1930
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- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.Reviewed. Amazon Instant. The story of how a pompous and proud professor (Emile Jannings) is slowly brought low by his infatuation with a free-spirited music hall singer (Marlene Dietrich).
I've seen this several times before and find it imminently rewatchable. Usually I am completely blown over by Emile Janning's performance to the exclusion of everything else. He is uber-fine. His face is unbelievably expressive. This time I tried to focus on the film making and Dietrich. Dietrich is equally wonderful, really. She may not be acting to the same extent but she is so natural in front of the camera that who cares.
Von Sternberg has given this film a wonderful rhythm. I loved the cock crow that begins the movie and then is echoed by Jannings during the wedding dinner and again during his humiliation at the end. There are so many other elements that repeat. None are obstrusive but all are a mark of masterful story telling. - DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.Reviewed A teacher inspires an entire boy's high school class to enlist en masse in the German army near the start of WWI. The story follows their disillusion and suffering in the trenches. I've always liked Lew Ayers who plays the lead and thought he was wonderful here. This is an awesome anti-war film and deserved its Oscar for Best Picture.
- DirectorBoris KaufmanJean VigoWhat starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Cote d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.Exuberant short "city symphony" silent film chronicling high and low life on the French Riviera. This charming film segues from the sly to the surreal. I had a smile on my face the entire time. The director collaborated with camerman Boris Kaufman, brother of Dziga Vertov, the creator of Man with a Movie Camera.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsCharles FarrellMary DuncanDavid TorrenceA Chicago waitress falls in love with a Minnesota farmer, and decides to face a life in the country.Reviewed Simple story of a farmer's son (Charles Farrell, looking very handsome) who comes to Chicago to sell wheat and falls in love with a waitress (Mary Duncan). His father is not pleased when he brings her home and sets out to break up the marriage. The plot is predictable but the direction and cinematography are so poetic I had tears in my eyes by the end.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsAlbert PréjeanPola IlléryEdmond T. GrévilleAlbert is smitten for Pola but ends up wrongly committed in jail, in the meantime her affections are sought after by his friend, and on his release both love and friendship must be tested.Reviewed. This is an absolutely charming early sound film with plenty of music and other sound but little dialogue. It is the story of a street singer/sheet music salesman who vies for the attentions of a girl with his friend and with a gangster. The gangster is played by Gaston Modot who portrayed the frustrated sex maniac in L'Age D'Or, adding a little frison to this part. The film making is endlessly inventive. Who but Clair would have staged the final knife/fist fight and shown almost none of it?
- DirectorHoward HughesEdmund GouldingJames WhaleStarsBen LyonJames HallJean HarlowBrothers Monte and Ray leave Oxford to join the Royal Flying Corps. Ray loves Helen; Helen enjoys an affair with Monte; before they leave on their mission over Germany they find her in still another man's arms.Reviewed. Two brothers couldn't be more different. One is an idealist; the other is a playboy. Both end up as fighter pilots in the RAF in WWI. (Interestingly, almost every single British pilot has an American accent.)
This movie shows what could be done with special effects at the dawn of cinema when unlimited amounts of money were thrown at them. The flying scenes and explosions are simply fantastic. Then throw in a super-sexy Jean Harlow in her Pre-Code break-out performance and you have one gripping film despite a little hoke once in awhile. I don't know what I was expecting but this was a delightful surprise. - DirectorVictor HeermanStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxMayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.Reviewed. The one in which Captain Spaulding shoots an elephant in his pajamas and the boys play bridge. More inspired nonsense from the Mark Brothers, who make me laugh.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStory of distant mountainous region in Georgia that depicts folklore, lifestyle and daily routines of Svani people, focuses on the scarcity of salt in Svaneti region. Rich with documentary value, the movie also served for Soviet propaganda.Early Soviet ethnographic "documentary" about the traditional life of the isolated primitive Svan people in the mountains of present-day Georgia and how their struggles for survival are ultimately relieved by the Five Year Plan. Some of the "Svan traditions" portrayed here are so counter to the human survival instinct as to be unbelievable. Certainly there was a huge helping of anti-religious propaganda at play here. I forgave all this for the truly breathtaking cinematography and masterful editing in evidence. The orchestral score has an ethnic flavor and is beautiful. The images of daily life took me back hundreds of years.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsGaston ModotLya LysCaridad de LaberdesqueA surrealist tale of a man and a woman who are passionately in love with each other, but their attempts to consummate that passion are constantly thwarted by their families, the Church, and bourgeois society.Surrealist film showing how frustrated sexual desire is repressed into social violence. Or at least that's what the commentary track says! This movie was banned in France after its premiere and then withdrawn from public exhibition by its producer for more than 40 years. It remains an outrageous piece of anti-establishment film making today.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsMinoru TakadaHiroko KawasakiSatoko DateA small-time hood wants to go straight for a good girl but finds that starting over isn't as simple as it sounds.Reviewed. A small-time hoodlum nicknamed Ken(ji)-the-Knife falls in love with a sweet traditional girl and decides to change his ways. This move is met with considerable resistance by fellow gang members. The plot is less interesting than the glimpse into 1930 Japanese urban life. The gang members are all very Westernized but in an oddly comic way. They do kind of a little dance, instead of bowing, when they greet each other. The walls of the gang headquarters are filled with Western boxing posters and English lyrics from popular songs. The office where the heroine works has a movie poster of Joan Crawford in Our Dancing Daughters. Only the heroine and her family wear kimonos.
