Anatole Litvak
(Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi | Legal restrictions - Termini d'uso )

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Nato in Ucraina, Anatola Litvak si trasferi' in Germania nel 29, dove lavoro' per l'UFA, e poi in Francia, dove diresse Mayerling (1936), un melodramma storico. Nel 1937 emigro' negli USA, dove scopri' il filone "nero".

Tovarich (1937) is a farce in which Russian nobles flee the revolution, entrusted with a fortune. They want to save the money for their homeland, but are penniless. So they take jobs in Paris as servants for a wealthy couple. When the couple throw a party, one of the guests, a Russia, recognizes the royal couple. The French couple doesn't know what to do with the royal refugees. The Russian official want them to return the money to the Soviet Union. The woman eventually decides that it is the right thing to do, because it will help the Russian people even under a different regime. The royal couple remains at the service of the French family.

In The Sisters (1938) three western girls make unhappy marriages at the turn of the century.

Amazing Dr Clitterhouse (1938) is a reverse thriller in which we know from the very beginning "who's done it". The ending (the trial) is a farce, though. A strange hybrid.

Robinson e' un dottore e chirurgo freddo e calcolatore, molto amico di un ispettore di polizia, e si trova sul luogo di una rapina spettacolare, la quarta della serie. In ospedale una sua infermiera scopre che la refurtiva si trova proprio nella sua borsa di lavoro e Robinson non esita a confessarle di essere il ladro. Sempre freddo e impassibile, spiega di avere un interesse professionale a scoprire gli effetti psicologici del crimine e che il modo migliore di farlo e' di diventare egli stesso un criminale.
Avvantaggiato dalle confidenze dell'ispettore, Clitterhouse diventa un fuoriclasse. L'ispettore stesso gli fornisce il nome di un celebre ricettatore. Clitterhouse lo cerca e scopre che si tratta di un'avvenente bionda. Forte dei suoi successi, Clitterhouse convince il famigerato ricercato Rocks (Humphrey Bogart), che vive con la donna, ad allearsi con lui: in cambio del suo aiuto Clitterhouse chiede soltanto che tutti imembri della banda si sottopongano ad un test medico prima e dopo i colpi. Rocks diventa pero' presto geloso del dottore e durante un colpo tenta di farlo morire. Il dottore viene salvato da uno della banda, ma decide che e' ora di mettere fine all'esperimento, anche perche' si sta innamorando della donna. Ma Rocks e' deciso a vendicarsi dell'umiliazione: scopre dove abita e che e' un famoso dottore, e minaccia di ricattarlo di fronte alla donna. Il dottore lo droga e poi, con la complicita` della donna, lo getta nel fiume, entusiasta di poter finalmente studiare gli effetti del crimine per eccellenza: l'omicidio.
Questa volta, pero', la polizia lo smaschera. Clitterhouse confessa la ragione del suo agire, viene processato, ma la giuria non riesce a decidere se l'imputato sia o meno pazzo. Lui sostiene di essere perfettamente sano (il che gli costerebbe la vita) e per tale ragione la giuria alla fine lo dichiara pazzo.
(E` un mistero perche' l'infermiera, estranea ai furti, abbia mantenuto il silenzio durante tutto il tempo).

Confession of a Nazi Spy (1939) is a boring anti-nazi propaganda vehicle.

The film is narrated as if it were the reportage of a real story. For about 45 minutes it deals only with the network of spies that a few nazi fanatics are trying to create in the USA. Then the arrest of one of them starts an investigation, led by Edward Robinson. He traps the nazis one by one. The most coward is the ring leader, a doctor who does not hesitate to betray his own comrades in order to gain immunity and is ready to elope with a young woman and abandon his faithful wife, but is captured by Gestapo agents. The Germans strike back by kidnapping and intimidating the witnesses before the trial. But justice prevails.

Dopo il pugilistico City for Conquest (1940), con Cagney, il melodramma All This and Heaven Too, con Bette Davis nei panni di un'istitutrice che provoca una crisi fra due coniugi che si conclude con l'uxoricidio e il suicidio del marito.

Nel 1800, Bette Davis e' un'insegnante di francese che, appena iniziato ad insegnare in un collegio femminile, viene accolta con scherno dalle allieve, che hanno scoperto il suo torbido passato. Decisa a farsi rispettare, racconta la sua storia.
Arrivo' a Parigi come governante inglese; sul traghetto ha conosciuto un aspirante pastore americano. I padroni della casa in cui lavora litigano sempre e hanno quattro figli: tre ragazze e un bambino. La nuova governante viene accolta con cortesia dal marito, con gelosia dalla moglie. Il marito la prende in grande simpatia e si fida ciecamente di lei, molto piu' che della isterica e antipatica moglie. Quando il bambino si ammala gravemente per un'imprudenza della madre, la crisi diventa totale. davis prova a diventare amica della moglie, ma la gelosia di quest'ultima aumenta al punto di costringere il marito a non vederla piu' e a piazzargli un valletto come spia. Lui non puo' ribellarsi perche' dipende dal denaro del suocero. La madre non e' amata neppure dai suoi bambini, che invece adorano la governante. Quando lei, incapace di sopportare oltre di essere la causa della crisi familiare, decide di andarsene, al marito e ai figli si spezza il cuore. La moglie la odia ancora di piu' e la perseguita ancora, godendo del suo dolore e del dolore del marito. Quando il marito lo scopre, la strangola. Dell'omicidio vengono subito sospettati il marito e l'ex-governante, che vengono arrestati. In prigione va a trovarla il pastore americano che aveva conosciuto sul traghetto. Mentre Davis viene interrogata al processo, l'omicida si avvelena. Prima che muoia fanno in tempo a scambiarsi ancora uno sguardo. Lei viene rimessa in liberta' e il pastore le procura il posto in quella scuola.
A quel punto l'insegnante si rivolge alle allieve e chiede loro di finire la storia: la abbracciano piangendo. Il pastore le offrira' il matrimonio.

Castle on the Hudson (1940), a remake of Curtiz's 20000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), is an odd hybrid of gangster film and prison drama.

Tommy is a dangerous gangster who just pulled out another robbery. He is confident he will get away again, as usual. He takes his girl to an expensive restaurant, but the police show up with an arrest warrant for him. Still confident his attorney will sort out things, Tommy tells her that he will be back soon. Instead this time the trial takes place and the jury finds him guilty. Even on his way to the penitentiary, Tommy still exudes confidence that this will be little more than a holiday for him. Instead, his attorney fails to impress or bribe the warden, and Tommy is dumped in a cell like everybody else. Tommy tries to resist the rules, but solitary confinement eventually breaks his will. Tommy lives only for his girlfriend Kay, who comes to visit him frequently, hoping that his attorney will eventually get him out of there. But his attorney is instead flirting with his girlfriend. One day the warden tells Tommy that Kay was in a car accident and is dying at the hospital. The warden let Tommy go to see her for a day, and Tommy gives him his word of honor that he will be back by night. What the warden doesn't know is that the girl hurt herself when she jumped out of the attorney's car, and the reason Kay jumped out of it is that the attorney was molesting her. Tommy finds out when he talks to her, and is determined to take his revenge. When the attorney walks in, they fight it out. Tommy is about to succumb when Kay pulls out a gun and kills the attorney. Kay tells Tommy to run and tries in vain to convince the police that she is the one who pulled the trigger: the evidence points to an escape convict who, in a fit of rage, killed his attorney. Now the warden is ridiculed for trusting a convict and is ready to resign, but Tommy sticks to his word and comes back, even if he knows that this means the electric chair.

Il pacifista This Above All con Power nei panni di un soldato che non vuole piu' combattere benche' sia coraggioso, Litvak diresse due capolavori psicologici:

Out of The Fog (1941), from Irwin Shaw's play "The Gentle People", is some sort of Brecht-ian allegory about a peaceful community that has to resort to violence in order to defend itself from violence.

