HOLLYWOOD CLASSICS NUMBER ONE
New Light On Movie Bests
John Howard Reid
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John Howard Reid at Smashwords
Copyright (c) 2011 by John Howard Reid
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BOOK REVIEW:
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Edited by Steven Jay Schneider. A Quintet Book.
COMMENT: At very first sight, this volume looks most impressive. A big, thick book, nearly 1,000 pages, attractively bound, with lots of appealing illustrations. But the text lets it down. I’ll admit that not everyone can agree with any old critics’ choice list of 1,001 essential movies. And the inclusion of films like Russ Meyer’s “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” (1965) and George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) is bound to create a little controversy.
However, I don’t mind controversy. I expect it. What I do object to, however, is book editor Schneider’s deliberate fostering of a large number of gross imbalances. For instance, the book purports to cover the period 1902-2002. However, only 245 pages are devoted to the first 51 years, whilst the second 50 years is handed a colossal 678 pages!
This appalling distortion means that most of the film’s greatest masters are excluded. Can you imagine a movie directory that doesn’t even mention just one single picture directed by Rex Ingram, Clarence Brown, Maurice Tourneur (though Maurice’s not half-as-talented son, Jacques Tourneur, is represented by no fewer than three entries), Herbert Brenon, John Farrow, Henry King, Henry Hathaway, William K. Howard, Sidney Franklyn, Jules Dassin, Jean Delannoy, Jacques Feyder, Robert G. Vignola, Monta Bell, Fred Niblo, George Fitzmaurice, Robert Florey, E.A. Dupont, Carmine Gallone, Edmund Goulding, William Keighley, James Cruze, John M. Stahl, Anthony Asquith, Alessandro Blasetti, Juan Antonio Bardem, Andre Cayatte, Roger Vadim, Claude Autant-Lara, and Christian-Jacques? And that’s just to list a few names at random. Not to mention Bruce Beresford, Charles Chauvel, Norman Dawn, Ted Kotcheff, John Power, Raymond Longford, Kevin Dobson, Tom Jeffrey, Ken G. Hall and Carl Shultz. That’s right, Cynthia, Australian movies receive very short shrift indeed. Only five or six make it into this book, including two directed by Peter Weir: Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. Not even foreign productions like The Sundowners or The Shiralee are thought worthy of listing.
Yes, this superficial directory of 1,001 films manages to achieve an almost impossible level of irritation and disappointment! “No room for everyone!”, you’ll say. “It’s just not viable to include everybody’s favorites!” Then how come Stanley Kubrick is honored with no less than ten movies? All masterpieces? All essential viewing? My wife has managed to live without any of them except Barry Lyndon. Nor is Kubrick the only director over-represented. Luis Bunuel is judged worthy of nine, Ingmar Bergman rates ten, Steven Spielberg has nine, Martin Scorcese also enjoys nine, Godard doesn’t miss out with eight, Fellini comes in with seven, Antonioni follows with six, Truffaut manages five, and even a Danish film-maker I’ve never even heard of, Lars von Trier, is represented by no fewer than four pictures.
Nor do actors fare any better. If you’re a comedian, for instance, and your name isn’t Buster Keaton or Charles Chaplin, forget it. No Harry Langdon, Will Hay, George Formby, Tom Walls, Arthur Askey, Wheeler and Woolsey, and probably no Bob Hope. (Director George Marshall is listed for one film but its title is anyone’s guess—the Index is riddled with errors). The Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy score a miserable one each.
The book’s authors also exhibit a distinct bias against some national cinemas. For the first 11 years of sound from 1929 to 1939, the British industry is allotted only four movies all told. Four! Three directed by Hitchcock, the other by William Cameron Menzies (“Things To Come”). The French cinema does marginally better with fourteen features: five from Jean Renoir (naturally), two from Vigo (of course), two from René Clair and one each from Duvivier, Bunuel, Carne, Pagnol and Guitry. German cinema can only muster six titles, but that’s five better than Spain. In fact the entire Spanish-language cinema from 1929 to 1939 is limited to one Bunuel. Almost needless to say, there are no Italian, Scandinavian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Dutch, Greek, Czech or Austrian entries at all.
Of course, there are golden-age movies that even the impeccably biased editor of this hollow guide could not refute. These are asterisked below in my own list of 400 or so “essential movies”. (I was tempted to place an unhappy face against all my favorites that were not considered one of the top thousand, but decided to let my titles speak for themselves). I conclude with a listing of top-scoring Henry Hathaway productions. This is not by any means a complete listing of his films. I have excluded duds like White Witch Doctor, The Bottom of the Bottle, Circus World and Legend of the Lost, as well as most of his early westerns and some of his final assignments. Perhaps not all of my Hathaway selections would figure in a list of 1,001 must-see movies, but certainly Peter Ibbetson (once hailed by French critics as one of the greatest films of the century) and such firm cult favorites as Niagara, The Real Glory, Sundown and 13 Rue Madeleine would certainly be included.
1. CITIZEN KANE (ORSON WELLES) *
2. A PLACE IN THE SUN (GEORGE STEVENS) *
3. ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE (GREGORY RATOFF)
4. THE LOVERS OF VERONA (ANDRE CAYATTE)
5. LOVE ME TONIGHT (ROUBEN MAMOULIAN) *
6. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (DAVID HAND) * [The film itself is listed in “1001 Movies”, but Mr Hand, oddly, is not]
7. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (ALBERT LEWIN) [Now this is a really eccentric omission. I can understand a bunch of academics not wanting to concern themselves with popular entertainers like Al Jolson and Alice Faye, let alone learn something about the real Funny Lady. I can also comprehend a lack of knowledge of the brilliant film-maker Andre Cayatte, simply because his films have not been in circulation for the past forty years. But Albert Lewin’s number two cult classic of all time (second only to Casablanca)? The mind boggles. Don’t these guys ever watch TV, or look at ratings?]
8. MARIE WALEWSKA (CLARENCE BROWN) [As already noted, no Browns are listed at all]
9. ANNA KARENINA (CLARENCE BROWN)
10. TALES OF MANHATTAN (JULIEN DUVIVIER) [Only Duvivier’s Pepe Le Moko is deemed worthy of inclusion]
11. CASABLANCA (MICHAEL CURTIZ) *
12. THE THIRD MAN (CAROL REED) *
13. GO INTO YOUR DANCE (ARCHIE MAYO) [No Mayo at all. Not even The Petrified Forest]
14. WAKE UP AND LIVE (SIDNEY LANFIELD) [No Lanfield either]
15. STAGECOACH (JOHN FORD) *
16. THE SCARLET EMPRESS (JOSEF VON STERNBERG) [Another incredible omission. When I was at uni, The Scarlet Empress was regarded as not only von Sternberg’s greatest triumph, but one of the top ten movies of the 1930s. However, this book does accord von Sternberg three entries: The Docks of New York (an odd choice, but I’m not going to argue with it), The Blue Angel (a de rigeur inclusion, though by no means a personal favorite) and Shanghai Express (starts magnificently, but once we get off the train the film travels into less fascinating territory)]
17. SUNSET BOULEVARD (BILLY WILDER) *
18. THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (ORSON WELLES) *
19. THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS (version exhibited in Australia only—not the mutilated version released in the USA and currently broadcast on worldwide television) (HENRY HATHAWAY) [No Hathaways at all]
20. HENRY V (LAURENCE OLIVIER) *
21. CHINA SEAS (TAY GARNETT)
22. CARRIE (version exhibited in Australia only—not the mutilated version released in the USA and currently broadcast on worldwide television) (WILLIAM WYLER)
23. THE BIG CLOCK (JOHN FARROW) [No Farrows at all]
24. STAR! (full-length version only) (ROBERT WISE)
25. KING KONG (ERNEST B. SCHOEDSACK) * [Although the film is listed, Mr Schoedsack does not figure in the Index. Instead, Kong is credited to producer Merian C. Cooper]
26. I MARRIED A WITCH (RENE CLAIR) [According to the book, Clair directed two masterpieces in quick succession—A Nous la Liberté and Le Million (both 1931)—and then nothing worth dying for at all]
27. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (BILLY WILDER) *
28. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (MICHAEL CURTIZ and WILLIAM KEIGHLEY) *
29. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (FRANK CAPRA) *
30. CITY LIGHTS (CHARLES CHAPLIN) *
31. GRAND HOTEL (EDMUND GOULDING) [No Gouldings are included at all]
32. THE LETTER (WILLIAM WYLER) [Another weird omission]
33. LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (MAX OPHULS) *
34. REBECCA (ALFRED HITCHCOCK) *
35. KINGS ROW (SAM WOOD) [Yet another extraordinary drop-out]
36. LOST HORIZON (FRANK CAPRA) [And yet another!]
37. BEES IN PARADISE (VAL GUEST)
38. MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (FRANK CAPRA) *
39. METROPOLIS (FRITZ LANG) *
40. BULLDOG DRUMMOND (F. RICHARD JONES)
41. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (ALFRED HITCHCOCK)
42. SAN FRANCISCO (W.S. VAN DYKE)
43. HIGH NOON (FRED ZINNEMANN) *
44. LAURA (OTTO PREMINGER) *
45. LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (HENRY HATHAWAY) [I know at least one extraordinarily famous critic who rates this one as the best movie ever made. His recommendation is obviously not good enough for the editor of 1001]
46. THE INFORMER (JOHN FORD) [Not listed. Amazing!]
47. ALL ABOUT EVE (JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ) *
48. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (ORSON WELLES) *
49. MY FAIR LADY (GEORGE CUKOR) *
50. THE MUSIC MAN (MORTON DA COSTA)
51. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (ROBERT WISE) *
52. THE GENERAL (CLYDE BRUCKMAN) *
53. THE MUMMY (KARL FREUND)
54. DETECTIVE STORY (WILLIAM WYLER)
55. PEPE LE MOKO (JULIEN DUVIVIER) *
56. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (JEAN COCTEAU) *
57. PASSPORT TO PIMLICO (HENRY CORNELIUS)
58. WHISKY GALORE (ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK) * [The indexer doesn’t know how to spell this one]
59. THE GHOST TRAIN (Askey version) (WALTER FORDE)
60. HOW THE WEST WAS WON (Cinerama only) (mostly HENRY HATHAWAY)
61. HELLO, DOLLY! (GENE KELLY)
62. OLIVER! (CAROL REED)
63. 42nd STREET (LLOYD BACON and BUSBY BERKELEY) *
64. FANNY (JOSHUA LOGAN)
65. THE NUN'S STORY (FRED ZINNEMANN)
66. GIGI (VINCENTE MINNELLI) *
67. THE CAINE MUTINY (EDWARD DMYTRYK)
68. BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (DAVID LEAN) *
69. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (MICHAEL CURTIZ) *
70. MILDRED PIERCE (MICHAEL CURTIZ) *
71. DIPLOMANIACS (WILLIAM A. SEITER)
72. THE BIG PARADE (KING VIDOR) *
73. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (LEWIS MILESTONE) *
74. STATE FAIR (HENRY KING)
75. JOURNEY INTO FEAR (both original and re-edited versions) (ORSON WELLES and NORMAN FOSTER)
76. IF I HAD A MILLION (various directors)
77. DUCK SOUP (LEO McCAREY) *
78. THE MALTESE FALCON (JOHN HUSTON) *
79. THE MARK OF ZORRO (ROUBEN MAMOULIAN)
80. CALAMITY JANE (DAVID BUTLER)
81. CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (HENRY HATHAWAY)
82. THE JUNGLE BOOK (ZOLTAN KORDA)
83. THE GOLDEN COACH (JEAN RENOIR) *
84. THE MERRY WIDOW (ERNST LUBITSCH)
85. IN OLD CHICAGO (HENRY KING and BRUCE HUMBERSTONE)
86. OUT OF THE PAST (JACQUES TOURNEUR) *
87. GOODBYE MR CHIPS (SAM WOOD)
88. THE 39 STEPS (ALFRED HITCHCOCK) *
89. T-MEN (ANTHONY MANN)
90. HEAVEN CAN WAIT (ERNST LUBITSCH)
91. THE GHOST BREAKERS (GEORGE MARSHALL)
92. GREEN PASTURES (MARC CONNELLY and WILLIAM KEIGHLEY)
93. MADELEINE (DAVID LEAN)
94. ROMAN SCANDALS (FRANK TUTTLE and BUSBY BERKELEY)
95. THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (CHARLES CRICHTON) *
96. MURDER, SHE SAID (GEORGE MARSHALL)
97. THE CAT AND THE CANARY (ELLIOTT NUGENT)
98. CHU CHIN CHOW (MARCEL VARNEL)
99. IT'S IN THE BAG (RICHARD WALLACE)
100. MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE (ELLIOTT NUGENT)
101. ODD MAN OUT (CAROL REED) *
102. THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (CHARLES BARTON)
102. PIMPERNEL SMITH (LESLIE HOWARD)
103. WAY OUT WEST (JAMES W. HORNE)
104. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (ROWLAND V. LEE)
105. THE GHOST GOES WEST (RENE CLAIR)
106. DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (VICTOR FLEMING)
107. TIGER IN THE SMOKE (ROY BAKER)
108. THE TUTTLES OF TAHITI (CHARLES VIDOR)
109. KEEPER OF THE FLAME (GEORGE CUKOR)
110. HOLIDAY INN (MARK SANDRICH)
111. HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (SIDNEY LANFIELD)
112. MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (EDWARD CLINE)
113. MY WILD IRISH ROSE (DAVID BUTLER)
114. ROAD TO RIO (NORMAN Z. McLEOD)
115. BACK ROOM BOY (HERBERT MASON)
116. CAT PEOPLE (JACQUES TOURNEUR) *
117. PEOPLE WILL TALK (JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ)
118. KNOCK ON WOOD (NORMAN PANAMA and MELVIN FRANK)
119. THE BAND WAGON (VINCENTE MINNELLI) *
120. BROKEN LANCE (EDWARD DMYTRYK)
121. ONE HOUR WITH YOU (ERNST LUBITSCH)
122. THE RED SHOES (MICHAEL POWELL) *
123. ASK A POLICEMAN (MARCEL VARNEL)
124. A TALE OF TWO CITIES (JACK CONWAY AND JACQUES TOURNEUR)
125. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (STANLEY DONEN and GENE KELLY) *
126. MONSIEUR HULOT'S HOLIDAY (JACQUES TATI) *
127. THE COURT JESTER (NORMAN PANAMA and MELVIN FRANK)
128. STORY OF GILBERT AND SULLIVAN (SIDNEY GILLIAT)
129. DEAD OF NIGHT (BASIL DEARDEN)
130. OH, MR PORTER (MARCEL VARNEL)
131. SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (PRESTON STURGES) *
132. TO BE OR NOT TO BE (ERNST LUBITSCH) *
133. LET GEORGE DO IT (MARCEL VARNEL)
134. LE CORBEAU (HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT)
135. THE RIVER (JEAN RENOIR)
136. WINCHESTER '73 (ANTHONY MANN) *
137. CABINET OF DR CALIGARI (ROBERT WIENE) *
138. MOSS ROSE (GREGORY RATOFF)
139. IT ALL CAME TRUE (LEWIS SEILER)
140. ON DANGEROUS GROUND (NICHOLAS RAY)
141. THE NARROW MARGIN (RICHARD FLEISCHER)
142. GOOD MORNING, BOYS (WILLIAM BEAUDINE)
143. HARVEY (HENRY KOSTER)
144. FANTASIA (various directors) *
145. THE FOUR FEATHERS (ZOLTAN KORDA)
146. THE GENERAL DIED AT DAWN (LEWIS MILESTONE)
147. NINOTCHKA (ERNST LUBITSCH) *
148. WONDER MAN (BRUCE HUMBERSTONE)
149. THE EMPEROR WALTZ (BILLY WILDER)
150. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (FRANK LLOYD) *
151. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (FRANK CAPRA)
152. OF MICE AND MEN (LEWIS MILESTONE)
153. LUCREZIA BORGIA (CHRISTIAN-JAQUE)
154. THE RECKLESS MOMENT (MAX OPHULS) *
