In 24 HOURS, Clive Brook drinks, Miriam Hopkins sings, Kay Francis suffers, and Regis Toomey acts. Only two of them will survive to the end of this engrossing movie. Can those two find happiness, or at least a little recognition for their fine performances?
It's always a surprise to find a gem hiding in a shady corner of the internet, and distressing to find that the only way to discover this one is through a wanton copyright violator (now shut down). In this case -- I think the reason for the obscurity is lack of TCM exposure, and a copyright owner who has not found the hook to release an 83 year old movie, because the director isn't Wellman, Hawks, Lubitsch, Ford, or Curtiz, and the stars, while certainly well enough loved by fans of the pre-code, don't get a lot of notice today.
This is a real shame, in this case, because this one is a real find, helped by the very strong acting and a plot with a strong strain of melancholy, and sense of doom which. with the striking photography, suggests film noir. Colin Clive and Regis Toomey are responsible for a lot of arid celluloid, but in this case, the director has drawn out strong performances out of both of them. Kay Francis delivers a good performance out of the one thankless role (the suffering wife), and Miriam Hopkins does real well with the nightclub singer who has more personality than voice.
I'm sure the movie will reappear again -- as long as copyright owners bury their lest well-known product -- violators of 80 year old copyrights will flourish. But, really, this one deserves a reissue in a shining new print. Olive Films? Criterion Collection? TCM? Universal? How about it?