A gangster sets fire to a boat at the harbor. As the whole town rushes to the scene of the crime, he stays inside a saloon and chats with two fishermen who are about to go out on a fishing trip. He then witnesses an argument between one of the fishermen's restless daughter, Stella, and her good boyfriend George. Later, Goff asks the fishermen for protection money or their boat will be next. At the same time, Goff starts seeing Stella, and does not hide his real business and the identity of his new victims. The two fishermen find the guts to turn Goff in to the police, but Goff outsmarts them at the trial. Then Goff goes back to terrorize them. He beats Stella's father, at the same time that he is planning to take her to Cuba with him. The fishermen decide to pay the "protection money" and realize that everybody else in town is doing the same. But it is just a trick: they want him to trust them and get into the boat with them, so they can dispose of him. They don't have the heart of carrying out their plan, but the gangster falls in the waters anyway and dies. The fishermen think they solved all their problems, but, instead, George and Stella get accused of plotting the murder: he is the obvious suspect since he was jealous and had just been beaten by Goff, and Stella is also a suspect because of Goff's persecution of her father. But the police cannot prove their suspicions. The two fishermen found Goff's wallet and keep the money.

Sorry Wrong Number (1948): Stanwych e' una donna nevrotica che passa la vita coricata nel letto del suo lussuoso appartamento; Lancaster, suo marito, e' ricattato dai gangster che lo incitano ad uccidere la malata per riscuotere l'assicurazione. Quando lui cede, lei ascolta per caso la conversazione telefonica, e' presa dal panico e, potendo comunicare soltanto con il telefono, prova a telefonare un po' a tutti, ma nessuno l'aiuta. Il marito si pente e accorre per proteggerla, ma lei e' gia' stata strangolata.
Litvak e' maestro nel costruire il senso di prigionia, di paura e di impotenza, soprattutto grazie ai dettagli sonori.

A masterful film noir and clockwork-like thriller featuring multiple flashbacks with multiple narrators (and even a flashback by one person within a flashback by another person), Sorry Wrong Number (1948), adapted from Lucille Fletcher's radio play, is also a multi-tier metaphor: a narrative metaphor of the telephone as a medium to connect strangers (not only the protagonist and the killer, but also the protagonist and the telephone operators), a metaphor of visual and audio icons that project a sense of fear and impotence, a metaphor of the person trapped inside a house, etc. Litvak creates a drama out of the fundamental property of the telephone: one can hear what the voice is saying, but one cannot see what that person is doing and what is going on around that person.

