Midnight Court is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, April 19th at 8:45am PST

The last time I recall Midnight Court airing on TCM was the fall of 1997, which is also the last (and possibly only) time I am aware TCM did a tribute to Ann Dvorak by showing a bunch of her movies. I really don’t remember much about Midnight Court, and have no clue what the plot is. I’m pretty sure John Litel is a lawyer, and Ann is a court reporter and possibly his ex-wife. I vaguely recall many courtroom scenes with Ann having nothing to do but feign an interest in what’s taking place around her. Overall, I remember being disappointed by Ann being handed yet another mediocre roll by Warner Bros.

There is one thing exceptionally memorable about Midnight Court. Ann Dvorak gets to wear the most fabulously hideous costume of her career. She shows up for a party wearing what appears to be a dress covered gold lame fish scales. The dress is impressively unflattering on Ann’s normally fashion-friendly figure and, shockingly, the matching cape does not improve the overall presentation. Topping off this glorious monstrosity is a Juliet cap, which had become a minor fashion rage that year after Norma Shearer donned the headgear in Romeo and Juliet. While Norma. may have pulled it off, Ann doesn’t fare as well. It’s been over thirteen years since I first watched Midnight Court with my friend Darin, but I can still remember the moment Ann walked onscreen in the Fish Dress and we both gasped in horror and then convulsed in laughter. At the time, I had yet to purchase any Dvorak memorabilia and Darin took me to the Hollywood Poster Exchange which used to be located at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and La Cienega in West Hollywood. Imagine my glee when the owner of the shop, Bob Colman, brought out a folder full of Midnight Court photos including a couple of Ann in the Fish Dress. I’ve been collecting on her ever since.

My understanding is that the Warner Bros costume department is fairly intact and I can only hope against hope that the Fish Dress is still there in all its gold lame glory. I recently took a tour of the lot with my friend Kenton, a WB employee. Alas, he doesn’t have a connection in the costume department, and neither did anyone else I encountered and asked, and believe me, I asked anyone who would make eye contact with me. Someday, the gods will smile down and I will be able to behold the Fish Dress in living color.

Midnight Court was the second to last film Ann made at Warner Bros during her contract. It was the first film she had made for them in over a year, following an illness, suspension, and lawsuit against the studio. By the time she was filming this one, Ann was really done with Warner Bros and vice versa.

I’m not sure if you’ll enjoy Midnight Court, but you can’t help but enjoy the Fish Dress.

Scarface is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, January 21st at 6:30pm PST.

Ann Dvorak appeared in 53 feature films (not counting her appearances as a child-actor and chorus girl). Some are lousy, others merely watchable, and a few are damn good. In my humble opinion, the one that stands above all the others and is a truly great film is 1932’s Scarface.

Directed by Howard Hawks,  produced by Howard Hughes, and starring Paul Muni, Scarface is legendary for the censorship battles it sparked between Hughes and the Production Code Administration, as much as it is for being one of the quintessential gangster flicks of the early 1930s.  Also, this was the film that spawned the 1983 Brian DePalma movie of the same name, starring Al Pacino. Scarface is also the first film Ann Dvorak was cast in as an actress as opposed to an extra or member of the chorus.

When watching the film, it’s hard to believe this is the first time Ann really acted on screen, and that she was barely twenty years of age. She more than holds her own with Muni, who was already an accomplished stage actor, and her scenes with an equally effective George Raft are electrifying. Her death scene could have been melodramatically comedic, but instead is quite convincing. With her heavily char-coaled eyes and teased up hair, she is never quite this striking looking in any other film.

The censorship issues with Scarface delayed the film’s release for a number of months and unfortunately, the first movie bearing the name “Ann Dvorak” was not this one, but Sky Devils, a not so funny comedy starring Spencer Tracy and featuring rehashed flying footage from Hughes’ Hell’s Angels.

