User Reviews

MARIE GALANTE is an interesting relic of 1934 cinema on several counts:

(1) One of the few readily available films (on DVD, anyway) of Spencer Tracy's pre-MGM career.

(2) The first starring role for Ketti Gallian. This was her first major American film, and her only other significant role in Hollywood was as "Lady Denise Tarrington" in the classic Astaire/Rogers musical, SHALL WE DANCE, three years later. After that film, Ketti apparently returned to her native France and, aside from a handful of French productions, did no more movies (though apparently she was also active on stage). Lovely woman, and one wonders why she failed to make it in Hollywood.

(3) Interesting political context: As with many 1930s films involving espionage, the villains are not any identifiable countries but unnamed parties who "profit from war." This was the era in which the First World War was being blamed on munitions manufacturers, "merchants of death" who supposedly encouraged international instability and chaos in order to sell weapons.

(4) It's almost startling to see a Japanese naval officer turn out to be one of the "good guys" in a Hollywood film. Of course, MARIE GALANTE was released seven years before Pearl Harbor. And, of course, he's played by a Caucasian actor (Leslie Fenton).

(5) Other interesting casting: Helen Morgan has a minor role as a saloon singer (and does a couple of songs), Ned Sparks does his cantankerous act, and Sig Ruman plays a fairly straight role, rather than hamming it up.

(6) Henry King's direction and pacing are fascinating -- at times I thought I was watching something by Josef von Sternberg, with all those giant close-ups. Unusually brisk cutting between scenes, too, for a film of this vintage.

(7) Some nice stock footage of the Panama Canal and the U.S. Fleet.

No one should mistake MARIE GALANTE for a great film. Even by 1934 standards it was no more than casual entertainment. (Reportedly, the author of the original novel, Jacques Deval, was so disappointed in the film that he unsuccessfully tried to have his credit removed from it.) But if you're interested in 1930s movies, or if any of the factors listed above grab you, it's worth a rental.

French telegram delivery girl is kidnapped and ends up in South America,. There she works her way to the Panama Canal zone where she hopes to find some one to help her get back to France. She finds work in a saloon singing. She also begins to make the acquaintance of various parties from around the world, all of whom seem to have hidden motives for everything they are doing. And some one's motive includes blowing up the canal with the American fleet in it. Very good espionage thriller will probably keep you guessing for a chunk of its running time as to who is good and who is bad. Its a compact little film that spins out its tale in nicely constructed bits. It took me a little bit to get hooked, but once Marie got to Panama I was hooked and allowed it to lead me around where ever it wanted to go. Surprisingly good, it made me regret not having pulled it from my pile sooner. Grab some popcorn and soda and make a night of it.

And with a title of "Marie Galante" one might suppose that this was another film about the doings at the castle under one of those Looie (Roman Number) kings, and Marie was one of the ladies-in-waiting working to spring the Scarlet Pimpernel or the man in the iron mask out of the dungeon. One would be wrong. This one is 1934 at the Panama Canal and the American Commissioner at Cristoforo, General Phillips, is getting briefed by Ratcliff of Scotland Yard about a mystery man who may be plotting to blow up the power house and put the whole Pacific Fleet in dry-dock. His m.o. is that he always works through a woman, who appears...and disappears...and sometimes her body is found. The nationality of the man is unknown to Scotland Yard but they have pictures of him when, in 1914, he was member of the House of Commons and had a key position at the War Department and important secret files disappeared; in 1916, under another name, he was the master mind in the Central European Spy Organization in Paris and two of his confederates---both women---were caught and shot; next, he was a Llama in Tibet who put himself as head of affairs in China and things went badly for all Western Powers; He turned up later as chief engineer of the Potosi Munition Works and they were blown up; and, when last seen and heard of, he was the man behind the scenes of a big Communist uprising in Germany. Ratcliff of Scotland Yard had six photos of the man but no name. About this time, Dr. Crawbett, from the University of Wisconsin, pops in to give a report on how well his study of tropical insects, mosquitoes and diseases is going. (This alone makes this a watershed moment in movies, as the only other mention of the University of Wisconsin in film-history came in 1953 when Republic made "Crazy Legs" starring Elroy "Crazy-Legs" Hirsch...himself.) Ratcliff and Crawbett go out for a night on the town at the Pacific Gardens where Helen Morgan (as Miss Tapia or something) sings a torch song. They also meet a Japanese poet/curio shop owner named Gennosaki Tenoki, but he has only been a poet since 1933, and, prior to that, he was a Lieutenant Commander in the Japanese Imperial Navy and, in fact, had just returned to Panana yesterday from a visit to Japan. They converse a bit and then the master-of-ceremonies announces that he he now happy to introduce "a singer that can sing without leaning all over the piano" and Miss Helen Morgan seems to take offense at his rude inclusion of her in the introduction of...Marie Galante. She sings a song half in French and half in her own brand of English, and then Miss Tapia sends her over to pump information out of Ratcliff (of Scotland Yard) and Crawbett (U. of W.), while working as a B-girl sipping small glasses of diluted orange juice. Marie mostly tells them about how put out she is by being in Panama where nobody speaks French. Crawbett suggests that Brogard, sitting across the room eyeballing them, perhaps does since he owns the Paris Bazaar and Botique. But Brogard, with a furtive nod to Miss Tapia, departs the premises. So she then tells them of how to come it is she is in Panama against her wishes---something to do with delivering a Postes Telegraphies at San Briac to a ship and the ship sailed with her still aboard. Crawbett then makes the mistake of asking her about her home in San Braic and she says...." Oh, m'sieure, it is so beautiful" There is the old church where I am confirmed---the homes of my friends---the flowers---the fields beyond town! Everybody tell me---Bon jour, Marie! 'Ello, Marie! The gooses go quack, quack, quack-'ello, Marie! The sheep and the cowses-they call Baa-Baa, Marie - moo-moo Marie." Marie is indeed enchanting and even inspires Tenoki, the retired Japanese Naval Commander turned poet, to send her an example of his work dedicated to her: "Blonde girl resting is like flower in sunshine. But when she moves in affairs of men she may be like cat in mischief. Why not be happy to remain a flower." It doesn't quite scan and sounds like a threat, but Marie liked it. Later, Teniko's clerk who delivered the poem turns up quite dead what with having been shot with a two-eight-three automatic and stabbed with a long, thin knife with a Japanese mark on the handle. Tenoki smilingly says of the clerk..."he has contrived to get himself murdered in the canal zone."

