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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Tom Sawyer 1930 - One of the best adaptations of the Twain novel


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021483/?ref_=fn_al_tt_7
IMDB rating: 6,7


Director: John Cromwell
Main Cast: Jackie Coogan, Mitzi Green, Junior Durkin, Lucien Littlefield, Jane Darwell



"Mark Twain's wistful yet cantankerous stories of the Mississippi River adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were perfect subjects for Depression-era America, with their focus on the fading golden age of small-town America. The homespun 1930 MGM adaptation filmed by John Cromwell remains the best movie version of the Sawyer story. Twain's humor and boldness are little muted by a production that remains faithful to the original while downplaying the story's more satirical aspects. Famous child star Jackie Coogan headed a cast which included Junior Durkin as Huck and Mitzi Green as Becky. The two stars paired up again the following year for a Paramount adaptation of Huckleberry Finn." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/tom-sawyer-v50314/

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The light of Western stars 1930 - A Zane Grey story on the screen


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021070/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
IMDB rating: 7,3



Directors: Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf
Main Cast: Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, Harry Green, Regis Toomey



"The Light of Western Stars goes a long way towards using Paramount's fledgling sound system creatively; some scenes are filmed in complete darkness, allowing voices and sound effects to carry the day. Otherwise, this is a pleasantly familiar western concerning the relationship between drunken-cowpuncher Richard Arlen and new ranch-owner Mary Brian. Arlen's best friend was Brian's brother, who was killed under suspicious circumstances. Fred Kohler is the villain, but he's not as easily subdued as Arlen would prefer. Light of Western Stars was co-directed by Otto Brower and Edwin H. Knopf, but there seems to have been no dissension between these two journeymen; it was based on a novel by Zane Grey, which had previously been filmed twice and was good for another go-round in 1940." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-light-of-western-stars-v29322

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The big trail 1930 - An epic Western with pioneer filmmaking


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020691/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,3


Director: Raoul Walsh
Main Cast: John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Tully Marshall, Tyrone Power Sr.



The first major sound Western, The Big Trail is also one of the greatest of the early talkies. Filmed in an experimental 70 mm wide-screen format labeled Fox Grandeur and showcasing a raw young talent named John Wayne, it possesses a dramatic sweep and swagger that Hollywood would not capture again for some 20 years. From its opening scenes, it is a revelation, and its use of wide screen is not just a gimmick but instead is an effective means of conveying the enormity of the story. The plot and characters are outdated, there are some awkward attempts at comic relief, and the inevitable Indian attack - complete with a circling of the wagons - doesn't help matters, but overall, The Big Trail is cinematic storytelling at its best. Director Raoul Walsh visualizes for the viewers the sort of pressures the pioneers encountered, from devastating weather conditions to overwhelming physical challenges. the film was shot on location, adding to the authentic atmosphere. The photography is strikingly beautiful, and the natural approach to sound is innovative. Wayne gives one of his best performances, Marguerite Churchill makes a memorable leading lady, and the supporting cast is balanced by Tully Marshall and Russ Powell as two of Wayne's old buddies. The Big Trail almost certainly did not invent any of the Western clichés it employs, but it uses them in ways that make it one of the vital entries in the evolution of the movie Western. - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-big-trail-v5487/

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Paid 1930 - Crawford seeking revenge but finds love


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021228/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 5,7


Director: Sam Wood
Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong, Marie Prevost, Douglass Montgomery



"Joan Crawford dominates the screen in tandem with Robert Armstrong in this surprisingly edgy crime-based melodrama, scripted by Charles MacArthur (and based on Bayard Veiller's stage play). There's surprising chemistry between the two in this fast-paced early talkie, which also benefits from an unusually realistic, down-scale slant on the world of criminals. Armstrong's Joe Garson is the real article when it comes to the latter, whereas Crawford's Mary Turner is a vengeful victim of the legal system - in the end they each displays a touching nobility and loyalty to each other, which helps drive the final section of the film to a powerful conclusion. Directors Sam Wood and Tod Browning end up turning in one of the more enduring dramas of the early sound era;  MGM remade this reliable property (again!) under its old title Within the Law (1939), with Ruth Hussey in the lead." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/paid-v105382/

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Framed 1930 - A rare gangster B-movie


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020900/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_25
IMDB rating: 6,5


Director: George Archainbaud
Main Cast: Evelyn Brent, Regis Toomey



"Framed represented the return of Evelyn Brent to her old home studio of FBO, which by 1930 had been rechristened RKO Radio. Brent plays Rose Manning, a sexy nightclub hostess who hopes to avenge the murder of her father. Holding the local police chief responsible (the chief is played by William Holden - but not that William Holden), Rose sets about to seduce and compromise the chief's patrolman son Jimmy McArthur (Regis Toomey), only to fall in love with the boy. To save Jimmy from being put 'on the spot', Rose double-crosses her crooked cohort, bootlegger Chuck Gaines (Ralf Harolde). Both contemporary critics and later film historians noted that Framed borrowed freely from such earlier 'slice of life' crime mellers as Broadway (which also starred Evelyn Brent) and The Racket." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/framed-v92276