155. THE KING OF KINGS (CECIL B. DE MILLE)
156. THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT (RAOUL WALSH)
157. BANK DICK (EDWARD CLINE) *
158. THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (WILLIAM DIETERLE) *
159. ALL THE KING'S MEN (ROBERT ROSSEN)
160. THE SEA WOLF (MICHAEL CURTIZ)
161. FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (JOHN SCHLESINGER)
162. THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR (WILLIAM DIETERLE)
163. STALAG 17 (BILLY WILDER)
164. THE HEIRESS (WILLIAM WYLER) *
165. JUAREZ (WILLIAM DIETERLE)
166. ME AND MARLBOROUGH (VICTOR SAVILLE)
167. THE KID FROM SPAIN (LEO McCAREY)
168. KID MILLIONS (ROY DEL RUTH)
169. BALL OF FIRE (HOWARD HAWKS)
170. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (HOWARD HAWKS) *
171. POT LUCK (TOM WALLS)
172. OWD BOB (ROBERT STEVENSON)
173. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (JOHN FORD) *
174. FALLING FOR YOU (JACK HULBERT and ROBERT STEVENSON)
175. BULLDOG JACK (WALTER FORDE)
176. I SEE A DARK STRANGER (FRANK LAUNDER)
177. KIPPS (CAROL REED)
178. HISTORY OF MR POLLY (ANTHONY PELISSIER)
179. LA SIGNORA DI TUTTI (MAX OPHULS)
180. IT'S LOVE AGAIN (VICTOR SAVILLE)
181. OLD BONES OF THE RIVER (MARCEL VARNEL)
182. STRANGE BOARDERS (HERBERT MASON)
183. THE COVERED WAGON (JAMES CRUZE)
184. THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE (FRANK LAUNDER)
185. CASQUE D'OR (JACQUES BECKER)
186. HELLO, FRISCO, HELLO (BRUCE HUMBERSTONE)
187. SABRINA (BILLY WILDER)
188. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (JOHN FORD) *
189. MR PERRIN AND MR TRAILL (LAWRENCE HUNTINGTON)
190. THE CITADEL (KING VIDOR)
191. YOUNG MR LINCOLN (JOHN FORD)
192. GONE TO EARTH (MICHAEL POWELL)
193. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (ELIA KAZAN)
194. ARISE MY LOVE (MITCHELL LEISEN)
195. THE HURRICANE (JOHN FORD)
196. THE WESTERNER (WILLIAM WYLER)
197. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (RAOUL WALSH) *
198. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (MICHAEL POWELL and others)
199. A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ)
200. PANIC IN THE STREETS (ELIA KAZAN)
201. FATHER OF THE BRIDE (VINCENTE MINNELLI)
202. GOLD OF NAPLES (VITTORIO DE SICA)
203. HOUSE OF WAX (3-D version only) (ANDRE DE TOTH)
204. GREAT WALTZ (JULIEN DUVIVIER, VICTOR FLEMING, and JOSEF VON STERNBERG)
205. THE PALM BEACH STORY (PRESTON STURGES) *
206. THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (NORMAN Z. McLEOD)
207. DEAD END (WILLIAM WYLER)
208. PALMY DAYS (A. EDWARD SUTHERLAND)
209. BLACK NARCISSUS (MICHAEL POWELL) *
210. ODOR IN THE COURT (BEN HOLMES)
211. FOOTLIGHT PARADE (LLOYD BACON and BUSBY BERKELEY) *
212. 40,000 HORSEMEN (CHARLES CHAUVEL)
213. ZIEGFELD FOLLIES (Limehouse sequence) (VINCENTE MINNELLI)
214. THE STRONG MAN (FRANK CAPRA)
215. THE CAMERAMAN (EDWARD SEDGWICK)
216. WAKE IN FRIGHT (TED KOTCHEFF)
217. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (MERVYN LeROY and BUSBY BERKELEY) *
218. SHANE (GEORGE STEVENS) *
219. IF I WERE KING (FRANK LLOYD)
220. FLYING DOWN TO RIO (THORNTON FREELAND)
221. THE SECRET GARDEN (CLARENCE BROWN)
222. MEET ME IN SAINT LOUIS (VINCENTE MINNELLI) *
223. DARK CORNER (HENRY HATHAWAY)
224. EVERY DAY'S A HOLIDAY (A. EDWARD SUTHERLAND)
225. HALF A SIXPENCE (GEORGE SIDNEY)
226. SHOW BOAT (JAMES WHALE)
227. 5,000 FINGERS OF DR T (ROY ROWLAND)
228. THE FOUNTAINHEAD (KING VIDOR)
229. THE IRON DUKE (VICTOR SAVILLE)
230. LITTLE DUTCH MILL (DAVE FLEISCHER)
231. HELLZAPOPPIN (HANK POTTER)
232. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (WILLIAM DIETERLE and MAX REINHARDT)
233. ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN (IRVING RAPPER)
234. LADY ON A TRAIN (CHARLES DAVID)
235. MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE (GEORGE MARSHALL)
236. WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (FRITZ LANG)
237. STANDING ROOM ONLY (SIDNEY LANFIELD)
238. RIDING SHOTGUN (ANDRE DE TOTH)
239. A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (ROY BAKER)
240. BELOW ZERO (JAMES PARROTT)
241. LET'S MAKE LOVE (GEORGE CUKOR)
242. TRAPEZE (CAROL REED)
243. JUNGLE GIRL (WILLIAM WITNEY and JOHN ENGLISH)
244. COME ON, GEORGE! (ANTHONY KIMMINS)
245. BROKEN ARROW (DELMER DAVES)
246. FORBIDDEN (FRANK CAPRA)
247. I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (MERVYN LeROY) *
248. MY HEART IS CALLING (CARMINE GALLONE)
249. THE UNSUSPECTED (MICHAEL CURTIZ)
250. SAFETY LAST (SAM TAYLOR and FRED NEWMEYER)
251: GILDA (CHARLES VIDOR) *
252: HONDO (JOHN FARROW)
253: FRONT PAGE WOMAN (MICHAEL CURTIZ)
254: I FOUND STELLA PARISH (MERVYN LeROY)
255: ALIAS NICK BEAL (JOHN FARROW)
256: SAID O’REILLY TO McNAB (WILLIAM BEAUDINE)
257: I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING (MICHAEL POWELL) *
258: THEY WON’T FORGET (MERVYN LeROY)
259: BABE (CHRIS NOONAN) *
260: MASTER AND COMMANDER (PETER WEIR)
261: UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (JACQUES DEMY) *
262: FALLEN ANGEL (OTTO PREMINGER)
263: BOOMERANG (ELIA KAZAN)
264: BARRY LYNDON (STANLEY KUBRICK) *
265: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (DAVID LEAN) *
266: VERTIGO (ALFRED HITCHCOCK) *
267: BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (FRANK CAPRA) *
268: SPITE MARRIAGE (EDWARD SEDGWICK)
269: TRIO (KEN ANNAKIN & HAROLD FRENCH)
270: HIS BUTLER’S SISTER (FRANK BORZAGE)
271: LILLIAN RUSSELL (IRVING CUMMINGS)
272: PLATINUM BLONDE (FRANK CAPRA)
273: STAND-IN (TAY GARNETT)
274: NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (EDWARD CLINE)
275: IT’S A GIFT (NORMAN Z. McLEOD)
276: HERE COME THE GIRLS (CLAUDE BINYON)
277: THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (ROBERT SIODMAK)
278: HINDLE WAKES (MAURICE ELVEY)
279: HEAT WAVE (MAURICE ELVEY)
280: ON THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE [aka THE FUGITIVE] (BRIAN DESMOND HURST)
281: THE GHOST OF ST MICHAEL’S (MARCEL VARNEL)
282: BLESSED EVENT (ROY DEL RUTH)
283: FIVE STAR FINAL (MERVYN LeROY)
284: IT’S NOT CRICKET (ALFRED ROOME & ROY RICH)
285: ALF’S BUTTON AFLOAT (MARCEL VARNEL)
286: ROXIE HART (WILLIAM A. WELLMAN) [Once regarded as a top-ranking auteur, Wellman (the indexer even manages to spell his name incorrectly) is represented only by The Public Enemy (1931) and The Ox-Bow Incident (1943]
287: BROKEN BLOSSOMS (DAVID WARK GRIFFITH) *
288: THE SEARCH (FRED ZINNEMANN)
289: THE FALLEN IDOL (CAROL REED)
290: WILSON (HENRY KING)
291: YOUNG AND INNOCENT (ALFRED HITCHCOCK)
292: THE STARS LOOK DOWN (CAROL REED)
293: NIGHTMARE ALLEY (EDMUND GOULDING)
294: THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (MICHAEL CURTIZ)
295: JACK OF ALL TRADES (JACK HULBERT & ROBERT STEVENSON)
296: IT’S LOVE AGAIN (VICTOR SAVILLE)
297: THE BIG MONEY (JOHN PADDY CARSTAIRS)
298: THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE (WILLIAM K. HOWARD)
299: THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK) *
300: STOWAWAY (WILLIAM A. SEITER)
301: JOAN THE WOMAN (CECIL B. DeMILLE)
302: THE STORY OF DR WASSELL (CECIL B. DeMILLE)
303: ROAD TO MOROCCO (DAVID BUTLER)
304: SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (JOHN FORD)
305: DIXIE (A. EDWARD SUTHERLAND)
306: YOLANDA AND THE THIEF (VINCENTE MINNELLI)
307: STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE (HANK POTTER)
308: BEN-HUR (FRED NIBLO)
309: THE LOST WORLD (HARRY HOYT)
310: FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (REX INGRAM)
311: TOPSY-TURVY (MIKE LEIGH)
312: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (FRED ZINNEMANN) *
313: SORRY WRONG NUMBER (ANATOLE LITVAK)
314: IT’S A BOY (TIM WHELAN)
315: THE PHANTOM (ALVIN J. NIETZ) [aka as Alan James, Mr Nietz has been aptly described as “the Orson Welles of Poverty Row”]
316: SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES (JOSEPH KANE) [Gene Autry made some fine films in the 1930s. In my opinion, this one, with its superior script and A-1 cast of support players, is undoubtedly the best]
317: SON OF THE SHEIK (GEORGE FITZMAURICE)
318: THE EAGLE (CLARENCE BROWN)
319: BECKET (PETER GLENVILLE)
320: TREASURE ISLAND (VICTOR FLEMING)
321: TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (ROBERT STEVENSON)
322: TO DUCK OR NOT TO DUCK (CHARLES M. JONES)
325: I SURRENDER DEAR (MACK SENNETT)
326: HOBO BOBO (ROBERT McKIMSON)
327: HIGH NOTE (CHARLES M. JONES)
328: DR JEKYLL’S HIDE (I. FRELENG)
329: DANGEROUS DAN McFOO (TEX AVERY)
330: BUSY BODIES (LLOYD FRENCH)
331: FLESH AND THE DEVIL (CLARENCE BROWN)
332: THE APARTMENT (BILLY WILDER) *
333: THE BRIBE (ROBERT Z. LEONARD)
334: MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (JOHN FORD) *
335: LAW AND ORDER (EDWARD L. CAHN)
336: CURTAIN CALL AT CACTUS CREEK (CHARLES LAMONT)
337: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (CHARLES BARTON)
338: HOLD THAT GHOST (ARTHUR LUBIN)
339: THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP (CHARLES BARTON)
340: CRY OF THE HUNTED (JOSEPH H. LEWIS) [Only one Joseph H. Lewis picture is given the nod by “1,001 Movies”, namely Gun Crazy. I like this one much more]
341: THE WORLD CHANGES (MERVYN LeROY)
342: KITTY (MITCHELL LEISEN) [How the mighty have fallen! Leisen was one of the top auteurs promoted by academics in my youth. Now he doesn’t even rate a single entry]
343: IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU (GEORGE CUKOR)
344: THE COUNTRY DOCTOR (HENRY KING)
345: THE GREAT DICTATOR (CHARLES CHAPLIN) [Another startling fall from grace! This one always figured prominently in the top ten selections of the greatest movies ever made in the 1950s. Now it can’t even make a thousand and one]
346: CAREER WOMAN (LEWIS SEILER)
347: THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (RAOUL WALSH)
348: WATERLOO BRIDGE (MERVYN LeROY)
349: STARS IN MY CROWN (JACQUES TOURNEUR) [As previously noted, Mr Jacques enjoys three entries, but this little masterpiece is not one of them]
350: ITMA (WALTER FORDE)
351: LOVE ON WHEELS (VICTOR SAVILLE)
352: GONE WITH THE WIND (VICTOR FLEMING & OTHERS) *
353: THE WIZARD OF OZ (VICTOR FLEMING & KING VIDOR) *
354: ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (MICHAEL CURTIZ) *
355: FOLIES BERGERE (ROY DEL RUTH)
356: PINOCCHIO (HAMILTON LUSKE & BEN SHARPSTEEN) *
357: MARY OF SCOTLAND (JOHN FORD) *
358: VIVA ZAPATA! (ELIA KAZAN)
359: DODSWORTH (WILLIAM WYLER)
360: BAD COMPANY (TAY GARNETT)
361: MR MOTO’S LAST WARNING (NORMAN FOSTER)
362: JOHNNY APOLLO (HENRY HATHAWAY)
363: KID GALAHAD (MICHAEL CURTIZ)
364: TO THE LAST MAN (HENRY HATHAWAY)
365: I WALK ALONE (BYRON HASKIN)
366: PETER IBBETSON (HENRY HATHAWAY)
367: THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (HENRY HATHAWAY)
368: CARDINAL RICHELIEU (ROWLAND V. LEE)
369: SOULS AT SEA (HENRY HATHAWAY)
370: THE THIN MAN (W.S. VAN DYKE)
371: ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (ALFRED WERKER)
372: SUNDOWN (HENRY HATHAWAY)
373: TOWER OF LONDON (ROWLAND V. LEE)
374: CHINA GIRL (HENRY HATHAWAY)
375: THE OLD DARK HOUSE (JAMES WHALE)
376: HIPS HIPS HOORAY (MARK SANDRICH)
377: NOB HILL (HENRY HATHAWAY)
378: HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (HENRY HATHAWAY)
379: SPECIAL AGENT (WILLIAM KEIGHLEY)
380: KISS OF DEATH (HENRY HATHAWAY)
381: THIS WOMAN IS MINE (FRANK LLOYD)
382: THE BLACK ROSE (HENRY HATHAWAY)
383: RAWHIDE (HENRY HATHAWAY)
384: I REMEMBER MAMA (GEORGE STEVENS)
385: TALES OF HOFFMAN (MICHAEL POWELL)
386: O. HENRY’S FULL HOUSE (HENRY HATHAWAY & OTHERS)
387: 23 PACES TO BAKER STREET (HENRY HATHAWAY)
388: PARIS INTERLUDE (EDWIN L. MARIN)
389: SONG OF THE THIN MAN (EDWARD BUZZELL)
390: THE REAL GLORY (HENRY HATHAWAY)
391: NIAGARA (HENRY HATHAWAY)
392: THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER (HENRY HATHAWAY)
393: INTERNATIONAL CRIME (CHARLES LAMONT)
394: HOLD THAT CO-ED (GEORGE MARSHALL)
395. PARACHUTE JUMPER (ALFRED E. GREEN)
396. DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS (HENRY HATHAWAY)
397. HOLD BACK THE DAWN (MITCHELL LEISEN)
398. YOUNG IN HEART (RICHARD WALLACE)
399. OIL FOR THE LAMPS OF CHINA (MERVYN LeROY)
400. VOICE IN THE WIND (ARTHUR RIPLEY).
My colleague, Barrie Pattison, is amazed at the omission of For Whom the Bell Tolls [the only Sam Wood movie listed is A Night at the Opera (1935)] and the scant treatment given to German and Austrian cinema, with not a single film from such mega-stars as Willy Forst, Hans Albers and Lillian Harvey; and not a single production from the prestige studios of pre-war Vienna (no Alexander Korda, no Michael Curtiz). Incredible!
