Sun 3 Jan 2010
A Movie Review by Marv Lachman: THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD (1932).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[4] Comments
A Movie Review by Marvin Lachman
THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD. RKO Radio Pictures, 1932. Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, Anita Louise, Pauline Frederick, H. B. Warner. Director: J. Walter Ruben.
At one time The Phantom of Crestwood, a 1932 film, was hard to see. One of its infrequent appearances was in 1985 at Manhattan’s The New School, as part of one of William K. Everson’s film programs.
Now, due to the magic of cable television, one must virtually ignore American Movie Classics to miss it. It is worth seeing, especially because it is representative of an era in which Hollywood made many detective movies in which audiences were encouraged to try to guess the murderer, whose identity was withheld until the end.
There were clues, which is more than I can say for many novels nowadays. The film even starts with the famous radio announcer Graham MacNamee encouraging viewers to guess thc villain as part of a joint radio-movie promotion contest.
The stars are Karen Morley, one of the lovelier actresses of the 1930s, and Ricardo Cortez (né Jake Kranz), whose Brooklyn accent somehow never made him too believable, especially since, even after the advent of sound, he was still cast as a “Latin lover.”
He was the Tony Curtis of his day. In this case he plays a typically brash role, walking a tightrope between hero and criminal in a house cut off by a storm. The villain is not difficult to guess, and the sliding panels must have been corny even then.
Still, the element of audience participation works after almost sixty years, and the seventy minutes of The Phantom of Crestwood pass quickly.
January 3rd, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Difficult as he was to buy as a Latin lover, Cortez was an interesting actor who did some good films. He was a good choice as Sam Spade in a film that would be better appreciated without the brilliant Huston film, and a tough slick Perry Mason in what may have been the best outing of that series.
Typecast as detectives, gangsters, and ladies man he did at least have one last great part in John Ford’s THE LAST HURRAH, where he played one of Boston mayor Spencer Tracy’s political cronies — and for once a Jew, and not a Latin lover — albeit a Boston and not Brooklyn one.
Karen Morely had one of her best roles in ARSENE LUPIN opposite John and Lionel Barrymore. She played an undercover (literally) policewoman whose job was to seduce and trap Lupin on behalf of Lionel’s Inpector Ganimard. It’s a racy playful role in the pre code tradition, with a neat twist.
Even if you miss it on AMC, PHANTOM OF THE CRESTWOOD is available on the gray market from Sinister Cinema. It’s a fairly standard old house mystery as indicated above, but maybe a step above some of the others for at least trying to do the fair play detective thing on the big screen.
January 4th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
I had an opportunity to watch the Arsene Lupin picture with the Barrymores a while back, but I never reviewed it here, largely because I messed up the VCR programming, and I never taped the ending.
It’s as semi-racy as David suggests, but it’s still a period piece (1932) that also shows its age. It’s rather creakily staged by present day standards, or even by the standards of the later 1930s, but I’m certainly going to watch it again, as soon as I get the chance.
— Steve
January 5th, 2010 at 12:49 am
I agree about the Lupin film though it is always fun to see John and Lionel together (they are much better in the Rasputin film which also has Ethel). None of the three American Lupin films are that great, but the second with Melvyn Douglas is a bit better in modern terms.
I’m told the silent RAFFLES with Barrymore is one to see, but as far as I can tell it is lost. The SHERLOCK HOLMES however has shown up from Kino Interntional.
January 8th, 2015 at 2:04 pm
Agree that the mystery was not all that unfathomable. What is great about this flick though, is the spooky setting and atmosphere. Very well done. I’m a fan of Crestwood!