March 2022 Round-Up
TOTAL FILMS SEEN IN MARCH: 20
(see the film posters at the bottom of the post, arranged in watching order)
NEW-TO-ME: 19 (15 features & 4 shorts)
REWATCHES: 1
SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN: 0
What a Way to Go! with Shirley MacLaine
March didn't start well. On my way to the airport Schiphol in my native country The Netherlands — after having spent a lovely holiday week with my family — I fell hard on my face while trying to catch the bus. Result: missed flight, hours at the emergency room, broken right wrist (I'm right-handed) and loose teeth. My face was so swollen on the right side that I looked like a hamster, lol. Good thing was we got to spend a couple of days extra with the family. Not so surprisingly I wasn't feeling my best and at first didn't feel like watching films at all. I expected this to change as the month progressed and my physical condition improved, and it did a bit, but somehow I didn't regain my full appetite for watching the classics.
This month the horrible war situation in Ukraine continued which put my own misfortune in perspective; one of my last maternal aunts sadly passed away, as well as one of my fave film bloggers Caftan Woman (R.I.P.); the weather was grey, somber and rainy in Barcelona for weeks on end due to storm Celia, and Sahara dust coloured the Spanish skies yellow and orange.
It felt like a very strange month. Yet on a happy note, we found a temporary apartment in Valencia from May till mid-December and already moved most of the stuff we don't need right away to our family house in Rojales, where we did spend some lovely and lazy days towards the end of March together with our younger sister. We had a little trip planned to Valencia at the beginning of the month but had to cancel it due to my accident.
So I didn't watch that many classic films, only 20 to be exact, which is my lowest monthly score since February 2020 when I watched 15 films (in March 2020 and June 2020 I also watched 20 films). It didn't even have anything to do with my intention of being more creative or wanting to read more (like I mentioned in my January round-up post), because I didn't engage in neither activity. I also started watching my first Korean drama series. Both my elder and younger sister are huge fans and have been devouring K-dramas for years now. In Rojales we binged 11 episodes of the 16-episode-long series Crash Landing on You and I love it. Can't wait to finish it.
Edmond O'Brien (right) in A Double Life
I didn't have One Most Watched Actress this month, only actresses with just one film watched. There was only one actor with more than one film watched, namely Edmond O'Brien with 2 film seen (A Double Life and The Admiral Was a Lady).
I only watched one Margaret Sullavan film (No Sad Songs for Me) and still haven't finished her filmography.
I watched 4 silent films, no features, all shorts: A Trip to the Moon, My Baby, Frankenstein and The Vagabond.
There were still no trips to the Filmoteca, because the winter months always tend to have less screenings of classic Hollywood titles. But I have to say goodbye to my favourite film theater anyway. As it happens, Valencia also has a Filmoteca. Yay! And right now they have a much better program than in Barcelona, focusing on silent films, women director pioneers and Charlie Chaplin. I already missed silent film screenings in March and will also miss the April Chaplin program. Fortunately the Chaplin program will continue in May with his talkies (we're moving to Valencia at the start of May) and the silents directed by women pioneers will be shown throughout the year.
I did have one rewatch this month, Royal Wedding, and watched it during my holiday in Rojales.
My highest rated film is What a Way to Go!, followed closely by A Double Life, A Trip to the Moon and Royal Wedding.
My lowest rated film is Double Exposure, followed by Never Say Goodbye, The Admiral Was a Lady, The Long Shot and The Case of the Stuttering Bishop.
Not really a favourite screen couple this month, though Fred MacMurray and Marlene Dietrich are cute together in The Lady Is Willing. William Powell and Irene Dunne make a likely couple in Life with Father, and in What a Way to Go! Shirley MacLaine has nice chemistry with her male leading men.
Breaking the 20 watched films down in decades:
1900s - 1
1910s - 3
1920s - 0
1930s - 4
1940s - 5
1950s - 5
1960s - 2
NOW LET'S MOVE ON TO THE FILMS!
