The Only Son

A widowed woman in a rural town works in a textile mill and sacrifices so her son can attend school. Years later, she visits him in Tokyo and learns that he is married with an infant child although he is embarrassed he hasn't gone anywhere with his education and is only a lowly night school teacher. The Only Son, Ozu's first talking picture, is poignant with the sensitive craftsman-like director's piercing and perfectly placed camera perfectly evoking the somber mood of the film. Choko Iida amd Shinichi Himori are both wonderful playing mother and son.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Things to Come

The next century is forecast as Earth is plunged into seemingly perpetual world war which leads to a crushing pestilence and ultimately a reconstruction which is highlighted by aggressive space exploration. Simplistic, harsh, prognostic Alexander Korda produced cautionary tale by HG Wells, which was made with his direct involvement including writing the screenplay, makes memorable use of miniature and montage but grows somewhat redundant in segments. Raymond Massey and Ralph Richardson are standouts among the cast.

*** out of ****

Sabotage

A London movie theater owner leads a double life, alternating as a bomber for an eastern terrorist organization, arousing the suspicion of his wife and a local detective. Playfully adapted from the Joseph Conrad novel Secret Agent, Sabotage is an amusing, well-crafted Hitchcock picture made all the more suspenseful through tremendous editing. A concurrent Disney film plays splendidly into the finale.

*** 1/2 out of ****

The Thin Man/After the Thin Man

Retired private eye Nick Charles (William Powell) and lively wife/assistant Nora (Myrna Loy) drink and kid in the presences of their terrier Asta while taking on the case of a friend's disappearance, almost for a lark. The sequel involves another missing person's case, this time Nora's cousin's ne'er do well husband, and a greater extortion plot involving the cousin's lover, a wealthy club owner (Jimmy Stewart). The Thin Man delighted Depression era audiences sorely in need of a lift with its playful, funny approach and the unmatched chemistry between Powell and Loy almost incredibly taking precedence to the entangled, secondary Dashiell Hammett murder plot. After the Thin Man (the sophomore effort in a series that spawned five sequels, a TV show, and a remake that has been in development for several years) follows its predecessor almost to a tee, often lamely, Nick and Nora appear less, with a lot more of Asta, who had achieved celebrity status at the time, thrown in for good measure and still retaining the same sense of lightness and fun.

The Thin Man: *** 1/2 out of ****

After the Thin Man: *** out of ****

My Man Godfrey

While searching for a homeless person as part of a scavenger hunt, a mercurial socialite (Carole Lombard) finds her query in the form of Godfrey (William Powell), a charming, down on his luck fellow upper classer (though unbeknownst to her) whom she brings home to wait on her eccentric family. My Man Godfrey is a beloved screwball comedy and considered by many to be the definitive entry in the genre. Though gorgeously filmed and containing nice performances from Powell, Lombard (if pressed, I would probably pick Howard Hawks' Twentieth Century, which she also starred in, as a favorite farcical comedy of the period), and Eugene Pallette, I found the film somewhat stilted and awfully contrived.

Partie de Campagne

A Parisian shop owner takes his wife, daughter, and apprentice (who is betrothed to his daughter) for an idyllic countryside respite where two locals have devices on the women and scheme to get them away from their men. "Partie de Campagne" is a light, well-made short, which a wonderfully realized ending, from master director Jean Renoir, who adapted a short story by Guy de Maupassant, a contemporary of his celebrated, impressionistic painter father.

The Petrified Forest

3/26/10 1936's The Petrified Forest marked the film that launched Humphrey Bogart's career and had him typecast, but it actually stars Bette Davis and Leslie Howard with Bogie in support. However, from the second he appears on screen as escaped convict Duke Mantee, Bogart is the whole show. The film is based on a stage play that both Howard and Bogart starred in and you can tell. The film does feel staged and stodgy, with soapy dialogue to go along. The film takes place almost entirely in a gas station and Arizona. Gabrielle (Davis), the granddaughter of the owner works at the counter and dreams of a more exciting life. Along comes an intellectual, suicidal drifter (Howard) and the two immediately fall in love. As the two bat eyes, the other members of the gas station read the newspaper which talks about the escape of notorious gangster Duke Mantee, so you know he will show up at the gas station and take its members hostage. However when he shows he brings the only breath of life into this dated film.

