It Happened One Night

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934) is the prototype for “screwball comedies.” It was the first motion picture to win Oscars in all the major categories, including picture, lead actor and actress, and directing. 

     

The story starts on a yacht in the waters near Miami, Fl., which immediately shows we are dealing with a rich person. Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly) is the owner of the boat, and he wears a uniform, because that what wealthy people did back then, appearing as if they were official men of the Navy when they just bought their way into looking like military officers. His daughter is Ellie (Claudette Colbert) who is on a hunger strike because her father doesn’t approve of her recent marriage and wants to annul it. The patriarchy is in full bloom here as daddy bullies his daughter, even suggesting force-feeding her, and then indulges in a full meal in front of her just to torture Ellie for her refusal to eat. He even calls her an “idiot,” but she shoots back that it is an inherited characteristic. He says that she does just the opposite of what he advises, but she accuses him of always trying to run her life. Despite his daughter being “over twenty-one,” Andrews tries to feed her like a little girl, and Ellie displays the rebelliousness of a young child against parental authority as she throws a temper tantrum, tossing the food platters. Since she is treated like a child, she acts like one. Ellie jumps overboard and swims away. Andrews orders a private detective agency to search for Ellie because she has run away “again.” What we have here, as was noted in Cool Hand Luke, is failure to communicate.

 Ellie may act like a child, but she is a clever one. Even though there are men staked out at the bus station to catch her, (they doubt the rich girl would travel by such ordinary means), she gets an elderly woman to buy a ticket to New York while she hides. Meanwhile, drunk reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) trades insults with his newspaper boss, Joe Gordon (Charles C. Wilson), who fired him (“peter” is a slang term for the penis, and there will be other sexually suggestive references in the film). We get the feeling that Gordon isn’t too sophisticated since he says Peter’s writing is “Greek” to him (he is not aware of the Shakespearean reference). Peter obviously feels superior to his boss, since he says a story he wrote was in “free verse,” equating his writing to poetry. Gordon hangs up, but to protect his pride, which will be on display later, Peter acts as if he is still on the line and pretends that Gordon wants him back. For show, Peter scorns the man’s make-believe apology. His fellow reporters, listening to Peter’s side of the phone call, label him “the King,” which is an inside reference to Gable’s nickname in Hollywood. 

 

On the bus, Peter throws stacks of newspapers out the window so he can sit down on the last seats available. The image is sort of a metaphor for his being jobless, and reveals his contempt for the profession that doesn’t recognize his talents. His rebellious action echoes Ellie’s tantrum and hints that they may be made for each other. Even though drunk, Peter is witty. When confronted with his action, he says that he doesn’t like sitting on newspapers because he did it once and the print came off allowing people to read his pants. His remark about the words imprinted on his bottom shows more distaste for the state of journalism and the people that follow it. 

 While Peter has the verbal confrontation with the bus driver for tossing the newspapers, Ellie takes his seat. He says to her, “that which you sit on is mine,” which sounds like her ass is his. She realizes the suggestiveness of the line by saying, “I beg your pardon.” Their first exchange is a sexual one, pointing to the chemistry that will develop between them. He squeezes in next to her and when she tries to put her bag up on the rack, the bus pulls out, causing her to fall into his lap. He smiles while she scowls, and so the romantic games have begun. 

 

At a rest stop, Peter sees a thief sneak away with Ellie’s bag. He chases after the guy but doesn’t catch him. She didn’t even notice it was gone and acts rudely toward him when he talks to her when he returns. After he tells her what happened, she doesn’t want to report the crime and will not divulge her name. After she shows no gratitude for his efforts and tells him to leave her alone, his conclusion is that she’s “a spoiled brat,” which seems to be how the public views her. When she gets back on the bus, she refuses to sit next to Peter. Instead she takes a seat next to a large, snoring man who rolls over onto her shoulder. When she attempts to return to her original spot, a supposedly sleeping Peter has taken it over as the two jockey for positional advantage. The awake Peter puts his open hand on the vacant chair, another suggestive gesture, but, of course, she moves his arm. He opens his eyes and wins a staring contest with her, then smiles when she turns away. The games continue.

 When they arrive at a breakfast stop, he is awake, but she has her head on his shoulder and her arm holds onto his jacket. It looks as if she subconsciously sees them as a couple. He lent her his scarf, which adds to the connection. When she wakes up, she is embarrassed, and giggles like a girl, apologizing for her intimate sleeping position. He says he didn’t want to wake her and then complements her by saying she looks “pretty” when she sleeps. She says she has to go to a hotel. She acts privileged when she tells the bus driver to wait for her until she returns. Her current behavior, along with the way she acted before, puzzles Peter, and he, being a reporter, probably is becoming curious about Ellie’s situation.

