Friday, December 23, 2016

      

Watchingwell   





              Curated classic films





    









 In addition . . .


     For some reason, my last year's Christmas post was re-posted on December 20 of this year. I didn't mean for it to happen, but not to worry.  Some of you can re-acquaint yourselves with my favorite Christmas viewing.  However, this year I was going to offer a different list of films that are worth watching on their own merit, but happen to have Christmas going on in the background.

    First, let me say that I don't feel like watching my favorite heartwarming films this Christmas.  It's going to be harder this year to charm me. So I won't be watching The Cheaters or Remember the Night.  Christmas in Connecticut was on TCM and I actually turned it off to watch some British mystery rerun on PBS. I did watch Desk Set which was also shown on TCM and while not charmed, I found new things to admire about Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy and Joan Blondell as actors.


     The first film I'm listing is The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) adapted from the play by George S. Kaufmann and Moss Hart. Directed by William Keighly, it takes place during the Christmas season in a small town in Ohio. Changed my mind about this film after about the third viewing.  I knew many thought it funny, but I didn't.  It was the penguins that put me off -- I can't stand animals used in entertainment, unless they have signed the contract.  But if you skip the beginning and the penguins, it starts to get funny, particularly after Ann Sheridan enters the story.


     Monty Woolley plays Sheridan Whiteside, author, critic, and international celebrity who knows everybody.  He is over-the-top full of his own importance and is generally rude and condescending.  His right-hand assistant, Bette Davis, ignores his obnoxious behavior and is indispensable to him in navigating the world of ordinary people.  This becomes even more important when he falls and injures himself at the doorstep of Daisy and Ernest Stanley (Billie Burke and Grant Mitchell), who must turn over their home and their lives to his whims while he recuperates or suffer a ruinous lawsuit.                                                                                     

     While he is laid up in the small town, Bette Davis falls in love with a local journalist and  aspiring playwright and plans to to marry him and leave her job.  This makes Whiteside desperate and why Ann Sheridan is called in to help break up the romance. For some reason, Jimmy Durante also comes in and delivers my all-time favorite movie quote when he releases the startled nurse, Mary Wickes, from an embrace, and says, "Come to my room in half an hour and bring some rye bread."



    Another film is kind of forgotten by many and, if remembered, is not listed among the career highlights of any of the cast.  But what a cast!  The film is the light comedy, We're No Angels (1955) directed by Michael Curtiz. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Leo G. Carroll, Joan Bennett, and Basil Rathbone.

      Bogart, Ustinov and Ray are escaped convicts from Devil's Island who have come to a port in the French West Indies to steal what they need to continue their journey.  They find the easily-conned shopkeeper, Leo G. Carroll, and his family, and make themselves useful around the shop and the house during Christmas.  While hoping to rob the family and move on, they begin to care about them and their plight when Cousin Andre (Rathbone) comes to visit and threatens to remove them from the shop and their home. If you are familiar with Peter Ustinov, you are aware of his skill for dry comedy, but it is a wonderful revelation to see Aldo Ray and Humphrey Bogart handling the witty script with such command.

     Their surprising success as merchants recalls a related plot in the film, Larceny, Inc. (1942), a gem of a comedy starring Edward G. Robinson, who takes over a luggage store because it is next door to a bank his gang plans on robbing.  But his earnest salesmanship with the customers during the Christmas shopping season throws a monkey wrench into the plan.  Directed by Lloyd Bacon, there isn't a slow moment as the scheme unfolds with snags and setbacks. Also starring Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford, Anthony Quinn and Jack Carson. Although well-known for his gangster roles, you really should see Edward G. Robinson kill it in comedy.  

