Upperworld

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Moviecut—Upperworld

Upperworld

... in a love triangle that doesn't have much love in it. Railroad tycoon (Warren William) is unhappily married and is neglected by his social climbing wife (Mary Astor). He finds some happiness in a dalliance with a chorus girl (Ginger Rogers), which the plot assures us it is platonic in nature. The overall timbre of the screenplay is a gentle, good-natured feeling, with geniality in good supply all around. Midway through, the story takes a serious, melodramatic tone as the tycoon tries to extricate himself from blackmail and a double murder, exacerbated by the chorine's boyfriend (J.Carroll Naish). The movie is more interesting and absorbing than you would imagine, and worth every bit of my rating. At only 73 minutes it is well worth your time.

Within the context of B-dramedies, this is undoubtedly a great movie, but within the overall context of movies as a whole, it falls just short. While it utilizes an "A" cast, led by the superb Warren William, the plot just loses too much steam at the end to really feel like it meets its potential. The build-up in the movie, especially the sharp dialogue that is given to the aforementioned William, makes the movie feel even shorter than its hour-plus running time. It certainly never drags, and the grey characterization given to the various roles even makes the film food for analytical fodder. Unfortunately, the trial and cop-out yacht cruise ending come so fast and non-furious that even the most accepting of viewers will feel at least a bit cheated. Nonetheless, if you ever stumble upon this on TCM and have a little time to spare, it is more than worth your while, and is remarkably non-dated.

Warren William, Mary Astor, Ginger Rogers, and Sidney Toler star in "Upperworld," a 1934 film. William plays a railroad tycoon, Alexander Stream, whose beautiful wife (Astor) is too busy being a social butterfly to spend time with him. He drifts into a relationship with a chorus girl (Ginger Rogers) whose producer wants her to milk Stream for all she can get. She's actually a good kid and doesn't want to do that. Sidney Toler plays a policeman who's demoted after being rude to Stream, and he attempts to blackmail him when tragedy strikes. I'm a big fan of Warren William, and he's marvelous. He's not the fun-loving, relaxed detective of later films, nor the scoundrel of earlier ones. He plays basically a good man who's lonely. Also, he has a son (Dickie Moore) who, though no one calls him a brat, is a horror show. Nice ending. Nothing original about the story, but the acting is good.

I read another review and thought I would offer what I thought were the good points of this film. The film was a typical period B film of man finds girl when wife doesn't pay attention to him. The music is great and was later used as backdrop for short films. Also, we get to see Sidney Toler(who later became Charlie Chan) playing a Chan-like policeman; J. Carrol Naish, who starred as a gangster in many later films; Mary Astor, a star of "The Maltese Falcon", who showed some of the great facials she did in that film; and of course, and early Ginger Rogers. The dialogue is snappy and the direction more than adequate. Enjoy this one, it certainly isn't the greatest ever made, but it never claimed to be - just a film of the times. I gave it a 7 out of 10 for its overall against similar films.

In early 1930s films, Warren William generally played ruthless, unscrupulous rich guys. Here, William stars as Allexander Stream, a wealthy, non-evil financier who is lonely because his wife (Mary Astor) is away for weeks at a time. A chance meeting starts an unlikely romance between Stream and showgirl Lilly (Ginger Rogers). After a time Lilly's manager, the very evil Lou (played expertly by J. Carrol Naish) wants to blackmail Stream using love letters. Murder and investigation ensue, leading to an unsatisfying conclusion. Rogers, Naish, Andy Devine, Sidney Toler, and John Quaylen (excellent as a corrupt witness) are very good. However, William carries the movie, in his usual elegant way. Mary Astor is not given much to do, despite her star billing. I recommend "Upperworld" for fans of 1930s cinema, even though I was extremely disappointed with the abrupt ending.