The hunchback of Notre Dame 1939 - The best film version of Hugo's classic tale

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IMDB rating: 7,9

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Edmond O'Brien

"Few will argue with the contention that RKO Radio's 1939 adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the best of the many screen versions of the Hugo classic.
Set in fifteenth century France, The Hunchback of Notre Dame captures the medieval era's tumult, as superstition and prejudice war with progress, both material and intellectual. Church and state unite to attempt to hold back the waves of change sweeping over Europe, as it rides the crest of the Renaissance. Charles Laughton's performance as Quasimodo, the misshapen protagonist, is every bit as moving as Lon Chaney's work in the earlier silent film. Overcoming his physical deformity and status as social outcast, Quasimodo represents all that is most noble and heroic about mankind, while the physically commanding Frollo, a man of immense political and religious power, acts as his morally corrupt and sexually repressed counterpoint. Maureen O'Hara's film debut is also memorable; the passions she inspires in the men around her are wholly believable. The recreation of medieval Paris is an awesome achievement, and the elegance of the production values is indisputable. Director William Dieterle manages a difficult task well, creating a film of both great sweep and remarkable intimacy. The film takes some liberties with the source material, but it captures the essence of Victor Hugo's novel very well. It was nominated for two Academy Awards (music and sound); Laughton's definitive performance was overlooked by the Academy." - www.allmovie.com

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Female 1933 - Fast and amusing comedy with a modern plot

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IMDB rating: 6,8

Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Dieterle, William Wellman
Main Cast: Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Lois Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown, Ruth Donnelly

"A fast-paced, funny, and surprisingly frank comedy about sex and power from a woman's point-of-view, Female was one the pictures that helped put director Michael Curtiz on the map early in his career. The screenplay by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola gets into some very truthful territory in its treatment of Ruth Chatterton's character, Alison Drake, an automobile company president with a libidinal side every bit as pronounced as her considerable professional skills. Drake is all business, and good at it, except when she's at home, and then she's the complete hedonist, right down to the succession of lovers that she recruits from the ranks of her employees. Chatterton is convincing as this brilliant and supremely sensuous woman, presenting those two sides in a compelling portrayal, through which she dominates the entire picture from beginning to end. It's a mark of George Brent's ability as an actor that he rises to the challenge of convincing us that he's her equal, even though he's in barely half the movie. The brisk pacing, the extraordinary art deco design of Drake's home, and the beautifully staged party scene are other highlights in this hour-long jewel of a picture, which is every bit as striking in its way as George Cukor's The Women." - www.allmovie.com

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Jewel robbery 1932 - A pre-code little comedy gem

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IMDB rating: 7,6

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson

"A bored Baroness discovers love and excitement when she becomes caught up in a thrilling jewel robbery.
Scintillating, light as air and slightly naughty, this pre-Code charmer will delight discriminating viewers looking for a sophisticated comedy, a little trifle with which to while away an idle hour. Thievery, marijuana and infidelity - while very serious subjects - are here satirized almost to the point of insignificance. The whole purpose of this forgotten film - which compares nicely with the best of Lubitsch - is to provide the audience with a good time, and in that it succeeds quite admirably.
Beautiful Kay Francis is enchanting, her cool demeanor barely concealing the mischievous passions just below her elegant surface. Very bored with her wealthy but unattractive husband (Henry Kolker), she yearns for a more exciting life. Gentlemanly thief William Powell provides that opportunity. Suave and debonair, he instantly makes the viewer forgive his regrettable vocation. As a twosome, the stars bring just the right frisson of pleasure to their scenes to please all but the most jaded viewer.
The supporting cast further adds to the film's fine distillation. Hardie Albright as Francis' admirer and Helen Vinson as her friend both portray willing partakers of Old Vienna's hedonistic lifestyle. Spencer Charters is very humorous as a completely incompetent night watchman. Sour Clarence Wilson plays a police official, while Alan Mowbray shines in his few minutes as a no-nonsense detective.
 Jewel Robbery was based on a play by Ladislas Fodor, previously filmed in an Austrian version."

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The last flight 1931 - One of the finest films ever made about the Lost Generation

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022054/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,9

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Richard Barthelmess, David Manners, Johnny Mack Brown, Helen Chandler, Elliott Nugent

"The war is over but a new struggle begins for former World War I flyboys Cary Lockwood (Richard Barthelmess) and his three friends. They are all shell-shocked by their combat experiences and ill-fitted for a world of workaday responsibility. For them, the night life of Paris is an irresistible siren's call. Then comes the allure of Lisbon with its passion and bullfighting. Then may come the tragic result of the quartet's inability to rediscover the selves the war took from them.
This exceptional film is the work of writer John Monk Saunders and, more surprisingly, director William Dieterle. It's a penetrating, incisive work that manages to be both bleak and nihilistic without becoming pretentious or enervating. While a heavy sense of melancholy hangs over the film, tinged with an undercurrent of despair, Flight never becomes labored. Its characters are souls that are weighted down and, for most of them, on an inexorable march toward destruction, but their unconscious fascination with a Death Wish doesn't force the film to become an ordeal. Instead, one cares deeply about these people, mourns even as they reach their expected ends, and feels triumphant at the implied relative happiness that awaits those who manage to survive the dark nights of their own souls. Dieterle directs with extreme sensitivity and taste; it's far and away his best work and makes one wish he had created more works in a similar vein. The cast is all good, with special mention going to Helen Chandler's Nikki."

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Juarez 1939 - Entertaining historical epic with some flaws

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031516/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,3

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Donald Crisp, Gale Sondergaard, Gilbert Roland

"Juarez manages to be a very entertaining and effective historical epic, despite some enormous flaws. Part of its success lies in the fact that - unlike so many Hollywood attempts to film history - a great deal of what ends up on the screen is accurate. It helps also, of course, that the historical situation being explored is one that is in and of itself exciting and intriguing. The screenplay doesn't always succeed in capturing this excitement and intrigue totally, due in no small part to the fact that too many people had a hand in writing and shaping it, but individual sequences are excellent and director William Dieterle does a fine job of pulling together its disparate parts and camouflaging the gaps and faults. He is helped greatly by Brian Aherne's excellent performance, which makes Maximilian into a sympathetic and complicated character, as well as by Bette Davis, who sinks her teeth into her juicy mad scene and plays it for all she is worth. Gale Sondergaard and Claude Rains are also effective, both smoothly villainous, but John Garfield is quite miscast. More damaging, however, is Paul Muni whose decision to underplay his role in order to contrast with Davis' histrionics renders Juarez distant, remote, uninvolving, and quite dull. This leaden anchor at its center weakens Juarez, but the film fortunately has enough assets to mitigate the damage." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/juarez-v26648/

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The life of Emile Zola 1937 - One of the best Hollywood biopics

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029146/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB rating: 7,4

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut, Gloria Holden, Donald Crisp, John Litel, Louis Calhern

The first quarter of The Life of Emile Zola is a paint-by-numbers movie biography of the famed writer, condensing his early years into a few scenes while simultaneously providing little insight into Emile Zola the individual or explaining why we should care about him in the first place. It is only later that it becomes clear why these awkward early scenes were included; they may not have been presented in the most original fashion, but they provided necessary information to understand Zola's evolution. Once the film arrives at its true purpose, Zola's role in the historic Alfred Dreyfus affair, the film comes alive dramatically if not cinematically. The story of the Dreyfus affair is inherently compelling, and this is a solid (if not entirely factual) dramatization. From the beginning, the story leaves no doubt as to Dreyfus' innocence, and does not shy away from depicting the ruling officers as more concerned with preserving their power than with serving in the interest of France. The filmmakers do, however, shy away from pointing the finger at anti-Semitism, and that is the film's biggest failing. Still, if the film is not an indictment of anti-Semitism, it is an indictment of mob mentality, as the easily manipulated nature of public opinion is ridiculed time and again. Paul Muni, acting under heavy makeup, is good as Zola, even if one never loses sight of the fact that one is watching a performance, and Joseph Schildkraut won an Oscar for playing Dreyfus. - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-life-of-emile-zola-v29244/

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The story of Louis Pasteur 1936 - More fiction than fact

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028313/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,4

Director: William Dieterle
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise, Donald Woods

"Although there's a bit of fiction in The Story of Louis Pasteur, on the whole this is one of the more factually based of Hollywood's legendary biopics. Some incidents have been altered, others invented, and of course a great deal of telescoping of time has been employed, but Pasteur is still a valuable history lesson. Of much more importance, it's a thoroughly engaging dramatic experience, with a solid script that is filled with excitement, power, and suspense. True, some of the moments are a bit contrived, but one is more than willing to buy them for the payoff they bring. One of the more interesting aspects of the screenplay is that it doesn't spend much time bothering with Pasteur's early days. By the time we meet him, he has already created the process of pasteurization (which, ironically, he is probably most famous for among members of modern audiences), and the film concerns itself with his campaign for proper sterilization of medical equipment and for cures for anthrax and rabies. It sounds dry, but it's presented in a fascinating and involving manner by director William Dieterle, who also keeps things going at a rapid clip and doesn't let the film ever get bogged down. Pasteur's biggest asset, however, is its Academy Award-winning performance by the magnificent Paul Muni. It's a wonderful achievement, a flashy yet nuanced turn that brings life and vitality to the film while finding plenty of time for quiet, reflective moments. Muni finds a great foil in Fritz Leiber's perfectly played antagonist and gets beautiful support from Josephine Hutchinson." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-story-of-louis-pasteur-v47092/

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A Midsummer Night's dream 1935 - A quite satisfying Shakespearean adaptation

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026714/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
IMDB rating: 7,1

Directors: William Dieterle, Max Reinhardt
Main Cast: Dick Powell, Ross Alexander, Olivia de Havilland, Jean Muir, Verree Teasdale, James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, Anita Louise

"Max Reinhardt's legendary Hollywood Bowl production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was transferred to the screen by Warner Bros. in 1935. Like most of Shakespeare's comedies, the story contains several seemingly unrelated plotlines, all tied together by a single unifying event, in this instance the impending wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Although it is not without flaws, the 1935 version of A Midsummer Night's Dream is by and large a delight. Given the casting, it's inevitable that there would be some grumblings with this Dream; for one thing, there's an awful lot of Hollywood in here and very little English. But, surprisingly, some of those Hollywood names turn in exceptional performances. Top of the list is the thoroughly delightful James Cagney as Bottom, leader of the mechanicals. His enthusiastic, audacious, ultimately captivating turn brings abundant life to the film and makes one forget that, really, this man shouldn't be so at home with Shakespeare. As one of Cagney's cronies, Joe E. Brown is also a surprising pleasure, making up for the misfire of fellow mechanical Hugh Herbert. An extraordinarily young Olivia de Havilland is fetching and entirely winning as Hermia, and Victor Jory is just about perfect as Oberon. On the down side, there's Dick Powell, entirely out of his depth as Lysander. Most controversial is the Puck of Mickey Rooney, which some find charming and appealing and others find busy and annoying; suffice it to say that while he admirably captures the feeling of youthful and irreverent mischief that is at the heart of the character, he does so in a manner that is often forced. Although the direction is a tad uneven, the art direction and special effects (especially the nocturnal dance of the fairies) are breathtakingly beautiful. Mendelssohn's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' incidental music is masterfully orchestrated by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, while the cinematography by Hal Mohr earned the first write-in Academy Award in Hollywood history (Mohr had not been nominated due to hostilities arising from a recent industry strike). Considered a brave failure at the time of its first release, on a purely visual level A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the more satisfying Shakespearean cinemadaptations of Hollywood's golden age." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/a-midsummer-nights-dream-v32585/

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