Saturday, August 23, 2008

Rod La Rocque, you were just born in the wrong century! (THE LOCKED DOOR - 1929)


I've been going nuts with my new DVD recorder, and burning my way through the recent flurry of pre-code Stanwycks on TCM. One maligned but lovely item - THE LOCKED DOOR (1929), one of Babs' first major speaking roles, sticks out not because of her performance, particularly, but because of Rod La Rocque as the requisite debauched, womanizing cad!

The only review I could find of LOCKED online is from Dennis Schwartz who rates it a C:
The melodrama suffers from the static, stage-like look of early sound movies; it was a time when how to use sound was first being developed and still had many kinks to be worked out. Decades later when Stanwyck became a Hollywood legend, she was asked about The Locked Door and quipped: “They never should’ve unlocked the damned thing.”
There's no denying its got its "kinks" but I've got a soft spot a mile deep for these old early creaks and hisses. That crude sound is an ear into a bygone age, far more bygone than just a year or so later, when sound caught up with itself and we could no longer hear the air or marvel at the sopping wet letters and telegrams. LOCKED DOOR is clearly a 'filmed play' and probably originally done on a bi-level trick stage, the kind where actors weaving in and out of closets and unlocked doors to hide from one another. They got that a lot in those days, especially for old dark house mysteries and bed-hopping farce. Here we have a little of both: the old dark art deco-gothic house redecorated as a giant bachelor apartment (danger, maidens!) vs. the spacious pre-war (as in Civil) mansion all stuffed with flowers and marble for multi-generations of family to worry about their honor in. With such a fuss made about who was photographed where and with whom we get a glimpse of a whole way of life that would be eradicated when the boys came home after the Next World War and found outdated morality waiting for them back at their multi-generational homes; they left in droves and moved into prefabricated worlds of the future where they could have sex all the time without small town gossip. The 'burbs, baby! Now you know the whole story. 

In these early sound films however, the importance of outdated, choking morality was still the stuff of woman's pictures, which were huge at the time (I'm reading Thomas Doherty's excellent Pre-Code Hollywood right now, so consider him referenced), and most of the plots revolve around vicious old bats running free-loving hotties out of town--or, if the film is set in the city, avenging the honor of so-and-so's daughter. That's the angle of THE LOCKED DOOR, which has for its centerpiece an extended scene in louche La Roque's swanky bi-level bachelor pad, where the blackmailed Babs goes to retrieve a compromising picture (which Rod holds over her head in exchange for a tryst). See, Stanwyck was once (almost) taken advantage of by La Roque on an "outside the legal limit" party boat (all the rage during Prohibition) and the pair had their picture taken while running off the boat during a police raid (when the boat drifted inside the limit).  The picture includes indications her dress is torn, and she's hiding under Rod's overcoat. But she can explain! 

Our story picks up years later where she's wealthy and married to some taciturn duffer played by the soon-to-be-dead-from-drugs William Boyd. Rod's bought the pic to keep it out of the papers, but figures it may come in handy, when he gets real horny.

Granted, La Rocque may be the villain, but he's hilarious fun, refusing to be pigeonholed into the role of a mere mustache-twirling cad. One can imagine Monroe Owsley or Conrad Nagel in this part being just tedious, but La Rocque will have none of their mewling surliness! No catalogue of sniveling blackmailer signifiers, he! Unabashedly tall and fey, completely at ease in his body and with the then-new trappings of sound - more so than Babs at the time (though she would have the hang of it by 1931's TEN CENTS A DANCE), Rod's having a grand time.

I've never really soaked him up before, but he has a great Vincent Price-meets-Cary Grant macho fey vibe, contrasting his huge rows of teeth and ungainly tallness handled with a dancer's nimble grace and unabashedly feline purr of a voice. Whereas Babs and the rest of the cast seem to be acting out a drawing room drama, hitting their marks and speaking... clearly... and stagey, La Rocque is living his role, and his sexual ease is eye-popping. He's a complex three-dimensional villain, radiating the seductive humor and "owning my own un-okayness" of a man whose love of premarital sex, drinking, and debauchery is very anathema to its stodgy time and--rather than give them up to fit in-- he just gives up all pretense of 'decency' (yet is truly decent when push comes to shove, unlike the more surface decent folks around him, who would rather shoot a man than lose to him). Hell, when the moral code of the time is this repressed, it's almost a true free spirit's sworn duty to buck it, a lesson that prohibition was making clear to everyone).

Also worth noting is Rod's dishy rapport with his old valet (the incomparably named George Bunny), whom he treats as a co-conspiratorial equal rather than a master. A mix of Leporello from DON GIOVANNI and a faux-shocked reprobate uncle in a Phillip Barrie play, Bunny is the icing on the cake!

Proving further Rod has the truest moral code in the whole play/film, the ending has him even clearing all the suspects of his own murder, via death bed statement exonerating the guilty patriarchs around him; it's not that he fancies himself at all a knight, but as if he feels truky sorry for these uptight socialites for whom a whiff of scandal is so horrific that they run around beating people up, waving guns, pleading and hiding corpses, just to avoid a casual sexual hook-up. Better a murder than a quickie for these 'moral' types- and that is punishment enough for them. In this liberated, loosey-goosey attitude, Rod all but screams "Jesus, maybe y'all wouldn't have had to shoot me if you would all just get laid once in awhile and shut up about it!" 

