Monthly Archives: July 2018

The American Duchess

Tomorrow I am beginning a new adventure – sailing up the Mighty Mississippi from New Orleans to Red Wing, Minnesota.  We’ll be back to original programming August 8.

In the meantime, I’m going to try a little experiment that I hope won’t alienate my loyal readers.  Every day I’ll post a picture or two from the voyage and a photo and little capsule review from whatever Pre-Code movie I’ve seen the previous day.

For example, above is our home for 23 days and below is a lobby card from Raoul Walsh’s Sailor’s Luck (1933).  I was looking forward to it because it stars James Dunn and Sally Eilers from Bad Girl (1931), which I loved.  The romance was OK if overburdened with stupid misunderstandings but all the comic relief got on my nerves.  Relatively highly rated so your mileage may vary.

Photos also available on my Instagram page @flickersintime.

The Rich Are Always With Us
Directed by Alfred E. Green
Written by Austin Parker from a novel by Ethel Pettit
1932/USA
First National Pictures (Warner Bros.)
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box]Tagline:  Witty, Naughty and Gay . . a spectacular story of how the other half lives – and loves – and lies.[/box]

Sophisticated love pentangle holds the interest with lush production values and some good acting.

Caroline Grannard (Ruth Chatterton) is the richest woman in the world.  She is being wooed by devil-may-care writer Julien Tierney (George Brent).  She flirts madly with him but will remain loyal to weak-willed husband Greg Grannard (John Miljan).  In the meantime, Caroline’s friend Marlbro (Bette Davis) is madly in love with Julien who won’t give her a tumble.  When Caroline discovers her husband’s affair with Allison Adair, she divorces him.

It would seem to be clear sailing for Julien and Caroline, but she cannot resist the urge to mother and bail out the hapless Greg.  Can Malbro exploit the situation to her advantage?

The story is sort of light weight but holds the interest for the film’s 71 minute running time. This was one of the first pairings of Davis with Brent, her favorite leading man, and they have an energy and charisma not matched by others in the cast.  I have never figured out why Chatterton was supposed to be so captivating but she sure does wear clothes well.

Trailer

The Cabin in the Cotton
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Written by Paul Green from a novel by Harry Harrison Kroll
1932/USA
First National Pictures (Warner Bros.)
First viewing/FilmStruc=

[box] Madge: I’d like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair.[/box]

Pre-Code shenanigans take second place to class conflict in the Deep South.

Sharecroppers, also known as “peckerwoods”, spend backbreaking hours picking cotton for the landowner.  The whole family participates, down to the youngest children.  At the end of each year, they are deeper in debt to the company store.

Sharecropper Tom Blake finds a way to send his eldest son Marvin (Richard Barthelmess) to school where he excels.  When Tom dies, it looks sure that Marvin will need to go back to chopping cotton.  However, Madge Norwood (Bette Davis) daughter of landowner Lane Norwood has a yen for Marvin and soon he is living with the Norwood’ and keeping their books.

Marvin is also expected to spy on the sharecroppers. who are suspected of stealing cotton.  For their part, Marvin’s extended family, which includes some of the main culprits, wants his help in selling the cotton in the big city.  Marvin’s final challenge comes when the sharecroppers burn down the company store and the ledgers therein.  Marvin has a copy of the books and is really caught between a rock and a hard place.  With Dorothy Jordan as the sharecropper who loves Marvin and a host of Warner Bros. character actors.

I’d heard of this mainly for the iconic line quoted above but its actually quite a good movie of the period.  The screen lights up whenever Davis appears but Barthelmess has more to do and does it quite well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpJuu22RNwY

Clip