Saturday, December 25, 2010

Dark Victory, 1939 (Grade C+)

Director: Edmund Goulding
Any Awards? On the AFI Top 100 Passion Movies and nominated for academy awards
CAST: Betty Davis; Humphrey Bogart; George Brent; Geraldine Fitzgerald; Ronald Regan; Henry Travers; Cora Witherspoon;  Dorothy Peterson; Virginia Brissac; Charles Richman;  Herbert Rawlinson; Leonard Mudie; Fay Helm
plot summary:  Long Island socialite Judith Traherne (Bette Davis), enjoys her wealth -- and engages in a full life of free-flowing booze, parties galore, and raising thoroughbreds.  But when a horse-jumping accident forces her to come to terms with her failing vision -- she discovers she is mortal.  A handsome doctor (George Brent) discovers that Judith suffers from a potentially fatal brain tumor...things don't go exactly where you expect from there.   
sez says: I sure like the wardrobe --and there were a lot of walk on by people who later became famous...not a great old movie but then, not a bad one either

mjc says -- selfless dying woman lets her husband go off as her eye site dims--a reminder of how terminal illness was treated in the old days... ie: don't talk about it.

Goodbye Mr. Chips, 1939 )Grade C)


Director: Sam Wood
Any Awards?  nominated for and won various academy awards
CAST:  Robert Donat; Greer Garson; Terry Kilburn; John Mills; Paul Henreid: Judith Furse; Lyn Harding
PLOT SUMMARY: This 1939 classic is based on a book by James Hilton. It has been made into movies three times, this being the first. It follows one Mr. Chipping (Robert Donat) from his start as an struggling, and only partially successful professor, teaching at the prestigious Brookfield school to, years later, his role as the beloved schoolmaster.  
sez says:  My how British....even so a sweet diverting movie...but no doubt more difficult from us Americans to relate to than it would be for Brits who have had their lives shaped by boarding schools.  
mjc says:  I am not sure but I think this is a glimpse into the British Public School education--its temptations and limitations.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Love Affair, 1939 (Grade C+)

Director: Leo MCarey
Any Awards?  nominated for lots of Academy Awards but I don't thik it won any
Cast: Charles Boyer; Irene Dunn; Maria Oupenskaya; Lee Bowman; Astrid Allwyn; Maurice Moscovitch

PLOT SUMMARY: While on an ocean cruise, strangers Michel Marnet (Charles Boyer) and Terry McKay (Irene Dunne) are instantly taken with each other. Unfortunately, they're both engaged to other people, so they promise to reunite in six months to see if their passion still burns. En route to the reunion, Terry is crippled in a car accident, heightening the drama of this Oscar-nominated romance.

sez says: Playboy falls for a young woman who has promised herself to a rich man..neither love their intended-and they grow increasingly found of each other.  What a sappy swamp this turns into. But to be together they will have to give up the things their rich fiances will provide. The point being that they care for each other more than they want the money. Then she is hit by a car and crippled trying to get to him on the day they planned to meet to confirm their love.  She loves him too much to tell him she is crippled, and to force him into a life of taking care of her. ... oh my, what an over the top gusher this is -- I guess you could do anything during the Great Depression that tried to convince people that what REALLY MATTERED wasn't money...  And what a lot of hooey. I  wonder if stuff like this ended making people feel their real life love interests were not up to snuff. But still well acted and a rather famous movie--do I';ll give it its due -- but wow, what tripe.

mjc says: It is no wonder that the romance NY permeates our culture when movies like this celebrate the streets and the skyline as places for lovers to meet.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

A Star Is Born, 1937 (Grade B)

-DIRECTOR:  William A Wellman 
Any Awards? Yes, numberous Academy Awards, and AFI Top 100 List 
Cast: Janet Gaynor; Fredric March; Adolphe Menjou 

story (SPOILER ALERT) --young woman in Dakotas does not want to spend her life in dulls-ville.  Grandma slips her the $ to go to Hollywood and follow her dream. With no training but a sweet and pure personality our little miss makes it big.  Her 'big chance' comes via a drunken/famous actor who recognizes in her 'something special' --and eventually, once he agrees to quite drinking, they get married but not before his drinking has destroyed his career.  
She loves him truly--and he loves her truly --and it is all very, very sad. She is now supporting him and so he takes to drinking again.  She is going to give up her career to nurse him--but he can't have that--so he commits suicide.  She is is so down trodden by his death that she is going to give up her career. But in the nick-of-time grandma appears and says something like: "I told you to follow your dreams that you'd have to put up with pain and suffering.  And now it is time to prove your worth and not disappoint your fans", etc.. So our sweet and lovely STAR bravely goes back to work 

Sez says:  We are currently watching ALL the versions of this movie that have been made.  This may well be the best one. It is a lot better than I expected it to be. You can see reviews of the others via a search on the title. 
The story is predictable and past silly in places.  I guess any female that is sweet and nice can be a star even with no training in her field at all.   But it does deal with alcoholism in a more realistic way than anything else I've seen from this era.  And the acting is good. (Grade B)

MJC Says:  Great script via Dorothy Parker and pals..principles did their jobs.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pygmalion, 1938, (Grade B-)

Director Leslie Howard and Anthony Asquith
Awards, Numberous Academy Awards in 1939
Cast:  Wendy Hiller; Leslie Howard; Wilifrid Lawson

sez says: the screenplay is by George Bernard Shaw--and it shows, esp toward the end, when Doolittle and Higgins unite.  Shaw's abhorrence of 'middle class morals' holds sway.  We don't very often see adults come together as housemates without marriage as is implied will happen here.  We all know this story.  It is faithfully portrayed -- and the acting is 1st rate. (It is not, like My Fair Lady, the musical, which is the same story with a lot more glitter and with much less of Shaw's philosophical footing).  I found the depiction of the working class to be especially interesting, their morals are not depicted as being better than the middle classes' - -but they are rational in their own right.  And Howard plays Higgins to a tee--a self involved bohemian who is unable to see himself as others see him. He is rude and abrupt and lacks concern about the feelings of others--while he sees himself as caring and needlessly polite.  Fun stuff..but not necessarily a great movie.

 

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Jezebel, 1938 (Grade B-)

Director William Wyler 
Awards?:  Yes, Best Actress, plus Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards, plus other nominations. Also on AFI Top 100 Films 
CAST: Bette Davis; Henry Fonda; George Brent; Spring Byington; Fay Bainter; Jack Norton; Donald Crisp; Richard Cromwell; Margaret Lindsey; John Litel; Irving Pichel; Henry O'Neill. Georgia Caine

sez says: I am not sure how we missed this one before-It is a powerful study of selfishness and pride destroying a woman's life. Davis plays a beautiful, wealthy, headstrong young southern woman (early 19th century--pre civil war setting) who goes against social convention, to annoy her fiance who has annoyed her (she wears a red dress to the ball--instead of a white dress as all young unmarried women are suppose to).  She thereby loses the man she love (Fonda) --and spends a year in hopeful morning that he will retunr to her. When he does we find he has married another.   What won't she do to get him back?
This has plenty of grist for any feminist to tear into--about the ways a woman's life is depicted. About the fantasy of romantic love. About stupid competitions between women.  The racism in the story is also worthy of discussion -- Fonda does ask the butler to have a drink with him --but the happy black children singing and dancing are hard to take. But it is precisely becasue it give so much opportunity to talk about t tthat it makes it an especially worthwhile movie.  I am glad I saw it--eve though much of the story is really appalling --And it is well made, well acted, etc. 