     My next selection, Since You Went Away (1944), directed by John Cromwell, has its detractors, as does Mrs. Miniver (1942) and probably for similar reasons. But judge with your heart not your brain and recall that when it was released, it was wartime and families all over the country saw in it a reflection of their own experiences, elevated by the artistry of the black and white photography of Lee Garmes and Stanley Cortez and a score by Max Steiner.  Claudette Colbert stars as the wife of an absent soldier, with daughters, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple, and friend of the family, Joseph Cotten. Robert Walker plays a young man about to go to war and on the way, falls in love with Jennifer Jones.  They have a very brief and happy time together  pretending to plan for their future before he has to leave.  Whatever you may think of the rest of the film, you wouldn't be human if you have dry eyes during the scene in the train station. The Christmas scene is also poignant as the Christmases of all the families, with members, serving and absent, think about their homecoming and the ones who will never come home.

     Last year, I recommended After the Thin Man for it's New Years Eve in San Francisco setting.  The year I am recommending The Thin Man (1934), the first in the series where the thin man is actually the corpse and not Nick Charles, Detective, played by William Powell, as it was in all the following Thin Man films. In this film, which is also directed by W. S. Van Dyke, Nick is newly retired now that he is married to wealthy Nora, played to perfection by Myrna Loy, whose estate he is managing. He is happy-go-lucky, drinking his nights away in every stylish watering hole in New York, matched martini for martini by Nora, when he is reluctantly drawn into the mystery of a missing acquaintance by the man's daughter. Nora finds the detective business a little thrilling and is enthusiastic about Nicky solving the mystery.  Their relationship, as revealed by their repartée, is what really makes The Thin Man series so entertaining, more so than the mystery or the inevitable, ultimate scene where all the suspects are gathered and the guilty one is identified, after the camera lingers on each terrified face. 

  
    After one particular night of alcoholic over-indulgence, we drop in on the Charles family, Nick, Nora and their clever terrier, Asta, on Christmas morning. The scene has nothing to do with the mystery.  It just reveals more of the nature of the relationship by the way they talk to each other in the sarcastic and off-hand manner that is so very modern.
 




Merry Viewing to You 

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

 

 

Watchingwell                   
                                          Curated classic film





    Barely in time for the holidays, here are some films I recommend that you make a tradition to watch with the family or alone with a box of popcorn and a glass of eggnog.You might have other favorites, but perhaps, there are one or two here that you’ve never seen and might seek out as a result of my recommendation.  In that regard, I will say at the outset that most of the films I write  about are the ones that I think most people have not seen, that is, older films. So that is the reason that this list does not include Home Alone, any of the versions of  A Christmas Carol, or the terribly popular, A Christmas Story, which never really spoke to me –sorry.

The top 5:
1.      The Cheaters 1945  Republic Pictures
This is my go-to holiday film and it was years before it was available on DVD.  I had taped it from a television station with a bad reception, so for many years I really had to suffer to keep up this tradition. Unfortunately, even the DVD is not easy to find. I have one but I also found it on YouTube®.

A shamelessly rich and entirely unlikeable family finds out that they are bankrupt and can only be saved with an inheritance from a distant relative.  Unfortunately, the will has named someone else as the heir and the family will only inherit if she cannot be found.  So they devise a plan to find her first and keep the news of the inheritance a secret. Meanwhile, at the urging of the social-climbing older daughter, they have invited an alcoholic actor who has fallen on hard times to be their ‘charity’ Christmas guest. The guest, played by Joseph Schildkraut, catches on to their plan and even helps them find the real heir, who is also an actress and out of work. Eugene Pallette in the familiar patriarch role is Mr. Pigeon, and Billie Burke plays the always-distracted, Mrs. Pidgeon. This is a good Christmas story with all the right elements – snow, caroling, presents under a tree, and the value of family and friendship.  But what impressed me when I first saw the film as a child was the scene at the mansion where Mrs. Pidgeon is directing the gift-wrapping for the family.  In a large room, an assembly line with many employees is directed by the younger daughter to wrap her presents in a particular color when she is told that the color has already been used.  When she complains, her mother asks why she can’t use a mix of colors.  Her reply that fashionable people use the same color for all their gifts, made me wrap my presents in the same color paper for years.  The witty script by Frances Hyland offers humor and, of course, redemption.  Everyone ends up doing the right thing.  Directed by Joseph Kane.

