Fog Over Frisco (1934)

I'm always amazed at how many plots and sub-plots writers were able to inject into films that lasted little more than an hour. FOG OVER FRISCO (the title always reminds me as suitable for a Charlie Chan flick), moves at a fast pace, has some well developed characters, and the plot about a missing society girl (BETTE DAVIS) and her half-sister (MARGARET LINDSAY) is involving from start to finish.*****POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***** Davis looks terrific at 25 (the same year she played her breakthrough role in OF HUMAN BONDAGE). She moves with all the skill of an actress sure of her authority as a bad girl on the screen. Unfortunately for the viewer, her character gets killed off midway through which leaves it up to Lindsay and bland DONALD COOK to carry the rest of the film.They do manage to keep the plot spinning along nicely toward a fast and furious conclusion involving the kidnapping of Lindsay and the rescue efforts of all concerned. ROBERT BARRAT is an interesting figure as an eavesdropping butler who turns out to be a Secret Service man on the trail of a gang of gangsters led by IRVING PICHEL. Pichel has an interesting screen presence and would later become a director.Neat little mystery/suspense film is directed in fine form by William Dieterle.Trivia note: This is my 3,000th review at IMDb! This will be a wrap for awhile now that I've reached that goal.

Mysterious crime, unconventional way of solving it, witty dialog, fast paced events, car chasing, unexpected resolution... are we watching just another detective action film starring Mel Gibson? No, it is 1934 film Fog over Frisco. It is amazing how little has this type of film evolved in last 70 years or so. The only "improvements" we see in modern versions of action films are slimy kissing and love-making scenes, two dozen explosions and rolling stock of a smaller country destroyed. Oh, yeah, done to include something for everyone and to extend the film time to standard one and a half hour.Well Fog over Frisco is what a good action film should look like. It is absolutely enough to have a bit more than a hour to tell everything. Of course, Dieterle could easily make a film a bit longer and the plot more understandable, but this amazing pace is what makes this film even more special. You are moving in the spiral of events so fast that it is necessary to see it twice to get everything straight.But this is not all. We see some really exceptional acting here. Bette Davis makes from one seemingly tiny role more than some leading character actors did in the whole acting career. She is absolutely convincing as Arlene, a spoiled and bored rich girl and you can never see Bette in another film to be so beautiful, glamorous, amusing and enchanting. No wonder that most men in film really seem to be in love with her. Margaret Lindsay, who plays a real head role of her step-sister Val, isn't match for Ms. Davis, however she did her part correctly. Other notable performances include Donald Woods playing Tony and Hugh Herbert playing Izzy, who are convincing as a witty reporter - funny photographer pair.This film is one of the most underestimated films in the whole history of Hollywood and is a must-see for 1930s film period.

Wow, I am amazed that this film is so overlooked, especially considering the reputations of its director (Dieterle) and its star, Miss Bette Dave. Fog Over Frisco is probably forgotten because it had the misfortune of being released the same year as Bette's Academy-rocking star-turn as waitress Mildred in Of Human Bondage. Nevertheless, she is true to form in this early role. I enjoyed this film's fast past and lack of fluff. If you liked "L.A. Confidential" you will enjoy Fog Over Frisco's complicated plot and ambiguous characters. The plot structure was strangely reminiscent of "Psycho" -- except that Psycho was made twenty-six years later! Seems Hitchcock was not the first to shock his audience unexpectedly...

This film is so rapidly paced that some of the action flew by me too fast to fully understand, although some of the confusion was cleared up in the end. Director William Dieterle used fancy wipes rather than fade-outs and overlapping sound to speed the action along. I prefer a more leisurely pace to enable me to digest the material. Still, the ending was exciting with location shooting in San Francisco a big plus, and it's always enjoyable to watch Bette Davis, who had emerged as a big star by this time. Hugh Herbert provides very minimal comic relief as an inept photographer. I was reminded a bit by Hitchcock's film "Psycho (1960)," but you'll have to watch this film to see what I mean.