Scarface is definitely “Ann Dvorak 101,” so if you haven’t seen this one before, set your dial to TCM and enjoy the debauched ride.

Merrily We Live is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Sunday, December 19th at 5:15am PST.

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The Long Night is going to air on Turner Classic movies on Saturday, December 4th at 9:00pm PST.

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Mrs. O’ Malley and Mr. Malone is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, November 24th  at 2:15pm PST.

Previous comments on Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone can be found here.

Merrily We Live is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, October 22nd at 12:00pm PST.

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Secret of Convict Lake is going to air on the Fox Movie Channel on Tuesday, August 10 at 3:00am PST

As is turns out, Turner Classic Movies is not the only channel airing Ann Dvorak flicks these days. Last week, the Bachelor’s Daughters was shown on something called Golden Eagle Broadcasting (GEB) (sorry, I found out about this airing too late to post it here). Now this week, the Fox Movie Channel is airing 1951’s Secret of Convict Lake.

This dark western about a group of escaped convicts who impose their will on an outpost of woman whose husbands are away, stars and impressive ensemble cast, including Glen Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore, Zachary Scott, Ruth Donnelly, and of course, Ann Dvorak. As with most of Ann’s films toward the end of her career, the role is not large but she delivers big. The scenes between Ann and a smarmy Zachary Scott are some of the most memorable in the film.

While Ann would briefly continue with some television work, Secret of Convict Lake capped off film career that spanned over 35 years.

Bright Lights is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, July 18th at 1:45pm PST

In July 1932, Ann Dvorak walked out on Warner Bros to go honeymooning abroad with hubby Leslie Fenton. While she was gone, the studio started producing Depression Era feel-good films featuring over-the-top musical numbers choreographed by Busby Berkeley. Given Dvorak’s background as a chorus girl, there is a good chance she may have appeared in films such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, or Gold Diggers of 1933. When she finally came back to work, she did feel as though she had missed out on the opportunity to show off her dancing skills, causing her to successfully  lobby for a role in the musical Sweet Music.

In 1935, she finally got the opportunity to work with Busby Berkeley with a lead role in Bright Lights starring Joe E Brown. Dvorak had previously worked with Berkeley who choreographed a quicky routine for Sky Devils, but this time around he was the film’s director. This tale of a married vaudeville couple whose marriage is put to the test when the husband goes on Broadway does not contain any of Berkeley’s signature dance numbers, but does let Dvorak show off a step or two. Bright Lights isn’t the most memorable film and Joe E. Brown can wear a bit thin at times, but overall it’s enjoyable enough.  Dvorak and Brown have great chemistry and the movie is strongest when they are on screen together.

For those of you interested in Los Angeles history, some parts of Bright Lights, where filmed inside Child’s Opera House on Main Street shortly before the theater was demolished.

Our Very Own is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Monday, June 7 at 11:45pm PST.

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Murder in the Clouds is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, May 11th  at  11:30am PST.

1934 was the most prolific year of Ann Dvorak’s film career, in quantity if not always in quality. In the nine films released that year by Warner Bros, Ann mainly found herself in supporting roles and frequently as the devoted leading lady to the star of the film. Murder in the Clouds is just that with Ann playing faithful to Lyle Talbot, though at least in this film she gets to be a kidnap victim and uses her wiles to get rescued.

This hour long aviation drama with a Dore Schary story credit is not as strong as other 1934 offerings like Massacre and Heat Lightning, but is still more watchable than titles like I Sell Anything and Gentlemen Are Born. For some reason, it was the only 1934 Dvorak title readily available on DVD, until the Warner Archive recently released Midnight Alibi.

Images Courtesty of Heritage Auction Galleries

On a side note, the one-sheet for Murder in the Clouds is the most expensive Ann Dvorak poster I own. I can only guess that an airplane fanatic tried to outbid me on this one, unless there’s a Lyle Talbot devotee out there who’s passion matches mine for Ann-D.

Enjoy!