Category Archives: Movie Reviews

La Marseillaise
Directed by Jean Renoir
Written by Jean Renoir, Carl Koch and N. Martel-Dreyfus
1938/France
Compagnie Jean Renoir, Societé d’Exploitation et de Distribution de Films (SEDIF), Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT)
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant (free to Prime members)

[box] Arise, children of the Fatherland,/ The day of glory has arrived!/ Against us tyranny/ Raises its bloody banner — “La Marseillaise”, French lyric by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle[/box]

I love Jean Renoir but the first time I heard of this film was in doing research for my 1938 viewing.  It did not disappoint though I would probably have appreciated it more if I knew more about French history.

Renoir tells the story of the first three years of the French Revolution through stories of common citizens of Marseilles who become soldiers of the Revolution, the French court, and French aristocrats in exile.  The birth and popularization of the French anthem are a running thread.  With Renoir’s brother Pierre as King Louis XVI, Louis Jouvet as a Parliamentary official, and Julien Carrette in a tiny role as a soldier.

I think Renoir excels with character-driven pieces so this does not reach the top-tier of his work for me.  However, he was a genius at choreographing large groups of people so that each one shines as an individual and this is fully in evidence here.  This was probably a patriotic boost for the French as war anxiety was reaching its peak.

Clip – The People’s army marches off to Paris to the first strains of “La Marseillaise” — the use of the details and camera in the first part of this are just masterful – subtitles unnecessary

Call the Mesquiteers
Directed by John English
Written by Luci Ward and Bernard McConville based on characters created by William Colt MacDonald
1938/USA
Republic Pictures
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video (Free to Prime members)

I try not to let a year go by without watching at least one of its “B” Westerns.  At only 55 minutes, this one made ideal bedtime watching.  I was surprised to find out The Three Mesquiteers were not traditional Western heroes.  The story is a contemporary one about some train robbers that carjack the Mequiteers’ truck and use it to attempt a getaway. After the robbers are killed and the truck is apprehended, the men must flee to clear their own names.

This one starts out strong but eventually gets bogged down with one too many badly choreographed fist fights and Max Trehune’s ventriloquism.

Clip – credits and opening

Four Men and a Prayer
Directed by John Ford
Written by Richard Sherman, Sonya Levien, et al
1938/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] I love making pictures but I don’t like talking about them. — John Ford[/box]

This is not one of the films that made John Ford an auteur.

In India, Col. Loring Leigh (C. Aubrey Smith) is accused of issuing an order that led a squadron of men to their deaths.  He is found guilty and dishonorably discharged.  Leigh gathers his four sons around him in England to start an investigation to prove his innocence.  Before they can start, Leigh is mysteriously shot and all his papers stolen. Although the coroner rules Leigh’s death a suicide, the sons are convinced it was murder and scatter to the four corners of the earth to apprehend the culprit.  I won’t give anything away but it all has something to do with arms dealing – a hot topic in 1938.  With George Sanders and David Niven as two of the sons, Loretta Young as the diplomat son’s girlfriend, Alan Hale as an arms merchant, and John Carradine as a Latin American general.

Another “OK” movie from the bottom of my 1938 To Watch list that didn’t really grab me. All the performances are good though Loretta Young got on my nerves more than she usually does.

Wishing everyone everywhere peace, love and understanding.

Cartoon short — 8 min. 45 sec.

Algiers
Directed by Clarence Brown
Written by John Howard Lawson and James M. Cain based on the novel by Henri La Barthe
1938/USA
Walter Wanger Productions
Repeat viewing; YouTube

[box] Gaby: If I can’t see Paris when I open my eyes in the morning, I want to go right back to sleep.[/box]

This remake of Pepe Le Moko does not hold a candle to the original.

This film is virtually a shot-for-shot remake of Pepe Le Moko (1937).  Only the ending has been slightly changed.  Briefly, Pepe Le Moko (Charles Boyer) is a notorious jewel thief who is hiding out in the Casbah of Algiers where he is surrounded by local friends and impossible to apprehend.  Inspector Slimane (Joseph Calleia) is biding his time, knowing that Pepe will eventually crack.  To speed the process along, Slimane introduces Pepe to Gaby (Hedy Lamarr), who suddenly makes him very homesick for Paris.  With Alan Hale as a fence and Gene Lockhart as an informant.

