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"The HTF 100 Great Films of the 1930's Challenge" - Page 2

post #31 of 1024
9/20/02 at 11:28am
Thread Starter 
I finally got to see a couple of the THIN MAN films. Both Thin Man & After the Thin Man where pretty good. I actually liked "After the Thin Man" a little bit more. I guess I would rank them a 7 and an 8 (out of ten).

Not on the list, but I also watched The Gay Divorcee for the first time, and enjoyed it a lot I guess I need to see some more Fred & Ginger flicks as the 2 I have seen so far have both been very good.
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post #32 of 1024
9/20/02 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Not on the list, but I also watched The Gay Divorcee for the first time, and enjoyed it a lot I guess I need to see some more Fred & Ginger flicks as the 2 I have seen so far have both been very good.
As someone said, Ginger did everything that Fred did, but backwards and in high heels.
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post #33 of 1024
9/22/02 at 7:55am
Thread Starter 
A heads up. I missed a listing for Boys' Town. It will be airing on TCM This Monday at 1:00pm. Above schedules have been updated.
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post #34 of 1024
9/23/02 at 8:15am
Re-watched my Criterion The 39 Steps over the weekend.

Quote:
Good luck finding a copy of Olympia; even with Riefenstahl getting some good press on her recent 100th birthday she's still pretty much reviled. I saw Olympia I in film class, and despair of ever seeing Olympia II.
Both are available on VHS. I checked at my local rental place and they had both. The notes indicate that they are both “Janus Films”, so I suppose that twe could hope for a definitive Criterion edition.

I have requested of Jon Mulvaney that Criterion consider adding these films to their schedule.
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post #35 of 1024
9/23/02 at 10:09am
Over the weekend, I watched the following:

Grand Hotel - I really enjoyed this movie, althought I'm still not a big Garbo fan. I couldn't help but see comparisons to much later films like "Short Cuts" & "Magnolia". The movie was about the inhabitants of the Grand Hotel and their interractions with each other. Each character had their own seperate story, but also related to one or more other stories going on in the hotel.
Overall I'd say 1/2

Holiday - I went into this movie expecting a comedy along the lines of the other Grant/Hepburn comedies, but what I found was much more a dramedy than a comedy. In fact there wasn't much comedy at all. I found the first half of the movie to be quite slow, but it more than made up for it in the second half. I could really relate with Grant's character


Next Up - The Good Earth, Boy's Town

32 Down and 68 to go!!
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post #36 of 1024
9/23/02 at 11:56am
Quote:
In fact there wasn't much comedy at all.


I think what's unusual about the comedy in Holiday is that the supporting cast has most of the good lines. Lew Ayres, E.E. Horton and Jean Dixon generate most of the laughs for me. That said, I'll also add that this is one of my all-time favorites.

Rob
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post #37 of 1024
9/24/02 at 5:13am
Rob,

I agree completely with your thought that most of the comedic lines in "Holiday" are by the supporting cast. I probably went into the movie with the wrong expectations. I'll give it another run sometime. "The Philadelphia Story" didn't strike me after the first viewing either.


I finished two more last night.

The Good Earth - I remember reading the book in High School and really liking it, but didn't remember too much about it except for the basic plotline. I found this movie to be quite enjoyable and a fairly accurate literary translation - at least compared to what I remember. Some of the effect shots were amazing and the white actors playing chinese were also quite convincing.
1/2

Boy's Town - I saw this movie many times as a child, but hadn't seen the entire thing for 10-15 years, so I thought that it needed a review. My childhood memories served correctly in that this is a truly great movie. The performances are great and who can forget the great scene with Whitey holding Pee Wee in his arms. I'll leave out further details for those who haven't seen it.


Next Up - "The Women", "Charge of the Light Brigade"
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post #38 of 1024
9/24/02 at 7:29am
I re-watched The Lady Vanishes as well as The 39 Steps. A lot of fun to see a couple of Hitchcock’s back-to-back.

Based on what Eric said, I’ll have to set aside my dislike (from many years back) of Boy’s Town when I see it again. My tastes may well have developed enough that I will be able to see what others have seen in this movie.
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post #39 of 1024
9/25/02 at 12:38pm
Rented a copy of Olympia from my local store. Very fine indeed. I’d only seen excerpts before. Sadly it was poor VHS, especially the beginning. I expect that it was not this particular copy, but the state of the film from which the VHS had been made.
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post #40 of 1024
9/25/02 at 2:42pm
Watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Is there any doubt that Charles Laughton in one of the greatest actors of all-time?

I've seen 74 now. (I'm still not sure if that means I have 28 to see or 26, though.)

