Pre-1930s Hall of Fame II

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I need to take a week off from these films The Doll was a blind pick for me so what did I think when I saw it.









I liked it a lot, especially after some of the heavier films I had to watch this woke me up and actually made me chuckle quite a bit. The plot centers around an old Baron who is about to pass away and decides that he needs an heir, his nephew must get married and keep the family line together. Naturally this could be an old story but we get the Pinocchio esque escapes of a doll-maker who can create dolls for men..this is something the monks in the monastery come up with..oh yeah you've got a lot of fat monks that want the...


point being this is one of those wonderfully metaphorical films that is pretty dark if you really think about. As if we're all just puppets to our families and organized religion. Lubitsch played his cynical story for laughs and Ossi Oswalda is so good in this.





Women will be your undoing, Pépé


7th Heaven
This is, after all, a film with a flamethrower battalion and that's just cool to see.
I was thinking the same thing when that occurred.
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio



The war scenes in 7th Heaven were impressive, but I could've loved the film just as much if he went off to war and we never seen the battles. To me the story is that little apartment in the sky, and that's why the sets aren't so complex as it's a very intimate story of love.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
The war scenes in 7th Heaven were impressive, but I could've loved the film just as much if he went off to war and we never seen the battles. To me the story is that little apartment in the sky, and that's why the sets aren't so complex as it's a very intimate story of love.
then, at some point, you may want to watch the remake, Seventh Heaven because they do focus more on the apartment and scarcely any battle scenes.

ANNND for Simone Simon.



then, at some point, you may want to watch the remake, Seventh Heaven ANNND for Simone Simon.
Yup to Simone Simon! I didn't know there was a remake until you mentioned it in your review. I'll have to see that.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Yup to Simone Simon! I didn't know there was a remake until you mentioned it in your review. I'll have to see that.
You, and of course, your wife, will definitely enjoy it.
I had saw it for the 30s Countdown and wrote this in the Rate the Movie You Watched forum:
One for the TRUE Romantics. . .



Seventh Heaven (1937)
++ James Stewart and Simone Simon make a beautiful pair in the city of Paris. With some wonderful camera work and a story fit for lovers and romantics, this was quite the cute and lovely film.




20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)

I think I've seen that rubber octopus before hanging out with Ed Wood Jr. Probably not the same eight legged prop as used in Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955) or later in Ed Wood (1994).

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was the most interesting film in this HoF...and the most disjointed. It was interesting because we see a 103 year old film that for the very first time showed movie goers what the bottom of the ocean really looked like. That alone must have made movie goers imaginations soar with images of exotic corals and sponges....and sharks, big sharks!

But it's George and Ernest Williamson who are the real stars of the film. These brothers invented a means to film underwater by using long watertight tubes fitted with mirrors that allowed them to film the ocean below. It's fitting then that the film starts off by introducing them to the audience. They look like nice, friendly chaps too!

The other interest is, the filming on a real tropical island. I assume it was in the Bahamas as that's where the underwater filming was done. The combination of real swaying palms on idyllic beaches coupled with men actually walking on the sea floor must have thrilled early 20th century audiences.

Like a modern, eye-candy CG film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is all about the spectacle. The story itself was wildly disjointed with elements of Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island being incorporated into the story line and sub plots that made little sense at all. Most abruptly the film changes gears at the end and attempts to tell a concocted back story of Captain Nemo. What results is a movie that is amateurishly directed and acted but delivers maximum visual thrills for audiences of a century ago.

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The Passion of Joan of Arc



My 4th Dreyer film and the first (Ordet) is still my favorite. There is definitely power here but for me it was limited. Until the finale, the rest of the movie plays out like one long scene that the viewer is thrown into the middle of. I think I would have felt more if there was some sort of build up. The actress was terrific and I despised the judges. Great musical score and some startling images.




Women will be your undoing, Pépé



It

Adela Van Norman: Miss Van Cortland seems to be rather lacking in reserve, doesn't she?
Cyrus Waltham Jr.: Personally, I think she has plenty - in reserve!

I will definitely agree with past reviews regarding Clara Bow in this romantic comedy. One that could have been enjoyable, but nothing special, rises above it with her presence and portrayal of a strong-willed, confident woman that doesn't take any guff while playfully pursuing what she's after. The President of the monstrous department store she works at.

It is a credit to Bow who, no matter the devious nature of her pursuit, we are completely on board with her. Cheering her on to success.
I think the only moment I was hesitant was on the yacht has she played with Cyrus as he proposed. Then we see her weeping at her actions and she is instantly forgiven. Adding her rescue of Miss Van Norman when they are knocked off the ship, cements that forgiveness.
And I gotta say, I laughed when she belted her to keep her from drowning them both in her panic.
She is equally kittenish and tigeress and the nobility and inner strength shine through. An impressive feat.

Also, while her love interest is of an average sort, her foil and stepping stone, Monty, was a fun sight to watch squirm about. Who, in the end, also held a bit of a nobler side, which was nice to see.

Again, an average, enjoyable romantic comedy made special by Clara Bow.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



The Battleship Potemkin

For all the preaching and solidarity raving, Battleship Potemkin is filmed rather brilliantly in regards to camera work. Especially when featuring outside shots of the river and other ships. Many of which are quite beautifully composited. And, of course, we must include the Odessa Steps. This film is full of great camerawork; using shadow, light and some amazing angles illustrating the emotional content of this film.

