Post by Prince Hal on Feb 27, 2022 17:28:52 GMT -5
Late to the 1939 party. So much to see, so little time and all that. I was a lucky kid. Growing up in the early sxities in the NYC area meant that we had seven TV stations, meaning each of the three networks, what we callled the "educational" station (now PBS) , and every kid's favorites, the three locally owned independent staitons, chock full with cartoons, kiddie shows, the Three Stooges, Tarzan, serials like Flash Gordon and King of the Rocketmen, Jungle Jim movies, old Western shows, local sports broadcasts (mostly weekend games only), and old movies. Channel 9 showed mostly Universal movies; Channel 5 had the Warner Brothers library, Channel 11 had a grab-bag of stuff, and the local NBC affiliate (Channel 4) showed MGM movies in the late afternoon.
The end result was that I got to see dozens of old movies, and at least good parts of scores of others before I was chased outside so that my eyes wouldn't glaze over from "staring at the boob tube."
I was lucky that my mother enjoyed watching them, too, and she always gave me the rundowns on the actors and actresses and recommended other movies I should watch if I had the chance. That kind of entertainment overlap between generations doesn't apply anymore, at least on a large scale. "Old movies" don't fill empty slots on schedules any more; they are relegated primarily to Turner Classic Movies, which ranks with the public library system as a national and cultural treasure.
Thus we have young people of school age and well beyond who know little or nothing of the early years of movies (whihc to them extend into the 1970s). Thus also we see the resistance, indeed refusal, to watching black and white movies. (i our family, we worked on ths potential wekness early on, and our three "kids" have no reservations about \black and white and old movies. They love serials, Hitchcock, film noir, the Universal monsters, and many another "outdated" chapter of film history.
Sorry. Long story not made short about why I have seen so mnay of these movies from the dim past and why so many of them remain part of my museum of memories.
On to '39.
I agree with Slam_Bradley that you can make the case that '39 is not as rich a year as 1940, or one might argue, a few other ensuing years. Part of the reason it is celebrated as such a watershed year, I think, is that there were ten movies nominated for Best Picture, and almost all are at least recognizable names. Plus, two of them (GWTW and Oz) are rare examples of movies that do transcend years and generation.
Gone with the Wind
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Wuthering Heights
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Stagecoach
Love Affair
The Wizard of Oz
Of Mice and Men
Ninotchka
Dark Victory
I've seen all of these except for "Love Affair," which has been remade twice that I know of, once as "An Affair to Remember" and once as Love Affair" with Warren Beatty. I can safely say that they all deserve at least one viewing, and "Stagecoach," "Ninotchka," "Mr. Smith," and "Dark Victory" deserve at least a second watch to watch the fine work of the actors and directors. I'm thinking here of John Ford and John Wayne; Melvyn Douglas and Ernst Lubitsch; James Stewart and Frank Capra; and Bette davis and Edmund Goulding. And the ensemble acting in the first three deserve rewatching as well.
The other 1939 films that are interesting, at least, and excellent at best:
"Babes in Arms," the original "Let's put on a show, kids!" movie, with who else, Rooney and Garland at their scrub-cheeked best. Busby Berkekey's staging is dazzling; my favorite is the rousing title song, with an army of kids marching through backyards collecting scrap wood, culmnating in a bonfire that is absolutely seconds from getting out of control. Mindless fun, but stunning production numbers.
"Beau Geste," one of the all-time great adventure stories, and one of the all-time great opening sequences in movies. The Foreign Legion, three devoted brothers, and a demonic sergeant combine for the cinema's greatest treatise on gallantry. (Well, "The Four Feathers" comes close.) Gary Cooper's the star, but it's Brian Donleavy's sadistic professional soldier who steals the show.
"Drums Along the Mohawk," also directed by John Ford, is a a beautiful Technicolor wonder set in the the Mohawk valley during the Revolution, an era rarely given its due in the movies. ("Patriot" me no "Patriot.") Superb work by many of the usual Ford stock company, with a nuanced performance by both Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert as the leads.
