FOG OVER FRISCO

US, 1934, 68 minutes, Black and white.
Bette Davis, Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot, Hugh Herbert, Arthur Byron, Robert Barrat, Henry O ' Neill, Irving Pichel Douglass Dumbrille, Alan Hale, Gordon Westcott.
Directed by William Diertele.

Fog over Frisco is a very brief Warner Brothers crime melodrama of 1934, featuring Bette Davis who won the Oscar that year for Of Human Bondage. She is the villain in this film and disappears well before the end. She is the bad sister and Margaret Lindsay the good sister.

Bette Davis is involved in swindles, using a non-intended fiance to manipulate bonds, in cahoots with crime leaders. Donald Woods is a reporter, along with the photographer, played by Hugh Herbert, providing some moments of humour. However, the plot is quite complex, especially with Bette Davis’ doings and her murder. Robert Barrat is a sinister butler, not all that he seems to be.


1. Warner Brothers crime drama of the 1930s? Production values, black and white photography, San Francisco society, newspapers, police, crime investigation? Brief?

2. The family setting, the father and his relationship with his daughters? Arlene as the wicked daughter? Bette Davis’ character? In society, her fiance, the criminals, the connection with bonds, swindling? Her double-dealing? Her death? Disappearance from the film? Leaving the film to her good sister, Val, her relationship with Tony and his newspaper work? The touch of romance?

3. The household, the role of the father, towards his daughters? The butler? Sinister? The final revelation?

4. The police, the Inspector, the investigations, and covering the truth?

5. Tony, Izzy, the work at the office, investigations, clues, and covering the crime, photographs?

6. Complicated plot in a brief time – but entertaining?