Though, in the end, that was all I came away with from this film. The propaganda message was just a little too thick and at times, dragged down some of the more emotional elements and thereby, their effects. Creating a boredom in me which truly should not have been there, regardless of the incredible imagery of this film.



He Who Gets Slapped




I really loved this one. I think a big part is that I quickly sympathized with the main character and despised others. So right off the bat I am hooked. There ends up being three rotten people and they all get what's coming to them, although maybe that's a bit extreme for two of them. The movie is mostly in Lon Chaney's very capable hands though, and he is such a tormented soul and the main reason I will remember this. His character reminded me of Emil Jannings in The Blue Angel, another favorite. Loved the score in and the intercuts of the globe spinning. Mostly a downer of a movie which suits me well.



1 more month until the deadline, October 1st.
@Nostromo87 if you're still in this you need to post some reviews by the 7th. Otherwise I will assume you're out and your nom: Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924) will be removed.



I made a miscalculation when I joined this. Feel free to remove my movie. Happy to see He Who Gets Slapped doing well.



20,000 Leagues Under the Sea



I had heard of Captain Nemo before but knew nothing about this story. It's not a movie I was particularly looking forward to and I'm not sure why. I don't want to exaggerate because I didn't personally love it, but I thought it was a pretty terrific film. It's mediocre IMDb rating is very unfair, and I think more than any other silent film I've seen, this one has been hurt by the passage of time. There are things we see in the movie that now seem so simple but must've been mind blowing in 1916. Besides that, I enjoyed the story, characters, and score. Nice nomination with an adventure film breaking things up.




I had heard of Captain Nemo before but knew nothing about this story.
You never seen 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) before? The 1954 version isn't great but it has cool visuals & sets and James Mason made a good Captain Nemo.




You never seen 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) before? The 1954 version isn't great but it has cool visuals & sets and James Mason made a good Captain Nemo.
Nope



Cricket just sent in a voting list, which makes three list in now. And Nostro's movie is out of the HoF. There's less than a month left and the deadline is Oct 1st....And that's all the new HoF news



Women will be your undoing, Pépé


Laugh, Clown Laugh

Laugh, clown, laugh... even though your heart is breaking!

The reason I chose this blind grab, beyond getting to see another Chaney film, having only seen him in makeup in such films as Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Nortre Dame, it was a chance to delve into a childhood memory of the song by this name and the haunting line above.
This film was the source of the "sad clown" and now, I have finally gotten to discover the birthing ground of all of that.

A traveling team of clowns/performers (specifically Chaney's character Flik) finds an abandon child and raises her.
In her early teens (Loretta Young was fourteen when they filmed this) as she begins to become a young woman, Chaney's elder character comes to realize that the love he has always had, is now a romantic one. Repulsed by his feelings, all his mirth abandons him and he plummets into depression.
Seeing a doctor who is treating a rich man who cannot stop laughing, the two men decide to spend time together to help the other balance out. With young Simonetta sharing that time, it becomes obvious that both men are deeply in love with her.

This is a romantic triangle with noble, kindhearted people all the way around and it's tragic aspects are bittersweet. Also, what could be a kind of creepy premise with a young girl and her surrogate father having romantic feelings is treated as something quite beautiful and endearing.

I have also read that the final reel is actually missing so, the abrupt, though rather fitting ending had a number of minutes left. Which, I imagine involves Simonetta and the Count learning of Flik's demise.
Still, even without it, a rather beautiful film and a very well told story.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Capt. Nemo: I am Captain Nemo and this is my submarine, 'Nautilus'... It has pleased me to save your lives... You are my prisoners.

I was, initially, pretty excited to see this.
It even started off, with a comment on the use of underwater photography and the two gentlemen responsible; along with the first few opening scenes as looking very worthwhile.

But then, with the overly continuous underwater scenes it almost felt like a kind of George Lucas playing with new effects and dictating the movie to show them off instead of the, more correct, other way around.

Though I did enjoy the delving into Nemo's past which is something I never learned since I never read the following stories involving Captain Nemo and his past life. Or the actual one itself. Having only seen movie renditions only.
Unfortunately, at that point, I was already out of the movie and until I researched the unfamiliar scenes and their origins, that had actually knocked me further out of the film.
Which is really a shame for me.





One of the things I've notice with Lon Chaney films is I feel like often times he has an idea for a scene, character and then he expands the film from said scene/character. In Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) the what should be climax of the film where the woman chooses between her two lovers is shot right off of the stage. Sure the scene has the subtly of a mack truck running over a baby but it looks pretty.


My problem with the film is that it never felt like a fully developed story, you've got a collection of ideas that I've seen many times before in a Lon Chaney film and they just didn't come together. This is now the third circus Chaney film we've seen and for me it was the dullest and ultimately the most heavy handed. His Tito was just not as compelling a figure as Alonzo(The Unknown) or He (He who gets slapped).



Not to say I didn't like bits and pieces of the film I thought Loretta Young was very strong in this film even though she's billed as being 14 years old in this story.



So the moral of the story is you can't have a romantic relationship with a 14 year old you raised....