2.   Remember the Night 1940  Paramount Pictures
This would be number one on my list if I hadn’t seen The Cheaters first when I was at such a young and impressionable age.

Who doesn’t love Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray together? With a script by Preston Sturges?  He’s an assistant district attorney and she’s about to spend Christmas in jail for shoplifting. He agrees to bail and then when she appears to have nowhere to go, takes her to dinner where they find out that they are from the same area of Indiana.  He offers to drive her home on his way to see his own family for the holidays. When that doesn’t work out, he invites her to come home with him and she spends a week with his mother (Beulah Bondi), Aunt Emma (Elizabeth Patterson) and Willie (Sterling Holloway. When I think of the spirit of Christmas that many people complain about losing to consumerism, I think of the scene in this film on Christmas morning where handmade gifts are exchanged, unopened perfume is ‘re-gifted’ so that Lee (Stanwyck) has a present, simple, thoughtful things have been brought from the city.  It doesn’t seem terribly important what the gifts are, it’s the giving that counts and being together.  Lee’s tough exterior softens in this loving environment and she and John begin to fall in love.  Naturally, there are problems.  His mother convinces Lee that she would ruin his legal career, so Lee doesn’t let John throw it all away by letting her escape to Canada.  He tries to botch the prosecution, so she pleads guilty to save him.  She goes to prison and he promises to wait. Directed by Mitchell Leisen.


 3. Christmas in Connecticut 1945 Warner Bros.
Yes, another Barbara Stanwyck film, this time it’s Connecticut where the romance happens with Christmas as a backdrop.  It’s a lighthearted comedy with Stanwyck playing a writer of a very popular column on food and the domestic arts, the Martha Stewart of her day.  The magazine she writes for, is owned by Alexander Yardley, played by Sidney Greenstreet, who decides it would be excellent publicity to invite a wounded sailor to spend Christmas with his star columnist, Elizabeth Lane (Stanwyck) on her farm in Connecticut.  This presents a slight problem for Elizabeth because she neither lives on a farm nor does she know much about cooking.  All her recipes come from her friend, the restaurant chef, played by S.Z. Sakall.  She is not married, either, but, her architect fiancée does have a home in Connecticut, and Elizabeth really needs the job, and so the deception begins.  It gets even trickier when Yardley decides to invite himself as well, and the sailor, played by Dennis Morgan, is attracted to Elizabeth and she to him.  In the end, romance wins over employment concerns.  Ah, Hollywood.   Directed by Peter Godfrey 

4. I’ll Be Seeing You 1944 Selznick International
For those who find a more poignant story uplifting for the season, this little known film starring Joseph Cotten and Ginger Rogers should fill the bill. Two people meet by chance on their way to the small town where the Rogers character is visiting her family.  She is on a furlough from prison and the Cotten character is on leave from a military hospital where he is recovering from physical and psychological wounds. Sensing a kindred spirit, perhaps each other’s fragility, they are drawn to each other.  The aunt, played by Spring Byington, and the Uncle, played by Tom Tully, with a significant role as the cousin, an adolescent Shirley Temple, all welcome the serviceman, Zachary Morgan into their home for Christmas dinner, even though knowing the secret of the Rogers character (Mary), keeps everyone in the family on edge.  But the real affection they have for their niece and the firm belief that they are doing what’s right give the story just the right amount of warmth without being too syrupy.  Mary and Zachary spend the week together and finish the holiday by attending a dance with the family on New Year’s Eve.   When Cousin Barbara, who has been reluctant to make friends with Mary inadvertently spills the beans, she is genuinely horrified at what she had done and is able to feel empathy for Mary for the first time. It ends rather realistically, but not sadly. Directed by William Dieterle.

