Gods!
I have also watched the poor quality dupe that’s made the rounds over the years. I know the film was restored (2005 I believe) by the UCLA Film Archive but I don’t know if Turner Classic Movies will ever broadcast it or release a quality DVD of it.
By the way, to help send more people here, I posted a link to this review from my Thorne Smith website.
Michael
Thorne Smith’s Night Life of the Gods
April 26th, 2012 at 10:39 am
Thanks for the link, Michael. Everyone reading this should follow up on it, since it contains a 3 or 4 minute clip from the beginning of the movie. All it does is serve as a teaser, of course, for anyone of us who hasn’t seen the full film yet.
It’s worth spending a lot of time at the rest of your site, too. Very impressive! I’m glad you stopped by.
April 26th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Hi Steve,
You’re welcome! Thank you for being generous and letting me post the link. My site is still very much a work in progress but I think it gets better every month.
The hard part (as you probably know) is getting the pages to look the way I want since I’m not much of web programming guy.
I really like your site here and will keep visiting. You’ve got a lot of great content here!
Michael
December 19th, 2014 at 5:32 pm
I know this is an old post, but i thought i’d drop in – i’ve read that his editors apparently had to cut Smith’s manuscripts by a third sometimes, to avoid obscenity prosecutions.
Considering that, i find it amazing that enough of even what survived could be used to make a film at all.