Sunday, October 25, 2020

NIGHT EDITOR (1946) and DANGER SIGNAL (1945)

NIGHT EDITOR (1946)
Columbia Pictures, 68m

DANGER SIGNAL (1945)
Warner Bros., 78m

I caught up with a pair of noir B films that aired recently on TCM's Noir Alley, hosted by the "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller. Held together by an expansive array of noir staples, the content of each production reflects heightened social anxieties of the post-WWII era. NIGHT EDITOR gives special attention to the destructive power of the femme fatale, whereas DANGER SIGNAL unleashes a dangerously seductive homme fatale figure. Such characters are presented as highly disruptive to the traditional American marriage and suggest a general decline of our most basic values. But like so many otherwise cynical film noirs, each feature concludes on a note of optimism difficult to accept given preceding events.

Based upon a radio program that was active from 1934 through 1948, NIGHT EDITOR is a noir festival crowd pleaser according to Muller, which makes sense given the amount of genre boxes checked. One of many film noirs heavily patterned after DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), this low-rent production from Columbia Pictures was intended to be the first in a series of films that would fail to materialize. Despite the franchise that was not meant to be, director Henry Levin accomplishes more in 68 minutes than most modern filmmakers achieve in 120.

Past and present meld together as NIGHT EDITOR unspools in mostly flashback mode. At the (fictitious) New York Star, Johnny (Coulter Irwin) rolls in after another tiring night of debauchery. During what looks to be a perpetual card game, elder statesman of the newsroom Crane Stewart (Charles D. Brown) seizes the opportunity to recall the story of Police Lieutenant Tony Cochrane (William Gargan), who sowed the seeds of his own ruin when he kicked his family aside in favor of big-league blonde Jill Merrill (Janis Carter in a feisty turn).

To easily differentiate Jill from Tony's plain Jane wife Martha (Jeff Donnell), Jill is introduced via a legs-only shot. As his affair with Jill threatens the health of his home life (Tony constantly snaps at his wife without reason and neglects the needs of his son), Police Captain Lawrence (Harry Shannon) informs Tony he looks like he could use more sleep. Tony realizes enough is enough and attempts to break it off with Jill while parked at a beachfront lovers' lane. The situation between Tony and Jill takes a backseat when another man arrives on the scene with his girlfriend, this man far more prepared to end his relationship than Tony. TCM host Muller believes only a B film could have gotten away with a murder scene of this nature, which not only involves a young woman being bludgeoned to death with a tire iron, but Jill borderline orgasmic with excitement ("I wanna see her Tony, I wanna look at her!"). As the murderer makes his getaway, Tony instinctively attempts to do the right thing (Muller would call this common noir turning point "the break"), but the police lieutenant allows Jill to assume control of the crime scene. She reminds him their presence would be scandalous (they both are married).

Here's to us:  Jill Merrill (Janis Carter) and Tony Cochrane (William Gargan)

Other tenets of noir are stitched together to create a persistent mood of cynicism. Inequalities that keep America divided often support the noir plot structure, and Tony hails from the wrong side of the tracks. He unwisely overreaches for the white-hot socialite Jill and pays the price for not recognizing class distinctions intended to keep their lives separate. In its final act NIGHT EDITOR provides a superb example of the “walking dead man” pioneered in DOUBLE INDEMNITY, later observed in DECOY (1946), RIDE THE PINK HORSE (1947), ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948) and perhaps most famously in D.O.A. (1950). Tony survives, but only as a fraction of his former self and a lesson to others, like the young newspaper man Johnny. Tony ceased to exist as the man he was around the time he was forced to investigate a crime scene without revealing he was present while the crime transpired (that sequence likely owes something to THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW [1944]).

The most overtly noir component running wild in NIGHT EDITOR is the treachery of the femme fatale, whose lack of humanity intensifies as the story unfolds. Tony proves he knows Jill all too well when he describes her as someone who must hurt or be hurt. When an opportunistic tramp is fingered for the murder of Elaine Blanchard (Betty Hill), Jill could care less a man will fry in the chair for a crime he did not commit (his only crime was to steal some of the dead woman's personal belongings). Before she attempts to off her ex with an ice pick (probably inspired by SCARLET STREET [1945]), she is shown in an embrace with Elaine's killer (Frank Wilcox). That the killer is a banker might be the noir touch that resonates best today.

Credit for cinematography is shared by Burnett Guffey and Philip Tannura. Guffey should be a name familiar to followers of film noir since he shot some of the most admired genre permutations, including JOHNNY O'CLOCK (1947), IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) and THE SNIPER (1952). He also lensed important B-noirs like the one under review, along with MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945), TWO OF A KIND (1951) and NIGHTFALL (1956). Tannura probably was responsible for the newsroom footage per Muller. The screenplay written by Harold Jacob Smith sets a scorching pace for this terrific little film noir.

