Two Against the World (1936)

recommended

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Humphrey Bogart was the nominal star here, however he was outshined by two other actors who got fifth and sixth billing. The film is also known as "The Fatal Hour", which was the title under which I saw it on TCM. The story involves an irresponsible radio network that digs up a twenty year old murder story, leading to tragedy. Bogart is a radio network executive who has some morals, while his boss -- the owner of the network -- played by Robert Middlemass. The real stars here, however, are character actors Henry O'Neill (long a favorite of mine who really shines here) and Helen MacKellar (an actress of little note who turns in a superb performance here; they play the mother and father of a young woman about to be married. But the two parents have a secret...the mother once murdered someone...justifiably. The radio network digs up the story again, ruining the lives of several of the key characters, and -- rather unusual for this time period -- there are two suicides involved. I had never seen this film, but it was a treat. Recommended.

. . . "Warner Bros.," ONE FATAL HOUR provides a bare-bones warning to Today's U.S. Public regarding our current sorry State of Affairs. (This flick enjoys the twin benefits of not only being guided by Warner's unmatched Foretellers of the Future during its original production process, but later having eight minutes of "fluff" intended only for its contemporary theatrical audiences excised when edited for Our Modern Televisions and more tellingly retitled, as the initial TWO AGAINST THE WORLD and the even more sophomoric THE CASE OF MRS. PEMBROOK marquee titles were thankfully disassociated from this cautionary tale.) ONE FATAL HOUR deals frankly with the sexual perversion and War on Women now being waged at the highest levels of the USA's Media and Government. "Dr. Leavenworth" SHOULD be locked up in the Leavenworth federal penitentiary for life (or, better yet, his date with the Guillotine!) as a rabble-rousing Populist catering to a demonic base of nominally religious "core supporters" while enjoying a salacious private life as an alcoholic compulsive grabber of feminine genitalia, almost as bad as the mobster occupying our Once Hallowed Oval Office now. As "Edith" screams at him "WHY DID YOU KILL MY MOTHER?!" again and again for the climax of ONE FATAL HOUR, "Sherry" notes that such Public Enemies as Dr. Leavenworth and the future Game-Show-Host-in-Chief possess "squashy, putrid little souls" willing to televise their own mothers' funerals if they think it will add an additional buck to their mountains of ill-gotten wealth. "Jim," Edith, and "Gloria"--all victims of Leavenworth's Corrupt Corporate Class--each pick up guns while searching for a solution to this Capitalist Problem. Please watch ONE FATAL HOUR, and then support your local chapter of BANGS (Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps)!

I started watching this film, "Two Against the World," then thought I'd seen it, and consequently found out it's a remake of "Five Star Final." It's been a while, but the story is basically the same. Humphrey Bogart plays Sherry Scott, the manager of a radio station. His boss suggests that may he's aiming the programming above the heads of the audiences. "You could sit on a toadstool and be above this one," Bogie sneers. The station owner wants a serial based on a twenty-year-old murder case, in which a woman killed her husband but the homicide was found to be justifiable.The woman, now Edith Carstairs (Linda Perry) at this point is married to a banker (Henry O'Neill) and their daughter (Helen MacKellar) is about to be married to a man from a very good family (Carlyle Moore, Jr.). When the show starts to air on the radio, Edith, whose daughter knows nothing of her past, begs her husband to do something about it. He tries, but to no avail.This film is an indictment against tabloid radio, as opposed to what we have today -- tabloid everything. Bogart is good in a real '30s melodramatic role, and Beverly Roberts has a nice turn as the know-it-all secretary. Linda Perry is sympathetic as Edith.I think "Five Star Final" is slightly better, but this film, for its time, was well done.

After a couple years of searching for the Humphrey Bogart film, "Two Against the World", it unexpectedly showed up as a TCM offering under the title "One Fatal Hour", a First National film from 1936. Bogey's character is Sherry Scott, the man who runs WUBC, a radio station whose program lineup is losing listeners. The owner Bertram Reynolds (Robert Middlemass), is a pathetic executive who calls the shots at the station, but hides behind his decisions by pawning them off on Scott.In an effort to boost the audience base and revenues, Reynolds has the idea of reviving a twenty year old murder case, and offering it as a fifteen chapter radio play. Scott enlists the aid of Dr. Martin Leavenworth (Harry Hayden) to write the play and present it on the air.The Pembroke Murder case involved a woman who was acquitted of murdering her husband, the circumstances of which are not made clear. However Gloria Pembroke has married, and is now living as Martha Carstairs (Helen MacKellar), married to a successful banker (Henry O'Neill), and their daughter Edith (Linda Perry) is about to be married (on the same day no less as the radio play is to reveal the identity of Gloria Pembroke). About to be faced with the devastating effects of this revelation, Martha and Jim Carstairs embark on a crusade to have the program stopped. Simultaneously, Edith's future in-laws respond by demanding that the marriage not take place.Without revealing the final outcome, the film takes a devastating turn to jolt the viewer. Edith Carstairs confronts the principals of the radio station, vigorously admonishing Scott and the sniveling Reynolds. While accepting his share of the blame for the outcome, Scott partially redeems himself by quitting his job, firing his secretary, and hauling her out of the office, recognizing her for the conscience he once had. With an entirely abrupt finish, the film leaves one as disoriented and unsettled as any movie that doesn't have a happy ending. With about a dozen films under his belt, Humphrey Bogart gets a chance to take center stage here with intriguing results. With no name supporting players, Bogey rises to the occasion by taking charge in the confines of the radio offices, and runs the show as if it was his own. In an interesting bit of characterization, he expresses his exasperation by crossing his hands over his bowed head, predating by a half dozen years a similar effect we'll see him do in "Casablanca". For Bogart fans, it's a genuine treat to catch an unexpected nuance like this.