 

When she returns the bus has left and there will not be another one for twelve hours. Peter is there, too, and she warns him that he shouldn’t make presumptions about anything happening between them. She says she can take care of herself, but he hands her her ticket which she left on the bus seat, which undercuts her claim. He calls her “Miss Andrews,” because he discovered in the newspapers that she is on the run. He says she’ll never be able to escape from her powerful father. Peter also thinks that the man she married, King Westley (Jameson Thomas), an aviator, is a “phony.” (Peter was called “King” by his pals, so we have two monarchs vying for a princess). It is interesting that Ellie married a flyer which suggests a childhood fantasy to want to soar away from reality. Ellie is worried that Peter will give her up to get a reward from her father. She says she will pay him to keep his knowledge of her to himself, and will get him the cash when she arrives in New York. He tells her she thinks she can buy everything, and wouldn’t even think of connecting on a human level by just asking nicely for some help because that would mean she would have to get off her “high horse” and show some “humility.” He then walks off. But his higher ethical stance is a charade. He sends a telegram to Gordon and tells him he has the “scoop” on a big story. 

 

The two get on the next bus but Ellie avoids Peter and instead sits next to Oscar Shapeley (Roscoe Karns), who is quite talkative. He says he likes women that fit his name. Not a subtle person. He smokes a large cigar. Phallic symbols anyone? He comes onto Ellie, of course. Peter approaches the two and says he would like to sit with his wife, causing Shapeley to reel in his suggestive lines and become apologetic. He also finds he dropped his cigar, which could imply a metaphoric castration. Ellie is grateful for another rescue by Peter, who plays it tough by saying he didn’t try to help her, but instead just couldn’t stand hearing Shapeley’s voice. She is all wet from the deluge of rain and he gives her his scarf to keep warm, calls her “Brat,” and notes how she can’t take care of herself. She wants to buy candy, but he says no, and since she only has less than two dollars on her he is putting her on a budget. He is placing restrictions on her that her rich, indulgent father failed to impose. 

 

The bus stops due to flooding ahead so Peter and Ellie share a cabin at a nearby spot. She thinks he has worked the situation to take advantage of her sexually. He strongly denies any romantic intent. He is honest with her about being a reporter and offers to help her get to her husband for the rights to her story. He needs the news article for financial purposes, which is also why they could only afford one dwelling. Therefore, he registered them as husband and wife. If she refuses he tells her he will inform her father of Ellie’s whereabouts. She’s caught between two unappealing choices, and Peter’s is the lesser evil. (Because of his scheming, she notes that he has a brain behind “that face.” Her remark suggests that she finds his looks attractive). 

 

Peter hangs a blanket between their two beds, famously calling it their “walls of Jericho,” although he concedes they are not as strong as their biblical namesake. She is sarcastic by asking if that makes everything proper. He reverses the vulnerability perspective, and says he’s erecting the flimsy barrier for his purposes because he wants his privacy. After giving her a set of his pajamas, she doesn’t immediately go along with the plan by staying on his side of the divider. So, he starts to undress, delivering a humorous discourse on the various ways men take off their clothes, with no two doing it the same. He mentions how one man kept on his hat until last, because he wore a toupee, presumably the actual last piece to remove. She finally goes to her corner of the ring when he is ready to remove his pants. When she undresses she hangs her clothes on the blanket. It’s a sort of obscured striptease. He tells her to remove the clothing, an acknowledgment of his getting aroused. He teases her by singing, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf,” since the name of the animal was a metaphor for a sexual predator. She asks his name which she hasn’t learned after all this time. When he tells her, she says she doesn’t like it. As a rebuttal, he says “Goodnight, Mrs. Warne.”

 

Today we have “helicopter” parents. In this story, Andrews is an airplane father as he seeks information as to Ellie’s location while on a flight to New York in his personal aircraft. There is a nice segue to Ellie waking up as we hear an airplane soaring above. Peter is already up, dressed, and had Ellie’s clothes pressed. He is that stern paternal presence, telling her if she doesn’t get out of bed, he’ll drag her out. He softens that attitude by complimenting her hair. Her rich girl upbringing hasn’t prepared her for traveling on the cheap, and she is taken aback when Peter tells her she has to go to the communal showers at the site. She doesn’t realize she has to wait in line to get washed. After surprising a woman soaking up, Ellie exchanges tongue-sticking-out behavior with a girl in line, which stresses Ellie’s lack of maturity. 

 Peter prepared a frugal breakfast for them. She does not complain, and is even grateful. She tells Peter that he thinks she is spoiled but she says that would mean that she always got what she wanted. On the contrary, she argues, because she was always told what to do, where to go, and how to be. Her actions were always monitored by nannies, guards, and detectives, who she tried to outwit, like a game. Her lack of privacy suggests that she’s never been given the chance to develop as an individual. He criticizes her for having all that money and not knowing how to dunk a donut. Her response is that she would trade places any day with a plumber’s daughter. This exchange reflects American praise for the lower-class worker and disdain for the snobby elite.

 

Her father’s detectives show up at the cabin and Peter takes her reference to plumbers and uses it as the two improvise an elaborate scenario as an arguing, disheveled rural couple. They get the detectives to leave, and Peter and Ellie have a good laugh as they compliment each other on their acting skills. He says they could travel and call themselves, “The Great Deception,” a critique on the harsh economic times they live in. She offers an alternative title, “Cinderella or a real hot love story,” which reverses the rags-to-riches plot she finds herself in, but also reveals some growing passion between the two. 

