Satan Met a Lady (1936)

Instant Favorite.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It was very strange watching "Satan Met a Lady" immediately after watching the 1931 "Maltese Falcon". It is very clear that Warner Bros. was trying to remake their popular version of "Falcon" to cash in on the popularity of MGM's "The Thin Man". The tone of "Falcon" has been lightened to approach comedy, while the portrayal of Spade (aka Shane in "Satan") was suaved up to try to conjure up William Powell.Unfortunately, the attempt fails despite the star power of Warren William and Bette Davis. William looks like he's trying very hard but his lines just don't carry enough comedy to pull it off. Bette Davis has many good moments but doesn't quite demonstrate the intelligent conniver her character is supposed to be. Only Alison Skipworth (as Madame Barrabas, the film's designate for Caspar Gutman) shows any real feeling for the character. Arthur Treacher doesn't seem at all like a character that would be involved in theft and murder, while Porter Hall as Ames (also the infamous company psychologist in Miracle on 34th Street) seems more like an accountant than a private detective.Part of the problem is the frenetic pace. The lines come so fast they almost step on each other. The pace doesn't allow anything to sink in before we're on to another scene. Another problem is the Hayes code crackdown, which means the film can't reproduce the boozy sexiness of "Thin Man" nor the explicitness of the earlier "Falcon". Hence it just falls flat.

This was the film that Bette Davis finally walked out of Warner Brothers because she'd had enough. Satan Met A Lady is a comic version of the Dashiell Hammett novel, The Maltese Falcon it in fact is the second of three versions of the story that was filmed, all by Warner Brothers. It was that third one with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor that is the beloved classic come down to us.I wouldn't be surprised, but that Bette might have thought that this was a straight version of the story, that she'd be doing the part that Mary Astor made famous. Instead the version she got was something that might have worked with Joan Blondell doing the part, but Bette was clearly unhappy and just going through the motions.As for Warren William, his Ted Shayne is far different from the laconic and cynical Humphrey Bogart. He's one unapologetic rogue just breezing through the film as he did with so many others on charm and a Barrymore light profile.Instead of the loyal and efficient Effie that we all remember Lee Patrick for, we get the scatterbrained and clueless Marie Wilson doing her usual shtick. The parts that Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet made classic were done by Arthur Treacher and Allison Skipworth. I thought Arthur was going to offer some fish and chips to William at many points during the film.The famous Hitchcockian McGuffin is not a black bird allegedly crusted over to hide a jeweled coat, but an old ram's horn, purportedly the trumpet that French legendary hero Roland sounded as he covered Emperor Charlemagne's retreat. It too was stuffed with jewels according to legend.At the end of the film Warren William actually got a few notes out of the French horn. It blew well and some might say the film did also.

Boy, once Warner Brothers bought a property, they did everything but serve it for dinner. 1936's "Satan Met a Lady" is yet another version of "The Maltese Falcon," which was finally given the classic touch by John Huston in 1941. This particular version is out of control but manages to be a lot of fun at the same time.This time Sam Spade is named Shane, and he's played by '30s star Warren William. William was a tall, handsome man with sharp features and a refined speaking voice - by this time, he was the Warners version of William Powell, though he had started his career as an unsympathetic, precode villain. A more extroverted performer, he excelled at the William Powell-type vehicles. He even took over for Powell as Philo Vance. William was the movie Perry Mason, and if you think this is a wild "Maltese Falcon," you should see what was done to Perry before the TV series. Put it this way - Della Street wore diamonds.In this version, the falcon is the Horn of Roland, a trumpet stuffed with jewels, and it's being sought by a young, pretty Bette Davis in the Bebe Daniels-Astor role, and now the Sydney Greenstreet character has had a sex change in the form of Madame Barrabas (Alison Skipworth). Though there's no doubt Barrabas a ruthless character. and the usual people have been murdered by the usual people, this version is pretty much played for laughs. It moves faster than the Cortez version, and while Cortez played Spade as a delightful rogue, William has a ball, laughing at the whole thing as he collects money from everyone. In the Cortez version, Spade had some feeling for Ms. Wonderly (Bebe Daniels); here, William clearly enjoys playing the field and never takes the Davis character seriously. Shane's secretary in "Satan Met a Lady" is played by Marie Wilson, whose part is quite large. She's very funny. Davis is okay, but her sincerity isn't believable - at this point in her career, she's still a little stagey.The very tongue-in-cheek William runs this show, which is done in the style of "The Thin Man." Though it was a bomb when it was released, today it's of interest for Davis, its handling of the material, and also as a chance to see William, who died in 1948, in top form. After this film, he went into character roles.Recommended.

Just happened to view this film from the 1930's which I seemed to have missed with Bette Davis and many great character actors. It is something like the "Maltese Falcon", where everyone is involved with trying to find a TRUMPET filled with valuable gems. Bette Davis,(Valerie Purvis),"Madame Sin",'72, looks very young and attractive and lives up to her role as an evil lady who stops at nothing to charm her men and use them in every way possible and of course, sexually! Warren William, (Ted Shayne),"The Wolf Man",'41, looks like John Barrymore and even Basil Rathbone,(Sherlock Holmes series of the 1940's), Ted Shayne manages to take on the case of trying to find the valuable TRUMPET and has a dippy female assistant, Marie Wilson,(Miss Murgatroyd),"Waterfront", who has a crush on her boss Ted Shayne who simply goes head over heels for Valerie, who wraps him around her pinkie. Arthur Treacher,(Anthony Travers),"Mary Poppins",'64, famous for his, "Arthur Treacher Fish & Chips Food Chain years ago. Anthony Travers gives a great supporting role and always looks like the butler he use to play in most of his films. If you love Classic films with Bette Davis, this is definitely the film for you.