January 2018 Round-Up / CLASSIC MOVIES ROUND-UP

January 2018 Round-Up

1.2.18

TOTAL FILMS SEEN IN JANUARY: 26

(see the film posters at the bottom of the post, arranged in watching order)

NEW-TO-ME: 24

REWATCHES: 2

SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN: 5

MOST WATCHED ACTOR: Lew Ayres (8 films in total)

My aim is to watch as many classic movies as I can but I would already be content with an average of one film a day. Well, I didn't make it this month but I was still happy with what I watched. Most notably was the start of my binge-watching Lew Ayres movies. This was caused by having seen the very enjoyable Fingers At the Window starring Ayres and Laraine Day. I thought they had such great chemistry that I decided to check out the Dr. Kildare series right away. I was lucky enough to find all episodes (9 in total) online, all in a decent print, but unfortunately some of the films had the sound a bit out of sync. I wanted to watch the films in chronological order and managed to see the first four episodes this month: Young Dr. Kildare, Calling Dr. Kildare (with Lana Turner), The Secret of Dr. Kildare, and Dr. Kildare's Strange Case. Of these Kildare films the least enjoyable was the last one and I really liked Calling Dr. Kildare where Laraine Day as Nurse Mary makes her first appearance. All Kildare films feature Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie, and I love his relationship with Dr. Kildare.

Apart from the Kildare episodes and Fingers At the Window I watched a couple of other Lew Ayres films: the acclaimed Johnny Belinda with Jane Wyman; Iron Man with Jean Harlow; and Don't Bet on Love with Ginger Rogers. Of these three I can only recommend Johnny Belinda which is a good drama with great performances by Wyman, Ayres and Charles Bickford. Both Ayres and Wyman were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Actress, and it was Jane Wyman who brought the Oscar home. Don't Bet on Love is only worth mentioning because this is the film where Ayres and Ginger Rogers met. They were married from 1934 till 1940.

What else did I watch this month? The year started with a film I knew (or hoped) I was going to like. It had been on my watchlist for some time now and I wasn't disappointed. The Catered Affair turned out to be a Very Enjoyable Affair with stand-out performances from Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine.

Then I watched Red Dust, another film high on my watchlist. I enjoyed this immensely and it served as a reminder to myself to watch more Jean Harlow films because she is an absolute delight in Red Dust. I think this film is much better than its remake Mogambo. Clark Gable would repeat the same role in the remake but young Gable is more suited for the part than old Gable, and although I love Ava Gardner, Harlow gets my preference vote. Since I loved the pairing of Harlow and Gable so much — their chemistry is sizzling and I like how playful their interaction is — I decided to check out one of their other collaborations, Hold Your Man, and I enjoyed this too. This film has more screen time for Harlow than Gable but the best scenes take place at the beginning of the film when Gable hides from the cops in Harlow's unlocked apartment. Harlow happens to be in the bathtub and sparks start flying.

I also watched this month:

*Two Charlie Chaplin shorts, The Cure and One A.M., both enjoyable and funny but not among his best.

*Two acclaimed film noirs, Angels With Dirty Faces (with James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan) and Murder, My Sweet (with Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley). I liked Angels With Dirty Faces a lot. Great performances from Cagney and O'Brien and well cast. Murder, My Sweet is a solid noir and also enjoyable but I found it a bit disappointing. I do like Powell in a non-musical role, though, and a bit older and more serious.

*Two family films, My Pal Gus and Come Next Spring. My Pal Gus has Richard Widmark play a single father falling in love with his son's schoolteacher Joanne Dru. Come Next Spring features Ann Sheridan and Steve Cochran as estranged wife and husband, with Cochran coming home after years and trying to win the love of his children. Both films were nothing special but still enjoyable.

*One Lucille Ball film Beauty For the Asking (with Donald Woods and Patric Knowles, enjoyable, with a subdued performance from Ball), another James Cagney film Winner Take All (with Marian Nixon, unremarkable film, though Nixon is sweet), a Carole Lombard film Bolero (with George Raft, mediocre performances and bad script so not recommendable), and one Robert Montgomery film Faithless (with Tallulah Bankhead, surprisingly well-made pre-code with a compelling story and with Montgomery looking absolutely gorgeous with ruffled hair and a stubble).

*Five films seen on the big screen at the Filmoteca: On the Waterfront (with Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint and Karl Malden), Dance, Girl, Dance (with Maureen O'Hara, Lucille Ball and Ralph Bellamy), The Visit (with Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn), Tender Comrade (with Ginger Rogers and Robert Ryan), and The Circus (with Charlie Chaplin). Dance, Girl, Dance was enjoyable and has a beautiful young Maureen O'Hara in numerous close-ups; The Visit was surprisingly entertaining with an unusual but intriguing story premise, and Bergman looked stunning; Tender Comrade was a disappointment and only had the appeal of the leads but there was little chemistry between Rogers and Ryan and their flashback scenes were overly long; On the Waterfront and The Circus were both rewatches (the only two of this month) and I enjoyed them both a lot. On the Waterfront is one of my favourite films and it was great to see it on the big screen for the second time (the first time was a long time ago at Springhaver Theater in Utrecht). The Circus was very funny — I didn't remember it being this funny — and the audience was very responsive so we laughed a lot. An added bonus was that the film was accompanied by live piano music.

All in all, it was an enjoyable film month. Can't wait to see what February will bring movie-wise.