Evan
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post #41 of 1024
9/26/02 at 10:01am
And I also watched Olympia 2. While this film (or the VHS copy I rented) was better than the first Olympia, it was still nothing to write home about.

Too bad, as the images are great, and I think that a lot of sports coverage today, still owes much to this work.
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post #42 of 1024
9/27/02 at 7:57am
And a big thanks (as always) to TCM for showing Stagecoach. While I’m not quite on the ‘greatest Western ever made’ bandwagon, it was still a treat to see it again.

Stagecoach

“I guess that you can’t break out of prison and into society and into prison in the same week.”
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post #43 of 1024
9/30/02 at 8:46am
Just caught up with my TCM time-shifting to get King Kong under my belt. Once again, I’m impressed with the movie. True, Fay Wray may scream a bit too much, but the production is just full of virtues, including some very fine special effects and an outstanding score.

This 30s challenge is giving me an excuse to catch up with a lot of old friends.
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post #44 of 1024
9/30/02 at 11:43am
Caught Monkey Business last week. A little Marx Bros. goes a long way with me, so I was a little dismayed to see so many of their titles on the list.

My favorite line was Groucho telling the woman "We'll lodge with my fleas in the mountains, er, uh, we'll flee to my lodge in the mountains."

75 down, 25 to go.

Rob
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post #45 of 1024
9/30/02 at 11:47am
Speaking of Holiday, there's a clip of it during the opening title sequence of Igby Goes Down. One dysfunctional family watching another. Good stuff.

Rob
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post #46 of 1024
9/30/02 at 12:44pm
Finished three over the weekend:

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood - I hadn't seen this movie since I was a wee tike, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I noticed several jarring cuts in the TCM broadcast, hopefully this wasn't more than a few missing frames, but needless to say I can't wait for the rumored SE DVD next year.

2. Trouble in Paradise - I was really hoping for a lot from this movie since I'm a huge Billy Wilder fan and this being a Lubitsch movie who was Wilder's idol, but in the end I was disappointed. I didn't find it as enjoyable as several other Lubitsch movies that I've seen. 1/2


3. The Blue Angel- I'd seen the first half of this movie many times, so needless to say the second half came as quite a surprise. It took a direction that I was not expecting. Overall a very enjoyable movie. By the way, I watched the Original German version since it wasn't specified on the countdown which version to watch.
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post #47 of 1024
10/1/02 at 7:19am
Quote:
Caught Monkey Business last week. A little Marx Bros. goes a long way with me, so I was a little dismayed to see so many of their titles on the list.

I had to time shift Monkey Business. And for me, its just the opposite. I always enjoy any excuse to see the Marx Brothers in action. The upcoming four films in ‘two days on TCM I view as a real treat.

“Sir, there are four stowaways on board.”
“How do you know there are four?”
“We heard them singing ‘Sweet Adeline.’”
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post #48 of 1024
10/1/02 at 12:41pm
some of their references are a little obscure for those of us born in the 1960s but with a little thought, I still laugh.
And why did they stop putting out Marrx Bros DVDs? No 'A night at the opera'...'day at the races'....'Big store'. Come on even Love Happy should be out because it was MM 1st movie
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post #49 of 1024
10/2/02 at 8:02am
I guess I'll give this a go ... sounds like fun. My Tivo is set to record 5 of these over the week/weekend.

I've seen a grand total of .... drum-roll please ... 2 of of the list!
This is definitely a good excuse to play catchup to some classics.

So that puts me at 98 left to go ...

- Jeff
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post #50 of 1024
10/2/02 at 1:54pm
Boys Town

I’m getting a bit caught up with TCM via time shifting, but with all the Marx Brothers films on tap today, I’ll be behind again.

Based on your comments I watched this with (I hope) an open mind. And I did find the acting, especially Rooney to be outstanding. As were many individual scenes and set pieces. But the plot is just too sentimental for me to really become involved. Still, I’m glad to have had a chance to see this film again and to become more aware of its virtues.
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post #51 of 1024
10/2/02 at 2:58pm
Quote:
I?m getting a bit caught up with TCM via time shifting, but with all the Marx Brothers films on tap today, I?ll be behind again.


THANKS!!!!
almost forget
although I must say the Big Store was not one of their best
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post #52 of 1024
10/2/02 at 5:05pm
Saw A Day at the Races this morning. Not among the Marx Bros. best.

76 down, 24 to go.

Rob
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post #53 of 1024
10/3/02 at 7:56am
Thread Starter 
Jeff has been added to the list & I updated the counts.

Watched Horse Feathers last night. 2nd time I've seen it, I actually liked it a lot more on repeat viewing.