5. Desk Set 1957 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Yes, I do watch some films in color. One of my very favorite movies from childhood, it was the penultimate film pairing of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.  I must admit that the setting of this film drew me in even if nothing else appealed.  It takes place in the research library of a television network during one Christmas season.  A staff of four women, led by Hepburn, answers any and all questions from network employees that come up in the course of producing television shows.   These women have reference materials, books, and newspapers on two floors, but all but the newest member of the staff, have much of it in their heads, and, if not, know exactly where it can be found.  These are bright and well-educated women doing a valuable job and Hepburn’s character, Bunny, even has a boyfriend who is an executive with the network.  Life was good.  And, of course, it doesn’t last. Tracy plays a man with a computer, the size of Univac (we would call him an IT guy today), and a plan to digitalize the network.  Everyone in research is aghast, thinking that they will be replaced by a machine, and they set out to show that it can’t be done.  Critics don’t generally rate this as one of the best Hepburn-Tracy films.  Looking at it from today, it is hopelessly outdated, but this shouldn’t be held against it. It is a very light comedy that doesn’t require much more of Hepburn and Tracy than to play themselves, which they do entertainingly, although some thought at the time that they were a little too old for romantic leads (ageists, obviously). The script may not have been sparkling in its wit, but I liked the relationship that the women in the department had and that the women were competent in their jobs.  Ironically, the computer was the enemy in Desk Set, when it ultimately became synonymous with information.  Who could have known in 1957? Directed by Walter Lang.

By the way, just like everyone else, I enjoy Miracle on 34th Street, directed by George Seaton, and I always love the part when they bring the bags of mail into the courtroom, It’s a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra, because although we’ve seen this way too many times, the message is pretty profound (If you can imagine that a world in which you never existed would be pretty much the same, you’d better change your life while you still have the chance), Holiday Inn, directed by Mark Sandrich, worth watching just to hear Bing Crosby sing “White Christmas”, and Meet Me In St. Louis, directed by Vincente Minelli, for the same reason, if only to hear Judy Garland sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, but it’s a lovely film.

For the New Year’s mood, I recommend After the Thin Man, directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the second of the series, with William Powell and Myrna Loy solving a mystery while celebrating New Year’s Eve, Swing Time, directed by George Stevens, -- there’s something festive about watching Astaire and Rogers in any of the great dance musicals of the thirties, and Bachelor Mother, directed by Garson Kanin, another with Ginger Rogers, this time with David Niven on a New Year’s date.




Wednesday, December 7, 2016


Watchingwell   





           Curated classic films







    



Escape from the Planet of ...


     I've been trying to find some escapist entertainment of late and for some reason, all I've been running into on TV are westerns.  Now, I may have mentioned at some point that this is not my favorite genre as its target audience is male, but when you are desperate to escape, it does blot out reality as well as Law and Order reruns -- a sort of movie equivalent of white noise. The westerns that I found myself leaving on in the background happened to be John Wayne films,  El Dorado (1966) and Rio Bravo (1959), both directed by Howard Hawks and The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) directed by Henry Hathaway. If you are familiar with these films you already know that El Dorado
is practically a remake of Rio Bravo with Robert Mitchum replacing Dean Martin as the sheriff and James Caan substituting for Ricky Nelson as the young guy. 


Otherwise, it's pretty much the same plot. There actually is a third Howard Hawks film with John Wayne and a similar plot called Rio Lobo (1970), but I digress. The Sons of Katie Elder is entertaining enough with a mystery to uncover and that takes time until the climactic shoot out and then it still goes on for what seems like another hour.  But as I said, it's entertaining.
   

 I know what you're thinking -- why don't I pop in a DVD and watch whatever escapist film I want?  Because, then I'd have to CHOOSE.  That would take the whole time time slot that I had allotted.  Fortunately, Turner Classic Movies had decided to celebrate Thanksgiving by playing Marx Brothers films all day Wednesday while I was cooking and then followed that with a day of Rogers and Astaire. Now that's what I call escaping!




    When I was a child, one local TV station played Marx Brothers and Ginger and Fred every New Years Eve.  Several years later, I was in LA on New Years Eve and a local station there had the same idea.  These films are always enjoyable, but not so absorbing that you couldn't talk or have snacks or beverages at the same time, tuning in for your favorite parts and then tuning out in between. To fill the escape bill, they also can't be so realistic that you get involved in the drama and pick up the mood. I mean, I've got enough problems. But I would guess that although some men might find the Marx Brothers totally escapist, they might get absorbed in something more -- oh, I don't know, violent, like a gangster film or The Three Stooges. There are individuals that find find many modern films with lots of explosions and fast cuts an ideal way to escape reality.  To me, however, that is reality.  I can only escape when the setting and the style of the film take me far away from now.

     So, what would be my go-to list of reliable films guaranteed to fly me away from any present misery?  Here are 10 with not a bit of reality in the bunch.


1. Casablanca (1942) Know this script practically by heart (OK, who doesn't?) so I don't have to pay rapt attention but still delight in hearing all of the great lines (I am shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on in here.)



2. Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House  (1948) I also know this so well yet I could watch it over and over again.  I particularly love the painter interpreting Myrna Loy's color scheme. Cary and Myrna and Melvyn in their most down-to-earth selves.






3. Laura (1944) This is a fun to watch film noir with the lovely Gene Tierney. Beautiful black and white photography, smart script. It changed my mind about Dana Andrews.






4. The Big Sleep (1946) I'm a huge Raymond Chandler fan and this is Bogart and Bacall in one of his very complicated plots, compounded by William Faulkner who co-wrote the screenplay.  But I know who dunnit so I can watch casually. You might want to read the book.



5. The Uninvited (1944) A ghost story and a mystery, but not really scary. Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey aiding Gail Russell as Stella, hence the score's well-known, Stella by Starlight by Victor Young.







6. The Palm Beach Story (1942) A little harder for me not to watch closely because there are so many great vintage Preston Sturges scenes.  So funny, especially, Mary Astor as Rudy Vallee's sister, pursuing Joel McCrea who is married to Claudette Colbert.



7. The Maltese Falcon (1941) There is no mystery left after so many viewings, but it is comforting in its familiarity. This is the film where Bogart becomes Bogart -- the tough, cynical guy with a touch of humor.




8. Rebecca (1940) I'm not a big Joan Fontaine fan and she plays such a dope in this (I would have told Danvers to back off or find other employment).  But I
love hearing Olivier saying, "You think I loved, Rebecca? I hated her."  Oh, I guess I should have said 'spoiler' first.







9. Mildred Pierce (1945) Joan Crawford raises a monster daughter (Ann Blyth) and we all root for her comeuppance.  Eve Arden is great as usual as Joan's friend with the wisecracks.





10. Now Voyager (1942) Bette Davis has a monster mother and we all root for her comeuppance. And she can never marry the man she loves.  But does Bette think this is a tragedy.  No, she does not.  She does not wish for the moon
because, after all, she has the stars. Whatever that means. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2016


      

Watchingwell   





           Curated classic films







    








The 1930s

     A while ago, I was challenged to come up with an essential list of American films that one should know in order to be "film literate". By literate, I mean not just knowing the best American films -- this is disputable, but films that, either in whole or in part, have become icons of American culture.

     It started out as a fun exercise, but it soon became clear that it was harder than I thought.  I couldn't limit my list to any reasonable number.  So after a while, I decided to compromise with myself and divide the list into decades and groups. Even this was hard, but I began with the 1930s and 50 films that fit my criteria. I excluded animated films and shorts for this list. You may question my choices -- the lack of westerns, for example, but, the 30s were noted for lavish productions that made the audience forget the depressing Depression and the great westerns came later. Now I may have forgotten some and it is of course strictly IMO, but you try to do it. 