10/28/11 I enjoyed this film a little more watching it for a second time but still found it stagy, stodgy, preachy, and silly. Still director Archie Mayo's black and white direction and crisp, Bogart is excellent as the heavy, and Charley Grapewin is very amusingly as the drunk gangster worshipping grandfather.

Swing Time

"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."

-Faith Whittlesey

For the movie going public during the years of The Great Depression, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers must have been a breath of fresh air. Going to their movies, you would never know that hard times upon us. They're films were lighthearted fares bristling with charm and humor, great songs, and of course the dancing. When people argue over their greatest films, its usually a tossup between Top Hat and this film and Swing Time is a fine candidate. It opens with dancer and gambler John "Lucky" Garnett (Astaire) giving a knockout performance and skipping the curtain call to rush off to his wedding. Fearing his company will falter, Pop (Victor Moore) and the rest of the crew scheme to have Lucky miss his big date. When he finally arrives to the empty house for the ceremony, his soon to be father-in-law says that when he returns a success from New York with $25,000, he can have his daughters hand. Barely catching the train with Pop, he meets Penny (Rogers) who just so happens to be a dance instructor. The two don't exactly hit it off and he actually gets her and her coworker Mabel (Helen Broderick, a playmate for Pop) fired, but soon they find each other dancing the biggest nightclub and falling for each other, causing Lucky to reconsider his engagement. Swing Time was directed by George Stevens, considered and great director and known for more serious fare like Giant and A Place in the Sun. Maybe he gives the film the steady hand it needs although when you get down to it Swing Time is simply just a lot of fun. The music is catchy, Moore and Broderick are a hoot in the roles, and Rogers and Astaire are truly affable in the leads. What takes the cake though is the dancing, which seems to defy the laws of physics (I read that over 300 hours of dance practice went into making the film). Swing Time did not only act as an uplift to the struggling masses of the 30s. At least in my sake, it caused me to leave my worries at the door as I witnessed the magic of Fred and Ginger maneuvering about the dance floor.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Frank Capra won his second of three directorial Oscars for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, a film made with his longtime collaborator and screenwriter Robert Riskin. Released at the height of the Great Depression, it spoke to the beset masses on two levels: first off it provided a strong populist view that sided with the common working man and criticized upper class greed and secondly it is an immensely entertaining piece of escapist cinema. Starring Gary Cooper is a wonderful performance and perhaps against type as the small towned lighthearted Longfellow Deeds who one day discovers he has inherited $20,000,000. Taking the news in stride he almost immediately decides to give the money away, saying he has no need for it. However, he is persuaded to go to New York City where is surrounded and hounded by people trying to take advantage of him. One of them is a reporter, another fine performance from Jean Arthur, who seeks Deeds' company in order to get a story, while slowly falling in love with him. All the while, the slimy attorney in charge of the estate soon realizes that Deeds will never sign over the power of attorney so the devious shyster plots on throwing a couple road blocks in his way that will prevent him from donating his millions to needy out of work farmers. Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a delightful film that works on both aforementioned fronts. Gary Cooper brings immense charm and likability to his role. I couldn't help but smile every time he mentioned "socking" someone who had slighted him. I really liked Jean Arthur as well who had a difficult role she pulls off wonderfully where she has to be a tough go getter yet sweet and innocent when in the presence of Cooper. The light moments in Deeds work wonderfully and when the film strives for more serious notes, it hits them as well. Mr. Deeds is wholehearted entertainment that holds appeal to a wide range of people due to it genuine and entertaining handling of it material.