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Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Platinum Blonde (1931)

Posted on 03:00 by Unknown

Directed by Frank Capra
Loretta Young, Robert Williams, and Jean Harlow
Produced by Columbia Pictures

Stew Smith is the ace reporter for The Post and regularly gets the big assignments. When he's not chasing down leads, he's killing time with his best friend in the newsroom, the lovely Gallagher.

Smith gets assigned to track down claims that the wealthy Schuyler family paid off a chorus girl to drop a civil suit against the family's womanizing son Michael.

Smith and a rival reporter from the Tribune are allowed to interview the family. The other reporter leaves with a bribe to drop the issue, but Smith is made of sterner stuff. First, he tricks the Schuyler matriarch into admitting the payoff, but seems swayed by the advances of her daughter Anne. However, in the end Smith calls his editor with the scoop, enraging the family.

The next day Smith returns with letters he had found from Michael to the chorus girl, providing salacious details about the affair. Anne offers a sizable bribe to Smith, but the reporter refuses the money and returns the letters, simply stating the previous story was news, but the letters would not.

Anne is intrigued by Smith and the two spend the afternoon together. She begins seeing him and the couple spontaneously elope, much to the dismay of both Mrs. Schuyler and Gallagher (who has been pining for Smith).

But marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anne is trying to mold Stew into a proper gentleman, but the very independent reporter has his own ideas. Can the two making it work? And just how will Smith find his muse to finish a play he's been writing on the side?

Platinum Blonde has a very basic setup. It's a guy falling for the wrong girl while the perfect girl is under his nose all along. We have all seen it before.

So why is this film so engaging?

There are plenty of reasons. Williams as Stew Smith for starters. He plays the character just right. Instead of the pronounced gesticulations of the silent era, Williams gives a smooth, natural performance. There are any number of moments he could come off as obnoxious or whiny or petulant, but he strikes just the right balance to keep Smith charming and likable. The audience wants to see him win here and that is not the easiest trick to pull off when your character is constantly making bad decisions.

The second standout here though is Frank Capra. He keeps the action moving by striking a middle ground between the stagy presentations by most directors and the wild zooms and angles of Murnau.

The film features some nice tracking shots (as when the camera follows Smith and Anne through the Schuyler estate during one of their initial meetings). There is a beautiful moment with the couple where we see their first romantic moment shot through stained glass as rain drips down the window.

The final star of this film is the script. It's an early prototype for all the screwball comedies to come. There's a rat-a-tat-tat to a lot of Williams delivery. When the dialogue picks up, Capra just settles down with camera and let's the actors and the words carry the action.

I have not mentioned the two stars most would be familiar with. Loretta Young has almost nothing to do here. Her job is basically to hang in the background and wait to see if the man she loves will come to his senses. Young's fine, but never really gets a moment to shine.

Jean Harlow may have the toughest job in the film and I think if the script fails anyone, it's her. She at first seems to genuinely fall in love with Stew, but later she treats him like a reclamation project. It's possible both motivations are there together, but neither the writer nor Harlow really work to clarify things.

Because of where the film wants to go, the third act goes off the rails. Stew inadvertently throws a party at the Schuyler's mansion and things get out of hand. However, they never really establish that Stew's friends all have mentality of frat boys. With how tight s lot of the early plot feels, having things just loosen up completely feels wrong.

There are so many weird decisions at the end of the film, even Stew seems surprised when he finally chooses between Anne and Gallagher. There's no build up; it just...happens.

The film has a broad thematic concern with class, but I don't really think it has a ton to say on the subject. It's all surface level and even when it does something subtle (like naming our working class hero "Smith" and the Schuyler's butler "Smythe"), they have to call it out with a "Did you see what we did there?" nudge.

There's quite a bit I like here and more I merely admire. Platinum Blonde isn't perfect. It isn't laugh out loud funny. It is a helluva fun time though.

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

NOTE: Never heard of Williams? There's a reason. Four days after the film's release, the actor had an acute appendicitis and died. It's a tragedy we didn't get to see what might have been.