     So, if you can only see 10 films from the 1930s, these are the ones (in alphabetical order).


1. A Night at the Opera (1935).  If you've never seen a Marx Brothers film, this is the place to start. Then see them all. This one contains the stateroom scene and destroys Il Trovatore.






2. Bringing Up Baby (1938). Ever wondered what is a screwball comedy, anyway?  This is it.  Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, directed by Howard Hawks. Gold Standard.





3. Gone With the Wind (1939). Sure, now we laugh at Hollywood's version of the Civil War, but this was the biggest film of the most illustrious year of American film. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh and a cast of thousands. Can't get more iconic. I mean, it's the best known Carol Burnett skit.






4. It Happened One Night (1934). Frank Capra's signature comedy of the runaway bride genre. Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Academy Awards all around.





5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Another Frank Capra classic, starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur. An idealistic guy fills a Senate vacancy and learns how Washington really works. 




6. My Man Godfrey (1936). Another screwball comedy, this time showcasing the inimitable screen personalities of Carole Lombard and William Powell in the rich, but crazy, family genre.





7. Ninotchka (1939). Yes, another film from 1939.  'Garbo laughs' is how they sold this witty Ernst Lubitsch comedy.  Starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas.







8. Top Hat (1935). One of the best Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire musicals, certainly the most iconic. Dreamy dancing, Irving Berlin score.







9. The Thin Man (1934). The first in the franchise, based on the Dashiell Hammett story, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as the wise-cracking couple, Nick and Nora Charles, who, with their dog, Asta, have fun solving a murder mystery.





10. The Wizard of Oz (1939). Yes, 1939! The film that never ages.  A wonderfully whimsical, creative tour de force, starring Judy Garland and an all-star cast.






     So, what if you had time for 20 must-see films from the 1930s? OK. Here are my picks for 11-20. (Also alphabetically)



11. The Awful Truth (1937). Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in their most stylish selves, dissolving their marriage while annoying each other with sophisticated comedy dialogue. Academy Award for director, Leo McCarey.

12. Duck Soup (1933).  I know I already said to see all the Marx Brothers films, but this is the one you should see second. Groucho leads Freedonia into war. The mirror scene is possibly the funniest comedy sequence ever in a talkie.

13. Forty-Second Street (1933). Ruby Keeler taps, Busby Berkely choreographs in the prototypical Broadway musical. The line "Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" was voted as the #87 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).


,



14. Grand Hotel (1932). Greta Garbo wants to be left alone, but John Barrymore changes her mind. Joan Crawford is kind to Lionel Barrymore and they all team up against Wallace Beery. 


15. Modern Times (1936). For those of you who might never have had the chance to watch Charlie Chaplin, this is his brilliant protest against the dehumanizing, mechanized world. Also starring Paulette Goddard.


16. The Public Enemy (1931).  Directed by 
William Wellman, probably the best known of the early Warner Brothers gangster films, it introduced the tough guy persona of James Cagney from which he could never quite disconnect throughout his career. Also starring Mae Clarke with the citrus facial and Joan Blondell and Jean Harlow in minor roles.

17. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Erroll Flynn at his swashbuckling best with Olivia de Havilland as Marian and Basil Rathbone as bad Sir Guy. Academy Award winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

18. Swing Time (1936). My personal favorite Rogers/Astaire musical with the Jerome Kerns/Dorothy Fields score, including  the Academy Award winning song, "The Way You Look Tonight". Direction by George Stevens makes this a cut above.

19. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford directing John Wayne and an ensemble in the first use of the Monument Valley setting. A group of people  go on a journey, real and symbolic, and face life-threatening events.  Beautiful photography.


20. The Women (1939). Mud wrestling dressed in a Anita Loos script, from the play by Clare Booth Luce. Directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard and others, this is worth watching just to see the all-women cast.





