Cafe Hostess (1940)

Cafe Hostess (1940)


Plot Summary

Jo (Ann Dvorak), a "percentage girl" at the notorious Club 46, is in despair. She can see no way out of the dreary and sordid routine of entertaining customers - called drinking and dancing in 1940 - and, at a signal from piano player Eddie Morgan (Douglas Fowley), rolling them for their money. Eddie, besides being brutal to her and spending all her money, is also carrying on an affair with another girl. Jo's only friend is Annie (Wynne Gibson), a former actress but now a drink-sodden derelict. Annie keeps to herself the knowledge that it was Eddie who threw the knife that killed a petty racketeer who was too attentive to Jo. Sailor Dan Walters (Preston Foster) and two of his pals arrive from a cruise and his good nature delights Jo, but at a wink from Eddie, Jo attempts to steal his money. Dan swallows his disillusionment and returns to the cafe, and he and Jo enjoy a day-long picnic together. She accepts his marriage proposal and go to an up-state town where he has a job waiting. Eddie does not accept this turn of events too well, and sets a trap for Dan when he comes after Jo. When he arrives, in an attempt to save his life, Jo denounces and ridicules him and he leaves angrily. He is net by Annie, who tells him of the set-up. Gathering his pals, Dan returns to the cafe and starts a brawl.

That's a pretty spoilerific summary but it saves me from talking too much about the plot. This movie was pretty interesting in some ways, as alluded in the summary this movie is basically about a pimp and his prostitution/money robbing ring. In fact the movie really skirts up against the "sordid" aspect of it all especially in the scene after Jo is taken home by Eddie after she has clearly fallen for Dan and doesn't want to rob him as he makes her feel that she's too good for the cafe hostess life. The dialogue in which she tells Eddie about how she doesn't want to do the kind of work she's doing is so obviously about the life of her being his prostitute and living the sordid life of a hooker and wanting to get out of it. Tay Garnett's story (BTW he is most known for directing the original The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)) screen written by Harold Shumate does a very good job of making the nature of the cafe hostess work obvious without ever being explicit about it.

The other interesting aspect of the movie was its stylistic book ends. The movie has a plot about how Eddie has put up all the stolen money etc etc at the home of Millie who is the gal that he's having an affair with so there's a police presence in the form of Sgt. Steve Mason. (Arthur Loft) The movie begins with him walking down the street and you see a police band playing, some guy peddling products that don't work, guys setting up a newstand and then he gets to the club. This procession is repeated except backwards to end the movie which I thought was a neat little thing. The movie also runs in real time for the first 16 minutes as you see the operation of the club and this country bumpkin small town mayor get rolled over by Jo and another hostess girl as his money is robbed of him. We also see the set up of how Eddie likes to get rid of guys who get to close to Jo by manufacturing a fight and in the melee Eddie throws a knife to kill the guy. This again is bookended with the way Dan is set up to be killed after finding out about where Eddie's hiding the loot and telling Mason where to find it. Of course Annie saves the day by letting Dan in on things and the controlled bar fight turns into an all out brawl as Dan rescues Jo.

Preston Foster does an excellent job as Dan however this is the film's biggest failing. Dan is presented here as the romantic ideal. The man who'll whisk Jo off her feet and provide her with the life she's always wanted away from the sordidness of being a hooker. Really, the Dan character is poorly written as he spouts off corny tales of his sailing days and is all suave but there's really nothing "there" underneath the surface of his character. This idealized escape from an unwanted life could've been better handled with a more nuanced character rather than him being a complete Knight in Shining Armor type. That, and the rather slow build up to story proper are the things that keep this from getting a higher rating.

As it is I give this a solid ** 1/2 stars. It's a solid little B noir accentuated with actors who look suitably grungy, tough and in the case of Eddie Morgan slimy as hell.