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Boys Town, 1938 (Grade D)

Director: Norman Taurog
Awards: Tracy Won Academy Award for Best Actor --nominated in other categories but didn't win
Cast: Spencer Tracy; Micky Rooney; Henry Hull; Leslie Fenton; Gene Reynolds; Edward Norris; Addison Richards; Minor Watson; Jonathan Hale; Bobs Watson.
sez says:  oh my this is sappy -- It was like one long fund raising campaign to support Boys Town. That is tiresome.  On the other hand I bet it was a very progressive movie at the time: "There is no such thing as a bad boy". That homeless kids were thrown into reform schools is appalling.  And Spencer Tracy does his bit very well. Micky Rooney is over the top --but he is a good at going over the top.  Still--unless you are a die-hard of some sort (needing to see all of Tracy's movies, or all the best actor movies, etc.) I can't recommend it to anyone. I felt like I wasted an evening watching it --but then I am a die-hard sort and have determined to accept some wasted time in order to discover forgotten greats .. my grade for this on is D-

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Grand Illusion, 1937 (Grade A+)

DIRECTOR: Jean Renoir
Awards, Nominated for an academy award for best picture.
Cast: Jean Gabin, Marcel Dalio, Pierre Fresnay, Eric Von Stroheim, Dita Parlo

sez says: an A+ -- WWI -- provides a setting to display the things that binding us together and the things that divide us and how we allow ourselves to be divided against our selves.  Nationalism, class affiliation, religion, love, loyalty, pride, creativity are all pieces of the puzzle.  But what is important are the alignments that are created --and destroyed-- by these aspects of humanity. And this story winds its way around these issues, saying in the sub text:. War is beyond stupid and terrifying. It is nonsense.  Nationalism is not healthy (just lines on a map) -- but it is a powerful engine of emotion.  Mistreatment of Jews is absurd. (remember what Hitler was doing in 1937 when this was made). The Aristocracy is in decline--and with that something about honor is being lost. And more.  There is so much in this movie it is hard to know where to begin. I could write a book--or two--about this story and they way it is told--and I bet there are plenty of books already written.  If you haven't see this, do. (Grade A+)
 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Alexander's Rag Time Band, 1938 ( Grade C-)

Director: Henry King
Awards: Yes nominated for a number of academy awards--won best Music Score
Cast: Tyrone Power; Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, Jean Hersholt, John Carradine. Ruth Terry. Douglas Fowley, Chick Chandler, Joseph Crehan, Robert Gleckler, Stanley Andrews, Donald Douglas, Lon Chaney Jr., Edwin Stanley

sez says -- Ethel Merman sure was some singer!  Next to Merman poor Alice Faye is a wash-out. But, evidently, Fay was considered to be 'more beautiful' so she got the lead role. That makes the whole movie sit sort of uncomfortably-crocked.
Anyway-- this is packed with Irving Berlin Music, so for people who like Berlin that is a plus.  It is set in San Francisco, World War I and New York. So that is the backdrop.  But that is it. There is no story to speak of. Two people love each other but they keep having trouble getting together --till the end-- and when they do get together that ends the movie.  In the meantime you get to hear a dozen or more Berlin tunes--which are best done by Merman....and you get to see some cool dancing by Jack Haley.  You've  got to like Berlin to want to see this--if you like Berlin, it is light entertainment.  Grade C -

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Lost Horizon, 1937 (Grade B+)

Director: Frank Capra
Awards?  Yes -- some academy awards and lost of nominations; plus is on an AFI Top 100 list
Cast:: Ronald Coleman; Jane Wyatt; John Howard; Margo; Thomas Mitchell; Edward Everett Horton; Isabel Jewe;;; H.B. Warner; Sam Jaffe

A Standard Plot Description Says: "In Frank Capra's classic based on the James Hilton novel, plane-crash survivors are led through the Himalayas to Shangri-La, a village without hate or crime and where no one ages. Robert Conway (Ronald Coleman) is chosen to succeed Shangri-La's High Lama and falls for Sondra (Jane Wyatt), but his brother convinces him to leave on an ill-fated trek. When Conway ends up in England with amnesia, will he manage to go back and fulfill his destiny?"

sez says:--I say this movie as a child on TV and never forgot it--it has a magical sense about it that is a perfect fit for films of the 1930s. I say it again in the 1970's--at which time I realized that this "utopia" is based on slave labor (happy dark skin people who don't have plumbing yet while the white folks live in a castle.) And the the way you keep men from fighting with each other over women is that if a man want's another man's wife, all he has to do is ask for her, and the original husband will give her to the man who has asked (nobody has to ask her!) --so, the women in the castle, while they are not quite slaves, they are the property of men to be handed around at the whim of those men.  So this is a utopia for whom? 

Now I watched it again--and the latest version to be released is a remake of the original. It is really fascinating. Evidently a lot of different, cut versions have been released over time. Film scholars undertook the job of putting the original back together.  They could not find film footage for the entire move--but they had the full audio  SO they have inserted stills into the film to look at  when there is audio that lacks the original visual footage. The story is broadened..and the philosophy of what might have been considered utopia is also opened up. The problems I had with the story in when I saw it in the 1970s are all still there--and they are even magnified.  But the bases of this society would make a wonderful topic of study about what do people imagine they want, and how they perceive the world as it actually exists.

Plus, no matter how much I chafe at the racism and sexism and classism of the story it is still a wonderfully compelling film, well made and  not to be missed. Thre is good reason it is considered a classic.  (Grade B+)

Stage Door, 1937 (Grade B-)

Director: Gregory LaCava
Awards?  nominated for numerous Academy Awards but I don't know if it won any
Cast Katherine Hepburn; Ginger Rogers; Lucille Ball; Eve Arden; Adolphe Menjou; Ann Miller; Gail Patrick; Constance Collier; Andrea Leeds; Samuel S Hinds

sez says --this was written by Edna Ferber and George S Kaufman and it has a better than average, snappy-talk, script.  Young women want to go on stage. They live in a boarding house together and form a family--ie the group squabbles and takes care of each other. Hepburn, a rich girl slumming, moves in, and against her father's wishes she aims to be an actor.  The rich father wants his daughter to fail so she will give up the stage and come home. He secretly funds a play for her to star in .... meanwhile the hardworking and talented young women in the boarding house are exposed to all sorts of indignities--which they suffer lightly because of their wit and banter.  What story of happens re: Hepburn's opportunity is woven into and around the lives of the women at the boarding house. And I'll not say more so as not to spoil the story. But while Hepburn's situation plays out  the story explores the problems the women in the boarding house face. First and foremost is malnutrition. But a close second is men who want to take advantage of them--and those men, who don't believe they should even be trying to make a life for themselves, lie and connive and offer to make them STARS, etc. The story is ok--and the acting is fun. The best thing about this is is is about a society of women.  Men are not seen as heroes, nor are they seen in particularly positive light. They are a backward looking option for these women--to get married and have a family is not anyone's obvious goal.  (Grade B-)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Stagecoach, 1939 (Grade B)

Director: John Ford
Awards"?  -- yes, nominated for many and won some Academy Awards -- nominated for one of the Top 100 films by AFI
Cast:  John Wayne; Claire Trevor; Andy Devine; John Carradine; Thomas Mitchell; Louis Platt; George Bancroft; Donald Meek;  Berton Churchill; Tim Holt; Tom Tyler.

