(1930)
Dir - Ronald West
Overall: MEH
The second film adaptation of Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood's 1920 play The Bat, (both of which were directed by Ronald West), The Bat Whispers is notable for its flashy visual style which elevates an otherwise convoluted old dark house mystery. West utilized two different cinematographers for two different film stocks, (35 and 65 mm, respectfully), and shot it in widescreen, plus a smaller and more agile camera was brought in to create flowing panning sequences that glide through elaborate miniatures and full-sized sets. We also have flashy cut scenes, close-ups, zooms, and inventive camera angles throughout, making this a striking early talkie and probably the best cinematic version of the source material. Sadly, that source material is hokey pulp for the most part, which is burdened by too many characters and unsuccessful comic relief. Maude Eburne is particularly intolerable as a frumpy maid who outrageously over-reacts to the slightest breeze, plus the addition of Charles Dow Clark's second detective is pointless and only provides the movie with yet another character to to indulge in goofy mugging. Streamline the narrative and remove the more annoying portrayals, and this would be a stand-out for its era.
Dir - Arthur Hoerl
Overall: WOOF
While it is fortunate that various race films from the 1930s still exist in some form, many were of a uniformly poor quality, and Drums O' Voodoo, (Louisiana, She Devil), is no exception. Little information exists on the movie, which was allegedly adapted from actor J. Augustus Smith's own play, Smith credited with the script as well as appearing here as a benevolent yet disgraced preacher who once worked on a chain gang before turning steadfast to the lord. Director Arthur Hoerl had a vast career as a screenwriter, (this marking his last of only four directorial efforts), but his work here is unwatchabley dull. There is a clear lack of funds at his disposal since the entire thing is staged as a theater production, with minimal sets and scenes going on for ages without the camera making any adjustments. Most of the performances are atrocious and borderline surreal in their melodramatic scenery chewing, (Laura Bowman as a wailing voodoo practitioner auntie is particularly irksome), but the movie's major misgiving is its unbearable pacing. It is also incomplete in its current form, with scenes abruptly ending and starting in mid sentence. Also despite its title and subject matter, the only horror element is a pimp spontaneously going blind when he causes too much trouble amongst his community, no doubt on account of a voodoo hex.
(1935)
Dir - Albert S. Rogell
Overall: MEH
Featuring the only film appearance of famed pilot Wiley Post, Air Hawks is a unique aviation themed B-movie with a sci-fi angle thrown in. A Columbia production that was based on an unpublished story by Ben Pivar, it features an easy-to-follow sabotage plot where Ralph Bellamy's independent airline becomes the target of a bigger corporation that wants to buy him out to no avail. Enter in Universal's go-to distinguished thespian Edward Van Sloan as a wacky German scientist who invents a destruction ray for some reason, a ray which is then used to thwart Bellamy's business by way of crashing a series of his planes. Director Albert S. Rogell had already done a few air travel movies and he keeps up a surprisingly agreeable pace for a film that is as talky as the lot of them. Post is granted less than two minutes of screen time, so his involvement comes off more as a half-assed marketing ploy than anything. It contains a fine performance by Bellamy, a happy conclusion for all things considered, charming flirtation amongst its male and female characters, a stock news reporter who annoys everyone by trying to get a scoop, and it is also ultimately forgettable.
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