movie review for writers – Read First Chapter.com

This will be a movie review from an author’s or writer’s perspective. The name of the movie is Ladies in Retirement and it was filmed in 1941, produced by Columbia Pictures, and directed by Charles Vidor. The writers for this film or script were Garrett Fort and Reginald Denham.

I saw it on YouTube at the below link, but if it's no longer on YouTube, you can find it on JustWatch which has all the movies.

The movie starred Ida Lupino, who played the starring role as Ellen Creed. She was an English actress born in 1918 but made most of her movies in the United States. As a point of interest, she came from two generations of theater people, but she did start her own production company in the midst of the Hollywood Studio system. That was pretty daring in those years for a woman if you ask me.

The movie also starred Louis Hayward, who was married to Ida Lupino during the filming of this movie. He played Ellen Creed's long lost nephew by marriage. He played a charming, thieving, gigaglo type and he aced the part.

Another character actress who outdid herself was Isobel Elsom, who played Leonora Fiske, an old retired showgirl who was "kept" by several men of her day. I’m not an expert on acting, but in my opinion, she stole the movie. She is a great study for writers of a rich character who moves the plot along and was great comic relief as well. Between her facial expressions, the way she moved, the singing, the scoffing, the hand-waving, and lording over her handmaidens, she was a riot.

SHORT MOVIE PLOT SUMMARY - NO SPOILERS

As the story opens, we learn that Ellen Creeds' family falls on hard times and she winds up being a handmaiden of sorts to this ex-chorus girl Leonora Fiske who now owns their family home. Ellen has been reduced to a common servant. (Regina on screen)

Ellen gets a letter threatening to throw her two sisters out of their living arrangement if she cannot get them settled. At the same time, Mrs. Fiche gives Ellen an assignment to go to London to pass a note to a Lord that she knows.

Ellen manipulates a little bit and gets Mrs. Fiche to agree that her sisters can come for a few days visit. But Ellen secretly knows she will be bringing her sisters back to live there.

While she is gone, her long lost nephew shows up needing money. All of this family dysfunction falls onto Ellen's shoulders and the noir part of the movie is about what happens when the stress gets to be too much. Slide 6

So what can an author learn from watching ladies in retirement? Let’s look at the atmosphere.

Atmosphere: There are great shots that give a very gothic atmosphere, including the horse and cart ride, as well as the layout of the mansion house Leonora and Ellen live in. New authors can slide into the ‘white room syndrome’ from forgetting about giving the characters a stage and a background. This is a great movie to steal a few stills from and write up the descriptions. This exercise will build a roster of backdrops and stages in your imagination.

Scenery/Set Descriptions: You can tell that each shot in this movie was set up and framed by the director because each scene filled up the entire shot. Unlike many modern movies that go from one closeup to the next, this movie shows the actors acting across a room, interacting with each other, each one hitting their marks and interacting with props. It can help any new writer learn about giving the characters movement within the scene at the same time they are delivering their lines and moving the action forward.

Costuming/Historical Anchoring: The next area for writers to focus on is costuming and how the film was anchored in time. This particular film was anchored ‘in the olden days’ but there was not one specific time period mentioned. The long dresses, bun hairstyles, Fiona’s shawl, and the nephew’s clothing and manners were enough to anchor this film in a generic ‘olden times’. It’s important for a new author to recognize that this anchoring takes place in every scene. There are props and backdrops in every scene that are keeping this a period piece. This is important to learn for writing in general.

Acting/Character Development: The acting was very good and I go into it in a bit more detail in the video below, but the actress who stole the show was Isobel Elsom playing Lonora Fiche. From head to toe, she acted this part and she was so enjoyable.

One writer's lesson from this movie would be how the character of Leonora was made up of her costuming, her movements, her dialogue, the hairstyle, the singing, the bossing of the servants, flirting with the young nephew, the glasses – she used everything from head to toe for this character development. Now, this character may have been this great in the script, but I never saw the actual script. I just know that the actress did an amazing job at creating a fully fleshed out character for this film noir. And when you focus on her actual dialogue, it wasn't enough to create the character that she developed.

