Tag Archives: Hollywood

Now and Forever (1934)

Posted on April 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

Now and ForeverNow and Forever Poster
Directed by Henry Hathaway
1934/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing

 

Penelope Day: Daddy doesn’t know anything about raising children.

Gary Cooper pays con man Jerry Day who travels the world one step ahead of the law with his wife Toni (Carole Lombard).  In China, he announces that he has a child and is going to sign her over to his ex-brother-in-law for $75,000.  Toni doesn’t care for this scheme and they separate.  Naturally, Jerry falls in love with Penny (Shirley Temple) as soon as they meet and the two reunite with Toni.  Jerry tries to go straight but is constantly tempted by a fellow con man (Guy Standing) who has something on him.  With Charlotte Granville as the society matron who wants to take care of Penny.

Now and Forever 1

This movie is quite a departure from Shirley’s normal fare.  First of all, her part is secondary to the two adult leads, though she does get equal billing.  She does not play her normal role of bringing two people together for love of her and there is almost no singing.  It’s quite a dark story with an ambiguous ending.  That said, this is no better than your average melodrama of the time period.  Gary Cooper is an unlikely con man and Carole Lombard doesn’t have much of a chance to be wacky.

Leave a comment

Posted in 1934

Tagged , ,

The Muppet Movie (1979)

Posted on April 8, 2013 | 5 comments

The Muppet MovieMuppetMovieCover
Directed by James Frawley
1979/USA
Henson Associates and ITC Films
First viewing
#656 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

 

Kermit: [singing; repeated lines] Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me.

A Hollywood agent gets lost in Kermit’s swamp and tells him about an audition for frogs in Hollywood. Kermit heads for the promised land and picks up an assortment of friends along the way, including Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggie, and Gonzo. The group is pursued by Doc Hopper, who is determined to force Kermit to do the advertisement for his chain of frog leg restaurants.

The Muppet Movie

This is a cute film with plenty of cameos by famous people for the adults and all kinds of puns and other jokes for the kids. Unfortunately, I had never seen it before so I didn’t have the nostalgia factor going in. My favorite parts were the beginning and end with “The Rainbow Connection” song.

“The Rainbow Connection”

 

5 Comments

Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Tagged ,

The Lost Patrol (1934)

Posted on April 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

The Lost Patrolthe_lost_patrol_1934
Directed by John Ford
1934/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing

 

The Sergeant: What’s the use of chewin’ the rag about something we might of done?
Morelli: Right you are, Sarge!
The Sergeant: Yeah, I know what you’re thinkin’. Perhaps I’ve done everything wrong! Perhaps this and perhaps that! But what I’ve done I’ve done, and what I haven’t, I haven’t!

A British Army patrol is on duty in the Mesopotamian Desert during WWI when its officer is killed by Arab sniper fire.  Since the officer was the only one who knew where the patrol was headed, the men are lost.  The Sargeant (Victor McLaglen) leads the men to a desert oasis where their horses are promptly stolen.  The men hunker down to await rescue while under constant threat from Arabs.  With Boris Karloff as an unpopular bible-thumping soldier and Wallace Ford as another of the men.

The Lost Patrol 2

The rather depressing story did nothing to capture my attention. It was nice to see Karloff in a fairly meaty non-horror role. Unfortunately, his character goes mad and Karloff heads straight over the top. Victor McLaglen is always pretty good. Some nice photography of sand dunes. Meh.

Leave a comment

Posted in 1934, Movie Reviews

Tagged , , ,

Treasure Island (1934)

Posted on April 5, 2013 | 2 comments

Treasure IslandTreasure Island Poster
Directed by Victor Fleming
1934/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Second or third viewing

 

Capt. Alexander Smollett: When there’s treasure in the hold, there’s fire in the fo’c’sle.

Old Billy Bones (Lionel Barrymore) turns up at the inn run by Jim Hawkins’s (Jackie Cooper) mother with a mysterious chest. Soon other unsavory characters turn up in search of Billy. Upon Billy’s untimely death, Jim discovers a treasure map in the chest. Gentlemen of the town hire a ship to search for the treasure. Before they know it, unscrupulous but loveable Long John Silver (Wallace Beery) has signed on as cook and brought aboard his pirate cronies as crew. Long John and Jim become fast friends and the adventure begins.

