Road House (Fox Film Noir)

That's how Cornel Wilde's Pete Morgan describes Ida Lupino's Lily Stevens, the new headliner at the rural roadhouse of the title this 1948 noir classic that is finally out on DVD. Lupino's Lily is the latest in a long line of women the road house's creepy owner, the memorably named Jefty Robbins (Richard Widmark), has wooed with short-term contracts; all of the previous ones have been disasters, but Lily turns out to be something different. For one thing, despite her self-described "small voice" (that one character describes as "the sound of gravel"), Lily turns out to be a sensation at the road house, and you see and hear why. Either despite or because of her strange tiny sound and her strange way of gulping down her words like swigs of scotch, Lupino has an amazing musicality to her, in a way that might remind viewers of such other screen icons who didn't have great voices but are also forever memorable for their way with a song (such as Dietrich or Marilyn Monroe). For another, she's Ida Lupino, and she is astonishingly sexy, skinny little figure and all. Had Bette Davis not been at Warners in the early 40s Lupino would have been their top female star. One of the greatest female figures in noir, here she is memorably paired with one of the top male figures, Richard widmark, in one of his very earliest screen appearances showing his great gift for playing detestable gigglers (when he finally gets it at the end of the film, you're really ready for it). The film also boasts terrific mise-en-scene work from Jean Negulesco, superb photography by Joseph LaShelle, and Cornel Wilde at his dreamiest. The screenplay is seriously marred by one of the stupidest plot twists ever devised for a noir when Wilde is framed by Widmark for stealing his receipts; not only is he found guilty (with absolutely no evidence other than Widmark's word), but the punishment Widmark has the judge devise is one of the most unbelievable ever devised. it takes a while for the film to get back on track again, but it does so quite memorably in the film's famous denouement, when the characters stumble after one another through a forest during a muggy and foggy dark night. The film also has one of the greatest barroom brawls ever filmed, with Wilde trying to protect Lupino from the advances of a drunk who is an absolute mountain of a man. Beware the audio commentary: although Eddie Muller's comments on noir films are always welcome, he is unfortunately paired here with Kim Morgan, who has very little insight to offer.

Sometimes something can be so spectacularly bad as to hypnotize the audience into staying with it just to see the grizzly end (such as a train wreck or say "Showgirls"), no I'm not referring to this middle of the road noir, but rather the most god-awful commentary track I've ever heard, which plagues this disk. Let's face it, Fox was a long way from being the Mount Olympus of what would later be called film noir (as evidenced by the fact that they are currently trying to sell any old movie by slapping the "noir" label on it: I'm looking at you "Daisy Kenyon"), however that being said this film is a solid entry into the genre, and boasts wonderful performances by Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark, a poorly thought out plot, some good dialogue, and cinematography that captures nothing of the noir atmosphere (no high contrast German Expressionism here, just flat greys). In short it's not bad, well worth seeing for fans of the genre, but nobody will confuse this with a classic like "Out of The Past", "Night and the City", "A Touch of Evil", or even "Kiss of Death" (with which it shares a similar Widmark performance). No the really remarkable thing about this disk is the rank commentary by Kim Morgan and Eddie Muller. I really can't do justice in words to the trite vapidity of Muller and Morgan's effort, but I'll give it a try. Muller spends the bulk of the commentary verbally drooling over Ida Lupino in such a way that crosses the line of creepiness well within the first twenty minutes, while Morgan likes to describe for us Lupino's wardrobe ad nauseum. I realize that allot of commentators fall into the trap of narrating for us that which we can plainly see, but this commentary brings it to a whole new level with insights such as "LOOK it's Ida Lupino!" or "... I forgot what I was talking about, just LOOK at Ida Lupino...", variations on this theme take up the bulk of the commentary. However when the pair do tear themselves away from Ida Lupino we get insightful theories such as "I think Richard Widmark's character is a virgin...", or "I want to name my cat Jefty.", it just has to be heard to be believed, and the realization that these people were paid actually money for their inane babbling is a terrible shock to the system.
In closing if one wishes to sample a solid but far from classic noir with a train-wreck of a commentary, this effort from Fox will make your day.
cheers.

20th Century Fox's ROAD HOUSE (1948) is not only quite a silly noir but is an implausible unmitigated bore of a movie full of unconvincing cardboard characters. Blandly written by Edward Chodorov who also produced, it is surprisingly poorly directed by Jean Negulesco who one would expect a great deal more from.

Miscast is Ida Lupino in the leading role. Lupino - a lady who was capable of exuding about as much sex appeal as a blood-orange - is here under the illusion she is Rita Hayworth playing the part of a sexy bar room torch singer. Handsome Cornel Wilde as her lover is as wooden as ever and completely wasted is the talented Celeste Holm who's role in the film is little more than a bit part. Then we have Richard Widmark who has the most ludicrously written part in the picture. When we first see him he is a nice OK guy and owner of a busy road house. Suddenly and almost without rhyme or reason he becomes insanely jealous of his manager (Wilde) who informs him he is to marry Lupino. You see Widmark intended to marry Lupino himself even though he Ahem..... never proposed to her and without telling her he also obtains a marriage license. He did all this without an intimate moment and without any of the usual courtship trappings whatsoever between them. They don't even have a love scene together in the movie. So how he was to achieve wedded bliss with Miss Lupino is anybody's guess. But when Widmark's character goes to pieces over the situation I'm afraid so also does the movie. His losing his marbles so quickly in the proceedings is simply just not convincing. The picture ends with him becoming totally deranged and with a few Tommy Udo sniggers he laughably goes gunning for poor Cornel Wilde before he himself bites the dust. And if all that isn't enough of a mess of a film - the movie is also marred with the constant use of studio sets and indoor exteriors. There is not a single outdoor shot in the entire movie! Added to this - 95% of the picture takes place at night.

Besides an interactive press book and a photo gallery the extras also includes a featurette "Widmark & Lupino At Fox". Hosted by such heavy hitter know-alls as Robert Osborne, Eddie Muller, Rudy Belhmar and a few
others who amazingly heap praise on this turgid affair. All I can say then is I guess it must be me but ROAD HOUSE up to now was a forgotten and buried film noir and as far as I am concerned it should have remained so.

Fox would do better if they issued DVDs of superior Widmark movies the likes of "Down To The Sea In Ships" (1949) and the colourful "Red Skies Of Montana" (1952). Huh?

"Road House" (20th Century Fox, 1948)

Although Cornel Wilde had top billing, Richard Widmark steals the show as a twisted man driven mad with jealousy -- so mad that he frames his best friend in order to keep him from getting away with "the girl". She, of course, is an ice-cool Ida Lupino, in one of her best acting roles as Lily Stevens, a world-weary nightclub singer who comes between two friends, even though she initially resists both their advances. Although the film moves slowly, it has plenty of atmosphere and some tart dialogue, made even better by the laconic, offhand delivery. Lupino's character, especially, is one of the best cynics ever onscreen -- and she sings a lot, too! This was only Widmark's third feature film, and he's the one to watch, as he works his way up to some serious scenery chewing at the end. Although he became a familiar, frequently typecast character actor in the 1950s, it's fun to see him here in his fresh-faced youth. Both he and Lupino had a remarkable modernity to their work; in this film he reminded me quite a bit of Steve Buscemi, while Lupino is in a league all her own. Definitely worth checking out, particularly if you're an Ida Lupino fan. (Joe Sixpack)

This is by far one of Ida Lupino's finest films. She looks terrific and she sings too. This is one actor and director who is sadly missed.