The one area that I think was lacking in the movie was the characterizations of the two sisters. The script referred to them as unsettled, but it was unclear as to whether they were just high management or had mental issues.

I know Elsa Lanchester, who played one of the sisters, is a great actress, and she could have made the character so much better, so I'm sure it wasn't an acting issue. It could have been a directorial flaw, or maybe they were limited by the time of the entire movie and decided to clip the sisters’ characters.

But as a novel writer, I saw great potential for two more great characters in the sisters. We are not limited for time the way a scriptwriter is, so the two sisters could have been fully developed and they would have enriched the story even more.

Script, Language & Dialogue: The final focus is the script, the language and dialogue. The script was very good. It was original, concise, tight, and it had a twist at the end. It seemed like an interesting drama at first but then suddenly went noir towards the end, which was unexpected.

I enjoyed the entire movie and I would watch watch this one again. I’m sure I would pick up other things on a second viewing.

RECOMMENDATIONS: If I was asked to recommend a movie to learn about tightening a writer’s scenes, and how to add movement and interest to each scene, it would be this one. The atmosphere in this movie was also a good one, especially if you write gothic, noir or historical fiction.

I would also recommend this movie just for sheer enjoyment. The plot was good enough to hold your interest the entire way. This movie was served p on my YouTube feed as a film noir but the first three quarters of the movie played like an interesting drama. It turned into a film noir as the plot moved along.

MY MOVIE REVIEW THAT COVERS A LITTLE MORE IS BELOW:

This movie was billed on YouTube as Mystery in the Wax Museum, but when I tried to get the technical information after viewing it, the proper name is Terror in the Wax Museum.

I saw this on YouTube on a Channel named Robo-Cat Productions. In case you use this link -- which is a free viewing of the movie -- it has a short clip from another movie about a wax museum with Peter Cushing in it. I believe this short clip is from an anthology movie so if you want to get to this movie, you will need to fast forward a bit.

If this movie is taken down for copyright infringement, then you can find the movie on JustWash.com.

ANOTHER BRITISH HORROR MOVIE (MADE IN AMERICA)

This movie was produced in America in 1973 by Bing Crosby, Andrew J. Fenady and Charles A. Pratt. It came around the time the Hammer Production Gothic videos were making a splash, so this one is very similar to any of the other Hammar productions.

The story was written by Andrew J Fenady and the Screenplay was by Jameson Brewer. It was directed by Georg Fenady.

QUICK PLOT SUMMARY:

There is a wax museum owned by Claude Dupree who poured his entire life into creating the museum. All of the figures were notorious murderers, including Jack the Ripper, Marie Antoinette, Lucretia Borgia and others you will recognize. Mr. Dupress has an associate named Harry Flexner who is the sculptor of the figures. Over the years, Mr. Dupree has adopted a local freak named Karkov. I won't tell you much about Karkov other than he's a typical pathetic Dickins-type figure that helps to give the movie it's gothic ambience.

Mr. Dupree meets with a New York businessman who wants to buy his figures to set it up in New York. Suddenly Mr. Dupree is killed and there are now a few suspects. There's his partner Harry Flexner who didn't want to sell. There's also Mr. Dupree's niece who shows up with her legal guardian claiming immediate ownership of the business. And there is Amos Burns who still wants to purchase the exhibit.

WHAT AN AUTHOR CAN LEARN:

This is a great film to learn about character development and a bit about comic relief. Let's focus on character development first. In the scene below, the owner of the museum is talking about how wonderful his figures are and how much Karkov is attached to them. The businessman is hurried and has no emotional attachment to the figures and sees it only as a business proposition. There are several scenes where you can learn about how one character plays off another and how they are both coming from a different place.

