Thu 19 Apr 2012
Movie Review: SPOILERS OF THE NORTH (1947).
Posted by Steve under Films: Drama/Romance , Reviews[10] Comments
SPOILERS OF THE NORTH. Universal Pictures, 1947. Paul Kelly, Adrian Booth (Lorna Gray), Evelyn Ankers, James A. Millican, Roy Barcroft, Louis Jean Heydt. Screenplay: Milton Raison. Director: Richard Sale.
There are two good reasons for watching this movie, and neither are the two male stars. Adrian Booth is one of them. Earlier on in her career she was the actress Lorna Gray who played Vultura in the Republic serial Perils of Nyoka. The other is the slim, blonde and beautiful Evelyn Ankers, who might be recognized most by many as appearing in a couple of the Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies.
There were other substantial highlights in each of their respective careers, and respectable ones at that, but I don’t believe that either actress would have placed this film very high in their résumés. Padded with scenes of the Alaskan salmon industry, including the complete cycle of spawning, catching and the packing of the fish into small cans, without the presence of the two lovely ladies, there would be little left but the barest scraps of meat on a lot of bleached-out bones.
Paul Kelly is the nominal star of the movie, playing the kind of guy who has a girl in every port, and does. Evelyn Ankers is the one in Seattle, who comes up to help Kelly when he falls behind on the quota he’s promised his buyer. Faking an injury, Kelly needs her on hand to help persuade his brother (hunky James Millican) to not let him down and abandon ship (literally and figuratively) when the spawning season is over.
And Adrian Booth is the half-breed girl up in Alaska whom Kelly has persuaded to help keep the local Native Americans working for him – by special dispensation, they are allowed to fish salmon all year round. It’s a crooked scheme, but Kelly is up to it. Even so, not only does he have to keep the U.S. Fisheries patrol from catching on, there are the two women who can’t be allowed to discover that he’s promised to marry each of them.
And then, of course, there’s the brother, the honest one, who can’t but admire his brother’s taste in women. If you couldn’t make a small story out of these several small threads of plot, perhaps you’re not quite trying. There is one scene, though, I have to admit, that took me by surprise, and if you were ever to watch this film, it might you also.
PostScript. Yes, in case you were wondering, director Richard Sale is the same Richard Sale that started out writing tons of stories for the pulp magazines, long before he found his small niche in Hollywood as a producer, director and screenwriter (most famously for Gentlemen Marry Brunettes). The movie itself is available for watching or downloading at www.archive.org.
Photos:
Poster, upper right. Paul Kelly and Adrian Booth.
DVD, on left: Paul Kelly and Evelyn Ankers.
Black and white scene, lower right: James Millican and Evelyn Ankers.
Lobby card, above: Paul Kelly and Adrian Booth.
April 19th, 2012 at 12:40 am
I agree with Steve about the two female actresses but Paul Kelly had by far one of the more interesting life stories. He started as a child actor in silent films and eventually starred on Broadway, even winning a Tony.
Back in the 1920’s he was involved in a killing which resulted in a manslaughter conviction for which he served two years in San Quentin. Then something happened that was unusual for Hollywood back then; the prison term and bad publicity did not ruin his movie career(he even married the widow of the man he killed). He died an early death at age 57 but was in a couple hundred films.
April 19th, 2012 at 6:31 am
Kelly had an interesting life, but like a lot of “interesting” performers (John Boles comes to mind) he was never the most electrifying of screen actors. On the other hand, Lorna/Adrian was always easy to watch, and Evelyn Ankers was the queen of Universal’s Horror Flix.
April 19th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Dan,
When you referred to Evelyn Ankers as the “queen of Universal’s Horror Flix,” you were absolutely right, as usual.
Besides the Sherlock Holmes movies, she was in
THE WOLF MAN
THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN
CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN
SON OF DRACULA
THE MAD GHOUL
WEIRD WOMAN
JUNGLE WOMAN
THE INVISIBLE MAN’S REVENGE
THE FROZEN GHOST
And maybe some I missed.
Handling Paul Kelly’s character was a piece of cake, compared to what she was up against in these other films.
April 19th, 2012 at 10:42 am
Re Paul Kelly
He played Clinton Duffy in Duffy of San Quentin (1954), a film about prison reform, among other items.
April 19th, 2012 at 11:38 am
Kelly didn’t show a lot of acting range in SPOILERS but for the part he was playing — a sharp and shady operator, not only with the law but with his two girl friends, and his brother too — he was well cast. It’s not a very good movie, but some of it will stick with me longer than other B-films of the same era. I bought it as a two dollar clearance special from oldies.com, only to discover after writing the review that it’s available for free online.
April 20th, 2012 at 5:06 am
Milton Raison, the screenwriter, wrote a small pile of Hollywood mysteries starring gossip columnist Tony…someone…I’ve already forgotten his full name. They have been immortalized in Bill Pronzini’s Gun in Cheek books for their “awfulness.” I read THE GAY MORTICIAN and THE PHANTOM OF 42nd ST (–also made into a movie — and then started trying to collect them all (just like trading cards) because they are simply some of the best of the worst. Loopy and loony fun.
April 20th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
John
I don’t usually include screenwriters in the opening credits of the various movie reviews on my blog, only if they catch my eye or have other connections I think people might be interested in. That’s what happened here. I recognized Raison as being the author of the same mystery novels you did, but then, um, I forgot to write up anything about him.
I have a few of them but I confess I haven’t read any of them. Tony’s last name, according to Hubin, was Woolrich. I’d ask how could you forget, but on the other hand, I had to look it up myself.
The movie version of PHANTOM is available on DVD as part of three film Poverty Row package called Phantoms of Death Triple Feature. It contains The Phantom of 42nd Street . plus Phantom Killer and Phantom of Chinatown. One Amazon seller is asking only $4.50 for it. It ought to be worth that!
April 20th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
I’ve got that Phantom DVD at home, but haven’t yet worked up the nerve to watch it.
The lead character was a theater critic,not a gossip columnist. His name: Tony Woolrich (played by Dave O’Brien, later of the Pete Smith Specialties).
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, this movie is a PRC production – they were sort of the Phoenix Press of filmdom.
Now I must go to IMDb to find out if that was the only Tony Woolrich movie (hey, you never know …).
April 20th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
I keep looking at the lowermost lobby card. Doesn’t it make you wish that more of Adrian Booth (Lorna Gray)’s movies had been made in color?
April 20th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Mike
According to Al Hubin, PHANTOM was the only Tony Woolrich film made, but I’d love to be proven wrong about that.
And having mentioned the 3-pack of films containing PHANTOM on DVD, I’ve gone ahead and ordered it. It should be here soon. If I watch it, and I’m sure I will, you’ll read about it here.