Amen, Rod, that's real morality, and in just a 40 years or so you'd be a man of your time.

Rod (in bed, where else), looking and acting ten feet tall. 

28 comments:

  1. Interesting observations, particularly on the multigenerational households pre-WW2. I've always had an interest in early sound films too - the clunkiness is part of the charm (at least when coupled with a somewhat compelling story or star turn, otherwise the clunkiness is just boring). Hollywood's style is so bent on fast-paced, disorienting mystification these days that it's pleasing to see the Wizard behind his curtain.

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  2. It's hard for me to see La Rocque's charm after having just seen "Let Us Be Gay" (1930) where he was completely unsympathetic as a wandering husband desperate to win back Norma Shearer and willing to trample all over a young, if irritating, woman's affections to get it. He did seem "at ease" (or did next to Shearer's incessant giggling) but when [spoiler alert] she goes back to him in the last 20 seconds, I wanted to throw a chair at the screen. I gather not what the audience of the time was supposed to feel.

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  3. yeah, I can imagine how obnoxious that can be. The reason he's cool in The Locked Door is because he's the cad-villain, and winds up shot and dying-dead. That adds to his sympathy. If he'd have ended up winning out in the end it would be a different story.

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  4. Rod LaRocque was a cousin of mine.....

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    1. YOU SAY YOU ARE A COUSIN OF ROD'S.DID YOU READ THE BIOGRAPHY ABOUT HIS WIFE VILMA BANKY?WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?

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  5. Can La Rocque films such as "The Delightful Rogue" be obtained anywhere?----they are not on home video.

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  6. I saw him in a movie with Lillian Gish today...I really thought he was Gay...

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    1. Having just seen “Let Us Be Gay”, my Gaydar was ringing from the first sentence out of Rod's mouth. He was married to Vilma Banks for decades, but no children. I suspect they had an arrangement. What was truly amazing, however, is what an unconvincing performance he gave. Horribly amateurish acting.

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    2. I had the same very strong impression...he did everything, but lisp!

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  7. You mean that 'One Romantic Night"? He definitely plays it off a bit like that, but in a way he acts too gay to be really gay, I mean Rock Hudson would never dare act like that.

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  8. Rod LaRocque & Vilma Banky were in a lavender marriage.

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    1. I HEARD THAT THE BANKY-LAROCQUE MARRIAGE WAS A LAVENDER/TWILIGHT TANDEM MARRIAGE.I BELIEVE IT WAS TOO.A BIOGRAPHY ABOUT BANKY CAME OUT IN 2010.THE AUTHOR BELIEVES THAT IT WAS THE TRUE THING THEIR MARRIAGE AND THAT BOTH WRE NOT GAY.I DISAGREE WITH THE AUTHOR.I BELIEVE THEY WERE BOTH GAY.

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    2. Who cares? Your source is probably as valid as your clever and creative usernames.

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    3. I was giving my viewpoint.There are conflicting sources.I would not have shared my viewpoint if no one had made the comments already.I wanted to give my opinion.I never said my user name and sources are creative and clever.Various books have written things and it is interesting to share and comment.I did see Rod La Rocque in "Meet John Doe" and "Beyond Tomorrow".I would like to see more of his work.He was an interesting actor.

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  9. Wow, can we just enjoy this film w/o commenting on someone's perceived sexuality, for once??

    I'm pleased to see that some one else enjoyed this film. Out of the five La Rocque talkies from 1929-30 that I've viewed, this is his most natural performance. So much for not being at ease in front of the microphones: he is perfectly so, especially in the scenes onboard ship. Too bad he took, basically, a five-year hiatus in mid-1930.

    Ironic that LaRocque is the cad, and yet was married to Vilma Banky for over forty years, while William Boyd plays the true-as-steel husband, and had run-ins with the law.

    Love that opening credit music, too!

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    1. right on Jon. To me the lavender thing is interesting only sociologically as far as my own valuing platonic male-female pair bonding, as in those marriages seem to last much longer than 'regular' ones, if there is such a thing. To me it's the closet that's the enemy, as someone like Rod in these films is so free and in the moment he transcends all labels, he's totally himself even as other characters, vs. someone who's closeted to himself and the world who seems at all times even in roles mirroring his own persona, limited, curtailed, repressed... it works if that's their character, as in all Rock's cockblocked Day wooers in the early 60s (see my BL piece on MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT!?), vs. the kind of passive-aggressive womanizing burlesque we see in, say, Lubitsch's MONTE CARLO or Olivier's HAMLET.

