March 2023 Round-Up
TOTAL FILMS SEEN IN MARCH: 35
(see the film posters at the bottom of the post, arranged in watching order)
NEW-TO-ME: 35 (25 features & 10 shorts)
REWATCHES: 0
SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN: 0
MOST WATCHED ACTOR: Edmund Lowe (4 in total)
Claire Trevor, Most Watched Actress of March
Hello April! Crazy that I'm doing my March round-up post already. Nothing much happened in March (except for the famous Fallas, which we celebrated in our village) but it was a funny month weather-wise. Living in the Valencia region means spring can arrive sooner than you think but we had spring ánd summer all at once and random days with weird temperatures over 30 degrees. We also had our share of windy days but not a drop of rain in sight. Although I hate rain, the drought is worrisome. With the nice weather we enjoyed our spacious terrace to the fullest, and in fact we couldn't be happier with our new place.
Claire Trevor
I'm happy to report I've regained my full appetite for the classics. Now and then I had a light craving for a K-drama but the feeling passed quickly and instead I just added more classic films to my ever-growing watchlist. There are so many actor filmographies I want to continue or finish, and then whim-watching a film puts me on the trail of another actor or different genre.
I watched a total of 35 (!!!) films in March, all first watches. Claire Trevor is My Most Watched Actress with 6 films seen (Allegheny Uprising, Navy Wife, Time Out for Romance, The Desperadoes, Street of Chance, Career Woman). Edmund Lowe is My Most Watched Actor with 4 films seen (The Devil Is Driving, Honeymoon Deferred, Her Bodyguard, Under Pressure). I love them both! (Incidentally, they played together in the very enjoyable Black Sheep, seen in October 2019.)
Wynne Gibson is an actress I started to like a lot and I've seen 4 of her films this March (The Devil Is Driving, Her Bodyguard, Emergency Call, Night After Night).
Actors with 3 films seen: Mary Pickford (My Best Girl, Wilful Peggy, A Lodging for the Night), Lillian Gish (An Unseen Enemy, The Greatest Question, The Burglar’s Dilemma), Robert Harron (An Unseen Enemy, The Greatest Question, The Burglar’s Dilemma) and Jane Darwell (Navy Wife, Hot Saturday, Emergency Call).
Actors with 2 films seen: Randolph Scott (The Desperadoes, Hot Saturday), Michael Whalen (Time Out for Romance, Career Woman), Charlie Chaplin (Shoulder Arms, A Night in the Show), Edna Purviance (Shoulder Arms, A Night in the Show), Margaret Lindsay (The Florentine Dagger, Honeymoon Deferred) and Dorothy Gish (An Unseen Enemy, The Burglar’s Dilemma).
Wynne Gibson is an actress I started to like a lot and I've seen 4 of her films this March (The Devil Is Driving, Her Bodyguard, Emergency Call, Night After Night).
Actors with 3 films seen: Mary Pickford (My Best Girl, Wilful Peggy, A Lodging for the Night), Lillian Gish (An Unseen Enemy, The Greatest Question, The Burglar’s Dilemma), Robert Harron (An Unseen Enemy, The Greatest Question, The Burglar’s Dilemma) and Jane Darwell (Navy Wife, Hot Saturday, Emergency Call).
Actors with 2 films seen: Randolph Scott (The Desperadoes, Hot Saturday), Michael Whalen (Time Out for Romance, Career Woman), Charlie Chaplin (Shoulder Arms, A Night in the Show), Edna Purviance (Shoulder Arms, A Night in the Show), Margaret Lindsay (The Florentine Dagger, Honeymoon Deferred) and Dorothy Gish (An Unseen Enemy, The Burglar’s Dilemma).
Career Woman with Claire Trevor (screenshot by me)
Very happy with the amount of silent films I watched, 14 in total. 10 of those titles were shorts (Shoulder Arms, Wilful Peggy, An Unseen Enemy, A Lodging for the Night, The Burglar’s Dilemma, A Night in the Show, The Painted Lady, Female Rivals, The Great Train Robbery, Ménilmontant) and 4 were feature films (My Best Girl, Different from the Others, The Greatest Question, Terje Vigen). Among these silent films were 4 foreign films (the German Different from the Others, the Swedish Terje Vigen, the Danish Female Rivals, and the French Ménilmontant).
