”If you film buffs suspect I’ve skipped a picture I made called Dark Hazard, you’re so right. Try hard not to see it on TV. I loathed it.” — Edward G. Robinson
Ouch, Edward G., that’s a bit rough, especially when I like it so much! Maybe he didn’t like working with the dog. Actors can’t stand working with babies and animals, right, and War Cry, the prizewinning greyhound who played Dark Hazard, didn’t even have any acting experience.
Robinson’s scenes with War Cry noticeably take a lot more effort than we’re used to seeing from an actor who almost always seems completely absorbed into his portrayals. But even if we can see Robinson working, and working hard, to express a pure and unrestrained love when handling the pooch, it’s difficult not to be charmed by his character’s relationship with the animal, a racing dog who earns most of his affection by being first across the finish line.
It was those strong finishes that also first attracted Robinson’s gambler, “Buck” Turner, to Dark Hazard, but as Buck’s personal life crumbles, he remains devoted to Dark Hazard, even after rediscovering him under highly reduced circumstances.
It’s a fine movie, Dark Hazard, with this bit about a man and his dog only a subplot in a story that’s really about addiction, at least most of the way. The final scene relents to reward Buck despite all the harm he’d done to himself and his wife, Marge (Genevieve Tobin). After spending 73 minutes with a collection of characters who are all flawed, I suppose the movie wants to reward us by having everything turn out okay for the most likable of the bunch, Robinson’s lead Buck Turner.
Give credit to Robinson for making Turner seem like a square guy, even if his addiction and the lies born of it drive his wife away and ultimately cause him to abandon his newborn son. Tobin had an even more thankless task, shifting from Buck's loving wife to a wet blanket who makes no attempt to understand his world. It's accepted between them that her way is right, his wrong, but the movie rebels by keeping Buck the hero no matter how often he lets her down. Buck makes multiple efforts to reform along the way, but his past follows him and keeps drawing him back into the gambling life.
We roll with Buck on hot and cold streaks right from the opening scenes of Dark Hazard, when he borrows five dollars for a taxi not long after winning twenty grand on a 20-to-1 shot at the horse track. A lawn jockey welcomes busted Buck into the Mayhew boarding house in Barrowville, Ohio, where he first meets Marge (Tobin), daughter of the boarding house proprietress (Emma Dunn), who soon warns her daughter: “If you marry that gambler, you’ll marry into a life of trouble and disaster.”
Above, left to right: Edward G. Robinson, Emma Dunn and Genevieve Tobin.
Marge refuses to heed mother’s advice and we next join our newlyweds at a Chicago hotel where Buck works and the couple lives. Buck tries to make the best of a bad situation, obeying a Scrooge of a boss (William V. Mong), who orders Buck to evict hotel deadbeats at Christmas, and taking a harsh amount of grief from a nasty resident, Mr. Bright (Sidney Toler), who eventually makes good on his promise to have Buck fired. Mr. Bright turns out to have an ulterior motive to his cruelty, providing a scene with Robinson and Gordon Westcott that still has me laughing along with the characters every time I see it. I won’t spoil the fun with details, but it leads to an arrangement that sends Buck west to California where he’s to oversee a race track.
Above: Robinson confronts Toler and Westcott, but the tone quickly shifts to--
Above: Happy times! Left to right: Sidney Toler, Edward G. Robinson, Gordon Westcott.
But this isn’t a horse track, it’s a dog track, and Buck enters the business completely ignorant, or so he thinks.
Buck is none too upset when he loses his first bet at the track, taking it as a lesson learned: “Well, it cost me forty bucks to find out dogs is just like horses. It ain’t how they look, it’s how they run.” And boy, did that Dark Hazard ever run, making quite an impression on Buck. He has every intention of betting on Dark Hazard next time, but his boss catches him on his way to the betting window and tells him that the smart money is on another dog. Buck switches his bet at the last minute and Dark Hazard foils him again. But again, Buck isn’t upset, at this point he’s absolutely charmed by the talents of the sleek black greyhound who’s now cost him twice.
