The women 1939 - It's all about men!

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 8,0

Director: George Cukor
Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine

"Based on the Clare Booth Luce play of the same name, this MGM comedy is famous for its all-female cast and deft direction by George Cukor. The themes explored in Clare Boothe Luce's play were so modern in 1939 that audiences found the film audaciously relevant, yet so timeless and universal that The Women could be successfully revived on Broadway in 2001, starring Jennifer Tilly, Kristen Johnston, and Cynthia Nixon. The film crackles with a sharp-toothed sarcasm even on a modern viewing. George Cukor's deft pacing and evident facility with actors (or, we should say, actresses) make The Women both a scathing and hilarious indictment of the institution of marriage. No less important, in fact probably more so, is the film's portrayal of the women's mercenary competitiveness. The ruthlessly casual deceptions they practice on each other are authenticated by the playwright's gender, as well as that of her adapters (Anita Loos and Jane Murfin). The Women recasts the discourse of high society as an exercise in the Darwinism of the animal kingdom, starting with an opening credits sequence that assigns an animal role to each character, from sly fox to gentle lamb. The opening shot says it all, as two dogs aggressively (and metaphorically) yap at each other as their pampered owners restrain them, all against a cacophony of background gossip. The women's ironic commentary on the regimen of exercise and beautification they must maintain to keep their men takes over from here, as does the rapid repartees and the almost incidental backstabbing. Casting the film entirely with women works beautifully, never straining the logic or staging, and the handful of leads each share the credit with Luce and Cukor for a fully realized farce on the warfare of feminine politics and societal advantage.
Snappy, witty dialogue, much of it courtesy of veteran screenwriter Anita Loos, helps send this film's humor over the top. So do the characterizations - Crawford is as venomous as they come, and this was Russell's first chance to show what she could do as a comedienne. And don't discount Shearer - her portrayal of good-girl Mary is never overpowered by these two far-flashier roles. Do keep an eye on the supporting players, though, especially Mary Boland as the Countess DeLage. The role was based on a cafe society dame of that era, the Countess DiFrasso, who had a wild affair with Gary Cooper; that romance is satirized here." - www.allmovie.com

DVD links:

Flesh 1932 - A lesson in love

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 6,5

Director: John Ford
Main Cast: Wallace Beery, Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, Jean Hersholt

"Flesh was one of the few big-studio films to deal with the subject of professional wrestling - at least until Hulk Hogan came along in the 1980s. Wallace Beery stars as a thickheaded waiter in a German beer garden who uses his muscles to clear out rowdy patrons. Beery channels his strength into a wrestling career, grappling his way up to the championship. His wife Karen Morley enjoys the creature comforts of Beery's success, but her heart belongs to her ex-lover Ricardo Cortez, and soon Karen is stepping out on her husband. Beery finds out and exacts a terrible revenge on Cortez - just minutes after Karen wises up and realizes she loves Beery after all. John Ford directed Flesh in a heavy Germanic fashion reminiscent of the Emil Jannings 'cuckolded husband' melodramas of the 1920s." - www.allmovie.com

DVD links:

The power and the glory 1933 - A precursor to Citizen Kane and a wonderful performance by Spencer Tracy

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 7,0

Director: William K. Howard
Main Cast: Spencer Tracy, Colleen Moore, Ralph Morgan, Helen Vinson

"Frequently cited as the precursor to Citizen Kane, Power and the Glory is the first major Hollywood film to extensively utilize narrated flashbacks to tell its story. Though the 'narrative' technique used to relate the plotline of Power and the Glory is interesting, though the film itself is a bit too cut-and-dried (suicide seems to be a logical solution rather than a last desperate move) and far too short (76 minutes) to do justice to its central character.
Long considered one of the great lost classics of Hollywood's Golden Age, The Power And The Glory has recently resurfaced, marking a coup for lovers of cinema history, and the film itself still proves to be a landmark. First of all, it is the first screenplay produced by the great writer (and future director) Preston Sturges, modeled on the family of his then-wife. Sturges has crafted a powerful drama about the life of the wealthy in America. Second, it is a remarkable foreshadowing of Citizen Kane, itself still eight years in the future. The film tells the tale of a man's life after his death, portraying his rise from a humble railworker to a railroad magnate and how he deals with those around him during his ascent. This element is also very prevalent, indeed it's the centerpiece, of Kane. Third, this is the film that put Spencer Tracy on the map of Hollywood stardom, propelling him to the legendary status that he enjoys even to this day. He plays the character of Tom Garner with utter believability, including the character's faults. This is unusual, particularly for 1933, and the credit for that can fall to Sturges. Colleen Moore plays Sally Garner and the only word to describe her performance, without danger of overstatement, is magnificent. She gives Tracy a sure-handed run for his money. The film also features Ralph Morgan, better known for his portrayal of villains in B-movies, who here produces another excellent role for his large canon." - www.allmovie.com

