Lady Scarface (1941)

not as good as all the hype

Highly Overrated But Still Good

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

B-movies like "Lady Scarface" from 1941 are all of a piece. The basic plot usually concerns an ambitious female reporter and the good- looking police detective in her way; they're in love but don't know it yet.This film, starring Dennis O'Keefe as the detective and Frances Neal as the reporter, is no different with one exception. Dame Judith Anderson stars as Slade, the the scar-faced head of a robbery gang. This isn't the first time I've seen Anderson go off-type - in the film Blood Money, a precode, she plays a glamorous bejeweled nightclub owner. When you think about one of the great stars of the theater getting these kinds of roles, it's laughable, particularly after her performance in Rebecca as Mrs. Danvers.Anyway, the film concerns robbery money mistakenly picked up by newlyweds (Mildred Coates and Rand Brooks) and detective O'Keefe following the money in an attempt to trace the crooks.Rand Brooks of course was Charles Hamilton in "Gone with the Wind". A little bit of trivia - despite enjoying a long career in films and television, Rand owned a private ambulance service, recognized as one of the best in the country.Entertaining film, worth seeing for Anderson.

Although she only has perhaps half of the film's running time, the future Dame Judith Anderson really shines in this bottom of the bill crime drama which mixes some uncomfortable domestic comedy that seems somewhat out of place with some really violent action sequences. Looking like an outtake from a Leon Errol or Edgar Kennedy RKO short, this sequence is amusing, but it distracts from the really exciting stuff. Fresh from her movie success as the evil Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca", Judith is truly scary as the mysterious Slade whom the FBI is aware of, but what they don't know is that she is a she. While it's obvious that Judith is aware that this movie is beneath her massive talents, she plays it with gusto and steals every moment she is on.When first seen, Judith is her shadowy profile, holding a gun on a victim while dressed as a scrubwoman. She has no remorse of doing what she needs to do to get away with the loot she forces the frightened man at gunpoint to open up his safe. Only 42 when this was made, Judith had already taken Broadway by storm in the 1930's, winning raves in such Broadway hits as "As You Desire Me", "The Old Maid" and "Family Portrait". She had also achieved great acclaim as Gertrude (Hamlet's mother) and later in 1941 would become one of the most praised actresses to portray Lady MacBeth. Like Tallulah Bankhead, she was "too big" for film, but unlike Tallulah, she achieved great acclaim in the movies in supporting roles while Tallulah attempted only leads. Their similar voices and strong features lacked vulnerability on camera, but Judith used that to her advantage by playing some of the most wonderfully domineering evil women on film.The remainder of the screen time is devoted to detective Dennis O'Keefe's attempts to find her and newspaper photographer Frances Neal's assistance in helping him discover who Slade really is. Comic moments featuring Eric Blore as a dog salesman who answers an add meant as a contact for Slade's pick-up person leads to the revelation of two people named Mary Jordan, one of whom gets an envelope filled with money by mistake. That fantastic hard-boiled blonde bombshell Marion Martin plays the Mary Jordan meant to receive the package, and she is involved in a fantastic car chase sequence. Mildred Coles, the innocent trained by Kay Francis to be a proper "Play Girl", plays the innocent young bride who gets the money by mistake, leading to all sorts of confusion. In spite of the distraction by these entertaining but unnecessary subplots, "Lady Scarface" is a fun low budget crime drama that truly shines with Judith in the spotlight.

This is a totally forgettable film thanks to poor writing and a clichéd female character. Even worse, fans of Film Noir (like myself) might mistakenly think that this is Film Noir because it stars Dennis O'Keefe--an actor who made his mark in this genre. Considering that O'Keefe plays a cop, it is natural to assume this is yet another example of this exciting style of film. Unfortunately, instead of the great camera work, snappy dialog and dark content, this is an occasionally insipid film that is very forgettable.The film begins well--with a nasty lady and her gang committing robbery and murder. So far, it SEEMED like Noir. But, despite the title, the emphasis in the film was not on this evil wench but on police work done by O'Keefe and the other cops to catch the gang. This wasn't necessarily a bad choice, but the addition of a "spunky" (think OBNOXIOUS) female reporter to tag along with O'Keefe for most of the film was a big mistake. Her character was a giant walking cliché--you know, the 1940s "petulent woman who THINKS she can make it in a man's world". In fact, she's a lot like Lois Lane but without Superman to save her butt every time she stupidly blunders into trouble. This character single-handedly set back women's equality for a decade.So what you are left with is a film that is at best a time-passer due to poor writing. Do NOT assume that just because the ever-capable O'Keefe is in this film that it is a winner--it definitely isn't.

Here's one more little jewel from the RKO collection. An exciting thriller, well plotted, amusing and concise (it hardly arrives to 70 minutes!). But what makes this film so special is its revolutionary treatment of the noir's conventions and the advanced-for-its-times feminist touch: here, the devious gangster is a woman (fantastic Judith Anderson)instead of a man, opposite to a brave female journalist who will help the police to catch her. The film deals admirably with the confusion game, relaying on the male centric point of view in noir's genre only to turn it down: the male main characters appear here as incompetent (those policemen who think they go after a man because they can't bear the idea of being defeated by a woman) and weak (the whole male gang is completely dominated by the powerful lady Scarface).Without doubts, "Lady Scarface" is one to watch! Don't miss either "The Curtain Call", from the same director, Frank Woodruff, and a funny screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.