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Dr Watson), Ida Lupino (Alice Brandon), Alan Marshal (Jerrold Hunter), Henry Stephenson (Sir Ronald Ramsgate), Mary Gordon (Mrs Hudson), Terry Kilburn (Little Billy), George Zucco (Professor Moriarty), Arthur Hohl (Bassick), Holmes Herbert (judge), Peter Williams (Leonard Brandon), May Beatty (Mrs Jameson), Mary Forbes (Lady Conyngham), George Regas (club-foot), E.E. Clive (Inspector Bristol), Peter Willes (Lloyd Brandon), Frank Dawson (Dawes, the butler), Eric Wilton (another butler), Robert Noble (jury foreman), William Austin (stranger), Leonard Mudie (Barrows), Ivan Simpson (Gates), Anthony Kemble-Cooper (Tony Conyngham), Denis Green (sergeant of the guard), Neil Fitzgerald (court clerk), Brandon Hurst (footman), Keith Kenneth [aka Keith Hitchcock], Herbert Evans, David Dunbar (Scotland Yard men), Montague Shaw (Captain Mannering), Harry Cording (Cragin), Bob Stevenson (cabby), Boyd Irwin, Ivo Henderson, Leyland Hodgson (bobbies), Charles Irwin (marine sergeant), Robert Cory (sentry), Frank Baker (Tompkins), Frank Benson (Cockney), Hillary Brooke.
Director: ALFRED WERKER. Screenplay: Edwin Blum, William A. Drake. Based on the stage play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, by permission of the executors of the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who originated the characters, Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson, Professor Moriarty, etc). Photography: Leon Shamroy. Film editor: Robert Bischof. Art directors: Hans Peters, Richard Day. Set decorator: Thomas Little. Costumes designed by Gwen Wakeling. Music composed by David Raksin, David Buttolph, Cyril J. Mockridge, Robert Russell Bennett, Walter Scharf. Music director: Cyril J. Mockridge. Assistant directors: William Eckhardt (first), Virgil Hart (second). Sound recording: W.D. Flick, Roger Heman. Western Electric Sound Recording. Associate producer: Gene Markey. Executive producer: Darryl F. Zanuck.
Copyright 1 September 1939 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. New York opening at the Roxy: 1 September 1939. U.S. release: 1 September 1939. U.K. release: March 1940. Australian release: 14 March 1940. U.S. copyright length: 7,200 feet. 80 minutes. Australian length: 7,588 feet. 84 minutes.
U.K. and Australian release title: Sherlock Holmes.
SYNOPSIS: Professor Moriarty plans to steal the Crown Jewels which are kept under key in the Tower of London. In order to divert Sherlock Holmes, he fabricates a strange case…
NOTES: A follow-up to Fox’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), also starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
The stage play, written by (and starring) William Gillette, opened on Broadway at the Garrick Theatre on 6 November 1899 and ran for a highly successful 235 performances. Gillette toured extensively in the play, performing the role over 10,000 times before giving his final performance in Princeton, New Jersey, on 12 May 1932. He died in 1937, aged 83.
COMMENT: The last half-hour of this movie is so exciting that any talk of its being merely a filmed stage play, can be put down as quite unjustified. Aside from the marvelous stalk-in-the-Tower climax with its breathtaking staircase sets and its all-stops-out film noir photography—and this climax is preceded by a spectacular hansom accident which is staged for real—and the astonishingly atmospheric, cleverly built-up sequence in which our heroine is chased through the mist-shrouded gardens by a club-footed assassin… Aside from all this and the ingeniously fiendish robbery, staged in the Tower at night, with marching Beefeaters and Nigel Bruce and Henry Stephenson telling each other what good fellows they are… Aside from this, and George Zucco taunting his valet, confiding gleefully with cabbie Arthur Hohl and relishing every second of his Bullfinch characterization; and Ida Lupino looking very beautiful and vulnerable in Victorian costumes… Aside from all this, we even have one of Rathbone’s famous impersonations. With his tall figure and large nose, he’s a hard man to disguise, but he pulls it off magnificently, singing “I Do Love To Be Beside the Sea-Side” and dancing yet—to our total surprise.
To describe such a superbly mounted and stunningly photographed movie as “a filmed stage play” (as George Addison does in the following review) is utter rot.
OTHER VIEWS: Very much a filmed stage play, though there is a breathtaking double climax, featuring a club-footed piper closing in on lovely Ida Lupino and fearless Holmes stalking Moriarty up the Tower of London. The acting too is well-nigh perfect, Rathbone and Bruce seeming the very archtype of Doyle’s characters.
Although not based on anything Doyle himself wrote, the script engages the interest. Werker’s direction is always efficient, yet rises considerably in flair and imagination in the action sequences. The sets are never less than stunning, the photography appropriately moody, whilst the music score makes chilling use of a wonderfully atmospheric dirge played on the flute. The film editing, despite its gloriously elaborate cross-cutting, remains admirably sharp. In fact, production values are absolutely first-rate.
All the players are excellent. It would be impossible to assemble a more brilliant cast. As said above, Rathbone and Bruce stand as the definitive Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, and The Adventures finds them at the peak of their powers. Here they perfected the pattern for all subsequent characterizations: Holmes, cool, incisive, quick-talking, masterful; Watson, competent in a clumsy, well-meaning way, not over-bright but given to sudden bursts of chance inspiration, good-hearted, likeably self-important—the ideal foil.
Although the movie proved highly successful, both critically and commercially, Fox did not pursue the Holmes series. Instead, they were picked up by Universal who up-dated the settings and cut the budgets, thereby lowering their status from lavish “A” to top-of-the-supporting-bill “B”. Twelve Universal programmers were produced, starting with Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror in 1942 and finishing with Dressed to Kill four years later. All starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
After the Thin Man
William Powell (Nick Charles), Myrna Loy (Nora Charles), James Stewart (David Graham), Elissa Landi (Selma Landis), Joseph Calleia (“Dancer”), Jessie Ralph (Aunt Katharine), Alan Marshal (Robert Landis), Teddy Hart (Floyd Casper), Sam Levene (Lieutenant Abrahams), Dorothy McNulty [Penny Singleton] (Polly Byrnes, nightclub singer), Dorothy Vaughn (Charlotte), William Law (Lum Kee), George Zucco (Dr Adolph Kammer), Paul Fix (Phil Byrnes), Harlan Briggs (Burton Forrest), Maude Turner Gordon (Helen), William Burress (general), Thomas Pogue (William), Tom Ricketts (Henry, the Landis butler), Joe Caits (himself), Joe Phillips (Willie the Weeper), Edith Kingdon (Hattie), John T. Murray (Jerry), John Kelly (Harold, the chauffeur), Clarence Kolb (Lucius), Zeffie Tilbury (Aunt Lucy), Donald Briggs, Frederic Santley, Jack Norton (reporters), Baldwin Cooke, Sherry Hall, Jack Raymond (photographers), George Guhl (San Francisco police captain), Edgar Dearing (Bill, San Francisco policeman), Dick Rush (San Francisco detective), Jim Farley (police sergeant), Guy Usher (judge), Ray Cook (newsboy), Lucy Beaumont (jail matron), Ric Powell (cop), Ben Hall (butcher boy), Mary Gordon (Rose, the cook), George H. Reed (porter), John Butler, Louis Natheaux (racetrack touts), Harry Tyler (Fingers), Bobby Watson (crowd leader), Sue Moore (blonde), Jack Adair (blonde’s escort), Charles Arnt (drunk), Arthur Housman (man rehearsing election speech), William Gould (detective), Charles Trowbridge (police examiner), Alice H. Smith (Emily), George Taylor (Eddie), Murray Alper (Kid), Richard Loo (head waiter), Eric Wilton (Peter, the butler), Vince Barnett (wrestler’s manager), Sam McDaniel (train steward), Heinie Conklin (trainman), William Benedict (newsboy), Selmer Jackson (lab expert), Eadie Adams (girl), Monte Vandergrift (check-on-it detective), Jimmie Lucas, Eddie Allen (men), Harvey Parry (man standing on his hands), Constantine Romanoff (wrestler), Ethel Jackson, Edith Craig (girls with fireman), Bert Lindley (station agent), Norman Willis (fireman), Jack Daley (bartender), Bert Scott (man at piano), James Blaine (San Francisco policeman), Bob Murphy (arresting detective), Henry Roquemore (actor’s agent), Ernest Alexander (morgue filing clerk), Jonathan Hale (night city editor), Richard Powell (surprised policeman), Frank Otto (taxi driver), Jennie Roberts (Jerry’s workmate), Edith Trivers (hat check girl), Jesse Graves (red cap), Cecil Elliott, Phyllis Coghlan (servants), Irene Coleman, Claire Rochells, Jean Barry, Jane Tallant (chorus girls), Lee Phelps (flop house proprietor), Lew Harvey, Jimmy Brewster (thugs), Chester Gan (waiter), Kewpie Morgan (girlfriend of man standing on hands), Sam Hayes (radio announcer’s voice), William Worthington (respectable citizen), Marion Sheldon, Jimmy Blair (specialty dancers), Richard Cramer (ice man), Will Aubrey (bit), “Asta” and “Mrs Asta”.
Director: W.S. VAN DYKE. Screenplay: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett. Based on the 1934 novel The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh. Film editor: Robert J. Kern. Music score composed by Herbert Stothart and Edward Ward. Songs: “Blow That Horn” (Singleton) by Nacio Herb Brown (music) and Arthur Freed (lyrics); “Smoke Dreams” (Singleton) by Walter Donaldson, Chet Forrest, Bob Wright. Dances staged by Seymour Felix. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Harry McAfee. Set decorators: Edwin B. Willis and Henry Grace. Costumes designed by Dolly Tree. Make-up: Robert J. Schiffer. Stills: Eddie Croninworth. Assistant director: Charles Dorian. Sound recording: Douglas Shearer. Producer: Hunt Stromberg.
Copyright 21 December 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation. New York opening at the Capitol: 24 December 1936. U.S. release: December 1936. 112 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Nora’s cousin asks Nick to find her vanished husband.
NOTES: Second of the six-picture series, After the Thin Man became one of the top forty box-office attractions in the U.S./Canada for 1937. Goodrich and Hackett were nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for their Screenplay, but lost to The Story of Louis Pasteur.
COMMENT: All of us are a bit hard on sequels. All of us. Critics, fans, general moviegoers. We all tend to judge the sequel by a higher standard than the original. Personally, I rated the second Harry Potter movie as less than half as exciting as the first. Likewise the thumbs down to Son of Kong, Belle Starr’s Daughter and The Return of a Man Called Horse. It’s certainly true that studios often skimp on production values when they have a ready market for a sequel. It’s equally true that the script is often hastily written and the film directed by a gent whose reputation rests on celerity rather than meticulous craftsmanship. But most of these scruples do not apply to After the Thin Man. Here we have the same leads, the same director, same writers, same producer, even the same film editor.
Yes, same plot, same characters—but less action and more songs—so why are we complaining that the sequel isn’t as bright, as witty, as novel, as inventive, as enchantingly agreeable as the original? Admittedly, I like it almost as much. Maybe it’s a bit too talky—and loud-mouthed Sam Levene does get on my nerves a bit—but it does have at least three incomparable advantages: James Stewart, Penny Singleton and Jessie Ralph.
To catch Jimmy Stewart in an unsympathetic role—this is one of the few times he ever played a heel in his screen career (he took the part of a wanted man in Rose Marie)—is reason enough to catch After the Thin Man. And, what’s more, he does the part really proud. In fact it’s a performance that actually improves the more you watch it, full of subtleties that you miss on a first viewing: little bits of business, fleeting facial expressions, body movements and gestures that give more than a clue to the character’s real personality behind the oh-so-friendly and politely diffident mask.
In another turn-up for the books, Penny Singleton here essays a characterization as far removed from Blondie as Peter Ibbetson from Count Dracula. She’s not only totally convincing, bogus accent and all, she doesn’t even look like Mrs Bumstead. And, in another wonderful bonus, she’s handed a couple of songs as well.
For matriarchal roles, you simply can’t go past Jessie Ralph. She’s the queen. By way of comparison, Minna Gombell (her counterpart in the original Thin Man) can rise no higher than upstairs maid.
To these three recommendations for catching After the Thin Man, add the absolutely delightful Bill Powell and Myrna Loy, plus a host of our favorite character players including Clarence Kolb, Edgar Dearing, Arthur Housman, George Zucco and Tom (“Walk this way!”) Ricketts. If Woody Van Dyke’s direction isn’t quite as stylish, and if you tend to agree with some reviewers that too much time is wasted on the dogs, and that the script is merely a half-as-zestful variation on the original Thin Man novel (not based on a new “original story” by Dashiell Hammett, as the credits imply), surely a cast list as long as your arm that includes much more interesting players than the Natalie Moorheads and Minna Gombels of the 1934 movie, provides more than enough compensation.
OTHER VIEWS: See Song of the Thin Man in this book.
Aloma of the South Seas
Gilda Gray (Aloma), Percy Marmont (Bob Holden), Warner Baxter (Nuitane), William Powell (Van Templeton), Julanne Johnston (Sylvia), Harry T. Morey (Red Malloy), Joseph W. Smiley (Andrew Taylor), Frank Montgomery (Hongi), Michelette Burani (Hina), Ernestine Gaines (Taula), Aurelio Coccia (sailor).
Director: MAURICE TOURNEUR. Screenplay: James A. Creelman. Based on the stage play by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens. Photography: Harry Fischbeck. Supervising film editor: E. Lloyd Sheldon. Art director: Charles M. Kirk. Producer: Maurice Tourneur. Presented by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky.
Copyright 3 August 1926 by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. New York opening at the Rialto: 16 May 1926 (sic). Released through Paramount Pictures, Inc. 8,514 feet.
SYNOPSIS: Red-blooded American (Percy Marmont, of all people) tries to resist the wiles of sultry native lass (Gilda Gray).
NOTES: The Broadway stage play opened at the Lyric on 20 April 1925, running a most satisfactory 163 performances, despite a panning from all the leading critics. Doubtless the charm of Vivienne Osborne in the title role contributed to the play’s popular success. She was ably supported by Frank Thomas, George Gaul, and William Gargan (in his Broadway debut). A.H. Van Buren directed for producer Carl Reed.
The film was re-made by Paramount in 1941 with Dorothy Lamour as Aloma and Jon Hall as the hero.
COMMENT: The stage play was no great shakes. The most that can be said for the screenplay is that it holds up in comparison. But the storyline doesn’t really matter so much as a stirring narrative. It’s more important as a series of pegs on which a master stylist like director Maurice Tourneur can hang a dazzling variety of entrancingly picturesque compositions. Aloma of the South Seas fully justifies Tourneur’s reputation as the premier artist of the silent screen. Moreover, the cast is interesting too. Gilda Gray, in her first starring role, displays a vivacious personality, and is ably supported by Warner Baxter, the beautiful Julanne Johnston and the delightfully rascally William Powell.
Unfortunately, as already intimated, Percy Marmont is totally miscast as the hero. True, it’s a silent film and we don’t hear him speak, but nonetheless it’s impossible to believe he could beat Harry Morey in a fight—yet he does just that!
