Month: August 2021

Cold, detached, on-edge George Clooney isn’t my favorite version. I may have indeed watched this film before, but I don’t have any recollection even after watching. There isn’t much new here that adds to the genre of the assassin who is afraid he has lost his humanity and is ready to get out of the […]

As the presumptive titled character, I really thought that Jean Harlow would be the focus in this film. Instead we have Robert Williams as a rough reporter who is swept away and falls in love with socialite Jean, who wants nothing more but to smooth down his rough edges. I enjoyed Williams’s acting and was sad to discover that this is his last film; he died right after the film’s premiere. Loretta Young was so beautiful in the 30s that I had a hard time suspending belief that her friend wouldn’t have run away with her long before ever meeting Harlow’s character.

My third of the four James Stewart – Margaret Sullavan pairings, this one has them again joined by Frank Morgan. I generally enjoy World War II films from the era before the United States entered the war, if anything to try to figure out what took us so long, but this one didn’t really pull me in. It all felt a bit too American as if it wasn’t just filmed in Utah and Idaho but also set there, barring the swastikas everywhere. The movie feels a bit like propaganda pushing how awful the Nazis are for picking on our heroes, though they did manage to get both Roberts Stack and Young on their side, but it did manage to piss off Hitler and the chemistry between Stewart and Sullavan is beautiful so there are wins there. Sad that this is their last movie together, though I still have one more to watch and annual Christmas viewings of The Shop Around the Corner.

Tyrone Power really fits in the role for this character, capable of looking derelict and beatdown but just as easily looking smooth, calm, and at the top of the world. He “can’t understand how anybody could get so low” is quote from his character early on and both he and the audience are set on a journey to find out. Carnivals make a wonderful backdrop for a variety of stories from people on the brink of desperation to those on the margins of society to others with grandiose ideas of becoming something bigger. Though only 1/3rd of the female supporting role, Joan Blondell is always worth watching. I’m surprised that Guillermo del Toro has adapted the story. Despite the presence of Bradley Cooper leading an otherwise impressive cast, I am intrigued.

I haven’t seen a whole lot of them, but I do love Space Age era science fiction stories that don’t hold up in any way, shape, or form in modern times (or maybe even in any times). This one particularly gets many points for the special effects and playing with different set ratios. I wish they had done even more with those when the main character first started shrinking. It did drag a bit in the end, especially as the man made a few too many Too Dumb To Live decisions, but what do I know I’ve never shrunk to the size of a thimble. My teeny tiny brain might not work as well then either.