Monthly Archives: May 2013

The Black Room (1935)

Posted on May 24, 2013 | 2 comments

The Black RoomBlack Room Poster
Directed by Roy William Niell
1935/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing

 

Baron Gregor de Bergmann: Perhaps you will come back from the dead to kill me?
Anton de Bergmann: [Dying words] Even from the dead!

A chance to see Boris Karloff in not one but two roles in this gothic horror tale.  The story is set in an unidentified Eastern European country in the 18th or 19th Century.  Twins are born to a baron.  This is seen as a bad omen as the baron’s house was founded when a younger twin murdered an elder twin.  Legend has it that the lineage of the house will die off the same way when a younger twin kills the elder in the Black Room.  This room is sealed.

The boys, Gregor and Anton (both played by Boris Karloff) grow up, one evil and the other good.  Gregor, the evil twin, inherits the title; Anton has a paralyzed right arm and leaves the castle unable to bear the strain of the prophecy.  Years later, the deeply unpopular tyrant/murderer Baron Gregory summons Anton back to the castle, begging for his assistance.   So begins a tale of inexorable fate.  Also starring Marian Marsh as the love interest for both twins and a local soldier.

Black Room 1

It is fun to watch Karloff tackle these roles.  He not only delineates the good and evil twins admirably but also portrays one imitating the other.  All three characters are quite different. Otherwise, the movie is entertaining, if not earthshaking, and has a nice ironic ending.

Clip – Gregor AKA Boris Karloff on pears

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Posted in 1935

China Seas (1935)

Posted on May 23, 2013 | 3 comments

China Seaschina seas poster
Directed by Tay Garnett
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing

 

Jamesy MacArdle: Lovin’ you is the only decent thing I ever did in my entire life. And even that was a mistake.

Gable and Harlow reunite in another love-triangle story following their success in Red Dust (1932).  Clark Gable plays the skipper of a cruise liner/freighter on the China Sea.  The vessle is carrying a hidden gold shipment.  His girl Dolly “China Doll” Portland (Jean Harlow) has tagged along, mostly to stay in his hair it seems.  At the last minute, Sybil (Rosalind Russell) an old love of the captain’s from his days in England, now widowed, boards the ship.  The final main character is Jamesy MacArdle (Wallace Beery), whom we soon learn is the leader of a gang of modern-day Malaysian pirates.  When Gable starts paying attention to Sybil, China Doll first acts up and then gets revenge.  With Lewis Stone as a cowardly officer, C. Aubrey Smith as a ship’s company executive, and Robert Benchley as a drunk.

china seas 1

I thought this was entertaining though I wasn’t blown away or anything.  The movie has plenty of action including a convincing typhoon (two stuntmen were nearly killed as they were washed away by 50 tons of water in the studio) and the pirate attack.  Gable, Harlow, and Beery give good solid performances.  If I had not known that the actress playing Sybil was Rosalind Russell, I might not have known her.  She puts on an English accent (the only one of the American to do so, though I think all were supposed to be English) and her face looks somehow different.  Maybe it was the makeup.

I will use this as the opportunity to give my rant on “comic drunks.”  I find them terribly annoying.  This film has Robert Benchley staggering across the screen and slurring a line or two at least every five minutes.  Nothing he does advances the plot in any way.  I find constantly inebriated people more to be pitied than laughed at, and this stuff just makes me mad.  I have a similar reaction to “humor” that relies on a “comic stutterer”.  It was surely a different time.

Clip – Gable and Harlow

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Posted in 1935

The Little Colonel (1935)

Posted on May 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

The Little Colonellittle_colonel poster
Directed by David Butler
1935/USA
Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing

 

Walker: Looks like this old house ain’t gonna be lonesome no more.

This Shirley Temple film is memorable for a couple of fantastic tap dance sequences with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and a choral number at an African-American baptism.