"The Four Feathers" is British, stiff-upper-lippy, and set in the days of the Empire, therefore elitist and racist at times, but directed so meticulously by Zoltan Korda, whose socialist leanings and experience as a cavalry officer show in drawing room discussions and epic battle scenes. This was "Lawrence of Arabia" in the 30s. Not as worshipful of imperialism as it might appear at first.
"Gunga Din" is the third of this year's Empire trilogy, amnd more of a romp than the other two. Clearly an influence on Lucas and Spielberg. The camaraderie among Cary Grant , Victoe McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is so natural that you'd wished they had teamed up for another movie. Sam Jaffe, a white actor as the loyal Indian Gunga Din, is touchingly effective. George Stevens got more serious as a director after this... his experiences in the Second World War changed him profoundly.
"Only Angels Have Wings," with Cary Grant clicking as a tough pilot in South America is Howard Hawks at his fast-talking adventurous best, unless you give the nod to "His Girl Friday" with Grant (Helluva year here, Cary!) and Roz Russell. No better example of "gender-bending" in the movies with Russell playing a tough, ink-in-her-veins reporter kicking ass in a man's world. Great, great movie.
Chalres Laughton is just indescribably pitiful and proud as Quasimodo in "Hunchback of Notre dame." Maureen O'Hara is radiant in her film debut as Esmerelda. Drop-dead gorgeous. Another perfectly cast film and one of the most impressive sets you'll ever see... the facade of the cathedral is like a ten-story building. No CGI.)
"The Women." No lie, not a man in the cast or on screen. The script still sparkles, and the actresses are almost all just perfect, especially Roz Russsell (again!), Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, mary Boland and Virginia Weidler, a kid actor who holds her own with all the grown-ups in every movie she's in. Dated in spots, but often telling and surprisingly relevant.
"The Roaring Twenties" is more cream-of-the-crop Warner Brothers urban crime moviemaking. Cagney is outstanding -- he palys a tough guy, can you believe it? Bogey is still in the weasel / reptile phase of his career. The final scene is a classic.
"Son of Frankenstein" is top-notch.
"Dodge City" features the ur-saloon brawl by which all others must be judged.
"Zorro's Fighting Legion" is one of the very best serials.
SLEEPER PICK OF 1939: "They Made Me a Criminal" is "Les Miserables" disguised as a boxing movie disguised as an East Side Kids movie. Claude Rains and John Garfield never ever turned in a bad performance, and this movie is just further proof of that.
I can't pick a favorite; I'd take any of the above with me to a desert island as my only movie.
The end result was that I got to see dozens of old movies, and at least good parts of scores of others before I was chased outside so that my eyes wouldn't glaze over from "staring at the boob tube."
I was lucky that my mother enjoyed watching them, too, and she always gave me the rundowns on the actors and actresses and recommended other movies I should watch if I had the chance. That kind of entertainment overlap between generations doesn't apply anymore, at least on a large scale. "Old movies" don't fill empty slots on schedules any more; they are relegated primarily to Turner Classic Movies, which ranks with the public library system as a national and cultural treasure.
Thus we have young people of school age and well beyond who know little or nothing of the early years of movies (whihc to them extend into the 1970s). Thus also we see the resistance, indeed refusal, to watching black and white movies. (i our family, we worked on ths potential wekness early on, and our three "kids" have no reservations about \black and white and old movies. They love serials, Hitchcock, film noir, the Universal monsters, and many another "outdated" chapter of film history.
Sorry. Long story not made short about why I have seen so mnay of these movies from the dim past and why so many of them remain part of my museum of memories.
On to '39.
I agree with Slam_Bradley that you can make the case that '39 is not as rich a year as 1940, or one might argue, a few other ensuing years. Part of the reason it is celebrated as such a watershed year, I think, is that there were ten movies nominated for Best Picture, and almost all are at least recognizable names. Plus, two of them (GWTW and Oz) are rare examples of movies that do transcend years and generation.
