Tower of London Directed by Rowland V. Lee
Written by Robert N. Lee
1939/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Mord: [to Richard] You’re more than a king, more than a man. You’re a god to me![/box]
This fairly lame retelling of Richard III does not have nearly enough Karloff in it.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Basil Rathbone), eliminates the heirs that stand between himself and the throne with the help of his faithful giant Mord the executioner (Boris Karloff). On the margins, Richard prevents the love match of his niece and a courtier. With Vincent Price as Clarence, Ian Hunter as King Edward IV, and Barbara O’Neill as Queen Elyzabeth.
This is just barely OK. The good performances (Rathbone, Karloff, Price) are balanced out with some pretty pedestrian ones. I was expecting a horror angle and I didn’t get one. Karloff is effectively menacing but has very little on-screen time. The film is mainly a watered-down version of Shakespeare’s play with way too much corny romance tacked on.
Clip – drinking contest between Gloucester and Clarence (Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price)
Jamaica Inn Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Sidney Gilliat, Joan Harrison, et al adapted from the novel by Daphne du Maurier
1939/UK
Mayflower Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Title Card: “Oh Lord, we pray thee ~~ not that wrecks should happen ~~ but that if they do happen / Thou wilt guide them ~~ to the coast of Cornwall ~~ for the benefit of the poor inhabitants.”[/box]
This movie was much better than what I expected – which, by reputation, was very little.
Mary (Maureen O’Hara in her British film debut) has recently lost her mother and travels to England to live with her Aunt Patience at Jamaica Inn. The coach driver refuses to deliver her to her unsavory destination, however, and deposits her and her trunk at night in the road. Mary makes her way to the doorway of effete pleasure-lover Sir Humphrey Pengallen (Charles Laughton), who, noticing her beauty, welcomes her with open arms and takes her to the inn in his carriage. There Mary finds that her aunt is under the thumb of her husband Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks), who is the leader of a gang of cutthroats and wreck-robbers. Finally, she sees the gang attempt to hang Jem Trehearne (Robert Newton), a new member who is found with excess money in his pocket. Mary cuts him down and the two flee together, eventually into what they think is the safety of Sir Humphrey’s manse.
As an adventure/thriller goes, I thought this was an enjoyable film. Hitchcock hated it, though, and it certainly does not boast much of the Master’s characteristic style. You can see traces of it but his efforts to build suspense were doomed by Laughton’s desire to appear in most of the scenes in the picture. This proved to be irresistible because Laughton was the principal financier. Thus, a key plot twist is revealed much too early in the story. Laughton was also given wide latitude to ham it up which did not do him or the film any favors. Still, I’d rather see Laughton overact than most actors act and all the rest of the performances are excellent. There are some nice storms and other maritime effects. The 1939 British viewing public apparently ate it up too.
The movie is in the public domain and is available streaming on several sites including YouTube and Amazon Prime Instant.
The Rains Came Directed by Clarence Brown
Written by Philip Dunne and Julian Josephson from a novel by Louis Bromfield
1939/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Thomas ‘Tom’ Ransome: [Describing Ranchipur to Lady Edwina Esketh] See, in Ranchipur, the important things in life are the elemental things, such as crops, starvation, and weather. In Europe, when someone says “It looks like rain,” in all probability, he’s trying to make polite conversation. But here, where people die as easily as they’re born, they’re speaking in terms of life and death. You’ll see what I mean, if you’re still here when the rains come. You’ll see them overnight turn the fields, the gardens and the jungles from a parched and burning desert, into a mass of green that seems to live, to writhe and to devour the walls, the trees and the houses.[/box]
Despite some over the top melodrama at the end, I enjoyed this disaster/romantic drama..
(The fictional) Ranchipur province India is governed by a benevolent, progressive maharaja (H.B. Warner) and his wife (Maria Ouspenskaya). The disreputable painter Tom Ransome (George Brent) has lived on the fringes of the palace for several years. When Lord (Nigel Bruce) and Lady (Myrna Loy) Edwina Esketh arrive, Tom and the libertine Edwina apparently rekindle an old flame. But Edwina is soon distracted by Major Rama Safti (Tyrone Power), a noted physician and court favorite. She gets nowhere with the major until the rains come and an earthquake and dam failure inspire her to take pity on the sick and dieing. With some great character actors, including Joseph Schildkraut, Henry Travers, Mary Nash, Jane Darwell, and Laura Hope Crewes.
