Tue 14 Sep 2010
A Movie Review by Walter Albert: THE BLACK DOLL (1938)
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[7] Comments
THE BLACK DOLL. Universal Pictures/Crime Club Productions, Inc., 1938. Donald Woods, Nan Grey, Edgar Kennedy, C. Henry Gordon, Doris Lloyd, John Wray, Addison Richards, Holmes Herbert, William Lundigan, Fred Malatesta. Based on the novel by William Edward Hayes (1936). Director: Phil Karlson. Shown at Cinevent 42, Columbus OH, May 2010.
The usual excellent program notes failed to include the name of the author of the book, and it was incorrectly listed as by “William Edward Haynes” in the credits on IMDb. Ellen Nehr’s Doubleday Crime Club Compendium provided the correct attribution, as well as a thumbnail sketch of the plot that showed that the film made some attempt to follow the novel.
I say “some” because it was largely sabotaged by the performance by Edgar Kennedy as bumbling Sheriff Renick. And that’s a point I make with regret, since I’m a great fan of Kennedy, given the proper circumstance for his comedic gifts.
The film begins promisingly in the remote mansion of recluse Nelson Rood (C. Henry Gordon), who lives with his sister Laura Leland (Doris Lloyd) and her son Rex (William Lundigan). Rood’s relationships with his family are dysfunctional, as he rules his small kingdom with an iron and unforgiving fist.
The sudden appearance of a child’s toy, the titular black doll, arouses phantoms from his troubled past. When Rood is murdered that night, the police are summoned, with the arrival of Sherlff Renick and his antic crew dissipating the forbidding atmosphere that lent the film some tension and promise in the opening scenes.
Donald Woods plays the detective Nick Halstead (already on the scene as the boyfriend of Rood’s daughter Marian played by a distraught Nan Grey) with some grace and a dash of humor, as he negotiates the obstacles posed by the sheriff’s ineptitude and those members of the cast who are expected to take the proceedings seriously and form a veritable phalanx of red herrings.
As I recall, the other films in the Crime Club Series treated their material more seriously, if without enough distinction to make any of them figure in my pantheon of notable crime films.
Universal’s Crime Club series:
THE WESTLAND CASE (1937)
THE BLACK DOLL (1938)
THE LADY IN THE MORGUE (1938)
DANGER ON THE AIR (1938)
THE LAST EXPRESS (1938)
THE GAMBLING SHIP (1938)
THE LAST WARNING (1938)
THE MYSTERY OF THE WHITE ROOM (1939)
INSIDE INFORMATION (1939)
HOUSE OF FEAR (1939)
THE WITNESS VANISHES (1939)
[UPDATE] 09-15-10. For more information on the movies in this series, including the books and stories they were based on, see Comment #3. Not all of the films were based on Crime Club novels.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:23 am
The Crime Club films were more notable for ambition than success — three by Jonathan Latimer (THE WESTLAND CASE, LADY IN THE MORGUE, and THE LAST WARNING with Preston Foster as Bill Crane and Frank Jenks as Doc Williams are standouts), Eberhart’s MYSTERY OF THE WHITE ROOM, DANGER ON THE AIR (a decent mystery set in a radio station based on a novel by Xantippe), and Baynard Kendrick’s THE LAST EXPRESS with Kent Taylor as Duncan MacLain are all interesting though — the three Latimer’s a bit more than that.
But as stated here they never live up to what they could be, and though it’s been a while since I watched THE BLACK DOLL, my memory concurs with Walter’s reservations re Edgar Kennedy (and I’m generally a fan)and the film in general.
I had hoped a better looking print than the one I saw would improve things some, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
For my money the best of the series is LADY IN THE MORGUE, a pretty faithful adaptation of the Latimer novel that has the added bonus of Gordon Elliot(right before he changed his name to Bill — better known as Wild Bill) as a likable playboy assisting Crane.
