The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) User Reviews (3)

One great painting, two Good Books, a few murders...

[bmacv · 6/10 · 5 November 2004]

Several shady characters in pursuit of an elusive but fabulous treasure, à la The Maltese Falcon, is an all but sure-fire formula for success (sure, sometimes it misfires: See The Argyle Secrets). When The Walls Came Tumbling Down is no black bird, but neither is it an unpaired old sock. It's an entertainingly cheesy, semi-hard-boiled mystery with Humphrey Bogart's gumshoe replaced by ace reporter Lee Bowman, who apes the long-in-the-tooth, desperately debonair style of the first filmed Sam Spade, Ricardo Cortez.

He's on the scene along with the cops when his old parish priest appears to have hanged himself in the rectory. The discreet cover story fed to the press is a heart attack, but Bowman knows it's not mortal sin but murder. (There's some anticipation, in this homicide of a holy man, of the much better Red Light of three years later.) But who would want to kill the beloved old rector?

Dressed to the nines, in slithers Marguerite Chapman (who never made it to a really good movie), claiming to be an old chum of the padre from San Francisco, an alibi Bowman quickly pierces by getting her to confabulate about Bellini's Restaurant on 3rd and Broadway in the city by the bay, which of course is nonexistent.

Other unbidden visitors show up, too. George Macready as a phoney missionary, accompanied by his horror of a wife (Katherine Emery) and worse horror of a goon (Noel Cravat), seeks a pair of Bibles the murdered priest had in his possession. Equally eager to lay hands upon the Good Books are J. Edward Bromberg, posing as Chapman's unhinged father, and his legal custodian Edgar Buchanan. All the fuss about the Bibles owes to their concealing clues to the whereabouts of a lost masterpiece, Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Walls of Jericho'....

There's a lot of not-quite-first-string character talent in the cast, and the story comes courtesy of Jo Eisinger, who penned Gilda and Night and the City, her most unimpeachable credits. But director Lothar Mendes, a German immigrant whose last movie this would be (and he hadn't worked much in the previous few years) doesn't bring any spark or pace to the action.

Coupled with the lackluster Bowman in the sort of part that Bogart and Dick Powell and even Mark Stevens were doing with panache, it doesn't make the movie much of a keeper. (The picaresque incidents grow too far-fetched as well, culminating with an exhumation in a boneyard one dark and stormy night.) Nevertheless, the movie has its own low-grade integrity, with brief flashes emanating from Macready, Chapman, Bromberg and Buchanan. The Walls Came Tumbling Down makes no honor roles, but gets at least a passing grade.

Two Maguffins Lead To A Third

[boblipton · 6/10 · 10 August 2019]

Columnist Lee Bowman goes to visit his friend the priest in his rectory, to discover that the man has apparently hanged himself. It soon develops that he was murdered, and the apparent motive was to recover two bibles leading a lost Da Vinci painting illustrating Joshua before the walls of Jericho. Other people looking for it include Marguerite Chapman, who is lying about her name and origin; George Macready as a missionary with a gun and a thug to beat information out of people; Edgar Buchanan as a nosy lawyer; and J. Edward Bromberg as a twitchy, psychotic bookseller.

It's very clearly a gloss on THE MALTESE FALCON; Bowman's character is named "Archer", the same as Bogart's murdered partner in the classic film and the book it is based on. The mystery aspects, from a novel by Jo Eisinger are nicely tangled, and while most of the performances are straightforward, the movie moves along at a good clip, and Bromberg is a delight in his eccentric performance.

It's Lothar Mendes' last credit as a director. He was born in Germany in 1894, and moved from acting to directing in 1921. His best remembered movies are 1929's THE FOUR FEATHERS and 1936's THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES. He died in 1974.

Bibles, grave robbers, and Joshua at the Battle of Jericho.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 24 February 2019]

This is a complex film noir along the same lines of "The Maltese Falcon", ironically also featuring Lee Patrick again playing the wisecracking secretary. It starts with the discovery of a dead priest, allegedly having committed suicide and the mystery surrounding missing Bibles that are extremely valuable. Detective Lee Bowman is on the case and soon finds himself discussing the case with the mysterious Marguerite Chapman who seems to have more than just a passing interest in the case. then there's a missionary couple, George McCready and Katherine Emery, who aren't above pulling a gun in their attempt to find the Bible's as well. Other interested parties include wealthy Edgar Buchanan and J. Edward Bromberg, and it's clear that none of them are truly on the level.

Pay close attention or you'll miss important clues and details that will help you along in this complicated thriller. the antagonism between Bowman and Chapman makes for an interesting chemistry between the leading male and female, and she is a very interesting femme fatale. The script is witty and intelligent but often seems to be trying to be too smart and there lies it's main fault. a good story doesn't need to try too hard and should keep the audience engaged without making them confused. Everything comes together nicely but certain moments might have the viewer tempted to rewind. the biblical references are very interesting, with Patrick actually scoring top acting honors simply for reading the scriptures and later figuring something else out which she presents to Bowman. Excellent dark photography, film editing and mysterious characters add up for a film that nearly works but could have easily tone the attitude down a bit.