The Kiss Before the Mirror

source: The Kiss Before the Mirror

The Kiss Before the Mirror_720p(480P)

source: The Kiss Before the Mirror

James Whale's "The Kiss Before the Mirror" (1933) came in between "The Old Dark House" and "The Invisible Man," all three of which feature the lovely actress Gloria Stuart, chiefly remembered by today's audiences for her award-winning performance at age 86 in 1997's "Titanic." For those who dismiss her early film work in weepy heroine parts (such as "The Prisoner of Shark Island"), this role is quite a revealing eye-opener; a sensuous performance as Lucy Bernsdorf, married to wealthy doctor Walter (Paul Lukas), but possessing a younger lover (Walter Pidgeon). Playful, kittenish, exquisitely dressed, well coiffured, a luscious sight to behold, is it any wonder how any man could resist? We watch as Lucy removes her dress, revealing her * silhouette through the window, completely unaware that her husband has followed her, roused by her 'kiss before the mirror,' knowing that her careful primping is not on his behalf. Walter takes out his revolver, shoots her dead (three times), then immediately phones the police to confess his guilt. Luckily, Walter's best friend is attorney Paul Hold (Frank Morgan), who prepares a stirring defense for his client, listens to his description of how he discovered the truth about his faithless wife, then goes home to his beautiful wife (top billed Nancy Carroll), who displays the very same reaction to his own 'kiss before the mirror.' Cast against type, Morgan is surprisingly good, as is the Hungarian Lukas, soon reunited with Gloria Stuart in "Secret of the Blue Room," and with James Whale for "By Candlelight." With a supporting cast that includes Donald Cook (as Nancy Carroll's lover), Jean Dixon and Charley Grapewin (both part of Morgan's team), nothing can top the unforgettable * image of the lustrous Gloria Stuart, in an all-too-rare change of pace not surprising from director Whale, who previously presented her in a similar light in "The Old Dark House." Add to that sets already familiar from "Frankenstein," and you have a fascinating pre-code drama that must surely rank as superior to Whale's 1938 remake "Wives Under Suspicion" (which this author admits never to have seen).

In The Kiss Before the Mirror, both male leads are given the opportunity to play against type. Paul Lukas plays a murderer, and Frank Morgan plays a responsible lawyer who gets influenced by Paul's power of suggestion and starts to have very dark thoughts. This movie might not stand the test of time in many ways, but if you like the cast, you might want to rent it. Paul starts off married to Gloria Stuart, but when he catches her with her lover, a very young Walter Pidgeon, he kills her. He tells his best friend and lawyer Frank that he started to suspect Gloria was being unfaithful when she dolled up in front of the mirror and he could tell it wasn't for him. As he describes his motives to Frank and the emotional torture he felt before the murder, Frank starts to notice similar behaviors in his own happy marriage to Nancy Carroll. . . Yes, the subject matter and directing style is a bit dated in this film. Modern audiences might not find it appealing to watch a movie about a man killing his wife and justifying it; a gender-reversal would perhaps be more tempting. However, it is fun sometimes to curl up on a rainy afternoon and watch a very old movie to see how people acted back them and how films were made. Frank Morgan wasn't always the Wizard of Oz, and Gloria Stuart wasn't always the old lady who survived the Titanic. If you like this type of courtroom thriller, check out Night Court for a plot with three times as many twists and turns.

With a very serious and leading role by Frank Morgan. Not a trace of the harmless blithering bumbler he played over at MGM in the 30s and 40s. Morgan plays Viennese attorney, Paul Held. Paul is called to be defense attorney to his good friend, Walter (Paul Lukas) who has shot his wife to death when he finds out she is having an affair. More than this, his wife was undressing in her lover's home in preparation for some passion when Walter sent her to her maker under most embarrassing circumstances. Paul tries to get out of Walter exactly what made him suspect his wife. Walter says it was how she was admiring herself in her mirror in a way that only a woman meeting a lover would do. So he followed her, and when he actually saw her infidelity he killed her. Paul returns home and finds his wife (Nancy Carroll) doing the exact same thing - saying she is going out with girlfriends, but dressing and admiring herself in her big vanity mirror in a way a woman would only do for another man. Paul follows her just as Walter followed his wife, and discovers that his wife Maria is meeting another man. Paul returns to Walter, says that he now knows what Walter feels and that he intends to use every argument available to get Walter out of jail. If he is a successful and Walter is acquitted, then he knows the argument works and he will kill Maria and know that he too can be acquitted. Lukas plays this well as the tortured killer. Paul's mistake is to think that the fact that they both have cheating wives gives them comradery, when in fact Walter is consumed by guilt. It is so odd to see Frank Morgan playing such a dark vengeful character, tormenting Maria by wanting her in court each day, to tell her that death is the just fate of all such unfaithful wives. She knows he knows, she knows he might kill her, and yet he hasn't come out and threatened her or accused her.. It's all very Hitchcockian a decade before many people knew about Hitch. There is a really interesting attorney who works for Paul - Jean Dixon as Hilda Frey. She has a kind of tough exterior with a wise cracking and confident persona that matches Eve Arden. She is somebody I would have liked to see more of, but she has a very small part. It seems like the film is hinting that she could be gay, but that was all you could do at this point in history was hint. There is a very good score and art design in this one. Even Walter's prison cell is interesting to look at with excellent cinematography by Karl Freund. What did I not like? The commentary on the Kino Blu talks of absolutely nothing but how the women characters in the film are such victims! OK, Walter's wife and her bullet riddled corpse - maybe some room for argument there. But both Paul's wife and Walter's wife seem to have married money and taken lovers because they were bored. But they had no intention of leaving their walking paychecks. To me this film was more about the strong connection between obsession and love. I guess I should be glad that Kino actually put a commentary track on this rather obscure film.

The only other James Whale movie that I have seen, except for his classics, "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein" and "Invisible Man," was "the Old Dark House." I liked "the Old Dark House," but it wasn't a masterpiece like the other three. I have never seen "Wizard of Oz" title character Frank Morgan in a leading role, so I always assumed he was a character actor, but he easily carries the film in this case. His wife is played by Nancy Carroll who starred in some 35 films from 1928 to 1935. She is quite fine. Gloria Stuart, famous for the Titanic (1997) has appears briefly in the film. Jean Dixon, as a very sharp statuesque woman lawyer nearly steals the picture with a sharp sense of humor. The movie is about obsession, love and murder. Whale does a wonderful job of balancing comedy with tense scary moments as he did in "Bride" and "Invisible Man." The movie is very humanist and really solidifies the idea of him being a great auteur director. There's an hilarious scene of two gay newspaper men commenting on the trial. The movie is tight and short, barely over an hour, so it can't be called a masterpiece, but it does manage a lot of emotional intensity for a film of this length and this time period.

. . . Constitutionally guaranteed to all U. S. men, documents THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR. Horrible harlot spouses such as Lucy and Maria must be dispatched with absolute finality (three shots minimum), KISS recommends. Any guy who would allow his spouse to leave his home by herself for hours on end should have his head examined, KISS reveals. If a gentleman lacks a mother who is able to chaperone his wife when the latter female ventures outside the home, he's well-advised to remain a bachelor, KISS suggests. All the U. S. wives pictured during KISS are dead-set upon primping and posing in front of mirrors as they plot whose VeeDee germs they can cart home to their marriage bed next. Such faithless varmints can bring a man only heartbreak, despair and disease. Just as every school, church and library comes equipped with fire alarms, every marriage contract MUST include a trusty revolver with plenty of ammo for the prospective groom in order to keep inherently deceptive, vacillating and pox-ridden brides toeing the line.

Though Universal had acquired prestige with the Oscar-winning ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930), it was still not regarded as a major studio at the time; consequently, most of their productions were allotted a B-movie budget and barely lasted over an hour and a quarter (this one, in fact, clocks in at 68 minutes) – even those made by their top director of the era, Whale! In fact, this one is partly filmed on the memorable Expressionist sets from his first great success FRANKENSTEIN (1931) – notably the forest, laboratory and university auditorium, converted here to a private garden, prison cell and courtroom – which lends the whole added texture and renders it fascinating viewing for horror buffs! Even so, this proves a melodrama with a uniquely tense and compelling premise: a lawyer defending his best friend, accused of killing his faithless wife, begins to suspect that his own spouse is cheating on him – so that his impassioned (and sensationalistic) speech, tinged with personal angst, results in the acquittal of the murderer! Marked by elaborate camera-work (courtesy of the renowned Karl Freund), the film also features constant mirror imagery (playing on the all-important theme of duplicity). The acting often resorts to histrionics (Paul Lukas, in his first of 3 roles for the director, as the defendant virtually spends the whole trial with face buried in his hands!) but is nonetheless impressive – especially Frank Morgan's protagonist lawyer, since he is mostly known for befuddled comedy roles!; also on hand are Gloria Stuart (appearing as the murder victim and, thus, killed off in the very first scene!: she also worked 3 times with Whale, including 2 of his horror classics), Walter Pidgeon (an early role as her lover) and Charley Grapewin (as Morgan's assistant, who is something of a frustrated philosopher!). Interestingly, Whale felt he could improve upon the film and remade it just 5 years later as WIVES UNDER SUSPICION (in which Morgan's brother Ralph played the accused!); however, though I recall liking it quite a bit when I watched it 5 years ago {sic}, I feel this is the superior version (if still some way behind his seminal horror work)...since, by then, the director's career was already in decline and, so, the resources were even more meager!

Kiss Before the Mirror, The (1933) *** (out of 4) An attorney (Frank Morgan) defends his best friend (Paul Lukas) accused of killing his wife (Gloria Stuart) after learning she's having an affair. The attorney soon discovers that his own wife (Nancy Carroll) is having an affair so the trial because a learning process so that he can discover whether or not he could get away with murder. Fans of the director will certainly want to check this film out as it features some of his typical comedy as well as stylish director. The film is a rather dark one about madness and this comes through with the performances. Some might call the performance of Lukas over the top but I see it as pure madness. The scene where he goes over what he has done before breaking down has a nice intensity to it. Several other scenes also have this including the final courtroom scenes as well as the opening murder. The opening murder sequence is brilliantly filmed by the director who makes this one of his most stylish scenes. The way the camera captures everything in a couple rooms then cuts to the outside looking in was very well handled. Whale also mixes in some black comedy with most of it coming from an unmarried woman working with the defense who makes several jokes about women being killed. Morgan and Carroll are both very good as is Stuart in her small role. Walter Pidgeon and Donald Cook play the lovers in the film. Fans of Whale's FRANKENSTEIN will also be very interested in watching this because this film uses the same sets as the horror classic. It's was rather funny seeing the jail cell being the same place that the monster was tied up. The village is the same and several sets take place inside Frankenstein's castle. Ted Billings, a bit player in FRANKENSTEIN and THE INVISIBLE MAN, appears here briefly. Whale would remake this five years later in WIVES UNDER SUSPICION.