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).
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.
The Big Broadcast of 1938 Directed by Mitchell Leisen
Written by Walter DeLeon, Frances Martin, et al
1938/USA
Paramount Pictures
Repeat viewing /Netflix rental
[box] S.B. Bellows: Meet me down in the bar! We’ll drink breakfast together.[/box]
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear “Thanks for the Memory” again in its original version. The rest of this review-style movie … not so much.
S.B. Bellows (W.C. Fields) owns a cruise-liner, the Gigantic which is in a Trans-Atlantic race with the rival Colossal. Bellows intends to board the Colossal to sabotage its effort but he gets on the wrong ship. On the Gigantic, Buzz Fielding (Bob Hope) is emceeing a radio broadcast of the race. His fiancée (Dorothy Lamour) accompanies him but soon gets captivated by a young inventor. Near the end, Bellows’ daughter Martha (Martha Raye) is picked up from a ship-wreck. She is known for breaking mirrors with her face and otherwise causing havoc. With such specialty acts as Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra, Ben Blue, Kirsten Flagstand, and Tizo Guizar.
This movie has little to recommend it besides the song unless you are a fan of W.C. Fields. In that case, he does his classic golf and billiard sketches and participates in other funny business. I thought it was interesting that Fields and Raye got top billing. Bob Hope who has the most on-screen time, I think, is well down with Shep Fielding on the poster.
Ralph Ranger and Leo Robin won an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song
for “Thanks for the Memory”, which went on to become Bob Hope’s theme song.
Clip – Bob Hope and Shirley Ross singing “Thanks for the Memory”
Letter of Introduction Directed by John M. Stahl
Written by Sheridan Gibney and Leonard Spigelgass; story by Bernice Boone
1938/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box]Tagline: Truly Great Entertainment – Great in theme…great in cast…and the great scalawag Charlie McCarthy[/box]
This is a truly odd little movie and not particularly interesting either.
Kay Martin (Andrea Leeds) is a struggling young actress who lives in a theatrical boarding house with a dance team (George Murphy and Rita Johnson), a ventriloquist (Edgar Bergen) and Cora (Eve Arden). She has been carrying around a mysterious letter of introduction for months, believing it will get her a break in the theater. Barry, the male half of the dance team, is in love with her.
When aging alcoholic movie star John Mannering (Adolphe Menjou) returns to town with his fiancee (Ann Sheritan), Kay takes the letter to him. It is a letter from Kay’s mother informing Mannering that he is Kay’s father. Mannering is overjoyed at the news but reluctant for the public to find out since he thinks it would age him to have a daughter about the age of his fiancée. But he does want to spend lots of time with Kay, leading everyone, including Barry and the fiancée, to believe they are having a fling.
Any movie with Eve Arden can’t be all bad and there is nothing exactly wrong with this one despite some melodrama. The odd thing is that some long sequences of Edgar Bergen’s comedy act with Charlie McCarthy have been shoehorned into the story. Whether this adds to the movie will depend on your opinion of the act.
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.
Love Finds Andy Hardy Directed by George B. Seitz
Written by William Ludwig from the stories by Vivien R. Bretherton
1938/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Betsy Booth: I sing, you know.[/box]
This domestic comedy goes down smoothly, like an old TV sitcom.
Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) has money trouble, which soon becomes woman trouble. He wants to buy a used hot rod for a big dance but is $8 short. Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) is against the idea of Andy even having his own car. Then Andy’s steady girl Polly (Ann Rutherford) has to miss the dance to visit her grandmother. Andy’s friend has to do the same and offers Andy the $8 to date his girlfriend (Lana Turner) up and keep her away from other boys. In the meantime, pre-teen Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) is visiting next door and develops a mad crush on Andy. Naturally, poor Andy ends up with three dance dates at the same time. Judge Hardy is on hand with fatherly wisdom.
This is basically an entertaining movie though I don’t like Mickey Rooney much when he mugs for the camera, which he does a lot here. Judy Garland is absolutely delightful. I hadn’t known Lana Turner started out in the movies so young.
Sex Madness Directed by Dwain Esper
Written by Joseph Seiden and Vincent Valentini
1938/USA
Cinema Service Corp.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] First title card: Down through the ages, has rushed a menace more dangerous than the worst criminal. Syphilis. Let us seize this monster and stamp out forever its horrible influence.[/box]
King of Schlock Dwain Esper brings us another abysmal “educational” exploitation film, this time about the scourge of syphilis.
The story begins with a reformer giving a rant about syphilis and the “sex industry”. His son complains that his father is not up with the times and leaves to “see a friend”. He winds up at the most chaste burlesque show on record. The audience is full of leering horn dogs, however. Meanwhile, a girl laments her boring job in the reformer’s office. Her clearly lesbian co-worker encourages her to become a stripper and takes the girl to the same burlesque show where she makes a pass. This prelude has little relation to the remaining story which concerns one of the burlesque dancers, Millicent.
Poor Millicent is deeply in love with her small town boyfriend Wendall. But Millicent foolishly left for Sin City (New York) after winning a beauty contest intent on winning fame and fortune. The only job she can get is as a “party girl”. At her first party, she is given a few sips of champagne and “gives herself” to a man. She immediately falls ill with syphilis from this one indiscretion. She must seek work in the burlesque show. Millicent gets help from a kindly doctor who says after a few months of treatment she can go home but must continue treatment until she is fully cleared before she can marry Wendall. He warns against quacks who promise quick cures for big bucks.
