Classic Comedy Hall of Fame

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Writers apparently made quite a bit of money in 1930's New York. Anyways Nothing Sacred is the story of a down on his luck writer who finds a woman dying of Radon poisoning in Vermont. Fredric March is the lead in this screwball comedy and I was little surprised by that because I never saw him as a comic actor. Sometimes Lombard goes a bit over the top, but really that is more of a quibble.


The strength of this film is the pacing, it starts off strong and finishes strong. Vermont is treated like this backwards Hillbilly town(which is funny in and of itself) but when the ruse is discovered we get a series of powerful comedic bits that plays for the entire third act. Now some of the humor hasn't exactly aged well but I think it's important to remember the time period and not to judge the film too harshly for that.





Women will be your undoing, Pépé



The Lavender Hill Mob

[Henry Holland is reading aloud to the elderly Mrs. Chalk from a book titled YOU'D LOOK SWELL IN A SHROUD]
Henry Holland: Where did we get?
Mrs. Chalk: Duke Milligan was about to take a gander at Mickey the Greek's hideout.
Henry Holland: Oh yes, here we are. "I handed my fedora to a hatcheck girl with all that Venus de Milo had got and then more, and I was admiring the more when I glimpsed something in the back of this frail that set my underwear creeping up on me like it had legs."
Mrs. Chalk: I know that feeling well.

I do feel I kind of throw this little statement out, quite often. And while I would prefer NOT to, it is an apt description. This IS a rather charming film.

Not simply due to Sir Alec, which, yes, he is quite that. It also goes to the rest of the ensemble, the dry British wit and polite dialogue between everyone.Even when agitated. There still remains a semblance of courteousness that permeates the film that is, well. . .
It's f@ckin charming, alright?

It's a great little story with the opening scene tying quite nicely to the closing scene and moves along quite lovely throughout. With the introduction of Alec Guinness' Henry Holland, a precise, meticulous officer of the bank that oversees the reoccurring transfer via van of gold bars.
Mr. Holland has been calculating the possibility of theft while awaiting the actual means to do it. Which arrives in the form of a new neighbor at his boarding house.

I really enjoyed the two thieves they procure to assist them. Especially the initial conversation in the warehouse as the two thieves start talking shop with one another.

While I did not break out in laughter, I did find quite a number of scenes quite amusing. The above scene, the failed attempts at teaching one of them to ride a bike.
Holland insisting on getting tied up after the van is nicked, only to go a stumbling outside, onto the dock and off the pier. In front of police.
Enjoyed the chase with the police, as well. Especially when the huge mob of them were trying to make their way through the back area of the museum (?).

Definitely a fun, and, screw it, I'm gonna say it again, quite the charming bit of film.
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So I'm operating under the assumption that @Nathanial is gone for good, I have to redo the math and do my write-ups we'll do the reveal Thursday



So I'm operating under the assumption that @Nathanial is gone for good, I have to redo the math and do my write-ups we'll do the reveal Thursday
Did anyone else not finish besides Nathanial and Alexwilder?



Did anyone else not finish besides Nathanial and Alexwilder?

Everyone else finished, I still have to write up It's a Gift and Modern Times (Guess I don't have to do Kind Hearts and Coronets) and then I have to redo the math.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
While it's always a shame when someone is unable to finish, but there's a little more when the nomination is really good.

Look forward to the reveal. It's been a great speciality HoF



While it's always a shame when someone is unable to finish, but there's a little more when the nomination is really good.

Look forward to the reveal. It's been a great speciality HoF
Ditto. Siddon is doing a nice job. I'm a little surprised that we didn't get more folks nominating. Perhaps having to write some commentary on each limited the interest. It'll be interesting to see the results.

~Doc



Ditto. Siddon is doing a nice job. I'm a little surprised that we didn't get more folks nominating. Perhaps having to write some commentary on each limited the interest...
That written commentary is important to HoFs and goes back to the very 1st Hof. Without the members doing a write up of the noms, it would be a movie tournament.



It's a Gift and Modern Times are basically the same movie told in different styles and at different places in each characters lives. It's a Gift is the story of a middleaged grocer who is about to come into money and is deeply unhappy with his middle class life. Modern Times is the story of a poor lonely factory worker who loses a job he's not really good at to begin with.









Both films take the same themes and express them differently. In Modern Times technology is played off as something magican...and yet faulty and broken. It's a Gift looks at the role of technology as being something burdensome because it's often faulty and broken. Same joke just told from a different perspective. Chaplin loves the visual medium of film, he enjoys metaphors while Fields (who wrote the film under the pseudonym) loves wordplay sadly I think most of Fields best jokes went over most of your heads.


"Never sleep on the right side of the bed...bad for the heart"


So think about that joke for a minute, what Fields is trying to say is that you have to let the wife go to bed thinking she's right otherwise you're going to end up miserable. Ellen the female protagonist is starving and steals a loaf of bread, the Tramp takes the fall for him and this causes her to fall in love. It's the same idea just told in a different way.


They also end at very similar yet different points, in Modern Times they are together so they can be happy in It's a Gift once Harold comes into money his troubles leave him because his family can leave him alone.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Liked how you did a comparative review, @Siddon.
Great bit of insight on a few things that I never completely acknowledged. Nicely done!
Especially the endings. . . Chaplin expressing the Idea of Love: if you're together that's ALL that matters. While Fields goes with Reality of Love: you want to be happy, make the spouse and kids happy and they'll leave you alone so you can be happy. lol