 

Neither Gordon’s reporters nor Andrews’s detectives are having any luck finding Ellie. So, Andrews offers a $10,000 reward and has Ellie’s picture placed in newspapers. Shapeley recognizes Ellie from her photo while a traveling band sings “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” on the bus. The song talks about the acrobat stealing the singer’s love interest. Could this song refer to the flashy pilot, Ellie’s husband, King Westley, and how he is Peter’s rival? As she sings along, Ellie is having fun as she travels with regular folks instead of being insulated by her father’s wealth. 

 The bus driver gets carried away joining in on the song and drives the vehicle into the mud. A little boy is crying as his mother passed out as she hasn’t had anything to eat because they spent their money to get to a job in New York. Ellie gives what money they have left to the boy, which at first surprises and upsets Peter, but which leads to admiration for Ellie’s generosity and compassion. While the bus is stuck, Shapeley approaches Peter with a proposition, now that he has read the newspaper story and knows Ellie is not Peter’s wife. He offers to split the reward with him if Peter helps to deliver Ellie to her father. Otherwise, he’ll inform Andrews about what he knows concerning his daughter. Peter pretends to be a gangster seeking a million dollars in ransom for Ellie’s return and tries to recruit Shapeley to help with any gunfire exchanged with the police. When Shapeley backs off out of fear, Peter threatens him and his family if he says anything about Ellie. Shapeley runs off and falls in the mud, mirroring his dirty scheming.

 Peter takes the objecting Ellie away from the bus in case Shapeley does decide to expose them. Peter suggests that Ellie may want to call her dad and have him wire her some money to buy food. But, she vows to continue her quest even if she has to starve, which reflects her resolve to be independent from her father’s domineering power. Peter carries her across a river, and Ellie says she hasn’t ridden piggyback since her father carried her when she was a child. Peter points out that her father didn’t know “beans” about piggybacking, calls her father a “stuffed shirt,” and says, “I never knew a rich man yet who could piggyback ride.” He is voicing more of the movie’s anti-upper-class attitude. When she insists that her father was a great piggybacker, he spanks her on the behind, something we would consider reprehensible today. Given the context of the film and its time, he is administering neglected discipline to a spoiled child. 

 

They continue their journey through the woods until late in the day and Peter pulls down some stacked hay to make beds for them. (Could this act imply that the two would really like a “roll in the hay”?). Ellie complains about being scared and hungry. He reprimands her for her whining. While she lies down she comments how disagreeable he has become and says that he could leave and she would be fine. She is really talking to himself because he left to get some carrots for her to eat. When she realizes he is not there, she undermines her prior courageous words by hysterically calling out for him, afraid he truly has run off. When he returns, Peter tries to comfort her by covering her with his coat, tucking her in like a father would a child. But as he gets closer he is ready to kiss her like a lover and she seems willing. (Surprisingly, the two never kiss in the movie). He pulls back, most likely worried that he may fall for her and she is a married woman.

 

The next day they find a road and Peter says that they will be hitchhiking. As they stop on the side of the roadway he uses a pen knife to cut up some of the carrots he gathered. She says she can’t abide the vegetable, especially for breakfast. She says she wished he could have found something else for her to eat. He will not beg for money or food for her, and writes off her carrot-shunning as another example of her snobby background. (IMDb notes that the film may have influenced the creation of the Bugs Bunny cartoons. In this scene, Peter talks while eating carrots. Earlier, in his conversation with Shapeley, Peter said he worked for a gangster named Bugs Dooley, and some of the other characters may have been the bases for Yosemite Sam and Pepe Le Pew). 

 Peter brags about knowing so much, and says he could write books on men undressing and hitchhiking. What follows is the famous hitchhiking duel between them. He says it’s all in the thumb. A steady one means you really are not needy, a wiggling one with a smile means you have a farmer’s daughter story to share, and then there is the one with a pitiful look and a sweeping arm movement. Ellie’s complimentary commentary, like saying his gestures are “amazing,” is a sarcastic take on how conceited Peter is. His attempts at his various techniques are failures and Ellie comically says on the number of tries, “When you get to a hundred, wake me up.” Peter becomes exasperated and angrily points the thumb in the opposite direction to show his scorn. He abandons his three types of ploys and starts to wave his hat instead as cars speed by. He finally gives up and hilariously flips the drivers the bird. When she says she’ll give it a try, he laughs at her. She ridicules him for thinking he knows “it all,” and says she’ll stop a car and doesn’t have to use her thumb. She goes to the edge of the road and hikes her dress up to the top of her thigh. The approaching male driver jams on his brakes and stops his car. Peter jumps up surprised and stares. Even though by our present-day standards the scene objectifies women, it remains one of the funniest and sexiest shots in movie history.