sez says: some say that this is an acknowledged masterpiece and  you're just putting yourself up for jeers if you don't fall into lock step agreement.  Well I hate that. I think we hae to keep going back and looking again and again at these sanctified icons. So we looked at this once more.  Things that are great about the movie are: 1) MONUMENT VALLEY (thank you John Ford for making movies there) 2) a view of what America is suppose to be circa 1939 (the end of the depression) 3) some amazing stunts on horseback.
This little microcosm of America riding across the west in a stage coach is a pretty liberal party when they are at there best: Forgive the prostitute; Understand the escaped prisoner and let him escape; Acknowledge what was honorable about the old south --ie your old enemy; Acknowledge Christina Ideals --the saleman; Forgive individual shortcomings The Doctor--because a good American will do the right thing when called upon.   When it comes to the bad guys:  1) the banker, 2) the Plumber Brothers, and 3) the Apache you kill them (no trials) or you lock them up.   It is an interesting movie in part just because it is so famous. .. but then how many people have really watched it.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Rules of the Game, 1939 (Grade B)

Director: Jean Renoir
Awards: well regarded by many but I can't find any awards mentioned
 Cast: Nora Gregor; Paulette Dubost: Mila Parely; Odette Talazac; Claire Gerard; Anne Mayen; Lise Elina; Marcel Dalio; Julien Carette; Roland Toutain; Gaston Modot; Jean Renoir; Pierre Magnier; Eddy Debray; Pierre Nay; Richard Francoeur.
 
sez says: this French film was directed by the master Jean Renoir, which makes it wonderful to watch no matter the content.  The opening scene is a gem all by its self:  a woman radio broadcaster, with a giant microphone, struggles through a crowd to get to the French-pilot of a Trans Atlantic Flight who supposedly just beat Charles Lindburgh's record. When she finally gets to him he tells her, and the nation, that the flight was a waster and he is miserable because the women he loves is not there to greet him.  Cut to that woman's bedroom, she is wealthy and married to another man. That man has been cheating on her--but now decides he should give up his mistress.  The mistress is angry.  And off these folks go to a country home (along with many others) for a wild, wild party.  People are jumping in and out of bed with various partners, fidelity is not a respected by many people at all.  In one scene two men are talking--and the point of the movie is made -- He says something akin to "you can not trust anyone any more, not the businesses, not the government, not your best friend...etc.."

All has turned into a farce--a comedy--a joke. In the story--and no doubt as a comment on the social order at this moment before WW2 too over Europe.  The only men who has stayed TRUE AND HONEST  (our transatlantic pilot) and who had professed his love and stayed true (he had even shown hims self to be honorable when he wouldn't run off with the woman he loves without talking to her husband first) is shot and killed. These days right before the outbreak of WW2 must have looked

You probably have to be "a film person" to really find all of this wonderful -- I am glad I saw it--but I am not sure I'd put it on a recommended list for everybody. (Grade B)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Good Earth, 1937 (Grade C+)

Director: Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming, Gustav Machatv
Awards?  Yes-- Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Cinematography --plus other nominations
Cast: Paul Muni; Luis Rainer; Walter Connolly; Tilly Losch; Charley Grapewin; Jessie Ralph; Soo Yong; Keye Luke; Roland Lui; Suzanna Kim

sez says: surprisingly well done for its time--and for the topic at the time it was done. An epic of a farmer who suffers but eventually grows wealth and is lured away from the land by the finery available to the rich.  He finds his way back to what really maters in the end-- his land, his wife, his sons, his community. It is a long film--and it does drag in a few places, but it is an epic--and it needs the time to tell the tale. It is a little awkward to see Anglos made-up as Asians -- sort of like white folks in black-face.  But it was 1937--and that the story was made into a movie featuring Chinese people was probably a step forward.  I enjoyed seeing this --but I wouldn't put it on my 'to see again' list. Grade C+

 

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Awful Truth, 1937 (Grade C+)

Director Leo McCarey
Awards AFI & Time Magazine Top 100 lists, nominated for various and won one (Best Director) Academy
Cast: Cary Grant; Irene Dunne; Ralph Bellamy' Alexander D'Arch; Cecil Cunningham; Molly Lamont; Ester Dale; Joyce Compton; Robert Warwick; Mary Forbes



sez says; fun is to be had here--but not as much fun as I expected given the "this is such a great film" comments I've seen in my life --yes Grant and Dunn have chemistry --they play a couple who divorce but who really belong together.  We've seen this before: He HAS been dishonest, she hasn't but been but isn't believed when she finds herself in a suggestive situation.  There is some singing and dancing.  There are situational mishaps and misunderstandings. Maybe funniest sequence is when Dunn, pretending to be Grant's working class sister, crashes a party where Grant is being entertained by his new high-society sweetheart's family.    

If you like old movies--you will enjoy this, But the story has been done, in various versions and  lots of times -- maybe not better -- but then it isn't much of a story, even if the moral is still valid. You can't have a good relationship/marriage if you don't trust each other. On another day I might give it a higher grade, but right now if feels real C+ to me
 

Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938 (Grade C)

Director: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley
Awards --multiple Adademy Awards --top 100 in AFI Thrills Category
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patic Knowles, Alan Hale, Eugene Pallette, Melville Cooper, Ian Hunter, Una O'Connor.

sez says: I was amazed how many  images that there are in this film that I remember from my childhood.  How many times could I have seen it?  But I know when I saw it way back when it was on an old B&W TV -- and this movie is a TECHNOCOLOR--with all caps COLOR-production.  They put color --as vividly as possible--everywhere they could. Including I might ask on the bad King John's vest--which seemed to have been lite with flashing colored lights! No kidding, I think they had his clothing wired up to flash!  Take a look and see what you think.
The story is too familiar to go into -- but somethings of note are: the costumes deserve an award for the most bizarre wear imaginable for living in the forest.  The sets were stupendous oversize amazement.  You could list some of the forest's trees as cast members, they were so impressive.  Olivia de Haviland was a striking beauty. And Errol Flynn really is fun to watch leaping about. And the sword fighting scenes deserve to be called classics.    Even so--classic that it is--it is also all too familiar to get a grade better than C --it is not a great film--but it is a fun film for those of us who had these images pressed into our memories at an early age.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

A Tale of Two Cities, 1935 (Grade C)

Director: Jack Conway
Awards: Nominated for Academy Awards
Starring: Ronald Coleman; Elizabeth Allan; Edna May Oliver; Reginald Owen; Basil Rathbone; Blanche Yurka; Donald Wood; H B Warner; Mitchell Lewis; Tully Marshall; EE Clive; Robert Warwick; John Davidson

sez says: this is how Hollywood cuts the classics down to size.  They strip out everything but the romance and let go of what makes this a brilliant novel. But then--part of the brilliance is in the romance--and here it is in an easy to consume, whitewashed version.  Coleman and Allan are a bit too "acty" for my taste--I mean overblown, stagey--swoonishly inclined. Or maybe it is just the way the story is told. Plus, I don't remember the actual book placing so much emphasis on Christianity and Resurrection --even the musical background they were often using hymns and Christmas carol tunes .  But even with all of that I still enjoy these old movies --and the bit actors are great --as are the sets and costumes (overdone--but still fun) (Grade C)

Friday, May 28, 2010

Three Smart Girls, 1936 ( Grade C-)

