Raoul Walsh

[MissGoddess]

Oh, I didn't realize the documentary is based on the book. It's too bad it's so late in the day, as it were. A documentary like that would have been great in the '70s, when enough people who worked with Walsh were still around. But people were only just beginning to appreciate what was fading away.

[JackFavell]

I agree, If I'd known then what I know now, I would have started writing to my favorite stars and directors and movie people, asking them the questions I want to know the answers to. It kills me that I could have easily done so, but I never thought it was feasible then.

[JackFavell]

Just bought myself a copy of Each Man in His Time by Raoul Walsh. Oddly enough, there are several copies at reasonable prices around the net... Started at 60 bucks which I thought was a pretty good price, then found one at $40 at a different site, then one at $37.21 at Alibris. The total came to 40 bucks, and I found a coupon code which automatically took another 3 dollars and some off the total. Nice! I'm very excited, especially since this copy is supposed to be in very fine condition. I'll let you know how it looks when I get it.

[CineMaven]

Ahhh Miss G. I see you are no longer fragmented and are now leaning on the Rock of Gibraltar. Nice candid shot for your latest avatar:

[MissGoddess]

[feaito]

I must comment on this thread, that last I night I watched for the first time Walsh's "White Heat" (1949), arguably one of his very, very best films. It is gangster film, but also a Film Noir, with James Cagney giving a brilliant performance as the psychopathic Cody Jarrett -Tom Powers ("The Public Enemy" (1931)) twenty years later (if he hadn't died). One of the most impressive, heart-wrenching scenes is the one in which Jarrett cracks up after learning the only person he loved in his life has died (his mother- his mentor- "his Mary Shelley"-who created the monster). Cagney gives such a multi-dimensional performance that I couldn't help feeling sorry for him, due to the betrayal of his "supposed" pal; after all, he treated him like a kid brother and he took to him. There was warmth there. Only a great actor can cause that in a viewer. Margaret Wycherly is excellent as the psycho's mother and Edmond O'Brien top-notch as an undercover policeman trying to get Jarrett. Virginia Mayo and Steve Cochran are also good. And absorbing 113 minutes must-see film that doesn't give you any rest. Superb!

[JackFavell]

Fernando, wonderful review of White Heat! I love how you phrased that - 'his Mary Shelley - who created the Monster'. I think you've completely captured why we go back and back to the movie - there IS something oddly vulnerable about Cody Jarrett - that warmth that you speak of between Cody and Hank is what draws us in. I think we secretly want to see what goes on in these villains minds. I also think there is a part of us that understands it, and even a part of us, especially if we are nice law abiding citizens, that wants to be able to live outside the law or the rules. The movie always makes me think about the characters afterwards, which is a pretty sure sign of a good movie. Does Fallon have any doubts about his role in Cody's downfall? Cody IS a monster who needs to be taken down, but he's also a man with a need for love. I hope Hank's ideal of the greater good will allow him to sleep at night after his actions, I know I'd have a twinge of conscience myself. Jarrett really lets his guard down with Hank Fallon, only to realize (in that brilliant scene where he laughs at his own foolishness) that he's been betrayed yet again. It always makes me wonder how many kids, teens and adults betrayed Cody before this to make him such a psycho, though I'm sure we can lay the blame for the way he deals with it at mommy dearest's doorstep. Cody's world is ugly, as far as the people who surround him, and in some respects, all he really wants is to find someone who will love him and be faithful, hold his interests dear, just like you or me. It puts me in mind of a perverse Julius Caesar just a little - the big man, surrounded by sycophants and hangers on. Or maybe The Asphalt Jungle, where everyone has an agenda...two very ugly worlds in these movies, and it's not outside, it's within. Ugly but human and understandable, all the same.

I think Virginia Mayo is particularly fine in this film. Another trampy, selfish role for her done very well. She's always thinking on her feet - you can read every thought in her eyes. Especially good is the scene where she turns on Cody but when he comes back she doubles back on Steve Cochran to save her own skin. The plot keeps us on the edge at all times, and Walsh really gets the most out of the time allotted in this film.

[RedRiver]

I agree with every word you wrote, Feaito. Especially this one. Superb!

This classic has it all. Depth, character, excitement. Boy, is it exciting! Mr. Walsh is responsible for my two favorite gangster films. The other being HIGH SIERRA. This is almost certainly his best work. It's one of the great movies. Even Woody Allen likes this one. He references Cody Jarrett by name in SMALL TIME CROOKS!

[Bronxgirl48]

I'm learning a lot on this thread about Walsh, because he's a director I seem to instinctively enjoy.

However, I wish someone would explain GLORY ALLEY.

[feaito]

Great write-up Wen.

This one left me with a bittersweet flavour in my mouth. I really felt that Fallon was a traitor. The moral ambivalence of it all fascinated me. Virginia Mayo was the ultimate, selfish tart and she snored at the beginning of the film! And she spit her gum. Glamorously vulgar. And truly duplicitous. Ms. Mayo did some of her best work under Walsh's direction. That same year she starred in the magnificent "Colorado Territory" with Joel McCrea. Two masterpieces in one year.

Thanks RedRiver. I also think very highly (no pun intended) of "High Sierra" (1941).

[JackFavell]

I too over the years see Fallon as a traitor. He's doing a job that must be done, but how can you stare a man in the eyes and listen to all his secrets and not feel bad? The cops in this movie on the whole do not come off very well, releasing Cody into the general public in the first place, if my memory serves... I think they wanted to catch the fence or something? So they allow a psychopathic killer to escape? Not a pretty picture of either side of the law.

[RedRiver]

This is a tough question. But that's where WHITE HEAT has more depth than most movies of it's kind. It's Fallon's job to earn the trust of the men he seeks to apprehend. These are bad people. They pose a threat to society. I don't see Fallon as a traitor anymore than James Bond playing golf with Goldfinger. But you're right, Wendy. He must feel bad about it. Regardless of purity of motive, he accomplishes his goal by befriending his nemesis, then stepping all over that friendship and crushing it like a bunch of grapes.

The difference between this undercover operation and those of 007 is the tone of the material. The Bond adventures don't invite serious analysis. To over-think would be counter productive. Walsh's tale has more substance. We have to consider the underlying. That's the point! In STALAG 17,


********************HUGE SPOILER********************************


our instinct is to loathe the Peter Graves character. He's betrayed his comrades. He's a dirty snitch. Of course, he is. He's a spy! That's why he's there. He's not a good guy gone bad. He's a German soldier. In an slightly twisted way, I kind of respect the guy! It's ironic that these movies are Black and White. Real life clearly is not!

[JackFavell]

That's very interesting to compare White Heat and Stalag 17. Never in a million years would have thought of it, but it works.

Maybe White Heat invites the thoughts of betrayal because it's such a psychological study? Or is it because Ma has implanted it in our brains?

[ChiO]

And it all comes back to Welles' rumination on TOUCH OF EVIL. Quinlan represents the greatest wickedness in the world...but Menzies commits the greatest sin -- disloyalty.

[RedRiver]

Maybe White Heat invites the thoughts of betrayal because it's such a psychological study?

Exactly. And because it's remarkably well written!