 

While riding in the car the sharp humor of the film is on display. Ellie says that she proved that, “the limb is mightier than the thumb.” Peter says if she would have taken off all of her clothes she could have “stopped forty cars.” Her quick retort is, “Well. ooo, I’ll remember that when we need forty cars.” The man who gives them the ride (Ernie Adams) stops for something to eat and Ellie wants to get him to buy some food for her. Pater is feeling impotent (double meaning intended) that he couldn’t secure the ride and doesn’t want the driver to be the one to help Ellie. He acts irritated because he isn’t the knight saving the damsel in distress anymore. He does hold her hand and apologizes for being grumpy after they step out of the car. The driver is a thief and drives off with Peter’s suitcase. Peter runs after him and returns driving the man’s car. He has facial bruises and says he gave the guy a black eye and tied him to a tree. In his mind, he has restored his manly standing as her protector. 

 As they drive she cleans the wound on his face to show her gratitude. She is now the nurse, so there are obviously older, stereotypical roles assigned to men and women in the movie. She said she hated carrots but now acquiesces and chews on one, demonstrating her thanks for his getting food for her (given some of the suggestive subtext in the film, the carrot could be considered a phallic symbol and she is now open to him sexually. Or, maybe a carrot is just a carrot). 

 

Andrews meets with the husband, King Westley, and tells him flat out he doesn’t like him, most likely assuming he is just interested in the family fortune. Westley will not agree to an annulment, however. At this point Andrews is only concerned about getting his daughter back safely and says he will not interfere in the marriage if Westley will get the word out to the reporters that she can return to her husband without her father trying to stop her. Ellie reads the news article about the agreement. But she is not in a rush to get back because she is falling in love with Peter. So she insists on stopping for the night. The story he will be writing doesn’t seem to excite him that much now either because he probably will miss her. Peter sets up the “walls of Jericho” again. She wants to know if she will see him in New York, but he says he doesn’t get involved with married women. She asks him about being in love and says that he could make someone “happy.” He admits to having romantic hopes, but with a woman who is vital and exciting. When he talks about wanting to take a woman to an island in the Pacific and how he and this woman would feel part of the cosmos, Ellie stares off, as if joining him in this fantasy. She then goes around the blanket and confesses her love for him, saying she wants to go with him to that island and admitting she couldn’t “live without him.” She sobs and they embrace but he says, “go back to your bed.” He reconsiders and quietly asks if she would really go with him, but she has fallen asleep.

 

Peter decides to leave during the night and trades his belongings to get to New York. He pitches the story to Gordon about Ellie and says the marriage will be annulled and he is going to marry her. He wants a thousand dollars so he has some money, and is not just out to acquire some of hers, before asking her to marry him. Gordon accepts the deal. The motel managers realize Peter is gone and they throw Ellie out. She thinks Peter has abandoned her and she calls her father to come and get her. The father and Westley arrive with a police escort which Peter sees. He is angry with Ellie for giving up on him. He chases after the departing cars, but his own vehicle is breaking down. There is a shot of air going out of a tire which reflects the deflated feeling that Peter is experiencing.

 The newspapers show that Ellie is glad to be home and there is a photo of her holding Westley’s hand. Peter returns the thousand dollars to Gordon, who is sympathetic about Peter’s lost love. Ellie’s marriage to Westley has been planned. There is a warmer side of Andrews now on display as he sees that his daughter is not happy. She begins to cry, and he insightfully realizes that she is in love with another man. Her father wants to get in touch with the man, but she believes she hates her for her spoiled upbringing. When she mentions his name, Andrews reaches for a letter since the name is familiar. He received a communication from Peter about a financial matter involving his daughter. She is now cynical since she thinks his only interest in her was to collect the $10,000 reward. 

 

Andrews calls Peter in for a visit in his study. He probably wants to size up the man who his daughter has fallen in love with. All Peter wants is $39.60 to reimburse him for the expenses he incurred while he was with Ellie. He says it’s a matter of principle because he feels he was used. Andrews sees that Peter isn’t in it for the money and now knows that the two are in love and there was that “failure to communicate” again between them. Andrews keeps asking if Peter loves his daughter. Peter at first says someone would “have to have his head examined” to fall in love with Ellie, but he finally admits he fits the bill, so he must be “screwy.” Peter sees Ellie all dressed up and enjoying a drink as he exits the study, which just angers him more. She snidely asks if he got his money and he says he did, but she doesn’t know it’s a paltry sum. He leaves by saying he doesn’t have the “stomach” to hang around. Andrews is about to tell his daughter what transpired, but she doesn't want to hear it.

 The lavish wedding takes place on the ample grounds of Andrews’s estate. As he marches with her toward the nuptials, Ellie’s father finally is able to tell her how Peter didn’t want any reward, just payment for the expenses, and that Peter felt cheated. Andrews thinks Peter is an okay guy and tells her that Peter said he loved Ellie. Dad says it would make him happy if she was with the man she loves. The opulence of the ceremony contrasts with Peter’s pedestrian life and the journey they were on where she learned more about life and herself than what she knew in her wealthy cocoon. Ellie pulls a runaway bride (no Julia Roberts in sight) as the vows are read and drives off.

