Children of Paradise

Set in a Paris theater around mid-1800s, Children of Paradise details the relations of a beautiful young woman and the four men who love her. Marcel Carne's heralded exemplar is a small story told at epic length, a deftly written treatise on unrequited love featuring memorable actors and impressive set pieces.

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

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's only published novel telling of pristinely handsome, consummately mannered, and inwardly devoid young man whose portrait reflects his true, hideous nature received an excellent film treatment in this first talking era onscreen outing. Albert Lewin's film is shot in crisp black and white, although the sequences reveal the grotesque picture in all its shocking color. Hurd Hatfield is appropriately cast as the vapid title character, George Sanders is excellent as the amoral lord who serves as an impetus to young Dorian's corruption, and Angela Lansbury received her second Oscar nomination for what is her third screen portrayal, here playing a victim of the young cad's cruelty.

Brief Encounter

A young woman waiting to catch a train home gets a speck of something caught in her eye and has it removed by a charming doctor who, after sharing a few words, begins an impassioned affair with, despite the fact that they have loving families to return to. Meeting weekly in the station, reality soon sets in and they realize they must put an end to their short but sweet dalliance. "Brief Encounter" is a simple and soapy drama, which may not be typical of director David Lean's later epics, but is still directed with the same bravura and also with poignant sensitivity. Based on the Noel Coward play Still Life, Lean uses crisp black and white photography and inventive direction to enhance the story. Celia Jesson and Trevor Howard are both excellent playing the somber leads and Cyril Raymond has an amusing role as Jesson's preoccupied husband. "Brief Encounter" is a bittersweet romance and an assured early entry in a remarkable directing career.

Rome, Open City

Towards the end of World War II as Rome is declared an "Open City", and the occupying German forces hunt down members of the Italian resistance, a priest becomes involved with several party members and winds up paying dearly for his selflessness. Filmed during the actual occupation of Rome by the Nazis, from a script cowritten by filmmaking great Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini's "Rome, Open City" tells a socially conscious and ultimately harrowing story, beautifully acted by a cast of non-actors. This was one of the base works in what would come to be known as Italian Neorealism, a style of film that would influence generations of subsequent filmmakers and spark interest in international cinema.

The House I Live In

"The House I Live In" is a famous public announcement from 1945 by director Mervyn LeRoy which was awarded a special Academy Award for its subject of tolerance. While taking a break from a recording session, Frank Sinatra runs across some neighborhood kids bullying a Jewish boy (whose ethnicity is never explicitly stated) and gives the ruffians a lecture and a song on religious equality. The short is surprisingly effective, well written and not as cloying as you'd expect. Sinatra is magnetic as well.

Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford)would do anything to see her two daughters (Ann Blyth, Jo Anne Marlowe) happy, so when she catches her philandering husband (Bruce Bennett) in the act, she sets out to prove herself as an independent woman. With her husband's business partner (Jack Carson), Mildred creates a successful chain of diners, but a seductive ne'er-do-well investor (Zachary Scott) and her bratty older daughter soon see to the unraveling of her success. Mildred Pierce is a stark and intriguing film noir from hard boiled novelist James M. Cain and stalwart director of the time Michael Curtiz, whose name seems to be forgotten today. Crawford won her only Oscar for her whirlwind and emotional performance. She is also given wonderful support from the cast, particularly Carson as her surprisingly lecherous backer and Scott as the layabout heir. My problem with the film came with the treatment of its characters, who exceed believability even considering cinematic suspension of disbelief. Both Mildred and Veda Pierce are two of the most ludicrously conceived characters in film history, and after awhile their absurd decisions border on the laughable. Still, "Mildred Pierce" offers much to admire including its chilly noir plot and a great performance from Crawford, despite the  unreasonable nature of her character.

The Body Snatcher

Due to a shortage of cadavers, a consummate doctor is forced to resort to buying specimens from a grave robbing carriage driver in 1830s London, who continually blackmails and intimidates the doctor. When the need for dead bodies becomes more urgent and the cabbies deeds become more suspicious, he resorts to more sinister methods of providing his services. Based on a short story from Robert Louis Stevenson, director Robert Wise's "The Body Snatcher" is the product of RKO studio's famed horror producer Val Lewton, who also coscripted under his pseudonym Carlos Keith. It was the last film to feature a collaboration between Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and both men, Karloff playing the cabbie and Lugosi in a smaller supporting role as the doctor's assistant, give rousing, scene chewing performances. In addition to the fun work of both horror legends, Henry Daniell is good as well as the proper and determined doctor, and Wise creates an atmospheric film to back up his strong performers.

Pursuit to Algiers

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are vacationing and Scotland when they receive a very strange and cryptic message inviting them to a private meet. There they meet a secret group trying to smuggle the prince of the fictional country of Rovinia back to his homeland, his life being in danger following the assassination of his father the king a week earlier. The group wants Holmes to escort him on his trip until he is in safe hands. Travelling by sea, Watson and Holmes meet an assortment of suspicious and deadly sorts on their trip to Algiers where they are to meet their contacts. "Pursuit to Algiers" is a fun and minor entry in the Sherlock Holmes series featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Both men are entertaining again in their roles as are the supporting characters who play like cheap knockoffs of the Warner Brothers Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre crew. The movie is only an hour long which makes for brisk entertaining and though the film does seem lacking especially for its running length, the conclusion is particularly surprising and satisfying.

Detour

A drifter gets into a spat with a customer and the owner of a local diner. As a song plays on the jukebox, it takes him back just a few months to when he was a nightclub singer in New York. His girlfriend had decided to go out west to see if she could make it in Hollywood, and after she had been out there a little while he decided to go out there and marry her. Taking to the road by hitching rides and having a tough go of it, he finally encounters what appears to be some good luck toward the end of his journey in Arizona. A seemingly well to do slickster offers him a ride and picks up his meal checks. Then one night when he has taken over the wheel, the car's owner dies. In a panic, the man steals his car and wallet and assumes his identity in fear that he will be mistaken for his killer. Then, just when he is about to ditch the car and hope to be free from this mess, he offers a ride to an icy woman with ties to the dead man who puts the drifter in a precarious position and seals both his and her fates. Detour is a B movie by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage in fine performances. It was shot in a matter of days and does not contain the best production values. However it is such a competent and well directed picture with such a tangibile feeling of doom that it was one of the first and most influential of all film noirs. With its ne'er do well leading man, femme fatales, murder plots, and shadows cast in black and white, Detour first made for exhilirating entertainment, and second helped lay the bricks for one of America's coldest and most beloved genres.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

From the novel by Betty Smith, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is seen through the eyes of a young girl who is part of the Nolan family living in the NYC burrough. Beset by the hardships of poverty, the family is kept together by their genteel yet protective mother. Along the way the family deals with the troubles of their father, the many trysts of their aunt, and the day-to-day travails associated with poverty. Throughout all of this, young Francie dreams of a better tomorrow which she hopes to achieve by way of her education. Peggy Ann Garner shines as the young girl in what could have been a disastrous role. Dorothy McGuire and Joan Blondell are solid as the protective mother and her floozy sister whose multiple marriages are neighborhood gossip. James Dunn won an Oscar for his work as the father, unemployed and alcholic, yet still beloved by his family. This was legendary and controversial director Elia Kazan's first film and his prowess was already eminent as he gracefully films this tale of one family's hardships. Though the film tends to sink into that type of melodrama that was prevalent in many of the films from this time, it is a pleasure to watch such fine acting and the work of a young director at the outset of a brilliant career.
***1/2