Moss Rose (1947)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely the worst movie.

A Major Disappointment

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Peggy Cummins (Belle Adair), Victor Mature (Sir Alexander Sterling), Ethel Barrymore (Lady Sterling), Margo Woode (Daisy Arrow), Vincent Price (Inspector Clinner), Patricia Medina (Audrey Ashton), George Zucco (Craxton), Rhys Williams (Evans), Carol Savage (Harriet), Victor Wood (Wilson), Felippa Rock (Liza), Patrick O'Moore (Gilby).Director: GREGORY RATOFF. Screenplay: Jules Furthman, Tom Reed. Adapted by Niven Busch from the 1935 novel by Joseph Shearing. Film editor: James B. Clark. Photography: Joseph MacDonald. Music: David Buttolph. Costumes: René Hubert. Producer: Gene Markey.Copyright 8 June 1947 by 20th Century-Fox. New York opening at the Roxy: 2 July 1947. U.K. release: 22 September. 7,374 feet. 82 minutes.COMMENT: One of my favorite mystery thrillers of the 1940s, this is an incredibly lavish production from Fox's "A" unit, brilliantly handled by up-and-down director, Gregory Ratoff. In a gripping plot, raised against a fascinating Victorian background, and laced with deft dialogue, a group of compelling characters are enacted by Price, Barrymore and yes, Victor Mature, giving the all-time best performances of their lives.

Cockney Music Hall dancer Peggy Cummins (Rose) is travelling on a train and reminisces about her life and, in particular, the recent occurrences which cue the film into a flashback sequence. We start with her friend and co-dancer Margo Woode (Daisy) and Woode's relationship with upper class Victor Mature (Drego). Cummins wants to be a lady and live the lifestyle afforded to those in high society. We follow her dream as detective Vincent Price investigates murder. And where are these moss roses and bibles appearing from? This is a thriller that successfully keeps you guessing as to who the murderer is. The only nuisance with the film is Cummins and her cockney accent. First of all, it's rubbish. Secondly, she keeps slipping in and out of it throughout the film – what is she doing? I always find that Ethel Barrymore creeps me out and she does the same in this film as she plays the role of Mature's mother. Her face is weird. The rest of the cast are all fine and the settings and locations provide a rewarding atmosphere. The ending is pretty standard stuff, especially if you have seen numerous films of this sort. However, it is still an entertaining journey through foggy London and a wealthy estate.I guess the moral of the story has something to do with there being nothing wrong with aspirations to be somewhere else in life, but you may have to resort to underhand tactics and there could be a bit of murder to get through before you can realize the dream. Maybe just stick to Shoreditch – I believe it's pretty trendy these days.

It's amazing the degree of professionalism Hollywood reached in those early decades. The foggy London street scenes are superb, the mansion interiors impeccable, the costumes perfect, the women hairstyles... (are there hairdressers nowadays able to duplicate those Victorian hairstyles?). And of course the acting impeccable. Peggy Cummins off camera voice at the beginning, explaining the situation reveals a child speaking, such is her Betty Boopish voice.Eventually she appears and throughout the whole film mesmerizes us with her blond Lolita looks and startling acting ability. Precisely with all that Hollywood professionalism it's difficult to understand why, a cockney like Cummins character, that speaks like a regular Eliza Doolittle, all of a sudden loses her typical speaking mode and starts, very naturally, to speak in a normal intercontinental English.It took Eliza many months of extremely harsh study to get rid of her cockney intonation, but this character does it in a jiffy (without the help of a professor Higgins!!), and nobody questions that miraculous change! The movie is entertaining and very predictable; the end is rushed in, ruining everything previously done, but I imagine it was part of fitting the story within a certain length of time. I saw "Gun Crazy" before, where I "discovered" Peggy Cummins and found her (in a totally different rol) quite a trouvaille! sort of a Veronica Lake (as petite as her) and unusual, like a Gloria Graham. Lovely with her round mouth, sting lipped childish appeal (and voice!). Nice, cozy movie to watch (we are so familiar with the formula!) when it's raining and dark outside.

Gabrille Margaret Long, writing under the names of Majorie Bowen and Joseph Shearing wrote many fascinating novels based upon actual murder cases using her own interpretations as to what actually happened and who was really guilty. This novel and film "Moss Rose" is based upon an 1873 murder of a prostitute named Buswell, which was never solved. Other Shearing novels turned into films around this time are "Blanche Fury" and "Mark of Cain ("Airing in a Closed Carriage" based upon the Maybrick case).Shearings novels are very hard to adapt and the film "Moss Rose" differs very much from the novel. So much so, that outgside of the basic idea it is almost a complete revision of the novel. Nevertheless, this film is very well produced with the sets and costumes capturing the late Victorian ambiance and a outstanding performance from England's Peggy Cummins. She captures the spunky cockney persona of "Belle Adair", while showing the vulnerability of a young woman alone in the world and making her way during an era of very closely defined social classes. Even when she is blackmailing a aristocratic family, she is still likable.All in all, very well done and well worth watching.