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Anna Christie 1930 - Garbo's first talking picture


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020641/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,0


Director: Clarence Brown
Main Cast: Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, Marie Dressler, George F. Marion



"Accompanied by one of the most successful advertising campaigns in Hollywood history, Greta Garbo made her 'talking picture' debut in this carefully chosen vehicle, the second screen version of Eugene O'Neill's 1922 playGeorge F. Marion, who originated the role of Chris on Broadway back in 1922, makes Anna's old seadog of a father much more than a vaudeville turn and Marie Dressler deservedly won recognition for her downtrodden old sod of a waterfront floozy. As for Garbo herself, she makes Eugene O'Neill's heroine unforgettably her own." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/anna-christie-v2512/

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The divorcee 1930 - Shearer is excellent in her Oscar-winning performance


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020827/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,9


Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Chester Morris, Conrad Nagel, Mary Doran



"Norma Shearer earned an Academy Award for playing the not so gay divorcée in this pre-Code offering based, loosely, on Ex-Wife, a 1929 Ursula Parrott novel. Shearer is alternately delightfully wry and silly but her leading men, with the exception perhaps of a very young Robert Montgomery, make for less than exiting company, especially the charisma-deficient Conrad Nagel, who seems to have popped up in every other Hollywood drama of 1930." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-divorc%C3%A9e-v14078/

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The devil's holiday 1930 - Nancy Carroll gives the performance of her life


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020823/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,1


Director: Edmund Goulding
Main Cast: Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, James Kirkwood, Hobart Bosworth, Ned Sparks, Paul Lukas, Zasu Pitts



"Nancy Carroll brings a touch of freshness to the well-worn plot convolutions of Devil's Holiday. Ms. Carroll plays a manicurist who woos and weds wealthy Phillips Holmes. She tells herself that she harbors no mercenary notions, but when Holmes' family offers to buy her off if she'll leave, Carroll accepts the offer. The girl's basic loyalty surfaces when Holmes goes temporarily insane; Carroll reneges on her cash deal with the family and returns to her husband. Devil's Holiday is one of those class-conscious early 1930s pictures that always scored a hit with middle-class filmgoers, who liked to believe that they, too, would behave as altruistically as Nancy Carroll if given the chance." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-devils-holiday-v89378

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Min and Bill 1930 - Dressler and Beery shining in the leads


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021148/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,5


Director: George W. Hill
Main Cast: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Dorothy Jordan, Marjorie Rambeau



"Min and Bill was incredibly popular upon its release, turning Marie Dressler overnight into the hottest (and most unlikely) star in Hollywood. Modern audiences may not understand the uproar over the film itself, but Dressler's Academy Award-winning performance is still every bit as lustrous as it was in 1930. Dressler, not a great beauty even in her younger days, nevertheless manages to light up the screen with her oversized, warm-hearted turn. She's a force of nature, a tidal wave that sweeps along everything in her path - or would, if she wasn't paired with the equally imposing Wallace Beery. Beery keeps Dressler from dominating the film, especially surprising since her character - and not his - is really the focus. Together, this unlikely duo form one of the most loveable and endearing comic-romantic teams the screen has ever seen. Their chemistry is nothing short of remarkable, and they help to bring out the very best in each other's work. The rest of the cast doesn't stand a chance, although Marjorie Rambeau does manage to get in a couple of licks of her own. As stated, as a film Min doesn't stand the test of time so well. The mixture of the comic and the tragic is a bit jarring, and the blatant manipulation is often too bald-faced. In addition, some viewers will be made uncomfortable by the matter-of-fact manner in which some of the violence is played for comedy. But as long as Dressler and Beery are around, it doesn't really matter." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/min-and-bill-v32734

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Hell's angels 1930 - The first great action epic of the talking era


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020960/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,9


Directors: Howard Hughes, Marshall Neilan, Luther Reed
Main Cast: Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow, John Darrow