Director Henry Koster
Awards?  -- nominated for best picture at Academy Awards
cast:  Deanna Durbin; Binnie Barnes; Ray Milland Alice Brady; Charles Winniger

sez says -- Durbin is INTRODUCED in this film and she is a talented young woman of 14 -- I don't care at all for the style or stuff she sings -- but her comedic timing is right on. This is a story of 3 sisters who try to stop their father from marrying a new woman (evil money hunter--with an even more evil mother egging her on) so their parents can be reunited. It has some story twists that might not be expected.but it all ends up exactly as you imagine it will. It contains mistaken identity,  singing where they it can be fit in, good butlers and helpful cops: an entirely absurd story that is typical stuff for the 1930s (Grade C-)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

In Old Chicago, 1937 (Grade D-)

Director: Henry King
Awards --won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for many more Academy Awards but didn't win
Staring: Tyrone Power; Alice Faye; Don Ameche; Alice Brady; Andy Devine; Brian Donlevy; Phyllis Brooks; Tom Brown; Sidney Blackmer; Benton Churchill; June Storey; Paul Hurst

sez says-- this movie is famous for being the most expensive film made up to this point in history. By the standards of the 1930s it has an amazing presentation of the Chicago Fire. That seems to be where the money was spent..but that alone is not much to recommend it -- and it has little else. The story is dull--to stupid and the ideology is retrograde. So much so that you can't ignore it.  For instance:  
It suggests a man literally should just take the woman he wants and overpower her physically (while she fights him and calls for help) but that is what she wants and she ends-up in a passionate embrace, kissing him.  So when the police arrive to help her they are not needed. Humm--not so good. We all know that, that has proven to be an excuse for rape (she really wanted it, etc) --so you have to cringe through that sort of thing (this happens more than once in this movie, I might add).  Plus there are songs about 'happy darkies'  and their love for the 'ole massa'.  Add to this the need to destroy 'The Patch' (ie the part of town where the poor live) because that is where all the evil comes from --ie the poor are to blame for their own poverty.   Or how about, the manipulation of politics --and the stealing of votes is ok, just so you have good intentions.  This movie is full of this kind of tripe. (grade D-) --not an F only becasue the fire scenes are rather interesting from the perspective of the history of film making.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Les Miserables, 1934 (Grade B+)

Director: Raymond Bernard
FRENCH CLASSIC -- 5 hours / B&W
Starring:  Harry Baur; Charles Vanel; Paul Azais; Max Dearly; Charles Dullin; Emile Genevois; Harry Krauss; George Mauloy; Lucien Nat; Jean Servais; Robert Vidalin; Orane Demazis; Florelle; Josseline Gael; Margueite Moreno

sez says --this is the best version of Le Miserables that we have found so far. It is long--but it doesn't wear on you.  It is well acted--and exquisitely filmed.  Really impressive --from a film-making perspective, most impressive are the fight and battle scenes that take place in the last 1/3 of the story. And the escape through the sewer is amazingly realistic.  Baur is a perfect Jean Valjean.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dead End, 1937 (Grade B)

Director: William Wyler
Awards --when it was a play it won awards--but I don't think the movie did
Cast: Humphrey Bogart; Joel McCrea; Ward Bond; Sylvia Sidney; Wendy Barrie, Claire Trevor; Allen Jenkins; Marjorie Main; Billy Halos; Huntz Hall; Bobby Jordan; Leo Gorcey; Bernard Punsly; Charles Peck; Minor Watson  Dead End
Dead End
sez says: ALERT SPOILER REVIEW (this will tell you what happens, so if you haven't seen the movie you might not want to go on) -- When the murderer Baby Face Martin (Humphrey Bogart) gets a face lift, so he is not so easily recognizable to the police, he returns to his old stomping ground, thinking about settling down.  He is still a bad guy, but he is "tired of the things money can buy"--and he wants to find his mother and his old girlfriend and maybe settle down. His mother rejects him and his old girl ain't no nice girl any more.  She's been making her living on the streets. (Best line of the movie is when Bogarts say to his old girlfriend 'Why did you do it, Why didn't you let yourself starve?"  She replies "Why didn't you let your self starve?")   So Babyface, hurt to core, lashes out and plans to kidnap a local rich kid --to make the trip home worthwhile.  In the meantime he share inside info about living a wild life with the local kids on the street.-- (the old Dead End Kids Gang are assembled here!) all of whom already have one foot on the wrong path.

The poit seems to be who would not go wrong trying to grow up on these mean streets? Even good-guy (Joel McCrea), who went to college for 6 years and became an architect, is having trouble getting off this Dead End Street, because he has no connections. When he wins an award for helping to capture Babyface  the girl he's got a crush on tells him its enough money for them to have a year's spree together but when the money runs out she will go back to her rich boyfriend.   And the hard working older sister (Wendy Barries) of one of the young street hooligans, is out on strike from her job, and has been beaten by the police, all so she could earn the a few dollars more that would allow her to move her brother out of this neighborhood. An unequal distribution of wealth, a fear of poverty and an over emphasis on  money are destroying this world according to this movie. And all of that might be true. (Grade B)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Captains Courageous, 1937 (Grade B)

Director: Victor Fleming
Awards Academy Award for Best Actor Award to Spencer Tracy, plus other nominations
Starring:  Spencer Tracy; Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore, Micky Rooney. Melvyn Douglas, John Carradine

sez says: After the splashy titles (pun intended, you'll have to see the movie to see what I mean) this movie took off in an unexpected direction. I thought would be a swashbuckler--but it is not.  It is really a nicely done tale of a boy, who app eras to be a brat, but who in fact just needs someone (a father) to be in his life as a model. Amazingly it  avoids the worst sort of the schwarmy sentimentality that you might expect. It focuses in on the real work done on fishing boats and how a crew works together, how they resolve conflict, how they can seriously compete with out malice. It demonstrates the importance of honesty and integrity as functional aspects of human behavior--not just because it is"good" for its own sake, but because it makes everyone safe if we all cooperate and treat each other fairly.  Add to that some truly amazing photos of fishing ships flying through the ocean. Plus there is general, all-around good acting--including Spencer Tracy as a Portuguese fisherman--Having seen him in so many other movies it is, at first, hard to get use to him in this unusual role, but he pulls it off. (Recommended with a strong B)

Friday, April 23, 2010

San Francisco, 1936 (Grade C-)

Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Awards: Won Academy Award for Best Sound, and niminated for multiple otehr Academy Awards
Starring: Clark Gable; Jeanette MacDonald; Spencer Tracy; Jack Holt


sez says: this is overflowing with Jeanette McDonald Singing--so if you like her voice you'll probably really like this movie.  I am not a fan--sure she has talent--but her gift is not my cup of tea..so I just try and be patient while she warbles. (She does do a rousing version of the song San Francisco toward the end of the movie which had enough energy to make me smile.)  Meanwhile the story is predictable and sappy--daughter of a minister and all around good girl Mary Blake (MacDonald) brings bad-boy Blackie Norton (Gable) to God, with the help of Blackie's child hood pal --Spencer Tracy--who has become a priest.  There are some better than average twists and turns before we get Gable on his knees --best of all are the special effects depicting the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  Overall  I wouldn't call it a bad movie--nor would I say it is a good one.  It occupies that land of limbo, being a sort'a interesting old movie if you don't expect too much. (Grade C-)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Les Miserables, 1935 (Grade B+)

Director: Richard Boleslawski
Awards: none that we know of
Cast: Frederick March, Charles Laughton, John Carradine; Cedric Hardwicke; Rochelle Hudson, John Beal, Francis Drake, Ferdinand Gottschalk

sez says: this was a surprise, I didn't expect it to be as good as it is.  I do not know how well it follows Hugo's story (and I suspect it does not follow it well because it is 1) a movie and 2) it was approved by the Film Codes which tended to tear down any good story).  But, here are messages delivered via the film: 1) following the letter of the law will lead to unjust outcomes.  2) Life is given to us NOT to take for ourselves, but so we can give to others, trust in that and all will be well. 3) you will be tempted by selfish concerns but stay the course and even your most pugnacious adversary will succumb.  Done in black and white and well acted this is an enjoyable old film.  (Grade B+)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Of Mice and Men, 1939 (Grade A)

Director Lewis Milestone
Awards: Nominated for multiple academy awards 
Stars: Burgess Meredith, Lon Chaney Jr.. Charles Bickford, Betty Field, Bob Steele



sez says: origianlly a short story by Steinbeck ( Of Mice and Men,) then a Broadway play produced by George S Kaufman, then made into a move directed by Lewis Milestone.  Those are some impressive names to be attached to a single work.  The story is an American classic--and Milestone brought his genius to the telling of it. It is a sad, yet heroic story of good men facing hard realities while holding on to a dream.   Meanwhile, men need to help each other to achieve their dreams, and few men ever get past the imagining of another life. Women are trouble.  Every man should have a dog. It is full of stuff like that.
One of my favorite scenes is when an old man tells about a night, long ago, when he visited a brothel. He is asked how much did that cost you. He says $15.  The men laugh at him and say that was a  whole weeks wages.  He looks up and says I've worked a lot of weeks in my life and I don't really remember many of them. But after all these years I still remember that one night, so one of my week's work got me something. 
You can like or dislike the story--but Milestone serves it up beautifully in B&W. The end is also altered, no doubt, to meet the film code, which is annoying.  But it is still beautifully done. Chaney is a little over the top as Lenny, but not so much so as to be distracting -- and the rest of the cast is excellent.  (Grade A)

 

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Modern Times, 1936 (Grade A)

Director Charles Chaplin
Awards --many accolades but no awards I know of
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard

sez says: this is nothing short of a classic, if you haven't seen it you really should.  What an incredible talent Chaplin had for physical comedy.Plus he wrote it, directed it, starred in it, wrote the music for it, etc etc . But I still don't know why it was done as a semi-silent film?  It has a music sound track, and  a voice track--and signs that pop-up like a silent movie... The little guy often get the shaft in life but they also get the girl and true love and that is what really matters.

Libeled Lady, 1936 ( Grade B+)

Director: Jack Conway
Awards: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture
Starring: Jean Harlow; Spencer Tracy, William Powell, Myrna Loy

sez says: This is a fun movie--and one I'd never heard of before,  Tracy & Powell have chemistry as two at-odds newspapermen who need each other to get out of their respective trouble (Powell needs money -- Tracy needs to stop a law suit against his paper)  Tracy hires Powell to frame Myra Loy (who is suing the paper) In the mean time Harlow is waiting impatiently for Tracy to keep his promise to marry her --but she is needed for the scam, so she has to marry Powell (just for the week, then she can go to Reno, get a divorce and marry Tracy).  Of course Powell falls in love with Loy --etc.  The plot is fun, but rather predictable. What makes the movie is the script itself and the bantering way Powell and Tracy go at it. Harlow is really not much of an actor--she is brassy and obvious-but they sure dressed her up in some wild 1930's fashions for this movie!  Loy holds her own with the boys--but it is the boys movie--and well worth watching. 

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Rain, 1932 (Grade C+)

Director: Lewis Milestone
Stars: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston

sez says: this version of Somerset Maugham's sort story is a good example of what happens, too often, when a literary work is made into a film.  Don't read this if you don't want to know what happens in this movie. It may mostly be the fault of the censors..but I imagine it is also the result of the work being tossed about from person to person, each making some 'improvement' of their own, till, in the end, the film is only a show of the original story. In this case the Maugham story does not necessarily say Sadie Thompson (Crawford) is a prostitute..but the movie certainly suggests she was.  In the book Thompson and Rev Davidson (Huston) spend days alone, at which time Davidson falls victim to temptation--which causes him to kill himself.  This being the only way Thompson has (ie her only power is her sexual attraction) to protect herself from his manipulation of power (power men control).   Anyway. must I say it-the book is better than the movie.  But wait....the movie has merit too.  Joan Crawford, a young and talented actor, does her part with style and conviction.  Huston plays a fine fanatic, full of himself, having no need for human kindness in his self assured ignorant-arrogance.  The story is muddled but it is still full of sultry images and full tilt 1930s style. Grade C+)

Friday, March 26, 2010

A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1935 (Grade B-)

Director:William Dieterle & Max Reinhardt
Awards: Nominated for Academy Award --but I don't know if it won any awards. I'd be surprised if it didn't.
Stars: James Cagney, Joey E Brown, Dick Powell, Mickey Rooney, Olivia de Haviland, Victor Jory, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Jean Muir

sez says: what a wonderful old movie.  It is long--but it is gorgeous.  They must have used thousands of yards of cloth --in ever so clever ways, both for costumes and for special effects.  And the special effects - for a film of this age- are spectacular.  Yes this is Shakespeare--the tale is told in his language.  Meanwhile there is a ballet going on around the play.  I do have to admit to getting lost with the language a couple times--but it didn't matter one bit. The vast majority of it is clear and of course famous lines are presented in context, which I enjoy.  But no matter the language, the story is easy to follow and even when one gets lost with the dialogue there is still plenty to watch and enjoy.  No surprise that deHaviland was up to the task of her part--but surprise, surprise Cagney and Rooney (still a boy) were truly effective in their parts too.  Powell was a little awkward. (Grade B-)


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Gay Divorcee, 1934 (Grade C+)

Director Erik Sandrich
Awards Academy Award Best Song and nominated for Best Music Score, Best Art Direction, Best Picture, and Best Sound
Stars:  Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes plus more

sez says-- again a silly mistaken identity plot is the excuse to put this famous dance team together on the screen -- always a treat to watch these two dance together ..and as usual there are a few songs that have come down through time to still be recognizable. (Grade C+) 

Top Hat, 1935 (Grade B)

Director: Mark Sandrich
Awards Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Song, Best Art Director
Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, plus more

sez says -- Irving Berlin sure wrote some great lyrics--and they are sung so you can hear and enjoy them in this classic song and dance movie.  Fred and Ginger are fun to watch. The story is just an excuse for them to be on screen tapping and swing around silly but elaborate sets.  For instance here we see people swimming in the canals of Vince Italy and wearing short-shorts at the cafe by the canals...hummm, what's wrong with that picture?  Most of the interior rooms are decorated in white-on white and many have satin trim.  The story is a mistaken identity escapade and lacks interest. But the supporting actors are marvelous and the dancing and songs keep you happy. I think I could watch this many times over without really growing tired of it.  Is it a great movie? --maybe not. But is it great entertainment - yes indeed.  My grade is a good strong B

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

David Copperfield, 1935 (GRADE C)

Director George Cukor
Awards nominated for best film and best editing Academy Awards, did not win
Starring: Feddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore, WC Fields, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver,  Elizabeth Allan, Jessie Ralph, Harry Beresford, Basil Rathbone and more

sez says: I have to admit loving Charles Dickens--some people, who have never read, him think he is some sort of old fashion fellow--but he is not--he is ageless and he tells exciting tales well. Some of his work was originally serialized in newspapers: people were so in-to his stories they never missed buying the paper in order to keep up with the story.  I say all of this because this movie suffers from  what seems like a pasting together of pieces of the story...as if it were a serial.   One part seems to ending just as another part begins. Eventually you wonder when it is ever going top be over. It is not a good sign when the audience is looking for a movie to end.  But in the midst of this overlong and unwieldy film there are are some wonderful bit.  WC Fields may have never been more appealing.  Copperfield's mother (actors name) is so wildly overdone you can't help but laugh at the idealized good mother.  Rathbone is appropriately sinister.  And there is a sea-rescue section that is pretty amazing.  But still--on and on --and on ... it went, as if it were a series of stories and not one film.  I sure won't be watching it again..but I am glad I saw it.  GRADE C 
David Copperfield (Modern Library Classics) 
David Copperfield [VHS] 

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Daytime Wife, 1939

Director Gregory Ratoff
Starring: Tyrone Power; Linda Darnell; Warren William

sez says: OMG this was terrible. When the pretty young wife (and she is very pretty) Linda Darnell at lasts realizes that her husband really is having a fling with his secretary her response is 'a good wife has to keep her husband interest in order to keep him'.  She runs right out and gets a job as a secretary to learn what her man really wants by learning  "what is it about secretaries that cause husbands to stray".   A woman has to do what ever is required to keep her man.  Well in the end he too has to figure out what he needs to do to keep her.  But all of his is played with mediocre acting.  And, by the way every one lives and works in buildings with great big rooms with really big doors -- I guess that must have made it easier to film...and women change their clothes a lot so there is a bit of a fashion show going on..which is about as much entertainment as this movie provides.  GRADE D

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Ninotchka, 1939

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Awards: Nominated for many but don't know how many it actually won. And it is on a number or 'Top 100' Lists
Stars: Greta Garbo; Melvyn Douglas, Ina Clare, Bela Lugosi

sez says: it is not that often that you laugh out loud with movies of this era. Sure many make you smile and are pleasant enough--but the humor of 70+ years ago does not often translate with great impact to today. This movie is the exception. Ms Garbo playing a sour puss Soviet Comrade provides lots of fun.  Not so much because she is funny--but the whole idea is funny. And the script is full of satire and wit. I believe that Billy Wilder gets credit for that.  The story is silly-simple and predictable..but that matters little as the White Russians and Red Russians spar and the neer-do-well gigolo-ish Douglas is chastised by his butler for having a copy of Karl Marx's Das Capital on his bed side table --Douglas asks his butler "Don't you want things to be even between us" --and the Butler says "no, you haven't paid me in two months and you can't have half of my savings."  GRADE B+

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, 1935

Director Henry Hathaway
Awards --nominated for lots of Academy Awards..but I don't think it won any
Stars: Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone

sez says:  If you love your country enough to die for it, than you love it enough to ignore what you love for it too. That is the story.  And the men rush about, trying to be honorable, showing affection for each other in odd ways, teasing each other, getting each others backs when necessary, all the while pretending indifference to each other.  La-Te-Da.  This is a boys movie--and I watched it because I know a guy who likes this sort of stuff--but it has only a so-so appeal to me.
I am growing more and more curious about why people say that Gary Cooper is a great actor. He is a good looking guy but he doesn't really seem to have much width or depth of style.  All of his characters, no matter what movie we see him in, are basically the exact same guy.  Franchot Tone on the other hand created an interesting character, being the only character who seemed to understand the emotional complexity in these all male relationships.
 This looks like it was filmed around Vasquez Rocks in So Calif, which is an exotically beautiful place. And there is some old misc. odd bits of footage of India (circa. 1930s) added here and there. Then there are some big wide open camera shots of hundreds of horse back riders racing across the open valley: these scenes were done in real life, before special effects took over, so you can only imagine how much it cost to pull these scenes together.  But still, to me it is a GRADE C- not becasue it is 'bad' but becasue it is not my cup of tea.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Informer, 1935

Director John Ford
Awards: Multiple Academy Awards
Stars: Victor McLaglen

sez says: wow--what a beautiful --image wise--film. B&W, with compellingly artful interplay between light and shadow, all taking place on a small set with fog inhabiting every corner, making people emerge and disappear down the harsh streets of this story.  The atmosphere becomes one of the characters. It is no wonder that it is a famous film.  Plus here is a story in which The Irish Rebels are the unequivocal heroes and the Brits are the bad guys. It is entirely partisan--which is ok by me. But you don't see that all too often.  The acting is over-the-top good: In particular McLaglen's rendition of Gypo could not be more on the mark.

And then there is the story--and that is not so easy to praise. Not because it it not righteous--it is. It is about temptation and and the need to forgive.  You can't get more righteous than that and it is a story that can't be told often enough in our revenge driven culture. But even with the wonderful acting and the beautiful visuals this story did not hold up and, honestly, it got boring.  If it hadn't been for the knock-down beautiful cinematography, and the superb acting, it would have gotten the ax.  That seems harsh--and I am pulled to try and find something nice to say....but, hey, a dumb guy betrays his friend and suffers from guilt;  the rebels are stupid enough to let a dumb guy know their secrets; and the dumb guy while he has no brain has a heart of gold, etc. etc. this is not big drama....it could easily be scoffed at, but then there are those fabulous images, and McLaglen towering over the other actors swaggering about and you can't help but stay the course...as mixed as that course might be. GRADE B-

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Trouble in Paradise, 1932 -

Director Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Herbert Marshall, Kay Francis, Edward Everett Horton, Charles Ruggles

sez says: I'm finding I like Lubitch more and more all the time. On the DVD we got to see this there is an interesting introduction by Peter Bogdonivich who provided insight into the role Lubitch played in shaping Hollywood.  And, he explained, that Lubitch may not be as well known today as he should be, because the films he made before the infamous CODES were seldom shown after the codes came into existence. They had themes that were banned.  For instance this movie has a  non-married couple living together and supporting them selves as thieves and they are never punished for it..indeed they are the stars of the story who we want to succeed.  If that were not enough the male character is attracted to another woman, who invites him into her bedroom and while he resists the the inclination to follow for a while, he eventually gives in.   The sad thing is that this is a well done, fun old flick, and it is tragedy enough that the codes stopped this sort of story from being told, it also may have worked to stop many of the ones that were made from achieving the cult classics status they might have otherwise obtained.  GRADE B-

Friday, February 5, 2010

Peter Ibbetson, 1933

Director:  Henry Hathaway
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, Ida Lupino
imdb Link:  Peter Ibbetson

sez says: this is full throttle WACKO!  True love is supernatural and cannot be stopped (even by prison walls) in merry old England. It give new meaning to I'll see you in my dreams. Plus Gary Cooper sports a mustache that makes him look a little like David Niven.  Really a very weird movie. Weird can mean a movie is worth seeing. But this one doesn't make the cut.  Its not entertaining.  Ida Lupino makes a brief appearance--she is pretty cute--but that doesn't rescue this poor bit of wackola.   GRADE D

mjc says:  my favorite line is Cooper's when asked if he met any girls in Paris, "one, eight years old dressed in a white pinafore".  Wow!