DVD links:

Employees' entrance 1933 - Excellent look at the backstage of a department store

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 7,3

Director: Roy Del Ruth
Main Cast: Warren William, Loretta Young, Wallace Ford, Alice White

"Warren William plays a high-powered ambitious executive who unflinchingly steamrolled his way to the top without regard for the havoc he left in his wake. As the manager of a Macy-like department store, he constantly browbeats his flunkies into submission, and ends-up driving at least one to suicide. Loretta Young plays the wife of one of William's minor employees (Wallace Ford), with whom the Big Boss has a brief affair during an office party. Eventually William gets his comeuppance, and Loretta is vindicated in the eyes of her hubby. A terrific example of pre-Motion Picture Production Code raciness, Employees' Entrance still causes audiences to gasp at its audaciousness when seen today
Warren William dominates the picture - just as he did in Skyscraper Souls (1932) in an identical role - as the store's completely amoral, conniving, tyrannical manager. He is perfect in the part and it is fascinating to watch a skilled actor portray a thoroughly bad character. As one of the finer actors of the decade, it is indeed a shame that William is all but forgotten today.
The rest of the cast is excellent: Wallace Ford and Loretta Young as a secretly married couple whom William tries to corrupt; Alice White as the store floozy, willing to drop her morals at William's command; Ruth Donnelly as William's no-nonsense secretary; Frank Reicher and Charles Sellon as two old men who respond in very different ways to having William destroy their livelihood; and Hale Hamilton as the store's ineffectual, absentee owner." - www.allmovie.com

DVD links:

The animal kingdom 1932 - Good mistress vs. bad wife

Ann Harding, Leslie Howard & Myrna Loy in The Animal Kingdom (1932)

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 6,6

Director: George Cukor, Edward H. Griffith
Main Cast: Ann Harding, Leslie Howard, Myrna Loy, William Gargan, Neil Hamilton, Ilka Chase

"The first film version of Philip Barry's Broadway play The Animal Kingdom stars Ann Harding, Leslie Howard and Myrna Loy. Howard plays a wealthy publisher who decides to marry the socially prominent Loy, leaving his mistress Harding in the lurch. In comically convoluted fashion, Loy behaves like a callous libertine, while Harding is the soul of love and fidelity. The frustrated Howard declares at the end that he is going back to his 'wife' - meaning, of course, the faithful Harding. Animal Kingdom was long withdrawn from public view due to the 1946 remake One More Tomorrow; a pristine 35-millimeter print was discovered in the Warner Bros. vaults in the mid-1980s.
Philip Barry as a playwright was able to find an audience in two distinct eras of American history, the carefree Roaring Twenties and the poorer socially significant Thirties. He did with a clever mixture of social commentary while writing about the privileged classes enjoying their privileges.
The Animal Kingdom had a 183 performance run on Broadway the previous year and its star Leslie Howard was a movie name already on two continents. So Howard, Bill Gargan, and Ilka Chase repeat their Broadway roles here.
Harding was an interesting leading woman - she was attractive but not beautiful and had a very low, distinctive speaking voice. She came from the Broadway stage, and her heyday in films was through the mid-thirties, though she worked consistently in films and television until the mid-60s. As was the case back then, at 31 years of age, her time as a leading lady was drawing to a close, and soon would be turned over to people like the younger Loy. Her performance in The Animal Kingdom is a very honest one. Loy is absolutely ravishing as she essays the part of the glamorous wife beautifully, reminiscent of Gene Tierney later on with the ultra-feminine facade hiding the steel underneath. Howard is handsome and thoughtful in the lead, and one can see it slowly occurring to him that he made a mistake."

Download links: