Directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman
Starring Lee Patterson, Eddie Byrne, Betty McDowall, John Le Mesurier and Ewen Solon
So recently at my real job, I was faced with a task that required 10 minutes of work followed by 30-minute stretches doing essentially nothing. That might sound awesome, and it was, for all of two days. After that, the clock mocked me all night long, and it was time for some good reading material to pass the time. Fortunately, I've got just such a book for the occasion - "The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved," a constant companion of mine for more than ten years that I dig out for rainy days/laundromat trips. Well, on this particular occasion, the chapter about Jack the Ripper really piqued my curiosity to dig deeper, and it wasn't long until I got myself a 500-page book specifically about the Victorian murderer who has inspired countless theories (quack or otherwise) as to his identity over the years.
To be sure, we've also had plenty of films with crazy theories. Now, I've never seen From Hell (Johnny Depp gives me a reverse boner), but I'm told that it's pretty out there. I vividly remember the 1988 TV miniseries with Michael Caine and Jane Seymour, and thinking that it was pretty much accepted fact that William Gull, along with his sinister coachmen, were responsible for the murders as a means of stifling a blackmail plot by the prostitutes of London. Approximately 17 seconds of research debunks this theory in real life. I've also heard that the murderer was the English Royal Family, an agent of the Russian government sent to embarrass Scotland Yard, and a doctor getting revenge on prostitutes as a means for making up for his son's death. More on that theory later. My theory? The likely truth - that Jack the Ripper was a nobody like the vast majority of serial killers - is far scarier than anything the fictional mind can come up with involving Oliver Stone-esque conspiracy theories or evil organizations.
Anyway, while the Caine miniseries was quite good, today, we'rel ooking at a movie I caught for the first time on AMC close to a decade ago. Released in 1959 as part of the wave of interest in the case after an acclaimed TV documentary about the Ripper aired on British television, Jack the Ripper (creative title, I know) adhered to the popular theory at the time that a doctor flew into a rage after his son died of syphilis after a tryst with prostitute Mary Kelly, asked about on the street trying to ascertain her location and killed them to cover his tracks before finding Kelly and completing his mission. Of course, this theory is also bogus - if it's revenge related, why mutilate the victims to such a degree? (folks, type "Jack the Ripper victims" into a Google image search if you want to see the reality of these crimes as opposed to the romanticized quaint mystery that many people hold it as) The theory holds no weight, but this movie is an entertaining little piece of nostalgia, occasional bouts of unintentional hiliarity notwithstanding. It's also one of the most hilariously factually inaccurate movies of all time. People, nothing - not a single thing - in this movie actually happened, but that's part of the fun.
The movie wastes precious little time getting to the murdering, as a mysterious figure skulks about London killing dance-hall girls and prostitutes - all while looking for a woman named Mary Clarke. It's just as captivating as it sounds; the dude meets a prospective victim, utters the words "Mary Clarke," slice, dice, repeat. At any rate, one of the the movie's recurring themes is the mob mentality and public furor, and we truly do get a sense of the public outcry against the police and authorities while these murders were going on in this movie. One out of ten ain't bad when it comes to accuracy rating. The person who feels the heat most directly is Scotland Yard Inspector O'Neill (Eddie Byrne), basically this movie's equivalent of the real-life Frederick Abberline. Realizing that he is in over his head...he calls in a man from New York City with an Elvis haircut.
I'm not making this up. Lee Patterson plays Sam Lowry, hip, happening NYC Detective and former friend of O'Neill's who soon shows up in 1888 Victorian London with his boss rock and roll hairstyle. Biting realism, this film is not. All things told, Patterson does a decent enough job as Lowry - since the movie was filmed in the U.K. and gaining eventual release in the States, one would expect this guy to be a Mary Sue-ish character, and in some ways he is, but he manages to be at least slightly likable and resonant. That, and we buy him at the end when he's duking it out with Jack.
Moving right along, this movie adheres strongly to the popular theory at the time that the killer must have been a skilled surgeon based on the skill of the cuts performed. Through some miracle, there is only one medical house open for business (/Wade Barrett) in all of Whitechapel, and it's here where the intrepid investigators focus their considerable talents (/sarcasm). It's here where the flick's many red herring (and one not so red - oh yeah, spoiler alert) suspects come into play. It's also where Lowry enjoys a side romance with one of the doctor's hottie nieces, and it's just as captivating as it sounds.
All annoying internet snarkiness aside, this movie actually managed to hold my attention when I first saw it at 2:00 a.m. that long ago summer night in 2006, and it's still got a lot going for it. For starters, the atmosphere is off the charts. It may not be particularly high-budget, but the film's directors manage to really capture the desperation and seedy side of 1888 Victorian London. Or, at least, that's what a film major would say. The movie IS quite fun to look at, however, and the black & white (with the exception of one scene - I'll leave it to you to discover that one if you're willing to plunk down $10 for a DVD) really ups the ante when it comes to the gritty factor. The performances, by and large, are also pretty satisfactory, particularly John Lee Mesurier as a rather hard-edged surgeon and the uncle of the aforementioned love interest niece.
To be sure, the film also has its fair share of negatives - Patterson's character and his Presley do being the most obviously visible one. It also treads occasionally into boring category when it becomes the story of a bunch of catty chicks working in burlesque shows, but I don't get paid by the hour for these things, so I'll spare everyone the play-by-play when it comes to that stuff. Oh, and the climax gives us some electric stuff.
*** out of ****. Don't watch this one for its biting realism, but if you want to suspend disbelief and turn your brain off for 90 minutes, there's worse ways to spend your time.
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