Above: Genevieve Tobin and Edward G. Robinson
Obviously, Marge’s fears over a track job drawing Buck back into gambling were well-founded. But her character loses audience sympathy with her harsh reception of Val Wilson (Glenda Farrell), Buck’s old gambling buddy and sometimes bed partner, who’s blown back into his life with the dog track. Admittedly, Val’s timing isn’t very good, bursting in with a couple of drunks in tow only moments after Marge has told Buck that she’s pregnant. Buck, who had just promised to reform, is immediately placed in the uncomfortable position of introducing his wife to his playmate. It doesn’t go well.
The more Buck gambles, the more he stays out, and the more he enjoys the nightlife, the more Val is at his side. After a blowout with Marge at home, Buck and Val gamble through to morning, and then Val tries to seduce him when he brings her home. Buck relents, saying he loves his wife, leading to the best line in the movie, courtesy of Glenda Farrell. She’s sprawled across her lounge and Buck has just dashed any hopes she had of his joining her. She tells him to leave, picks up the phone and, for Buck’s benefit, says, “Hey operator, send up a porter with a wheelchair. Huh? No,” she says, her tone deflated, “I didn’t do anything to him.”
Above: Glenda Farrell
Back home, Buck sneaks in after dawn and begins to undress for bed when Marge rolls over and catches him. Buck immediately reverses himself, acting as though he just woke up and is dressing for the day. Marge glances at his untouched side of the bed as Buck cheerfully mentions that he’s going to go out and water the bamboo in their yard. “Looks like you’ve been watering the bamboo all night,” says Marge. Buck tries to escape her wrath by showering her with the money he won that night. Marge seems to calm down and puts the money away in a drawer for safe keeping.
She leaves Buck five hundred dollars and a note telling him that he’s welcome to join her back at the boarding house. Next scene finds Buck losing big at cards. More of the same at roulette, then dice. Finally, looking a bit grubby, he sneaks off a freight car and finds his way back to the Mayhew boarding house, where the formerly welcoming lawn jockey has now been very purposely removed because of the life it had implied. A happy reunion is attempted, but we know Buck is doomed the moment Marge’s brother (Hobart Cavanagh) passes word that a dog track is coming to town.
Above: Happier times for Buck and Marge.
Buck’s life with Marge is beyond salvation, but old friends may provide a more general rescue. Buck bumps into Dark Hazard’s owner (Robert Barrat) at the new track, and is surprised to find out his old favorite isn’t doing so well. "Practically a three-legged dog,” his owner says. Those words prove prophetic after Dark Hazard takes a bad tumble running the hurdles, a gimmick race that is all he was good for at that point. The final straw comes at home when Buck returns carrying Dark Hazard in his arms, and Marge finally gives up the pretense of rescuing their marriage.
With Buck on the side of the road sharing a sandwich with Dark Hazard while trying to hitch a ride, a happy ending seems miles off. But it’s only a few moments before life turns for Buck and Dark Hazard, in a final scene that reveals Buck’s problems boiled down to choosing the wrong woman. Marge just couldn’t tame him, but there’s a hope that Val’s strong personality can keep Buck’s demons under wraps into the future. I doubt it, but at least we get to smile when we leave the theater.
Above: Robinson and Tobin water the bamboo.
Dark Hazard is one of four pre-Code titles on the recent Warner Archive DVD-R release, Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 8. Despite its flaws, it’s my favorite of a quartet whose other entries feature leading performances from James Cagney, Paul Muni, and Norma Shearer.
In Dark Hazard our hero is pretty much a lowlife with a good disposition. The original heroine is devoured by her own morality, while the supposed woman of low morals steps into her shoes, in a film that seems to be sending a very definite message of one sort, until loosening its grip in the final moments to invalidate any previous moralizing. It’s a topsy-turvy time that really doesn’t go anywhere from beginning to end, but allows Robinson to boost a character who pretty much runs in place for most of the time in between.
The movie is based on a novel from W.R. Burnett, author of a more famous book previously brought to life on screen by Robinson in 1931, Little Caesar. Later novels by Burnett include High Sierra and The Asphalt Jungle. Burnett had intimate knowledge of his material when it came to Dark Hazard, as he was owner of Robinson’s co-star, the greyhound War Cry. One old clipping I found referred to War Cry as, “the Man O’ War of the dogs,” who had won forty-four races in one year, finishing out of the money only four times that season. He later sired many champions.
Warner’s contract director Alfred E. Green directed Dark Hazard, his fourth time working with Robinson. Previous efforts together were Smart Money (1931), Silver Dollar (1932), and I Loved a Woman (1933), the last a terribly titled, but entertaining, story of a turn of the century meat packing business, also co-starring Genevieve Tobin as another unhappy wife to Robinson. The contemporary New York Times review of Dark Hazard took Green to task for “an irritating abruptness” in his transitions, “used … as a device to convey a false illusion speed.” It worked for me.
Dark Hazard has an original setting, many excellent characters, led by Edward G. Robinson’s star portrayal, several little moments of pre-Code sexiness, courtesy Glenda Farrell, and typical Warner Bros. imprints of the period, including pacing, relevancy, and exposure to a slice of life that can leave a middle class viewer feeling as though they’re doing a bit of slumming. That’s all enough to distract me from looking for a strong story.
My thanks to Warner Archive for providing a review copy of their recent manufactured-on-demand DVD-R set Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 8. In addition to Dark Hazard the set also includes Blonde Crazy with Cagney and Joan Blondell, Hi, Nellie! with Muni, and Strangers May Kiss with Shearer. Reviews of each are coming soon to this site.
Sources
- Bradley, Hugh. “Goin’ to Dogs Gets Tip-Off That Food Costs 25c Per Day.” New York Post. 19 March 1936: 1. Web. Old Fulton NY Postcards. 8 December 2014.
- Robinson, Edward G and Leonard Spigelgass. All My Yesterdays: An Autobiography
. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1973.
- ADS. "Review: Dark Hazard." New York Times. 23 February 1934. Web. New York Times Archives. 8 December 2014.
Now Available:
- Thoughts on The Thin Man: Essays on the Delightful Detective Work of Nick and Nora Charles, edited by Danny Reid of Pre-Code.com. You'll find my biography of Edward Ellis inside this new release, plus Thin Man related essays from several other writers, including Danny.
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Coming Soon:
- More Pre-Code eBook 2 Preview Posts. Completed so far: Born to Be Bad (1934).
- Arsene Lupin (1932) review
- Review of each of the the other 3 titles on the Warner Archive new release, Forbidden Hollywood: Volume 8.
- Additional Warner Archive review copies on hand: Ace of Aces (1933), Reno (1939), and The Man Who Played God (1932). These are all guaranteed to appear on the site at some point, but not on any strict schedule.
I watched this one a few weeks ago and pretty much agree with you Cliff. It’s very endearing and very sweet, and I thought the ending was kind of crazy considering everything that came before it. I’ve finished a review, just waiting on the DVDs so I can get some screenshots. I am interested to hear that you like this one the most in the collection though– I think the you and the rest of the world is trying to severely clamp down on my interest in Hi Nellie and Strangers May Kiss.
Danny, I’ll definitely be looking forward to see what you’ve got to say on Dark Hazard. It edges out the Cagney/Blondell title when it comes to the four in this Forbidden Hollywood collection, but those are the two titles that I’m most excited about seeing in this collection. The other two choices didn’t thrill me from the time of their announcement, but the Shearer is a good fit, as it’s typical Norma Shearer of the period. Hi, Nellie! is a strange one, and somewhat new to me–I only first caught it during a semi-recent TCM Muni marathon–I hope to like it better this time. It’s a newspaper story, screaming for Lee Tracy in the lead, but otherwise pretty good. I love Muni, so there’s a possibility I was extra hard on it the first time I watched.
Thanks A LOT for this latest 1934-movie called “DARK HAZARD” , with the great, unforgettable E.-G. Robinson : it’s a rarity, an “oldie but goldie” indeed !
I would therefore like to watch it again : is it possible to download it for free ?
As for your book, we would like to buy it, but would it be possible to order it DIRECTLY from you,
without dealing with this shark called “amazon” please ?
Now, I don’t quite know whether it’s possible or not, given the fact that we’re in Europe (?) : I mean dealing directly with you to order your book (you see, we try to avoid big / huge companies …)
I really love what you’re doing, yours is a wonderful & necessary task, for you’re saving the souvenir of great “oldies but goldies” films, some of them actually being unknown or forgotten masterpieces .
THANKS for everything, and please “STRIKE AGAIN” (as once said an actor … in a LUBITSCH’s Masterpiece called … I let you guess that one -I’ll give you a clue though before ending this message: It’s the END, the FINAL SHOT of this Lubitsch’s unconsidered masterwork -surely my preferred one …
Thank you for the kind words! I received your email as well, but since it’s a duplicate of this comment, I’ll just answer here.
Dark Hazard is a Warner Archive release, and they’re pretty on top of removing any copies that you find streaming on sites like YouTube. It played here in the U.S. on Turner Classic Movies recently, so it can be viewed through the WatchTCM app, but I don’t know if you can access that outside of the U.S.
Thanks for you interest in my eBook. Besides Amazon, I’ve now set it up for sale on Kobo as an EPUB, which can be purchased here: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/11-pre-code-hollywood-movie-histories I’ve also made the plain PDF available on my own site for download, here: https://store.immortalephemera.com/#!/PDF-11-Pre-Code-Hollywood-Histories-Complete-eBook/p/44800021. I had planned to make it available through Barnes and Noble for the Nook device, but ran into some formatting issues that have delayed me there.
I’m terrible at remembering quotes, which Lubitsch is it from?
Hello again ! I see we can share our true, pure Passion for these “oldies but goldies”…
As for your BOOK : Well, since I work in the Publishing area with many Publishers,
I like real old PAPER -as you can guess…-, thus I’ll try to buy it the OLD WAY :
What about sending this few $ in an ordinary enveloppe, via a simple letter from Europe ?
As for the LUBITSCH’s comedy (but a DEEP one indeed…) : You really don’t remember ? :
“… STRIKES AGAIN” , it’s in the LAST , the very last shot !… (Guess it now ?)
(Of course I’ll tell you if you can’t find out, don’t worry.)
Oh, one CLUE though : I never said “…STRIKES AGAIN” was SAID / PRONOUNCED :
Perhaps it’s just WRITTEN because it might as well concern a (exiled) WRITER’s latest published book …
I saw that TCM was recently showing a bunch of those E.G. Robinson movies from the early 30’s.
As much as I love Eddie G., some of those early 30’s movies are absolutely unwatchable. To call them filmed theater would be a disparagement to theater. What annoys me isn’t just how static everything is, but more than that, it’s how the people speak. Remember that insufferable woman from FIVE STAR FINAL who plays the murderess? Well it seems like so many actors/actresses from the early 30’s speak that way; I can’t watch it.
Of course, there are some exceptions: Robinson, Cagney, and Muni are good; there are some good titles from this era, most importantly THE PUBLIC ENEMY, but also SMART MONEY and THE WORLD CHANGES are good. But a great many of the early 30’s movies are unwatchable.
I know you are involved with Warner Archive, I’m not trying to bash your studio – WB is probably my favorite movie studio, especially since I read the 85-year retropective by Richard Schickel & George Perry – it’s just that in those early sound days, some people must have gotten the bright idea that movie viewers want to see actor speaking in as unrealistic a manner as possible. (I didn’t live in the 30’s, but I assume people didn’t speak that way, even back then 😉 )
I tried watching a few of these titles TCM recently played and couldn’t make it past a few minutes; they were simply excruciating. Movies are supposed to be fun; I was torturing myself. I actually didn’t see DARK HAZARD.
But one movie I did see, which was actually good, was I LOVED A WOMAN. I searched for it on your site but it seems you haven’t reviewed it? If you’re looking for movies from that era to review that were good (by those standards, at least) and few people heard of, there’s one for you 🙂
Of course they are (“unwatchable”) , except some masterpieces such as “Scarface” by HAWKS ;
but the reason why they are so “clumsily” directed is because the early 30’s were the BEGINNING of TALKING pictures, that’s all !
Still, what about FORD’s first talking pictures, then ?
What about “StageCoach” for instance ?
@Frakhtal – Stagecoach is actually 1939, so the kinks had been well worked out by then, but point taken regarding early Ford. I have a hard time with Up the River (1930) and even Arrowsmith (1931), which was even Oscar nominated, but I love the slightly later Flesh (1932) and Pilgrimage (1933).
I’ll admit there are some clunkers out there, but I could watch almost anything from 1932 onwards, and I love many of the talkies that came out earlier than that as well.
–Cliff
Oh, and then you have this wonderful FORD’s picture : “STEAMBOAT ‘ROUND THE BEND” (an excellent word-joke indeed…) : this one I have watched it at least twice !
Steven,
I know what you mean regarding the early talkies, but I find that more of a problem with releases from 1929 and ’30 — by ’31 a lot the kinks were being worked out and by ’32, well, 1932 is my favorite year in Hollywood history, so that goes to show what I think of the quality by that point.
You’re right, it varied by studio too. First National/Warner Bros. product can be pretty terrible before ’32, there was better talkie product coming out of RKO/Pathe in 1930/31 and Paramount by 1931/32.
The actress you mention from Five Star Final, Frances Starr, provides a good example of the growing pains some of the talent was going through. She only appeared in three movies during this period, and I think you and I know why. She was an acclaimed stage actress at that time, who did better work on film years later.
This particular movie, Dark Hazard, from 1934 doesn’t suffer from any of the limitations you’re referring too. Besides Robinson it features Glenda Farrell, a very underrated actress of the period, and Genevieve Tobin, who I could imagine grating on some, but personally I like her. It’s a fast moving story, never very static. Actually, based on what I’m learning of your movie tastes, I think you’d really like this one!
I made a brief mention of I Loved a Woman in the post above. Terrible title on an enjoyable movie. Oh, the somewhat shrill wife in that one, that’s Genevieve Tobin, who also plays Robinson’s wife here.
Regarding Warner Archive, the special relationship doesn’t go beyond receiving review copies and I don’t hold back if I get a clunker. I actually get to request the copies I’d like, so that minimizes risk some, but on the whole, my Warner Archive reviews skew more negatively than those titles I chose to write about on my own personal whim.
Thanks as always. Final word, I personally recommend this title (Dark Hazard) to you. Betting you’d like it!
–Cliff
To Steven B. Ridge (from Europe where there are still some great “Cinémathèques / Filmothèques” left) :
And again, let’s never forget that during the early 30’s TALKING PICTURES were just taking off !!
P.S. : Has Cliff found which LUBITCH’s great DEEP “comedy” I was refering to ?
To Cliff : Well, I would say from “1935 onwards” (instead of 1932 as you declared) , but actually this precision is just a shade.
Oh, and I think some of the FORD’s pictures you’ve mentionned (from the EARLY 30’s) , I haven’t watched them yet (not SURE though…) : Shall I make all the way to the America in order to swallow some hundreds of “Oldies but goldies” at YOUR personal own “Filmothek” ??…
Entirely personal taste, @Frakhtal. It’s a rare day you’ll see me ripping much of anything from the entire decade. ’35 has its charms as well, I agree.
Thanks for the heads-up; I’ll try watch DARK HAZARD next time TCM shows it.
RE: Ford: the only pre-1939 Ford movie that I have seen is THE INFORMER.
Actually, I saw one more: Ford’s first-ever talkie, THE BLACK WATCH (1929), it’s in the public domain, I bought a copy from someone on eBay for a few bucks, the sound/image quality is real bad so it’s hard to judge. (The only reason I watched it is that it’s based on the same book as a 1953 movie that I like, called KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, with Tyrone Power, directed by Henry King. I saw that movie on the crappy Fox Movie Channel.)
RE: the early 30’s: yes, I forgot to mention SCARFACE, that is a good movie as well, of course. But generally, I find that watching of the early 30’s movies is basically an exercise in how much pain tolerance I have!