It is 1870’s Kentucky.  When Elizabeth Lloyd elopes with a Northerner, her proud rebel father (Lionel Barrymore), Colonel Lloyd, disowns her.  Six years later Elizabeth and her husband Jack Sherman go out West to make their fortune and their daughter Lloyd (Shirley Temple) Sherman is made an honorary colonel by an adoring outpost regiment.  Mother and daughter return to Kentucky while father searches for a property to invest in.  Although  the Colonel is still not speaking to his daughter, little Lloyd rapidly wins the old man’s heart.  Can she bring her mother and grandfather together?  With Bill Robinson as Walker, the Colonel’s servant, and Hattie McDaniel as Mom Beck, Elizabeth’s nursemaid and cook.

Little colonel 1

The Colonel is portrayed as a cranky, angry old man and he frequently denigrates Walker, who fortunately responds with perfect dignity.  The general portrayal of African-Americans in the film is of its time.  That said, Hattie McDaniel and especially Bill Robinson are the standouts in the picture, which is worth seeing just to see Robinson dance.  The film ends with a brief Technicolor sequence.

Shirley and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson tap up the stairs

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Alice Adams (1935)

Posted on May 22, 2013 | 4 comments

Alice AdamsAlice Adams Poster
Directed by George Stevens
1935/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing

 

Virgil Adams: Why, you think you’re going to be pushed right spang up against a wall – you can’t see any way out, or any hope at all – then something you never counted on turns up – and you kind of squeeze out of it, and keep on going.

This romantic drama made me get pretty darn misty.  Katharine Hepburn plays Alice Adams, daughter of a working class family, who hides her origins under a facade of “quality” and a nervous laugh.  Her mother (Ann Shoemaker) is constantly after her father (Fred Stone) for “not making something of himself” and calling him a failure for not giving his children what they deserve.  She eventually nags him so much that he quits his job and unwisely opens a glue factory to exploit a formula he developed while working for his employer.

We see Alice suffer the youthful humiliations of being roundly snubbed at a society party, where she appears in a two-year-old dress and wearing hand-picked bunch of violets instead of orchids like the other girls.  But it is here that she meets a wealthy young man (Fred MacMurray).   She continues to play her society act until the fateful evening she must bring him home to meet her parents.

Alice Adams 1

I liked the actors who played Alice’s parents nearly as much as Katherine Hepburn.  They seemed very believable in their roles.  Fred MacMurray played himself but how young he was!  Katharine Hepburn makes you embarrassed along with her at the dance and then convinces as a girl who is desperately acting a part.  I was surprised to learn that this film was a success during the Depression.  It’s not the escapist fare I am used to for 1935.

Alice Adams was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actress.

Clip

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Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)

Posted on May 21, 2013 | 2 comments

Charlie Chan in ParisCharlie Chan in Paris Poster
Directed by Lewis Seiler
1935/USA
Fox Film Corporation
First viewing

 

 

Charlie Chan: Joy in heart more desirable than bullet.

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) visits Paris to investigate a bond forging scheme and meets up with a couple of murders in the process.

Charlie Chan in Paris 1

This is a pretty good entry in the mystery series.  I was interested to see Erik Rhodes in the role of a bank employee and usually drunk.  I had never seen him in anything but the two Astaire/Rogers movies in which plays comic Italians. He’s OK but his material doesn’t let him be very funny.

Clip

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Roberta (1935)

Posted on May 21, 2013 | 6 comments

RobertaRoberta Poster
Directed by William A. Seiter
1935/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
Repeat viewing

 

[box] I won’t dance, why should I?/ I won’t dance, how could I? I won’t dance/ Merci beaucoup, I know that music leads the way to romance/ So if I hold you in my arms I won’t dance —  “I Won’t Dance”, lyrics by by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh[/box]

Astaire and Rogers are fine in supporting roles in this screen adaptation of a Broadway musical penned by Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Otto Harbach.