It is eerie how much this film looks like the original.  Key scenes are staged exactly the same.  However, Charles Boyer is no Jean Gabin and cannot convey his sense of longing and frustration.  In addition, acting was not Hedy Lamarr’s forte.  Walter Wanger attempted to destroy all copies of Pepe Le Moko at the time this was made.  Fortunately for us, he was not able to do so.

Algiers was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor (Boyer), Best Supporting Actor (Lockhart), Best Cinematography (James Wong Howe), and Best Art Direction (Alexander Toluboff).

Clip – Boyer and Lamarr

Carefree
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Written by Allan Scott and Ernest Pagano from a story by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde
1938/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Must you dance every dance with the same fortunate man?/ You have danced with him since the music began./ Won’t you change partners and dance with me? (“Change Partners”, lyric by Irving Berlin)[/box]

The repartee of Astaire and Rogers kind of jumps the shark here but there is still some fantastic dancing in this, the eighth of their pairings.

Stephen Arden’s (Ralph Bellamy) fiancée Amanda (Ginger Rogers) keeps breaking their engagement.  So Stephen seeks the help of his friend psychoanalyst Tony Flagg (Fred Astaire).  When Amanda claims she doesn’t dream, Tony loads her up on dream inducing foods.  Amanda dreams of Tony and immediately falls in love.  She can’t tell Tony so she makes up a very disturbing dream.  Tony puts her under anesthetic (a form of hypnosis??) but before he can get the truth out of her she has to leave for a broadcast.  In her trance, Amanda creates havoc.  The story continues in this vein for the remainder of the movie.

The plot requires Ginger Rogers to act goofy throughout and, while she is good at this, the movie just lacks the sparkle and sophistication of the earlier, better films.  And what can you say about “The Yam” number featuring a song so stupid that Astaire refused to sing it?Still, “Change Partners” in which Fred hypnotizes Ginger is one of the most romantic of their ballroom dances.

Contributors to Carefree were nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of:  Best Art Direction; Best Original Song (“Change Partners”); and Best Original Score.

Clip – Fred hypnotizes Ginger while dancing

The Divorce of Lady X
Directed by Tim Whelan
Written by Lajos Biró, Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis from a story by Gilbert Wakefield
1938/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus

[box] Logan: Modern woman has no loyalty, decency, or justice; no endurance, reticence, or self-control; no affection, fine feelings, or mercy. In short, she is unprincipled, relentless, and exacting; idle, unproductive, and tedious; unimaginative, humorless, and vain; vindictive, undignified, and weak. And the sooner man takes out his whip again, the better for sanity and progress.[/box]

Although it has one of those “idiot” plots, this is enjoyable for its acting.  It is also the first British Technicolor movie I have seen.

It is a foggy day in London town when divorce lawyer Everard Logan (Laurence Olivier) checks into the Park Plaza hotel.  Attendees of a costume ball at the hotel have been advised that they should not attempt to drive home in the thick fog.  The management asks Logan if he will allow some of the stranded guests to overnight in his suite’s sitting room. Logan refuses but, through sheer unmitigated gall, Leslie Steele (Merle Oberon) manages to overnight in Logan’s bed while Logan is stuck in the sitting room.  Despite her bad behavior, the couple naturally fall madly in love over breakfast.  Leslie comes home and tells her father, who of course is the judge in Logan’s upcoming trial, that he is the man she will marry.

The next day Lord Mere (Ralph Richardson) consults with Logan because he has decided to divorce his wife, the notorious Lady Mere (Binnie Barnes) who was spotted leaving a room in the Park Plaza shortly before a man also exited.  Logan comes to the instantaneous conclusion that he was that man.  When he later confronts Leslie about this she plays along.  Well, the course of true love never did run smooth.

There is nothing wrong with this film but there is nothing outstanding about it either.  I found Oberon’s character quite irritating.  But she does look lovely and it is good to see Olivier as comic leading man.

Clip