This is an early silent film by one of my very favorite directors, Yasujiro Ozu. The subject matter is highly uncharacteristic of him, as is the style. At the same time, it is full of the gentle comedy and humanity I love about his films. - DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboCharles BickfordGeorge F. MarionA young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.Reviewed. Anna Christie (Greta Garbo) has been knocked around hard in her short life and washes up drunk and sick on New York's waterfront where she is taken in by her father, whom she has not seen since she was a child. Living with her father on his coal barge is good for the jaded Anna and she eventually falls for an Irish sailor (Charles Bickford). It is then that her past as a prostitute comes back to haunt her. This was Garbo's first speaking role and I thought she did well despite the somewhat stage-bound dialogue. My favorite performance, though, was that of Marie Dressler as the father's boozy pal.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsJeanette MacDonaldJack BuchananClaud AllisterA countess flees to Monte Carlo on the day of her wedding, where she is courted by a count posing as a hairdresser.Reviewed. This is a bit of fluff about a Countess (Jeannette MacDonald) who escapes an arranged marriage for romance with her "hair dresser" (Jack Buchanan) in Monte Carlo. Jeannette puts in an excellent comic performance here and Zasu Pitts is fun as her maid. I found the whole thing charming.
- DirectorRaoul WalshLouis R. LoefflerStarsJohn WayneMarguerite ChurchillEl BrendelBreck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.The story of a wagon train journey from Missouri to Washington State. John Wayne has his first starring role in this film as the Indian scout. He shines and at age 23 was extremely handsome. He is just so much more natural than everyone else on the screen that one can't take one's eyes off him.
This movie excels during the big scenes - the river crossing, the cattle drive, the battle with Indians, the snow storm. The dialogue scenes are more hit and miss. One big negative for me was Tyrone Power Sr. as one of the villains. I found him super annoying. I looked him up and he was a Brit. Maybe he had to put on that irritating gruff voice to cover up his accent?? What ever it was it didn't work for me. Over all I was entertained, though. - DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsNorma ShearerRobert MontgomeryChester MorrisWhen a woman discovers that her husband has been unfaithful to her, she decides to respond to his infidelities in kind.Pre-Code melodrama exploring the Double Standard as applied to adultery. Norma Shearer plays a career woman who figures that what's good for the gander is good for the goose when she discovers that her husband (Chester Morris) has been indulging in some "meaningless" philandering. He doesn't see it that way. This could only have been made before 1934. Shearer won the Best Actress Oscar for this film.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsDita ParloGinette MaddieAndrée BrabantDenise, an orphaned girl, moves to Paris where she hopes to find work at her uncle's store. But the glamorous department store 'Aux Bonheur des Dames' across the street crunches all the little businesses around. She finds a position there.An orphan (Dita Parlo) comes to Paris to live with her uncle who owns a fabric shop. She is forced to seek work at the department store across the street, which is putting her uncle out of business. Life gets still more complicated when she falls for the owner. Dita Parlo is beyond adorable in this silent film, which also boasts some really innovative editting. I was almost ready to say that was about it for the film until the last 15 minutes. Then it came around and hit me with an unexpected and subversive one-two punch that makes me wish that I could discuss it with somebody.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsSpencer TracyClaire LuceWarren HymerWhen paroled trustee Steve and former inmate Judy who try to put their criminal lives behind them are blackmailed, two career criminals come to their rescue.Implausible but fun Fox prison comedy from John Ford. I was about to explain the plot but it's pretty complicated and really doesn't make much sense. Suffice it to say that Spencer Tracy is a cocky career criminal/convict and Humphrey Bogart (looking very young and handsome) is an upper crust prisoner. This movie manages to have choral singing, a talent show, a baseball game, a hay ride, and a romance all wrapped up in a prison story. It should have been a mess but I thought it worked in spite of itself.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckRalph GravesLowell ShermanAn upper-crust artist hires a 'party girl' as a model; romance follows.This Pre-Code romcom/melodrama begins at the studio of artist Jerry Strong (Ralph Graves) where a wild drunken party is in progress. When Jerry flees the highjinks, he meets cute with Kay Arnold (Barbara Stanwyck) a self-proclaimed "party girl". Jerry is taken with her and asks her to pose for a portrait. The two leads have quirky counterparts in the form of Kay's roommate Dot (Marie Provost) and Jerry's friend Bill (Lowell Sherman). Not to give away too much but the course of true love never did run smooth. Barbara Stanwyck is wonderful especially in the early parts of the picture when she is quick with the wisecracks and very alluring. Later she cries entirely too much.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsEdmund LoweCatherine Dale OwenWilliam HarriganHoping to use the publicity to get re-elected, a judge sentences a notorious gangster to fight in the war.Pre-Code crime drama directed by John Ford. A mobster(Edmund Lowe) and a couple of his cronies are given the chance to volunteer for duty in WWI as an alternative to time in the slammer. When our hero returns from the front, he tries to go straight. It's hard since his way of doing it is to open a speakeasy and hang out with the same gang he did before he went away. Drama ensues. The WWI parts are more engaging and Ford-like than the later crime melodrama.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsChester MorrisUna MerkelWilliam BakewellA master criminal terrorizes the occupants of an isolated country mansion.Archcriminal mastermind The Bat is on the prowl in an Old Dark House on a dark and stormy night on the trail of half a million dollars that has gone missing from a local bank. Police Lieutenant Anderson (Chester Morris) is hot on his trail. This comedy/mystery/thriller is notable for its quite stylish and interesting visuals. Unfortunately, the comedians are so broad as to spoil what could have been a better movie, at least to my taste. This was filmed in an early use of a widescreen format.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsDouglas FairbanksBebe DanielsEdward Everett HortonWall Street wizard Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails laced with a "love potion," work their magic. He then loses his fortune in the market crash and feels that he has also lost his girl.A devil-may-care aviatrix (Bebe Daniels) bets her buddies that she can get the attention of a dashing financier (Douglas Fairbanks). When she does, he pursues her on her sea voyage across the Atlantic. With Edward Everett Horton as Fairbanks' butler, Claud Allister as a British twit, and Bing Crosby to do the one musical number.
