Of Wellman Films, Lingerie & Centipedes?

TCM's Spotlight is on director William A. Wellman this month and boy have there have been some fabulous films!

I turned it on the other night in the middle of The Purchase Price, in which Barbara Stanwick plays a mail order bride to a poor, frustrated farmer. The first night he, with great emphasis on 'frustrated', makes a move assuming she's a sure thing. But Stanwyck slaps him hard, setting up the romantic-tension plot. He had previously arranged a great party to celebrate with the neighbors his newlywed status -- a party which is so strange it prompted the following post at IMDB:

The film does a grave disservice to the good people of North Dakota, making them appear, almost without exception, as drunken louts, imbeciles or scoundrels. Was this really necessary?

Necessary? Maybe not; but it is a hoot.

Of course by this time, Stanwyck is willing to give him not only a chance, but the chance, and so as a hint, she lays out a lovely nightgown on the bed for him to see. The gown is draped there, in all its glory, and of course I swoon over its glorious 1930's style and gorgeous lace. He, naturally, is too thick to get the hint (or the movie would end too quickly), but this is not my point -- quite. Just hang in there with me...

Here's a photo taken from the movie, in which you can see part of the gown:

It was a scene shown before I turned the film on, but it looks like the gown she had draped on the bed -- and I'm guessing this is right before she slapped him for his advances.

Eventually the couple finds their way, though I personally don't find the farmer much of a romantic lead -- nor George Brent much of an actor. Anyway, the film ends & the host chats with Wellman's son. I'm intrigued enough to watch the next film.

This film is Safe In Hell, and it's a terrific film. Made before The Motion Picture Production Code was really in effect, Safe in Hell is an excellent example of films made at that time.

The story revolves around a woman -- and such a role it is! In it Dorothy Mackaill plays Gilda, a woman who while waiting for a man at sea ends up being seduced and tricked by a married man. He's lied about it, and she finds out when the wife catches them -- and then the wife ruins her reputation. So she's nothing left to do but turn to prostitution.

The film begins with a call from her Madam, telling her where to meet a client -- a client who turns out to be that very same married man. She tells him he's the only man she draws the line at, a fight ensues and she throws something at him, knocking him unconscious. Then a fire breaks out as she dashes from the joint.

She awakens the next morning to a call from the Madam, telling her the whole placed had burned to the ground, that the man was dead, and that the bellboy had rated her out so Gilda had better lay low for awhile. Gilda is in the middle of packing when the old boyfriend returns from sea.

He doesn't know her past, but he's willing to help. He knows of an 'island in the Caribbean' where they have no extradition -- he'll sneak her onto the ship and get her there, where she'll be safe.

When they arrive at the only hotel on the island, she quickly discovers she's not just the only white woman in the hotel, but the only white woman on the whole island. The male residents, all criminals hiding out themselves, spot her and leer. The leering is so comical -- one silly, exaggerated face after another -- that I was laughing out loud and hubby had to come see what I was laughing at.

Well, the sailor must get back to the ship, but first they want to get married. They ask where a church is and the 'colored boy' tells them to take a carriage as the hills are thick with centipedes this time of year. (Hubby then tells me about the centipedes that are over a foot long and hang from their hind legs in caves so they can catch and eat bats -- and now I'm convinced the hills on this nameless, generic Caribbean island are actually made of centipedes... So I was distracted for a few minutes & then banished him from the room.)

Anyway, they create their own wedding ceremony, and she promises to stay in her room and be a good girl until he returns. She does so for many days. We see her playing solitaire & lounging about her room... Including one time in this stunning nightgown which is not only beautiful, but I swear to you it's the same gown from The Purchase Price! I, your lingerie lover, insist it was the same gown! I squealed to hubby, "Oh my gawd, I just saw that gown 45 minutes ago!" And he's all like, "They re-use props, you know." Which made me so sad -- lingerie reduced to a prop?! :sigh:

Gilda does her best to stay in her room; but obviously, this is difficult. It's hot, she's bored and to make matters worse, the law on the island is one shifty character who won't extradite but will hang or send folks to his prison work camps which are rumored to be so bad, the regulars at the hotel debate which is worse: death or the camp? Hence the movie title, as they are safe in hell.

And yes, the smarmy law has eyes for Gilda.

He makes sure none of sailor boy's letters get to Gilda, keeping them himself, forcing Gilda to feel alone and abandoned. Eventually, she leaves her room and parties with the men from the hotel. Just one night, and she feels horrible even if she didn't have any sex. So she returns to her promise to stay in her room -- staring out to see, looking for sailor boy's ship to return.

One day, after checking at the dock for mail (ever hopeful!) she discovers that the married man she thought she'd killed is alive -- alive and hiding out, from the insurance fraud of his own death, on the island. She's over-joyed, realizing she can return home. But the man ruins her reputation, painting her as anything but a lady.

The tensions mount, especially as the island law-man knows she's due to leave. So he sets her up, giving her a gun to protect herself from the back-form-the-dead married guy, telling her that guns are against the law but he's her friend so it will be OK. She refuses, but he insists, so she takes the gun to get him out of there and starts packing for her return to the states.

But of course, the married guy enters her room, locks the door and tries, once again, to take advantage of her. This time she does kill him for real. But she's nowhere to escape to.

One of the criminal-hotel-residents is a lawyer and he defends her, trying to have her escape the hangman's noose. It looks like she will be spared...

But as she awaits the jury's decision in a small room, the local law (and hangman) confronts her. He tells her that even should she be found innocent of the murder, there's to be yet another trial over her illegal possession of a gun -- and then it hits her. He's set her up just to get her in his prison where she'll be his sex slave.

She runs from the room and throws herself at the judge, confessing that she killed the man in cold blood, that he never attacked her, that she shot him in the back. Then she turns to the smarmy law man and says, "The only way you'll touch me is when you put that rope around my neck!"

She's given a brief, escorted, visit back to her room at the hotel to pack her things when who is arriving to see her? Yup, sailor boy. She lies to him, tells him she'll meet him back in the states where they will live a life of happiness and virtue, then when he leaves, asks the lawyer to let him know the truth when it's done.

There's this wonderful scene where it's just Gilda and the smarmy law man. He's looking at her, and Gilda's beautiful, exposed neck is highlighted... Tears are on his face as he realizes what he's losing, what he's done...

Then she strides off to her execution, the law man trailing behind her.

Mackaill is absolutely wonderful in this juicy role, and while the ending, "bad girl gets hers", seems very much the morality of a film made during the code years, you have to remember that the real power in this story is that of Gilda's choice to be a good girl, no matter what it costs her. It's much more reminiscent of film noir in its gloomy, doomed stance, and a joy to watch.