Dark Passage (1947)

Dark Passage (1947) Delmer Daves

Warner Brothers

B/W 1:46

Warner Archive Instant

Dark Passage has a lot going for it, so much so that you might think it would be included in discussions of great noir films. It’s not, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad picture, not by a long shot.

Mad Love (1935)

Mad Love (1935) Karl Freund

MGM

B/W 1:07

Take four people, put them in four separate rooms, show them four different scenes from Mad Love and ask them to tell you what type of movie it is. Depending on which scenes they’re shown, their answers might be horror, suspense, romance, or melodrama. Mad Love is, in fact, none of these, although it certainly contains elements of each. It’s been labeled a horror film for nearly 80 years, but no matter how you classify it, you can’t forget it. 

October Movies

October was mainly a month for classic horror (no surprise) and film noir. Other than one documentary, I saw nothing that was newer than 1973. I finished up the Universal Monsters box set and signed up for Warner Archive Instant streaming service. Here are the details of the films I saw last month: 

Doctor X (1932) and Warner Archive Instant

Several months ago I was somewhat interested in Warner Archive Instant, the streaming service for several classic and hard-to-find Warner Brothers films, but felt the selection was too limited. I recently decided to check back - mainly due to some folks I follow on Twitter who sing its praises - and found a pretty impressive list of films. However, once I read a review of Doctor X from The Nitrate Diva, I went ahead and signed up for a one-month trial. 

I'm glad I did. I decided to make Doctor X (1932) my first film to watch, viewing half the film on my TV through my Roku and the other half on the iPad. (Both devices were easy to navigate, which is always appreciated.) I certainly can't improve on The Nitrate Diva's excellent review, but will note a few things of interest:  

First, Doctor X is a pre-code mystery/horror film that really has a great creep-out factor over 80 years after its release. Even though it contains several comedic elements, I found the atmosphere and the tension quite impressive. 

The early Technicolor process adds an additional element of the German Expressionism that's clearly already there in the film. (I would love to see a Blu-ray edition of this film!) 

Doctor X is the first of three movies that featured both Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray (the others being The Mystery of the Wax Museum and The Vampire Bat, both from 1933). 

One of the waterfront policemen is played by Harry Holman, who would years later play the high school principal in It's a Wonderful Life. 

Now... what to watch next?