Three cornered moon 1933 - A slightly screwball tale of the Great Depression

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Elliott Nugent
Main Cast: Claudette Colbert, Richard Arlen, Mary Boland, Wallace Ford, Lyda Roberti, Tom Brown, Joan Marsh

"The golden age of screwball comedy was brief but glorious, and exactly when it began and ended is a source of some debate. Three-Cornered Moon is often cited as the first real example of the genre, but whether screwball or not, it's a delightful and charming comedy that, at 77 minutes, knows better than to outstay its welcome. The script is literate and sophisticated, making comedic a situation that at the time would have been rather desperate. Claudette Colbert is winning as the relative center of calm and sanity in the storm of lunacy. Her soft, round face is a mask of sensibility covering both determination and exasperation. She holds her own against the scene-stealing efforts of Mary Boland, who creates a character whose obliviousness and ditziness could be irritating in less expert hands. Boland knows quite well how to deliver her laugh lines so they land exactly where they're supposed to, as well as how to clear them out to make room for the next one - while at the same time giving them a freshness to disguise the technique beneath it all. Altogether Moon is a bit too soft to be the kind of knockabout it wants to be, but it's a pleasing trifle nonetheless." - www.allmovie.com

DVD links:

Tokyo no korasu (Tokyo chorus) 1931 - Ozu's economic exploration of the Depression

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022485/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,5

Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Main Cast: Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Hideo Sugawara, Hideko Takamine, Tatsuo Saito

"Tokyo Chorus is a dark comedy about unemployment and family in prewar Japan. The film opens with a group of young men at their school graduation. After saying goodbye to their teacher, they are off into the working world. The story follows a single man and his difficulties at his job. He cannot avoid annoying his boss, a tempestuous man, and he's summarily fired. The remainder of the movie concerns his descent into unemployment and the pressure it puts on his family. In a wonderful scene, his wife discovers that he's sold her kimonos to buy food. She approaches him crying while he's playing with their children and the children draw her into their game which dries her tears. After a series of adventures, he finds another job and calm is restored to the family and their lives.
Tokyo Chorus is famous for being the first film where Ozu consistently utilized a low-angle camera. Ozu does not hesitate to attempt to show us the realities of Great Depression unemployment. Indeed, he is more truthful than any comparable American movie of that time or ours. Ozu is willing to attempt to dig into the nexus between employment, self-identity and status that is prevalent throughout capitalist economies. This was his primary theme at the beginning of the Depression, in this movie along with his early masterpiece I Was Born, But... and Where Now are the Dreams of Youth? and Passing Fancy. In addition, Ozu also flexes his unparalleled ability with family scenes. Excellent performances from Ozu regulars Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Tatsuo Saito, as well as a winning child performance from future star Hideko Takamine." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/tokyo-no-gassho-v138789

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(Youtube, silent - with English, French, Hungarian, Portugese and Spanish intertitles)