- I managed to see 42 movies released in 1932. These were my 10 favorites. There is a list of all the movies I watched with my full reviews at: http://www.imdb.com/list/CNHMAVcPFdc/?publish=save
1. Love Me Tonight
- (Rouben Mamoulian) – I don’t think there is another such perfect musical comedy until Singin’ in the Rain 20 years later.
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Jeanette McDonald and Maurice Chevalier – She doesn’t know he is a tailor!
Clip – “Isn’t It Romantic?” – I love this number!
2. I Was Born But … (Yasujiro Ozu) OK, I know that the idea of a Japanese silent film is off-putting but I promise you this one is great. The first time I saw it, it didn’t even have background music. Just complete silence and the pictures. And I forgot the total absence of sound in about 5 minutes. The story is just that funny and real and touching and … oh, I just love this movie.
- Our child heros are faced with these guys when they move into their new house
3. Fanny (Marc Allégret) – A young girl is left heartbroken and pregnant but surrounded by love and the humanity of Marseilles in the 1930’s. A beautifully written and acted film.
Trailer – no subtitles
4. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch)- Sophisticated, sly comedy – what the famous Lubitsch touch is all about.
- Shadows say so much …
Clip
5. Vampyr (Carl Th. Dreyer) – A horror movie with no jump shots and a vampire movie with no bats or fangs. This dreamscape scares with its exquisite, spare, atmospheric black and white cinematography. The work of a master.
- An inn
6. The Old Dark House (James Whale) – Comedy and horror generally don’t mix in my book but they work like a charm in this film. I would rank this dark and stormy night story right up there with Whale’s more famous Frankenstein films.
10. Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg) – Von Sternberg avoids the excesses of some of his later Dietrich films and puts together an exciting fast-paced thriller. Dietrich and Anna May Wong are iconic in this one.
- Marlene Detriech, Lawrence Grant, Clive Brook and Anna May Wong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEpHOnoE3bY
Clips from Shanghai Express set to “Shanghai Lil” by Gene Kardos and His Orchestra
8. Scarface (Howard Hawks) – Paul Muni is great as a ruthless killer with a weakness for his little sister. This movie has style.
- Tony (Paul Muni) doesn’t want his sister (Ann Dvorak) dating!
Re-release trailer
9. The Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton) – A true horror classic with a timeless performance by Charles Laughton as the sadistic and polymorphously perverse Dr. Moreau.
- Charles Laughton is Dr. Moreau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNezgHQwpYo
Re-release trailer
10. Wooden Crosses (Raymond Bernard) – Devastating and unforgettable film about the horrors suffered by a French battalion in World War I.
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