NOTE: Just because, here's one of my favorite little exchanges in the movie. It's Stew talking with the Schuyler's butler Smythe about puttering:

Posted in 1931, frank capra, jean harlow, loretta young, platinum blonde | No comments

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

The Champ (1931)

Posted on 03:58 by Unknown

Directed by King Vidor

Starring Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper and Irene Rich

Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer

Former heavyweight "Champ" Purcell is a mess. He drinks too much. He gambles away any meager earnings he has. When he gets a chance to return to the ring, he shows up in front of the promoter drunk and out of shape.

His vices force his young son Dink to be the man of the house. Champ loves his son, but cannot overcome his vices. When the father does finally see a gambling winning streak, he takes the money and buys Dink a horse.

Dink's pet is brought to the track as a race horse, where the boy and his father encounter Linda and Tony. Linda is actually Champ's former wife and Dink's mom. The fighter agrees to let Dink spend some time with Linda.

However, Dink does not care at all for his mother's well-to-do lifestyle. She responds by attempting to take the boy from his father. And when an all night drinking-and-gambling binge results in Champ losing Dink's horse, the man reluctantly agrees.

Now Dink is heading off on a train with his mother to a new life and family while Champ wastes away alone. Will Dink stay with his mother? And will the Champ jump at one last chance to climb into the ring?

The Champ is a great film and, while Wallace Beery may have won the awards, the film's success rests primarily on the shoulders of Jackie Cooper.

In The Champ, Cooper plays Dink, who (thanks to his father's alcohol and gambling issues), is forced to be the adult in his apartment. He dresses his father and works to get the ex-boxer to his appointments.

The real trick in Cooper's performance is not simply in playing the character as more mature. He still remains a kid, just with an additional burden. We see in Cooper's eyes some resentment of his father's behavior, but also acceptance and unconditional love.

That becomes critical later when Dink has an opportunity to escape his father for a better life and refuses. The turn of events could feel like an overwritten plot machination, but Cooper gives us such a fully realized character, it makes total sense why he'd race back to his no-good dad.

Speaking of dad, Beery is brilliantly understated in the title role. Again, it's a character that could go off the rails, but even when Andy loses Dink's beloved horse to cover gambling debts, you believe he wants to do right by his son. It's a revelatory turn from an actor who is primarily known for playing the heavy.

As for King Vidor's direction, it elevates the film above its relatively simple premise. Each shot is carefully framed and whenever we are with Dink, we are seeing the world from the level of a child, barely seeing anything above the torsos of the adults that surround him.

The Champ is wonderful filmmaking, centered around two fantastic lead performances by Cooper and Beery. It's filled with sports film cliches, but it serves as both a prototype of those tropes and an exercise in elevating them above even most movies today.

***** out of *****

NOTE: Beery received the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Champ.

NOTE: Original version of this article referred to Jackie Cooper as starring in The Kid because I am an idiot. This is the corrected version. Thanks to reader policomic for the correction.

Posted in 1931, jackie cooper, king vidor, the champ, wallace beery | No comments

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Rewatching Frankenstein (1931)

Posted on 03:00 by Unknown

Directed by James Whale

Starring Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff

Produced by Universal Pictures

A brilliant scientist allows his intelligence and ego to drive him to the brink of sanity as he plays god and creates a new living being from stitched together dead bodies. His creation at first seems innocent and childlike, but lashes out when threatened by fire. Can the scientist bring himself to destroy his creation?

I honestly hesitated to bother with even a capsule recap of this one. The story of the monster and his creator is such a cultural touchstone that most people do not even realize the significant deviations this takes from the book. When you say "Frankenstein," nine out of ten people are going to picture this depiction.

Frankenstein as directed by James Whale is all about its visuals. Boris Karloff's look for the creature has been copied many times in many films, but revisiting the original, you realize what a poor facsimile these other versions really are. Sure, there are the flat head and the neck bolts, but Karloff's eyes are the key to the character here. Those droopy eyelids seem unthinking and dull, but then the windows open and the sunlight fills his face and those eyes glimmer with just a small amount of life. He brings a restrained humanity to the creature, which makes what happens to him all the more tragic.

