BY LEE PFEIFFER
The Warner Archive has showcased another "B" movie and rescued it from relative obscurity with the release of "Lady Scarface". The 1941 movie is an RKO "Poverty Row" production with a low budget (i.e. there are almost no exterior shots) and abbreviated running time of only 66 minutes. The titular character is never referred to as such in the film. She's simply called Slade and she's a mysterious Chicago gangster who the police have been searching for under the assumption their prey is a man. Slade does bear a scar on her cheek but it would appear this was added simply to enable the producers to capitalize on the "Scarface" moniker in order to tie the film in with Paul Muni's classic gangster flick. Slade appears in the opening scene in which she and her gang rob a businessman and loot his safe. She ends up shooting him in cold blood. As played by Judith Anderson, Slade has the potential to be a fascinating character-- a female mob boss in the early 1940s. At one point she dresses in a foreboding black hat that makes her resemble Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West. However, the screenplay only uses her to bookend the film's opening and climax and she rarely appears on screen in the interim. It's a pity because Judith Anderson's ruthless interpretation of the role is quite interesting and in this viewer's mind seemed to foreshadow Lotte Lenya's Rosa Klebb in "From Russia with Love" in that she's as brutal as any of her male counterparts, humorless and devoid of humanity on any level. Most of the story is devoted to a perky couple who are tracking down Slade, still under the impression they are searching for a man. Lt. Bill Mason (O'Keefe) is a Chicago detective who is sent to a New York hotel where they set a trap for Slade to appear. Accompanying him is Ann Rogers (Frances Neal), an intrepid reporter in the Lois Lane mode. They banter and bicker but we all know they will fall in love by the end of the film. When they get to New York the plan goes awry when an innocent honeymooning couple (Mildred Boles, Eric Blore) inadvertently gets caught up in the plot and are mistaken for Slade's accomplices.
"Lady Scarface" was probably produced to be the lower half of a double bill. However, it isn't without its merits. Director Frank Woodruff keeps the pace brisk and the story, although occasionally confusing, holds the viewer's interest. O'Keefe and Neal make a good team in the "Thin Man" mode but it's Anderson who steals her scenes despite her abbreviated appearances in the film. She was already an acclaimed star on Broadway and recently gave a brilliant and acclaimed performance in Hitchcock's "Rebecca". One can only ponder why she was attracted to this low rent production that is distinguished primarily by the fact that women are given the most interesting roles. Slade keeps her male gang members in line through sheer acts of terror and Ann Rogers is ahead of the police in cracking the case. In all, a competently made and fun crime thriller. The Warner Archive print looks perfectly satisfactory. There are no extras but the disc is region-free.
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