Supernatural (1933, Victor Halperin)

Supernatural is a strange little film. I say little just because it's just over an hour; it has a great pace, however, and always feels full. Maybe because it introduces two subplots before getting to top-billed Carole Lombard. Then Lombard sort of encounters one of the subplots and the other one merges with her own story for the picture.

There's fantastic acting throughout–Lombard doesn't really get to shine until the second act, when she's possessed by an evil spirit. But H.B. Warner's great as her psychiatrist, who also has his own subplot going. It all relates to Vivienne Osborne's death row murderer. Her ex-boyfriend, a sham spiritualist (Alan Dinehart), targets Lombard, who's grieving from her own loss.

Harvey F. Thew and Brian Marlow's script wastes no time. The exposition is always to the point and perfectly integrated. Randolph Scott's returning from a trip so he'll naturally get exposition from other characters to fill him in. Scott's good as Lombard's love interest. Very likable. Oh, and William Farnum is hilarious as Lombard's attorney. Supernatural is serious and dangerous–Dinehart's a bad guy–and Farnum's around to let off the pressure.

Director Halperin does a good job too. He can't figure out how to visualize the spirits, which is a problem, but the excellent miniature effects make up for it. Maybe it's because the film goes through how Dinehart sets up his fake spirits, which draws attention to how the film's going to do the real ones.

Supernatural is quiet, short and quite good.

3/4 ★★★

CREDITS

Directed by Victor Halperin; screenplay by Harvey F. Thew and Brian Marlow, based on a story by Garnett Weston; director of photography, Arthur Martinelli; produced by Edward Halperin and Victor Halperin; released by Paramount Pictures.

Starring Carole Lombard (Roma Courtney), Alan Dinehart (Paul Bavian), Vivienne Osborne (Ruth Rogen), Randolph Scott (Grant Wilson), H.B. Warner (Dr. Carl Houston), Beryl Mercer (Madame Gourjan) and William Farnum (Hammond).


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Blind Adventure (1933, Ernest B. Schoedsack)

Blind Adventure is a genial, nearly successful comedy thriller. Robert Armstrong, playing an unexpectedly wealthy working class American who’s vacationing in London, heads out into the fog and finds himself on a wild night. He encounters espionage, British society, a damsel in distress (Helen Mack) and trifle.

Armstrong and Mack are wonderful together (they soon reunited in Son of Kong, along with director Schoedsack and writer Ruth Rose) and the film’s failures are mostly disappointing because it should have launched a franchise for the pair. They’re Nick and Nora, but a year early and less blue blooded. They also have a fabulous third wheel in Roland Young, a burglar they meet.

Rose’s script has some good lines and a brisk pace. It’s not a comedy revolution—though its Marx Brothers influences are interesting in the context of a straight comedy thriller—but it should have been made into a better film.

It’s Schoedsack who primarily fails here. While the film’s modest budget is obvious (any London sights would be obscured by the dense fog), Schoedsack is still essentially inept. His comedy direction is atrocious—he holds the reaction shots to jokes maybe three times longer than he should, so long one wonders if there’s going to be a second joke.

Ralph Bellamy and John Miljan are both good in small roles. Beryl Mercer has a scene and a half with Armstrong and they’re quite funny.

But Armstrong and Mack are just magical; they deserved better treatment than Adventure gives them.