Bill Kay bows to the power of cinema

It is truly amazing that so much money is spent on producing blockbuster films. I know that directors find it hard to resis the lure of playing with a new SFX toy, whatever the cost, as long as it creates a big enough splash on screen. And so we are offered the likes of the Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean - revealingly, often described as franchises just like Starbucks or McDonald's.
To the credit of the Academy of Motion Pictures, neither Spiderman nor Pirates have picked up any of the major Oscars. And good stories can also be enhanced by the flash treatment: see the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Harry Potter series. You can and doubtless will quibble about the merits of the Potter books, thanks to Rowling's "evening class" literary style, but there is plenty of meat in the films and they were worth the money spent on effects and the star rosters.
But amidst all the glitz it is easy to forget that there is nothing to beat a good story, and you don't need to spend much to turn it into a compelling movie.
This was stunningly demonstrated last night at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre, which has become my favourite. As part of the annual film noir season, last night was devoted to a Peter Lorre double bill - Stranger on the Third Floor and Face Behind the Mask.
Stranger was ponderous, interesting mainly as an historical marker. Face unfortunately gives away half the plot in its title, as the Lorre character initially appears maskless. But you could sense the packed theatre falling silent and giving its full attention to the screen for the last half-hour or so, from the moment Lorre bumps into the blind girl. I won't give away the ending, but most of what occurs before that moment is merely foot-shuffling by comparison. The story is so well balanced that we just don't know what is going to happen, and we are totally involved in the dynamics of the characters and their competing forces.
Apart from sticking a plane in a desert, a device that doesn't cost much in this part of the world, there were no great expenses although Lorre might have been able to demand a fairly hefty fee by this stage, 1941. And the plot does not rely heavily on Lorre's distinctive appearance - a major factor in Stranger on the Third Floor.
Both films are based on what I believe were originally radio plays - it's not clear from IMDB about Stranger, but Face certainly was - and this keeps the emphasis on telling the story. And that is what kept everyone in their seats until the final scene last night.