No sooner do we see the monster's ecstasy from simply being bathed in sunlight, then we see his absolute terror when confronted with the flame of a torch. The doctor mistakes his creation's fear as an attack and confines him in a basement dungeon. Frankenstein's assistant Fritz further antagonizes the monster with his torch and eventually is killed by the enraged creature.

As much as I love the tragedy of these early scenes, I feel like the movie sprints a little too much after this point. It has some memorable moments, but they feel disjointed. Frankenstein just leaves the creature so he can go off and get married. The monster kills again and escapes. It encounters a little girl, plays by the side of a river with her and then playfully tosses her in, not understanding she'll drown. Then the monster is in Frankenstein's bride's bedroom.

Geography and pace are sacrificed as the film sets up the pieces for the endgame. Fortunately, Whale's distinctive visual style remains and Karloff embody the character in ways that never stoop to the cliche the creature has become in pop culture.

I want Frankenstein to be better. There are script problems. There are acting problems. However, Karloff and the direction remain enough to consider this a classic. A flawed classic, but a classic nonetheless.

**** out of *****

NOTE: This is the second version of the Frankenstein tale I've reviewed. Check out my thoughts on the 1910 version (which was also my first ever review on the site).

Posted in 1931, boris karloff, frankenstein, james whale | No comments

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Cimarron (1931)

Posted on 03:00 by Unknown

Directed by Wesley Ruggles (uncredited)
Starring Richard Dix, Irene Dunne and Estelle Taylor
Produced by RKO Radio Pictures

It's the Old West, a time of Western expansion, and the great Oklahoma land rush is moments from beginning. Wagons and horses are lined up at the border, just waiting for the starter's gun to send them hurtling into the virgin territory to stake their claim.

Among the hopeful horseman is Yancey Cravat. He has scoped out the perfect plot of land upon which to raise a family with his wife Sabra. He just has to get there before anyone else.

Unfortunately, A woman named Dixie Lee takes advantage of Yancey's honor and tricks him into giving up the plot. Undeterred, Yancey returns to Wichita, scoops up Sabra and heads to Osage to start up a newspaper.

In the ensuing years, Osage and the Cravat clan grow up together. The newspaper takes off, Yancey's a respected voice in the town and he and Sabra are blessed with some children. Yancey remains a pioneer by nature however and soon becomes restless in the expanding borough.

Can Yancey quiet his nomadic nature? And how will Sabra deal with Yancey if he threatens to leave?

Cimarron is a movie divided against itself.

On the one hand, it wants to be about a strong, pioneering woman who struggles to establish a newspaper business on the Western frontier. Sabra has to raise a family, keep the home together and increase the paper's circulation while her nomadic husband is constantly away on one of his impulsive adventures. Her strength is finally rewarded when she is elected to Congress despite her husband's absence.

However, the filmmakers are so in live with the husband Yancey and his exploits, they cannot stand taking the camera off of him long enough to give Sabra's story time to breathe.

Emblematic of this problem is the way Yancey's decision to go and get a piece of the Cherokee Strip land rush plays out. After fighting to get his foothold in the Oklahoma Rush, he's leaving his wife and kids for no better reason than wanderlust.

And during the five years he is gone, Sabra presumably does pretty well for herself. I say "presumably" because Cimarron has no interest in showing us how Sabra adapts to having an absentee husband and father. Instead, we fast forward five years to see Yancey's triumphant return to town.

This would be fine if we were meant to get a better understanding of Sabra through Yancey's eyes, but that is not what is going on here. This is 100 percent Yancey's story until the last 15 minutes when the film suddenly decides it is really about Sabra. It's a whiplashing plot mechanism that cannot hope to work.

In the course of carrying out this flawed structure, Cimarron does boast some impressive set-pieces. The opening Oklahoma land rush captures a moment in history I was largely unfamiliar with and carries it out to spectacular effect. There are thousands waiting for that starters gun so they can drive, ride or even run into the territory to make their claim. And once the gun sounds? Bedlam. Chaos. Wagons and riders race across the prairie. Wagon wheels fly. Horses break loose. It feels insane and dangerous.