 

Andrews pays Westley $100,000 to not contest the marriage annulment. There is a message from Peter that says those “walls of Jericho” are toppling. The couple were married and are in a cabin like before. Interestingly, we don’t see them together. To the movie’s credit there is no sentimental ending. There are only the proprietors saying Peter and Ellie wanted a trumpet and a rope to hang a blanket. There is then the sound of the trumpet that heralds the walls of Jericho falling, and there is the image of the blanket coming down. The wall separating these two from different socio-economic worlds dissolves. The film seems to be saying that love can unite us.

The next film is Reservoir Dogs.

The Stranger

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

The title of this 1946 movie, The Stranger, directed and starring Orson Welles, who also contributed to the script, suggests the unknown, which by its uncertainty can be a threat. It also implies that what we think we know about a person may not be the truth, and if one has placed trust in a false appearance of reality, betrayal of that trust is possible in the situation. The credits display over a large Gothic clock, which refers to the preoccupation of the villain in the story and points to his mechanistic mind. It may also be a metaphor for how the intricate parts of the mind of the protagonist works in solving a mystery to find the antagonist. The clock is part of a church which symbolizes religious purity on the surface, but evil and danger may exist below the outward appearance of things. There is also a cemetery situated near this church which reminds us of how death is close by. 

 

Government agent Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) forcefully insists to set a trap for a Nazi war criminal by releasing the unsuspecting Konrad Meinike (Konstantin Shayne) from jail who will lead them to the man they seek. (Wilson breaks his pipe while being emphatic, and the use of the pipe reappears later). Meinike travels to South America under an assumed name. There is a man whose face is hidden by a sign, implying that we can’t know all that is happening around us. He sends a woman, who is his wife, to secretly follow the man. The hidden fellow now is only shown in a black silhouette as he calls Wilson, who he and his spouse are working for. We have an atmosphere of suspense as the black and white photography stresses that secret activities lurk in the shadows. The spy tells Wilson that Meinike is going to have a passport photograph taken.

 

Meinike is reflected in the camera lens of the photographer (John Brown), which emphasizes that what we see in life and art is viewed through a lens controlled by subjective manipulation, which alters the perception of reality. Meinike demands that the photographer tell him where is Franz Kindler, who is the Nazi Wilson is pursuing. The photographer is frightened and says Kindler is dead (a deception). Meinike states he represents a supreme authority, another lie as it does not turn out to be some Nazi official as we might assume. The photographer tells him that Kindler is indeed alive and hiding in a proper Connecticut town named Harper as Professor Charles Rankin, another sham. 

 

The photographer hands Meinike a postcard which has a picture of a church with the clock we saw at the start of the movie. The next shot neatly replaces the picture with the actual church and town, a reference to how the postcard is a version once removed from reality, and we are watching a movie that is another step removed from truth. Wilson is on the bus arriving in Harper with Meinike who is also a passenger. As they disembark, Wilson drops his pipe (there it is again) on the seat that Meinike sat on, and Meinike appears shaken, as if the pipe is a warning, and he realizes he is a marked man. Potter (Billy House), who owns the store where the bus stops, listens to a comedy routine on the radio and his continuous laughing contrasts with the seriousness surrounding the two men who have arrived. 

 Meinike runs off to a school after looking up an address in a phone book, and Wilson tails him. Meinike knows he is being followed and leads Wilson into the gymnasium where he lets loose a rope with an attached ring that knocks Wilson to the ground. He appears to be dead (but remember appearances are deceiving in this story). Meinike then goes through a door that warns about using gymnasium equipment at one’s own “risk.” It’s as if the movie is saying that once one enters this realm of intrigue, danger is imminent. 

 

Having discovered the address from the phone book, Meinike practically bursts into Rankin’s house. He then softens his approach (more dissembling) and asks his wife-to-be on that day, Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), if he can wait for the absent Rankin. Meinike decides to wait outside and encounters Rankin (Welles) by calling him Kindler. Rankin immediately wants to hide his association with the man and tells him to go into the woods (the archetypal place which represents the hiding of wrongful deeds), and follow the path near the church, the religious façade masking their dark motivations. In their meeting, Meinike tells Rankin he is a changed man. But Rankin says he is, too, but his change is superficial. He has destroyed all documents that could disclose his true identity. He says he is about to marry the daughter of a Supreme Court justice. He notes her lovely appearance, and adds everything is a perfect “camouflage,” which is meant to cover up his despicable past “til the day when we strike again.” He is in hiding until there is another war when he can fight as an enemy from within the country he has deceived. But Meinike has become a born-again Christian and says war is an “abomination.” He says God opened all doors for him and allowed him to be free. The clever Rankin realizes that the authorities allowed Mienike to escape to lead them to Rankin. Meinike admits he was followed but he believes he killed Wilson. He asks Rankin to pray on his knees and confess his sins in order to be forgiven by God. As they kneel, Rankin repeats holy words but as a diversion and he strangles Meinike to eliminate being found out (think of the contrast between Michael Corleone’s religious words at the baptism scene versus his simultaneous murderous commands being carried out in The Godfather).