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  10. Love Rod LaRoque! Watching "Let Us Be Gay?" right now, had recorded this week from TCM. Agree with an earlier commenter, he's such a cad, you're very disappointed when Norma Shearer takes him back. He WAS very apologetic about the whole affair when she caught him at beginning, but still... :D

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  11. I saw that too but wasn't disappointed at all - who WOULDN'T have an affair if your wife insisted on being such a buzzkill - not wearing make-up or spending any of a sizable bankroll on decent clothes yet insisting on following you around to golf, bridge and other high profile social events and embarrassing you like some provincial albatross stalker?

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  12. Interesting my grandmother was Lorraine La Rocque (maiden name) and said we were somehow related. I wish I knew more.

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    1. SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT VILMA BANKY A FEW YEARS AGO.I OWN IT.I WISH A BIOGRAPHY WAS WRITTEN ON LA ROCQUE!HE WAS A DEVASTATINGLY HANDSOME MAN!SO INTELLIGENT!WELL REGARDED IN HIS DAY!I AM SO GLAD THAT HE IS GETTING THE ACCLAIM THAT HE HIGHLY HIGHLY DESERVES!ROD LA ROCQUE FASCINATES ME!WHAT A MAN!

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  13. I LOVE READING ALL THAT IS WRITTEN ON ROD LA ROCQUE!THANKFULLY MORE AND MORE OF HIS WORK IS BECOMING AVAILABLE TO VIEW!TOO BAD SOMEONE DOES'NT DO A BIOGRAPHY ON HIM WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF PHOTOS!HE WAS A BEAUTIFUL MAN BOTH ON THE INSIDE AND ON THE OUTSIDE!HE WAS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT TOO!

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  14. Rod La Rocque was profiled in the book entitled "Gentlemen To The Rescue:The Heroes Of The Silent Screen" by Kalton c. Lahue.This is an EXCELLENT BOOK!It profiles actors in silent movies.THERE IS A LOVELY CHAPTER ON ROD!SO PLEASE ALL ROD FANS CHECK THIS BOOK OUT!It was published in the 1970's.Also Vilma Banky was profiled in the book entitled "Classics Of The Silent Screen:A Pictorial Treasury" by Joe Franklin.This book was published in the 1950's.Inside in the chapter on Vilma Banky there is A BIG GORGEOUS PHOTO OF BANKY AND LA ROCQUE!THEY WERE A STUNNING LOOKING COUPLE!IN MY OPINION THE MOST ATTRACTIVE LOOKING COUPLE IN HOLLYWOOD EVER!

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  15. Rod La Rocque was briefly mentioned in the book "Goldwyn" by A. Scott Berg.It primarily focuses more on his future wife Vilma Banky.There is A GORGEOUS PHOTO of him in the book "Silent Stars" by Jeanine Basinger.ALSO TWO GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF HIM in the book "Close Ups From The Golden Age Of The Silent Cinema" by John Richard Finch.I HOPE THAT SOMEONE WILL CREATE A WEBSITE DEDICATED TO ROD LA ROCQUE!HE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN!

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  16. There are TWO GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF ROD LA ROCQUE in the book "Silent Magic"by Ivan Butler.Also browsing the internet I came up on google AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE about him that appeared in The Los Angeles Times on November 16,1969 a month after he died.The author of this column met La Rocque around 1939.The article talks about La Rocque's life after he left movies.On google the subject heading for this article comes up as"The Los Angeles Times From Los Angeles California On November 16".IT IS A MUST READ!It proves my theory and belief WHAT AN AMAZING AND GIFTED MAN ROD LA ROCQUE WAS!SOMEONE MUST MUST MUST WRITE A BIOGRAPHY ON HIM!WOW WHAT A SPECIAL GUY HE WAS!

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  17. I had my local library recently get me a copy of the book "The Lubitsch Touch" by Herman G. Weinberg through interlibrary loan Inside the book there is a picture of La Rocque and Vilma Banky at their German Wedding Party.This picture is of Banky and La Rocque with the top German-American film people at the time in Hollywood.I WILL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED IF I FIND MORE ON ROD!HE IS MY HERO!WHAT A MAN!

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  18. I just got to read another book that included La Rocque.The book is: "Eighty Silent Film Stars:Biographies And Filmographies Of The Obscure To The Well Known".THERE IS AN EXCELLENT TOP OF THE LINE CHAPTER ON LA ROCQUE WITH HIS FILM CREDITS!IT IS A MUST READ!There is a picture of him with Lillian Gish and Conrad Nagel from the 1929 movie "One Romantic Night".Lillian Gish said that Richard Barthelmess had the most beautiful face of any man that went before a camera.I MUST BEG TO DISAGREE!ROD LA ROCQUE WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAN TO ACT BEFORE THE CAMERA!

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  19. Anonymous20 May, 2017

    There is a small photo of Rod La Rocque in the book "Cecil B DeMille:The Art Of The Hollywood Epic" written by Cecilia DeMille Presley and Mark A. Vieiera.There are a few sentences about La Rocque included too.This is AN ENORMOUS BOOK!LOVELY!If I spot any further Rod La Rocque sightings in any other books I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW!WHAT A MAN ROD LA ROCQUE WAS!HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE TREATED TO A BIOGRAPHY ABOUT HIM FILLED WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF HIM!HE WAS SO HANDSOME!

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