There were no trips to the Filmoteca in Valencia. (Barcelona's Filmoteca had a special dedicated to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in March. To torture myself I will name the films they showed: I Know Where I’m Going!, A Canterbury Tale (not seen yet), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, 49th Parallel (not seen), Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, Gone to Earth (not seen yet), The Tales of Hoffmann, The Spy in Black).
The Desperadoes with Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes
My highest rated film of the month is the Swedish silent film Terje Vigen (A Man There Was), followed closely by the silents My Best Girl and Ménilmontant. Also very good are Different from the Others and The Great Train Robbery, both silents as well. I enjoyed a lot of films this March (like Joy of Living, Time Out for Romance, The Devil Is Driving, The Desperadoes, et cetera), but there are also titles I enjoyed less (Pursuit, Allegheny Uprising, Beauty and the Boss, The Florentine Dagger, Honeymoon Deferred, Emergency Call). Chaplin's A Night in the Show sits at the bottom of the list and is the worst rated film of the month.
Night After Night with George Raft and Mae West
I enjoyed the following screen couples: Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward in The President’s Lady, Chester Morris and Sally Eilers in Pursuit, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Irene Dunne in Joy of Living, Claire Trevor and Michael Whalen in Time Out for Romance, Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes in The Desperadoes, Mary Pickford and Charles Rogers in My Best Girl, Lillian Gish and Robert Harron in The Greatest Question, Edmond O'Brien and Yvonne De Carlo in Silver City, Edmund Lowe and Wynne Gibson in The Devil Is Driving, Edmund Lowe and Wynne Gibson in Her Bodyguard, and Alison Skipworth and Mae West in Night After Night.
Mary Pickford and Charles Rogers, engaged on 23 November 1936
Breaking the 35 watched films down in decades:
1900s - 2
1910s - 10
1920s - 2
1930s - 16
1940s - 3
1950s - 2
1960s - 0
1900s - 2
1910s - 10
1920s - 2
1930s - 16
1940s - 3
1950s - 2
1960s - 0
Again zero for the 1960s! This is not good! I will make a serious effort to watch a couple of 1960s films in April. I'm sure I'll find some titles I really want to see.
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)
With BLACKWELL'S ISLAND (Warner Bros, 1939) I had expected some grim prison film, and instead I got a lightweight crime drama/comedy with John Garfield playing a cheerful reporter and Stanley Fields a gangster who's too comical and stupid. The tone of the film is all over the place and some plot points really stretch credibility. Also, Garfield could have used more screen time and Rosemary Lane as his love interest is not very exciting (both pictured in two photos). Still, I enjoyed this to some extent. Dick Purcell, Victor Jory, Morgan Conway and Peggy Shannon complete the cast and fortunately there's some nice photography by Sidney Hickox. And Garfield looks good with his hair wet! William C. McGann directed. ★★½ / 01.03.2023
THE PRESIDENT'S LADY (20th Century-Fox, 1953) is a biopic of president Andrew Jackson, with a focus on the legality of his marriage to Rachel Donaldson Robards and the ensuing scandal. Unbeknownst to the couple, Rachel's first husband never filed the divorce papers and therefore she's guilty of bigamy. But beware of Jackson who's hot-tempered and anyone who slanders his wife's name is met with his fist. I don't really know how factual this film is but I like the romance and how much in love with each other they seem to be. Credit to Susan Hayward as Rachel and Charlton Heston as Jackson (both pictured in two screenshots by me) who give good performances and I like Hayward's feistiness. I thought it was quite sad that Rachel died before Jackson's inauguration as the president. Supporting roles by John McIntire and Fay Bainter, and there's some beautiful black-and-white photography by Leo Tover. Henry Levin directed. ★★★ / 01.03.2023
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PURSUIT (MGM, 1935) is not as enjoyable as I hoped it would be, but the leading couple Chester Morris and Sally Eilers (both pictured, top photo) can't be blamed because they have great chemistry and tried their best (yet at times Eilers' acting misses the mark). The ingredients for an enjoyable romantic comedy are present: couple on the run, handcuffed together, posing as husband and wife, and there's a kid (Scotty Beckett) who's not too annoying. But the script leaves a lot to be desired and the plot is full of holes. Also, what's with the leads in blackface all of a sudden at the film's finale?!? Henry Travers (pictured with Morris and Eilers, bottom photo) can be seen in a supporting role and couldn't save this film either. What a bummer! Edwin L. Marin directed. ★★ / 04.03.2023
