The best years of our lives 1946 - The postwar classic

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IMDB rating: 8,2

Director: William Wyler
Main Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael

"When Samuel Goldwyn decided to make The Best Years of Our Lives, Hollywood was running away from World War II-related scripts as though the subject itself had the plague -- movies about men in uniform had been box-office poison since early 1945. The assumption was that returning veterans would be even less willing than those who'd stayed on the home front to shell out money to be reminded of their service. Goldwyn, director William Wyler, and screenwriter Robert E. Sherwood (working from MacKinlay Kantor's blank verse novel Glory for Me), and a cast from heaven (some of them, like Dana Andrews and Virginia Mayo, giving the greatest performances of their careers) proved the industry wrong, and they opened up a whole new subject area by focusing on the men giving up their uniforms, the women and children around them, and even the men who hadn't served. They ended up with a 170-minute movie whose every shot was dramatically and psychically spellbinding, embracing the relief, anxiety, pain, joy, and doubts that Americans could now express. The setting of the movie in a small city somewhere in the middle of the country gave it a Norman Rockwell veneer, while the script melded that background with some healthy cynicism and emotional honesty borne out of the movie world's new awareness of modern psychology. Thus, the film had its feet in both pre-war and post-war consciousness, appealing to two generations of filmgoers (or even three, as the World War I-era audience was still around and had hardly been served well in its own time).
Profoundly relevant in 1946, the film still offers a surprisingly intricate and ambivalent exploration of American daily life; and it features landmark deep-focus cinematography from Gregg Toland, who also shot Citizen Kane. The film won Oscars for, among others, Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for March, and Best Supporting Actor for Harold Russell, a real-life double amputee whose hands had been blown off in a training accident." - www.allmovie.com

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1931 - The first sound version of Stevenson's classic morality tale

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IMDB rating: 7,8

Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Main Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart

"Director Rouben Mamoulian had already proved, with his earlier Applause and City Streets, that it was possible to make a sound film that was not enslaved by the limitations that most accepted as part and parcel of the new sound technology. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was even more impressive in its use of a fluid camera, interesting shots and angles, and (for the most part) quality sound reproduction. Mamoulian has a field day telling this familiar story; he uses the subjective point-of-view to make the viewer complicit in Jekyll's sins and seems to be having a love affair with close-ups of characters' eyes (the windows of the soul). Through clever use of lighting and careful editing, his transformation sequences are also startling and effective (helped enormously, of course, by Wally Westmore's superb makeup for Hyde). Mamoulian's work is, thankfully, not an example of mere egotism, but rather is used in support of a very good script that, while it overemphasizes the sexual decadence of Hyde at the expense of his overall innate evilness, has been written with the demands of the cinema in mind. Mamoulian is also helped by a first-rate cast, led by Fredric March's irreplaceable turn as the title characters. March captures both the extremes of civility and savagery that are demanded of him; he also manages to inject humor into the proceedings and to make Jekyll a fully rounded individual, even to the point of letting the audience see what an ignoble coward he can be. Rose Hobart makes Muriel's love for Jekyll touching and believable, and in the showy role of the tart, Miriam Hopkins is splendid." - www.allmovie.com

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Laughter 1930 - A sophisticated romantic comedy

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IMDB rating: 7,0

Director: Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast
Main Cast: Nancy Carroll, Fredric March, Frank Morgan

"Laughter is a sophisticated romantic comedy belying the 'fact' that most early talkies were stiff and dull. Nancy Carroll plays a Follies dancer who meets her goal of marrying a millionaire (Frank Morgan). Alas, her husband is a well-meaning bore, and soon Nancy begins seeking entertainment elsewhere. She reunites with her former boyfriend (Fredric March), a composer who seems to have a funny quip for every occasion. This adult affair is paralleled by the romance between Nancy's stepdaughter and a devil-may-care sculptor. Though the plot mechanics slow down towards the climax, Laughter manages to sustain the promise of its title for nearly 80 minutes." - www.allmovie.com

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The eagle and the hawk 1933 - A forgotten anti-war aviation

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IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: Stuart Walker
Main Cast: Fredric March, Cary Grant, Jack Oakie, Carole Lombard, Guy Standing