Still, Marmont’s lack of credibility is merely a small irritant. Visually, the movie is stunningly attractive. Most of the exteriors were shot in Puerto Rico where director Maurice Tourneur’s penchant for strikingly beautiful compositions is always well in evidence. We also love the tinting. The early morning scenes are tinted pink, sepia is effectively used for late afternoon, while black-and-white does a noble duty by South Seas daylight.
If Tourneur had a fault, it was an inability to adjust to the factory system of manufacturing movies. When the money men gained control of the U.S. picture business, Tourneur left Hollywood and returned to France where the artist remained king and his freedom paramount. His son, Jacques, however, stayed on in Hollywood.
Anna Karenina
Greta Garbo (Anna Karenina), Fredric March (Vronsky), Freddie Bartholomew (Sergei), Maureen O’Sullivan (Kitty), May Robson (Countess Vronsky), Basil Rathbone (Karenin), Reginald Owen (Stiva), Reginald Denny (Yashvin), Phoebe Foster (Dolly), Gyles Isham (Levin), Buster Phelps (Grisha), Ella Ethridge (Anna’s maid), Joan Marsh (Lili), Sidney Bracey (valet), Cora Sue Collins (Tania), Joe E. Tozer (butler), Guy D’Ennery (tutor), Harry Allen (Cord), Mary Forbes (Princess Sorokino), Mischa Auer (Mahotin), Ethel Griffies (Madame Karatasoff), Harry Beresford (Matve), Sarah Padden (governess), Gino Corrado (waiter), Constance Collier (Countess Lidia), Keith Hitchcock (Kartasoff), Helen Freeman (Barbara), Mahlon Hamilton, Robert Warwick (colonels), Betty Blythe (woman), Olaf Hytten (butler), Pat Somerset, Francis McDonald, Larry Steers (officers), Dennis O’Keefe (best man), and Stanley Andrews, André Cheron, Davison Clark, Sam Flint, Claudia Coleman, Carrie Daumery, Carlos De Valdez, Sarah Edwards, Otto Fries, Helen Mowbray, Joseph North, Barry Norton, William Orlamond, Georges Renavent, Pepi Sinoff, Leonid Snegoff, Dickie Walters.
Director: CLARENCE BROWN. Screenplay: Clemence Dane, Salka Viertel. Dialogue: S.N. Behrman. Based on the 1877 novel by Count Leo Tolstoy, adapted by S.N. Behrman and Erich von Stroheim. Photography: William Daniels. Film editor: Robert J. Kern. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Fredric Hope. Set decorator: Edwin B. Willis. Costumes designed by Adrian. Music: Herbert Stothart. Dance directors: Chester Hale (mazurka), Margarete Wallmann (ballet). Historical consultant: Count Andrei Tolstoy. Technical advisor: Erich von Stroheim. Vocal and choral effects: Russian Symphony Choir. Assistant director: Charles Dorian. Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Western Electric Sound Recording. Producer: David O. Selznick. A Clarence Brown Production.
Copyright 20 August 1935 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation. New York opening at the Capitol: 30 August 1935. London opening: 19 October 1935. U.K. general release: 4 January 1936. Australian release: 6 November 1935. 9 reels. 95 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Russian noblewoman deserts her husband and child for a dashing cavalry officer.
NOTES: Although not nominated for any Hollywood awards, Anna Karenina was voted Best Foreign Film of 1935 at the Venice Film Festival, and Greta Garbo was named Best Actress of the year by the New York Film Critics’ Circle.
A remake of Love (1927), photographed by William Daniels and directed by Edmund Goulding from an adaptation by Frances Marion. John Gilbert played Vronsky, Brandon Hurst was Karenin, and Garbo of course played Anna Karenina.
COMMENT: Clarence Brown’s masterpiece and my choice as one of the greatest films of all time. Back in 1967, when I wrote a detailed account of Anna Karenina for a well-known film magazine, I described Brown’s “Shall we go in for dinner?” opening crane shot at the banqueting table as the most famous and most daring single shot in all film history. No-one dared to challenged this assertion at the time and I still believe it is true today. I also pointed out that, although most critics were only too eager to draw attention to this particular camera feat, they tended to under-rate Brown’s achievements in the rest of the film. In point of fact, the same skills, the same inventiveness, the same artistry are evident throughout. Who could forget some of the effectively symbolic sequences like our first glimpse of Garbo as, disembarking from the train, she suddenly emerges through a cloud of steam? Or the scenes of Garbo and March, on their return journey to St Petersburg, silhouetted against the windows of the speeding train as it traversed a series of bleak plains with the sun setting low over distant hills?
Purists will argue that the movie has simplified the book by concentrating all our attention on the Garbo-March romance and neglecting other elements. While this is true to some extent, it’s really an inevitable part of the process of translating a sprawling two-volume novel to the screen. Oddly, the main condensation is one of change rather than elimination. All the major players in the novel are presented in the film, but the character of Karenin has been demonized. In the novel, he is a far more complex person: lonely, well-meaning, exasperating, vacillating, pompous, frightened, almost amiable. The movie portrait homes in on his pompous mannerisms and presents him as a cold, unloving and unlovable person. Ideal casting for Basil Rathbone, in fact, who relishes such lines as his advice to his young son: “Unhasting and unresting is my motto. It should be your motto too.” And his statement to Garbo: “I am concerned only with appearances.”
When Anna Karenina was re-issued in the late 1950s, a lot of the critical buzz centered around Phoebe Foster and Sir Gyles Isham, both of whom give mighty impressive performances, the former as Dolly, the latter as Levin, the impressive Tolstoy-like figure who comes into conflict with Vronsky over the flighty Kitty (spiritedly played by Maureen O’Sullivan). Both Foster and Isham had only short careers in the cinema. Both appeared in only eight talkies each. Both made their greatest marks on the stage, Isham at London’s West End where he became the talk of the town in Family Affairs, Foster on Broadway. It’s said that Garbo herself requested the aristocratic Isham for the role after seeing one of his British films. Be this as it may, Anna Karenina proved to be the high point in his film career. Foster’s too. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives were also impressed with Isham, and offered him a five-year contract. He declined because he felt he was needed back in England to help his father, Sir Vere Isham, who had never recovered from a serious motor accident and was almost an invalid. The only other film in which we can currently see Isham is Victor Saville’s The Iron Duke in which he has a small role as Castlereagh. It would be nice to see one of Gyles’ starring British films, particularly his first, Anne One Hundred (1933), a Paramount picture in which he co-starred opposite the lovely Betty Stockfeld).
Every critic also has a good word for the superb cinematography of Garbo’s hand-picked cameraman, William Daniels. But not so many take time to praise the background music composed by Herbert Stothart. They take it for granted (which is itself a compliment). I love Stothart’s tinkling bells effect when the chandeliers are being lit. Also most effective is the dramatic combination of music and sound effects as the train gathers speed at the conclusion. Best of all is his underscoring of the quarrel scene between March and Garbo. As his martial music fades into the bitter-sweet Anna theme, Garbo exclaims softly, “I face the truth.”—“What truth?” asks Vronsky.—“That one day I shall find myself alone.”
Another Fine Mess
Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy (themselves), Thelma Todd (Lady Plumtree), James Finlayson (Colonel Buckshot), Eddie Dunn (Meadows), Charles Gerrard (Lord Plumtree), Gertrude Sutton (the real maid), Harry Bernard, Bill Knight, Bob Mimford (police officers), Robert “Bobby” Burns (bicycle rider), Joe Mole and his brother (bicycle-riding goat), Betty Mae Crane, Beverly Crane (usherettes).
Director: JAMES PARROTT. Screenplay: H.M. Walker and Stan Laurel. Based on a music hall sketch “Home from the Honeymoon” by Arthur J. Jefferson. Photography: George Stevens. Film editor: Richard C. Currier. Music: Le Roy Shield. Sound recording: Elmer R. Raguse. Producer: Hal Roach.
