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dhanasaki
Reviews
Midnight (1934)
Interesting, if resolutely old-fashioned
I saw the 1947 re-release version, shown on Movies and titled "Call It Murder." The re-release gives Bogart star billing, although he has only a rather small supporting role. The lead is O. P. Heggie, best known these days as the blind hermit in "Bride of Frankenstein." Also on hand is Henry Hull, clearly relishing his role as an unscrupulous reporter.
Most of the movie is fairly obviously a filmed stage play, albeit with a few memorable directorial touches, such as cutting rapidly between an execution in the electric chair, the family listening to the radio report of the execution, and a gangland murder. Heggie serves up an old-fashioned stage performance. Definitely worth seeing for the glimpse of Bogart, surprisingly handsome in this very early appearance.
The anguished depiction of a convicted murderess waiting for execution comes close to being an argument against capital punishment.
The Song of a Nation (1936)
Silly and sentimental, but I like it.
OK, given the choice I prefer the "Drunk History" episode about the origins of "The Star Spangled Banner" (especially the part when Francis Scott Key picks up an iPhone to call his friends and tell them about his poem).
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(Sorry. My cat Naomi has her own opinion on this.) But I really enjoy the pretty-colored Technicolor American history shorts produced by Warner Brothers in the late 1930s. This is no exception. Even knowing all the problems and strife, even knowing that the tune is that of a drinking song that contains a few words we did not hear in a Hollywood movie until the late '60s, it's lovely to look at and even kind of inspiring.