"A stirring and accomplished anti-war film, The Eagle and the Hawk is a little-known gem that deserves greater recognition. Although Eagle does have its flaws, including a slight tendency to get on a soapbox about its worthy message, it's told with compassion and skill and is a thoroughly captivating film. Screenwriters Seton Miller and Bogart Rogers have deftly laced the drama with some genuine humor and wit, yet haven't let it interfere with the seriousness of the picture. Seemingly inspired by the story they have adapted, they have produced work that is top drawer and emotionally affecting. Stuart Walker directs carefully; he doesn't imbue the material with a strong directorial vision, but he serves the material very nicely and creates atmosphere and tension that add to the overall effect. The action sequences have drama aplenty, but he can also play up the more romantic moments admirably. Eagle's finest asset, however, is its strong cast. Though the love story involving her is perhaps the film's weakest aspect, Carole Lombard is such a magnificent figure and brings such personality and charm to the film that one scarcely cares about how it all fits in with the rest of the show. Cary Grant, in an early part, is still defining his screen persona; it's mostly there, but there are enough slight rough edges to surprise and delight. Fredric March is simply aces in the lead role, grabbing hold of the drama and running for all it's worth. And Jack Oakie's humor makes the character's ultimate fate the more devastating." - www.allmovie.com

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Honor among lovers 1931 - Displays of sexual harrasment in the workplace

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021969/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Dorothy Arzner
Main Cast: Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Monroe Owsley, Charles Ruggles, Ginger Rogers, Pat O'Brien

"Trailblazing female director Dorothy Arzner helmed this well-crafted romantic drama.
Julia Traynor (Claudette Colbert) is a secretary working for Jerry Stafford (Frederic March), a successful stock broker. Jerry has taken a decidedly non-professional interest in Julia, and when he asks her to join him on an ocean cruise, she firmly declines the offer. Hoping to throw Jerry off her trail, Julia accepts a hasty marriage proposal from Philip Craig (Monroe Owsley), a young and struggling securities broker. When Jerry learns that Julia has tied the knot, he rashly fires her and predicts that the marriage won't last six months. Jerry soon regrets his outburst and not only gives Julia her job back but hires Philip as well. However, Jerry's prediction proves to be not far from the mark; Julia is not happy with Philip, and Jerry learns that Philip has been embezzling company funds to play the market on his own. After a downturn in the market wipes out Philip's investments, Julia discovers that he owes $100,000 as a result of his bad investments. Desperate to raise money, Julia offers herself to Jerry in exchange for a loan; he refuses to take advantage of her, but he agrees to front her the money anyway. Philip, however, cannot believe that Jerry would give Julia the money without demanding her favors in return, and he goes after Jerry in a jealous rage.
This was the second of four on screen pairings for Colbert and March. The following year they reunited for DeMille's Sign of the Cross and, a month after that, for Mitchell Leisen's Tonight Is Ours. It's part of Hollywood legend that Colbert didn't really enjoy these pairings, because March was notorious for getting a bit too 'familiar' with his leading ladies. Colbert reportedly disliked the man – there are stories of March wandering around 'in a daze' on the set of Sign of the Cross, he was so nuts about her.
Another ponderous example of Arzner's apparent disdain for men and marriage - either good men turn bad or bad men reform only through the love of a good woman. The film does contain a few, as Billy Wilder would say, drop the popcorn bag moments, to its credit; but overall, it's a dark, unimaginative story, painted with the very broad strokes and heavy hand of the director."

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Sarah and son 1930 - Miss Chatterton rises above the average plot

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021335/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,0

Director: Dorothy Arzner
Main Cast: Ruth Chatterton, Fredric March

"Ruth Chatterton was a wonderful actress who, although coming to movies at an older age (36), proved she could master most genres. In 1931 Movie Fan readers voted her the 'Finest Actress on the Screen' and she was often referred to as the First Lady of the Screen (until Ann Harding came along). She scintillated in 'Charming Sinners' and 'The Laughing Lady', witty drawing room comedies that were all the rage in those early talkie days. She then returned to mother love tear-jerkers - in 1929 she had starred in MGM's 'Madame X' and it had proved a big hit.
Sarah Storm (Ruth Chatterton) has ambitions to go on the stage and with hard work and determination she succeeds - and even drags her lazy, shiftless boyfriend, Jim (Fuller Mellish Jnr.), along with her. Just as things are looking brighter she gets word that her little sister has died and in a weak moment she agrees to marry Jim. With a little baby to feed, Jim has reverted to his lazy ways and is forever telling her to put the baby into a home - until Sarah is pushed to breaking point!!! When Jim goes to a family acquaintance to borrow money, the man expresses envy that Jim has a child - he and his wife have never been able to have children. A plan then hatches in Jim's drunken brain - he joins the Marines, but before he sails he sells the baby to the childless couple.
Four years later Sarah is entertaining wounded soldiers in a hospital when she finds Jim dying, but before he does he repents and tells her the name of the family - Ashmore - where he left the baby. When the family is traced they are adamant that the baby is theirs - Frederic March plays Howard Vanning, their lawyer, who over the years becomes suspicious that, maybe, Bobby isn't their son. Bobby (Phillipe De Lacy) is growing up extremely unhappy - his parents are over protective and have wrapped him in cotton wool. Sarah, meanwhile, has studied music and become a world class opera singer but she has never given up on her quest to find her son. Howard organises for Sarah to meet Bobby but the Ashmores, who know all too well that Bobby is not their son, substitute the maid's son, who is the same age, for the inspection. The real Bobby has run away and "thumbs" his way to his Uncle Howard's, who has just turned up with Sarah. The stage is set for a very teary ending, involving a speedboat accident and a near drowning.
Despite it's early-talkie limitations, this film is really very good. It features Oscar nominee Ruth Chatterton and a pre-stardom Fredric March."

