Starring: Spencer Tracy, Claire Luce, Warren Hymer, Humphrey Bogart, William Collier Sr., Joan Lawes
Writers: John Ford & William Collier Sr., based on the original story by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Editor: Frank E. Hull
Music: James F. Hanley
B&W, 1h 25m (originally 1h 32m). 1.20:1 ratio.
Released on: October 10, 1930 by Fox Film Corporation.
My experience: Ford at Fox DVD box set.
John Ford. Humphrey Bogart. Spencer Tracy.
Three icons of American cinema, together in one film. A film made by an all star team like that should have masterpiece written all over it, or at the very least should be a well-known piece of cinema history.
Up The River, however, falls short on both accounts. This was the feature film debut for both Bogart and Tracy, making them complete unknowns at the time, and this production -- though it had a name director attached -- quickly came and went from theatres and was forgotten. The remaining extant print comes from a frustratingly choppily edited duplicate, and about eight minutes are missing from the finished product. Tracy and Bogie, both looking incredibly young (being five and ten years from stardom, respectively) have decent chemistry, and sadly this was the only film they made together.
The film itself is a somewhat amusing character comedy that shows its age, both in the wear and tear visible in the print, and also in its archaic attitudes. Tracy and Warren Hymer play St. Louis and Dannemora Dan, respectively, two cons whose specialty is escaping from prison -- escaping thanks to St. Louis' brains, and getting recaptured thanks to Dan's lack of wits. After getting caught once again, they end up in back in prison, palling up to the warden (Robert Emmett O'Connor) and his daughter Jean (Joan Lawes, daughter of the actual warden of Sing Sing), playing tricks on a bully played by an uncredited Ward Bond, and making 40-year-inmate and manager of the prison baseball team Pop (William Collier Sr.) happy by agreeing to join the team.
Sharing a cell with Pop, they also meet Steve Jordan (Humphrey Bogart), a young man who comes from a well-to-do family who was caught up in some violence while about to leave for a trip to China. Steve has eyes for Judy Fields, played by Claire Luce -- a Broadway actor who specialized in Shakespearean roles later in her career (no relation to Clare Boothe Luce, the writer of The Women among other plays) -- and pledges his love and devotion to her, promising to wait until she is released before beginning a new life with her. Problem is her old partner in crime Frosby (Morgan Wallace), who left her high and dry to take the rap, finds out about the situation and takes his business to Steve's hometown, where his mother (Edythe Chapman) and sister Cynthia (Althea Henry) think Jordan has actually been in China. St. Louis plots another escape in conjunction with Dannemora Dan to thwart Frosby's efforts and make sure the two lovers are united.
For a movie directed by John Ford, starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart, with some funny character work by Warren Hymer, and in which the climax of the show involves a game of baseball, I found myself somewhat uninvolved in the proceedings. The comedy as mentioned can be quite amusing, although some of it falls flat. It definitely comes from a time when movies, and society in general, were much more innocent, or at least put on the appearance of innocence (in order to lead the average person into a tranquil docility perhaps? That's another essay for another day).
From a modern vantage point, the prison seems like a boys club with walls and guards. Everybody's always joking and yukking it up, having a good time, the warden seems to have no issues with befriending the inmates, and while I'm sure prisons back then had many murderers and generally unsavory characters mixed in amongst their populaces, there doesn't seem to be a Hans Beckert or a Leopold and Loeb anywhere in this film. There is also a frankly unbelievable scene in which Judy basically gives the game away to Frosby about her plans with Steve. You know the man is bad news, keep your mouth shut, child!
There is also a cringingly depressing minstrel show, with two white inmates in blackface performing a routine for the benefit of the prison's wealthy patrons. What makes watching this even more uncomfortable is that during this scene Ford constantly cuts to a black inmate and an oriental inmate sitting side by side in the front row, hooting and hollering and clapping as if this were the greatest thing since sliced bread. These two audience members, of course, are never seen before or after said minstrel show.
The ending also left me unsatisfied as, with all the talk about St. Louis being the only one who can bring the baseball team to victory, the film ends before he even throws a pitch. Maybe they ran out of time with Tracy's schedule (he had a two week filming period due to starring on Broadway concurrently). Maybe Ford thought the ballgame wasn't that important, in which case why make such a big deal out of it to begin with. Or perhaps, as sometimes happens in the lesser Ford films, he just didn't know how to end it.
While I'm thankful that Up The River still exists on celluloid, and is available to find for those who expend the effort, I have to admit that despite its cinematic pedigree, for me it's a one and done. It has its moments, but I don't think I'll be returning to this one anytime soon. Too bad, as it's a small piece of film history featuring the only collaboration between two of the greatest actors of the silver screen.
Five personable prisoners out of ten.
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