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It took some time to get into Chaplin's SHOULDER ARMS (Charles Chaplin Productions, 1918) and in the beginning there were few laughs on my part. But the sequence where Charlie Chaplin (pictured in two photos) disguises himself as a tree to infiltrate enemy lines is hilarious, especially when some soldier wants to chop down the tree for firewood. Other memorable moments: the flooded bunk and Chaplin meeting Edna Purviance. The ending where Chaplin has dreamt it all feels like a cop-out. Shoulder Arms runs 46 minutes and is still considered a short, with The Kid being Chaplin's first full-length film. The pleasant music score is composed by Chaplin himself. ★★★ / 05.03.2023
My expectations were low for JOY OF LIVING (RKO, 1938), so I was pleasantly surprised that it was quite enjoyable and there were even moments of genuine fun. Though the plot is thin and the film is a bit of a mess, Irene Dunne and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. have good chemistry (both portrayed in two photos) and their scenes together work. Dunne sparkles and Doug is so freakin' charming with the most gorgeous smile, it's really a shame the script fails them. I love the sequence where Dunne gets drunk on beer and the skating scene. I also love the scene in the courtroom when Doug receives a 6-month jail sentence and Dunne reluctantly agrees to act as his probation officer. Dunne is truly incomparable, she's such a great comedienne. Doug also has a flair for comedy and I'd wished he had done more. There's a great supporting cast of Alice Brady, Guy Kibbee, Jean Dixon, Eric Blore, Lucille Ball, Warren Hymer, Franklin Pangborn and John Qualen but they're a bit underused and don't really get the chance to shine. Dunne's songs get a bit tedious (music by Jerome Kern and Robert Russell Bennett) but she was an okay singer. Tay Garnett directed. ★★★ / 06.03.2023
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ALLEGHENY UPRISING (RKO, 1939) is the one John Wayne/Claire Trevor film (both pictured in two photos) I hadn't seen yet and it's not a very good one. John Wayne leads a rebel group of colonial settlers fighting the corrupt British in the days before the American Revolution, trying to stop the trading of firearms with the Indians. Could have been interesting but it's a pretty dull affair. Even the action scenes are lackluster. Trevor plays a feisty character, but despite being first-billed she doesn't have a lot of screen time. Her obligatory romance with Wayne (he looks good this young, by the way) isn't special either but still, their scenes together are the best thing this film has to offer. The great Nicholas Musuraca photographed this western but it doesn't stand out. Support by George Sanders and Brian Donlevy, and directed by William A. Seiter. ★★ / 07.03.2023
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I watched another Claire Trevor film from the 1930s, TIME OUT FOR ROMANCE (20th Century-Fox, 1937), where she co-stars with Michael Whalen (both pictured in two photos). It's the familiar trope of a runaway bride falling in love while on the run. I enjoyed this comedy more than I had expected and fortunately there wasn't a lot of senseless bickering between the leads. I actually liked their interactions in the car, and though Whalen is a bit bland, he's also just pretty normal. They have decent chemistry and I really like Trevor here, she looks lovely. The comic relief provided by Joan Davis and Chick Chandler is a bit of a hit-and-miss for me, it was actually more unfunny than funny. Also with Douglas Fowley and William Demarest. Malcolm St. Clair directed. ★★★ / 08.03.2023
Another film I watched for Claire Trevor, THE DESPERADOES (Columbia, 1943) is an entertaining western with an appealing lead cast. Next to Trevor, Randolph Scott, Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes share the spotlight. The focus is on the romance between Ford and Keyes, despite Scott and Trevor being top-billed. Ford and Keyes have great chemistry, and I love Keyes' feisty character. Both women have in fact substantial parts and are not just pretty props. Trevor as the saloon madam (wearing some stunning and colourful outfits), carrying a torch for her childhood friend Ford, gives a good performance and clearly has the film's best lines. It's pretty unbelievable but I don't think Scott and Trevor (portrayed in a publicity shot, bottom photo) share any scenes together (or I must have