Category: 1930s

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The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

Ugh, this film took me forever and more than one watching to get through. My lack of interest in the subject was not helped by a poor quality print and the fact that Franchot Tone and Richard Cromwell look a lot alike. Those two men are newcomers to a regiment of British soldiers during the days of the British Raj. One is a cocky, seasoned soldier and the other is a newly commissioned officer and son of the Colonel. Gary Cooper’s job is to guide these new recruits. The story of the three soldiers is familiar and was done much better in other films of the era, Gunga Din, The Four Feathers, and Beau Geste to name a few.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Assistant Director

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Art Direction; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

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Marie Antoinette (1938)

There are some actors that I wish I liked more than I do. Norma Shearer is one of those. There are a couple of roles that I have enjoyed her in, but they are few and far between. Marie Antoinette is not one of them. A lavish, excessively long costume drama that surely takes liberties with Marie Antoinette’s actual life history, Shearer leads the cast with histrionics and overacting every other scene. Robert Morley’s Louix XVI is the opposite, dull and mostly forgettable. John Barrymore is underutilized, Joseph Schildkraut is over the top malicious, Tyrone Power’s entire role could be cut from the film. The costumes and sets are beautiful. I imagine they took up the majority of the movie’s expense. I’m sure they would have been ravishing if the film had been in Technicolor.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Art Direction; Best Music, Original Score

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Borderline (1930)

The Criterion Portraits of the Artist box set offers a great variety of the works of Paul Robeson. My decision to watch the entire set may have led me somewhat astray with this film. I go to films mostly for the narratives they have to offer, but this was a bit too avant-garde for my tastes. It felt like a student film with the director throwing as much as he could at the viewer just to see what would stick. As far as I can tell, the story centers around an interracial couple cheating on their spouses and how this effects the racist townspeople who hang out at the local lesbian bar. Paul Robeson isn’t in the film nearly enough, maybe because just his presence overwhelms that of everyone around him.

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Dead End (1937)

I do enjoy seeing actors who have long careers in their early works, in this case Sylvia Sidney who reminds me a lot of Marion Cotillard or that should be vice versa. I also enjoy seeing earlier works with Humphrey Bogart where he was part of a composite instead of a superstar headling the movie. Watching the beginnings of gentrification as the rich try to figure out ways to put pressure on their neighbors who were there first is what makes this film most interesting. The moralizing of the rich man on how to fix the rough hooligans is particular icing on the cake. I haven’t been fond of the Dead End Kids in other films I’ve seen; it seems their presence isn’t any more appreciated in this, their first appearance.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction

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Platinum Blonde (1931)

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.

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Morning Glory (1933)

For a movie that’s barely over an hour long, this took me a long time to get through. There’s not much there in a tale about a wannabe actress who is more certain of her skills than anyone around her. Katharine Hepburn had so many great roles in her career, it’s odd that this is the one that received her first Oscar win.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Leading Role

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The Goldwyn Follies (1938)

This mess tries to be similar to any one of the Busby Berkeley choreographed musicals of the 30s such as 42nd Street or the Gold Diggers series. Those films try to string together weak stories with musical spectacles. This one tries to string together an even weaker story (including Adolphe Menjou as a movie producer creeping on a much younger Andrea Leeds whom he has hired to review all his film decisions) with random dancing or comedy acts in between. The stylings of the Ritz Brothers is baffling enough, but I can’t fathom the world that found Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy entertaining. This is also presented in glorious Technicolor which can only be imagined in the aforementioned Berkeley productions.  Musical

Oscar nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Scoring

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The Lion Has Wings (1939)

Production on The Thief of Bagdad was put on hold to make this piece, so it was included on the Criterion DVD for that film. Overt propaganda films are fascinating to me and I have a hard time believing that they are capable of inspiring or changing minds, but I could be wrong. More than half of this film is spent with a narrator who goes through the history of the rise of Hitler to the early days of World War II, including all the reasons why there is no other possible conclusion than Britain winning big time. There is an additional fictional story involving RAF pilots and their families to moisten some of the dryness of the rest of the narrative.

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Seventh Heaven (1937)

I love the original 7th Heaven. The story itself is overly sweet, but in the original, the chemistry of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell makes it work. In this version, they do not. I do love James Stewart, but generally that’s for when he’s an American guy next-door, not a Parisian sewer worker. He does look so very young and trustworthy. I gradually warmed a bit to her in this part and some of it might be her accent sticking out amongst the rest of the cast, but Simone Simon’s voice and acting was like that of a whiny child through too much of this.

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Harlem is Heaven (1932)

The copy that I watched of this on Hoopla wasn’t the greatest, but it’s possible there’s not a better version available. The story isn’t unique for the Pre-Code era (a naïve actress, a mild love triangle, and a menacing gangster all mix together in relatively predictable ways) but I do enjoy all Black cast films […]

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