![]() On-screen credit goes to George Barnes, an eight-time nominee and winner for Alfred Hitchcock’s American debut Rebecca (1940). Allison (1957).Īlso somewhat in dispute is the question of who actually shot The Unholy Garden. But it is possible they passed it off to one or more subordinates some sources claim it was written by John Lee Mahin, a friend and frequent collaborator of director Victor Fleming and an Academy Award nominee for Captains Courageous (1937) and Heaven Knows, Mr. Since Hecht (along with several others) but not MacArthur is listed as the writer of the famous Howard Hawks gangster film, the reason seems disputable. The famed scriptwriting team of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur gets credit for the screenplay, but according to modern sources, they “consigned” the actually writing of the story they developed to other unnamed writers so that they could go to work on the script for Scarface (1932). TCMDB talks about the film’s mysterious origins, including several disputed credits:.All of my images are taken by me– please feel free to reuse with credit! It’s missing something maybe a tinge of pessimism– or is it realism?– to ground the movie, but what’s here is still a fair bit of fun. But the film’s sumptuous cinematography and Wray’s role as the eager innocent give the film a Morocco-vibe, like Josef von Sternberg glitzed up for the general paying customers. That sweetness kind of underwhelms the sharper edges of the story– there’s no real danger, even if it is fun to watch Colman play the thieves off of one another. Where Safe is brutal, Unholy is romantic and kind of sweet. Where the protagonist of Safe is preyed upon, there’s little doubt at all during Unholy Garden that Colman could be half as selfish as he’s purported to be. But the similarities, other than some nice cinematography end there. There’s also Warren Hymer as Coman’s confidant, Smiley, and Estelle Taylor in a fun role as a woman out to seduce Colman’s thief and take him to the police– though she’s not averse to distractions.Īnyone who’s seen William Wellman’s Safe in Hell may immediately draw connections– a band of degenerates in a disgusting remote hotel outside of the bounds of law where they prey on the weak. Wray plays Camille, though it may as well be Eve, as the daughter of the embezzler who has grown up in this dessert hellhole. The group of killers and thugs who normally reside there have discovered one of the other guests had secreted away a fortune, and Colman enlists himself to do the work a bit more gracefully than they could. Set in a dilapidated palace turned hotel in the distant reaches of French Algiers, The Unholy Garden has Ronald Colman enter the seedy surroundings as the only gentleman alive. The Unholy Garden is an interesting diversion from the typical criminal escapades with a nastier edge and fresher setting. A staple of the pre-Code era if it wasn’t William Powell passing out special cigarettes, then it must be Ronald Colman grinning with a twinkle in his eye. He’ll come back with the old man’s underwear!”Īh, the gentleman thief. He even keeps the skull of his third wife around to store tobacco in! One of the fugitives is a doctor who has been through a number of wives.“This hasn’t happened to me since I was 15 and comparatively innocent!”. ![]() “He keeps that gal under his blanket– I thought she was a hot water bottle!”.There’s also a girl who goes between beds as the clients please. The main action takes place in a desert oasis full of scumbuckets.Released by Samuel Goldwyn | Directed by George Fitzmaurice
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