Treasure Island 1

This movie was a ton of fun and I’m sure immensely popular with boys when it came out. I thought the style foreshadowed The Wizard of Oz, also directed by Fleming, in its storybook exaggeration and charm. The pirates are deliciously vile!  I think those who enjoyed The Adventures of Robin Hood would like this.

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

Clip

2 Comments

Posted in 1934, Movie Reviews

Tagged , ,

Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

Posted on April 4, 2013 | 4 comments

Manhattan MelodramaManhattan Melodrama Poster
Directed by W. S. Van Dyke
1934/USA
Cosmopolitan Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
First Viewing

 

James W. ‘Jim’ Wade: I’m going to clean out every rotten spot I can find in this city, and, Blackie, I don’t want to find you in any of them.

Blackie and Jim were childhood buddies. Both were rescued from a tragic steamship fire and then raised together by a man who was trampled to death at a political rally. Blackie (Clark Gable) grows up to be a gambler and tough while Jim (William Powell) grows up a lawyer and idealistic politico. Blackie’s main squeeze is Eleanor (Myrna Loy) but he eventually loses her to Jim who is the marrying kind. Jim becomes District Attorney and friendship and crime-fighting come into conflict.  I think we all know where this is going!

ManhattanMelodramaStill4

I thought the script really let down the actors, who were fine. There were just one too many coincidences and everybody was a tad too noble for me to bear. But what do I know? This won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1934.

This was the movie that bank robber John Dillinger had just seen before he was gunned down in front of Chicago’s Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934.

Trailer

4 Comments

Posted in 1934, Movie Reviews

Tagged , ,

Charlie Chan in London (1934)

Posted on April 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

Charlie Chan in LondonCharlie Chan in London Poster
Directed by Eugene Ford
1934/USA
Fox Film Corporation
First Viewing

 

 

Charlie Chan: If you want wild bird to sing do not put him in cage.

A woman is convinced that her brother, who has been sentenced to death, is innocent of murdering the Secretary of the Hunt at a mansion where he was staying.  Charlie Chan (Werner Oland) is called in on the case only three days before the hanging.  Will he be able to discover the true killer on the grounds of the British country house?  Need you ask?  Also with Ray Milland as the condemned man’s attorney and Alan Mowbray as the owner of the mansion.

charlie chan in london 3

This is a pretty good entry in the Charlie Chan series.  Charlie does without the assistance of Number One Son here.  The DVD comes with a featurette in which various people argue that the Charlie Chan character, despite some stereotyping, was a positive development for the image of Chinese Americans in films.  Up to then, Chinese were generally portrayed as either servants or evil doers.  Charlie Chan was always the smartest guy in the room.  It’s unfortunate that the times allowed him to be portrayed by a Swede, however talented.

Leave a comment

Posted in 1934

Tagged , ,

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Posted on April 1, 2013 | 4 comments

The Phantom of the OperaPhantom Poster
Directed by Rupert Julian
1925/USA
Universal Pictures
#26 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
First Viewing

 

This is another of the movies from The List that I had never seen before and was available from Netflix streaming.

Erik: Feast your eyes! Glut your soul on my accursed ugliness!

Erik (Lon Chaney), a self-taught musician and disfigured, criminally insane fugitive, has taken refuge in the cavernous cellars of the Paris Opera House. There he has been taken for a phantom that haunts the opera house. He develops a passion for rising opera singer Christine and promotes her career by writing threatening letters to keep the star diva from singing and by killing the audience with a chandelier when that doesn’t work. Eventually, he lures Christine to his realm where she soon learns of the hideous countenance hidden by his mask. He agrees to allow Christine to return to the opera on the condition that she stay away from her lover. Naturally, Christine cannot resist and all hell breaks loose.

Phantom of the Opera Technicolor

The Phantom as the Red Death

I must say that this is much creepier and more gripping than the 1943 Claude Rains version. The print I saw had quite a bit of tinting, two-strip Technicolor sequences, and a specially composed score that heightened the effects. Chaney was spectacular and, while I could have lived without some of Mary Philbin’s posturing, I really enjoyed it.

