Meet John Doe 1941 - Capra's dark and powerful comedy about the power of the press

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IMDB rating: 7,7

Director: Frank Capra
Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Spring Byington, James Gleason, Gene Lockhart, Rod La Rocque

"Meet John Doe is the Frank Capra movie that spoke most directly to the mood of the United States at the time that it was made. It's a fundamentally pessimistic film, without a positive resolution, and also an astonishingly mature movie - virtually groundbreaking as a 'message' movie aimed at a mainstream audience. Appearing in 1940, it closed out a decade that had been dominated by despair, disillusionment, dislocation (economic and personal), and desperation, a period characterized by a reliance on often inept government officials or duplicitous would-be leaders. All of these elements are present in Meet John Doe from its opening scene (a mass layoff at a newspaper), and they get addressed over and over again as the plot unfolds. The movie also had the courage to put some very attractive stars - Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck - in some very unattractive roles, as two people putting over a huge fraud on a public that trusts them. It wasn't considered a very successful film in its own time, being a little too dark and mature amid the ominous reality of the European war being waged at the time, but it is probably the best of Capra's 'message' pictures and his best slice-of-life drama other than It Happened One Night." - www.allmovie.com

Download links:

https://archive.org/download/meet_john_doe/meet_john_doe_512kb.mp4

The front page 1931 - The first version of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur Broadway hit

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 7,0

Director: Lewis Milestone
Main Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton, Walter Catlett, George E. Stone, Mae Clarke

"The original screen version of Ben Hecht's and Charles MacArthur's 1928 Broadway hit remains perhaps the most faithful to its theatrical origins - although, as an inside joke, several character names were altered to reflect the change in medium, e.g. 'George Kid Cukor' and 'Judge Mankiewicz'. But Walter Burns (Adolphe Menjou) is still attempting to keep star reporter Hildy Johnson (Pat O'Brien) from leaving his place at the paper in favor of marrying the upwardly mobile Peggy Grant (Mary Brian). And poor Earl Williams (George E. Stone's), whose upcoming hanging drives the plot, is still more or less ignored while the tough reporters crack wise. The overlapping lines are much in evidence here and obviously not the invention of Howard Hawks, whose gender-switch remake His Girl Friday (1941) may be faster but not nearly as gritty. Menjou, who actually fits his bombastic role better than perhaps expected, was actually a last minute replacement when the original choice, Louis Wolheim, suddenly died. Menjou went on to win an Academy Award nomination for his efforts. Producer Howard Hughes drew mightily from the Warner Bros. stock company and every role, no matter how small, is filled with such notorious scene stealers as Edward Everett Horton as the prissy Bensinger; Clarence H. Wilson as the inane sheriff, and Mae Clarke as the self-sacrificing streetwalker Molly Malloy. In fact; Miss Clarke conveys the character's desperation skillfully. According to Mary Brian, The Front Page was this charming actress' favorite film." - www.allmovie.com

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https://archive.org/download/TheFrontPage1931AdolpheMenjouPatOBrienLewismiles/TheFrontPage1931AdolpheMenjouPatOBrienLewismiles.avi

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Rain 1932 - Joan Crawford as Miss Sadie Thompson

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023369/
IMDB rating: 6,9

Director: Lewis Milestone
Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, William Gargan, Guy Kibbee

"The pleasures of the flesh confront the discipline of the Lord's teachings in this screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's story Miss Sadie Thompson. This is the first sound film adaptation of the play, where young MGM 'flapper' star Joan Crawford's turn as Miss Sadie Thompson revealed that she could play more than just a spirited modern girl. As the South Seas prostitute reformed and then violated by Walter Huston's fire-and-brimstone preacher, Crawford matches Huston's intensity and reveals the depth of emotions behind Sadie's slatternly, free-wheeling façade. The lush, nocturnal tropical setting with its copious precipitation and Polynesian drum music enhances the sensuality of the conflict between spirit and carnality, while director Lewis Milestone's mobile camera and telling visual touches (like Sadie's choice of shoes) offset the potential staginess of a theatrical adaptation. A flop in 1932, Rain has since recovered its artistic reputation, particularly for Crawford's then-shocking 'realism' as Sadie. The play was first adapted as Sadie Thompson in 1928 with Gloria Swanson, then re-made again in 1953 as Miss Sadie Thompson with Rita Hayworth." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/rain-v40130

Download links:

https://archive.org/download/LewisMilestonesRain1932/Rainvo_512kb.mp4

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