 

As Rankin and Mary are getting married, Wilson recovers after being knocked out, and retrieves his pipe, which could be a reference to the detective work of Sherlock Holmes. He questions Potter, since he is the town clerk, and says he knows everybody living there. They play checkers, which Potter wins by diverting Wilson, and the game of opponents playing against each other mirrors what’s happening in the plot. For instance, Rankin used deceptive ploys earlier as he led some of his college students away from Meinike’s body and covered the corpse up after the wedding ceremony. 

 Wilson finds out about the wedding and then asks Potter questions relating to recent residents in the town. He then begins to eliminate those people as suspects as he narrows in on his prey. He goes into the church and finds Noah Longstreet (Richard Long), Mary’s brother, cleaning the inside of the building. Wilson knows about clocks and discovers from Noah that his brother-in-law, Rankin, will be returning from his honeymoon in time for examinations at the school where he teaches, and will be working on the clock. By hardly saying anything, he allows Noah to convey all of this information, including the exact day of the couple’s return. Noah does not look too happy about his sister’s marriage, suggesting he is not a fan of Rankin.

 Wilson, who is knowledgeable about antiques, discusses a Paul Revere item (symbolic of the American fight for freedom?) in the study of Judge Adam Longstreet (Philip Merivale), Mary’s father, when Mary and Rankin (who would not be a fan of Revere) arrive. By pretending to be an antiques specialist, Wilson is also hiding the truth, but his deception is an undercover act to reveal a criminal. Noah is there as well as is Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence (Byron Keith), who treated Wilson for his head wound. This fact is mentioned, and Rankin, the clock specialist, hesitates eating as his mind starts to click into gear. He most likely suspects Wilson based on his recent arrival and Meinike’s relating how he attacked his stalker. The Judge was talking with someone who reported that there were Germans about who wanted to revive Nazism. Wilson deliberately asks Rankin, who is a history instructor, what he thinks of these stories. Rankin seems to be making an objective psychological examination of the German psyche, but he is actually declaring German resolve against defeat. He argues that the German does not link himself to others who have found a broader sense of truth, and has not “come to know for whom the bell tolled.” He says the German still sees himself as a victim of other countries who he considers “inferior,” and recalls the greatness of his Teutonic ancestry embodied in German myths, as he waits for another Hitler who will be his messiah. Wilson says that Rankin must not believe that governmental reforms will work in Germany. Rankin says external concepts of liberty and democracy can’t be imposed from outside and will not take root in Germany. He believes the only solution is “annihilation.” Mary finds it difficult to believe that her husband holds that only a “Carthaginian peace,” which means a total domination of a defeated people, is what is needed to stop the zealously dedicated Germans from rising again. When presented with the concepts of Karl Marx who theoretically wanted to reform and unite the Germans, Rankin says that Marx was a Jew, not a German. Mary invites Wilson to a faculty event, but he declines, saying he will be leaving the town. 

 

Wilson says in a phone call that he agrees with the person on the other end that Rankin is “above suspicion.” Meanwhile, at home, Mary says it is coincidental that her husband and Wilson are both interested in antique clocks. Rankin already is suspicious of that similarity, and asks to take the family dog for a walk. It is night, which is a time of concealment, and Rankin is being sneaky again among the shadows of the trees as he checks out Meinike’s shallow grave. However, he was not thinking by taking the dog, Red, with him, who starts to dig up the corpse. Rankin attempts to drive the dog away, even kicking the poor animal (offscreen, of course), which shows his cruelty. 

 

The remark about Marx wakes up Wilson from his sleep, and he calls Washington, D. C. He says that a Nazi would call Karl Marx a Jew, and not a German, which shows condescension toward the communist theorist because of his Jewish heritage. So, Wilson decides not to return to Washington yet. Rankin appears like a black ghost as he approaches Mary in the dark of their bedroom. She wakes up startled and says she had a dream about the “little man” (Meinike) who came to their house. She says in the dream the man moved but his shadow remained behind and began to spread. It could signify the danger that his appearance brought to her false world where appearances seemed benign. Red cries because Rankin put him in the cellar and says during the day he must be kept on a leash. From a practical stance, Rankin doesn’t want the dog near the grave again. But the action also shows his propensity to hide the truth.

 

Wilson visits Noah who has Red with him since Mary most likely showed her opposition to having the dog restrained. They go out on a boat and Wilson states he can see that Noah does not like his brother-in-law. Wilson divulges he is a sort of “detective” because he wants someone in the Longstreet family he can trust, someone who is not devious and can be open to believing about Rankin’s notorious past. Wilson wants Noah to do some digging to bring to light Rankin’s activities on the day of his wedding. 

 

Wilson goes to Potter’s store and asks about the bag Meinike left there and has not come back to retrieve. He tells Potter he can open it up given how long ago it was left. Wilson is there waiting for Rankin’s regular stop at the store, and Wilson knows Potter will mention the bag. When Potter describes Meinike, Mary recognizes the description and Wilson observes Rankin grabbing his wife’s arm as if to restrain her from asking any further questions. Her hesitancy reveals to Wilson that Meinike went to see Rankin. Noah shows up and says Red keeps running off into the woods, most likely checking out the grave. Wilson shares his conclusions with Noah, and tells him that his sister must discover who her husband really is. He wonders what excuse Rankin is fabricating (more duplicity) to cover up why he didn’t want Mary to ask Potter about the visitor to the house.