"No one was surprised in 1929 that aviation mogul Howard R. Hughes would produce a paean to World War I flying aces like Hell's Angels. Given Hughes' comparative inexperience as a moviemaker, however, everyone was taken slightly aback that the finished film was as good as it was. The very American Ben Lyon and James Hall play (respectively) Monte and Roy Rutledge, a couple of British brothers who drop out of Oxford to join the British Royal Flying Corps. Several early scenes establish Lyon and Hall's romantic rivalry over two-timing socialite Helen (Jean Harlow). While flying a dangerous bombing mission over Germany, the brothers are shot down. The commandant (Lucien Prival), who'd earlier been cuckolded by one of the brothers, savors his opportunity for revenge. He offers the boys their freedom if they'll reveal the time of the next British attack; if they don't cooperate, they face unspeakable consequences. Roy, driven mad by his combat experiences, is about to tell all when he is shot and killed by Monte. The latter is himself condemned to a firing squad by the disgruntled commandant - who, it is implied, will soon meet his own doom at the hands of the British bombers.
Nobody really cares about this hoary old plot, however; Hell's Angels culls most of its strength from its crackerjack aerial sequences. The highlight is a Zeppelin raid over London, one of the most hauntingly effective sequences ever put on film. From the first ghost-like appearance of the Zeppelin breaking through the clouds, to the self-sacrificing behavior of the German crew members as they jump to their deaths rather than provide 'excess weight', this is a scene that lingers in the memory far longer than all that good-of-the-service nonsense in the finale. Also worth noting is the star-making appearance of Jean Harlow. When Hell's Angels was begun as a silent film, Norwegian actress Greta Nissen played the female lead. During the switchover to sound, producer Hughes decided that her accent was at odds with her characterization, so he reshot her scenes with his latest discovery, Harlow. While she appears awkward in some of her scenes, there's no clumsiness whatsoever in her delivery of the classic line about slipping into 'something more comfortable'. Originally, Marshall Neilan was signed to direct the film, but became so rattled by Howard Hughes' interference that he handed the reins to Hughes himself, who was in turn given an uncredited assist by Luther Reed. Also ignored in the film's credits are the dialogue contributions by future Frankenstein director James Whale, who'd been hired as the film's English-dialect coach. Modern audiences expecting a musty museum piece are generally surprised by Hell's Angels' high entertainment content: they are also startled by the pre-code frankness of the dialogue, with phrases like 'The hell with you' bandied about with reckless abandon. In recent years, archivists have restored the film's two-color Technicolor sequence, providing us with our only color glimpses of the radiant Jean Harlow." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/hells-angels-v22079

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The dawn patrol or The flight commander 1930 - Early talkie Top Gun


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020815/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
IMDB rating: 8,1


Director: Howard Hawks
Main Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Neil Hamilton, Frank McHugh



"Howard Hawks' 1930 film The Dawn Patrol (retitled Flight Commnander because of the 1938 remake) plays remarkably well in the twenty-first century, considering its age. As with most movies made at the dawn of the sound era, the camera work is a bit static at times, and some theatrical artificiality creeps into the performances - there are moments where the viewer rightfully feels as though they're watching a silent movie, with just a bit too much visual emoting. But despite a few creaky joints, the film never loses its forward momentum, and Hawks makes good use of the available camera movement as well as music - specifically as source music, to excellent dramatic effect, and this would have been a new feature in movies of the era that holds up well eight decades later. There are still inter-titles to explain scene changes, and a few other artifacts of the period, but otherwise this version of The Dawn Patrol stands fairly well next to its remake - Neil Hamilton is fine as the harried commander of a Royal Flying Corp squadron during the middle of World War I, and Richard Barthlemess gives a good performance as his friend-turned-nemesis, the top pilot in the squadron but also his harshest critic. On them, with some help from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Barthlemess's best friend, rests most of this drama, and that drama, despite its age, is still compelling. Where this film does differ somewhat from the remake is its relative brevity - 82 minutes versus 103 - and also a tighter focus on the grimness of the story. Owing to differences in the script and their approaches to acting, Barthlemess's Courtney shows little of the devil-may-care spirit with which Errol Flynn (being Errol Flynn) couldn't help but imbue his character with in the remake. There are some moments of comedy, and out-and-out joy, but as a product of 1930 as opposed to 1938, eight years closer to what most adults regarded as a shattering event, the overall tone of this picture is, understandably, more thoroughly earnest. Indeed, not even James Finlayson - best remembered across the four subsequent generations for his comedy work in association with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy - is totally believable to modern audiences as a tough ground crew sergeant, without the picture losing a beat of its message and atmosphere." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-dawn-patrol-v88836/

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City girl 1930 - A solid, but unforgettable Murnau drama


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020768/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,9


Director: F. W. Murnau
Main Cast: Charles Farrell, Mary Duncan, David Torrence, Edith Yorke, Anne Shirley



"Director F.W. Murnau began City Girl as a silent film, hoping to match the artistic triumph of his earlier Sunrise. Murnau was frustrated by two elements: Fox's decision to hastily convert the film into a talkie, and his inability to secure the services of Sunrise star Janet Gaynor. The director was forced by the studio to substitute the pretty but untalented Mary Duncan, reportedly because she was the girlfriend of one of the Fox executives. The resulting film is a plodding drama about farmer's son Charles Farrell coming to the Big City, where he falls in love with Duncan, bringing her home to meet the folks. Farrell's dad David Torrence predicts that Duncan will be unfaithful, a prophecy which apparently comes true on a dark and stormy night. Based on Elliot Lester's play The Mud Turtle, City Girl has a fascinating image or two to its credit, but the film is a distressingly ordinary effort for the otherwise imaginative F.W. Murnau." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/city-girl-v9748

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Babes in arms 1939 - Let's put on a show!