I think this would have been a more interesting story if it had been made outside the strictures of the Hayes Code. It was not bad as it was, containing many more wrinkles than I was able to include in my plot summary. It was not easy to buy Tyrone Power as an Indian. The rest of the cast was great and it was nice to see Myrna Loy back in a vamp role.
The Rains Came won an Oscar for its special effects. It was also nominated by the Academy in the categories of: Best Black and White Cinematography; Best Art Direction; Best Sound Recording; Best Film Editing; and Best Original Score (Alfred Newman).
The Man in the Iron Mask Directed by James Whale
Written by George Bruce based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas pére
1939/USA
Universal Pictures
First Viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video
Philippe: There is one law in life, my brother, that not even a king can escape… the law of retribution!
As swashbuckling costume drama goes, this one is OK.
Louis XIII’s wife gives birth to identical twin sons (both played as adults by Louis Hayward). Seeking to avoid strife over the succession to the throne, the king and his courtiers decide to turn one of the boys, Philippe, over to musketeer D’Artagnan (Warren William) to be raised. All are sworn to secrecy. Unbeknownst to the monarch, evil Fouquet (Joseph Schildkraut) has overheard the plan. Philippe grows up to be a brave, loyal man but Louis XIV, who becomes monarch as a child, is idle, vain, and heartless.
Louis’s grasping ways have caused him to be widely hated among the population. When Spanish princess Maria Theresa (Joan Bennett) comes to France to marry him, she loathes him as well. Louis is so unpopular that he fears he will be assassinated if he emerges to light a candle at the cathedral on his father’s name day. Fortuitously, Philippe is arrested for some crime and when the uncanny resemblance is discovered, Louis sends him out to take the risk for him. But Philippe easily makes peace with the assassins and captivates Maria Theresa. When Louis finally learns that Philippe is his brother, he imprisons him in the Bastille locked in an iron mask. How can justice and true love triumph? You can be sure swordplay is involved. With Alan Hale as one of the musketeers.
I went in with some trepidation because I couldn’t stand Louis Hayward’s mugging in the only other movie I’d seen him in. However, he is quite OK here and especially suited to the nasty, foppish Louis. Joseph Schildkraut, as usual, makes a really excellent villain. It drags a bit but there’s enough excitement to make it entertaining on balance.
Lud Guskin and Lucien Moraweck were nominated for the Best Original Score Oscar for this film.
Clip – scenes near end – Dwight Frye has a cameo as Fouquet’s valet at approx 3:45
Invisible Stripes Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Warren Duff and Jonathan Finn based on the book by Warden Lewis E. Lawes
1939/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Chuck Martin: [Bitterly to Clint] I’m gonna make them pay for every day I spent in that crummy stir![/box]
I thought this social drama was OK with a good cast.
Cliff Taylor (George Raft) and Chuck Martin (Humphrey Bogart) are prison pals although their attitudes couldn’t be more different. Cliff is determined to go straight upon release while Chuck is heading straight back to his gang. Cliff has the support of his mother (Flora Robson) and brother Tim (William Holden). Even so, nothing goes right for him. He soon loses his girl who can’t see life with an ex-con and his old job because as a parolee he is not allowed to drive. His efforts to secure work fail until finally he is forced to work with teenagers as a stock clerk. Tim is so disgusted with his own prospects and life’s unfairness to Cliff that he is tempted to turn to crime himself. Cliff will do anything to prevent his brother from suffering his own fate and reaches out to Chuck.
This is a solid movie though nothing I would seek out again. It made me wonder when American society lost all sympathy for prisoners. I don’t think such a film would be made today though the stakes in reintegrating released convicts are even higher.
