Hollywood Nostalgia
Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on ota’s in NYC, ran another flick I’d never seen in its ongoing Sunday Night Noir series, Split Second (1953), a surprisingly hardboiled thriller, given the era, that kept me awake until its conclusion at midnight. Directed by Dick Powell and written by novelist Irving Wallace and two others, it is the story of a cold-blooded killer, played by Stephen McNally, who escapes from prison and takes a number of hostages to an area in the southwest where an A-bomb test is to take place. Besides a good script, the film has several fine aspects: Alexis Smith in one of the most unflattering parts ever; the always welcomed presence of the underrated Jan Sterling; and Frank DeKova, whom boomers will remember as the chief of the Heckawi indians on F-Troop, as a taciturn gunman dubbed Dummy. In researching the movie at IMDb, I learned of the incredible life of Paul Kelly, who plays a wounded escapee. Born in Brooklyn, the ninth of ten children, he went to work when his dad passed away, making his Broadway debut at eight in 1911. He was taken by the second of his heart attacks at 57 in 1956. His last two films were released posthumously. Although he has 171 screen credits, he was much more successful on the stage, winning a Tony for Command Decision in 1948, shared with Henry Fonda and Basil Rathbone. Clark Gable played the role on the big screen. Of Kelly’s Hollywood work, only two titles stand above the others: The Roaring Twenties (1939) and Crossfire (1947). His most significant life event occurred off-screen. He had an affair with the wife of an abusive alcoholic, which led to a fist fight. The man died a few days later of a cerebral hemorrhage. Kelly was convicted of manslaughter and served 25 months in San Quentin. Upon his release, he married the woman, who died in a car accident in 1940. He married again in 1941. Amazingly, his career was not affected adversely by the scandal.
Dick Powell had a great Tinseltown run. There are 72 titles under his name at IMDb as Actor, 60 under Soundtrack, and six under Director. He transitioned from star of musicals to serious actor with his fine performance as the iconic Raymond Chandler character Phillip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet (1944). His most notable work behind the camera work is probably The Enemy Below (1957), a tense WWII naval drama starring Robert Mitchum and Curt Jergens as commanders involved in a cat and mouse game between a battleship and submarine. He died of lung cancer at 58 in 1963. Here he is as the cynical private eye confronting the lovely Anne Shirley, the last of her 67 credits, quite a swan song. She simply tired of the Hollywood rat race. She passed away at 75 in 1993:
NYC-born goombah Frank DeKova was comfortable on the stage and big and small screen. There are 153 titles under his name at IMDb. From the mid-’50’s until 1981, the year of his death at 71, he was a TV mainstay, making multiple guest shots on prime time fare. Although he appeared in classics such as Viva Zapata (1952) and The Ten commandments (1956), the role for which he is most remembered is Chief Wild Eagle, 63 episodes. Early in the series he explained the origin of the tribe’s name. One of his ancestors said: “I think we lost, where the heck are we?” The latter line was repeated ad infinitum back in the day. I suspect the spelling of his real name is different, but I was unable to find any info to verify it.
Politicians should be the last to receive the vaccine, since they’re the most useless members of society.
The day evolved from gloom to glorious sunshine, making the second half of today’s session of the floating book shop most enjoyable. At no point did I have to sit in the car to warm up. My thanks to the kind folks who bought and swapped books. Most of the trade was in Russian. Here are the three in English that sold: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond, Losing Isn’t Everything: The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History by Curt Menefee and Michael Arkush; and Healthy Eating Every Day by Ruth Ann Carpenter and Carrie E. Finley .
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