Design for Living, 1933

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Gary Cooper; Miriam Hopkins; Fredric March

sez says -this Noel Coward play was adapted for the screen by Ben Hecht. Cowards original script is wonderful--and it is testament to Hecht's skill that he altered 90% of the script and it was still delightful.  The film story if not as explicit as the theater story about what the Design for Living looks like --eg sex is a part of the theater story.  In the film version there is a 'gentleman's agreement' of no sex.  In the film, the importance of the woman's role in making the men better artists is made explicit (that being the reason they are a threesome) where her role as a critic is only suggested in the theater version (because the sexual attraction is the magnet holding them together in the theater.)  In any case, this is a delightful movie.  Lubitsch is a master at making sex farces--and he excels here.  March and Cooper do a grand job of being jealous of each other while they profess wholeheartedly to be true to each other and not let Hopkins get between them.  And Hopkins is just plain fun--throwing her self about on dusty couches and wise cracking.  GRADE B

mjc says:   this is great threesome, with the film moving swiftly through the interactions of the players.  It is pure fun to watch even 75 years later.  GRADE B-

Friday, January 29, 2010

Captain Blood, 1935

Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring:  Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland; Basil Rathbone
IMDB Link:  Captain Blood

mjc says:  This was a treat for a fan of the Patrick O'Brian books about the Royal Navy at the time of Napoleon, although this is set at the end of the 17th century it seems to have British naval technology of a century later.  Anyway, it was one of my favorite kind of stories (I'm sure I had a hardcover copy of the book as a kid) and always fun to see Errol Flynn flashing his sword!

sez says: I surprised myself here, I didn't expect to, but I liked this. There were good guys, with principles, standing up for what's right. And what a relief to see a story where "having a brain" and being smart are seen as good.  The photography was great for the time. There were Kafkaesque shots and odd angle shots and shadows.  I am not much for war scenes and sword fights, but I didn't get antsy waiting for these to be over.   Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone having a sword battle provide some classic film moments.  Then there are the strange and wonderful toy sets.  They were used a lot and provided oddly compelling landscape for a lot of the action that took place. We are so use to all the amazing things that can be done now with special effects,  that we can forget what was done to 'stage' a battle the old fashion way. In this small dose it was a kick to watch. And it is a reminder of the skill that the special effects teams had in the way back when.  Just an all around good time--if you are in just the mood to let yourself get a little swashbuckled.   GRADE C+
 

Friday, January 22, 2010

42nd Street, 1933

Director: Busby Berkley & Lloyd Bacon
Studio: Warner Brothers
Academy Award nominee & AFI Top 100 Films Nominee
Starring: Ruby Keeler; Warren Baxter; Ginger Rogers; Dick Powell; George Brent; Bebe Daniels
IMDB Link:   42nd Street

sez says-- you can't go wrong with Busby Berkley --the elaborate productions and costumes will keep you agog regardless of the story line.

mjc says:  the spiral curtained cone disappearing into the upper reaches of the soundstage has to be seen to be believed.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Alice Adams, 1935

Director George Stevens
Starring: Katharine Hepburn and Fred MacMurray
IMDB Link:  Alice Adams

sez says--what a bore..maybe during The Great Depression people felt buoyed up by this sort of tripe about a 'poor family' that can't provide all of the lovely things a daughter should have..she after all asks for nothing and only cries in the rain when no one can see her tears. Well of course it turns out that the rich guy loves her just for herself--and the stingy boss turns out to be a good guy after all.  Hepburn is all swish and sway as she moves quickly from one scene to another and her fast breathy talk seems to never stop.  I guess some might find her fun to watch--but not me, at least not in this drag of a movie.

mjc says:  Holy Tripe!  I try to be tolerant of the nonsense that poured out of the studios in the 30s, and so much of it is fun to watch, but this makes no sense at all.  Like, for example, the father is supposedly so sick he is unable to go to work but when his daughter can't get a corsage he jumps right out of bed and starts his own business!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Cimarron, 1931

Director Wesley Ruggles
Studio:
Winner Academy Awards Best Picture of the Year
Starring: Richard Dix & Irene Dunne
IMDB Link: Cimarron

MJC Says: How the West was won--male and female

SEZ Says: Good women stay home and build communities while heroic men can never stop moving west

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Imitation of Life, 1934

Director: John M Stahl
Awards: nominated for Academy Awards but didn't win any
Stars: Claudette Colbert; Louise Beavers, Warren Williams, Ned Sparks
IMDB Link:  Imitation of Life, 1934

mjc says:  I must say, I had no idea that Hollywood had come even this close (and this is still far from seeing Black Americans as equal in humanity with white)  to considering the question of race in the 1930s. 

sez says--here is proof that at least some white folk knew in the 1930s that there was something not right with race relations in the United States. Bless them for trying to do something about it. To make it a central topic in a movie must have been considered a pretty radical act when the majority of movie theaters in this country were still segregated.  Just because they knew something was wrong doesn't mean they understood the problem, indeed it doesn't mean they were not part of the problem,  This is, after all, a terribly condescending and at times just downright embarrassing depiction of Black Americans. All the 'I don't want any money, I just want to be your servant forever' talk is pathetic.  That Delilah lives downstairs and still serves the white woman after they are both filthy rich is pathetic. That Delilah is seen as nothing but an overgrown child is pathetic. But it is a breath of fresh air to see a black woman and a white woman as best friends, who live together and raise their children together.  This is pretty much a must see for anyone interested in the history of race in American movies.  It is far from a perfect movie--but it is at least a real, if flawed effort to make race a topic.

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Smiling Lieutenant, 1932

Director Ernst Lubitsch
Studio Paramount
Academy Award Best Picture nominee
Starring Maurice Chevalier; Claudette Colbert,  Miriam Hopkins, Charles Ruggles
IMDB Link:  The Smiling Lieutenant

sez says: This is unadulterated fun. It is like having a cookie in the afternoon--not a meal but a treat all the same. There is not much of a story line but what little there is keeps you wondering how it will end. It is sad that the 'Film Codes" stopped these 'sex-farces'  from being made that tell the audience, as Chevalier says, that boys and girls who add a wink to their smile have more in mind than holding hands. Colbert can sing and she tells Hopkins that she knows that in the end girls who 'stay for breakfast before having dinner' seldom win their man. And Hopkins does a fabulous job of transforming herself from a 'dumpy-dumb-princess" to a swinging singing vamp when her rival tells her that lingerie matters.

mjc says:  it is tempting to contemplate the magical direction movies could have gone without the interference of the legion of prudes who eviscerated the story lines and drained the drama from good stories.  It is amazing that as many quality films got made as did, slipping through the censors.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

One Hour with You, 1932

Director: Ernst Lubitsch & George Cukor
Studio: Paramount
Academy Award Best Picture nominee 1933
Starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles
IMDB Link:   One Hour with You

sez says ... This is a sweet treat: A simple sex farce with ever-so-likable characters. While vintage films can be good, generally I avoid those that feature music from the 30’s, but between the fun way Chevalier presents the material, the women’s beautiful gowns, the wildly stylish home furnishings --and then add scenes with rhyming dialogue, and you just can’t help but smile and go along for the ride. It is a racy, pre-code story—temptation, adultery, tit-for tat and the married couple are back in each others arms. Of course the husband’s adultery is presented as the real thing, and the wife’s is only an imagining of where things could go if she wanted. So the double standard stands durable. And, of special note is Charles Ruggles portrayal as ‘her’ suitor—he hams it up just right.

mjc says:  Chevalier blasts every set with his charismatic smile, washing each scene in luminous charm; Jeannette MacDonald remains one of the singers with a voice like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

All's Quiet on the Western Front. 1930

Director Lewis Milestone
Studio
Winner Best Picture Academy Awards
Starring: Lew Ayers
IMDB Link:  All Quiet on the Western Front

sez: the boys may think it looks like fun, but they soon learn that war is a very bad idea

mjc:  God and country turns to gore and filth.