The Spy in Black (AKA “U-Boat 29”) Directed by Michael Powell
Written by J. Storer Clousten, Emeric Pressburger, and Roland Pertwee
1939/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus
[box] Tagline: TODAY’S U-BOAT TERROR MAKES THIS THE YEAR’S TIMELIEST PICTURE![/box]
The performance of Conrad Veidt and some beautiful noirish camerawork under the direction of Michael Powell highlighted this unexpected gem.
In 1917, Captain Hardt (Veidt) is sent on a secret mission to the Orkney Islands where he is to rendezvous with a German agent masquerading as a schoolteacher (Valerie Hobson). Together they are to exploit intelligence gleaned from a British traitor to intercept the British fleet as it sails to Germany. But the mission is fraught with complications and twists, not the least is Hardt’s attraction to the schoolteacher.
I was really impressed with this one. Veidt is just fantastic as the spy of the title and the screenplay treats him with some nuance and even a little sympathy. The shots are glorious and I thought the ending was really suspenseful. Another highlight is the Miklos Rosca score. Not necessarily for thrillseekers but nevertheless warmly recommended.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9OMpPkPrB8
Clip – the accomplices meet – Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson
Babes in Arms Directed by Busby Berkeley
Written by Jack McGowan and Kay Van Riper based on the play by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart
1939/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental
#140 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Michael C. ‘Mickey’ Moran: No, no, no, judge! You don’t understand; she don’t understand, either. Oh, she don’t mean no harm to us, but… we’re not her kind of people – or yours, either. We belong in show business. We gotta start young so we can get some steel in our backbone. Well, gee, we’re developing. You couldn’t teach us a trade: we’ve GOT one. And you couldn’t do without it… Oh, we’re only kids now, but someday we’re gonna be the guys that make ya laugh and cry and think that there’s a little stardust left on life’s dirty old pan. Oh, she don’t understand: she’d put butterflies to work makin’ rubber tires![/box]
I love both movie musicals and Judy Garland but I couldn’t get very enthusiastic about this movie.
Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney) and Patsy Barton (Judy Garland) have grown up on the road with their vaudevillian parents Vaudeville has died and Mickey’s father (Charles Winninger) organizes a troupe to play in small towns. A busy body (Margaret Hamilton) wants to send all the teenage children to a work camp. Seeking to rescue his father, Mickey gets all his pals together to put on a show. With Guy Kibbee as a judge.
This is fine but aside from the standard “Where or When” (unfortunately not sung by Garland) and the “Good Morning” duet with Rooney and Garland the music is not memorable. It contains every cliché of the “let’s put on a show” genre, though to be fair a lot of these clichés either originated or were perfected here. Mickey Rooney’s impersonations get kind of old.
Amazingly, the Academy nominated Mickey Rooney for Best Actor for this role among a prestigious field. Roger Edens and George Stoll were nominated for a Best Music, Scoring Oscar.
Gulliver’s Travels Directed by Dave Fleischer
Written by Edmond Seward, Dan Gordon et al base on the immortal tale by Jonathan Swift
1939/USA
Fleischer Studios
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] [repeated line] Gabby: There’s a giant on the beach![/box]
The creators of Popeye and Betty Boop are worthy competitors to Disney in the feature animated film department.
The story is very loosely based on the Lilliputian episode in Swift’s novel. Gulliver washes up on a beach where he is discovered by town crier Gabby. But Gabby can’t get a word in edgewise to report his discovery because the King of Lilliput and the King of Blefiscu are too busy arguing about what song should be sung at the wedding of their son and daughter. The argument escalates to war and the King of Lilliput finally hears when he understands that having a giant as an ally might be a very good thing. Gulliver is more inclined to be a peace maker though.
I enjoyed this. The songs are catchy and the animation, particularly the roto-scoped animation in the Gulliver scenes, is striking. It’s not quite up with Disney’s work of the same period but almost. I got the Blu-Ray edition as a rental and the restoration looks beautiful.
Gulliver’s Travels was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Song (Faithful Forever) and Best Original Score (Victor Young).
