Such Men Are Dangerous

1930's "Such Men Are Dangerous" is a typical early talkie, suffering most from a glacial pace and dialogue slowly drawn out by every actor involved. Warner Baxter, very popular heartthrob at the time, does well as wealthy and powerful Ludwig Kranz, whose wedding to Elinor (Catherine Dale Owen) offers little happiness to either bride or groom; believing he does not love her, she flees his home before the marriage can be consummated. The bitter Kranz, who has offered her money and jewels but precious little in the way of affection, assumes that his ugliness is to blame, creating a new identity, Pierre Villard, to continue his affairs after faking a suicide for Ludwig Kranz. He travels to Germany to see world famous plastic surgeon Dr. Gutman (pronounced 'Goot-man,' and played by Bela Lugosi), presenting him with $10,000 for his services. The now handsome 'Pierre' is delighted that women now smile at his appearance, but has formulated a plan to get revenge against the wife who spurned him. Catherine Dale Owen was revered in her day as one of the world's most beautiful women, but her acting talent proved nonexistent. Previously seen opposite Boris Karloff in "Behind That Curtain," Warner Baxter would work again with Bela Lugosi later that year in "Renegades," a far more lively adventure. As for Lugosi, this was only his second talkie, his sound debut in MGM's "The Thirteenth Chair" preceding this return to Fox, very much his home studio during the pre-Dracula period. He speaks just as slowly and deliberately as everyone else, but his acting usually benefited from his unusual accent and speech patterns, alternating dialogue in both German and English. Even with the familiar mannerisms, he displays great compassion as the sympathetic surgeon who recognizes his benefactor from years ago. Director Kenneth Hawks was the younger brother of Howard Hawks, only two previous credits, who tragically died in a plane crash during production.