TCM in its infinite patience has dredged up a lot of dreck from the vaults, reminding us that for all the old classics, some stuff should just stay buried. But like all great excavations, one must sift through much dust to find the gems, and one of the big gems worth discovering for the jaded, faded junky audience of today is Warren William! Today would have been his 115th birthday, and if there was a party he’d probably show up trashed and proceed to walk off with the wives of half the big shots in the room. Clearly his motif was Satanic charisma, with that pointy chin and nose, the wide wolf grin…
One of my favorite William roles is as Sam Spade in the loose adaptation of the MALTESE FALCON, known as SATAN MET A LADY! Made in 1936 it co-stars a very young Bette Davis as the Brigitte character, and Alison Skipworth as the conniving Gutman. I couldn’t find billing for the weird Tweedle Dum type who says over and over “I told you once, Mister…” but he’s no Elisha Cook Jr. Then again, who is? The best ham-swap comes from Arthur Treacher as sinister Lorre figure, a game old English gentlemen, he brings his own quirky wit to the proceedings. The scene where William helps Treacher ransack his own apartment, c’est magnifique! In its screwball pre-code hipness, SATAN’s the drunken grandfather of THE LONG GOODBYE.
Hile the whole cast fairly bounces around with giddy excitement, Williams seems like he’s having such a good time he can barely remember his lines. Who cares about his lines anyway, since they’re basically the same as in the other versions of the story? The way the film moves, they may just as well read the book aloud and mix drinks and be the drunken uncle of Godard, too. Who cares, mama, it’s a party! Happy birthday, WW, you gentle reminder that Satan is awesome!
According to IMDb, that's Maynard Holmes as Kenneth, Alison Skipworth's, er, protege. I loved Marie Wilson in that film.
I imagine William's star had eclipsed quite a bit when he appeared in THE WOLF MAN, but I still think he did a great job holding his own in scenes with the dominating Claude Rains.
Scheisse, I dont even remember him from the Wolfman. I better go watch that tonight, thanks Gene!
And Peter, Marie Wilson, that's the Effie, right? Yeah, I should have mentioned how great she is, ditziness carried to sexually intoxicating levels!
Nobody did oily/seductive quite like Warren William. We loved him even when he was plotting — or carrying out — our demise. Even in his dotage (Ulmer's Strange Illusion, e.g.), he was dazzling. Like Gene and Erich, I'd forgotten he was in THE WOLF MAN! How could I be so faithless? It'll never happen again, Warren.
Dotage or not, STRANGE ILLUSION provides a wonderful role for WW, and he's wonderful in it.
Who wouldn't want to play the Claudius part in an Ulmerized modernization of HAMLET!
Oh my God! He was in L'Strange Illuse'? I'd forgotten that too! I need to see it again, as well as l'homme lupin! Merci, K