SEPTEMBER 2022 ROUND-UP
TOTAL FILMS SEEN IN SEPTEMBER: 10
(see the film posters at the bottom of the post, arranged in watching order)
NEW-TO-ME: 10 (7 features & 3 shorts)
REWATCHES: 0
SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN: 0
MOST WATCHED ACTOR: Charlie Chaplin (2 in total)
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Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland for Arise, My Love
Time goes by so quickly, I just can't get over it. In a few months' time we're heading towards Christmas and then it's goodbye to 2022. It also means that I still have a lot of classic film watching to do, so I won't end up with a pitiful film count for 2022.
Life in Valencia is good and we enjoy the weather which is still warm and sunny (at times a bit rainy). We have to move house in December and are currently exploring villages and towns around Valencia to see whether we want to live there. In September we went to our native country The Netherlands and had a lovely 10-day holiday with the family. We made day trips to Cullera, Sagunto and Rojales (our family home/our younger sister's house) too.
Okay, let's first get my monthly K-drama fix out of the way ... I finished Be Melodramatic (16 episodes) which I had started at the end of August. I watched two other shows: Another Miss Oh (18 episodes) and Kairos (16 episodes). I enjoyed them all. Then I started Little Women (12 episodes), the first show I watched in real time, still being aired. I could catch up with the first 6 episodes and binge them, then had to wait for episode 7 and 8. This weekend episode 9 and 10 are being broadcasted. (I'd rather watch a show that's completed, so I can binge-watch it in one go.) I decided not to start another show, and while waiting for the next episodes, I watched some more classics.
Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in Boom Town
I watched a total amount of 10 classics this month, which is a small improvement in comparison to last month (5 films).
Marsha Hunt passed away on the 7th of September. She was one of the few ones left from Hollywood's Golden Age, and already started making movies in the 1930s. I really love her and was sad to hear of her passing. I wanted to watch some more of her films but in the end I only watched two: The Valley of Decision and I'll Wait for You. If I'll find the time, I might do a tribute post and list all of the Marsha Hunt films I've seen.
Hunt shares the position of Most Watched Actress of the Month with Claudette Colbert. I watched the following Colbert films: Arise, My Love and Boom Town.
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Greer Garson and Marsha Hunt in The Valley of Decision
I still didn't visit the Filmoteca, so no rewatches. Fortunately I have seen two silent films, both Charlie Chaplin shorts, A Woman and In the Park, making Chaplin My Most Watched Actor of the Month. I also watched another short, Jail Bait, an Educational talkie starring Buster Keaton.
Of the 10 films watched there were some pretty good ones. My highest rated films are Arise, My Love and Bigger Than Life, followed closely by The Desperate Hours. Easy to Love, The Valley of Decision, Jail Bait and Boom Town are good watches too. A Woman and I’ll Wait for You find themselves a bit lower on the ranking list, and Chaplin's In the Park is the lowest rated film of the month, a complete dud.
Favourite couples of the month: Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland in Arise, My Love, and the bromance between Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy in Boom Town.
Breaking the 10 watched films down in decades:
1900s - 0
1910s - 2
1920s - 0
1930s - 2
1940s - 4
1950s - 2
1960s - 0
NOW LET'S MOVE ON TO THE FILMS!
(read notes with caution as they might contain spoilers; with ratings going from ½ to ★★★★★ and watched date)
ARISE, MY LOVE (Paramount, 1940) manages to blend the comedy and drama elements pretty well. I love Claudette Colbert's character, a strong and independent career woman. Colbert is great in portraying women like that, a perfect mix of sophistication, wit, intelligence and down-to-earthness. She's delightful in the light screwball comedy moments and strong in her dramatic scenes, especially when talking on the phone to the press room. Colbert and Ray Milland (both pictured) have great chemistry and Milland looks dreamy here, in particular in the beginning wearing the black coat. With an above-average script from no other than Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, this film consolidates my belief that Mitchell Leisen was one of Old Hollywood's greatest directors. ★★★★ / 01.09.2022
EASY TO LOVE (Warner Bros, 1934) is a pre-code comedy about marriage and infidelity. Love how they act like infidelity is the most natural thing in the world. The four leads (Genevieve Tobin, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Astor and Edward Everett Horton) are great in their roles and the women look gorgeous in their 1930s gowns. It all feels a bit stagy, though, and I wasn't surprised it's based on a play. I love how young Mary Astor (portrayed with Adolphe Menjou) is, and she's a hoot while smoking a cigar. Great support by WB stock actors Hugh Herbert as the detective (love him) and Guy Kibbee as stuff like that Justice of the Peace. Nothing earth-shattering but a delightful watch just the same. William Keighley directed. ★★★ / 02.09.2022
William Wyler's home invasion thriller THE DESPERATE HOURS (Paramount, 1955) stars Humphrey Bogart as one of three escaped convicts, invading the suburban home of Fredric March and his family (wife Martha Scott and children Mary Murphy and Richard Eyer), holding them hostage until Bogart's girlfriend arrives with the dough. Of course not everything goes as planned and the family proves to be a bit rebellious. The film is based on a play and it shows. But the performances are good, especially by the veteran actors March and Bogart (both pictured). I also liked the little boy. Though suspenseful, it's not the tight thriller with nail-biting tension I had anticipated. I was also pleasantly surprised by the psychological aspect of how Bogart let the family members out of his sight, trusting them not to go to the police because they wouldn't risk the lives of their loved ones. Arthur Kennedy and Gig Young give support as respectively the detective on the case and Mary Murphy's boyfriend. ★★★½ / 03.09.2022
