1930s Hall of Fame

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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
07-04-18
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules
@edarsenal

Cool! someone liked it. I've seen Bachelor Mother twice and it's just a fun film that I could spend time with, thanks to Ginger Rogers
my roommate is big fan of Ginger Rogers comedies and this is one she's seen countless times and I'm glad I finally got to see it.
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Noir Time
07-05-18

Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)

You know a movie is good when Orson Welles comments on it, he said of the film: "it would make a stone cry".

Make Way For Tomorrow has a hard hitting and bittersweet script of unusual candor. The somber subject matter is unusual for films of that time. I'm not surprised to learn that Depression era audiences didn't care for the down beat message.

I thought it was exceptionally well written. It was nice to see actors who I'm familiar with get to play the leads for once. I hardly recognized Beulah Bondi in her old age make up...She was actually 47 at the time of the movie. Victor Moore, I didn't recognize him either at first, but I sure knew it was him by his distinct voice and mannerisms. Nice to see Fay Bainter and of course Thomas Mitchell.

This was a very hard watch for me emotionally. Excellent movie though and one that I had never heard of.

Thanks @Nathaniel for nominating it.
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Last edited by Citizen Rules; 07-05-18 at 01:38 PM.



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Mugen Impersonator
07-05-18
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)


I'm very familiar with the Frankenstein story in general but this is a film I have not seen a second of. I was looking forward to it and it delivered. Consciously, I kept comparing it to some of the more recent disappointing movies featuring Frankenstein's monster and it comes off well in those comparisons.

It was always going to be challenging to explain how the Frankenstein story continues based on the climax of the last film so I was willing to overlook any dumb plot issues in the opening. The Mary Shelley scene tries to circumvent that but it did not succeed. There are a few dumb plot issues after that too but they didn't take away from my enjoyment.

The film is deeper than it appeared on the surface and adapted a lot of the same moral issues that the novel explored. Although I think it went further into the realm of the danger in pursuing science in the face of stepping over the line. Apparently, the Hays office removed a lot of the references/comparisons that James Whale wanted to make to God and Jesus which is disappointing. I'd be interested in seeing how the film would look pre Hays Code with more symbolism inserted.

Plus points for including the blind man interaction from the novel as it's easily the most powerful section of the book for me and I think they did a decent job with it. Much more of a humorous tone to it which I ended up liking. Nice gothic feel to every shot and some of the editing for the final section was really impressive. The performances were pretty good, Karloff and Thesiger being the stand outs.

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07-06-18
Pepe Le Moko


SPOILERS
I liked this a lot. The introduction to the setting was awesome, and that setting will go down as one of my favorites in any film. I found it fascinating and mysterious all by itself. I got a kick out of that woman saying something to the effect of "I have a face that men just like to pound". It seemed like a somewhat out of place touch at the time, but afterward it seemed like an omen for the role of all women in this world. I thought from the start that a woman would be Pepe's downfall. They were obviously his weakness, yet he treated them poorly. At least he treated his loyal girlfriend poorly, but eventually that would translate to any other girl that got close to him. I've seen Jean Gabin in a few other movies and always liked him. He has charisma, and I thought he was well suited to play the stereotypical gangster, charming but ruthless. The rest of the cast was also quite good. The relationship between Pepe and Slimane especially, but even Pepe and everyone else was quite interesting. Great nom Ed and thanks for the link CR.

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07-06-18

Bachelor Mother (1939)

This is my nom and I just love it. It's one of my favorite 1930s comedies. I find it such an easy watch as the story starts off interesting and right from start I was interested into what would happen to Polly (Ginger Rogers). I find the twist and turns that befall Polly to arise from believable reasons, as opposed to just crazy stuff happening for the sake of comedy. The script was nominated for an Oscar and I could see why, it's cleverly written.

At first Polly refuses to care for the baby and denies it's hers ...so why would she later agree to care for it?

Well the film explains: David Merlin (David Niven) is so appalled by what he believes to be Polly's night of care free dancing while shirking her responsibilities that he threatens to black list her so that she'll never work again, unless she cares for the baby...And remember he's rich and powerful, and that's reason enough for a comedy film to have Polly take care of the baby. Plus look at Ginger's face when she's with the baby, she lights up! Obviously she bonds to the child and decides to give it a home. Love to me is very believable!

You know comedy never gets the respect that dramas do, but I've heard it said that good comic acting is harder than drama acting. And Ginger is one of the best. Not only could she do drama and comedy, but she dances too! In the 1930s there are three comedians I adore: Carole Lombard, Jean Arthur and Ginger Rogers. And Bachelor Mother is one of my favorite of Ginger's movies

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Last edited by Citizen Rules; 07-06-18 at 03:18 PM.



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07-06-18
Pépé le Moko (1937) N

A French gangster Pépé is hiding in Casbah of Algiers and dreams of freedom and Paris.



The cat and mouse game between Pépé and Algerian inspector Slimane is something I don't usually like. I just keep thinking how much easier, safer and cheaper it would have been if Slimane (or French police) had had Pépé assassinated instead of the long plotting to get him out of Casbah. Also the relationship between the two makes one question Pépé's intelligence.

I liked the concept of Pépé being a prisoner in Casbah and his growing yearning to be back in Paris. I didn't see much hope for him and the film's ending was very fitting. There weren't characters I could sympathize with and especially the women in the film were truly revolting persons (particularly Inés).