    When you get past 20, it's harder to say for sure which has more cultural significance. So, I offer the next group for people who are really into becoming familiar with the films of the 1930s or are just curious to see if my list would match their picks.



21. Dracula (1931). Bela Lugosi, Hungarian accent, cape.  Oooooh, scary.


22. Easy Living (1937). Social satire by Preston Sturges with Jean Arthur as a working girl and Edward Arnold playing a role he perfected -- a Wall Street financier.  


23. Gay Divorcee (1934). Just to watch Fred and Ginger dance to "Night and Day".


24. Golddiggers of 1937 (1936). Musical direction by Busby Berkeley, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, this is my favorite of the 'Golddiggers' because of Glenda Farrell's part which she turns into a scene stealer.

25. King Kong (1933).  Big ape, Empire State Building, Fay Wray.


26. Libeled Lady (1936). Spencer Tracy, William Powell, Myrna Loy are good, as usual, but Jean Harlow is a scream.


27. Little Caesar (1931). Launched the gangster genre and the career of Edward G. Robinson.



28. Love Affair (1939). The original shipboard romance with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. 



29. Only Angels Have Wings (1939). Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth. Flyers on dangerous missions in South America, directed by Howard Hawks.



30. She Done Him Wrong (1933). You've got to see at least one Mae West film just to hear the dialogue she got away with.



31. San Francisco (1936).  Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable star in the often-used theme of the boyhood friends who clash as adults. Jeanette MacDonald sings, "San Francisco" just as the earthquake begins in 1906 .


32. Doddsworth (1936). Well-acted, poignant adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, with a great supporting performance by Mary Astor.


33. Frankenstein (1931). Boris Karloff as the monster.  Colin Clive screaming madly, "It's Alive!"


34. Hands Across the Table (1935). Another opportunity to watch a Carole Lombard comedy and the chemistry between Carole and Fred MacMurray.


35. History is Made at Night (1937). Crazed husband drives a radiant Jean Arthur into the arms of Charles Boyer. 


36. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1933). Gritty, realistic look at the criminal injustice system through the eyes of Paul Muni.


37. Lost Horizon (1937). Shangri-La is brought to life with Ronald Colman finding Paradise in the Himalayas with Jane Wyatt.


38. Stage Door (1937).  Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden, Lucille Ball, Gail Patrick, Ann Miller and others trying to make it on Broadway. 


39. Wuthering Heights (1939). William Wyler directs a pretty faithful adaptation of Emily Bronte, but Laurence Olivier really sells it, with the help of a score by Alfred Newman and photography by Gregg Toland.


40. You Can't Take it With You (1938). The crazy family of Jean Arthur who loves the son (James Stewart) of the terriibly rich family headed by -- you   guessed it -- Edward Arnold.


41. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Great and still powerful Academy-Award winning anti-war film.


42. A Slight Case of Murder (1938). This is Edward G. Robinson as a gangster again, only this time in a clever comedy gem from a play by Damon Runyan and Howard Lindsay.


43. City Lights (1931). Some say this is Chaplin's best. A silent masterpiece.


44. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939). John Ford directs Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda as settlers in a beautifully photographed revolutionary America, where the Iroquois are in their way. 



45. Golden Boy (1939).Clifford Odets play about a young man who abandons music for boxing.  Barbara Stanwyck and William Holden in his breakout role.


46. Manhattan  Melodrama (1934). Clark Gable and William Powell grow up together, but have their friendship tested as adults on opposite sides of the law. With Myrna Loy.


47. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town  (1936).  Capra classic about a man so unpretentious that he is accused of being insane.  Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper, who turns in one of his best performances.


48. Queen Christina ((1933). Garbo's greatest role with the most famous close-up in all of film.


49. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). You've got to see one Shirley Temple film to see why she was such a big deal.


50. Theodora Goes Wild (1936).  Irene Dunne tries to lead a double life in this delightful comedy, but Melvyn Douglas knows her secret and ruins everything.


    What do you think? I'd be interested in your comments.