Here are the last ten films I watched (except my classic cartoon marathon, which was gathered on its own page), with a screen-captured image and caption. This week, all titles were brought to my attention by Sam Juliano of Wonders in the Dark (years ago in some cases, but I'm only just catching up). Visit my #WatchlistScreenCaps archive for images from everything I've watched since February.
My first Eddie Cantor: the Woody Allen influence is impossible to miss
Roman Scandals (1933), dir. Frank Tuttle
viewed October 4, 2013
Wonderfully absorbing, entertaining proto-noir at fast 30s clip with great William performance
The Mind Reader (1933), dir. Roy del Ruth
viewed October 4, 2013
Unloved redhead shares his sorrows with the family maid
Poil de Carotte (1925), dir. Julien Duvivier
viewed October 6, 2013
18th-century peep show for Venice's sensual aristocrats
Casanova (1927), dir. Alexandre Volkoff
viewed October 7, 2013
Letting the men down the line know the path is mined
Men in War (1957), dir. Anthony Mann
viewed October 8, 2013
The surprising dignity of the cuckold
The Living Corpse (1929), dir. Fyodor Otsep
viewed October 23, 2013
Getting into character
Exit Smiling (1926), dir. Sam Taylor
viewed October 24, 2013
The materials for art are everywhere
Waste Land (2010), dir. Lucy Walker, Karen Harley, Joao Jardim
viewed October 25, 2013
Begins like a postcard to the Old South - turns out it's written with poison pen
They Won't Forget (1937), dir. Mervyn LeRoy
viewed October 26, 2013
Old dreams die hard, be they for gold or Griselda
God's Little Acre (1958), dir. Anthony Mann
viewed October 27, 2013
3 comments:
Joel--Thumbs up for giving Anthony Mann his due with two of his best films. "God's Little Acre" is one of my favorite films, and just because for the introduction of the gorgeous and talented (and under-appreciated "castaway" ) Tina Louise, but because it is a raw movie for its time about dreams dying hard and those who can survive against those fading hopes and make the best of it..."Men at War" is another provocative film. Speaking of castaways, the more I see of Warren William from his Pre-Code work, the more impressed I am with his persona as an urban huckster or showman--he really is quite good and deserves all the exposure he can get in books like Mick LaSalle's seminal look at 1930's Hollywood "Dangerous Men".
Though God's Little Acre provides the best screen-caps here, I liked Men at War more on first outing. I'm kinda lukewarm on the whole overheated Southern melodrama 50s/60s thing in general (although this one's as much a Southern comedy, admittedly, at least till about the third act) and much as I like him I'm not sure I ever bought Robert Ryan as a hillbilly farmer. But there was a lot of enjoyable stuff in there too (and yeah, Louise - just wow). I'll probably give it another spin eventually.
My favorite finds on this Watchlist were the two 30s dramas - as you say, William is very underrated; and I was shocked by the denouement of the very hard-hitting They Won't Forget, which I can't imagine got much play with regional censors at that time.
You're right about that ending to "They Won't Forget" Joel. I wonder how that film went "down South", especially the Claude Raines character's final line, which as I recall was "I wonder if he (Hale) really did it." The film was based on the Leo Frank case around 1914 where a Jewish man was convicted and eventually lynched by a mob for a murder who he didn't actually commit. Director Merv LeRoy and The Warners Brothers I imagine made it out to be a case of regional prejudice rather than face anti-Semitic backlash, which was rife in those days. At least that's my take on it. Somebody might know more about that. But it ranks up there as one of the most startling films of the 1930's.
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