The Silver Screen Oasis

Oh my goodness! Your mom is such a beauty! it's well worth the wait to see her photo! Thank you for posting it, Martha. She makes me think a little of Pat Neal and Virginia Grey as well.

JackFavell wrote:Oh my goodness! Your mom is such a beauty! it's well worth the wait to see her photo! Thank you for posting it, Martha. She makes me think a little of Pat Neal and Virginia Grey as well.

It is funny that you should mention Virginia Grey. I was sitting on a horse waiting to work on location for The King and Four Queens. Clark Gable was sitting close by talking to another actor. He looked right at me and I heard him say, "Who does she (me) remind you of . . . Ginny!" And, of course that was Virginia Grey. We talked quite a lot after that as I had met him earlier at the Beverly Hills Polo Club. Amazing . . .

That's amazing! OK, now you've got to tell me about ALL your conversations with Clark Gable! Every little thing you remember....

I love Claudette so eventually I was going to arrive at "Four Frightened People." A rather straightforward and dull title to Cecil B. DeMille's smallest film. It stars Claudette, Herbert Marshall, Mary Boland and William Gargon.

Four people jump ship after a plague breaks out and fight their way across an island to try and get back to civilization. One of my books calls it malarkey and he is mostly correct. Four people who look like they couldn't survive a Black Friday shopping spree manage to live in the jungle for a while fighting each other, the elements, the natives and love. The men fair well enough as they go but Claudette undergoes a "Now, Voyager" like transformation deep in the jungle after an argument with the guys. She becomes more lovely (seemingly with new make up) and an expanded wardrobe that shows the best of Claudette that her sheepish Chicago school marm styling would never suggest.

Mary Boland is great fun as an English snoot who has a passion for population control (which she is determined to share with the natives) and a little dog she carries through the whole movie. She comes out looking pretty good too.

Location and sets help as does the 80 minute running time. The last line in the film gives a good laugh too. It apparently was a big flop when released and it is easy to see why. Unless you really want to see Claudette take a shower in a water fall from a distance there might be little point to see it. Of course, if you are a DeMille fan it might make a curiosity but it is no big deal.

I would actually like to see Four Frightened People (1934) to enjoy Herbert Marshall, an actor who is rarely given much credit but who could sometimes be quite droll as well as moving. I hesitate to say this openly since I still carry scars from an encounter with someone who articulately if a bit too vehemently disagreed with me (on another site where people don't realize "it's only a movie"). I will have to look for this one. It sounds as though it might be one of Mary Boland's better roles too. Thanks for the heads up, Chris.

I enjoyed Four Frightened People, improbable as it may have been, plot-wise. Been a while since I watched it, so I may have glossed over some of the more glaring faults. But IMO, if you like the period and the stars, and ignore that it's a DeMille movie (due to expectations of spectacle he brings), it's good enough.

Moira:

Marshall was fine. He was the most steady character. The film introduced him as some quiet unimaginative chemist but he is pretty much the rock of the group. I think I liked him best.

Lomm:

I have one book that only rated it *1/2 and another **1/2. I think I tend more toward the latter. One thing I appreciated about it was how quickly we got to the crux of the story. It's probably not three minutes in and they are already on the escape from the ship.

If not taken too seriously I think it's okay.

Dear Moira,

I like Herbert Marshall too - very much...
He was the back-bone of many a movie and I always remember him especially in "The Little Foxes" crawling up the stairs. A fine performance thoughout that film.
And, as the steadfast, unsuspecting husband again of Bette Davis in "The Letter"...

He and Alan Mowbray, who could have been brothers, were the stalwarts of character actors.

Larry

If I may add my two cents, I found 4 Frightened People a delightful, underrated comedy with Mary Boland at her best; it doesn't make much sense, but it's completely funny and engaging IMO. I have already watched twice since I bought the De Mille DVD set and IMO it was the "discovery" of the Boxed Set.

One thing I appreciated about it was how quickly we got to the crux of the story. It's probably not three minutes in and they are already on the escape from the ship.

How I miss that technique. Why should it be 15 minutes before we begin to give a ****?

Red: Was it you or Theresa that mentioned that recently? That was why it struck me how quick it got to the point.

Fernando: I was more of the opinion as I watched that it was meant to be more drama than comedy. Of course, Mary Boland was the comic relief. (And it needed it.) That may well be the beauty of perspective. There were some fun lines as the men traded quips about how little they cared for, much less desired, Colbert but overall I didn't get the same sense of comedy that you have.

I do find it surprising low many comments have come on a film I thought to watch solely on Colbert's inclusion. Never heard of it but it is nice to find others have. Not unlike other occasions for me.

It was me who mentioned the "Get to the Point" technique. In the SOME LIKE IT HOT discussion.

movieman1957 wrote:Fernando: I was more of the opinion as I watched that it was meant to be more drama than comedy. Of course, Mary Boland was the comic relief. (And it needed it.) That may well be the beauty of perspective. There were some fun lines as the men traded quips about how little they cared for, much less desired, Colbert but overall I didn't get the same sense of comedy that you have.

Perhaps my sense of humor is rather twisted ...or perhaps, it is the comedy sequences what I remember most about this particular film.

Sometimes that happens, Feaito. The third time I saw MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, I thought, "Holy cow! This is a comedy." People walk around dressed as playing cards. They have a brain washing machine. I kept looking for Dr. Goldfoot to show up with his magic bikini! I'll concede it's not flat-out comedy. But there's a darkly satirical thread running through it.

RedRiver wrote:Sometimes that happens, Feaito. The third time I saw MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, I thought, "Holy cow! This is a comedy." People walk around dressed as playing cards. They have a brain washing machine. I kept looking for Dr. Goldfoot to show up with his magic bikini! I'll concede it's not flat-out comedy. But there's a darkly satirical thread running through it.

Good point Red.