Friday, January 8, 2010

A Free Soul, 1931

Director: Clarence Brown
Starring: Norma Schearer, Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore
IMDB Link:  A Free Soul


sez says -- if your dad is a famous criminal lawyer you might meet a handsome criminal and fall in love with him-- daddy won't like that.  Notable for pre-code story content and skimpy dresses.

mjc says:  a very young Clark Gable dominates every scene he is in, if you can take your eyes off the dress clinging to every curve of Norma Shearer.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Champ, 1931

Director: King Vidor
Studio: MGM
Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Writing plus other nominations
Starring: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper
IMDB Link:  The Champ

sez says:  fathers love their sons  --and sons love their fathers -- impressive acting

mjc says:  Jackie Cooper is amazing as the child in this movie

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Thin Man, 1934

Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Studio: MGM
Awards: nominated for multiple Academy Awards --didn't win but is in the AFI Best 100 Laughs List
Stars:  William Powell; Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Cesar Romero
IMDB Link:  The Thin Man

sez says: It seems strange to me to see so very much alcohol consumed in a movie--especially when it is played as a 'comic' element.   At least every 2 to 3 minutes --throughout the entire movie--yet another drink is poured.  I guess what we laugh at evolves. Anyway, beautiful Myrna Loy shows she can pull off a variety of physical-gags, starting with her entrance.  The story is more complex than most of this era -- it was a Dashell Hammett mystery, that may be why. But they did a fine job keeping all the story elements in order...and there is some early noir style photography. Asta the dog is a nice aside in the story--I can see why this trio Powell, Loy and Asta became popular. I would not go out of my way to see any more of this series--but I am glad I saw this one.

mjc says:  saw a film in this series years ago and the drinking stuck in my mind, as we as the Powell Loy exchanges.  Fun to see them at it again.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Gay Divorcee, 1934

Director: Mark Sandrich
Studio RKO
Awards: Academy Award for Best Song--plus other nominations
Starring: Fred Astair; Ginger Rogers; Edward Everett Horton; Betty Grable
IMDB Link:  Gay Divorcee

sez says:  This is NOT a Busby Berkeley film but it makes you realize how talented he was.  There are lots of musical numbers, choreographed and costumed with great fanfare--and as charming as they are--they seem flat in comparison to Berkeley's work.  Ah, but those costumes are fun..and Edward Everett Horton dancing in shorts and a tank top is something to behold!  But, obviously the real entertainment is seeing Astaire and Rogers dance together. They deserve their fame. That is clearly;y demonstrated when they begin moving in unison in this film. I don't know which song won the Academy Award..probably the Cole Porter number--but there is fun to be had in listening to and watching The Continental -- which is both a song and a dance.

mjc says:  Always a delight to watch the fluidity and grace of Astaire and Rogers.  The rest is dated and drags.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Bad Girl, 1931

Director: Frank Borzage
Academy Award Best Director _ other nominations
Starring: James Dunn, Sally Eilers
IMDB Link:  Bad Girl

sez says: before the production codes were established movie stories sometimes dealt with problems real people have..in this case mis-communication and lack of communication cause two people who care for each other to keep doing exactly the wrong thing.

mjc says: the characteristics of a "good" man presented in this movie appear to have been absorbed by my father in the form of a curmudgeon with a heart of gold.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Cavalcade, 1933

Director Frank Lloyd
Studio Winfield Sheehan
Won lots of Academy Awards in 1933
Starring Diana Wynyard; Clive Brooks
IMDB Link:  Cavalcade

sez-- OMG this was long and awful:  nationalism, patriarchy, class domination, prejudice and stereotypes of all kinds are served up in this multi-generational 'epic'.  It is to be avoided.  Why did it win all those awards?  Something must have been up in 1932-33 to make this film resonate with the times, but it is not clear what that was -- and it is actually painful to watch now.

mjc--awful, a stereotype of the hack movies that the 70s generation was racing away from

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Arrowsmith, 1931

Director: John Ford
Studio: Goldwyn, United Artist
Won various Academy Awards
Staring Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy
IMDB Link:   Arrowsmith


sez says -  just give me a microscope and good pure science to save the day -- but you have to wonder if there would have been a greater moral dilemma if the the people being experimented on had been white, rather than black. -- with beautiful photography.

mjc says - White man's burden, woman's sacrifice for her man.

Grand Hotel, 1931

Director: Edmund Goulding
Studio:  MGM
Winner Best Picture Academy Awards
Starring Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery
IMDB Link:  Grand Hotel

Per SEZ: Sure this is a famous movie--and it certainly is well worth watching if you are a film-history buff, but let's be honest, the story is absurd: esp the Barrymore/Garbo relationship. Garbo's acting is over the top melodrama. Yes, she says "I vant to be alone" but that is a pretty mild thrill. Barrymore, Crawford and Beery hold their own with the characters they had to play. But what is the sum of the coming together of these characters? The story says: Aristocrats are kinder to the working class than the bourgeois  (aristocrats are real gentlemen..so I guess common folks would rather be serfs and servants than wage workers.)  The aristocrats are on the decline and the evil industrialists (at least the German variety) are dishonest. A nice 'working girl' may have to sell 'her favors' to get by -- but a real man would rather risk his life (and die) than to accept financial help from a woman who has plenty of $$, who loves him and who is willing to help him. There is more--but it all adds up to a story without any worthwhile point...but then there are some pretty fabulous costumes--and that may be enough reason alone to take a look at this ever so famous but ever so silly movie.

Friday, January 1, 2010

The Divorcee, 1930

Director: Robert Leonard
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Won Academy Award Best Actress
Star: Norma Shearer
IMDB Link:  Divorcee

SEZ:  Pre-Code Hollywood sex farce says married men will stray from time to time but women mustn't. Still in the end 'true love'  trumps infidelity.

Love Parade, 1930

DIRECTOR: Earnest Lubitsch
Studio:
Nominated for and won multiple Academy Awards
Starring Maurice Chevalier and Jennette McDonald, plus Lionel Barrymore
IMDB Link:  Love Parade

Despite it being nominated for so many Academy Awards this is not as much fun as some other Lubitsch films. The theme is 'no man will be happy if he must obey his wife, even if she is The Queen.' As one of the film's characters says "A man is a man and no man will ever be happy as a wife". On the upside, there is some fine physical comedy; Chevalier is charming as ever; MacDonald appears in some pretty skimpy clothing; the staging and styles of the time are impressive. But the full tilt charm of other Lubitsch films is missing.

Cleopatra, 1934

Directed by Cecil B DeMille
Studio: Paramount Picture
Nominated for an Academy Award
Staring Claudette Colbert

MJC says: Claudette's costumes cling in all the right places--and what an array of costumes there are to be seen in this madcap Roman romp.

SEZ says: the costumes and the wild Egyptian Follies staged performances (fighting girls in lepord skins, with rose petals in the air and feather fans waving, etc) combine in this faux historical-romance/drama/weepy with a touch of 1930s screw ball comedy twang in the actor's voice to make a weird but compelling and fun to watch film.

for more information go to: imdb Cleopatra listing