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031066/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 6,6


Director: Busby Berkeley
Main Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee



"Babes in Arms is a prime example of the 'let's put on a show' musical popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The nominal plot is little more than a means of connecting the elaborate production numbers; the supporting cast are little more than props for stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Busby Berkeley's direction is able and functional: like the audience, he's just eager to get to the next dance set. MGM had other priorities at the time of Babes' production - most notably Garland's classic The Wizard of Oz, on which the studio lost money, and the expensive, lucrative Gone With the Wind - so the budget for the Berkeley musical was surprisingly low. What Babes in Arms lacks in production grandeur, however, it amply compensates with the captivating star turns from Rooney and Garland." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/babes-in-arms-v3541/

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The Mikado 1939 - Gilbert & Sullivan on the screen


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031650/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,7


Director: Victor Schertzinger
Main Cast: Kenny Baker, John Barclay, Martyn Green, Jean Colin, Constance Willis



"Though it boasts an American director and star, this Technicolor cinemadaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta The Mikado is a faithful record of what it must have been like to attend a performance of Britain's D'Oyly Carte opera company. Rradio tenor Kenny Baker stars as Nanki-Poo, the wand'ring minstrel who wanders into a curious set of situations in the Japanese village of Titi-Pu. D'Oyly Carte perennial Martyn Green plays the leading role of Ko-Ko, the timorous Lord High Executioner who must perform one execution per day or he'll lose his job-and his own head. Ko-Ko finds a likely candidate for decapitation in the form of Nanki-Poo, who feels mighty suicidal when it seems as though his sweetheart Yum-Yum (Jean Cola) is out of his reach. Unbeknownst to Ko-Ko, Nanki-Poo is the son of none other than The Mikado, played with a combination of pomp, circumstance and Noel Cowardlike waspishness by Sydney Granville. Most of the satirical Gilbert & Sullivan songs have been retained, including 'The Lord High Executioner', 'Three Little Maids from School are We', 'Tit Willow', 'Here's a How-de-Do', and 'The Object Most Sublime'. Musical accompaniment is provided by the London Symphony Orchestra." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-mikado-v32631

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The rains came 1939 - Exotic melodrama with a great spectacle


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031835/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,0


Director: Clarence Brown
Main Cast: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda Joyce, Nigel Bruce, Maria Ouspenskaya, Joseph Schildkraut, Mary Nash, Jane Darwell



"Devotees of Louis Bromfield's novel that provides the basis for The Rains Came - even any such devotees there still are - will be disappointed by the film version of the novel, but they're likely to be the only ones. True, Rains simplifies the book in the most basic way, stripping it of its social context and commentary and leaving little more than the love story and the plot outline. But Rains works like gangbusters on film, precisely because of this treatment. Modern audiences, more accustomed to this sort of tragic romance, will perhaps find it a bit familiar, but they'll be swept up in the story and won over by the struggle of Man against Nature. They may be less won over by the casting of white-only performers in the lead Indian roles, but this was standard practice at the time. As the chief 'Indian', Tyrone Power turns in a delicious performance, the kind of movie star turn that the film requires. Even better is the delectable Myrna Loy, back in her old 'not-so-good girl' territory and having a blast, while at the same time spreading her special celluloid magic over the whole proceedings. George Brent is so-so, but young Brenda Joyce is vivaciously refreshing and old Nigel Bruce gets a chance to stretch beyond his traditional Doctor Watson persona and does so notably. There's also a nice, characterful turn from Maria Ouspenskaya as the Maharini. Clarence Brown directs with assurance and flair, and he makes the most of the earthquake/flood sequence that is the film's undeniable highlight. This is truly spectacular and impresses even today, in the world of CGI effects. Thrilling and engaging, Rains is dynamite fun." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-rains-came-v107209

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Gulliver's travels 1939 - The characters of Jonathan Swift's immortal fantasy come to life!


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031397/?ref_=nv_sr_3
IMDB rating: 6,9



Director: Dave Fleischer



"For the first animated feature by the Fleischer studio, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels seemed a natural fit. Oversimplification of the story aside, Gulliver's Travels is lively entertainment that retains a great deal of charm. It is also filled with some genuinely enjoyable moments, especially the Lilliputians' initial encounter with Gulliver, and their subsequent attempt to tie him up. The film is further aided by the scenery which evokes the magical appeal of an ancient, tiny kingdom. Unfortunately, in most other areas it becomes obvious that Gulliver's Travels was made in a rush. The songs, including the Oscar-nominated 'Faithful Forever', are far from memorable, the writing is sloppy and creates the impression that the first draft was the final draft, and worst of all, the animation is wildly inconsistent. For instance, the Lilliputians and their Blefuscu counterparts are the closest to the Fleischer tradition and the most cartoonish, drawn in a very fluid manner as absurdly shaped humans with exaggerated features. But for some unknown reason, Prince David, Princess Glory, and Gulliver himself are drawn in a much more "natural" fashion and as a result look as if they are from an entirely different movie. On the plus side, there are some slight gags tossed in to bring humor to the story. For example, when the hideout of Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch is burning, one of the spies takes the opportunity to make shadow puppets; and earlier, as the Lilliputians are panicking when they think Gulliver is going to invade, one villager seen fainting in her window bears an unmistakable resemblance to Snow White. Gulliver's Travels falls far short of its potential, and despite its worthwhile moments, probably just served to solidify Disney's domination of the animated-feature market." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/gullivers-travels-v21099/

