1932
Movies watched and re-watched during my chronological review of 1932.
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- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldCharles RugglesA Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.A Paris tailor (Maurice Chevalier) goes to a chateau to collect on a debt owed him by a ne'er-do-well count (Charlie Ruggles). He remains there incognito as a baron and falls in love with a princess (Jeannette MacDonald). With C. Aubrey Smith as the Duke and Myrna Loy as a comic vamp.
This stylish musical comes very close to perfection in my book. The high points include the opening to the sounds of the Paris streets, the "Isn't It Romantic?" sequence (which still gives me chills no matter how often I see it), and the reprise of "Mimi" by all the various characters. A silly story rendered sublime by its director. - DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTatsuo SaitôTomio AokiMitsuko YoshikawaTwo young brothers throw a tantrum when they discover that their father isn't the most important man in his workplace.Two boys, ages 8 and 10, are new kids in town after their family moves to a suburb. The movie has two themes. One is the boys' efforts to fit in with the neighborhood kids and find a high place in the pecking order. Much of this is quite hilarious. These boys are all boy! The second comes about when they find out that their father plays the clown to win points with his boss, who is also the father of one of the kids in the gang. The boys are so disgusted they go on a hunger strike. Then the story focuses more on the choices adults make. I absolutely love this silent movie.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinAfter Fanny's boyfriend leaves her and sails away, she finds out she's pregnant.Warm, witty, and poignant second part of Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles Trilogy. At the end of Part I Marius, Marius has fulfilled his dream of seeing far-off places by shipping off for five years leaving a devastated Fanny behind. Shortly after this film starts, poor Fanny finds herself pregnant. What would be a melodrama in other hands becomes a literate, surprising, and deeply human story here. Highly recommended.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMiriam HopkinsKay FrancisHerbert MarshallA gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner. Romantic entanglements and jealousies confuse the scheme.Two clever thieves (Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins) dazzle each other with their virtuosity and set up housekeeping. When they decide to bilk a rich widow (Kay Frances), the man gets in much deeper than either of them expect.
This film exemplifies the "Lubitsch touch" with its sophisticated wit and tasteful sexuality. Kay Frances' wardrobe and the art deco sets are also delightful. With Edward Everett Horton and Charles Ruggles as rejected suitors and C. Aubrey Smith as an old family retainer. - DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsJulian WestMaurice SchutzRena MandelA drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.A susceptible young man runs into vampires at a country inn. It is not all that easy to identify the vampire or the other elements of a conventional story even after multiple viewings. It is more in the nature of the protagonist's dream. The images are the thing here. Dreyer and his cinematographer Rudolph Maté have created a film full of some of the most exquisite, spare, and evocative black and white photography ever.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffMelvyn DouglasCharles LaughtonSeeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when they stumble upon the Femm family estate.A group of travellers is forced to take shelter in a terrible storm and finds themselves in the title abode among the strangest family imaginable. With a boffo cast including: Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Ernest Thesinger, Raymond Massey, and Eva Moore.
I adore this movie! It is just the perfect amalgam of thrills and wit. The screenplay and all the performances are spot on. Have a potato! - DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichClive BrookAnna May WongA notorious woman rides a train through a dangerous situation with a British captain she loved.It took more than one man to change her name to Shanghai Lily! Excellent movie in which we follow the various passengers on an exciting and dangerous train journey from Peking to Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War. The notorious Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich) meets former lover Capt. Harvey (Colin Clive) on the train and must regain his trust. Some of the other passengers include a mysterious Eurasian (Werner Oland), a beautiful Chinese shady lady (Anna May Wong), and an American gambler (Eugene Pallette). I really enjoyed this one.
- DirectorHoward HawksRichard RossonStarsPaul MuniAnn DvorakKaren MorleyAn ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.Gangster Tony Camante (Paul Muni) lives by an iron law: "Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doing it." But like all movie gangsters Tony has his Achilles heel, in this case his little sister (Ann Dvorak). With George Raft as Tony's coin-flpping henchman and Boris Karloff as a rival gangster.
I liked this one much better on this repeat viewing. I had not been clued into the "X" motif before and watching for it was very interesting. Howard Hawkes did a grand job of keeping things moving. - DirectorErle C. KentonStarsCharles LaughtonBela LugosiRichard ArlenA mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) has been able to accelerate evolution in such a way as to create man-beasts from animals (with a little assist from vivisection in the House of Pain). When a shipwrecked man (Richard Arlen) is thrown overboard into his boat, things get really exciting on his uncharted Island. With a hirsute Bela Lugosi as The Sayer of the Law ("Are We Not Men?").