I also appreciated the shootout that marks the mid-point of the film. The Kid, an old associate of Yancey's, rides into town with his gang, guns blazing. Yancey takes it upon himself to save the town and takes out each of the outlaws one by one.

The action is shot with a great sense of space and geography. We know where everyone is throughout the scene which only ups the tension as it reaches its endgame.

No discussion of Cimarron would be complete without some discussion of its portrayal of race, especially as embodied by the black serving boy Isaiah and the stereotypically Jewish Sol.

Yes, these portrayals are offensive by today's standards. However, Cimarron is not making an argument for the superiority of a race (as The Birth of a Nation despicably tried to). Instead, it thinks it is being progressive (which it may have been in its own time).

That leads to some bizarre juxtapositions as we lurch from a scene of Yancey arguing for citizenship for Indians to a moment with an actress playing an Indian looking and speaking like the most stereotypical version of such a character you can imagine. Or giving Isaiah a key, prominent role in Yancey's life, but having the boy exclaim how excited he is that their town sells watermelons. It's uncomfortable and ugly.

Richard Dix plays Yancey and there is no secret as to why he is cast; the man has one of the richest baritone voices you are likely to hear, which would be attractive to studios still figuring out the talkies. His acting? Well, he has a wonderful voice, right?

Irene Dunne's role is pretty thankless for the first three quarters of the film, but she shines during the final stanza. The character actors are hit or miss.

Cimarron has some basic flaws in its structure that lead to mixed themes and messages, but it gets points for some ambitious moments. I just wish the film's self-congratulatory supposed advancement of minorities in film didn't end up so stereotypical and racist.

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

NOTE: Cimarron won the 1931 Best Picture Oscar.

Posted in 1931, cimarron, oscar winner | No comments

Sunday, 10 March 2013

City Lights (1931)

Posted on 08:16 by Unknown

Directed by Charlie Chaplin

Starring Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill and Florence Lee

Produced by Charles Chaplin Productions

It's a big day in the city. The mayor is unveiling a new statue titled "Peace and Prosperity" and a crowd has gathered for the event. After some speeches by local dignitaries the tarp is raised to reveal...

...the Tramp fast asleep in the lap of one of the statues. After a series of failed attempts to descend from the statue before the jeering crowd, our hero finally escapes.

He encounters a blind girl selling flowers. She is beautiful and he is smitten. He uses his last coin to buy a single flower from him and refuses the change.

Later that night, as the Tramp sits on a dock admiring his flower, a millionaire arrives intent on drowning himself. The tramp intervenes, saving the man's life and becoming his friend. The only problem is the rich man only recognizes the poor man as his friend if he's been drinking.

The Tramp sets out to raise enough money to buy the girl an eye surgery to restore her sight. Of course, a man in his lowly position runs into obstacles at every turn. Can he earn the money or will he have to steal it? And what will be the consequences of his actions?

Over the last decade, my experience with Chaplin has been rough. Since 1921's The Kid, I've liked, but not loved, anything he's done.

That stops now.

City Lights is endlessly funny and hopelessly romantic. Every element of Chaplin's talents as an actor, writer and director shine through.

The film tells a relatively straightforward story about a man who will do anything for the girl he loves. The central conflict behind the scenes at all times is that to help her means to restore her sight which will shatter the illusion she has of who her benefactor is.

However, that basic structure is deconstructed into a series of smaller scenes, each of which can stand on its own. The film's comic genius really shines here. The moments of Chaplin saving the millionaire during his suicide attempt on the dock feature brilliant comic timing combined with character development. His first scene with the blind girl has a humor that makes you smile and a sweetness that drives the story later. And the boxing scene...

Chaplin's scenes preparing for and ultimately boxing a larger man are some of the funniest physical comedy I've ever seen. It's not a boxing match, it's a dance, with each step finely choreographed and never a moment wasted. The way Chaplin positions himself behind the ref. The rope to ringing the bell wrapping around his neck to save and doom the Tramp moment by moment. It's an astonishing sequence in its ingenuity and humor.