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Intermezzo 1939 - Ingrid Bergman's impressive American debut


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031491/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 6,8


Director: Gregory Ratoff
Main Cast: Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman, Edna Best, John Holliday, Cecil Kellaway, Ann Todd



"The film that introduced Ingrid Bergman to an adoring American public, Intermezzo is pure, old-fashioned melodrama. Were it to be attempted today, the result would be pure schmaltz, but Intermezzo succeeds because its creators seem to believe in its story, and therefore make the audience care about it too. They also know that this kind of story works best if the viewer doesn't have time to think too carefully as he or she is watching it, and so they keep it to an incredibly brief 70 minutes. Director Gregory Ratoff keeps the pacing swift and turns in some of his best work here. He is helped immeasurably, of course, by Bergman. Radiant, exuberant, and totally mesmerizing, Bergman combines stunning beauty and dramatic intelligence with an intuitive sense of 'movie star' acting, to give a performance that is a pleasure to watch. She practically glows in every scene, her joy in simply appearing onscreen coming through in every frame. Leslie Howard has a hard time keeping up with her, and on the whole, his performance is rather perfunctory; however, there is a chemistry between the two stars and that makes up for his otherwise bland portrayal. Bergman's career stalled somewhat after Intermezzo, with several films that didn't capitalize on her unique talents, but it was jump-started again in 1942 with Casablanca." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/intermezzo-v25072/

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Juarez 1939 - Entertaining historical epic with some flaws


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031516/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,3


Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Donald Crisp, Gale Sondergaard, Gilbert Roland



"Juarez manages to be a very entertaining and effective historical epic, despite some enormous flaws. Part of its success lies in the fact that - unlike so many Hollywood attempts to film history - a great deal of what ends up on the screen is accurate. It helps also, of course, that the historical situation being explored is one that is in and of itself exciting and intriguing. The screenplay doesn't always succeed in capturing this excitement and intrigue totally, due in no small part to the fact that too many people had a hand in writing and shaping it, but individual sequences are excellent and director William Dieterle does a fine job of pulling together its disparate parts and camouflaging the gaps and faults. He is helped greatly by Brian Aherne's excellent performance, which makes Maximilian into a sympathetic and complicated character, as well as by Bette Davis, who sinks her teeth into her juicy mad scene and plays it for all she is worth. Gale Sondergaard and Claude Rains are also effective, both smoothly villainous, but John Garfield is quite miscast. More damaging, however, is Paul Muni whose decision to underplay his role in order to contrast with Davis' histrionics renders Juarez distant, remote, uninvolving, and quite dull. This leaden anchor at its center weakens Juarez, but the film fortunately has enough assets to mitigate the damage." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/juarez-v26648/

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Jesse James 1939 - A highly romanticized account of the infamous criminal


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031507/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5
IMDB rating: 7,1


Director: Henry King
Main Cast: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Henry Hull, Brian Donlevy, John Carradine, Jane Darwell



"Historians will shudder at Jesse James, a biopic which is much more interested in the legend of the famous outlaw than in the facts, but viewers looking only for entertainment will be quite happy with this rip-roaring adventure tale. While the story has been whitewashed, credit should be given to the creators of Jesse for at least not making the title character as pure as the driven snow. Though the motivation they have devised for his first forays into crime make him out to be something of an avenging angel, as time goes on they show that greed does enter into his continued career. Still, with matinee idol Tyrone Power playing the part, there's only a certain amount of 'sullying' that can come into play. Power does very well with the part, turning in a powerful performance that anchors the film and handling his dramatic scenes with aplomb. As brother Frank, Henry Fonda's role is much smaller, but he makes a terrific impact; granted, the part is written as a bit of a scene stealer, but Fonda really runs with it and his scenes are especially memorable. Nancy Kelly is only so-so, but the rest of the supporting cast is right on target. Henry King's direction is nimble and deft, staging the action sequences in glorious outsized fashion, notably the famous bank-robbery scene in which Jesse rides his horse through a plate glass window. Jesse James was filmed largely on location in Missouri, resulting in crowd-control nightmares for the picture's beleaguered assistant directors." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/jesse-james-v26071/

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Son of Frankenstein 1939 - 'He does things for me!'