missed something), except for the finale when they witness the wedding of the young couple Ford and Keyes. They don't even exchange words, just give each other a brief glance. Filmed in Technicolor (it was Columbia's first Technicolor feature), this western is great to look at, with beautiful outdoor photography making good use of the natural landscape. There's also a thrilling stampede of wild horses. Edgar Buchanan, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams and Raymond Walburn complement the cast, while George Meehan photographed and Charles Vidor directed (Vidor (l.) pictured with wife Keyes, Scott, Trevor, Buchanan, Ford, Sally Eilers and her husband Harry Joe Brown, the film's producer, top photo). Also lovely music score by John Leipold. — NOTE: Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes made six films together: The Lady in Question (1940), The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942), Flight Lieutenant (1942), The Desperadoes (1943), The Mating of Millie (1948) and Mr. Soft Touch (1949). The only one I haven't seen yet is Flight Lieutenant. In The Adventures of Martin Eden Ford and Keyes don't end up together but Ford shares a happy ending with none other than Claire Trevor. ★★★ / 09.03.2023
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I really love MY BEST GIRL (United Artists/Pickford Corporation, 1927), my second feature film with Mary Pickford (the first was Rosita, 1923) and Pickford's last silent film. It's a romantic comedy with a simple and familiar story about a stockroom girl falling in love with her co-worker. He happens to be the son of the millionaire owner of a chain of 5 and 10 cent stores and wants to prove he can get by on his own. This silent film benefits from the great chemistry between the leads Mary Pickford and Charles Rogers (both pictured in two photos). They fell in love during production and married 10 years later (Pickford being 11 years older than Rogers), after Pickford's separation and 1936 divorce from Douglas Fairbanks. Their marriage lasted 42 years until her death! How great is that! The film is very funny at times, especially in the scenes involving Pickford's family (I love her dedication to her family). Her parents are great. I love the sequence where Pickford invites Rogers to supper at her home and then pretends her family is rehearsing a drama show. The climactic scene in the kitchen where Pickford tells Rogers she's a golddigger and really a red hot mama has her in top form with so many emotions displayed on her face. Yet Rogers sees through her bluff and all ends well, of course, with a great and funny finale where the family and Rogers' father help the lovebirds catch their boat to Honolulu. Also, good cinematography by Charles Rosher (from Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans) and David Kesson. The traffic scene comes to mind where Pickford and Rogers sit at the back of a truck. Directed by Sam Taylor. ★★★★ / 11.03.2023
BEAUTY AND THE BOSS (The Vitaphone Corporation/Warner Bros, 1932) is a pre-code film with Marian Marsh taking top-billing over the leading male actors David Manners (second-billing) and Warren William (third-billing) (all three pictured, top photo). She plays an ultra-efficient Plain Jane secretary, getting a job with banker William, who ditched his former secretary for being too attractive and distracting. Marsh looks lovely in her plain outfit with the hat (pictured with William, bottom photo), and I love her when she's fast-talking and being in her office efficiency mode. William is again sleazy, the way he hits on women, and the dated prevalent sexism rubbed me the wrong way this time and was uncomfortable. The scene where William chases Marsh around the piano is a bit grating. I was really hoping that Marsh would end up with Manners, who plays William's brother, but even though he's billed above William, he doesn't have much of a role. Charles Butterworth is probably the best thing about this pre-code and definitely has the best and funniest lines. Directed by Roy Del Ruth. ★★ / 11.03.2023
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Saw a clear print of WILFUL PEGGY (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1910) online. This silent short of 15 minutes shows Mary Pickford (pictured in two screenshots by me) as a temperamental and feisty peasant girl. When she marries a wealthy lord against her will, she feels out of place in his social circle and runs away with the lord's nephew, dressed up as a boy. Pickford looks great in the male outfit and I like her temper, taking no crap from no one. This was enjoyable but story-wise nothing special. Pickford is clearly the reason to watch this. D.W. Griffith directed. ★★½ / 12.03.2023