Gone with the Wind
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Wuthering Heights
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Stagecoach
Love Affair
The Wizard of Oz
Of Mice and Men
Ninotchka
Dark Victory
I've seen all of these except for "Love Affair," which has been remade twice that I know of, once as "An Affair to Remember" and once as Love Affair" with Warren Beatty. I can safely say that they all deserve at least one viewing, and "Stagecoach," "Ninotchka," "Mr. Smith," and "Dark Victory" deserve at least a second watch to watch the fine work of the actors and directors. I'm thinking here of John Ford and John Wayne; Melvyn Douglas and Ernst Lubitsch; James Stewart and Frank Capra; and Bette davis and Edmund Goulding. And the ensemble acting in the first three deserve rewatching as well.
The other 1939 films that are interesting, at least, and excellent at best:
"Babes in Arms," the original "Let's put on a show, kids!" movie, with who else, Rooney and Garland at their scrub-cheeked best. Busby Berkekey's staging is dazzling; my favorite is the rousing title song, with an army of kids marching through backyards collecting scrap wood, culmnating in a bonfire that is absolutely seconds from getting out of control. Mindless fun, but stunning production numbers.
"Beau Geste," one of the all-time great adventure stories, and one of the all-time great opening sequences in movies. The Foreign Legion, three devoted brothers, and a demonic sergeant combine for the cinema's greatest treatise on gallantry. (Well, "The Four Feathers" comes close.) Gary Cooper's the star, but it's Brian Donleavy's sadistic professional soldier who steals the show.
"Drums Along the Mohawk," also directed by John Ford, is a a beautiful Technicolor wonder set in the the Mohawk valley during the Revolution, an era rarely given its due in the movies. ("Patriot" me no "Patriot.") Superb work by many of the usual Ford stock company, with a nuanced performance by both Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert as the leads.
"The Four Feathers" is British, stiff-upper-lippy, and set in the days of the Empire, therefore elitist and racist at times, but directed so meticulously by Zoltan Korda, whose socialist leanings and experience as a cavalry officer show in drawing room discussions and epic battle scenes. This was "Lawrence of Arabia" in the 30s. Not as worshipful of imperialism as it might appear at first.
"Gunga Din" is the third of this year's Empire trilogy, amnd more of a romp than the other two. Clearly an influence on Lucas and Spielberg. The camaraderie among Cary Grant , Victoe McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is so natural that you'd wished they had teamed up for another movie. Sam Jaffe, a white actor as the loyal Indian Gunga Din, is touchingly effective. George Stevens got more serious as a director after this... his experiences in the Second World War changed him profoundly.
"Only Angels Have Wings," with Cary Grant clicking as a tough pilot in South America is Howard Hawks at his fast-talking adventurous best, unless you give the nod to "His Girl Friday" with Grant (Helluva year here, Cary!) and Roz Russell. No better example of "gender-bending" in the movies with Russell playing a tough, ink-in-her-veins reporter kicking ass in a man's world. Great, great movie.
Chalres Laughton is just indescribably pitiful and proud as Quasimodo in "Hunchback of Notre dame." Maureen O'Hara is radiant in her film debut as Esmerelda. Drop-dead gorgeous. Another perfectly cast film and one of the most impressive sets you'll ever see... the facade of the cathedral is like a ten-story building. No CGI.)
"The Women." No lie, not a man in the cast or on screen. The script still sparkles, and the actresses are almost all just perfect, especially Roz Russsell (again!), Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, mary Boland and Virginia Weidler, a kid actor who holds her own with all the grown-ups in every movie she's in. Dated in spots, but often telling and surprisingly relevant.
"The Roaring Twenties" is more cream-of-the-crop Warner Brothers urban crime moviemaking. Cagney is outstanding -- he palys a tough guy, can you believe it? Bogey is still in the weasel / reptile phase of his career. The final scene is a classic.
"Son of Frankenstein" is top-notch.
"Dodge City" features the ur-saloon brawl by which all others must be judged.
"Zorro's Fighting Legion" is one of the very best serials.
SLEEPER PICK OF 1939: "They Made Me a Criminal" is "Les Miserables" disguised as a boxing movie disguised as an East Side Kids movie. Claude Rains and John Garfield never ever turned in a bad performance, and this movie is just further proof of that.
I can't pick a favorite; I'd take any of the above with me to a desert island as my only movie.