This scene shows the different personalities as well as motivations. The businessman is waving his business proposals and trying to hurry Mr. Dupree along. In the previous scene, Mr. Dupree demonstrates how he has to melt down a figure due to imperfections and he's already trying Burns' last nerve. Then upstairs, Dupree goes into more of a bragathon about his business. Both personalities play off of one another and the businessman is also there to give comic relief, which he does very well.

The other character who I love is Julia, the guardian. She is played by Elsa Lanchester. I've never seen her in a movie where she wasn't hysterical. Her role is not a comedy, but her manner and cadence contributes to the continual comic relief that is masterful throughout the movie. The funny moments are peppered all through the movie but the movie itself never collapses into a spoof. It maintains a serious tone all the way to the end. I applaud the actors who played these roles as they were the ones who kept it serious at the same time as delivering a funny line or two.

MOVIE VS. BOOK SCRIPTING:

This movie is a good study in the difference between scriptwriting and novel writing. For example: The singer in the movie doesn't really move the mystery along at all. She is there for sheer entertainment which every movie needs. She plays off of the businessman and there is a tiny subplot about how Karkov the creature fancies her and protects her in one scene. But her entire appearance in the movie could be handled with two lines of background information in a novel.

The longer I watch movies from a scripting and writing perspective, the more I realize that movies need more "action" in terms of things happening on the screen. So it's important to note the difference between which characters are there for sex appeal or character development or putting on a show of some kind. In this movie it was a pub song. But other movies it may be a martial artist going into a performance. Or a fight scene that is choreographed with smashing bar stools and breaking glass.

THREE OR MORE SUSPECTS:

This movie had three suspects -- I won't spoil it and tell you who they are. There was a police investigation as well as hinting at a slow-brewing romance between the young handsome police detective and the niece. This was a good movie to also learn about keeping the script/novel tight. Each scene moved the story along and there were no long acting showcases that they now do in more modern movies. All the actors delivered their lines without any melodrama which made the movie more enjoyable.

GOTHIC ATMOSPHERE

This movie also has great gothic atmosphere. You'll see the carriage and horse in at least one scene which is crucial for all gothic movies. The bar and street scenes are also classic Foggy London.

The best shot of the movie is where Karkov interacts with the beautiful singer through the grates in the sewer. Nothing says gothic like a freak from the sewer pining over a beautiful singer.

What I love about these '60s and '70s gothic movies is the stagecraft. Many of the scenes are shot outside, but you can tell they arrived early and got the lighting right, as well as bringing along all the props needed for the background and foreground to anchor the movie in the proper historical time. The direct also framed each scene and the actors moved in the scene like Broadway actors where they are acting with their whole bodies. In modern movies, it's now a series of closeup shots one another another making sure to change the scene every 20 seconds.

SPOOKY HOUSE:

For those of you who love spook house movies, the museum has bedrooms upstairs and it becomes the proverbial scary house after hours. The niece goes tiptoeing around the house holding a candle and there's a jump scare of two for those of you who like those.

LOW BUDGET WITH HIGH END RESULTS:

You can tell by looking at the movie that it was made on a low budget. However, the costuming and stagecraft didn't lack anything. The wax tableaus were great as was the scene in the basement where one of the wax figures had to be melted down.

The actor who played Karkov was amazing. His character was a mute but he acted with grunts and used his whole body for his portrayal of the wax museum creature. He did an amazing job.

Besides a little facial makeup and a hump for his back, the rest of the character was created by acting talent. It was impressive.

A special note about the singer too. She sang with very little music behind her which is not easy to do. I don't know much about her, other than her name is Shani Wallis, but my guess is that she is a seasoned stage performer.

NO REAL MORAL TALE:

There was no real moral tale in this one other than to showcase what great men the two owners of the museum were that they both took responsibility to look after Karkov who was not able to take care of himself. But the presence of that even that little bit of virtue gave the movie a moral anchor, a positive belief in humanity.

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Movie Review – Ladies in Retirement