Rendezvous (1935)

Thanks for the memories!

So much average

Best movie ever!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Rendezvous" is a 1935 MGM film that has William Powell doing duty during World War I. The film is a mix of comedy, drama and action with Powell's character uncovering an espionage ring in the nation's capital. The comedy comes by way of his love interest, played perfectly by Rosalind Russell.Powell is Bill Gordon, a former news correspondent. While working in Asia, he filled his dull moments with studying and deciphering codes. He wrote a masterly work on making and breaking codes, and it was published under a pen name – Anson Meredith. Now he's a lieutenant in the Army and just wants to get to France to do his part for Uncle Sam on the front lines. But, through a sudden encounter and romance with Joel Carter (played by Russell), Bill's future is changed.When they first meet, Joel mistakes Bill for a Russian opera singer at an embassy party. In a hilarious scene, Bill plays it to the hilt with her and her facial expressions lead to many laughs. The next day, Bill sees Joel marching in a Woman's Suffrage parade. She's carrying a sign that reads, "I sent my sons to war. I want to vote." Bill asks if she has any grandchildren and she swaps signs with another woman. Some funny fisticuffs ensue when the police try to break up the parade because it doesn't have a permit. Later, Joel goes with Bill to catch his train, and a troop train pulls out while they are kissing. He said his train doesn't leave until the next day.They have lunch and spend the day together. Bill tells Joel about his anonymous authorship of the code book. He doesn't know that she is the niece of the Assistant Secretary of War, John Carter. So, the next day at the train station, Joel and Bill kiss goodbye. But as Bill steps onto the train, an MP delivers new orders. He is to report to the War Department for his new assignment.The rest of the story unfolds with intermixed scenes of espionage, romance and comedy. Binnie Barnes has a major role as Olivia, a German spy. Fine performances are given by a supporting cast that includes Cesar Romero, Lionel Atwill, Samuel Hinds, Henry Stephenson and Charley Grapewin.This film also has some interesting scenes that recall early 20th century history. The sign atop the Park Hotel reads, "Your home in Washington, D.C. 500 fireproof rooms." That was a time when hotel and office building fires were quite common. Another scene shows telephone operators "patching through" a long distance call from Washington, D.C. to San Diego. Some seniors will recall the time that it used to take just to get a long distance through.Most of Hollywood's leading men of sound motion pictures starred in war-related films in the first half of the 20th century. Some were action or battle films, others were in espionage or underground movies, some were in wartime dramas on the home front or in England, and some were in comedies. They were with the troops on the ground, at sea and in the air.William Powell was in just a few such films in his career. He is probably best remembered for his role as Doc in the 1955 smash hit, "Mr. Roberts." That comedy and drama was set during World War II and is unique in that its top four roles were played by actors who had been or were to become leading actors in Hollywood. Besides Powell, it starred James Cagney, Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon.Powell was a consummate actor who played a variety of roles. He is most known and regarded for his comedies, and for some comedy-crime roles he played. Most notable was his Nick Charles role with Myrna Loy in the Thin Man series of movies in the 1930s and 1940s. Three of his comedies are among the funniest and best comedies of all time. Besides this fine film, I recommend those for any serious collector's library. They are, "Libeled Lady" of 1936, "Double Wedding" of 1937, and "Love Crazy" of 1941.

Fair picture with Roz Russell and William Powell in the lead roles as a code expert who is commandeered to decode items and in the interim uncovers a World War 1 German spy ring.Russell portrays the niece of the head of the War Department who falls for Powell and makes sure he works at the Intelligence Agency instead of going overseas. Unaware that Powell is playing up to a German spy, played quite well by Binnie Barnes, Russell actually becomes an annoying figure here as she attempts to get her man back.The ending almost has a "House on 92nd St." feeling but you come away with the idea that there is something missing.Cesar Romero plays a young German spy who makes the ultimate sacrifice for the spy-ring. Also, look for Margaret Dumont, the constant comic foil in the Marx Brothers films, in a brief appearance during an auctioning off scene.

This is a so-so movie starring the wonderful William Powell. I swear the man could have brought the phone book to life. It's a film about a spy ring, breaking some codes, and finding the mole. Costars include young, dark-haired Cesar Romero (by the time I knew who he was, he had white hair), Binnie Barnes, Lionel Atwill, and Rosalind Russell in a very early - and very annoying role. Russell is pretty (except for what looked a clown costume turned into a woman's suit), and she was certainly a masterful actress/comedienne of stage and screen. But this was not a good part. In fact, as I was watching it, I thought, I wonder if anyone else found this character - well, not very likable. The character reminded me a little bit of Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby, where Hepburn pursued Grant. But Katharine Hepburn played an airhead, and Russell portrays a down to earth woman. Somehow, her making a nuisance of herself with Powell isn't as fun as seeing Hepburn do it.Bottom line, it's just not a great script, but it is interesting to watch.

Meddlesome Rosalind Russell is positively grating in her first star billing, continually disrupting the flow of the plot and detracting from my enjoyment of the action. What idiot would spike the coffee of the chief cryptographer with sleeping pills in the midst of his trying to decode a secret enemy message with the lives of thousands of American troops hanging in the balance? "I was just trying to get you to get some sleep," was her meek response after the damage was done. And she continually does things like that! I suppose it was meant for comedy relief, but it didn't work for me. What was enjoyable was the persistent and methodical decoding methods used before computers were invented, and the follow-up in the effort to break a German spy ring, including an exciting but improbable ending. William Powell gives his usual wonderful charismatic performance, with Binnie Barnes also excellent as the femme fatale German spy and Cesar Romero very convincing as her accomplice. All other acting was uniformly good, but why was English-accented Henry Stephenson cast as a Russian ambassador?Based on a book by Herbert O. Yardley, who was the head of the U.S. Secret Service during WWI, the film has an air of authenticity.