Though toned down a good deal some of the racy elements of Latimer’s novel linger on the edges — suggested if not depicted. WESTLAND CASE is based on HEADED FOR A HEARSE and again fairly faithful, and THE LAST WARNING based on THE DEAD DON’T CARE.
September 15th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I hadn’t realized how many films were included in the Universal Crime Club series. I’m not sure which of the films I’ve seen, although I seem to recall the viewing of “Lady in the Morgue” with some pleasure.
September 15th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Not all of these Crime Club productions are readily available, and those that are (on the collector-to-collector market) are not always in the best shape possible.
From a variety of online sources, including a Google preview of Michael Pitt’s FAMOUS MOVIE DETECTIVES, VOLUME III:
http://books.google.com/books?id=xSmWVsDh8WEC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=%22the+gambling+ship%22+crime+club&source=bl&ots=bGU6MpJp-f&sig=84CWfn8hrgYuj_QoRXYbc75ON8k&hl=en&ei=alKRTIvOFYGksQPv-9TjAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20gambling%20ship%22%20crime%20club&f=false
here’s some more information about the individual entries in the series:
Universal’s Crime Club series:
THE WESTLAND CASE (1937). Based on the novel Headed for a Hearse by Jonathan Latimer (1935)
THE BLACK DOLL (1938). Based on the novel by William Edward Hayes (1936).
THE LADY IN THE MORGUE (1938). Based on the novel by Jonathan Latimer (1936).
DANGER ON THE AIR (1938). Based on the novel Death Catches Up to Mr. Kluck by Xantippe (Edith Meiser) (1935).
THE LAST EXPRESS (1938). Based on the novel by Baynard Kendrick (1937).
THE GAMBLING SHIP (1938). Based on the original screen story “Lady Luck” by G. Carleton Brown & Emmanuel Markheim.
THE LAST WARNING (1938). Based on the novel The Dead Don’t Care by Jonathan Latimer (1938)
THE MYSTERY OF THE WHITE ROOM (1939). Based on the novel Murder in the Surgery by James G. Edwards (1935).
INSIDE INFORMATION (1939). Based on the unpublished story “47th Precinct” by Martin Mooney & Burnet Hershey.
HOUSE OF FEAR (1939). Based on the novel by Wadsworth Camp (1916) and the play “The Last Warning” by Thomas C. Fallon.
THE WITNESS VANISHES (1939). Based on the novel They Can’t Hang Me! by James Ronald (1938).
Note that while Wadsworth Camp’s HOUSE OF FEAR was published by Doubleday, it was long before that publisher’s Crime Club imprint came along.
Also note that THE MYSTERY OF THE WHITE ROOM was not based on a Mignon G. Eberhart novel as David stated and I assumed as well until I looked it up.
— Steve
September 15th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
[…] complete listing of the Crime Club movies can be found in this preceding post from not too long ago. […]
September 15th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Steve
Just goes to show you with assumptions. A title like that and nurse detectives and it turns out not to be Eberhart.
I’ll have to try to find that last one, THE WITNESS VANISHES, as James Ronald’s THEY CAN’T HANG ME is a good suspense novel.
Even if the movies aren’t always up to it, that’s a nice selection of books they were adapted from.
March 1st, 2012 at 7:50 pm
As a collector of 16mm Universal films and owning the first 3 titles
There were only 8 films released by Universal that carried the Crime Club banner. in order they are:
1.) The Westland Case 1937
2.) The Black Doll 1938
3.) Lady in the Morgue 1938
4.) Danger On The Air 1938
5.) Last Express 1938
6.) Last Warning
7.) Mystery of the White Room 1938
8.) Witness Vanishes 1939
The other films listed in the above post are almost always thought of as Crime Club productions they were made at the same time but ARE NOT part of that series they don’t carry the Crime Club logo after the Universal studio logo.
March 1st, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Makes sense, since the three not in your list are the three not based on Crime Club novels. Thanks!