A Hal Roach Studios Production, copyright 8 December 1930 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. U.S. release through M-G-M: 29 November 1930. 3 reels. 28 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Chased by a policeman, Laurel and Hardy find refuge in an apparently deserted mansion. When Lord Plumtree and his lovely young wife come to inspect the place (with a view to renting it), Hardy is forced to impersonate the absent owner, Colonel Buckshot, whilst Laurel has a shot at both Hives the butler and Agnes the maid.
NOTES: Arthur J. Jefferson was Stan Laurel’s father.
The second of only two three-reelers starring Laurel and Hardy. [The other: The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case (1930)].
COMMENT: Although Stan’s father hated the way his son had americanized his little sketch, this is a most amusing entry that not only allows both stars some wonderfully comic opportunities, but also provides a showcase for Thelma Todd, here at her prettiest and wittiest. Slapstick is at a minimum. Instead the film relies heavily on situational humor. Hardy’s smooth savoir-faire as the bogus huntsman-millionaire is an absolute joy. True, Walker has provided him with some great dialogue, but only an expert comedian like Hardy could serve it up with such masterful (if seemingly improvised) relish. Stan has his moments too, particularly in a risqué (and side-splitting) scene with Thelma (the lingerie queen):
THELMA: How many bedrooms are there, Agnes?
STAN: Four. There’s mine and the master’s, and the master’s and mine.
THELMA: That’s only two.
STAN: Oh, yeah? Then there’s the nursery.
THELMA: I didn’t know the colonel was married.
STAN: He’s not. He has that in case of accidents.
OTHER VIEWS: No written credit titles on this one. Instead, they are engagingly spoken by a couple of pretty usherettes. Except for a brief opening and the obligatory chase climax, the movie is confined to the one luxurious setting which enables the jokes and gags to build up to a marvelous series of comic climaxes.
Another Thin Man
William Powell (Nick Charles), Myrna Loy (Nora Charles), Virginia Grey (Lois MacFay), Otto Kruger (Van Slack), Sir C. Aubrey Smith (Colonel Burr MacFay), Ruth Hussey (Dorothy Waters), Nat Pendleton (Lieutenant Guild), Patric Knowles (Dudley Horn), Tom Neal (Freddie Coleman), Phyllis Gordon (Mrs Bellam), Sheldon Leonard (Phil Church), Don Costello (“Diamond Back” Vogel), Harry Bellaver (“Creeps” Binder), William A. Poulsen (Nick, junior), Muriel Hutchison (“Smitty” Smith), Abner Biberman (Dum-Dum), Marjorie Main (Mrs Dolley), Charles Brokaw, Frank Coletti, Edwin Parker, William Tannen (state troopers), Joe Devlin (Barney), Ralph Dunn (baggage man who “holds” elevator), Eddie Gribbon (baggage man), Edward Gargan (Detective Quinn), Walter Fenner, Edward Hearn, Thomas E. Jackson, Milton Kibbee (detectives), James Blaine, Jack Clifford, Lee Shumway, Howard M. Mitchell, William Pagan (policemen), Charles Sherlock (police photographer), Matty Fain (hoodlum who phones Nick), James Guilfoyle (Jake), Anita Camargo (hat check girl), Nestor Paiva (head waiter), Guy Rett, Alphonse Martel, Alberto Morin (waiters), Rafael Storm (gigolo who dances with Nora), Sandra Andreva, Rosemary Grimes, Toni LaRue, Tina Menard, Blanca Vischer (girls at Nick’s table), Camen D’Antonio, Miguel Fernandez Mila, Rudolph Medina, Ramon Ros, Fred Velasco (specialty dancers), Nell Craig (nursemaid), Richard Calderon (baby Rafael), Murray Alper (Larry), Frank Moran (Butch), John Kelly (father), Stanley Taylor (cab-driver), Jack Gardner (driver), Eddie Buzzard (newsboy), Paul Newlan (Tom, a bodyguard), Doodles Weaver (gatekeeper), George Guhl (gate guard with torch), Claire Rochelle (telephone operator), Dick Elliott (investigator), Gladden James (fingerprint man), Paul E. Burns (ticket agent), Eddie Hall (baggage man at train station), Edward Hearn (detective), Roy Barcroft (Slim), Milton Parsons (medical examiner), Bert Roach (Cookie), Doodles Weaver (guard), Joseph Downing (first thug), Shemp Howard (Wacky), Nellie V. Nichols (Mrs Wacky), Martin Garralaga (Pedro), Alex D’Arcy (South American), Frank Sully (Pete), Horace MacMahon (chauffeur).
Director: W.S. VAN DYKE. Screenplay: Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Script contributor: Anita Loos. Based on the short story “The Farewell Murder” (featuring the Continental Op) by Dashiell Hammett. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh. Film editor: Fredrick Y. Smith. Music: Edward Ward. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and John S. Detlie. Set decorator: Edwin B. Willis. Costumes: Dolly Tree. Dance director: Eddie Larkin. Assistant director and director of re-takes: Hugh Boswell. Re-takes photographed by John F. Seitz. Songs by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen (“Happy Days Are Here Again”) and Julio C. Sanders (“Adios Muchachos”). Sound recording: Douglas Shearer. Producer: Hunt Stromberg.
Copyright 15 November 1939 by Loew’s Inc. An MGM picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 23 November 1939. U.S. release: 17 November 1939. Australian release: 29 February 1940. 10 reels. 9,228 feet. 103 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A wealthy munitions manufacturer (C. Aubrey Smith) hires Nick Charles (William Powell) for protection because he thinks someone is trying to kill him. He’s dead right.
NOTES: Based on a short story, “The Farewell Murder”, originally featuring Hammett’s Continental Op (a nameless operative for the Continental Detective Agency in San Francisco, the character was modelled both on Hammett himself and James Wright, assistant superintendent of Pinkerton’s Baltimore office [Hammett’s former boss]. The series recounts many of Hammett’s own experiences as a Pinkerton detective).
Number 3 of the six-picture series inaugurated by The Thin Man (see later in this book).
One of the top twenty-five box-office attractions in the USA/Canada for 1940.
COMMENT: The third of the series is almost as highly entertaining as the first. The script is not only delightfully rowdy and witty, it’s packed to the gills with fascinatingly offbeat characters. A group of talented main and cameo players are handed stacks of splendid opportunities to embellish their roles with snippets of humorous business, while Van Dyke continues to direct with remarkable gusto, pace and craftsmanship.
OTHER VIEWS: See Song of the Thin Man, later in this book.
Are Parents People?
Adolphe Menjou (Hazlitt), Florence Vidor (Mrs Hazlitt), Betty Bronson (Lita Hazlitt), Lawrence Gray (Dr Dacer), Andre de Beranger (Maurice Mansfield), Emily Fitzroy (Margaret), Mary Beth Milford (Aurella Wilton), William Courtright (Freebody).
Director: MAL ST CLAIR. Screenplay: Frances Agnew. Based on The Saturday Evening Post short story by Alice Duer Miller. Photography: Bert Glennon. Presented by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky.
Copyright 5 June 1925 by Famous Players-Lasky. Released through Paramount Pictures. New York opening at the Rivoli: 8 June 1925. 6,586 feet. 73 minutes (at sound speed).
SYNOPSIS: Believing they are incompatible, Mr and Mrs Hazlitt begin divorce proceedings. This separation weighs heavily on their daughter, Lita, who is sent back to boarding school when she refuses to live with either of her parents. Instead, she schemes to re-unite them.
NOTES: After making one film for an independent producer, St Clair was offered a long-term contract with Famous Players-Lasky. The one proviso: His first picture had to be a smash success! Are Parents People? which St Clair directed at the age of twenty-eight not only secured him the contract but made him famous. The picture was universally praised. And the feature praised most of all was St Clair’s success in putting across the comedy with such artistry, style and gentle effectiveness.
COMMENT: A highly sophisticated comedy of manners which eschewed melodrama and slapstick in favor of a captivating realism and gentle satire, Are Parents People? provided its players with some of their best-loved roles. Adolphe Menjou plays the father with flair, Florence Vidor is ideal as the self-centered mother, but young Betty Bronson steals the show with her delightful impression of the resourceful maiden fair.