Among all the great Marx Brothers films I've seen, I still liked Room Service the most and that's one of their lesser regarded films. I've seen most of them and "The Big Store" is the only one I did not care for.
Though not part of the challenge, My next flick on tap is "A Night in Casablanca" , which is one of the remaining Marx Brother films I have not seen yet.
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post #54 of 1024
10/4/02 at 7:29am
Where's the seal? And I caught up with

Horse Feathers also. I’m still falling behind what with the Marx Brothers marathon, but what fun.

Where's the seal?

I’m in the Duck Soup camp as to favorite Marx Brothers, but I’m getting the opportunity to reconsider my view.

Where's the seal?
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post #55 of 1024
10/4/02 at 10:06am
I am going to ammend my original count of seen to 23. These are the movies that I have seen recently enough to remember well.

The 39 Steps 1/2
All Quiet on the Western Front
Bride of Frankenstein
Bringing Up Baby
City Lights
Duck Soup 1/2
Frankenstein 1/2
Gone with the Wind
It Happened One Night
King Kong
The Lady Vanishes 1/2
The Life of Emile Zola
Lost Horizon 1/2
Modern Times
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 1/2
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mutiny on the Bounty 1/2
My Man Godfrey
Snow White
Stagecoach
The Thin Man
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights

I have seen a few others, but they deserve a revisit.

Movies just seen this week:

Monkey Business Mildly entertaining at times, but I am not a big Marx brothers fan.

The Adventures of Robin Hood 1/2 This was a fun movie to watch but a little dated at times. I can see why they called his band the merry men, because they were always overly happy. The legend of Robin Hood is very interesting although I can't remember reading much about it. I think my only exposure is through the Costner movie and the Disney animated movie.

My current count: 25 seen, 75 to go.
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post #56 of 1024
10/4/02 at 10:23am
Well, seeing as I had only viewed 2 on the list I decided to start from scratch.

In the last few days I got to see:

A Night At The Opera -
Horse Feathers - 1/2
Duck Soup -

3 viewed, 97 to go.

Looking forward to My Man Godfrey (again) and King Kong this weekend.

- Jeff
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post #57 of 1024
10/4/02 at 11:43am
25 left (based on having to see 100 out of 102) after watching Mad Love (1935).

A truly bizarre and unnerving horror film which I had never heard of before we began compiling this list in the Best films of the 1930s tournament.

Peter Lorre (in his first American film) plays the psychotic but brilliant surgeon Dr. Gogol. In love with a married stage actress (Frances Drake), he seizes a chance to have her for himself when her pianist husband (Colin Clive aka: Dr. Frankenstein) has his hands crushed in a train accident. Gogol secretly transplants onto the pianist the hands of an executed knife-throwing murderer and, well, you can imagine where it goes from there.

Lorre, shaved completely bald, is at creepiest (and that's creepy). The film also contains some startling imagery, courtesy of director Karl Freund (he of Sunrise, Dracula, and The Mummy fame) and co-cinematographer Gregg Toland.

A must-see, if you can track it down (my copy was from TCM, so they do show it occasionally).

Evan
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post #58 of 1024
10/4/02 at 11:54am
Saw Duck Soup, one of the Marx Bros. best.

"This is a gala day for you."
"I don't think I could handle more than a gal a day."

"I suggest that we give him ten years in Leavenworth, or eleven years in Twelveworth."
"I take 5&10 at Woolworth."

"Remeber men, you're fighting for this woman's honor (which is probably more than she ever did)."


77 down, 23 to go.

Rob
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post #59 of 1024
10/7/02 at 5:11am
3 more down!!

Little Caeser - Very enjoyable mobster movie, but a bit too compacted. The entire story of a gangster's rise to and fall from power in less than 75 minutes was a bit quick for me. Some incredible moments though!


Triumph of the Will - While there is no doubting the historical importance of this film, I had an extremely hard time watching it. The film was about 10 minutes shy of 2 hours and all but about 15 minutes of it was just troops marching around in formation. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. I realize that it wasn't meant as an entertaiment piece, but this was a tough one. I'll hold judgement on this.

Mutiny on the Bounty - I really enjoyed this film. Truly one of my very favorite movies of the 30's up to this point. I'm ashamed that I haven't watched it up till now. If I had but one complaint, I would say that the actual moment when the mutiny is decided upon was a bit anti-climatic. The fact that it wasn't a direct act by Captain Blye that finally sent them over the edge, kind of ruined the moment for me.
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post #60 of 1024
10/7/02 at 7:25am
Sorry I'm late!

Here's what I haven't seen:

L' Age d'or
Blood of a Poet*
Dinner at Eight
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Imitation of Life
Mad Love
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Olympia 1 & 2
Top Hat
Swing Time
Triumph of the Will
Umarete wa mita keredo

I have Blood of a Poet on DVD - I'll check it out as soon as I can.
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