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A star is born 1937 - Is the price of stardom a broken heart?

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029606/
IMDB rating: 7,7

Directors: Jack Conway, William A. Wellman
Main Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Owen Moore, Peggy Wood

"A Star is born came into being when producer David O. Selznick decided to tell a 'true behind-the-scenes' story of Hollywood. The truth, of course, was filtered a bit for box-office purposes, although Selznick and an army of screenwriters based much of their script on actual people and events. (Especially the marriage of Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay. The latter was a huge Broadway star who just started to wash up and his young wife's career in Hollywood began to take off. The writers were at great pains to insist at the beginning of the movie that 'all resemblance to any person is purely coincidental...' and all of that. But everyone in Hollywood knew at the time.) A star is born showcased Janet Gaynor's last great performance and established one of the screen's most enduring tales of tragic love. A triumph of top-grade production values, writing, and acting, it represented the zenith of efforts from United Artists in the late 1930s, and remains entertaining and relevant when viewed by current-day audiences. This is one of the best films of the 1930s, particularly notable for the acting and the high level of technical work, as director William Wellman adroitly combines a rich visual style with the luminous performances of the film's stars. An honorary Oscar selected by a panel of cinematographers went to Howard Greene's Technicolor work, helping to change Academy rules two years later to recognize color cinematography as a separate category from Black & White. The film received seven Oscar nominations overall, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Gaynor, and Best Actor for Fredric March, winning for Wellman and co-scripter Robert Carson as Best Original Story." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/a-star-is-born-v46638/

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Anthony Adverse 1936 - A huge best-seller adapted in only 141 minutes screen time

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027300/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,6

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Main Cast: Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Woods, Anita Louise, Edmund Gwenn, Claude Rains, Louis Hayward, Gale Sondergaard

"When David O. Selznick produced the film version of the 1000-plus page novel Gone with the Wind, he declared he could not make a film running any less than 222 minutes. When Warner Bros. adapted the even longer Hervey Allen best-seller Anthony Adverse, the studio managed to pack everything - except the most censorable passages, which had made Allen's novel a best-seller in the first place - into 141 minutes. Surprisingly, the film version of Anthony Adverse moves rather smoothly, though it is nowhere near as involving (or as much fun) as Gone with the Wind.
Anthony Adverse is a handsomely made film, albeit one with considerably less passion than its best-selling source novel merits. Despite a talented cast, the acting is uniformly sterile and the story is ploddingly presented in by-the-numbers fashion. What shines through is Anton Grot's elegant production design and the fine orchestral score of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The usually superb Fredric March can only be as good as the formulaic script allows him to be. The film attempts to cram too many incidents into too little story space and offers only expurgated versions of what occurs in the richly structured novel. The result is a story that is more of a highlight reel than a compelling dramatic narrative. Nonetheless, the film has compensating virtues and represents a step forward on the road toward the more compelling epic storytelling of Gone With the Wind. The geographically diverse 19th century settings are generously re-created, and Tony Gaudio's cinematography effectively alters the atmosphere as needed. Anthony Adverse received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning four awards, including for Gaudio's cinematography, Korngold's score, and Gale Sondergaard's supporting performance (the first ever in that category)." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/anthony-adverse-v2606/

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(rar, 1 GB, English audio with French hardsubs):

http://rapidgator.net/file/f2a3c3f3ed58f35f4c2b0dfa028510e2

Les miserables 1935 - A lavish adaptation of Hugo's oft-filmed novel

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026725/
IMDB rating: 7,7

Director: Richard Boleslawski
Main Cast: Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Rochelle Hudson, Florence Eldridge, John Beal, Frances Drake

"Les miserables is one of literature's most durable stories, and this 1935 Hollywood studio effort is one of the best of the numerous English-language film versions, featuring Fredric March and Charles Laughton at the height of their powers. Their battle of wills gives the film its emotional texture. Perhaps more than any other actor who has played Inspector Javert, Laughton captures the insanity of a person who holds concrete values even as those beliefs become a barrier to the happiness of both himself and others. Laughton's performance might be better remembered today were it not for his role as the similarly flawed Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Boutny. Overall, Les Miserables received four Oscar nominations, winning none, and lost the Best Picture award to Bounty." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/les-miserables-v28995