 

The segue to the next scene answers that question. Rankin says he was a student in Geneva and a woman fell in love with him. They were on a boat and she said she would drown herself if he didn’t commit to her. She jumped off and he says he dived in but couldn’t save her. He says that Meinike was the girl’s brother, knew they were on the boat, and extorted him so he wouldn’t implicate Rankin in her death. He showed up again on their wedding day and he says he gave Meinike more money and the man went away. Mary seems to buy his explanation, but she astutely asks why didn’t the man take his belongings. Rankin offers that once he had money he probably felt he could buy better possessions. He tells Mary that he wants to work on the church clock for a while because it calms him. She says he doesn’t have to walk her home because, “in Harper, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” The line reminds one of the apparently safe town in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, where beneath the illusion of security lurks the existence of evil.

 

Noah finds Red and he is dead. He and Wilson take him to the doctor who determines that the dog was poisoned. Wilson uses his detective skills to conclude that the mud and leaves on the front paws of the dog indicate he was digging. He calculates how far the animal was found from where he was poisoned based on the doctor’s account of how fast the poison worked. Wilson correctly deduces that Red was digging up Meinike’s body. The dog’s unearthing the corpse fits as a metaphor for what Wilson is doing, exposing what has been hidden below the dissembling surface. 

 

Rankin learns from Potter that Wilson and Noah took the dog to the doctor and that there is a search for the man who left his bag at the store. Rankin returns home and Mary finds him packing. Rankin truthfully tells her that he is not the man who she believes she married. His existence has been a disguise. She insists he is the man who she fell in love with. But he confesses to killing Red, and says, “murder can be a chain, Mary, with one link leading to another until it circles your neck.” It is an apt metaphor about how violence breeds violence until it claims the one who began its inception. He also admits to killing the man who visited her (Meinike) with the same hands that embraces her. It is an ironic contrast that the parts of the body that show love and tenderness can also be used to destroy life. It points to the duality of human nature. But, Rankin uses the truth to fortify his previous lie, making it appear as if he was protecting Mary and her father. He says that Meinike knew Mary's father was wealthy and wanted more of a payoff which prompted Rankin’s attack on the man. He has manipulated her feelings and, since there is nothing to connect him to the dead man, she promises to keep his secret. Through his deception she is now complicit in his crime.

 

The body is discovered, and Wilson underestimates the story that Rankin has concocted, believing that what he told Mary would contradict his initial statement about Meinike. But Rankin has been consistent about the extortion lie. Wilson says that Mary must now learn the whole truth about her husband. Meanwhile, Mary is getting nervous, worried about having to identify the body. Rankin attempts to calm her to make sure she provides a consistent story. He fakes his intention to confess to the police if she can’t handle the situation just to reassure her of his devotion to her. Mary’s father calls her and wants to see her alone. While the couple talk, Rankin fiddles with the clock in the room and says he will go work on the church clock while Mary sees her father. The references to the clocks stress that time is running out for Rankin.

 

Mary finds Wilson with her father. Mary lies when she says she doesn’t recognize Meinike’s photograph. Wilson tells her that she is protecting a murderer. He now reveals his own hidden agenda. He works for the Allied Commission for the Punishment of War Criminals. He says that Meinike ran one of the Nazi concentration camps. Wilson then shows her footage of the mass graves and gas chambers. He says that Franz Kindler conceived of the plan to exterminate as many of Germany’s enemies as possible so that the country would emerge superior to other nations at the end of World War II. He shows the horrors of the camp to convince Mary that she is harboring the monster that created the Nazi death machine. Kindler was an anonymous partner in the genocidal plan so there is no way to identify him, except that he had a mania for clocks. The cold efficiency of how the concentration camps carried out the executions resembles the precise mechanism of how parts of a timepiece work together. Wilson tells Mary that he had Meinike released so he would lead Wilson to Kindler and that only the person who knows who Meinike came to see in Harper can identify Kindler. Mary is stunned and in denial, not believing that Rankin could be Kindler. She denies that anyone visited her on the day Meinike arrived, and says that they are trying to involve her in “a lie.” But a lie is exactly what she has become part of, only it is not Wilson’s but her husband’s deceitful web in which she is entangled. After Mary runs off, Wilson tells Judge Longstreet that his daughter is grappling with the facts versus her not wanting to believe she could fall in love with a monster. Wilson says that if she is unreliable as Rankin’s ally, then he may attempt to kill her. He is using her as bait, and he admits to his manipulation of the Judge’s daughter, but in essence he is fighting coldness with coldness. 

 

After Wilson states his plan, the church clock chimes, emphasizing the precision of both actors in the cat-and-mouse game and how the contest is coming to an end. Mary runs to the church and climbs the stairs to the clock tower. She tells Rankin the meeting was a trap, but she divulged nothing and that they can prove Rankin isn’t who they say he is by verifying his attendance at the school in Geneva where he said he knew Meinike and his sister. They walk out among the crowd that has assembled to congratulate Rankin for getting the clock to chime. The John Donne poem, referenced earlier by Rankin, comes to mind, which reads, “For Whom the Bell Tolls/It tolls for thee,” indicating that death impacts all of humanity, not just those singled out as victims.