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DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS (Richard Oswald Produktion, 1919) is a German silent film (original title: Anders als die Andern), known for being the first film to openly discuss homosexuality as its theme and for condemning paragraph 175 in German law which punishes homosexuality with imprisonment. Written by director Richard Oswald and sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld (who plays himself in the film), this is an important and progressive slice of film history. Unfortunately it's not complete (the Nazis tried to destroy it but luckily some of it survived) and is held together by production stills and elaborate title cards. Conrad Veidt gives a good performance as the famous musician who's in a relationship with his pupil Fritz Schulz (both pictured in two photos) and blackmailed for being gay. Cannot believe this was made more than a century ago and it's really shocking to realise that some things haven't changed in 2023. Also really sad this is missing so much footage, I would have loved to see the entire film! ★★★½ / 13.03.2023
I merely picked THE FLORENTINE DAGGER (The Vitaphone Corporation/Warner Bros, 1935) for its short runtime of 69 minutes and overall I like these B-mysteries, but despite being not all that bad, it just couldn't hold my attention and it was a bit boring. Donald Woods and Margaret Lindsay look pretty together but their romance is boring too. At times Lindsay's acting also leaves a lot to be desired. I actually liked Robert Barrat in the comical role of the detective. Further support by C. Aubrey Smith (pictured with Woods and Eily Malyon, bottom photo) and Henry O'Neill (pictured with Woods and Lindsay, top photo) and Robert Florey directed. ★★ / 13.03.2023
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AN UNSEEN ENEMY (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1912) is another of those home invasion shorts, elevated by the charm of the Gish sisters (Lillian and Dorothy) who made their film debut with this silent. I loved to see the Gish sisters together (pictured in two photos), with the wind blowing through their long curly hair while being outside in the cornfields, clinging to each other in fear while being held at gunpoint. That camera shot of the gun sticking through the hole in the wall is very powerful. There was some suspense but it was a bit stupid that the girls failed to notice their escape route through the open window. The ending was pretty sweet. Also with Robert Harron as Dorothy's boyfriend. D.W. Griffith directed. ★★★ / 14.03.2023
Watched another short starring Mary Pickford (pictured, top photo, screenshot by me), directed by D.W. Griffith. A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1912) is an enjoyable affair, about a writer (Charles West — pictured with Pickford, bottom photo, screenshot by me) taking up lodging at a Mexican Inn. He wins at a game and finds himself the victim of attempted robbery by two thugs. He then gets lodging at a nearby house where Pickford and her uncle live. There the thugs try to rob him again and Mary saves the day by getting help from the sheriff. Though not really believable as a Mexican girl, Mary looks lovely and I was glad to see this in a very clear print. ★★½ / 16.03.2023
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I can understand why FREAKS (MGM, 1932) is an important and groundbreaking film but I didn't enjoy this as much as I would have liked to. Though there is a level of discomfort, it's not the reason for me not liking it to the fullest. The story isn't that compelling and the performances are pretty mediocre. This doesn't come as a surprise since the disabled persons are not actors (cast pictured, bottom photo). They normally worked as sideshow performers and had real disabilities. I also find Harry Earles as Hans annoying. On the other hand, Daisy Earles (who was his sister in real life) probably gives the film's most moving performance. The best sequence is when the 'freaks' are crawling through the mud in the rain chasing Hercules and seeking vengeance. Photography-wise it's great and there's also some eerie tension. Though the film is classified as horror, it's more of a drama, but the mentioned scene of bodies crawling was truly horrific and horror-worthy. I like the community sense and how Hans' friends wanted to help him. With a runtime of 62 minutes (I read that 30 minutes of footage is lying on the cutting room floor), I was still entertained. But that chicken ending!!! Also with Wallace Ford and Leila Hyams (pictured, top gif). Tod Browning directed. ★★★ / 16.03.2023
