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Showing posts with label Elmer Rice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elmer Rice. Show all posts

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Street scene 1931 - An unforgettable slice of urban living


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022436/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,7


Director: King Vidor
Main Cast: Sylvia Sidney, William Collier Jr., Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi, David Landau



"Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Street Scene was purchased for the screen by producer Samuel Goldwyn in 1931. The entire story takes place on the street in front of a foreboding old New York brownstone, between one evening and the next afternoon. The individual fates of eight neighboring Manhattan families intertwine during this brief stretch of time.
Street Scene is a dated but still moving look at one New York neighborhood in the midst of a heat wave. It's true that today's audiences are used to this kind of ensemble, slice-of-life effort, so the impact has lessened somewhat; it's also true that the accents employed, vital to letting audiences in 1931 know the ethnic background of each character, will come across as stilted and artificial to 21st century ears. But there's enough poetry in Rice's dialogue to help skate over the charge of stereotypes, and the author's keen ability to create memorable scenes is a big help. Granted, Street betrays its stage origins in its single setting, but director King Vidor creatively opens up the piece by employing a dazzling array of angles and set-ups to keep the setting intact while adding movement and variety to the visuals. He also masterfully handles the climactic set piece, employing a number of deft tricks to create maximum dramatic effect. The large cast is good, although some players are a bit more emphatic than is really necessary. A very young Sylvia Sidney, however, is mesmerizing as the young girl whose dreams are shattered in one violent instant." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/street-scene-v47300/

Download links:


(DVDrip, 586 MB):

http://netload.in/dateit8juUfV0NS/Street_Scene_1931__DVDRip.part1.rar.htm 
http://netload.in/dateieU0TjDZPax/Street_Scene_1931__DVDRip.part2.rar.htm 
http://netload.in/datei7Tf4cT5X9k/Street_Scene_1931__DVDRip.part3.rar.htm

Or:

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Counsellor at law 1933 - One of the best lawyer films of the 30's


IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023911/
IMDB rating: 7,7



Director: William Wyler
Main Cast: John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, Isabel Jewell, Melvyn Douglas, Thelma Todd



"Adapted from the play by Elmer Rice, Counsellor-at-Law is the story of a successful Jewish lawyer George Simon (John Barrymore) who finds it's lonely at the top. Barrymore gives a crackling performance as a dynamic Manhattan lawyer who's worked his way to the top, yet still has the hunger of an immigrant Jew who came over in steerage. Seemingly master of all he surveys - his offices are in the Empire State Building! - he suddenly finds himself facing disbarment, and ditching by the elegant WASP wife (Doris Kenyon) who's always wished he would practice law 'like a gentleman'.
Such a stagy stratagem (Elmer Rice adapting his own play) usually spells static filmmaking, but Wyler (who signaled his readiness to take a big step up in class with this expertly directed movie) brings off a cinematic tour de force, an energetic direction with tensile camerawork, sharp performances, and brilliant set design (Charles D. Hall) that gets great visual excitement out of all the doors, glass walls, and skyscraper windows."

DVD links: