You know, I think I really like this Tod Slaughter fellow. I knew nothing about him before seeing A Face at the Window a couple of weeks ago, but I have to say I really love his style. He's great at playing the over-the-top villain - he's got the look and the mannerisms down, and just has a magnetic screen presence. It's undoubtedly corny by today's standards, but it's hard for me not to love such a mustache-twirlingly evil villain. (Note: he does not have a mustache in this one. But I will be doing my best to track down a film where he does, indeed, twirl his mustache. It has to be out there.)
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke has a really odd framing device - the opening shot is zoomed in on a radio microphone, and we are "treated" to a several minute bit from the musical-comedy duo Flotsam and Jetsam. (They read the newspaper, comically, and to music. It's not that good.) Then the host interviews a guy who sells cat food. (?) I don't know why this is there - I didn't think movies from the 30s needed padding, but whatever. Anyways, about 6-7 minutes into the film the radio host introduces the actor Tod Slaughter, who talks about being a deviant in his other movies, but also his newest film, The Crimes of Stephen Hawke. Then the actual movie starts.
The plot of said movie: Slaughter is the titular Stephen Hawke - a money lender with criminal tendencies who is not satisfied with the amount of money he has to lend. His main criminal goal seems to be robbery, but if he has to do a little murderin' on the side, so be it. You see, he's got these SUPER STRONG hands and is able to break people's backs with one powerful move. In the midst of his criminal activities he has killed a few people, and is given the awesome nickname of "The Spinebreaker" by the press and the fearful populace. He has not been outed as the notorious killer, but when the son of one of his victims catches on, Hawkes must get out of town and leave his beloved daughter behind. It's all very dramatic, and it doesn't help that the son that is out for revenge happens to be romantically involved with Hawkes' own daughter. Really, there is no way for it to end happily, you know? But there is a villain called "The Spinebreaker" - and that made me happy enough.
As you would guess, Slaughter is the highlight. I'm on board with all of his evil shenanigans, and watching him scheme with his eyepatched, one-legged henchmen is a real treat. His lack of subtlety is amusing to no end. When he's trying to convince a wealthy man's hired driver to bring the man to his party (so he can rob him and *maybe* break his spine), he makes sure to say "now, make certain he brings his giant emerald" like three or four times. His motives are more than a little transparent, but people are slow to catch on.
It's obviously not a very violent movie (being 1936 and all), but there are some surprises when it comes to who gets their spine broken and when. The nature of the killings (and who gets it) is perhaps why they made sure to have a little introduction telling you it's not real? I'm not sure how savvy 1930s audiences are, but I will say I was pretty surprised by the film's first broken spine. Slaughter gets to do a little acting too - while he is definitely a bad guy, his number one priority is his daughter. So he plays this weird mix of crazed killer/doting father.
The transfer on the 50 Tales of Terror budget set was actually pretty decent (relatively speaking, of course). The picture looked okay and the sound was clear. My wife and I tried to watch another one on the set before this one (The Ghost Walks) where you literally couldn't make out a line of dialogue. So we switched to this. For the record, she didn't like it.
But she's not charmed by the antics of Tod Slaughter, and I think the film may have been a little simple for her tastes. But I get a kick out of the old-timeyness. If you feel the same way:
I would recommend this film.
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