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Written by Norman Reilly Raine and Aeneas MacKenzie based on the play by Maxwell Anderson
1939/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Queen Elizabeth I: To be a Queen is to be less than human, to put pride before desire, to search Men’s hearts for tenderness, and find only ambition. To cry out in the dark for one unselfish voice, to hear only the dry rustle of papers of state. To turn to one’s beloved with stars for eyes and have him see behind me only the shadow of the executioner’s block. A queen has no hour for love, time presses, and events crowd upon her, and her shell, an empty glittering husk, she must give up all the a woman holds most dear.[/box]
The quote, picture, and clip probably say more about the quality of this fictionalized costume drama than my feeble words can do.
Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) is many years older than her favorite Robert Devereaux, the Earl of Essex (Errol Flynn). Theirs is a schizophrenic relationship. They love each other dearly but he wants to wear the pants in the family, something a monarch cannot allow. Essex also presents a threat due to his popularity with the mob. After Essex, who commands an army, disobeys orders one time too many, Elizabeth must make a painful decision. With Olivia de Havilland and Nanette Fabray (in her screen debut) as ladies-in-waiting, Vincent Price as Sir Walter Raleigh, Donald Crisp as Sir Francis Drake, and Alan Hale as an Irish rebel leader.
This currently ranks as my least favorite Bette Davis performance of all time. She was at least 30 years younger than the royal character she was portraying and must have felt that hamming it up would make her more believable. This also has many, many of the kind of “I love you – I hate you” lines that make me cringe. I found the whole thing to verge on camp. The film has a relatively high IMDb user rating so your mileage may vary.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex was nominated for Academy Awards in the following categories: Best Color Cinematography; Best Art Direction; Best Sound Recording; Best Special Effects; and Best Music, Scoring (Erich Wolfgang Korngold).
Daybreak (Le jour se leve) Directed by Marcel Carné
Written by Jacques Viot and Jacques Prévert
1939/France
Productions Sigma
First viewing/Netflix rental
#134 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] M. Valentin: You’re the type women fall in love with . . . I’m the type that interests them.[/box]
This has many fantastic elements but the story didn’t hang together well for me on this first viewing.
The story is told as a series of flashbacks as François (Jean Gabin) sits in his bachelor apartment waiting out the police and contemplating the events leading him to fire a fatal shot. François works as a sandblaster in a filthy factory. (Why in American films do the characters so frequently have no visible means of support?) One day Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent) comes in to deliver flowers to a foreman’s wife and François is instantly in love with the young beauty. It seems to him a match made in heaven because they are both orphans named after St. Francis. He starts seeing her but it soon appears that there is another man in her life.
François follows her to a rendezvous with Valentin (the superb Jules Berry) a middle-aged dog trainer with a silver tongue. At the bar, Valentin’s ex-assistant and mistress Clara (Arletty) strikes up a conversation with François. The two begin an on-again-off-again tryst but François continues to see and pine for Françoise. Valentin shows up to try to break up the relationship, claiming to be the girl’s father. Things take their inevitable course until Valentin ends up in Francois’s apartment with a bullet in his gut.
The acting in this, with the exception of the ingenue’s, is absolutely outstanding. Gabin is at his intense working class hero best and Jules Berry makes a very interesting, even mesmerizing, villain. Likewise, the film is exquisitely shot. I loved the touch of the ringing alarm clock at the end. However, I never did fully understand the nature of Françoise’s relationship with Valentin and I had a hard time buying into Francois’s desperation for some reason. While I could understand why this is a key work of French poetic realism (and another great 1930’s French proto-noir), I didn’t love it. Maybe it will take me more than one viewing.
Daybreak was remade as The Long Night in 1947 by director Anatole Litvak with Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes, Vincent Price and Ann Dvorak. I’d like to see that sometime.
Clip – Gabin brooding (no subtitles, but little dialogue either)
I’ve been a classic movie fan for many years. My original mission was to see as many movies as I could get my hands on for every year from 1929 to 1970. I have completed that mission.
I then carried on with my chronological journey and and stopped midway through 1978. You can find my reviews of 1934-1978 films and “Top 10” lists for the 1929-1936 and 1944-77 films I saw here. For the past several months I have circled back to view the pre-Code films that were never reviewed here.
I’m a retired Foreign Service Officer living in Indio, California. When I’m not watching movies, I’m probably traveling, watching birds, knitting, or reading.
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