Category: 1930s

During the Depression, car designer Herbert Marshall is taking a much needed break from work when he meets unemployed Jean Arthur in a park. She automatically assumes he is also out of work and he gamely agrees to pose as a couple to acquire jobs in the household of gangster Leo Carrillo. After a recent Downton Abbey marathon, it was fun watching Marshall learn how to be a good butler from his own servant. Otherwise there’s not much that makes this essential viewing, but Jean Arthur is genuinely appealing here, as in almost all of her roles. 

I had been wanting to watch this version of the musical when I was working through Paul Robeson’s filmography. I was further spurned on after reading a biography on Hattie McDaniel and from having an impending trip on the Mississippi River planned. Irene Dunne is the protagonist of the story, a teenager on her parents’ show boat who is promoted to actress after the star of the show was forced to leave because of her mixed race heritage. The film follows Dunne’s career as she, and later her daughter, becomes a famous stage actress. There’s some very weird acting on her part. I’m still not sure if some of her dancing was supposed to be sincere or farcical. I had come in to see Robeson and McDaniel and their unfortunately small supporting roles are worth it. While they’re sadly steeped in racial stereotypes, their singing and chemistry together is quite enthralling. 

An early telling of the Island of Dr. Moreau, shipwrecked Richard Arlen is stranded on the island with the good doctor, played by Charles Laughton, and a menagerie of creatures of questionable genesis. Laughton’s performance is wonderfully over the top and smarmy. He takes great delight in introducing his guest to his experiments, particularly the panther woman Kathleen Burke. While the production has a thoroughly 1930s feel, it’s definitely an elevation of the form from the make-up of the hybrids to the elaborate set designs. Overall, it’s a pretty good version of the story that was likely very influential in the future renditions.