(read notes with caution as they might contain spoilers; ratings go from ½ to ★★★★★)
....... I started the new month with watching Life with Father (Warner Bros, 1947), directed by Michael Curtiz, on the return plane ride from Amsterdam to Barcelona. Best thing about this comedy — which takes place at the turn of the century — is William Powell as the patriarch of an all-red-headed family, with four sons and Irene Dunne as his wife. He has the film's wittiest lines and the controversy about father never having been baptised is rather funny. Powell and Dunne make a believable couple and have good chemistry. Young Elizabeth Taylor (pictured with Powell and Dunne, top photo) plays the love interest of the eldest son (Jimmy Lydon), and Edmund Gwenn, Zasu Pitts, Emma Dunn and Elisabeth Risdon round out the rest of the cast. ★★★ ....... The Tall Stranger (Allied Artists Pictures, 1957) is a standard western with Joel McCrea playing a likeable hero once again, returning home from the Civil War and getting himself caught in the middle of a land war between his half-brother Barry Kelley and a group of Confederate homesteaders. There is enough action to make this a compelling watch and Virginia Mayo (pictured with McCrea, middle photo, screenshot by me) as McCrea's love interest, in her bright orange low-cut dress, adds some flavour to the proceedings. Thomas Carr directed. ★★★ ....... Not to be confused with the lovely Christmas comedy of the same title from 1946 starring Errol Flynn and Eleanor Parker, Jerry Hopper's melodrama Never Say Goodbye (Universal International, 1956) with handsome Rock Hudson in a leading role is rather dull. I didn't realise this is a remake of the recently watched This Love of Ours, but soon enough plot elements began to look familiar to me. The opening shot is reminiscent of All That Heaven Allows and the film has a Douglas Sirk vibe at times (reportedly he co-directed uncredited), shot in beautiful Technicolor, but there's no social criticism, and I didn't really care about the characters. Leading lady Cornell Borchers (pictured with Hudson, bottom gif) is pretty boring but I liked George Sanders who has a rare amiable role and gives a subdued performance. I also loved the 1950s set decoration of the doctor's house and garden. Sweeping score by Frank Skinner. ★★½ .......
....... In George Cukor's A Double Life (Kanin Productions/Universal, 1947), stage actor Ronald Colman strongly identifies with the characters he's playing and loses all sense of reality as he's being consumed by Othello's jealous rage, intent on killing his Desdemona (Signe Hasso). At first I couldn't get into this film at all but it gets more engrossing along the way and is ultimately rewarding in the final act (with a surprise twist at the end). Fortunately Edmond O'Brien gets more to do in the second half, and young Shelley Winters (pictured with Colman, top photo) shines in a pivotal role as Colman's victim. Colman gives a strong performance for which he won an Oscar, while Miklós Rózsa's music score was also awarded the coveted statue. Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin wrote the script and Milton Krasner took care of the beautiful cinematography. ★★★½ ....... I watched The Admiral Was a Lady (United Artists/Roxbury Productions, 1950) for Edmond O'Brien. He plays one of four war veterans, free spirits, who avoid legitimate work and spend their time taking care of former WAVE Wanda Hendrix (portrayed with O'Brien, middle photo). It's all a bit silly and results in a boxing match with O'Brien fighting in the ring and being beaten to a pulp. I normally don't like Hendrix that much, but she was okay in this comedy and had decent chemistry with O'Brien. Support by Rudy Vallee, Steve Brodie and Hillary Brooke. Albert S. Rogell directed. ★★½ ....... Double Exposure (Pine-Thomas Productions/ Paramount, 1944), directed by William Berke, is an entertaining but foolish B-movie starring Chester Morris as the editor of a photography magazine and hiring photographer Nancy Kelly (both portrayed with Edward Earle, bottom photo). I didn't really like how Morris immediately started to hit on Kelly, it was pretty obnoxious. Probably best thing about this film is Phillip Terry's sarcastic date played by Roma Aldrich. She's a hoot. It all derails at the end with Kelly being imprisoned on suspicion of murder and Terry being presumed dead as a result of a torpedo attack or something. But as these things go, all ends well. ★★ .......
....... I watched What a Way to Go! (APJAC Productions/Orchard Productions, 1964), directed by J. Lee Thompson, during a very slow day at work (still from home), and oh boy ... this black comedy was such a fun watch! Shirley MacLaine (pictured, top gif) is amazing as the four-time widow, who wants to live the simple life but ends up being married to four rich husbands who all prematurely die. MacLaine carries this film, ably supported by some great male stars, i.e. Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum (portrayed with MacLaine, middle photo), Dean Martin (pictured with MacLaine, bottom gif, gif by me), Gene Kelly, Dick Van Dyke and Robert Cummings. And she looks beautiful and ravishing in costumes designed by Edith Head, and her makeup and different hairdos are wonderful as well. Leon Shamroy took care of the great photography and the set designs look magnificent too (that pink set!). Despite the unconventional story, it has a rather predictable ending (you know of course with whom Shirley will share her happy ending because the other men are all dead), but fortunately it was highly satisfying. MacLaine has good chemistry with all male co-stars, and shows some excellent dancing skills in her dance with Kelly. Also, Newman was great in his crazy artist role and seems to be having a lot of fun with it. Definitely will be seeing this again! ★★★★ .......