Watched THE VALLEY OF DECISION (MGM, 1945) for Marsha Hunt, in remembrance of her recent passing on September 7th, aged 104! This drama, directed by Tay Garnett, is slow-paced, and not much is happening at first. Greer Garson (a bit miscast) comes from a poor family of steel mill workers and gets a job as a maid in the wealthy household of Gladys Cooper and Donald Crisp and their children Gregory Peck, Marsha Hunt, Dan Duryea and Marshall Thompson. Garson finds herself romantically involved with handsome Peck (both pictured), who's engaged to Jessica Tandy. Except for Lionel Barrymore (as Garson's grumpy father), Duryea and Tandy, almost everybody behaves nicely — I especially love Cooper's likeable character and Hunt is great too — and you wonder when the conflict will happen. Well, it occurs after about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and within a span of 10 minutes three characters get shot and die. What the hell? From there on, it gets more dramatic, but it never managed to engage me completely. The stellar cast — with Preston Foster, Reginald Owen and Dean Stockwell also lending support — made the whole viewing experience enjoyable, though. It was also nice to see Garson and Hunt together after performing as the Bennet sisters in the 1940 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. ★★★ / 12.09.2022
Watched BIGGER THAN LIFE (20th Century-Fox, 1956) on the return plane ride from Amsterdam to my hometown Valencia and constantly dozed off because of tiredness but in the end managed to watch it all. A pity it didn't have my undivided attention at first because it's a great film with an interesting story premise. James Mason plays a teacher and family man who suffers from a serious health condition and gets cortisone prescribed in order to beat the pain and prolong his life. Used in large doses, the side effects are very serious, though, and it makes him paranoid and psychotic. Mason is wonderful in these scenes, it's a great performance. Barbara Rush (pictured with Mason, screenshot by me) as his wife shines in a dramatic role and is beautifully photographed. The colour palette with brown and orange hues is gorgeous. It reminded me of Douglas Sirk films and I wondered whether Russell Metty (All that Heaven Allows) shot this one too. No, it's Joseph MacDonald (DP of My Darling Clementine, Niagara, Pickup on South Street). Fine support by Walter Matthau, and directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by James Mason. Recommended! ★★★★ / 18.09.2022
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About time I watched a silent film again, so I opted for the short A WOMAN (The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, 1915) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance. This is mildly enjoyable and doesn't elicit many laughs, but it is memorable for seeing Chaplin in drag (pictured) and shaving off his moustache. There is an incredible close-up, he looks so different. I watched the restored version, a very clear print, and I liked the music score. Directed by Charlie Chaplin. ★★½ / 22.09.2022
JAIL BAIT (Educational Pictures, 1937) is one of Buster Keaton's short talkies and it is quite funny. Buster confesses to a murder he didn't commit and gets himself jailed, so his reporter friend can catch the real killer before the police does and he can claim the credit and reward. Of course something happens to the reporter friend and Buster has to find a way to prove his innocence. It's still weird to hear Buster talk but his physical comedy is great as usual. There's a funny scene where Buster is desperately trying to get arrested but the cop doesn't pay any attention to him. Buster looks beautiful again, I love him in his prison clothes (pictured, screenshot by me). Charles Lamont directed. ★★★ / 27.09.2022
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Watched I'LL WAIT FOR YOU (MGM, 1941) for Marsha Hunt. Read beforehand that this is a remake of Hide-Out (1934) with Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan which I've seen a while ago and remember having enjoyed. I love Marsha Hunt and she's the best thing about this remake, but Robert Sterling (portrayed with Hunt) in Montgomery's role lacks charm and charisma and doesn't make his bad boy persona remotely believable. Supporting cast consists of Virginia Weidler (in the role of Mickey Rooney), Paul Kelly, Fay Holden and Henry Travers. I like Weidler as Hunt's sister and Travers as her dad. Despite the loveliness of Marsha Hunt, I prefer the original version. Saw this on a train ride from Valencia to Alicante. Directed by Robert B. Sinclair. ★★½ / 29.09.2022
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Been meaning to see BOOM TOWN (MGM, 1940), directed by Jack Conway, but because of its runtime of almost two hours I usually pick a film that's shorter. With a star-studded cast (Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan — all pictured) and great production values (MGM didn't spare any expenses), you would expect more from this drama about two oil riggers and their love for the same woman. Somehow there's something lacking and the film is overly long but the acting is good, especially Gable gives an energetic performance. (Gable and his father worked in the Oklahoma oil fields in the 1920s so he could easily relate to his character here). I love the bromance between Gable and Tracy, also the happy and cute scenes between Gable and Colbert. Lamarr only appears after about an hour and is underused, she's mainly being beautiful. Some great cinematography by Harold Rosson, some great special effects, and the score by Franz Waxman is pleasant. ★★★ / 29.09.2022
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I feel a bit bad rating the Charlie Chaplin short IN THE PARK (The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, 1915) so low, but there was little to enjoy here. In fact, I found Chaplin annoying and his Tramp is not very likeable, hitting on other men's women in the park. There is a lot of unnecessary kicking and hitting and no funny moments at all. Also with Edna Purviance (pictured with Chaplin) and directed by Charlie Chaplin himself. ★½ / 30.09.2022
That's another round-up again. Contrary to what I said in earlier posts, I will continue blogging and do monthly round-up posts, maybe even finding time to do an extra post. I'm thinking of trying to reach a total amount of 200 films this year. I'm currently at 135. So it means I have to watch an average of 22 films per month in the coming three months. Should be doable, as long as I'm not constantly binging on K-dramas. Let's do this!