I had mixed feelings about Fairbanks' truly manic performance. He leaped about enough for a couple of swashbucklers. However, I found Bebe Daniels totally captivating. I never knew why she got top billing in 42nd Street and now I do. It's too bad she married and moved to England before her career solidified. However, the real reason to watch this movie is to see William Cameron Menzies art deco set designs. They are absolutely gorgeous. I need Fairbanks' bed! The costumes are good too. - DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsStepan ShkuratSemyon SvashenkoYuliya SolntsevaIn the peaceful countryside, Vassily opposes the rich kulaks over the coming of collective farming.Sometimes I don't know what is wrong with me. This is perhaps the third time I have watched this widely praised Soviet silent film with the same results. I think I am possibly too influenced by film scores. This one has the same effect on me as fingernails on a blackboard. I'm sure other people would think it was fine. Then too, while I can recognize that the images are powerful and beautiful, the whole just doesn't do it for me. There you have it. Meh.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsHerbert MarshallNorah BaringPhyllis KonstamA juror in a murder trial, after voting to convict, has second thoughts and begins to investigate on his own before the execution.Reviewed. Sir Alfred was still developing his style on this early amateur P.I. murder mystery. I found it much less characteristic of his later work than the previous year's Blackmail This is rather stagey and plodding. I did like Herbert Marshall as the actor-detective and Esme Percy as the female impersonator. Interesting subplot about Esme's "secrets", spoken or unspoken.
- DirectorAugusto GeninaStarsLouise BrooksGeorges CharliaAugusto BandiniLucienne, typist and gorgeous bathing beauty, decides to enter the 'Miss Europe' pageant sponsored by the French newspaper she works for. She finds her jealous lover Andre violently disapproves of such events and tries to withdraw, but it's too late; she's even then being named Miss France. The night Andre planned to propose to her, she's being whisked off to the Miss Europe finals in Spain, where admirers swarm around her. Win or lose, what will the harvest be?Lucienne (Louise Brooks) secretly enters a Miss France contest even though her jealous boyfriend is violently opposed to such things. When she wins the Miss Europe pageant she must choose between love and fame. Louise Brooks is vastly better than her material here. The first half of the film is full of cringe-worthy "comedy" mostly consisting of tormenting a thickly bespectacled chum of the boyfriend. The second act melodrama drags. Louise is not helped by the poor French dubbing. Still, the screen lights up every time she appears.
- DirectorEdward SedgwickStarsBuster KeatonAnita PageTrixie FriganzaA bumbling manager tries to get a small town beauty contest winner into the movies.Buster Keaton plays the manager of Miss Gopher City who goes with her overbearing stage mother to Hollywood to try to become a movie star. This was Buster's first talkie. There are many problems with this film. The principal one is that there is not enough Buster. Then they have ignored the cardinal rule that Buster must always get the girl. Finally, putting Buster in a clown costume gives me a deep sadness akin to seeing Professor Immanuel Rath in one in The Blue Angel. On the other hand, we do get to see Buster dance and there are many neat glimpses of the 1930 back lot at MGM.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsCharles FarrellRose HobartEstelle TaylorLiliom learns his wife is pregnant and robs a bank. During the getaway, he is killed and given a chance to return to Earth. He quickly learns the only way to make his wife and daughter happy is to leave them with cherished memories.A servant girl (Rose Hobart) loses her heart to a conceited and abusive carnival barker (Charles Farrell). This comes from the same source material as the Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel". I was not crazy about this version, due largely to the wooden acting. I had a feeling it would have been fine had the movie been silent. Certainly the art direction and cinematography are spectacular. The quality of the restoration on the recent DVD release is also stunning.