Of course, after disassembling a basic plot into these chapters, it is all reassembled to say more than most films. The basic story has two people not merely saved, but given new lives by the poorest man you can imagine. Both are blind to who he really is for a time, but when the rich man sees the tramp, he detests the filthy beggar. When the flower girl who raised herself up to own her own shop sees him, it's love. Powerful stuff in the midst of the Great Depression.

Chaplin is also obviously making one last case for silent film. He openly mocks the talkies in the opening scene by replacing the words of the politicians with kazoos, but the rest of the film proves a moving argument for the power of the image over the word to make us feel.

In case it's not obvious, I love City Lights. Chaplin uses his most character to say more through silence than any of his contemporary talkies.

***** out of *****

Posted in 1931, charlie chaplin, city lights | No comments

Friday, 8 March 2013

Disney Animated Shorts (1931)

Posted on 15:19 by Unknown

In Traffic Trouble, Mickey Mouse is a cab driver fighting puddles, potholes and other cars for space on the road. He loses one passenger, but picks up Minnie. Can she get her to her destination on time?

In The Castaway, Mickey washes ashore on a deserted island with a piano. His music starts attracting the animals of the island, but what will Mickey do when gorillas, lions and crocodiles take an interest?

In Fishin' Around, Mickey and Pluto ignore the "No Fishing" signs and try their luck at catching something. But the duo have their hands full when the fish prove to be smarter than they thought. What will Mickey do when the police arrive?

Much better.

My reviews since Steamboat Willie have not been kind to the rodent. Each of the Mickey Mouse animated shorts has seemed to focus on nothing more than watching our title character make random noises to music (often while abusing other animals).

Here we get some specific if slight stories. There are actual conflicts. None of it is Citizen Kane, but having some plot to propel you through seven minutes is essential.

The best of the three was Fishin' Around. Besides the giddy thrill of seeing Pluto on-screen, there's a real tale here. It's basic (Mickey and Pluto trying to outsmart a school of fish), but it works. There's a nice book ending within it as Mickey sinks a No Fishing sign, only to end up on the run from the police when he's caught.

Traffic Trouble has the most fun visuals. Mickey's cab is constantly stretching, contorting and losing pieces as it tries to reach its destination. It made me smile, but contains some of that animal abuse I've come to dread in these as Mickey turns a pig into an air pump.

The Castaway is utterly forgettable. It's closer to the previous efforts I've come to hate. Mickey is shipwrecked on an island, but that's really just a set up for him to play some music.

On the whole, these were much more enjoyable than what I've been getting from Disney. I hope it continues in 1932.

Traffic Trouble - **1/2 out of *****

The Castaway - ** out of *****

Fishin' Around - *** out of *****

Posted in 1931, mickey mouse, walt disney | No comments

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

The Film Pasture Toasts Movies

Posted on 04:15 by Unknown

There's nothing better than watching a movie. Nothing that is except watching that movie while enjoying your favorite adult beverage with friends. On today's podcast, we celebrate alcohol and film. First, we talk with Clint from Alcohollywood about the art of drinking games and mixing the perfect movie-themed cocktail. Then, we talk with Vern from Vern's Video Vanguard about his favorite alcohol-fueled movies.

The Film Pasture can be downloaded through iTunes or Podomatic. Please visit iTunes and give the show a review. It really helps get the show, the LAMB and all its members noticed.

If you are interested in being a guest or have any feedback for the show, you can let us know at thefilmpasture@verizon.net or on twitter @filmpasture.

Posted in film pasture, podcast | No comments

mmp

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Platinum Blonde (1931)

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

The Champ (1931)

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Rewatching Frankenstein (1931)

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Cimarron (1931)

Sunday, 10 March 2013

City Lights (1931)

Friday, 8 March 2013

Disney Animated Shorts (1931)

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

The Film Pasture Toasts Movies

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