I do like The Informer too, hope you did. You may enjoy the previous year’s The Lost Patrol (most do, though I didn’t). More McLaglen, plus Karloff, who I know you like. I haven’t seen The Black Watch.
A QUESTION then (to Professor Cliff. ) : – Could you please send us a LIST of, let’s say, 15 to 20 Great Pictures you most like from 1935 to 1949 please ?
(The same for SILENT movies if you wish to share your fine taste …)
How about 1935 to 1946? I’ll give you a lot more than 15-20 though.
I’m terrible with coming up with lists off the top of my head, so I took a look at the top 400 films for each year on IMDb and picked out every one I’d like to pop in my DVD player right now.
This omits many great classics that I’ve watched too many times to be in a huge rush to see again and goes to further prove that I’m not a huge fan of screwball comedies or film noir (with some exceptions). Also that I’m sentimental as hell. Here they come:
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Captain Blood (1935), Top Hat (1935), David Copperfield (1935), Bordertown (1935), Crime and Punishment (1935), Dante’s Inferno (1935), The Good Fairy (1935), The Case of the Curious Bride (1935), The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935), Diamond Jim (1935), Don’t Bet on Blondes (1935), Kind Lady (1935), Jalna (1935), Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), Mary Burns Fugitive (1935), The Petrified Forest (1936), Fury (1936), Dodsworth (1936), San Francisco (1936), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), Lloyds of London (1936), The Awful Truth (1937) Captains Courageous (1937), A Star Is Born (1937), The Devil Is a Sissy (1936), You Only Live Once (1937), In Old Chicago (1937), They Won’t Forget (1937), The Toast of New York (1937), Confession (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Dawn Patrol (1938), Alexanders Ragtime Band (1938), The Young in Heart (1938), A Man to Remember (1938), Trade Winds (1938), Lord Jeff (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Stagecoach (1939), The Roaring Twenties (1939), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)*, Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), The Hardys Ride High (1939), In Name Only (1939), My Favorite Wife (1940), They Drive by Night (1940), Boom Town (1940), Primrose Path (1940), Johnny Apollo (1940), Lucky Partners (1940), Citizen Kane (1941), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), Honky Tonk (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Random Harvest (1942), The Major and the Minor (1942), I Married a Witch (1942), Gentleman Jim (1942), Tales of Manhattan (1942), George Washington Slept Here (1942), The Moon and Sixpence (1942), Juke Girl (1942), Son of Fury (1942), The Black Swan (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Lassie Come Home (1943), The Constant Nymph (1943), Princess O’Rourke (1943), Cry Havoc (1943), Crime Doctor (1943), Lifeboat (1944), Mrs. Skeffington (1944), Mrs. Parkington (1944), The Purple Heart (1944), The Whistler (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Detour (1945), Scarlet Street (1945), The Southerner (1945), The Valley of Decision (1945), My Name Is Julia Ross (1945), Roughly Speaking (1945), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Notorious (1946), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), My Darling Clementine (1946), The Stranger (1946), The Blue Dahlia (1946), The Razor’s Edge (1946), Humoresque (1946), The Jolson Story (1946), Decoy (1946), Two Guys from Milwaukee (1946).
PS : We forgot to “warn” you that “ACTION” BORES US to a point you don’t imagine … :
what we ask to Cinema(tograph) , is Beauty and THINKING, STIMULATING the Creation of PERSONAL THOUGHTS (for instance : Robert BRESSON & Roberto ROSSELLINI …) ; But J. FORD, William WELLMAN (remember “TRACK OF THE CAT”, with Mitchum ?!?) & many other USA-Directors manage very well in their own American way , of course ! …
I’m okay with most genres and certainly don’t have anything against action–as all of the Ty Power and Errol Flynn movies on my list above go to prove! Comedies don’t thrill me, though I don’t like a movie to take itself too seriously either. Basically, I like anything that’s 65-110 minutes long and moves well enough to keep me entertained for every second of that time. I like well-acted good stories. They don’t have to be the prettiest movies, but they have to be well paced.