Monthly Archives: May 2013

Rio Grande (1950)

Posted on May 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

Rio Grande
Directed by John Ford
1950/USA
Republic Pictures/Argosy Pictures
Repeat viewing
#227 of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

 

[box]Mrs. Kathleen York: To my only rival, the United States Cavalry.[/box]

Colonel Kirby York (John Wayne) commands a cavalry troop fighting Apaches.  His son Jeff, who has just flunked out of West Point and enlisted as a soldier, joins the company.  Kirby has not seen the boy in 15 years – neither expect the boy to get special treatment. Soon, Kirby’s estranged wife Kathleen (Maureen O’Hara) arrives, determined to buy her son out of his enlistment.  The couple split after Kirby followed orders to burn his wife’s plantation during the Civil War but it is clear they still have feelings for each other.  With Victor McLaughlen as a comic drill sergeant; Harry Carey Jr. and Ben Johnson as Jeff’s fellow recruits; and the Sons of the Pioneers to provide some songs.

It’s 1001 Movie Sunday, and the Random Number Generator picked a good one.  This is the third in John Ford’s Apache Trilogy.  Was there ever a better director at filming wide open spaces?  Monument Valley doesn’t really need color in Ford’s hands — it looks gorgeous.  I find that the older I get the more John Wayne grows on me.  He is excellent in this film – his eyes registering pride, love, and concern for his son and love for his wife as well as quiet courage and determination.  O’Hara and Wayne are another of the great screen couples and are touching here.  Don’t go into this one expecting a lot of action, though there is a battle with the Indians near the end, but if you are looking for a classic character-driven drama you could do worse than to try this.

Re-release trailer

 

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1950, Movie Reviews

Mad Love (1935)

Posted on May 4, 2013 | 4 comments

Mad Love
Directed by Karl Freund
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing

 

 

[box] Doctor Gogol: [despairingly] I, a poor peasant, have conquered science! Why can’t I conquer love?[/box]

Brilliant surgeon Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre) has become obsessed with love for grand guignol actress Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake).  Her husband is great concert pianist Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive).  When Steven’s hands are mangled in a train wreck, Gogol attaches the hands of an executed knife-throwing murderer.  Maddened by Yvonne’s continuing rejection of him, Gogol then conceives an insane plan to get Stephen out of the way.

When this movie works, it works very well.  Peter Lorre is always interesting in this and sometimes simply brilliant.  The climactic scenes are unforgettable.  There is also some excellent expressionist camera work by Gregg Tolland.  The problem is, once again, that the film is bogged down by unnecessary comic relief by Ted Healy (ex of Ted Healy and his Stooges) as a reporter and May Beatty as the doctor’s drunken housekeeper.  Despite its flaws, this is well worth seeing just for Lorre’s performance in his U.S. screen debut.

Trailer

 

 

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A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

Posted on May 4, 2013 | 2 comments

A Tale of Two Cities
Directed by Jack Conway
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing

 

 

[box] Knitting woman (tricoteuse): [the guillotine strikes once more] I lost a stitch. Cursed Aristocrats![/box]

This is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Dickens novel.  The evil Marquis St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone) denounced Dr. Manette and had him imprisoned without trial in the Bastille for 18 years.  Manette is finally freed through the efforts of the seditious De Farges and is reunited with his daughter Lucie.  Lucie and Manette travel by ship to England and meet Charles Darnay on the journey.  Darnay is the free-thinking nephew of the Marquis who has arranged that he be framed and arrested for treason upon arrival.  Darnay is a acquited through the efforts of barrister Stryver and his associate, the dissolute but clever Sidney Carton.  Carton and Darnay both fall in love with Lucie, while Lucie’s heart belongs to Darnay whom she marries.  A few years later after the French Revolution, Darnay is in danger of the guillotine due to his aristocratic ancestry and the ills done by the Marquis to a number of poor people.

1935 was quite the year for big-budget literary adaptations and this is a fine one.  It is rescued from an excess of sentiment (also present in the novel) by the fantastic performance of Ronald Colman as Sidney Carton.  His eyes are wonderfully expressive and he delivers his dialogue with just the right touch of irony.  Among the supporting players, I particularly like Basil Rathbone as the supercilious Marquis and Edna May Oliver as Lucie’s maid, Miss Pross.  Oliver has a really touching and funny scene near the end in which she defends the interests of her mistress.  MGM spared no expense on the settings or costumes.  Recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXrkhnn3BQ

Re-release trailer

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Posted in 1935, Movie Reviews

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Favorite Films of 1934

Posted on May 3, 2013 | 6 comments

I watched 53 films that were released in 1934.  A complete list can be found here:  http://www.imdb.com/list/fmXidXs5FOE/?publish=save.  These were my ten favorites.

Note:  I was unable to get a copy of The Merry Widow (1934), directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier for viewing this time around.  I loved the film when I saw it several years ago and am fairly confident it would have placed in the top five if I had seen it.

1. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra):The Academy got it right when it made this film the first to win all five major awards.  It has rarely been equalled and never bettered as a romantic comedy. (#86 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

It Happened One Night

2.  L’Atalante (Jean Vigo) – Vigo captures the intensity of young love in images and sound in this masterpiece.  (#83 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

L'Atalante

3.  The Thin Man (W. S. Van Dyke):  The mystery is just an excuse to showcase the fantastic repartee of Myrna Loy and William Powell, the best screen couple of all time.  (#87 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

The Third Man

4.  The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich):  Add snappy dialogue to the elegance of Astaire and Rogers and you have a timeless entertainment.

The Gay Divorcee

5.  Les Misérables (Raymond Bernard):  Harry Bauer’s unforgettable performance as Jean Valjean is the highlight of this sumptuous and comprehensive adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel.

Les Miserables 6

6.  A Story of Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu):  A look at what it means to be a father through the story of an actor who has always hidden his identity from his son.

A Story of Floating Weeds

7.  Of Human Bondage (John Cromwell):  This sad story of a cripple’s obsession with a manipulative tart made Bette Davis a star.  Leslie Howard is no slouch in it either. I didn’t imagine that this film would make my Top 10 list after I viewed it but now see that it was exceptional, one of the very best of the year.

Of-Human-Bondage

8.  The Scarlet Pimpernel (Harold Young):  Leslie Howard is fantastic as the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney and the daring Scarlet Pimpernel in this entertaining adventure.

Scarlet Pimpernel 9.  Treasure Island (Victor Fleming): Fun adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel with some of the vilest pirates around and a good performance by Jackie Cooper as the young hero.

Treasure Island 2

10.  Imitation of Life (John Stahl):  One of the first studio films to portray African-Americans as complex characters with emotional lives of their own, the performances of Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington are must-sees.

imitation-of-life-3

Honorable Mentions:  La mujer del puerto  and, as previously mentioned, The Merry Widow

My rankings of 1934 films on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list:

1.  It Happened One Night

2.  L’Atalante

3.  The Thin Man

15.  The Black Cat (after The Scarlet Empress)

37.  It’s a Gift (after Manhattan Melodrama)

39.  Judge Priest (after A Mother Should Be Loved)

I will review Triumph of the Will as part of my 1935 viewing.

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Posted in 1934, Movie Reviews, Top Ten Lists

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Three Songs About Lenin (1934)

Posted on May 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

Three Songs About Lenin (“Tri pesni o Lenine”)
Directed by Dziga Vertov
1934/USSR
Mezhrabpomfilm
Second viewing

 

[box] We loved him as we love our steppes/No, even more!/We’d gladly give up our tents and steppes,/And sacrifice our lives/If we could only bring him back.  –from the Second Song[/box]

 

This is a documentary, or rather a tribute, prepared on the tenth anniversary of Lenin’s death.  The film is structured around three anonymous songs from the eastern USSR.  The first “song” celebrates the lifting of the veil for women.  Most of the images are from Central Asia and show women first oppressed and then in new roles.  The second “song” shows the great Soviet people mourning the death of their leader.  The third “song” glorifies Soviet labor and the electrification of the USSR.

If you want to find out what the cult of personality is, this would be a good place to start! The praise heaped on Lenin is more like that usually reserved for a god than a father of his country. There are some interesting images here but overall it was disappointing.  Vertov’s The Man with the Movie Camera is one of my favorite films but clearly by this time he was hamstrung by the dictates of socialist realism.

With this I have completed my viewing of 1934 films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIdeEgY4LTo

Short excerpt

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A Night at the Opera (1935)

Posted on May 2, 2013 | 6 comments

A Night at the Opera
Directed by Sam Wood
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Repeat viewing
#90 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Otis B. Driftwood: I saw Mrs. Claypool first. Of course, her mother really saw her first but there’s no point in bringing the Civil War into this.[/box]

Let’s see, is there a plot?  Well, Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) has hired Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) to get her into high society, an unlikely proposition if ever there was one.  His brilliant idea is for her to invest in the New York Opera.  In the meantime, Fiorello (Chico Marx) and Tomasino (Harpo Marx) are promoting a tenor (Allan Jones) who is in love with a soprano played by Kitty Carlisle.  They all end up on a ship at some point and hilarity ensues.