Storywise there wasn't much. Pépé (and his mates) wandered around Casbah, Pépé treated women like trash and the women loved Pépé for it. Even the plot to get Pépé out of Casbah just materialized as he fell in love with vain escort from Paris. I suppose it's some sort of realism but it's just not very interesting to me.

Acting was pretty good for 1930s film and sets were nice as well (I'm not sure if any of the actual scenes were shot on location, IMDb says panoramic views were shot in Casbah). Cinematography was alright with few good scenes. All in all it's a film that isn't exactly my type but I can still see the potential appeal. Personally I didn't like it that much but it barely misses the bad label.




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Winner by Default
07-06-18


Bachelor Mother (1939)
Director: Garson Kanin
Starring: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Frank Albertson

I've always found that my state of mind can drastically impact how I feel about certain brands of comedy. The relatively plausible yet still ridiculous antics present in Bachelor Mother can be hit or miss with me, depending on how I'm feeling at the time. How charismatic the lead actors are can play a huge role in that as well, with great performances drawing me over the fence to side with the film and allowing myself to enjoy the absurdity of everything.

As such, I was cautious yet optimistic going into Bachelor Mother. I was in good spirits, and really wanted to watch a comedy, so the timing seemed perfect. I knew very little about the plot, but I knew it involved a baby, not knowing who the father was, and that it starred a number of reliable actors. So I'm watching Polly being mistakenly identified as the baby's mother and my inner voice is saying that this set-up is really stupid. However before that thought can continue any further, I was just immediately on board. I was smiling, having decided that I absolutely love this. Hardly a second had passed since my condemnation, and I was already won back over.

Ginger Rogers and David Niven are absolutely fantastic in this film. They commanded my attention so well that I couldn't tell you anything about the shot composition, framing, or lighting. I love cinematography, and I love taking my time to look around a shot, however my eyes never wandered from where the filmmakers were actively directing me to look. I genuinely laughed, chuckled, and even cackled a few times over the course of the film. It was very entertaining. It feels like it's been a long time since I was so engrossed in a comedy, so I'm quite grateful that this was nominated.


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edarsenal's Avatar
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
07-06-18
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules
You know comedy never gets the respect that dramas do, but I've heard it said that good comic acting is harder than drama acting. And Ginger is one of the best. Not only could she do drama and comedy, but she dances too!
SO VERY TRUE!
I've only caught bits and pieces of comedies with Rogers and this is a great example of her comedic prowess.
Originally Posted by pahaK
All in all it's a film that isn't exactly my type but I can still see the potential appeal. Personally I didn't like it that much but it barely misses the bad label.
It's very hard to find enjoyment in a film type that isn't one's taste so I truly do appreciate the endeavor. Thank you.

For myself, I started Gunga Din this afternoon and might be able to finish it up after work tonight or perhaps tomorrow night. We shall see.



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Winner by Default
07-06-18
Originally Posted by cricket
I read a quick synopsis somewhere before watching that said she finds a foundling. I didn't know what that was, but for some reason I thought it had something to do with ducks. When it then shows her working with all those ducks, I couldn't believe I was right. Of course after a few minutes, I found out I wasn't.
Maybe it's just a local thing, but children here are often referred to as "ducks", so you weren't completely wrong haha. You get "duckie" a lot more though, since it's one of those terms of endearment that gets used even between adult strangers.

Now that I'm actually thinking about it, it sounds really strange. It's probably one of those regional oddities that outsiders think is crazy. I've heard "Yes me duckie" so many times in my life that the phrase has lost all meaning.



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
07-06-18
Originally Posted by CosmicRunaway
Ginger Rogers and David Niven are absolutely fantastic in this film. They commanded my attention so well that I couldn't tell you anything about the shot composition, framing, or lighting. I love cinematography, and I love taking my time to look around a shot, however my eyes never wandered from where the filmmakers were actively directing me to look. I genuinely laughed, chuckled, and even cackled a few times over the course of the film. It was very entertaining. It feels like it's been a long time since I was so engrossed in a comedy, so I'm quite grateful that this was nominated.
SERIOUS high praise when Cosmic is caught up in the movie and not the shot composition.

And I gotta know, what was your favorite cackle moment?
For me, as I said in my review, was in the park and it involved the look on the baby's face that the mother was bragging about.



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07-06-18
Originally Posted by edarsenal
It's very hard to find enjoyment in a film type that isn't one's taste so I truly do appreciate the endeavor. Thank you.
It's also interesting how hard it is to explain or even understand myself what exactly makes film to be or not to be "my kind". Almost every time I read my reviews I see things I don't fully agree with anymore or see the text implying something that's not supposed to be there (and almost always it's not because of me writing in foreign language but because breaking the holistic experience into communicable pieces is very difficult). I'm pretty sure that I will eventually (if I haven't already) use exactly the same argument as a positive thing for one film and negative for another.



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Winner by Default
07-06-18
Originally Posted by edarsenal
And I gotta know, what was your favorite cackle moment?
I honestly don't even know. It wasn't necessarily a line of dialogue or a specific look, so it's hard to describe what exactly I was laughing at. Towards the end, once David found himself in a similar situation, I noticed that I started laughing for longer periods at a time. I guess it was just the culmination of events. I was certain my room mate was going to come in and ask what was so funny, then be disappointed by my lack of explanation haha.

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