Tue 25 Sep 2018
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: SHED NO TEARS (1948).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[16] Comments
SHED NO TEARS. Eagle-Lion, 1948. Wallace Ford, June Vincent, Mark Roberts, Dick Hogan, Elena Verdugo, Johnstone White. Screenplay by Brown Holmes and Virginia Cook, based on the novel by Don Martin. Directed by Jean Yarbrough.
I gotta find out more about this Don Martin. I first encountered his work as one of the writers of a thoughtful B-Western Arrow in the Dust, and now it seems he was the author of the source novel for this superior B-Noir. But just try Googling “Don Martin†and see if you get any further than I did.
Tears opens fast, with Wallace Ford faking his own death in a hotel fire, conniving with his young and sexy wife (June Vincent) to disappear until she collects the insurance money,then boarding a bus to DC — whereupon she meets with her boyfriend and starts making plans to skip to Mexico, all this in about ten minutes of a seventy-minute movie.
The next hour isn’t quite as fast, but it takes some agreeable twists and turns as Wally chomps at the bit waiting to hear from his faithless wife, while his son (Dick Hogan, who would go on to star in the first few seconds of Hitchcock’s Rope later that same year) gets the idea Dad was murdered, and his girlfriend puts him in touch with a Private Eye.
And it’s here where Shed No Tears gets truly memorable. Johnstone White’s portrayal of PI Huntington Stewart is one of those B-Movie moments when a capable actor finds himself in a great part: venal, effeminate, treacherous and smooth, Stewart is one of the finest characterizations in all of noir, and his machinations as he tries to play both ends for profit make the whole thing unforgettable.
Mr. White never got a part that good again, and June Vincent, so promising in Black Angel (1946) spent the rest of her career in B-movies and Television. Damn shame. Tears never completely transcends its B-movie roots — Jean Yarbrough’s flat-footed direction and Eagle-Lion’s penurious purse guarantee that — but it has that spark of originality that makes it worth seeing.
September 26th, 2018 at 2:01 am
Sounds like a small gem — one I’d never heard of before. Thanks, Dan!
September 26th, 2018 at 6:57 am
I saw this awhile back and enjoyed it a lot. It’s available on dvd from amazon for $5.98.
September 26th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Another movie to add to my list; many thanks for the review!
If you want to know more about Don Martin and his career, with an emphasis on the time spent screenwriting for movies and tv, see this article: http://noirworthwatching.blogspot.com/2017/07/don-martin-screenwriter-in-shadows.html
In his pre-Hollywood days Martin worked for a variety of newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. I’m not sure who he pissed off while he was in Hawaii, but the Star-Bulletin’s review of Martin’s Shed No Tears (his first book), was pithy, if insulting: “Based on the general theme explored once before in ‘Double Indemnity’ this book has little to recommend it except the large print which makes it easy to read”
September 26th, 2018 at 1:23 pm
That’s a great article, Jon. I especially enjoyed the individual write-ups for each of the movies he was the screenwriter for.
SHED NO TEARS was his only book. From CRIME FICTION IV by Al Hubin:
MARTIN, DON (1911-1985)
[] _Blonde Menace (Red Circle, 1949, pb) See: “Shed No Tears” (Murray & Gee, 1948).
[] *”Shed No Tears” (Murray & Gee, 1948, hc) [California] Also published as: Blonde Menace (Red Circle, 1949). Film: Pathe, 1948 (scw: Brown Holmes, Virginia Cook; dir: Jean Yarbrough).
September 26th, 2018 at 3:17 pm
Oops, that first pic in the review is of Diana Lynn and Zachary Scott, probably from 1948’s RUTHLESS.
September 26th, 2018 at 3:30 pm
Oops is right. I’ll delete it when I can. Am on iPhone now. And will replace it tonight. Thanks!
September 26th, 2018 at 4:10 pm
Jon, somehow I knew when I posted that someone here would have a source for Don Martin — Thanks!
September 26th, 2018 at 4:59 pm
I take it that is the same Elena Verdugo from MARCUS WELBY M.D., who had a fairly long if minor career in film and television?
Wallace Ford is an interesting actor who went from small time leading man to character actor to colorful old guy in a long career of steady work in everything from noir, to Westerns, to at least one Mummy movie for Universal (the second I think, THE MUMMY’S HAND). He was equally adept at breezy leading men, informers and petty crooks, comedic side-kicks, and old coots.
His most notable noir outing is his death in the Turkish Bath in Anthony Mann’s T-MEN.
September 26th, 2018 at 8:52 pm
Yes, the same Elena Verdugo. I never watched MARCUS WELBY all that often, so I remember her most as the star of a mid-50s TV comedy called MEET MILLIE. I’ve always imagined that I’m the only one who remembers that show, but every time I say something like that on this blog, I’m proven wrong.
September 26th, 2018 at 6:04 pm
Just finished watching the film on YouTube. Johnstone White’s role of the Clifton Webb-ish PI is definitely a standout, and Wallace Ford is always interesting when his roles crossed over to the shady side. Robert Scott, who played June Vincent’s boy friend, later changed his name to Mark Roberts and played a TV PI for one season in THE BROTHERS BRANNAGAN (1960-61).
Stephen Dunne played his detective brother in the series.
September 27th, 2018 at 7:16 am
David & Steve, I remember Elena Verdugo as the campy gypsy girl of HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. In 1948 Universal became Universal-International, and a short-lived policy of “No more B-Pictures” went into effect, setting Elena Veerdugo, June Vincent and director Jean Yarbrough “at liberty” as they say.
September 27th, 2018 at 8:54 am
Verdugo wasn’t a star, but she had a significant career, such as being Gene Autry’s leading lady in the Big Sombrero, and heading the cast of the early television series Meet Millie, with Florence Halop, Billy’s sister, Marvin Kaplan and Roland Winter. You don’t have to have been Myrna Loy to have had a good career.
September 27th, 2018 at 3:46 pm
I knew someone else would remember the MEET MILLIE series she was in. I enjoyed it at the time, but I’ve often wondered if it was good as I remember it. My parents had just gotten their first TV at the time, and I know we watched everything, good or bad, even the test patterns.
September 27th, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Steve, it was good and had evolved from a successful radio series. Ran four years.
September 27th, 2018 at 6:10 pm
Barry, I fully agree, by minor I only meant not a star, which most people aren’t. She was a successful actress who worked regularly and got some better than average parts, including a series. Many actors who may have risen higher faster didn’t last half as long in a business where just keeping work is often half the game.
One of the interesting things about films like this is seeing familiar faces in leading roles.
October 13th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
More on Don Martin…
http://noirworthwatching.blogspot.com/2017/07/don-martin-screenwriter-in-shadows.html