....... The Keeper of the Bees (W.T. Lackey Productions, 1935) is a sweet little B-movie with a likeable leading role for Neil Hamilton as a traumatised WWI veteran who ends up in a peaceful village and finds himself taking care of the bee farm when Bee Master Hobart Bosworth is being hospitalised. Hamilton gives a good and tender performance and has good rapport with little Edith Fellows. I really liked their scenes together. The story line with the character of Betty Furness (pictured with Hamilton, top photo) gets a bit convoluted but I was glad she shared a happy ending with Hamilton. Also with Emma Dunn and directed by Christy Cabanne. ★★★ ....... I've really grown to love Fred MacMurray as a romantic lead. There are many actors more handsome than he is but he can be so attractive, especially when he plays tender. In The Lady Is Willing (Columbia, 1942) he's an obstetrician marrying Broadway performer Marlene Dietrich out of convenience (both portrayed with baby, middle photo). She needs a husband to adopt a baby and he needs rabbits in order to do his medical research. I didn't like Dietrich practically stealing the baby, acting like it was the most natural thing in the world, and her character was at times a bit annoying. But she has good chemistry with MacMurray and I love their scenes together, in particular the one leading up to their first kiss. I also like the moment when MacMurray says to her she looks like a rabbit in her white furs and she wiggles her nose like a rabbit. Solid supporting cast by the ever reliable and excellent Aline MacMahon, Stanley Ridges and Arline Judge. The great Mitchell Leisen directed. ★★★ ....... The Long Shot (Grand National Pictures/ Franklyn Warner Productions, 1939) is a harmless little B-film about a thoroughbred racing horse and the people involved with the horse's training and big race, a film I watched for Marsha Hunt. It's nothing special, but short and entertaining. A lot of these horse movies have a feel-good vibe and this one is no different. Leading man Gordon Jones (pictured with Hunt, bottom photo, screenshot by me) is a bit bland yet okay, and at least he has reasonable chemistry with Hunt. Fortunately the film benefits from a good supporting cast, consisting of Harry Davenport, C. Henry Gordon, George E. Stone and Tom Kennedy. Charles Lamont directed. ★★½ .......
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....... The Little Colonel (Fox Film Corporation, 1935) is a Shirley Temple vehicle, well known for her famous dance on the stairs with Bill Robinson. She was some little entertainer and really held her own next to Bojangles. The film itself is enjoyable enough, with Lionel Barrymore playing Temple's grumpy grandfather, who finally makes peace with his daughter Evelyn Venable thanks to his adorable grandchild. John Lodge as the romantic leading man is very bland. Also with Hattie McDaniel as the maid. Extra points for the dog (pictured with Temple, top photo). David Butler directed. ★★★ ....... Watched The Secret Ways (Heath Productions /Universal, 1961) because it's one of Richard Widmark's more obscure films and I like German actress Sonja Ziemann (both pictured, middle photo). Also, I need to watch more 1960s films. It's a Cold War spy thriller set in Vienna, with great location shots, and though I found the plot a bit convoluted, it was an engaging watch. Especially the finale with the escape scene was thrilling. Most remarkable was the striking black-and-white photography by Mutz Greenbaum aka Max Greene, who also shot Night and the City. The film has an early score by John Williams, credited as Johnny Williams. Richard Widmark produced and Phil Karlson (known for numerous film noirs) directed. The two reportedly had a falling out and Widmark finished the picture (uncredited). Also with Senta Berger in a sultry role. ★★★ ....... The biggest asset of The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (Warner Bros, 1937) is Ann Dvorak as Della. Unfortunately there's not enough of her. Instead we have boring Donald Woods who plays lawyer Perry Mason (portrayed with Dvorak, bottom photo) and he's really not up to the task. The case itself is not very exciting either, but despite these shortcomings I still had an okay time with it and it didn't overstay its welcome. I need to see the Perry Mason films starring Warren William soon, I'm sure they're better. Directed by William Clemens. ★★½ .......
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....... I finished the month with watching three more silent shorts. D.W. Griffith's My Baby (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1912), starring Mary Pickford, is an enjoyable short about a father being left alone as his three daughters all get married and leave the paternal house. The father, being played by W. Chrystie Miller (pictured with Pickford, top photo, screenshot by me), is bitter and angry and cuts off contact with Pickford and her husband. When he finds out he has a grandchild, he sees a way to secretly steal a visit but gets mistaken for a burglar. Both grandfather and baby are rather cute-looking. The Gish sisters (Lillian and Dorothy) and Lionel Barrymore make appearances in this short as well but I haven't spotted them. ★★★ ....... Frankenstein (Edison Studios, 1910), directed by J. Searle Dawley, is generally recognised as the first screen adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein. It's a quick watch with clear storytelling, the highlight being the creation of the monster in a tub. The monster is quite laughable (pictured, middle photo), I have to say. Still, entertaining and historically an interesting piece of filmmaking. ★★★ ....... Last film of the month is a Charlie Chaplin short, The Vagabond (Lone Star Corporation, 1916), directed by Chaplin himself. He plays a tramp trying to earn money as a violinist and rescues Edna Purviance from violent gypsy chief Eric Campbell (he's really extremely violent, poor Edna!). Purviance turns out to be the daughter of a rich woman and was stolen by gypsies. With a lot of classic slapstick and Chaplin bonking people on the head, this has also moments of pathos. Not among Chaplin's best, but certainly worthwhile and I love his pairing with his frequent leading lady Purviance (both pictured, bottom photo). ★★★ .......
Well, that's it, my March round-up! I probably won't be seeing an awful lot of classic films in April as I have discovered K-drama now, but I'll try to dedicate some of my time to the classics. See you next time!
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