Crossroads *** (1942, William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Basil Rathbone, Claire Trevor) – Classic Movie Review 2595

Director Jack Conway’s glitzy 1942 mystery film noir thriller is set in Paris in 1935 and tells an engrossing story with classic vintage actors. Despite being made during World War Two and its setting, there’s no hint of the war. William Powell stars as an amnesiac American diplomat in Paris blackmailed by crooks led by an extortionist called Carlos Le Duc (Vladimir Sokoloff) for crimes he’s supposed to have forgotten.

MGM’s glossy, attractively played remake of Curtis Bernhardt’s 1938 French film Carrefour (with Charles Vanel, Jules Berry and Suzy Prim) gains top marks for the sparkling writing in Guy Trosper’s screenplay and plushest possible production (set designs by Cedric Gibbons and Edwin B Willis).

Powell is excellent but still the scene-stealing Hedy Lamarr, Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor romp off with the acting honours. Lamarr’s role is as Powell’s wife and Trevor and Rathbone play two of the blackmailing villains.

Powell stars as David Talbot, working for the French Government and happily married to the lovely Lucienne (Lamarr). But David has an accident and can’t remember his life for 13 years. Henri Sarrou (Rathbone) and Michelle Allaine (Trevor) then blackmail him for a crime he committed under the name of Jean Pelletier several years ago, demanding a million francs. Talbot struggles to discover the truth about his past, while keeping Sarrou at bay and his wife in the dark.

Among the excellent MGM studio contract player cast performing the nicely twisty plot to the hilt are Margaret Wycherly, Felix Bressart, Sig Ruman, Reginald Owen, Philip Merivale, Vladimir Sokoloff, H B Warner, Guy Bates, Fritz Leiber, Bertram Marburgh, Harry Fleischmann, Louis Montez, Jean DeVal, Paul Weigel, Torben Meyer, Francis X Bushman, Anna Q Nilsson, Gibson Gowland and George Davis.

The public of the day loved it: on an $846,000 budget, it earned $2,321,000, making a profit of $739,000.

Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947). He died of heart failure in Palm Springs, California, on March 5 1984 at the age of 91, 30 years after his retirement.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2595

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