 

Mary starts closing the drapes in her house, symbolizing her desire to cover things up and not let the light reveal what is going on. Rankin is at Potter’s store. He finds out that Wilson has picked up the ice cream that was ordered for the party at their house that night. He hurries home, most likely worried that Mary might divulge something about the dead man. At the party there is much talk about the murder which greatly upsets Mary. Someone mentions Ralph Waldo Emerson’s statement about crime. Wilson knows the quote which says, “things are arranged for truth and benefit, and there is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue.” There are always clues left behind because, “The laws and substances of nature - water, snow, wind, gravitation - become penalties to the thief.” So, despite efforts to hide wrongful acts, the truth will be revealed, which is consistent with the theme of the film about appearances attempting to conceal reality. 

 

Mary’s denial of her husband’s guilt is starting to break down as she becomes agitated, cries, and rips off a necklace of pearls, the beads spilling on the floor representing how her defenses protecting Rankin are falling apart. The housekeeper, Sara (Martha Wentworth) reports this incident to Wilson, Mary's father, and Dr. Lawrence. Wilson knows that as she reveals her lack of resolve, Mary will become more of a target for her husband. So, he tells Sara she must be vigilant and relate all incidents. Mary’s father essentially tells Sara that Mary is walking through a minefield of the everyday where a planned attack may appear (that word again) as an accident. 

 

From that warning we nicely segue to Rankin sawing cuts into the ladder that leads to the church clock tower. He also announces at a meeting that he will soon finish the work of the German clockmakers who preceded him concerning the church timepiece. Metaphorically, his statement sounds like he wants to continue the work of the Nazi genocide machine. This idea is reinforced as he draws a swastika on a piece of paper as he calls Mary to go secretly to the church tower. It is clever that Potter then plays Rankin at checkers and says to Rankin that it’s his move, which Rankin has just made regarding Mary.

 

Sara makes a fuss about Mary leaving, and pretends (again a charade, but for beneficial purposes) that she is ill. Mary calls Noah and asks that he go to the church to tell Rankin she will be late. She wants Noah not to divulge his activity, which would draw her brother behind Rankin’s veil of deceit. But, Noah calls Wilson and they go to the church while Rankin is still with Potter. Wilson grabs one of the sawed rungs and it gives way. Luckily, he recovers with Noah there to help. Wilson can even smell the glue where the wood was temporarily attached. 

 When Rankin returns home and finds Mary is still alive, he is stunned and becomes unhinged, fiddling with his grandfather clock like it is a security blanket that will restore order. When she explains that she sent Noah to the church he becomes enraged that she told someone of the meeting. He blurts out that if Noah was killed it would be her fault. Mary then becomes frightened as she realizes her husband was attempting to kill her. She now sees that who she thought was her husband is really “the stranger,” and yells, like an accusation, his real name, “Franz Kindler!” Kindler escapes just before Wilson arrives with Noah, and Mary faints out of relief that her brother is still alive. 

 

Mary awakes in the night and goes to the church, climbing up the bell tower, suspecting that Kindler is hiding there. She came by way of the cemetery (an ominous path) and does find her husband there. She says she was not followed. Wilson and the others discover that she left, and Wilson suspects she is heading for the clocktower. She is carrying a box, but it is a decoy to make Kindler think she had something to give him so he would help her up. She also can play games of strategy. She says that she is there to kill him, but he says she will die instead. She is okay with that if she takes him with her. He says from that height he can see the goings on below, like “God,” and compares the citizens to “ants.” His statement reveals the deluded “master race” belief of the Nazis. But Wilson appears and tells Kindler that he only has to look outside to see all of the people rushing to apprehend the Nazi, which sounds like the citizens of the town that went to destroy Frankenstein’s monster. Kindler says it’s a trick, and Wilson angrily says he doesn’t need tricks, which Wilson says is what Kindler is all about. His bag of deception has now been ripped apart. Wilson says that the world for Kindler has shrunk to the town of Harper and now to the bell tower. Wilson seems to be saying that the Nazi’s area of existence is approaching the size of a prison cell. Wilson notes that the people whom Kindler belittled are now there to take him down.

 

Kindler uses that lame Nazi excuse that he was “just following orders,” but Wilson points out that Kindler was the one giving the orders. He is able to knock the gun away from Kindler, and Mary grabs it and starts shooting, wounding Kindler. He manages to climb out onto the exterior of the church clock. (This use of mayhem on a place that symbolizes law and justice echoes Alfred Hitchcock’s use of Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest and the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur). One of the large rotating figures, an angel with a sword chasing, appropriately, a demon stabs Kindler, the real evil creature. He is ironically done in by the mechanism he worshipped, and falls to his actual death and symbolically topples from his delusional belief in his superiority.

The next film is It Happened One Night.