Time for some 1930s melodrama!
Leslie Howard plays Alan Squier, a writer “looking for something to believe in” by hitchhiking across America. This is after his novel only sold 600 copies and landed him in a disastrous marriage. He arrives at an Arizona gas station and befriends the owner’s grown daughter, Gabrielle, (Bette Davis) who desperately wants to move to France where her mother lives and learn to paint. Their meeting coincides with the arrival of dangerous bank robber, Duke Mantee (Humphry Bogart) who holds up the car of wealthy couple.
Despite Duke’s menacing appearance, Alan attempts to calmly out-talk the killer and henchmen. “I’m eternally right, but what good does it do me.” Duke isn’t without morals, something Alan observes as a study of human character. Alan also thrills at ideas of immortality and that his published work would be appreciated after his death. He uses these ideas to poke at Duke about his own love life.
As I live in Arizona, I did enjoy little details in the film like a sign for “Apache Beer”, a real brewing company from Phoenix. There are also interesting historical observations to be made about the Great Depression, the role of women in society, individualism, and 1930s race relations. There’s an especially intriguing conversation when a Black man who chauffeurs for the rich couple meets a Black member of Duke’s gang. The gang member asks the chauffeur if he’s never heard of the “great liberation” and I wince thinking of how civil rights failed back then.
Back to this being a blog about writing. Alan has many observations that are intellectual and not always useful. He compares himself to the petrified wood and charm Gabrielle with what he keeps telling her is useless information. A true writer, if you’ve ever seen one. His philosophical views and lack of true motivation lead to his heroic ending - becoming more like a fictional character than an author who created them.