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(1GB):

http://lumfile.com/wg0g4rnl8y4s/Les35mi.part1.rar.html 
http://lumfile.com/i13b7hi27vlx/Les35mi.part2.rar.html 

The Barretts of Wimpole Street 1934 - An appealing costume drama of Hollywood's golden age

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024865/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB ratings: 7,1

Director: Sidney Franklin
Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan

"No studio other than MGM would have dared to mount such a sumptuous production of Rudolph Besier's highly flowery and romanticized 1930 play about the clandestine courtship and eventual marriage of poets Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer) and Robert Browning (Fredric March). And only MGM employed a producer with enough taste, patience and eye for details like Irving Thalberg, who quite fortuitously substituted his exquisite wife, Shearer, for the studio's original choice to play Elizabeth, the highly unsuitable Marion Davies. The result is a surprisingly entertaining and quite cinematic version of a rather static play, teeming with the kind of supporting performances that became the trademark of Thalberg's brief reign as Hollywood's wunderkind. Here is a very young Maureen O'Sullivan as Henrietta Browning, bubbling with teenaged enthusiasm in spite of her dreary existence; stage actress Marion Clayton as the fluttery, lisping cousin Bella; Ian Wolfe as Bella's foppish intended ('Come, come, dear pet!'); and the amazing Una O'Connor as Elizabeth's maid and confidante Wilson, all but levitating across a room in humble servility. And towering above them all is Charles Laughton's manipulative, nearly incestuous Edward Moulton-Barrett. Borrowed for the occasion from Paramount, Laughton is never allowed to indulge in his usual scenery-chewing and Barrett remains among the very best of his early Hollywood performances.
Director Sidney A. Franklin also helmed a remake of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957); it was his last film." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-barretts-of-wimpole-street-v3998

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Design for living 1933 - The classic Lubitsch touch in a not so faithful adaptation of Coward's play

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023940/
IMDB rating: 7,6

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Main Cast: Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton, Isabel Jewell, Jane Darwell

"Design for Living was based on the stage comedy by Noel Coward, though little of his dialogue actually made it to the screen. Playwright Fredric March and artist Gary Cooper both fall in love with Miriam Hopkins, an American living in Paris. Both men love the girl, and the girl can't make up her mind between the two men, so the threesome decide to move in together - strictly platonically, of course.
When first released, Design for Living was assailed for the incredible liberties it took in transferring the material from stage to the screen. Indeed, director Ernst Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht kept only a single line of dialogue from the witty, sparkling Noel Coward comedy - and that one line was hardly itself distinguished. In other hands, this would have been a recipe for disaster; fortunately, Lubitsch and Hecht were enormous talents themselves, and the film they concocted from the barebones of Coward's play is sharply observed, slightly daffy and a total delight. It's true that Gary Cooper is a little out of place in high-style comedy of this sort; he's a little too 'downhome' to pull off some of what is asked of him. Nevertheless, his natural charisma is sufficient to overcome this deficiency, and his innate masculinity is used to interesting effect. On the other hand, Fredric March is right at home, turning in a deliciously comic performance that never takes a false turn. He's matched by Miriam Hopkins, creating some subtly wonderful variations on a madcap theme and proving irresistible in whatever she does.
The subtle homosexual implications of the Noel Coward stage original were dissipated by the presence of the aggressively masculine Gary Cooper and Fredric March in the film version of Design for Living. Replacing these implications were the equally subtle but more 'mainstream' boudoir innuendos of director Ernst Lubitsch." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/design-for-living-v89216

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Smilin' through 1932 - A first class romance

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023488/
IMDB rating: 7,0

Director: Sidney Franklin
Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Leslie Howard

"Director Sidney Franklin originally adapted Jane Murfin and Jane Cowl's play Smilin' Through for the silver screen in a 1922 silent film starring Norma Talmadge and (the other) Harrison Ford. Remaking his own film, Franklin directed Norma Shearer in this 1932 talkie. With its message that true love redeems all and that nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of true love, Smilin' is clearly not interested in educating the intellect but in milking the emotions, and it does this beautifully. Yet at the same time, the films avoids being a shameless 'weepie'. Great credit for this is due Sidney Franklin's excellent direction. He clearly is committed to the material and allows the emotions to billow forth freely when appropriate; yet he also knows when to pull the reins in contrast and to create greater impact. Under lesser hands, the far-fetched story might seem ridiculous; in his, it feels just right, even as the viewer knows it's totally artificial. Sidney is also blessed with a superb cast, with a luminous Norma Shearer turning in one of her finest performances and a wonderful Fredric March demonstrating why he was one of the screen's finest actors in the 1930s and 1940s. Leslie Howard is hampered somewhat by some unconvincing 'age' make-up, but overall is quite effective.
Smilin' Through was once again adapted in a 1941 version directed by Frank Borzage and starring Jeanette MacDonald." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/smilin-through-v81978

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