This is the one with the “sanity clause” contract bit and the stateroom scene.  There are a lot of laughs but perhaps a little too much singing.  As usual, my favorite part of any Marx Brothers movie is when Chico plays the piano.  Here he does a rendition of “All I Do Is Dream of You” to a group of enthralled children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUS-FnxUJb8

Re-release trailer

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Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Posted on May 2, 2013 | 10 comments

Mutiny on the Bounty
Directed by Frank Lloyd
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Repeat viewing
#89 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

[box] Captain William Bligh: I’ll live to see you – all of you – hanging from the highest yardarm in the British fleet.[/box]

In 1787, the HMS Bounty departs Portsmouth for Tahiti, carrying a crew largely composed of impressed sailors.  The ship is helmed by Captain William Bligh (Charles Laughton).  His second in command is Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) .  Christian befriends a first-voyage midshipman Roger Byam (Franchot Tone).  Bligh’s idea of enforcing discipline is with the lash and he also keeps his men on tight rations to line his own pockets.  When Christian takes Bligh to task for this, Bligh plots revenge.  Bligh’s cruelty only increases on the return journey from Tahiti.  Christian then takes matters into his own hands and casts Bligh and the men loyal to him adrift in a launch, but Bligh refuses to admit defeat.

As soon as I heard Herbert Stothart’s rousing score coming up under the credits of this big-budget MGM production, I had that comforting feeling that this movie would be, if nothing else, entertaining and I was right.  The script moves along at a good pace and the production values are first-rate.  We are even treated to location shots in French Polynesia.  Kudos must go to Charles Laughton for one of his very best performances.  I always enjoy his work but usually feel like I am watching an actor wink at the audience.  Here, he plays it very straight and is excellent. Highly enjoyable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtmV2tpbnjA

Trailer

 

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

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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Posted on May 1, 2013 | 4 comments

The Bride of Frankenstein
Directed by James Whale
1934/USA
Universal Pictures
Repeated viewing
#92 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

[box] The Monster: Alone: bad. Friend: good![/box]

Neither Frankenstein nor his Monster were killed at the end of Frankenstein.  The Monster is only looking for a friend but meets with terror everywhere he turns.  Is the solution to build him a Bride from dead body parts?  The nutty Dr. Pretorius thinks so!  With Boris Karloff as the Monster, Colin Clive as Frankenstein, Valerie Hobson as Elizabeth, Ernest Thesinger as Dr. Pretorius, Dwight Frye as miscellaneous ghouls, and Una O’Connor as Minnie.

I may be in the minority in preferring the 1931 original to this sequel.  This one is just a little bit too arch for me and the original didn’t have all that shreeking by Una O’Connor.  That said, Karloff is wonderful despite the ill-advised decision to have him speak, the lighting and sets are atmospheric, and the special effects are first-rate for their time.  I can have fun every time I come back to this classic.

Re-release trailer

 

 

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Carnival in Flanders (1935)

Posted on May 1, 2013 | 2 comments

Carnival in Flanders (“La Kermesse héroïque”)
Directed by Jacques Feyder
1935/France/Germany
Films Sonores Tobis
First viewing

 

[box] “In this regard, the most hateful film is unarguably La Kermesse héroïque because everything in it is incomplete, its boldness is attenuated; it is reasonable, measured, its doors are half-open, the paths are sketched and only sketched; everything in it is pleasant and perfect.” — Francois Truffaut, The Films in My Life[/box]

A village in 17th Century Flanders in preparing for a carnival. Into the midst of this comes a contingent of occupying Spanish troops, who want to be housed for the night. The Burgermeister and other men, fearing rape and pillage, decide to lay low with the Burgermeister pretending to have died. The women, led by the Burgermeister’s wife, decide the proper course is to welcome the Spaniards with open arms. A bawdy good time is had by all.

A whole Flemish town was built in suburban Paris as the setting for this farce and it is certainly quite a spectacle. You can see Feyder’s inspiration from the paintings of Brueghels, who is a character in the film, in many of the crowd scenes. The acting is first-rate. I particularly liked Louis Jouvet as the crooked Spanish priest.

This was the kind of costume production that the French New Wave was rebelling against. It is now possible to enjoy both kinds of films and “pleasant and perfect” is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.

 

 

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The Bank Dick (1940)

Posted on May 1, 2013 | 2 comments

The Bank Dick
Directed by Edward F. Cline
1940/USA
Universal Pictures
Repeat viewing
#140 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

[box]Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch: [about Sousé] He makes me sick!

Elsie Mae Adele Brunch Sousé: Shall I bounce a rock off his head?

Agatha Sousé: Respect your father, darling. What kind of a rock?[/box]

Well, it’s time for another random film from the List and the Random Number Generator awarded me another chance at W.C. Fields!  Fields is Egbert Sousé (that’s SooSAY with an accent grave on the é), who supports his household consisting of mother-in-law, wife, and little daughter, all of whom hate him, by entering slogan contests or something.  He has an older daughter Myrtle (Una Merkel), who is engaged to Og Oggilby who works at the bank.  Sousé keeps regular business hours at the Black Pussy Saloon.  His life gets more exciting when he falls into jobs as a film director and then as a bank guard and when he counsels Og to embezzle money to invest in a goldmine.  With Shemp Howard as the bartender and Franklin Pangborn as a bank examiner.

This might be my favorite W.C. Fields film.  There is not too much slapstick and some genuinely funny lines.  The romance of the daughter is very cute (I love Una Merkel!) and there is a good car chase at the end.

Trailer

 

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