The great dictator 1940 - Chaplin's comment on fascism

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IMDB rating: 8,5

Director: Charles Chaplin
Main Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner

"After a five-year absence from movies, Charles Chaplin took on a dual role in his first full-length talking feature, famous for its comic attack on Nazi Germany (and Adolf Hitler in particular). The script was written before Hitler's invasion of Poland, and Chaplin subsequently noted that, had he known the scope of the evil perpetrated on Europe by the Nazis, he would never have made them the subject of this lampoon. Not as maniacally funny as Chaplin's classic comedies of the 1920s, The Great Dictator has more in common with Chaplin's later films, which were more lyrical in approach and more overt in their socio-political messages. In this case, the proselytising turned out to be prescient, as Hitler would soon prove Chaplin's concerns well-founded. This was one of very few films made in the West before World War II that dared to take on Hitler and Mussolini. Still, many critics found fault with Chaplin's approach, claiming that, by portraying German Nazis and Italian Fascists as schoolyard bullies and buffoons, Chaplin was cheapening the impact of their evil actions on millions of Europeans. Despite these criticisms, Chaplin's lampooning of Hitler is a moment of comic genius, complemented by Jack Oakie's ridiculously exaggerated portrayal of the Mussolini-like Italian fascist (nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor). The Great Dictator is loosely structured, lacking the tight pace and sense of direction of Chaplin's best films: its long-winded concluding speech is the most egregious example. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Chaplin for Best Actor." - www.allmovie.com

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The little giant 1933 - Full of laughs and wonderful moments

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IMDB rating: 7,1

Director: Roy Del Ruth
Main Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, Helen Vinson, Russell Hopton

"Retiring bootlegger Edward G. Robinson wishes to go straight and has recently become, as he puts it, 'positively crawling with culture'. 'Ever seen anything like that before?' He inquires of former henchman Russell Hopton, proudly displaying a newly obtained abstract. 'Not since I've been off cocaine', comes the deadpan answer. Ah, yes, nothing beats pre-production code Warner Bros. for tough talk or, for that matter, for spoofing its own blockbusters. And a spoof Little Giant certainly is, what with Robinson turning his Little Caesar character upside-down and inside out. That the comedy is still funny today is not only due to Robinson's virile performance but also to writers Robert Lord and Wilson Mizner, who took a topical event, the repeal of the 18th amendment, and created one of the era's livelier parodies." - www.allmovie.com

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Pardon us 1931 - Laurel and Hardy's first feature length comedy

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022251/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,1

Director: James Parrott
Main Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Marlowe, Wilfred Lucas, James Finlayson

"Laurel and Hardy's first feature-length comedy was apparently meant to be a two-reeler, and was only expanded because of a dispute between producer Hal Roach and MGM. Roach wanted to use the actual set from The Big House for his parody and the studio agreed - if Laurel and Hardy would do a film for them. Roach refused this condition (odd, since the duo had been loaned out before), and proceeded to build his own prison set. The extra cost this ensued made it necessary to draw the film out to feature length. While Pardon Us is a very funny film, it is clear that it is based on a two-reel idea. The fact that it works as well as it does is due to the strength of the gags (the raspberry sound made by Laurel's loose tooth never grows old), and some very entertaining, though extraneous scenes. The schoolroom scene featuring James Finlayson appears out of nowhere, but it's still hilarious, and the part of the film featuring Laurel and Hardy as prison escapees in blackface could have been drawn out even longer, there's so much richness to it (in fact, there was actually more to these scenes that was edited out). The duo's little act, where Ollie sings and Stan does one of his light-footed, eccentric dances, is charming; they're one of the few comic acts of their era that could pull off a song and dance number without driving interest to a grinding halt in the eyes of today's audiences. While Pardon Us began life as a parody, it's not at all necessary to have seen The Big House to appreciate it fully. Laurel and Hardy would make many better feature films, but that says more about the overall high quality of their work than about any lacks this picture may have." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/pardon-us-v37266/

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A slight case of murder 1938 - A well-written comic gem

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030764/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: Lloyd Bacon
Main Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly

"A Slight Case of Murder is a non-stop laugh riot and a brilliant parody of the classic Hollywood gangster film. Blessed with a screenplay that is not only flawlessly constructed but also drop-dead funny, Murder also benefits from a peculiar, quirky and, at times, surreal sensibility that makes it stand out from many other studio comedies of the period. The hand of Damon Runyon is clearly evident in much of the dialogue, but the trio of writers who collaborated with him on the screenplay have kept many of Runyon's bad habits - such as an occasional willingness to go for cheap sentiment - in check. Director Lloyd Bacon is operating in top form, almost as if he were competing with Howard Hawks to keep things moving in the most crackling manner possible. In the demanding lead role, Edward G. Robinson is delightful, a presumed tough guy who can't help but be a cuddly softie; no one handles the fish-out-of-water routines in quite the same way, and his offhanded way with a punch line is delicious. Ruth Donnelly is a stitch as his wife and Bert Hanlon has an amusing turn as Sad Sam the bookie. Unlike Robinson's cheap, bootleg booze, Murder just gets better with age." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/a-slight-case-of-murder-v110601/

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