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031951/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,2


Director: Rowland V. Lee
Main Cast: Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson



"Son of Frankenstein is unusual because it maintains its quality despite being the third film in a series, and despite a change in directors. While Roland V. Lee was hardly in the league of predecessor James Whale, he was an above average director who could do good work with the proper material and resources. Here he has a strong story, fine inherited production motifs, and an excellent cast that includes Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, and Boris Karloff, in his final movie performance as the Monster. The film established several motifs that would later be used in similar films - for example, the initially uninterested son who gradually becomes obsessed with the work of his mad-scientist father. Mel Brooks fans will instantly recognize the story line of Young Frankenstein (1974), which borrowed several other bits of this film, including a delightful satire of Atwill's stiff-armed performance. Son of Frankenstein is a step down from the expressionistic heights of Whale's Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, but the step is not so great as to leave the film without its own substantial merits." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/son-of-frankenstein-v45612/

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The little princess 1939 - Shirley Temple's first Technicolor feature


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031580/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,3


Director: Walter Lang
Main Cast: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, Cesar Romero, Mary Nash



Shirley Temple was at her most engaging in this handsome adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's story, playing plucky Sara Crewe, who finds herself orphaned and reduced to near-indentured servitude at the boarding school where she was formerly a student. Director Walter Lang manages to balance the drama, the little bits of song-and-dance (mostly courtesy of Arthur Treacher), the comedy, the romance (provided by Richard Greene and Anita Louise), and the Technicolor glow of the production, creating one of Temple's most enjoyable movies. Lang's handling of the actors is lively, engaging, and smooth - he never lets the splendor of the Technicolor shooting, or the lavish sets, stand in the way of moving the story forward or letting his actors do what they're there to do - the result is a set of highly memorable portrayals in an exquisite screen setting, presenting late Victorian at its most opulent and beautiful (and, at times, cruel). This is the kind of storytelling in which the old Hollywood had no equal, and looking at the pacing, drama, humor, and fantasy elements, one wonders what Lang might have made out of a movie such as Mary Poppins if he'd had the chance to work on that a quarter century later (not that Robert Stevenson did a bad job with the latter...). But at the center of this movie's success is Temple, nearing the end of her childhood appeal but able to flex some real acting muscles, especially working in the same scenes with villainous Mary Nash. - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-little-princess-v29595/

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Dodge City 1939 - A landmark early Flynn Western


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031235/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,2


Director: Michael Curtiz
Main Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Frank McHugh



"Director Michael Curtiz paints with a wide and colorful brush and Dodge City is the kind of virile entertainment where a mammoth barroom free-for-all rudely interrupts the temperance meeting taking place next door, a situation that allows recently chaste cattle driver Alan Hale to partake in both. There is also a stampede of cattle, a fiery climax on a hi-jacked train and the cowardly killing of little Bobs Watson to keep the action fan happy for a good 104 minutes of so. Which, needless to say, doesn't leave much space for feminine interest, supplied here by Olivia de Havilland (exceedingly good and ultimately brave) and Ann Sheridan (sort of 'bad' by the mere fact that she is in the employ of evil Bruce Cabot). The latter, unfortunately, is completely wasted in the thankless role of the saloon belle but does get to warble a song or two. Overseeing it all with his usual authority, Curtiz has a couple of neat tricks up his sleeve, including a memorable sequence where Miss de Havilland spots an intruder by his shadow. A solid box office hit, Dodge City was the first of a series of westerns for swashbuckling star Flynn; his next oater, Virginia City, followed in 1940." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/dodge-city-v14179/

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Drums along the Mohawk 1939 - Three-strip Technicolor in all its glory!


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031252/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,2


Director: John Ford
Main Cast: Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver, Eddie Collins, John Carradine



"The first of many collaborations between director John Ford and Henry Fonda, this fine, typically Fordian vision of community life also features the director's first use of the then recently developed Technicolor process. A visually appealing slice of Americana, the film places a youthful, yet stoic Fonda in a series of iconic poses as he and his new wife, an incongruously soigné Claudette Colbert struggle to maintain their farm during the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in the Indian-infested Mohawk Valley. As the farmers fight off Indian attacks, with the well-born Colbert learning to adapt to a difficult new environment, the director links self-sacrifice with heroism. As with much of Ford, the characters' behavior is concerned with the enactment of rituals and the display of pageantry, and the main characters, essentially types. He's more willing to allow the character actors, like Oscar-nominated Edna May Oliver, who plays a feisty widow, to indulge in some theatrics. Despite the hardships the farmers must endure, the film's bright look signals an optimism characteristic of the director during this period, perhaps addressing his Depression-era audience about the grit and cohesiveness required to survive in difficult times. 1939 was a stellar year for John Ford; along with this highly successful adventure tale, which was nominated for three Academy Awards, Ford also released the ground-breaking western Stagecoach." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/drums-along-the-mohawk-v14871/

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Stanley and Livingstone 1939 - The great explorer and the Victorian saint


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031973/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,2


Directors: Henry King, Otto Brower
Main Cast: Spencer Tracy, Cedric Hardwicke, Nancy Kelly, Richard Greene, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn, Henry Hull



