Crossroads (1942)

The bad news (which isn't really that bad) is that if you're expecting the William Powell that we all love in movies like "The Thin Man", well, you're going to be disappointed. There's no witty comedy here...thank goodness. But what you do have is that rarest of rare things -- a movie about amnesia that actually works (the only other one that comes to mind is "Random Harvest". What's good about this is that it keeps you guessing. First, is he or isn't he. Second, if he isn't, how is he going to get out of his situation.William Powell, who portrays a French diplomat, is excellent here. In parts of the film he seems a bit befuddled...but he's supposed to be since half his life is gone in his memory, and he questions whether he is the good man of his later life, or a bad man in his former life.Hedy Lamarr, not one of my favorites, is quite good here as his wife. I must say that recently I've watched a few of her films and I may have to change my mind about her acting ability.It isn't that Claire Trevor's acting as a blackmailer is spectacular, but it occurred to me what a broad resume she had in films. She does swell here.Basil Rathbone is reasonably good as the chief blackmailer.Character actress Margaret Wycherly has a fine turn as one of the blackmailers, particular in that she SORT OF plays 2 roles here...and is convincing in both.Felix Bressart (here as a doctor) is always a welcome treat as character actors go, but this role is a bit different for him, and he plays it very well.There are 2 problems here. The first is not that great a problem -- a slightly slow beginning for the first quarter of the film. The bigger problem is how quickly the film wraps up and hands us a happy ending. It's not an implausible ending...just seems to come around all too conveniently.Nevertheless, this film really held my interest. A very strong "7". Recommended.

This is a superb amnesia thriller directed by Jack Conway (1887-1952, no relation to actor Tom Conway whose real name was not Conway), which he made towards the end of his career. He was famous for so many noted earlier films, A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935), A YANK AT OXFORD (1938), RED-HEADED WOMAN (1932), LIBELED LADY (1936), and so on. In this excellent film we have superb interplay between the lead actors William Powell and Hedy Lamarr. Conway had worked with Powell before. Powell was able to transfer his delightful and insouciant on screen relationship which he had had with Myrna Loy in the six 'Thin Man' films and several other screen pairings with her to Hedy Lamarr in this one, with the greatest of ease. This shows pretty clearly that it was Powell's wit and personality which were the ultimate origin of his magnificent on screen charm with women. (My brief acquaintance with Loy when I was young had already convinced me that the sparkle did not originate with her, and that her part in it was reactive, just as Lamarr's is here. However, both Loy and Lamarr, who in real life was something of a genius who invented a naval torpedo, were highly intelligent women who were able to decode and return the Powellian signals and amplify them for the camera. Above all, Powell needed intelligence and wit in the women with whom he interacted for his magic formula to work.) This film has a superb script, although I would say that the intensity and the mystery sag towards the end because too much is revealed before the finish by letting us see the villains plotting, at which point the mystery leaks out of the balloon to a large extent. It would have been better to keep all the revelations to the very end and to have constructed a more dramatic finale which would have released all of the suspense at the last moment. However, the plot is not a simple one. William Powell plays a French diplomat in Paris who cannot remember anything about his life before July 27, 1922, the day of the Marseilles to Paris train crash in which many people were killed, and when he suffered severe brain damage. After the crash, he was identified by someone, so that he knows his name, but nothing else. He and Lamarr have a happy marriage and his career is thriving. But suddenly he receives a strange letter from a stranger demanding one million francs, which he says he is owed. The man is arrested for extortion but in his defence at his trial accuses Powell of being someone else and living under a false identity. The man says Powell is called Jean Pelletier, but Powell has never heard this name. A complex blackmail plot evolves, whereby Powell himself becomes convinced of his identity as Jean Pelletier, especially when he meets his own 'mother'. Meanwhile, Hedy Lamarr is getting more and more up tight, because of these events, and wondering whether she really knows her husband at all. Everything is greatly complicated by the sudden appearance at the trial of Basil Rathbone, who testifies that Powell is not Jean Pelletier, but then afterwards approaches him wanting a million francs for his silence, saying that he lied in court and that Powell really is Jean Pelletier. Pelletier, by the way, was a bank robber and a murderer, so not the sort of person one wants as an alter ego, or even as an ego. Thrown into the mix is the sultry and slinky Claire Trevor, always a favourite femme fatale. She says she and Powell were once in love, when he was Jean Pelletier, and she has a photo of them together to prove it, which she wears in a locket round her neck. Powell looks insufficiently interested in Trevor, considering how intriguing she is, not to mention attractive. But then he has Hedy Lamarr, so there is presumably no contest. It is an excellent yarn, and although it does not keep you biting your nails until the very end, at least it does so until near the end, and even then things remain ambiguous. So there is plenty of wondering to do, and those are the best kind of films.

Crossroads (1942) *** (out of 4)Great performances highlight this thriller about a diplomat (William Powell) who is quickly rising in power and has recently been married (Hedy Lamarr). His life turns upside down when a defendant in a trial accuses him of being a criminal, which he might be but he wouldn't remember since he suffered amnesia for some early years of his life. Things take a turn for the worse when a man (Basil Rathbone) shows up claiming to be his former partner and he wants cash to keep quiet. There are a few minor problems with the screenplay including Rathbone's character being able to predict what would eventually become of Powell but outside of that this is a pretty good little thriller that contains some great performances, nice direction and some early touches of shadows that make this very much like a noir (but before the term came to be). I think the most impressive thing here are the performances as they're all extremely good but you can also tell that the actors are having fun playing off one another. Powell is his usual charming self as he perfectly handles the more dramatic parts but he of course adds all sorts of light humor. Lamarr doesn't get as much to do as the wife but she still gets a couple good scenes early on. Rathbone was one of the best when it came to playing villains and he adds another good character to his resume. His performance is right on the mark but the way he and Powell act off one another is the most entertaining thing and it's what keeps the film moving. We also have Claire Trevor playing Rathbone's assistant and she too gets some wonderful moments with Powell. The rest of the supporting cast includes H.B. Warner, Margaret Wycherly and Felix Bressart. The noir genre didn't really get started until a few years later but many of those touches can be found here. You have the wonderful use of darkness and shadows, the femme fetale and of course the good guy behind held captive by thugs. I really enjoyed the visuals here and the way director Conway used the shadows to build up some nice atmosphere and this here really helped push the film over the edge. Add the atmosphere with the performances and you've got a pretty good little gem that's well worth watching.

Enjoyed viewing this film on late night television starring William Powell, (David Talbot) a very successful man working for the French Government and happily married to a very beautiful woman named Lucienne Talbot, (Hedy Lamarr). Every thing is going great for this couple until David has an accident and develops amnesia and cannot remember a period of his life for 13 years. Henri Sarrou, (Basil Rathbone) meets up with David Talbot and blackmail's him for a crime he committed under the name of Jean Pelletier several years ago. Henri also has a woman named Michelle Allaine, (Claire Trevor) who also confirms that David is guilt of this crime and seeks thousands of dollars to keep everything quite. This is a great mystery story starring great classic veteran actors.