Somehow Laughton manages to combine the campy, the polymorphously perverse, and the satanic into one seriously scary mad scientist. The camerawork is beautiful and the makeup on the man-beasts is amazing. The elements of sexual threat and violence could only have been pre-Code. I hadn't seen this before and was pleased to discover another true horror classic. - DirectorRaymond BernardStarsPierre BlancharGabriel GabrioCharles VanelWorld War 1 begins and a young man enlists to fight for his country.Completely devastating film about the horrors faced by a French battalion in WWI. Bernard gives us enough of the characters to make it all personal and enough of the spectacle to make us hate war in general.
- DirectorKarl FreundStarsBoris KarloffZita JohannDavid MannersA resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.A British Museum Field Expedition unearths a cursed scroll that brings the mummy of an ancient Egyptian priest (Boris Karloff) back to life in this horror/romance tale. While some of the acting is pretty ham-handed, Karloff is effective and even moving, Zita Johann is probably the most intriguing of all the Universal horror ingenues, and the cinematography is first rate. I definitely prefer this one to Dracula.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsYoshiko OkadaShin'yô NaraYukiko TsukubaAn actress returns to Tokyo after a successful stint in Hollywood to reclaim - with the help of her gangster brother - the daughter she abandoned years before.Heartfelt melodrama about competing mother love. An actress has abandoned her husband and baby daughter for fame and fortune in America. The husband remarried and the stepmother is the only mother the little girl has ever known. The birth mother returns to Japan to reclaim her child and is left an opening when the father is thrown in jail. I liked this sensitively done silent. The stepmother was particularly good.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra agrees to marry Hans the leader of side-show performers, but Hans' deformed friends discover that she is only marrying him for his inheritance. So they seek revenge.A beautiful trapeze artist plans to murder a midget after she marries him for his money. The other side show "freaks" learn of this and exact a cruel revenge.
This was my first viewing of the film and I am still sorting out my reaction. The wedding banquet scene and the revenge sequence are powerful film making by any standard. On the one hand, the presentation of the deformed performers is unashamed and human. On the other hand, the whole thing is fundamentally exploitative and disturbing. - DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.A decorated soldier (Paul Muni) returns from WWI with ambitions to become an engineer. Hard times and injustice put him on the chain gang instead. With Glenda Farrell as a no-good dame.
If I recall correctly, this was cited by Hitchcock as one of his favorite films when he first arrived in America. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it certainly does make compelling watching and Muni is great. - DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJoan BlondellAnn DvorakBette DavisAlthough Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.Ann Dvorak (the popular one), Joan Blondell (the bad girl), and Bette Davis (the smart one) play three alumnae of P.S. 62 whose lives come together again years later. Ms. Popularity seemingly has it made after marrying a wealthy lawyer (Warren William) and producing an adorable son. She is discontented, however, and she soon becomes lost to addiction. With Lyle Talbot as Ann's new love and Humphrey Bogart in a small part as a gangster.
I really enjoyed this pre-Code classic. It is lurid but has plenty of energy. - DirectorJean RenoirStarsMichel SimonMarcelle HainiaSévérine LerczinskaA bookseller saves a tramp from drowning and shelters him, but the tramp's odd behavior starts to wear everyone down.A tramp (Michel Simon) is attempting suicide in the Seine when a romantic bookseller comes to his rescue and kindly offers him bed and board with his family. The tramp proceeds to create anarchy of every kind in the bourgeois household. Although I don't find a lot of humor in destruction, there is enough comedy of manners to make this an enjoyable watch and the film making is masterful.
- DirectorCharles BrabinCharles VidorStarsBoris KarloffLewis StoneKaren MorleyEnglishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.Dr. Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) schemes to get his hands on the mask and sword of Genghis Kahn. Once these are in his possession, he will be able to call on untold millions of Asians, kill all white men, and take their women! The British Secret Service sends a team of scientists on a desperate quest to beat Fu to the goods.