Leona (Barbara Stanwyck) is a spoiled housewife who spends her day in bed, waiting for her hard-working husband Henry to return home from the office. One day she calls the office number and an interference allows her to overhear a conversation between two people who are plotting the murder of a woman later that evening when a train will pass by. She knows that an innocent is about to be murdered and what time the murder is going to be committed, but can't convince the telephone operator or the police operator to do something about it: either it is not their duty, or the information she provides is too vague. Leona's father calls, looking for her husband. He pretends to be lonely, but instead we see that he is having a wild party. The phone rings: a man named Waldo is frantically looking for Henry. Leona calls her husband's assistant, Elizabeth, and learns that Henry had a lunch date with a young woman, Sally, apparently an old acquaitance (first flashback) and didn't come back to the office after that. Leona tracks down Sally's phone number. While she waits for her to come to the phone, she can hear Sally's husband typing on the typewriter and talking about her husband Henry. Sally is disturbed by the phone call, and seems afraid of discussing Henry in front of her husband, so she tells Leona that she cannot talk and that she will call back. As she hangs up, Leona remembers how she met Henry at a dancehall (second flashback, and first scene with Henry). The young and handsome Henry was dancing with his girlfriend Sally. She (Leona), a friend of Sally, rudely interrupted them and, introducing herself as the heiress she is, asked to dance with Henry, and then invited him for a ride in her new car. He was a drug-store clerk, while she was the daughter of the owner of a drug company. Spoiled, arrogant and used to get what she wants, she (or her wealth) ignored the pleas of her friend Sally (who was in love with Henry), seduced the young man and married him. During the honeymoon, Leona found a photo of Sally in Henry's wallet and tore it apart.
Sally calls from a phone booth and tells Leona that her husband is investigating Henry. Sally describes what happened (third flashback). One day she and her husband Fred, a lawyer, saw an article in the newspaper about Henry being vice-president of the drug-store chain and Leona being afflicted by an illness. That's when her husband told her that he was investigating Henry. Sally secretely followed her husband to figure out what was happening. She realized that they were marking some money to be delivered to a friend of Henry's named Waldo. Sally couldn't make sense of the whole thing but decided to tell Henry (fourth flashback). They met for lunch but Henry was called to a phone booth and never came back. Sally is running out of money from the phone booth and simply tells Leona that Henry and this Waldo are in deep trouble. Someone rings the bell of Leona's house but then disappears. Leona is going crazy. Sally calls back from a station but the noise of a train and the sight of her own husband waiting for the trail disturb their conversation. The phone rings again: a telegram for her, from Henry, saying that he won't be coming home because he suddenly remembered a convention somewhere. Leona, desperate, calls her doctor. The doctor mentions the letter he sent her: she never received any letter. The doctor then tells her what he discussed with her husband (fifth flashback). The doctor asked Henry when he first noticed Leona's illness. Henry recalls (sixth flashback, and flashback within a flashback) how they had their first argument when he wanted to meet a businessman and she didn't want him to: she became hysterical and then fainted, after screaming that it was the first time in her life that she couldn't get what she wanted. When he came home, her father told him that basically he had to be her slave. The next time she had an attack was when they argued over an apartment: Henry wanted a place of their own, but she wanted to keep living in her father's mansion. As Henry finished telling his story, the doctor told him that there was nothing wrong with Leona's heart. Her (somewhat convenient) attacks were due to a psychological, not physiological, condition. In other words, she's a spoiled brat who feigns heart attacks when she can't get what she wants. She is perfectly healthy. We see that Henry got extremely angry at the news (end of the fifth flashback). Now the doctor is telling Leona the same thing, adding that he wrote her a letter than she never received. Leona hangs up hysterical. The phone rings again. It is Waldo again, with a message for Henry: the house burned down, Morano has been arrested, and he (Waldo) escaped safely. She begs Waldo to tell her what is going on. Waldo tells her (seventh flashback) that he is a chemist who has worked for 15 years for Leona's father. Henry convinced him to steal drugs from the company and sell them through a gangster named Morano. The house that burned is the house where they used to carry out the transactions with Morano. Henry and Waldo tried to cheat Morano too, but Morano found out. Morano demanded money and suggested that Henry kill his Leona, making it look like his sick wife died of natural causes, to cash her insurance money. But now (even of seventh flashback) Morano has been arrested by the police (probably because of Fred's investigations in Henry's wrongdoings) and therefore there is no need to pay the money anymore (which also means that there is no need to kill Leona). Waldo leaves a phone number for Henry. Leona can't resist and tries it: it is the phone number of the morgue. Leona is more and more terrified.
She looks terrified at the clock. It is almost the time when the murder is supposed to be committed. Now she is beginning to realize that the murder she overheard about could be hers, and that she may only have five minutes to live. She hears someone walking into the house. The phone rings again: it is Henry, who had second thoughts and wants to warn her. Henry begs her to get out of bed and go to the window to scream for help. But she cries that she can't walk because of her illness. We hear the noise of the train that is coming: the murder is planned for that very moment. Henry frantically tries to convince her to get out of bed, but she just can't. We see the shadow of the killer as he approaches her bed and then his hand as he neatly hangs up the phone. The phone rings again: it is a desperate Henry calling Leona. The killer picks it up and replies "sorry, wrong number". We can see that someone has opened the phone booth behind Henry, probably the police officer who is about to arrest him.

