Tonight's Movie: The Man Who Dared (1939) - A Warner Archive DVD Review
THE MAN WHO DARED is a remake of an earlier Warner Bros. film, THE STAR WITNESS (1931), which starred Walter Huston. Both films were based on a story by Lucien Hubbard (billed Lucian here). The screenplay for this version was by Lee Katz.
Crusading anti-corruption investigator Mac McCrary (Emmett Vogan) and his wife (Grace Stafford) are killed by a car bomb planted by crooked cops (headed by John Gallaudet) who help bad elements control the city.
Members of the Carter family next door notice men with flashlights in their neighbors' garage just before the explosion; afterwards the men threaten the family with harm if they cooperate with the police.
Matthew (Henry O'Neill), the father, makes an identification anyway, which results in him being beaten within an inch of his life; later young Bill (Dickie Jones) is kidnapped to ensure the silence of the rest of the family, including Marge (Jane Bryan) and their grandfather Ulysses (Charley Grapewin). When Ulysses is kidnapped himself, he manages to set off a fire alarm and escape, ultimately leading the charge to rescue his grandson and then identify the criminals.
The story sounds more exciting than it plays; it's only a so-so film, with the crooks doing one bad thing after another. Good and bad characters alike are all played pretty flatly, except for Grandpa, who spends a lot of time yelling.
The most exciting sequence in the film is the bombing, but after that interest tapers off. It's only an hour long so it doesn't really have time to wear out its welcome, but it could have been quite a bit more interesting than it proved to be.A plus for those of us who like that sort of thing is that there are lots of good shots of the city streets on the Warner Bros. backlot!
Charley Grapewin was best known for playing Uncle Henry in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) that same year. It's rather amazing to think he was born just a handful of years after the end of the Civil War, in 1869.
Other members of the Carter family are played by Elisabeth Risdon, Johnny Russell, and James McCallion.
THE MAN WHO DARED was directed by Crane Wilbur and filmed by Arthur L. Todd.THE MAN WHO DARED was released by the Warner Archive last fall. Although this particular film wasn't especially exciting, I miss relatively rare "B" titles of this type being released by the Warner Archive on DVD, as they're currently more focused on Blu-rays and DVD reissues. I hope at some point we'll see them resume adding lesser-known movies such as this one to the release schedule.
The DVD print and sound quality are both quite good. There are no extras on the disc.
Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Store at Amazon or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.
posted by Laura @ 9:00 PM
8 Comments:
I have seen The Silent Witness but wasn't aware of The Man Who Dared. It is always interesting to compare these re-dos, and Warners was quite prolific in the area. Almost as good as RKO at turning an O'Brien into a Holt.
Yes! It's funny because these days I'm generally against remakes -- perhaps because there are relatively few "new" pictures, among other things -- but I really enjoy WB remakes and the way they would turn an "A" into a "B" in just a handful of years.
This one might not have been super exciting but I'm always up to try a WB -- or RKO -- "B" film. :)
Best wishes,
Laura
An earlier film with Preston Foster and the same title depicted the rise and assassination of Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago. In these violent, insane times, well worth reviewing and seeing; Cermak was killed by chance, the target was FDR seated next to hm in an open car.
As a Preston Foster fan, I need to look into that movie; I'm unfamiliar with it. Thanks for that interesting info, Barrylane.
Best wishes,
Laura
Grace Stafford had a pair of fascinating connections: Her first husband, cowboy star Tom Keene, her second, Walter Lantz, creator of Woody Woodpecker, and Grace did Woody's voice.
I did not know that about Grace Stafford! An unfamiliar name, but I surely know the work of both of her husbands! Thank you so much for adding that background, which makes the Foster film even more intriguing.
Best wishes,
Laura
Stafford is in the Jane Bryan-- Charley Grapewin version.
Oh, of course! She was the wife who meets an unfortunate end. I was so focused on the Foster film that it slipped my mind since I was previously unfamiliar with her. Thanks again!
Best wishes,
Laura
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