"Stanley and Livingstone is perhaps more faithful to its historical source than most Hollywood biopics, but even so it completely whitewashes the character of Henry Stanley. This is particularly true at the end, when Stanley returns to Africa, presumably a changed (and religiously inspired) man. It's totally false as history, but it makes for a great movie; for once, the studios' insistence on adding significant amounts of fiction to their fact-based products produced good drama. And Stanely is definitely a good drama, as well as a rousing adventure and an intriguing character study. The team of screenwriters have crafted a narrative that is totally engaging and peopled it with characters that leave their impressions on you, none more so than the two title characters. Henry King has directed with finesse, making sure that there's an excellent balance of action, adventure and inspiration, and even making the extraneous romantic subplot work fairly well. Of course, he's aided enormously by Spencer Tracy's towering yet nuanced performance. Tracy gets to play it both rough and pious, the adventurer and the thinker, the amoralist and the moralist, and he does so superbly. No other actor could combine gusto with restraint in the way that Tracy could, and watching his transformation from the beginning of the film to the end is a true treat. Cedric Hardwicke is also in top form as Livingstone, celebrating the man's deep religious faith without ever commenting upon it. The supporting cast is good, the cinematography evocative (even if the rear screen projections are occasionally obvious to modern viewers)." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/stanley-and-livingstone-v46460/

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Love affair 1939 - A wonderful, touching romance


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031593/?ref_=nv_sr_2
IMDB rating: 7,4


Director: Leo McCarey
Main Cast: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman, Astrid Allwyn



"Love Affair is among the most influential romance films of its era, a smooth tale of a shipboard romance and the obstacles that love must overcome. At the core of the film are the performances of Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne as the lovers. They make the audience want their love to succeed and overcome the obstacles in its way. Leo McCarey was among Hollywood's top commercial directors of the 1930s and 1940s, and Love Affair, with its 87-minute running time and brisk pace, is a good example of his skills. In the 1950s, McCarey attempted to become a more serious director, but the public rejected his propagandist anti-Communist films. The one success he found in the 1950s was a direct remake of Love Affair - An Affair to Remember, which was the inspiration for the later hit Sleepless In Seattle." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/love-affair-v30272/

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Dark victory 1939 - An ultimate tear-jerker with Bette's victory


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031210/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,6


Director: Edmund Goulding
Main Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan



"Adapted by Casey Robinson from a short-lived Broadway play starring Tallulah Bankhead, Dark Victory (1939) is one of Bette Davis's most affecting melodramas. Davis's superb performance taps a range of emotions, as her Judith Traherne transforms from a flippant playgirl into a spiritually redeemed terminal cancer patient, complete with a multiple hankie death scene rendered all the more poignant and moving by Davis's dramatic restraint. Fresh from her Oscar for Jezebel (1938), Davis is surrounded by a sleek production worthy of wealthy Judith, including beautiful gowns and furs by Warner designer Orry-Kelly and sparkling Ernest Haller cinematography (not to mention Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan as spurned admirers). Receiving rave reviews, particularly for Davis, Dark Victory became one of four 1939 Bette Davis hits, and earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress. Davis, however, lost to Vivien Leigh for Gone With the Wind." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/dark-victory-v12394/

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The old maid 1939 - Davis & Hopkins: two powerhouse performances


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031750/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,8


Director: Edmund Goulding
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent, Donald Crisp, Jane Bryan



"One of four superior Bette Davis vehicles from 1939, The Old Maid features Davis at her embittered best as a Civil War-era spinster and mother squaring off with her selfish cousin over the child's love. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Zoe Akins play from Edith Wharton's novel, Davis and co-star Miriam Hopkins's fractious off-screen relationship lent an extra dash of realism to the onscreen rivalry between Davis's wallflower Charlotte and Hopkins's flighty, conniving Delia over Charlotte's daughter by Delia's spurned suitor Clem. A victim of societal limits as well as Delia's jealousy, Charlotte's transformation into a harsh old maid to preserve illegitimate daughter Tina's reputation amply displays Davis's actorly range, from the palpable rage in her confrontations with the simperingly malicious Hopkins, to the restrained grief over her daughter's cruelty. Edmund Goulding's elegant direction keeps the Davis-Hopkins cat fight in control without losing any of the melodramatic punch, heightening the emotional payoff of the final rapprochement between mother, daughter and rival mother. Praised for its polished production and Davis's poignant, complex performance, The Old Maid became a popular hit and might have garnered Davis an Oscar nomination-but that honor came for Dark Victory (1939) instead." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-old-maid-v36139/

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Only angels have wings 1939 - An overlooked film in Hawks' career but it made Rita Hayworth a star


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031762/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,8


Director: Howard Hawks
Main Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell



"Only Angels Have Wings exemplifies the complex, taciturn male bravado common to the films of Howard Hawks. Unfairly lumped into the genre of the airborne drama, it is one of Hawks' more neglected films. An experienced pilot himself, Hawks based Angels on real people and events from his time spent on the airfields; his brother was killed in a plane crash. Cary Grant plays the courageous, fatalistic lead, and Jean Arthur is the typical Hawksian heroine, strong with a subversive, gender-bending edge. Supporting player Rita Hayworth became a major Hollywood star after Angels. Scripted by Jules Furthman from a story by Hawks, Only Angels Have Wings is a treasure trove of terse, pithy dialogue: our favorite scene occurs when, upon discovering that he's about to die, Thomas Mitchell says he's often wondered how he'd react to imminent death-and, now that death is but a few moments away, he'd rather that no one else be around to witness his reaction. Though sometimes laid low by obvious miniatures, the aerial scenes in Only Angels Have Wings are by and large first-rate, earning a first-ever "best special effects" Oscar nomination for Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn. The film would receive a wartime update as 1942's The Flying Tigers." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/only-angels-have-wings-v36481/

