JohnHowardReid Review of The Road to Singapore

The Road to Singapore (1931)

Great acting, great special effects, great film!

[9/10 · 1 February 2014]

William Powell's first film under his Warner Brothers contract does not find him quite as assured as he appears in Jewel Robbery (his third). He is also hampered by an odd twist in the script which makes a great to-do in the opening scenes of the Powell character being kicked out of the British-to-the-bootstraps club and his home being seized for non-payment of back taxes. However, when Powell actually appears on the scene, he moves into his house as if he had every right to do so and repeatedly enters the club with absolutely no challenges at all – not even from the character played by Louis Calhern who hates Powell and would have taken a vicious delight in having him kicked out! We are forced to assume that Powell had managed to find the money for his back taxes, which is fair enough, but how on earth did he persuade the board of the super-stuffy club to re-admit him to membership – especially against the vicious opposition of the Calhern character, Dr. March? The fact that the club's board obviously defied Dr. March not only makes March's later threats rather pointless, but solidifies Powell-Dawltry's eagerness to pick a fight with a character whose threats are merely a waste of breath. Given this situation, all the sting is taken out of the plot which then proceeds to a logical climax in which March's challenge is aptly depicted as just so much hot air. Mind you, Alfred E. Green directs this foregone conclusion of a plot at such a rapid pace and in such an often innovative style that few members of the audiences will even ponder these questions. It's often said that some of the directors that we tend to regard as competent journeymen but nothing else, were able to adjust to sound far more rapidly than their now-far-more-famous colleagues. Certainly, The Road to Singapore can be cited as a proof of that contention. Doris Kenyon, whom nobody remembers today, gives a brilliant performance as Calhern's neglected wife. In fact, she easily steals the acting honors. In a trite, clichéd role, she delivers such a sincere and effective performance that she makes her character seem not only fresh but interesting and involving. Marian Marsh is also a delightful presence and we really enjoyed the scene in which Powell puts her flirtations to the test. Calhern makes a suitably glum if vengeful doctor. We love his woeful line: "The patient died!" While the film is obviously based on a stage play – it even closes on a Third Act curtain – I enjoyed the way it is opened out, particularly the shot which everyone cites, namely the remarkable track from Kenyon's house to Powell's. Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.