Watched D.W. Griffith's THE GREATEST QUESTION (First National Pictures, 1919) for Lillian Gish (pictured in two photos). She's so lovely as the orphan girl finding a home with a loving neighbouring family and finding romance with Robert Harron who plays one of the two sons. When the older brother dies in combat (great camera shot with the submarine going down while he's still on deck, trying to get into the ship, but it's too late and he drowns), Gish feels it's her duty to provide for some income and finds a job as a housemaid with a couple who in fact is the same couple whose act of murdering someone she witnessed as a child. Best scenes are the ones with Gish and Harron growing up together and becoming sweethearts. It's so sweet. The way they look together reminded me of their roles in True Heart Susie and it's also reminiscent of the friendship between Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. I don't really like Gish being the subject of pursuit by her male employer, and her hysterical reactions to it can become a bit too much. But when she plays subdued, she's wonderful, and in the scene where she's crying and cradling her dead mother in her arms, she broke my heart. ★★★ / 17.03.2023
What's with these home invasion/burglary shorts?!? THE BURGLAR'S DILEMMA (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1912) is another one and here Lionel Barrymore is knocked down by his brother Henry B. Walthall in a drunken fit. Then thug Harry Carey orders young boy Robert Harron to rob their house. Walthall, presuming his unconscious brother is dead, seizes the opportunity of the robbery to blame the burglar for the assault on his brother. The scene where Harron (pictured with Barrymore and Walthall, bottom photo) is being harassed by the cops for a confession and shakes his head in denial goes on for way toooooo long. I actually chose this short for Lillian Gish and she makes a short appearance with her sister Dorothy as Barrymore's friends (pictured with Barrymore and Walthall, top photo), visiting him for his birthday. The best thing of this mediocre short was seeing Gish and Barrymore sharing a scene together. D.W. Griffith directed. ★★½ / 18.03.2023
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I had some expectations for the Swedish film A MAN THERE WAS (Svenska Biografteatern, 1917) — original title: Terje Vigen — based on a poem by Henrik Ibsen, due to the positive reviews and because I'm familiar with Victor Sjöström's work. I love The Phantom Carriage, The Wind, He Who Gets Slapped and The Scarlet Letter. Luckily it didn't disappoint and just unbelievable it was made more than a century ago. In this film with poetic intertitles Sjöström himself (pictured in two photos) takes the lead and plays a fisherman, settling down with a wife and baby. During the Napoleonic Wars, he tries to obtain food for his hungry family and therefore needs to get past a British blockade. Highlight: the sequence where Sjöström is rowing his little vessel frantically while attempting to get away from the British warship, then has his boat destroyed by the enemy and has to swim for his life. It's such a great sequence visually and it also builds a good amount of tension and suspense. Unfortunately Sjöström gets caught and thrown in prison. This film hinges on the great and natural performance from Sjöström, the outstanding photography by Julius Jaenzon and the wonderful outdoor location shooting. The ending may be a bit too uplifting — sometimes I just prefer a bleak and dramatic ending — but it's a powerful message of forgiveness, and it just whets my appetite for more Sjöström films. ★★★★½ / 19.03.2023
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A NIGHT IN THE SHOW (The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, 1915) may be one of the unfunniest shorts I have seen with Charlie Chaplin. Here he plays a double role as Mr. Pest (pictured, top photo) and Mr. Rowdy, and both characters are annoying, both disrupting a theater performance with their rudeness. Unfortunately Edna Purviance (pictured with Chaplin, bottom photo) has practically nothing to do and there's little interaction between her and Chaplin. Best thing about this was the clear print watched online. Directed by the man himself. ★½ / 19.03.2023
Craved a colour western and chose SILVER CITY (Nat Holt Productions/ Paramount, 1951) because I like Edmond O'Brien, and Yvonne De Carlo always looks good in colour. I thought the plot with the silver mine and assayer role was a bit confusing and the action/fight scenes were pretty bad, but I liked the romance with O'Brien and De Carlo (both pictured, bottom photo, screenshot by me), and it's fun to see Barry Fitzgerald in a villainous role. Richard Arlen, Gladys George, Kasey Rogers (pictured with De Carlo, top photo, screenshot by me) and Edgar Buchanan complement the cast. Good photography by Ray Rennahan, costume design by Edith Head (I love De Carlo's cowgirl outfits), and Byron Haskin directed. ★★½ / 20.03.2023
