Take a Detour With Edgar Ulmer
Tomorrow is a day for which I have waited for excitement ever since Keith Larsen first told me about it - The Edgar G. Ulmer festival on
TCM.
Below is the schedule, with comments yours truly. All times Eastern.
Edgar Ulmer (1904-1972) was a great director who didn't get a whole lot of love in his long career, but stuck it out and managed to
make about 50 features, many to most of which have some sort of lasting value. He started as an assistant to F. W. Murnau at UFA
and directed his first film in 1930. In 1934 he was wooed to Hollywood where he made The Black Cat (1934), the most outwardly
expressionistic and sadistic of the classic Universal Horror films. But he also ran away with the wife of a major studio head, effectively
banishing himself from Hollywood forever.
Ulmer went to New York to make films on Poverty Row - Yiddish films, all-black cast films and any work he could get. For about
$3000 he made the film Detour in 1945, a hard-boiled melodrama that wound up on most critics' Top 10 lists by the end of 1945.
including James Agee's, who wrote two glowing essays on the film. It remains one of my personal favorite films and was the basis
of one of my best rock songs, "Detour," written in 1985 with Dan Williams for 11,000 Switches. Ulmer kept directing until the 1960s.
17 Friday
6:00 AM
Goodbye, Mr. Germ (1940) A scientist uses his new "Germ Radio" to learn the secrets of tuberculosis. Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 14m.
This is an educational short of the kind Ulmer turned out by the dozens. Many are lost, but this one is a rare survivor.
6:30 AM
Moon Over Harlem (1939) A gangster seduces a wealthy widow to get his hands on her money. Percy "Bud" Harris, Cora Green, Ozinetta Wilcox. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 69m.
8:00 AM
Jive Junction (1944) A classical music student defies his teachers to organize an all-girl swing band. Dickie Moore, Tina Thayer, Gerra Young. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 62m.
These are both all black cast films. Hopefully they are better than "Broken Strings" (1940).
9:30 AM
Bluebeard (1944) A 19th-century Parisian puppeteer is killing the young women he employs. John Carradine, Jean Parker, Nils Asther. D: Edgar G. Ulmer BW 70m.
I saw a bit of this one not long ago - it looks great. Made for PRC, but looks like a million dollars.
10:45 AM
The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) A gangster on the lam hooks up with a scientist who can make him invisible. Marguerite Chapman, Douglas Kennedy, Jonathan Ledford. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 57m. LBX
11:45 AM
The Singing Blacksmith (1938) A young blacksmith is tempted to stray from his marriage vows. Moishe Oyesher, Miriam Riselle, Florence Weiss. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 107m.
1:30 PM
American Matchmaker (1940) After eight fiancies leave him, a man decides to learn how to make the perfect match. Leo Fuchs, Judith Abarbanel, Judel Dubinsky. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. 87m.
These are Yiddish movies.
3:15 PM
St. Benny the Dip (1951) Three con men masquerading as priests end up taking the charade seriously. Dick Haymes, Nina Foch, Roland Young. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 80m.
I've heard about this one. Supposedly Dick Haymes was never more convincing than in this, where he plays a jerk. I understand that Dick WAS a jerk.
4:45 PM
Monsoon (1943) A team of pearl fishers clashes over the discovery of a sunken treasure. John Carradine, Gale Sondergaard, Sidney Toler. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 74m.
I love Gale Sondergaard. She was later ruined in the so-called "Red Scare."
6:15 PM
The Strange Woman (1946) An unscrupulous 19th-century woman will stop at nothing to control the men in her life. Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 99m.
Hedy Lamarr and George Sanders? Camp Queen vs. super-intelligent, egocentric hater of everything human? Now how can you miss this?
8:00 PM
The Black Cat (1934) A Satanist faces off with the vengeful man whose wife and daughter he has stolen. Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, David Manners. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 65m.
9:30 PM
Detour (1945) A hitchhiker takes on a dead man's identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman. Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 68m.
Ulmer's two masterstrokes - catch one or the other of these if you see nothing else.
11:00 PM
Tomorrow We Live (1942) A master criminal uses mind control to force an ex-con to commit crimes. William Marshall, Emmett Lynn, Ray Miller. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 63m.
12:30 AM
Strange Illusion (1945) A young man's efforts to investigate his father's death and stop his mother from re-marrying land him in an insane asylum. Jimmy Lydon, Warren William, Sally Eilers. D: Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 85m.
2:00 AM
Green Fields (1937) When he leaves school to learn about the world, a young man gets caught between feuding farmers. Michael Goldstein, Helen Beverly, Herschel Bernardi. D: Jacob Ben-Ami, Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 99m.
4:00 AM
The Light Ahead (1939) In 19th-century Russia, two young lovers are assisted by an old bookseller. David Opatoshu, Helen Beverly, Isidore Cashier. D: Henry Felt, Edgar G. Ulmer. BW 95m.
The last two are back to the Lower East Side. The first two I don't know but they look interesting.
My radio show went great this morning. Thanks to all who listened, and to those who didn't but wanted to.
Hey! I finally get to meet Kristina Wong in person this Saturday! I'm going to Chicago to catch her performance. Will report on how
it goes.
Uncle Dave Lewis
uncledavelewis@hotmail.com