But Wendall can hardly wait to get married and Millicent finds a doctor who tells her for $100 she will be cured within a month. After the “cure” the couple marries, but in about a year the baby gets sick and Wendall is having problems with his eyes ….
Anyone who attended this masterpiece expecting erotic thrills was sorely disappointed. Anyone who expected acting was a fool. This is bad, bad stuff. Still, I got several big laughs out of some of the really ludicrous situations so all was not lost. The ending must be seen to be believed.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Directed by Milos Forman
Written by Lawrence Hauman and Bo Goldman based on the novel by Ken Kesey and play by Dale Wasserman
1975/USA
Fantasy Films
Repeat viewing/Streaming on Amazon Watch Instant (free to Prime Members)
#620 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
IMDb users say 8.8/10; I say 10/10
“You had a choice: you could either strain and look at things that appeared in front of you in the fog, painful as it might be, or you could relax and lose yourself” ― Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
This is undeniably one fine movie. And yet, and yet …
Randall P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is transferred from a prison work farm to a state mental institution for evaluation. The doctors believe he has been shamming mental illness and he is, in fact, trying for a discharge from the military. McMurphy hasn’t counted on the poised but vindictive Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), with whom he is soon in open warfare.
McMurphy develops great compassion for his fellow patients and sets out to show them how to rebel and live more fully. He may have his greatest success with a patient known as the Chief (Will Sampson), a huge Native American who is believed to be deaf and dumb. Unfortunately for McMurphy, his compassion overcomes his street smarts when he needs them most. With Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, and Christopher Lloyd as mental patients and Scatman Caruthers as an orderly.
I think this film deserved all the Academy Awards it won and then some. In fact, I would have loved it if each of the mental patients had been nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar — my favorite was Sydney Lasick as Cheswick.
I read the Ken Kesey novel multiple times before I saw the film. The novel is told from the perspective of the Big Chief, which gives it an almost hallucinatory flavor. McMurphy also comes off as far more heroic and I have always had a disconnect somehow with Nicholson’s performance. To me, Nicholson comes off as a smart-ass bad boy who takes glee in being naughty.
On this viewing, I was also surprised to find myself in some sympathy with the hospital authorities. Obviously, the electroshock and lobotomies are unconscionable, but surely they could not allow the patients in the shape we see them to go off on unauthorized and unsupervised excursions, hold drunken parties, or trash the ward. I know the story is an allegory about repressive society but the movie is so realistic that it almost forces one to ask these questions.
Whatever my quibbles, I think this one definitely qualifies as one people should try to catch before they die.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was the first film since It Happened One Night to win Academy Awards in all major categories — Best Picture, Best Actor (Nicholson), Best Actress (Fletcher), Best Director, and Best Writing (adapted screenplay). It was also nominated for awards in the following categories: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Brad Dourif); Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.
Spawn of the North Directed by Henry Hathaway
Written by Jules Furthman and Talbot Jennings; story by Barrett Willoughby
1938/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing; Universal Vault Series DVD
[box] Jackson: Yeah, here’s to the salmon. She lays two million eggs and nobody ever calls her mother.[/box]
This is an OK adventure film with some nice Alaskan backgrounds.
Jim (Henry Fonda) and Tyler (George Raft) have been friends since boyhood. Tyler returns from hunting seals in the Arctic and wants Jim to partner with him on the purchase of a schooner. But while Tyler was away, Jim’s father died and he has taken over his salmon fishing business. Jim and the other fisherman in Ketchican, Alaska are plagued by a Russian outfit headed by Red Skain (Akim Tamiroff) that steals salmon from their fish traps. When Tyler can’t get money from his hotel-keeper girlfriend Nicky (Dorothy Lamour) either, he decides to cast in with Red and the salmon pirates. Jim is caught between loyalty to Tyler or his fellow fishermen. With Louise Platt as Jim’s girl and John Barrymore as her editor father.
This is a perfectly serviceable film. Its scenes of glaciers breaking up and swamping boats were apparently ground-breaking for the time. There is a good Dimitri Tiomkin score.
Technicians on Spawn of the North won an Honorary Academy Award for “outstanding achievements in creating special photographic and sound effects.”
The Masseurs and a Woman (“Anma to onna”) Directed by Hiroshi Shimuzu
Written by Hiroshi Shimuzu
1938/Japan
Shôchiku Eiga
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus
I think these slice-of-life films by Shimuzu are delightful even if they are mostly uneventful.
Two blind masseurs migrate with the seasons, serving seaside spas in winter and mountain spas in summer with the rest of their kind. We meet them walking up the hill to their mountain employment. Their great joy is overtaking other pedestrians and passing them by. When they arrive, one becomes interested in a mysterious lady client from Tokyo. She also interests a single man raising his young nephew. The rest of the story looks at the interactions of these people and the masseur’s efforts to work out what the lady is doing at the spa.
I’m trying to figure out why I find these Japanese films so interesting while I would probably be bored with a Hollywood story that was about so little. Maybe it is that the Japanese films feel like real life. At any rate, Shimizu is rapidly becoming a favorite director.
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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