Happy Birthday Lucille Ball: THE DARK CORNER (20th Century Fox 1946)

Having grown up on endless reruns of I LOVE LUCY (and her subsequent variations on the Lucy Ricardo character), I’m not used to watching Lucille Ball in a dramatic role. In fact, I think the 1985 TV movie STONE PILLOW is the only time I’ve seen her play it straight until I recently watched THE DARK CORNER on TCM, a minor but enjoyable noir with Lucy headlining a good cast in a story about a private eye framed for murder. And since today marks the 105th anniversary of the redhead’s birth, now’s as good a time as any to look back on this unheralded hardboiled tale.

Lucy, looking mighty sexy at age 35, plays Kathleen Stewart, secretary to PI Bradford Galt, recently relocated to The Big Apple. He’s got a secret past that’s dogging him, and a shady man in a white suit following him. Galt confronts the tail, who claims to be a fellow PI named Foss working for Galt’s old partner Jardine. Kathleen’s sweet on Galt, but he keeps warning her to get out while she can. He finally reveals his deep, dark secret to her: Jardine was a blackmailer of women and embezzler who, when Galt found out, set up the detective on a manslaughter rap, earning Galt two years in stir.

Jardine’s chummy with art gallery owner Hardy Cathcart, a sarcastic sophisticate married to Mari, a much younger woman. Slimy Jardine’s up to his old tricks, wooing Mari under Cathcart’s nose. But the cagey codger knows what’s up, and he’s hired a hitman (Stauffer, using the alias Foss) to kill Jardine and frame ex-partner Galt for the murder. Stauffer does the deed, and winds up getting shoved out a 30th floor window by Cathcart for his troubles. Jardine’s body is found under Galt’s bed, and now he and Kathleen must work diligently to solve the mystery before Galt ends up in the electric chair.

Lucy’s good as Kathleen, working as Galt’s partner rather than just a mere secretary. Her banter with the PI is cute in a non-cloying way, and it’s not spoiling anything to let you know she gets her man in the end. Miss Ball was freelancing at this point in her career, no longer under contract to RKO or MGM, and she was getting a reputation as strictly a B-movie queen. A savvy businesswoman, Lucy moved to radio and starred in a hit sitcom called MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. That new-fangled medium television came along and, with a switch of leading men (Richard Denning to real-life husband Desi Arnaz) and change of titles, the show debuted on October 15, 1951 as I LOVE LUCY. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Mark Stevens plays tough-guy Bradford Galt, and though he’s a bit stiff, he’s  better here than in BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN . Clifton Webb is the acerbic, lovelorn Cathcart in a part very similar to his Waldo Lydecker in LAURA. The always reliable William Bendix is Foss/Stauffer, adding his particular brand of menace to the film. Kurt Kreuger, usually an evil Nazi, is the suave but just as evil Jardine. Reed Hadley keeps popping in and out as a police lieutenant keeping a sharp eye on Galt. Cathy Downs (Mari) was once the sweet title girl in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE , later costar of THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN. Familiar Face spotters will want to keep their eyes peeled for Constance Collier, Ellen Corby, Molly Lamont, Donald MacBride, Matt McHugh, John Russell, and Charles Wagenheim.

Henry Hathaway keeps things taut for the most part, though for me the film dragged in some places. Hathaway was one of those Hollywood directors not noted for any particular genre, but always managed to make good movies. Some of his other noirs were the classic KISS OF DEATH, THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET, 13 RUE MADELEINE, and NIAGRA. He worked with stars like Gary Cooper (seven times!), Randolph Scott, and Mae West (GO WEST YOUNG MAN). He’s mainly regarded for his Western work, and guided John Wayne through his Oscar-winning performance in TRUE GRIT. Joseph MacDonald’s cinematography is appropriately dark and atmospheric.

THE DARK CORNER is not a great film, but it gives fans a great chance to see Lucille Ball act in a dramatic role. The girl was good, no doubt about it, and should have spread her thespic wings more often. But once she hit the small screen, everyone just wanted to see the lovable redhead clown her way through one madcap adventure after another. Happy birthday, Lucy.. we still love you!