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Zangiku monogatari (The story of the last chrysanthemum) 1939 - A powerful look at the depersonalization of women


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032156/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,8


Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Main Cast: Shotaro Hanayagi, Kokichi Takada, Gonjuro Kawarazaki, Kakuko Mori



A mid-career masterpiece from the great Mizoguchi, whose focus on the mistreatment of women in Japanese society was filtered through the experience of his sister's prostitution, it's known in Japan as a shinpa tragedy, one concerned with a woman who endures her fate in tears. Here, the forbidden love between a young man from a powerful family of kabuki actors and a low-caste wet nurse forms the basis for one of the director's most moving works. When the talented but undisciplined young actor Shotaro Hanyagi is banished from the family for refusing to abandon the woman, on her advice, they leave their native Tokyo that he might perfect his technique, far from his family's influence. The first film that the director felt was truly his own, it employs the fluid sequence takes and crabbing, or diagonal tracking shots, of which he was one of the medium's masters. Forced to shoot the 40-year-old actor in long shots to make him appear younger for the earlier scenes, the director was so impressed by the detached, meditative quality they afforded, that they would become a mark of his style. - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/story-of-the-late-chrysanthemums-v47122/


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Friday, February 17, 2012

Zorro's fighting legion 1939 serial - One of the best serials ever made


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032164/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,5


Directors: John English, William Witney
Main Cast: Reed Hadley, Sheila Darcy, William Corson, Leander De Cordova



"With a rousing chorus of house composer William Lava's 'We Ride!' opening each of the 12 chapters, Zorro's Fighting Legion remains one of Republic Pictures' finest chapterplays and thus one of the best action serials ever made. Reed Hadley, whose mellifluous voice was usually used for playing smooth villains, is perfectly cast here as the serial's dual hero, the foppish Don Diego and his masked alter-ego. Filmed entirely at the legendary Iverson ranch in Chatsworth, CA, and on standing sets at the studio in the San Fernando Valley, Zorro's Fighting Legion actually incorporates a historical setting - Mexico shortly after the 1810 revolution - with none other than Benito Juarez making an appearance in the person of Carleton Young (who rather obviously patterned his characterization after Paul Muni in the then-current Juarez). Unlike a great majority of the era's chapterplays, the cliffhanger endings are constantly intriguing, and although a sophisticated modern audience will probably never question whether Hadley or leading lady Sheila Darcy manage to extricate themselves from what seems like certain death, the solutions are always ingeniously thought out by no less than five veteran writers. A highlight of the entire serial is Yakima Canutt, as Hadley's double, performing his legendary runaway stagecoach stunt in chapter seven, a stunt carefully reconstructed forty years later by director Steven Spielberg for his homage to Republic serials, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Only this time, something went wrong and Canutt was seriously hurt. The mishap is left in the releases print and Canutt can be seen taking a highly unanticipated stumble while working his way from the horses back to the coach. Happily, Canutt survived once again and Zorro's Fighting Legion benefited from his groundbreaking work. The end result is a highly entertaining action adventure made even more memorable by Lava's irresistible theme song, the lyrics of which went something like this: 'We ride/ With the wind over hill, over dale/ With a spirit that cannot fail/ Men of Zorro are we/ We ride!'" - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/zorros-fighting-legion-serial-v56207/

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Le jour se leve (Daybreak) 1939 - A nice example of French poetic realism


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031514/
IMDB rating: 7,8


Director: Marcel Carne
Main Cast: Jean Gabin, Jules Berry, Arletty, Bernard Blier, Jacqueline Laurent



"Marcel Carne's Le jour se leve/Daybreak turns a murder story into an evocative examination of a man trapped by circumstances beyond his control. In the script by Carne's main collaborator Jacques Prevert, Jean Gabin's working-class François shoots a man and holes up in his room, thinking back, in an impeccably structured flashback, to the events that brought him to that moment. Carne's camera does not shy away from the desperate, claustrophobic details of working-class life, yet the possibility for human connection gives François's existence hope, until the sadistic Valentin intervenes. The play of light and shadows as François waits out the night invests the surroundings' realistic drabness with a poetic sense of doom, matching the implacable fate that awaits the decent, tormented man. Trading on Gabin's image as a strong yet tender-hearted hero, Le jour se leve's François was seen as not just a man condemned by his class and human weakness but also the image of a country about to be overcome by the diabolical outside forces of World War II." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/le-jour-se-l%C3%A8ve-v28642

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