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D.W. Griffith's 12-minute short THE PAINTED LADY (American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1912) is yet another burglary film. Here Blanche Sweet (pictured in two photos) plays a lonely and plain woman, whose father forbids her to wear makeup. Her rebellious sister doesn't obey their father and goes to the ice cream festival all made up. There she gets a lot of attention by men, whereas Blanche, who also attends the festival, gets the title card 'UNPOPULAR' (in capitals). Lol! She attracts the attention of a stranger, however, but he appears to be only interested in her father's money and commits a burglary (disguised with a mask) in their house. Blanche catches the burglar/her beau, and after a struggle the gun goes off. Discovering she killed the one man who feigned interest in her, she's 'SHATTERED' (another title card) and slowly goes out of her mind. In the end she dies, which came as a surprise for me and was rather abrupt. Sweet gives a convincing and sensitive performance, acting with subtlety, not overacting or playing too hysterically as often is the case in these shorts. She's the one who makes this short worthwile. Apparently Griffith's regular crowd of actors Lionel Barrymore, Harry Carey, Dorothy Gish, Lillian Gish and Robert Harron also make an appearance but I only spotted Carey. ★★½ / 21.03.2023
THE DEVIL IS DRIVING (Paramount, 1932) is a fun and fast-paced pre-code film starring Edmund Lowe and Wynne Gibson (both pictured in two screenshots by me). The story premise of a car garage being used as a front for stolen cars has undoubtedly been done before and it's pretty predictable how that pans out (Dickie Moore's accident and James Gleason's unfortunate fate). Where it elevates itself from the material is the pre-code double entendres and snappy banter between Lowe and Gibson. I love Lowe, by the way, his suave and debonair manner. There are some thrilling car chases as well with good photography by Henry Sharp. Lois Wilson, Alan Dinehart and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams lend further support and Benjamin Stoloff directed. ★★★ / 22.03.2023
HONEYMOON DEFERRED (Universal, 1940) is a mystery film I watched for Edmund Lowe. He marries Margaret Lindsay (both pictured in two photos, top photo with Joe Sawyer, Cliff Clark, Jerry Marlowe) and their honeymoon gets interrupted when a suicide-or-is-it-murder case calls Lowe — an insurance investigator — away. The film has some entertaining bits but overall it lacks excitement, and revealing Elisabeth Risdon as the villain early on kills all the suspense it might have had. To be honest, I was sleepy throughout the entire viewing and dozed off more than once, so I guess I missed plenty. What I did notice was how annoying Lindsay was for the most part and there were few enjoyable moments between the leading couple. Lew Landers directed. ★★ / 23.03.2023
I watched HER BODYGUARD (Paramount, 1933) because I liked Edmund Lowe and Wynne Gibson together in The Devil Is Driving and wouldn't mind seeing more of them. I like The Devil Is Driving better but this one is also enjoyable, with Gibson playing a Broadway star whose sugar daddy Edward Arnold hires a bodyguard to keep her and her jewels safe. Of course Lowe plays the bodyguard. He has great chemistry again with Gibson (both pictured in two photos) and I especially like the scene where they grab a hamburger together. Also love the ending. Too bad the print online was not very good so I hope there will be a restoration some day. William Beaudine directed. ★★★ / 24.03.2023
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FEMALE RIVALS (Nordisk Film Denmark, 1906) — original title: Rivalinder — is a very short Danish silent production, telling the story of a woman whose husband is seeing another woman. She's informed by her lady friend of the affair and then sends her husband a letter to let him know that she's going to fight it out with his mistress in a duel. With guns! Visually this looks very good, seeing the women in their long dresses (pictured in two screenshots by me) doing something unexpected. And the climax is definitely a surprise! I won't tell since it's only about 6 minutes long and to know the ending beforehand ruins the viewing experience. But it is quite shocking! Directed by Viggo Larsen. ★★★ / 25.03.2023