The unmasking scene

 

4 Comments

Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Tagged ,

It’s a Gift (1934)

Posted on April 1, 2013 | 8 comments

It’s a Giftits_a_gift DVD
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
1934/USA
Paramount Pictures
#81 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Second viewing

 

W.C. Fields plays Harold Bisonette (that’s Biso-NAY when his wife’s around). The hen-pecked Bisonette owns a corner grocery but dreams of moving to California and running an orange ranch. His uncle dies and leaves him the money to move his family West, much to their disgust. The orange grove turns out to be a bust but there is always a happy ending in a W.C. Fields movie.

Harry Payne Bosterly: You’re drunk!
Harold: And you’re crazy. But I’ll be sober tomorrow and you’ll be crazy for the rest of your life.

It's a Gift 3

I have been trying to figure out why Fields just isn’t funny to me. I think he lets each of his gags run on too long and telegraphs them too obviously. Also much of the humor relies on destruction, irritating noises, etc., which I find more annoying than comic. Finally this movie has a scene of food humor toward the end. I can’t help it, I just find anything involving making a mess with food more disgusting than anything else.

This is one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. The only reason I can find is that W.C. Fields is a name everybody has probably heard of. I now have seen this film twice and that’s more than enough for one lifetime.

The porch scene (Karl L-a-F-o-n-g)

8 Comments

Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1934, Movie Reviews

Tagged , ,

Imitation of Life (1934)

Posted on March 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

Imitation of Lifeimitation of life dvd
Directed by John M. Stahl
1934/USA
Universal Pictures
Second Viewing

 

Bea Pullman (Claudette Colbert) is a young widow who carries on her husband’s maple syrup business to support her daughter Jesse.  Delilah Johnson arrives on her doorstep looking for work with her own daughter Peola and proves to be a godsend.  Bea goes on to use Delilah’s secret pancake recipe to climb to success first in the restaurant business and then as a pancake mix queen (under the Aunt Delilah label).  Bea offers Delilah a share in the business but Delilah says she is not interested in money or in having her own home.

Delilah Johnson: What’s my baby want?
Peola Johnson, Age 19: I want to be white, like I look.

Peola (Fredi Washington) easily “passes” as white and struggles against her black identity, eventually disowning her own mother and breaking her heart.  Bea has daughter troubles of her own when Jesse falls for Bea’s beau, Stephen Archer (Warren William), world’s richest fish scientist.

imitation-of-life-3

There is obviously quite a bit of stereotyping in this film.  Poor Delilah seems to downright enjoy getting the short end of the stick in the eyes of the film makers.  On the other hand, this is one of the few films from classic Hollywood to give black characters emotional lives of their own.  And although Delilah is content to serve, Peola, while conflicted and full of self-loathing, is portrayed as a sophisticated complex woman.  The performances of Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington are quite good and Claudette Colbert is sympathetic as Bea.

imitation_of_life_1934 2

This was remade in 1959 with Lana Turner, Juanita Hall, Susan Kohner, Sandra Dee and John Gavin.

Trailer

Leave a comment

Posted in 1934

Tagged , , ,

You’re Telling Me! (1935)

Posted on March 26, 2013 | 2 comments

You’re Telling Me!You're Telling Me DVD
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
1934/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing

 

Sam Bisbee: Stand clear and keep your eye on the ball!

When he is not drinking liquor out of a jug, Samuel Bisbee (W.C. Fields) is an optometrist and inventor who embarrasses his long-suffering wife no end.  His daughter is in love with the son of a society family (Buster Krabbe) but they are having none of Sam.  Sam’s hopes are further dashed when he screws up the sales presentation of his puncture-proof tire.  Luckily, Sam meets a princess who solves all his problems.

You're Telling Me 1

The plot, such as it is, only gets in the way of the gags.  Chief among these is a reprise of Fields’s golf routine from his 1930 short “The Golf Specialist”.  Fields is hit and miss with me and, unfortunately, this was a miss.  I smiled a few times but I didn’t laugh.

Clip – the golf routine

2 Comments

Posted in 1934

Tagged , ,