Fog over Frisco *** (1934, Bette Davis, Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, Arthur Byron, Lyle Talbot) – Classic Movie Review 6467

Director William Dieterle’s 1934 Warner Bros movie Fog over Frisco stars Bette Davis, as the pert, blonde Arlene Bradford, the high society bad girl, who has appeared in the gossip columns as a tarnished lady who goes to the haunts of gangsters, including the notorious Jake Bellow (Irving Pichel).

Margaret Lindsay plays her half-sister, socialite Valkyr ‘Val’ Bradford, who tries to defend Arlene’s reputation, while Arlene tries to get her involved in her shady dealings. Arthur Byron plays her her wealthy San Francisco father Everett Bradford, who indulges and spoils her. Lyle Talbot plays her investment broker fiancé Spencer Carlton, whom she involves in a stolen bond racket.

Based on the crime mystery story The Five Fragments by George Dyer, this is an assembly-line Thirties gangster thriller yarn. But, oh, how easy it is to admire intensity and verve of the acting, and the pace and invention in the direction of Dieterle, who wraps it all up in just over an hour (68 minutes).

[Spoiler alert] Davis’s dynamic performance propels the movie, so it is a shame that Davis disappears so early on in the movie, around half way, because she deserves a better role, and the film dips when she exits.

Also in the cast are Donald Woods, Hugh Herbert, Robert Barrat, Henry O’Neill, Alan Hale, William Demarest, Douglass Dumbrille, Gordon Westcott, Charles C Wilson, Harold Minjir, Douglas Cosgrove, William B Davidson, George Chandler, Harry Seymour, Hal Price, Selmer Jackson, Dennis O’Keefe, Wallis Clark, Leo White, Edward Peil Sr, Eddie Shubert and Ralph Brooks.

It is well written by Robert N Lee (screenplay and adaptation) and Eugene Solow (adaptation), nicely shot in black and white by Tony Gaudio, produced by Henry Blanke and Robert Lord, scored by Leo F Forbstein, and designed by Jack Okey.

Davis looked back at this film with fondness, unusually for one of her early movies.

Fog over Frisco was remade as Spy Ship in 1942, with Craig Stevens, Irene Manning and Maris Wrixon.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6467

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