I forget what else happens but I'm sure I can watch a Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto panama-canal film and find out from the stock-footage.

Marie Galante is an interesting relic, and can be watched purely as an example of what was acceptable to audiences in 1934 (Stepin Fetchit, an Asian played by a Caucasian, etc.), the most interesting being the witlessness of Marie Galante.

Poor Marie. Despite being dragged off to sea and held prisoner, she never seems to develop much of a sense of caution towards strangers. One can only conclude that she is not very bright; there is little in the movie to make one think otherwise.

Had Marie had some sense, the story would have been more engaging, instead of watching other people maneuvering around her with craft and purpose, Marie oblivious and eternally innocent. Marie could have had a growing sense of dread as events closed in about her, but no, she's chirps all along and doesn't stay serious for more than a few moments.

Stepin Fetchit must be sense to be believed.

This film was originally going to be called "That Girl", and the part of Marie Galante was a French girl who betrays her own country. The part was originally offered to Lili Damita, who turned it down because she could not stomach playing the part of a French traitress.

A couple of years down the line, and we have a new title, a new French actress, a new script and a new country to betray. Marie Galante is a French post office employee who gets shanghaied delivering a telegram to an arms smuggler. She eventually finishes up officially accused of being a stowaway, and singing in a bar in Panama.

But Panama City is a hotbed of spies and counter espionage. The counter spies are looking for an unsavoury character who turns up in trouble spots all over the world - only no one knows what he looks like. Naturally, we try to guess who the person is, only to find that the film makers have cheated by making him a character that doesn't appear until at least halfway though the film. Just for a change, the Japanese is one of the good guys. Spencer Tracy is an expert on tropical diseases, although we have guessed early on that he is not what he says he is. Marie Galante is tricked into spying against the USA rather than France.

Probably because of the rewritten screenplay, the denouement is a bit of a mess; but the film has a happy albeit uncertain ending when the girl gets not only Spencer Tracy at the end, but the Japanese as well! Ketti Gallian, who plays the title role, plays a stereotypical French girl. Her hair photographs badly. She is meant to be blonde, but looks more like an albina. There is nothing particularly wrong with her acting, except that it lacks the personality of a star.

The film is perfectly watchable, although it lacks the tension of a really good thriller.

Director: HENRY KING. Screenplay: Reginald Berkeley. Based on the 1931 novel by Jacques Deval. Uncredited screenplay contributor: Dudley Nichols. Photography: John F. Seitz. Film editor: Harold D. Schuster. Costumes designed by René Hubert. Music director: Arthur Lange. Orchestrations: Paul Van Loan. Songs by Jay Gorney and Arthur Lange. Wardrobe master: Sam Benson. Assistant director: Jasper Blystone. Sound recording: Eugene Grossman. Producer: Winfield R. Sheehan.

Copyright 26 October 1934 by Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Mayfair: 20 November 1934. U.K. release: 11 May 1935. Australian release: 23 January 1935. 8,192 feet. 91 minutes.

PRINCIPAL MIRACLE: Sig Rumann not only has two parts (he confronts himself via a process screen), but for the first and only time in his screen career, uses his real voice.

COMMENT: Whoever said Henry King was a dull director should take a look at "Marie Galante". The pace never lets up from start to finish, atmosphere (thanks also to some wonderfully impressive sets) is so visually exciting you can almost feel the Panamanian heat, and the editing can only be described as innovating and expressive.

King's use of sound effects, particularly at the climax, is also a marvel of ingenuity.

Acting is absolutely spot on. Sig Rumann has the best part of his whole career (two roles actually), delivering his lines with such aplomb that you can see the movie again and again just to enjoy his performance.

Also to be especially relished are Leslie Fenton as Tenoki, Robert Lorraine as Ratcliffe, and the lovely, vivacious Ketti Gallian as the beset heroine. Tracy makes his lead sufficiently charismatic to get by and it's nice to find Ned Sparks and Helen Morgan (though she has little to do but sing) in the cast. Only fly in the ointment (and fortunately only a very small-fry fly) is Stepin Fetchit, way way down to his usual obnoxious parody as an especially moronic assistant to Mr. Sparks.

Despite an occasional stock shot, production values are mind- blowing.