This movie is just a ton of camp fun which I cannot recommend highly enough. It is full of creepy torture, juicy dialogue, and an unforgettable performance by Myrna Loy as Fu's sadistic, nymphomaniac daughter. - DirectorEdward H. GriffithGeorge CukorStarsAnn HardingLeslie HowardMyrna LoyBased on a play by Philip Barry, this sophisticated comedy is about a man trying to justify his love for both his wife and his mistress.Sophisticated pre-Code fare about a publisher (Leslie Howard) who has lived for years with an artist (Ann Harding) who has been not only a lover but a kindred spirit and close friend. When the bloom is off the rose, he decides to marry an alluring socialite (Myrna Loy). Based on a Philip Barry play and accordingly quite stagey. Still the acting is first rate and the moral years ahead of its time.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsJoan CrawfordWalter HustonFred HowardA prostitute newly arrived in the South Pacific finds herself at odds with a stern missionary determined to save her soul.A varied group of passengers is stranded on a South Sea island when the ship has an outbreak of cholera. A preacher (Walter Huston) takes it upon himself to save or cast out Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford), a prostitute in their midst. This is based on a stage play and it shows though the director does a heroic job in maintaining visual interest. The performances are also impressive. Huston in particular made me want to smack him.
- DirectorGeorge CukorErnst LubitschStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldGenevieve TobinAn unhappily married couple try to come between a happy one.Andre (Maurice Chevalier) and Colette (Jeanette MacDonald) are still madly in love after three years of marriage. But Colette's best friend Mitzi (Genevieve Tobin) sets her cap for Andre, aided by her husband (Roland Young) who wants a divorce and all hell breaks loose. With Charlie Ruggles as Andre's best friend, who has a yen for Colette. There is nothing wrong with this movie and it certainly has the Lubitsch touch in spades. The songs are also quite nice. I just personally had a hard time finding the infidelity premise all that funny.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsGary CooperHelen HayesAdolphe MenjouAn American ambulance driver and an English nurse fall in love in Italy during World War I.An American ambulance driver (Gary Cooper) and a British nurse (Helen Hayes) are star-crossed lovers in WWI Italy. This made a huge upward leap in my esteem on this viewing. I've read the novel since the first time I saw it and I thought the movie did a reasonable job with the book. This, of course, could only have happened pre-Code. I really enjoyed Adolphe Menjou as Rinaldi.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxQuincy Adams Wagstaff, Huxley University's new president, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against their rival, Darwin University.This time the boys wreak havoc on a college campus and entertain with multiple renditions of "Everyone Says I Love You". Sad to say, Margaret Dumont is MIA.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsUreo EgawaKinuyo TanakaTatsuo SaitôWhen a young man inherits his father's lucrative business, he cheats the system to set up three of his college friends with jobs.Three chums live a carefree life at university, participating in military gymnastics, playing go in class, cheating on exams, and flirting with a girl who sells them beer. A fourth studies hard to support his widowed mother. When one of the slackers takes over as the director of his family run company, the others come calling for jobs. This film examines the change in the relationships when a friend becomes a boss. This silent does not measure up to I Was Born But ... but is interesting. It was fun to see an early glimpse of Ozu regular Chishû Ryû as one of the slackers.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckAdolphe MenjouRalph BellamyA librarian takes a cruise and falls for an unobtainable man, a district attorney married to an invalid."Plain" librarian Lula (Barbara Stanwyck) looks for romance on a vacation to Havana and finds in the form of lawyer Bob (Adolphe Menjou). After she is in deep, he informs her he is married and she proceeds to sacrifice everything for the sake of his political career. With Ralph Bellamy as a hardhitting reporter with a yen for Lula.
This tearjerker was pretty darned good once you get over the wallflower Barbara problem. It was particularly nice to see Bellamy in something other than a rebound financee role. This is definitely pre-Code, what with adultery, illegitimacy, etc. - DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsFredric MarchClaudette ColbertElissa LandiA Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.Epic about the persecution of the Christians in Nero's Rome. With Charles Laughton as Nero; Claudette Colbert as his wife, the randy Poppea; Frederic March as Marcus Superbus, Prefect of Rome; and Elissa Landi, the Christian object of Marcus's affections.
The Christian backdrop and pre-Code conditions enable DeMille to display some of the most blatant scenes of sadism and debauchery to hit the screens for the next 30 years. Laughton, who plays Nero as a campy effeminate infant, and the deliciously wicked Colbert are the highlights. The rest of it isn't up to much IMHO.