An emotionally riveting drama directed by Robert Florey, DANGER SIGNAL stars Zachary Scott as a devious homme fatale, the counterpart to the femme fatale portrayed by Janis Carter in NIGHT EDITOR. Fresh from his impressive turn as the utterly despicable playboy Monte Beragon in MILDRED PIERCE (1945), Scott would be typecast for the remainder of his career. In his first major role he is matched with the vibrant screen presence of Faye Emerson in the role of a woman pushed to her breaking point by the existential needs of a confirmed scoundrel. Muller explains Warner bought the rights to the 1939 novel of the same title by Phyllis Bottome that same year, but the concerns of the Hays Office kept the adaptation at bay for years. After the success of Alfred Hitchcock's similarly structured SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), Warner decided to get the production off the ground. After the efforts of a great many writers, ultimately the adaptation was scripted by Adele Comandini and C. Graham Baker. Cinematography was handled by James Wong Howe, who fueled American film noir with his subsequent work on NORA PRENTISS (1947), BODY AND SOUL (1947), HE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951) and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957).

The opening sequence reveals a lot of information about our lead protagonist in short order. Mrs. Alice Turner lies in eternal slumber while Ronnie Mason (Zachary Scott) removes her wedding ring and a fistful of her cash. In the interest of not being seen, he drops out of the room's window, which leaves him with a leg injury to lie about later. The limping man would become a familiar noir fixture, a suggestion of masculinity somehow compromised in ACT OF VIOLENCE (1949), THE HITCH-HIKER (1953) and STORM FEAR (1955). Ronnie seeks shelter in Los Angeles, where he is able to leverage his injury at the family home shared by Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson) and her mother (Mary Servoss). He explains the bum leg as a direct result of time spent in the South Pacific while he assumes a new identity (another frequent component of the film noir). Additional untruths pile up quickly as Ronnie explains he cannot pay rent as an unpublished writer in search of his first payday (the accurate part of his story does not remain true for long). He engineers a swift courtship of Hilda, who receives the ring acquired from the departed Alice Turner. He has the nerve to tell Hilda the ring belonged to his grandmother! Ronnie's relationship with Hilda fades into discord after he meets her younger sister Anne (Mona Freeman), whose father left her a healthy $25K dowry. Gradually the reality of what is going on under the Fenchurch roof becomes apparent to Hilda, who must confront the darkest depths of her capabilities as she weighs her options.

Date night:  Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson) and Ronnie Mason (Zachary Scott)

The "woman in peril" noir subgenre revolves around the plight of female protagonists with offerings such as NOTORIOUS (1946), SORRY WRONG NUMBER (1948), WHIRLPOOL (1949), WOMAN IN HIDING (1950), CAUSE FOR ALARM! (1951) and SUDDEN FEAR (1952). The featured women in these titles are not necessarily equally sympathetic, but all earn the viewer's support as we root for them to extricate themselves from some of the most unenviable predicaments imaginable. DANGER SIGNAL's Hilda is an affable working girl as played by Emerson. Her nicely chiseled countenance is especially appealing when bespectacled; no wonder Dr. Andrew Lang (Bruce Bennett) struggles to get his words out when standing in front of her. But after falling for the wrong man, the public stenographer Hilda proves even the unassuming girl-next-door type might possess the temerity to plot murder (she swipes a botulinum toxin sample from a lab and plans to feed it to Ronnie, a meal he richly deserves). Women may be susceptible to the fast-talking charms of men like Ronnie, but ultimately end up with more stable, if less exciting, men like Andrew.

Ronnie's shabby treatment of the opposite sex is rooted in his immediate family's history. He blames his mother for ruining his father, who chose to end his life after he lost everything. Now Ronnie is out to exact revenge on the gender he abhors. He is the sort of subject studied by Dr. Jane Silla (Rosemary DeCamp), who specializes in "morbid psychology." Ronnie sets the table for his own demise with a rigid pattern of behavior highly unlikely to work in his favor forever. To put that notion in simplified noir terminology, Ronnie's sordid past defines his present and deletes his future. The film's opening segment finds its echo when Ronnie, playing the part of frustrated writer of fiction, asks Hilda to write a suicide note. The homme fatale's lack of imagination, his overreliance on past deceptions, paves the way for his elimination.

In the early going it is implied the police force will not be a factor in Ronnie's comeuppance. After Thomas Turner (John Ridgely) loses his unfaithful wife in the introductory segment, he is informed by the police that he will need to find additional evidence to reopen the case. Law enforcement officials are satisfied with the suicide explanation, despite the widower's insistence the official cause of death was highly unlikely. Therein lies the noir notion that policemen are ineffective when it comes to catching seriously dangerous criminals like the cheap 28-year-old conman Ronnie.

DANGER SIGNAL was a financial success for Warner Bros. with a global take north of $1 million. In his afterword, Muller notes Hilda successfully poisons Ronnie in Bottome's source material. Of course such a conclusion was prohibited by the Production Code, the other consideration was actress Faye Emerson's engagement to Brigadier General Elliott Roosevelt and eventual status as daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For the part of Anne Fenchurch, Mona Freeman replaced Ann Blyth (Veda from MILDRED PIERCE), who had injured her back while tobogganing.