Mississippi 1935 - A rare Crosby classic

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026723/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,9

Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Main Cast: Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, Joan Bennett, Gail Patrick

"In this comedy with musical numbers set in the Old South, Bing Crosby plays a singer from Philadelphia named Tom Grayson, who has fallen in love with Southern heiress Elvira Rumford (Gail Patrick). Tom wants to marry Elvira, but a man called Major Patterson (John Miljan) has announced his desire to do the same, and he challenges Tom to a duel to decide who will have Elvira's hand. Tom is not at all agreeable to this idea, which leads Elvira's father (Claude Gillingwater) to proclaim Tom to be a coward and deny him permission to wed his daughter. Elvira's sister Lucy (Joan Bennett), who is infatuated with Tom, thinks that he's merely being sensible, but Tom thinks that Lucy is too young for a serious relationship. In need of work and not especially welcome in the Rumford's community, Tom takes a job performing on a riverboat piloted by the blustery Commodore Orlando Jackson (W.C. Fields). One night, Tom finds himself in a barroom brawl with a man named Captain Blackie (Fred Kohler), who dies accidentally from a shot fired by his own gun. Hoping that his infamy will draw crowds, Jackson begins billing Tom as 'The Singing Killer'. Tom comes to realize that Lucy may be the right woman for him after all, but Lucy is not interested in a man with blood on his hands, and now Tom must convince her that he's not a killer at all. Noted gambling aficionado Fields has a hilarious poker-playing bit, and he steals most of his scenes from the rest of the cast. Mississippi was loosely based on the play 'Magnolia' by Booth Tarkington." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/mississippi-v102575/

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Little women 1933 - A coming-of-age drama with the classic Hollywood style

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024264/
IMDB rating: 7,4

Director: George Cukor
Main Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Jean Parker, Frances Dee, Paul Lukas, Douglass Montgomery

"George Cukor directed this classic adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's sentimental novel with a shimmering lavishness that is a prime example of the classic Hollywood style at its best. One of Hollywood's original 'chick flicks', this faithful adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Civil War-era novel focuses almost exclusively on the ambitions, desires, and emotions of the titular four sisters. Little Women's first half, focused on the sisters' effervescent and fun-loving youth, gradually gives way to a melancholy, downbeat second half, in which we witness confusion, disappointment, and death. The film's willingness to concentrate almost exclusively on these four sisters, who vary from confident to reticent, was an important step forward in the cinematic treatment of women. How the 'little women' hold up as they undergo their trials and tribulations is also essential, as they survive and thrive without (and occasionally despite) men, who appear only in supporting roles, a tidy inversion of Hollywood tradition. Little Women's star-making performance was that of Katherine Hepburn, whose tomboyish spunk is wonderfully endearing in the role of Jo, the embryonic writer. However, the supporting work of Joan Bennett, Jean Parker, and Frances Dee is also key to the film's enduring appeal. Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for George Cukor, Little Women won best adapted screenplay for Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/little-women-v29694

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