And with a title of "Marie Galante" one might suppose that this was another film about the doings at the castle under one of those Looie (Roman Number) kings, and Marie was one of the ladies-in-waiting working to spring the Scarlet Pimpernel or the man in the iron mask out of the dungeon. One would be wrong. This one is 1934 at the Panama Canal and the American Commissioner at Cristoforo, General Phillips, is getting briefed by Ratcliff of Scotland Yard about a mystery man who may be plotting to blow up the power house and put the whole Pacific Fleet in dry-dock. His m.o. is that he always works through a woman, who appears...and disappears...and sometimes her body is found. The nationality of the man is unknown to Scotland Yard but they have pictures of him when, in 1914, he was member of the House of Commons and had a key position at the War Department and important secret files disappeared; in 1916, under another name, he was the master mind in the Central European Spy Organization in Paris and two of his confederates---both women---were caught and shot; next, he was a Llama in Tibet who put himself as head of affairs in China and things went badly for all Western Powers; He turned up later as chief engineer of the Potosi Munition Works and they were blown up; and, when last seen and heard of, he was the man behind the scenes of a big Communist uprising in Germany. Ratcliff of Scotland Yard had six photos of the man but no name. About this time, Dr. Crawbett, from the University of Wisconsin, pops in to give a report on how well his study of tropical insects, mosquitoes and diseases is going. (This alone makes this a watershed moment in movies, as the only other mention of the University of Wisconsin in film-history came in 1953 when Republic made "Crazy Legs" starring Elroy "Crazy-Legs" Hirsch...himself.) Ratcliff and Crawbett go out for a night on the town at the Pacific Gardens where Helen Morgan (as Miss Tapia or something) sings a torch song. They also meet a Japanese poet/curio shop owner named Gennosaki Tenoki, but he has only been a poet since 1933, and, prior to that, he was a Lieutenant Commander in the Japanese Imperial Navy and, in fact, had just returned to Panana yesterday from a visit to Japan. They converse a bit and then the master-of-ceremonies announces that he he now happy to introduce "a singer that can sing without leaning all over the piano" and Miss Helen Morgan seems to take offense at his rude inclusion of her in the introduction of...Marie Galante. She sings a song half in French and half in her own brand of English, and then Miss Tapia sends her over to pump information out of Ratcliff (of Scotland Yard) and Crawbett (U. of W.), while working as a B-girl sipping small glasses of diluted orange juice. Marie mostly tells them about how put out she is by being in Panama where nobody speaks French. Crawbett suggests that Brogard, sitting across the room eyeballing them, perhaps does since he owns the Paris Bazaar and Botique. But Brogard, with a furtive nod to Miss Tapia, departs the premises. So she then tells them of how to come it is she is in Panama against her wishes---something to do with delivering a Postes Telegraphies at San Briac to a ship and the ship sailed with her still aboard. Crawbett then makes the mistake of asking her about her home in San Braic and she says...." Oh, m'sieure, it is so beautiful" There is the old church where I am confirmed---the homes of my friends---the flowers---the fields beyond town! Everybody tell me---Bon jour, Marie! 'Ello, Marie! The gooses go quack, quack, quack-'ello, Marie! The sheep and the cowses-they call Baa-Baa, Marie - moo-moo Marie." Marie is indeed enchanting and even inspires Tenoki, the retired Japanese Naval Commander turned poet, to send her an example of his work dedicated to her: "Blonde girl resting is like flower in sunshine. But when she moves in affairs of men she may be like cat in mischief. Why not be happy to remain a flower." It doesn't quite scan and sounds like a threat, but Marie liked it. Later, Teniko's clerk who delivered the poem turns up quite dead what with having been shot with a two-eight-three automatic and stabbed with a long, thin knife with a Japanese mark on the handle. Tenoki smilingly says of the clerk..."he has contrived to get himself murdered in the canal zone."
I forget what else happens but I'm sure I can watch a Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto panama-canal film and find out from the stock-footage.
I forget what else happens but I'm sure I can watch a Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto panama-canal film and find out from the stock-footage.