Snake Pit (1948): una giovane malata di mente viene ricoverata in un tetro ospedale psichiatrico; rinchiusa nel reparto delle pazze furiose, viene curata a base di elettro-shock e droghe; un dottore capisce che alla base di tuttto c'e' il complesso di colpa per la morte di un amico, e la guarisce a forza di conversazione.

Litvak adotta uno stile di regia sensazionalista, indulgendo in scene brutali e melodrammatiche e narrando la storia dal punto di vista della paziente (pertanto con anomalie di inquadratura e di colonna sonora).

Decision Before Dawn (1951): un agente tedesco al servizio degli alleati viene paracadutato con i soldati americani sulla francia e salva i compagni riconoscendo una spia tedesca, ma viene ucciso.

Anastasia (1956): Brinner approfitta di una giovane russa (Bergman) affetta da un'amnesia per montare una gigantesca truffa e farla passare per la figlia dell'ultimo Zar; dopo essere passata agli esami piu' difficili, sta per trionfare, ma Brinner se ne e' innamorato e rinuncia a tutto pur di averla per se'.

Seguono melodrammi commerciali:

Aimez_vous Brahms (1961): Bergman e' contesa fra l'egoista e donnaiolo fidanzato Montand e un giovane romantico musicista (A. Hopkins).

Night of the Generals (1967): durante l'occupazione nazista tre donne vengono uccise in circostanze misteriose e il colpevole si scopre essere un generale tedesco che si suicida.

Act of Love (1953): soldato americano e ragazza francese si amano, ma lei disperata si suicida.

Journey (1958):

Un gruppo di occidentali, che sta cercando di lasciare l'Ungheria occupata dai sovietici, viene trasportato su un autobus verso Vienna perche' l'aeroporto e` stato chiuso. Sull'autobus viaggia una folla eterogenea (un po' alla Stagecoach di John Ford). In particolare, c'e` un'aristrocatica inglese che finge di non conoscere un altrettanto misterioso passeggero. Durante il viaggio il passeggero si sente male e si scopre cosi` che e` ferito: la donna accorre ad aiutarlo.
Lungo la strada verso il confine vengono fermati dai partigiani che lottano contro i sovietici. Quando pensano di avercela fatta, proprio a pochi chilometri dal confine vengono fermati dai sovietici. Il maggiore li interroga e li obbliga a restare in paese. Li tratta come ospiti, ma di fatto sono tenuti prigionieri nella villa trasformata in quartier generale. La villa e` anche oggetto di attacchi sporadici da parte dei partigiani comandati da un'intrepida ragazza. La donna protegge l'uomo misterioso che e` in realta` un dissidente ungherese di cui si era innamorata e che venne arrestato e torturato. Separata da lui per anni, lo vuole aiutare a fuggire. Alcuni dei compagni di sventura scoprono pero` la sua vera identita` e si spaventano davanti al rischio di proteggere un ricercato, tanto piu` che il maggiore comincia a sospettare qualcosa. La donna organizza allora la fuga sua e dell'amico con l'aiuto della resistenza. Il maggiore si e` a sua volta innamorato della donna, e va su tutte le furie quando li sorprende nella barca e capisce il tradimento. Sequestra tutti gli occidentali, fa arrestare l'ungherese e denuncia la donna alle autorita`. Gli ordini sono di rispedirli tutti a Budapest, ma la donna, accusata di egoismo dai vili passeggeri, va a offrirsi al maggiore. Il maggiore li lascia andare e lascia persino fuggire l'ungherese, che si ricongiunge alla donna. Fanno appena in tempo a passare il ponte ed entrare in Austria che si ode un colpo di fucile: il maggiore e` stato ucciso dai partigiani. 		If English is your first language and you could translate the Italian text, please contact me.
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