Roberta is the chicest of Parisian fashion houses.   John (Randolph Scott), a sports hero who knows nothing about fashion inherits it from his Aunt Minnie who founded the business.  He becomes partners with his aunt’s assistant and house designer Stephanie (Irene Dunne), a deposed Russian princess.  The “Countess Scharwenka” (Ginger Rogers) is an important client and leading nightclub entertainer.  It turns out that she is actually Liz, a boyhood neighbor of bandleader Huck (Fred Astaire).  Liz gets Huck work in her act and John and Stephanie fall in love, not without many misadventures along the way.

 

Roberta 1

As usual, Fred and Ginger put a smile on my face.  Ginger is particularly good here as the fake countess, complete with Polish accent.  Irene Dunne is in top form both as an actress and a singer.  Even Randolph Scott cracks a smile and loosens up a bit.  Some beautiful standards came out of this: “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” ; “I’ll Be Hard to Handle”; “Lovely to Look At”; and “I Won’t Dance.”  All the lovely 30’s dresses are an additional bonus.

“I Won’t Dance” – And he can play the piano like that!

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Posted in 1935, Movie Reviews

Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)

Posted on May 21, 2013 | 10 comments

Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the AgesIntolerance Poster
Directed by D. W. Griffith
1916/USA
Triangle Film Corporation/Wark Producing
Repeat viewing
#5 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
IMDb users say 7.9; I say 5.0

 

Prince Belshazzar: [to his princess beloved] The fragrant mystery of your body is greater than the mystery of life.

My definition of a movie I’m glad I don’t have to see again before I die:  any 3+ hour D.W. Griffith silent epic.  I already knew that bad things happen to good people, thank you very much.  Why did you have to take so long to make your point, Mr. Griffith?

I will dispense with a plot summary.  It is sufficient to note that there are four stories linked by an image of Lillian Gish as the eternal mother endlessly rocking a cradle.  The stories take place in ancient Babylon; New-Testament Israel; 16th Century France; and modern-day New York.  Most of them end very badly indeed for the protagonists. There is a last-minute rescue in one of the stories so we don’t all go out and commit suicide.

Intolerance 1

To be fair, this film obviously represented an important technical achievement for its time. There are also moments of some beauty.  For me these are overshadowed by the general tedium and Griffith’s infantilization of women.

All Griffith’s women leads have been directed to prance around and pull “cute” faces – that is when they are not weeping.  Even the Mountain Girl, who shows some bravery and initiative, behaves more like an eight-year-old tomboy than a woman warrior. I found Mae Marsh particularly annoying, though she can also be very touching as well.  Griffith was lucky to find Lillian Gish, who always rises above her material.

I admit that I am influenced by my prejudice against epics and spectaculars in general.  It seems to me that the more extras appear in a movie the less I like it, with some rare exceptions.  Your mileage may vary.

Restoration Trailer

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Movie Reviews

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If You Could Only Cook (1935)

Posted on May 20, 2013 | 2 comments

If You Could Only CookIf You Could Only Cook Poster
Directed by William A. Sieter
1935/USA
Columia Pictures Corporation
First viewing

 

[box] Joan Hawthorne: Say… can you buttle?[/box]

In this pleasant romantic comedy, Jim Buchanan (Herbert Marshall), a young automobile magnate, is soon to wed a gold-digging socialite.  His innovative designs are being rejected by the Board of his company.  He walks out in a huff and meets Joan (Jean Arthur) leafing through the want ads on a park bench.  Joan assumes Jim is out of work too and when she spots an ad for a cook-butler couple suggests they try for the job.  They are hired and later discover the boss (Leo Carrillo) is an ex-bootlegger gangster.  Naturally, they fall in love but their potential romance is prey to several misunderstandings.

IfYouCouldOnlyCook1

I enjoyed this film, mostly thanks to the charm and appeal of its stars.  I can never help rooting for Jean Arthur.  The DVD is part of the “Icons of Screwball Comedy” set.  I think it is misadvertised, being more of a true romantic comedy with plenty of sentiment and little wise cracking.

In England, Columbia promoted the film as a Frank Capra production. Capra, the top director at the studio sued Columbia for unlawful use of his name. The parties settled.  Jean Arthur went on to star in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, the next film Capra directed at the studio.

Clip

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Posted in 1935, Movie Reviews

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Peter Ibbetson (1935)

Posted on May 18, 2013 | 6 comments

Peter IbbetsonPeter Ibbetson poster
Directed by Henry Hathaway
1935/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing
#100 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2013 Edition)

 

 

“The wretcheder one is, the more one smokes; and the more one smokes, the wretcheder one gets—a vicious circle.” ― George du Maurier, Peter Ibbetson

This unusual romantic fantasy features some beautiful expressionistic cinematography by Charles Lang and music by Ernest Toch.  Whether the fantasy quite works is a matter of opinion I suppose.

The story begins with two playmates, the boy Gogo and girl Mimsy, who are English expatriates in Paris.  They bicker as children do.  Then Gogo’s mother dies and Mimsy grieves with him.  Probably the most wrenching scene in the entire film is when Gogo’s uncle comes to take him away to England over the heartrending protests of both children.

Segue to perhaps 20 years later and Gogo, now called Peter (Gary Cooper), is an architect in London.  He suffers from a pervasive sense of emptiness that he cannot pinpoint.  He wants to quit his job but his boss convinces him to take a holiday in Paris instead.  There, he visits the house where he grew up, remembers his time with Mimsy again, and realizes the source of his sadness.

He is recalled to England to design a new stables for a Lord and his Lady in Yorkshire. There he meets Mary, the Duchess of Towers (Ann Harding).  They are strangely drawn to each other and discover they share the same dreams at night.  I will stop the plot summary to avoid spoilers but suffice it to say that nothing can separate these two in their dreams any more in life or after death.   The photographic effects come in particularly during extended dream sequences.

Peter Ibbetson 3

I enjoyed the film but it does require a total suspension of disbelief.  Also, although I like both of them, Cooper and Harding, two very grounded earth-bound actors, were perhaps not the best choices for these roles.  The first part of the film with the children and the development of the feelings between the adults worked better than the fantasy for me.

Clip

 

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1935, Movie Reviews

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The Ghost Goes West (1935)

Posted on May 17, 2013 | 4 comments

The Ghost Goes Westghostgoeswest poster
Directed by René Clair
1935/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing

 

Murdoch Glourie (The Ghost): I hate America. It’s worse than the first day of battle.

This enjoyable and atmospheric romantic comedy/fantasy film is a bit reminiscent in tone to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.  It was the highest grossing film of 1936 in Great Britain.

The Glouries and the McGlaggens are two ancient feuding Scottish families.  In the 18th Century, the Laird of the Glouries sends his womanizing son Murdoch (Robert Donat) off to the battlefield to avenge the honor of the Glouries on the McGlaggens.  Murdoch is killed before he can do this and is doomed to wander Glourie castle until he can find a McGlaggen and get him to apologize and admit the superiority of the Glouries.

In 1935, Donald Glourie (also Robert Donat) is broke and living in the castle which he cannot sell because it is haunted.  Wealthy American Peggy Martin (Jean Peters) discovers the castle and talks her father (Eugene Pallette) into buying it and rebuilding it in Florida.  Donald is smitten with Peggy at first sight but is shy.  Murdoch, the ghost, has no such problems.  The ghost keeps things lively both on the sea voyage to America and after arrival.

GHOST GOES WEST

Robert Donat is, as usual, excellent and very appealing and all the other performances are fine.  Clair has deftly captured the fantasy and historical elements and kept the comedy sparkling.  There is some good satire on American media frenzy and consumerism at the end.  Recommended.

Clip available on TCM:  http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/409420/Ghost-Goes-West-The-Movie-Clip-Enthusiasm-Controllers.html

 

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Posted in Movie Reviews