Thu 21 Sep 2017
Mystery Movie Review: MOTIVE FOR REVENGE (1935).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[15] Comments
MOTIVE FOR REVENGE. Majestic Pictures, 1935. Donald Cook, Irene Hervey, Doris Lloyd, Edwin Maxwell, William Le Strange Millman, Russell Simpson, John Kelly, Edwin Argus. Director: Burt P. Lynwood.
Just because some moves have managed to survive to the present day does not mean that they are gems of any sort, semi-polished or completely in the rough. Take Motive for Revenge, for example. It is a movie that tries, but that fact is, it does not have any idea what kind of movie it is trying to be.
First it is a comic noir film, with a henpecking mother-in-law hectoring her wife’s husband (Donald Cook) to commit a crime; then he’s caught, and it’s a prison film, complete with extended scenes of convicts marching in formation in and out of their cells.
Then it’s a crime film, with Cook out of jail and looking for his wife (Irene Hervey) and her new husband (she didn’t wait for him, as she promised); then a murder mystery, when the new husband being shot, and neither Cook nor Hervey sure whether the other did it or not; then a chase film, as the cops (including two of the dumbest clucks to be promoted off the beat) try to nab the two of them, first on board a yacht then in a couple of speedboats racing along the shore. All in a running time of some 60 minutes.
It’s really not very good at any of these. While Cook stands around brooding a lot, the mostly charming Irene Hervey largely steals the show, but it would have helped if her character showed at least one ray of intelligence. Some of the rest of the characters are vaguely familiar, but that’s who they were, I’m sure, character actors all of their careers.
September 21st, 2017 at 9:20 am
Likely you have found the Most Obscure Director in the American Cinema in Burt P. Lynwood. He made four movies, all in 1935. He seemingly came out of nowhere in that year, and then went back to nowhere.
September 21st, 2017 at 9:51 am
And a quick search on Google came up empty, other than the movies he made. The name sounds artificial enough that it may have been fake.
September 21st, 2017 at 11:23 pm
There is a reason there are no Donald Cook fan clubs.
September 21st, 2017 at 11:44 pm
Any chance of that is long gone.
September 22nd, 2017 at 9:39 am
About Donald Cook: as callow and insipid as he seemed in his thirties leading man pictures, that is how strong he became on stage. And as a consequence was in big time films on occasion in character parts, such as Our Very Own for Goldwyn. And as it happens, in 1949 he, along with Barry Nelson, were the leading men opposite Barbara Gel Geddes, and later Maggie McNamara in The Moon Is Blue, first play I saw, and memorable to this day. Off stage, women adored him. Guys, not much.
September 22nd, 2017 at 10:36 am
Barry
Thanks for adding more information and insight about Donald Cook and his place in the world of stage as well as filmdom. Till now I knew him only as a name, except for playing Ellery Queen in a 1930s movie that I’ve never seen. Looking him up now, I see that he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Not bad for someone whose movies, from their titles, were largely only trifles.
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:23 pm
Sorting through my ideas about Donald Cook.
Cook is an actor I like. But often feel his films are indeed trifles, or even outright junk. That is not his fault – the writers and directors are to blame. He was often stuck in second rate productions.
Cook seemingly appeared in half the mystery whodunits of the 1930’s. The best of these: The still enjoyable THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER, a Hildegarde Withers tale.
MURDER IN THE FLEET is both cornball – yet oddly memorable. Cook gives the best performance, as a Naval officer.
THE SPANISH CAPE mystery has Cook giving a respectable performance as Ellery Queen. Yet he is trapped in a hopelessly mediocre script and direction. The film has a pleasant opening episode, then turns dull, dull, dull.
Everyone likes PUBLIC ENEMY but me. It’s a “famous classic”. Yet I’ve always found it a big bore to watch.
Cook also appeared in non-mystery films. Can’t remember his role in SHOWBOAT.
Cook had a supporting role in a gem not much remembered: THE NIGHT IS YOUNG.
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:28 pm
THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY is completely lacking in the “feel” of the Ellery Queen novels. One suspects that anyone watching it today is going to be disappointed.
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:37 pm
That’s what I’ve always assumed. I’ve never gone out of my to find a copy to watch.
September 22nd, 2017 at 3:06 pm
I happen to have a copy of THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY and am tempted to watch it to see if it’s really as bad as I have heard it is.
September 22nd, 2017 at 4:49 pm
Yield to temptation, Randy, it’s OK with me. This time.
September 22nd, 2017 at 3:47 pm
In Show Boat Donald Cook plays the brief part of Stephen Baker, handsomest leading man on the river and husband of Helen Morgan’s character Julie Laverne. The plot leaves an opening for a new leading man, Gaylord Ravenal, played in the principal version, by Allan Jones, opposite Irene Dunne, and under James Whale’s direction. Remade in the early fifties, in color with ava Gardner as Julie. Stephen Baker is played by Robert Sterling in that version. Quite a good film, but my personal preference is for Irene Dunne, always.
September 23rd, 2017 at 4:44 pm
I’ve now watched THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY and while it is not the worst of the 9 Ellery Queen movies it is not very good. It has many elements that I remember from the book and some nice touches, Ellery is referred to as “Chan” at one point and “Philo” later on. Since Ellery Queen was originally based on Philo Vance that name seems appropriate. There are a number of illogical moments. The beginning gambit that establishes Ellery as a detective also makes it clear that he does not smoke and asking for a match is part of a clever ploy by which he reveals the identity of the culprit. Sometime later in the film he lights up a cigarette without it being a ploy. Perhaps he realized he needed something to steady his nerves after seeing how the script was going to end. Incidentally, Donald Cook is given second billing after Helen Twelvetrees.
September 23rd, 2017 at 8:05 pm
Thanks, Randy. I admire your restraint in talking about what I’m sure is not a very good mystery, but to tell you the truth, I’m sure I’ve watched many many others which are worse. The next time I get a chance to watch this one myself, whenever that might be, I’m going to take it.
September 23rd, 2017 at 10:40 pm
I have to admit I dozed off at one point and was planning to watch it over again before commenting, but decided to resist the temptation this time. Maybe I’ll watch the other 8 Ellery Queen films sometime and see how they are. A title like ENEMY AGENTS MEET ELLERY QUEEN (1942) intrigues me.