Watched EMERGENCY CALL (RKO, 1933) for Wynne Gibson, and I also happen to like William Gargan. This pre-code film manages to entertain some but it's a bit messy and William Boyd taking the lead (as a doctor joining the ambulance service) is not very exciting. I liked his developing friendship with William Gargan as the ambulance driver, though, and together they fight the racketeers who are involved with the hospital. Boyd is engaged with Betty Furness (both pictured, bottom photo) who plays the daughter of the hospital's boss but unfortunately she has only one scene. The romantic focus is on the relationship between Gibson (as the nurse who tries to catch a millionaire patient) and Gargan. To be honest, Gibson isn't really the nurse type, but she's one of the best things of this film and I like her pairing with Gargan. Too bad there's no happy ending for them. Jane Darwell as the head nurse (pictured with Gibson and Gargan, top photo) and George E. Stone as one of the racketeers round out the cast, and Edward L. Cahn directed. ★★ / 26.03.2023
Watched UNDER PRESSURE (Fox Film Corporation, 1935) for Edmund Lowe. Here Lowe plays a sandhog, doing construction work on an underwater tunnel in NYC, together with Victor McLaglen (both pictured with Florence Rice, bottom poster) and Charles Bickford (Bickford is from a rival team of sandhogs). There's a lot of testosterone, with working men showing their sweaty and bare-chested upper torsos. Also McLaglen is shown shirtless for a good amount of his screen time. I really had fun with this film, even though I didn't fully understand what went on in the tunnel and how the decompression worked. I know the action in the tunnel is the main focus of the film, yet I would have loved to see more of the romance between Lowe and Florence Rice (both pictured, top photo). It was poorly developed and therefore not very convincing. I didn't feel much love between them. Marjorie Rambeau does convey her feelings of love for McLaglen convincingly, though. I love her, by the way. There's some great photography by Hal Mohr and L. William O'Connell (as L.W. O'Connell) and some exciting action scenes. The sets look really cool. Small parts for Sig Ruman and Ward Bond. None other than Raoul Walsh directed. ★★★ / 27.03.2023
Mae West clearly steals the show in NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (Paramount, 1932), her film debut. I love seeing her already possessing an amazing confidence, while strutting through the room and uttering memorable one-liners. There's a scene where the hat-check girl says about Mae West's jewels, "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!" and Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Apart from West, we have George Raft in his first leading role, running a speakeasy and falling for the socialite Constance Cummings (pictured with Raft, top photo) who frequents his place. He then hires stuffy school teacher Alison Skipworth to teach him some class. The romance of Raft and Cummings is okay, but the finale where Cummings wrecks Raft's place doesn't make much sense. Overall I really liked this film, and Mae West has some delicious scenes with Skipworth (that scene in bed!). There's also great support by Wynne Gibson as Raft's jealous ex-girlfriend (pictured with West, Cummings and Skipworth, bottom photo) and Roscoe Karns as Raft's butler/henchman. Nice photography by Ernest Haller and directed by Archie Mayo. ★★★ / 28.03.2023
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The French short MÉNILMONTANT (Lobster Films, 1926) of 38 minutes is bleak and compelling, and Nadia Sibirskaïa (pictured in two photos), playing one of the two sisters, is mesmerising with her beautiful photogenic face (she reminded me a bit of French actress Marion Cotillard). The visuals and editing are outstanding and the camerawork innovative and arty. I love the scene where an old man sitting on a bench gives Sibirskaïa a piece of bread. To be honest, I was waiting for some answers who killed the parents (the opening scene with the axe murders is horrific) but they never came. Watched the version with the score by Paul Mercer and it was very fitting and ominous. Dimitri Kirsanoff directed. (By the way, I just found out that the Filmoteca in Valencia had a screening of this film last January. What a bummer I missed it!) ★★★★ / 31.03.2023
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So, another round-up is finished! The more films I watch, the more elaborate and time-consuming these round-ups are (I do a lot of preparing in a draft post during the month, though), but I like doing them and selecting photos and such. Hope I have a lot to round up next month as well, also films from the 1960s! See you then!
