"The HTF 100 Great Films of the 1930's Challenge" (2 Viewers)

[Adam_S]

Edge of the World - :star::star:
10/07/2005
I was terribly disapointed that this Michael Powell film was so average, I was certainly hoping for more from him.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Brian I too have been away for a while.

I'll orgnaize a list and get it to you in the next couple of days

 

[Holadem]

Holy cow, welcome back Lew
--
H

 

[Lew Crippen]

Thanks very much Holadem—good to be back.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I finally sent my list, Brian.

 

[Adam_S]

How many lists do you have Brian? I figure if at least me, you, Eric, George, Lew and Evan all had lists that should be enough to hopefully get us our final list. wondering when we'll see it.

 

[Evan Case]

What needs sending again?

Evan

 

[Adam_S]

I believe this is where Brian explained how he wants to run this vote and what sort of ranking/list he's looking for.

 

[streeter]

Well, I'm counting on you guys to make a new list and look forward to seeing it and trying to do the new challenge... I have just three films left from the first list that I still have to see: 'G' Men (purely out of carelessness, as I missed it on TCM more than once), The Lost Patrol (haven't been able to find it), and I was Born, But... (REALLY haven't been able to find that one...). I can buy a VHS of 'G' Men or simply wait for TCM to air it again, so that one doesn't bother me too much. But the others are kind of frustrating. I've tried the local universities (one of which has an excellent library, from which I have been able to watch several other of the films on the list), the libraries, etc.

Anyone care to lend me a copy? I'd be willing to start an exchange for others who are trying to find some of the harder-to-find titles as well.

 

[Adam_S]

Michael, I believe in that post I linked above that Brian invited everyone who participated to submit a ranked list of all the movies you have seen, but I may have misunderstood.
I don't know about the rest of us that finished all 102, but if you finished 99, that's good enough for me.
Lost Patrol occasionally screens on TCM as well, as for I was Born But, even the USC cinema library doesn't have a copy, (although it screens on a vhs a professor owns about every two years or so), only one of the rare video rental places in LA carries a copy. I might be able to scrounge one up though, but hte official video release is completely silent, no soundtrack, though a new score has been composed and recorded for the traveling Ozu retrospective of the past couple years.

 

[streeter]

Out of curiosity, how did all of you guys who have seen it get to see I Was Born, But...?

 

[Eric Peterson]

Michael,

I'm OK with you submitting your list also. 99 is close enough.

I was lucky enough to catch "I was born but..." at a screening in downtown Chicago last winter (Ozu retrospective)

I was able to get "Lost Patrol" through my library system. Have you tried that yet? Sometimes the smallest libraries have the strangest films.

I also have a copy of G-Men on VHS. If you want, I'll ship it to ya, and you can return it when you're done. Just PM me.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Out of curiosity, how did all of you guys who have seen it get to see I Was Born, But...?

I rented a VHS copy at Premire Video on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas.

Premire Video is by far Dallas' best video rental outlet--at least if you are interested in foreign and classic films.

I loved this movie and I really feel that it is worth seeking out. I expect that one of the major mail-order firms would rent a copy.

 

[streeter]

Eric, that's really cool of you! You've got a PM

 

[Adam_S]

Things to Come - :star::star::star:1/2
OARDVD
3/19/2006
Kind of astonishing this whole challenge has gone without mention of this film. It's directed by William Camercon Menzies so the design of the film is insanely ambitious and awesome to see.
Things to Come is based on an HG Wells short story, it spans 100 years of humanity from 1936 to 2036. It predicts WWII, a fascist form of a preemptive peace United Nations, a new terrifying worldwide plague and manned space exploration, the way it views those things is whats really fascinating though.
The film starts on Christmas 1936, there are rumblings of war, heated discussion about the merits (or lack thereof) of war and then the air raid starts. The was is brutal, devastating and unending, the film flips through decades until 1965 when all machinary is pretty much stopped working and people are living like the 1600s, including a petty warlord making war on the "hill people" and the "coal pits" . The warlord is obsessed with getting his planes flying again, though he doesn't want to be bothered with details like parts and fuel. He also institutes a brutal program to control the plague (shooting all the victims so it only kills half of humanity, what the war didn't get I suppose). But the engineers and mechanics have banded together and progressed while the petty warlords have taken over most regions and just warred on their near neighbors, so they begin a program to take control of the world and stop war forever. Then the film rolls forward to 2036, where everyone has flat screen 16:9 tvs but we haven't yet landed on the moon and a giant gun is used to fire and bullet capsule into space.
A great piece of science fiction, wonderfully designed and thoughtfully made. It's more amusing now than provocative but still worth watching, and definitely an overlooked step between Metropolis and post-nuclear scifi.

 

[Adam_S]

1000 posts on this thread, only took four or five years.

 

[Adam_S]

Hallelujah I'm a bum - :star::star::star::star:
An odd but adorable little film from Lewis Milestone. THe directing and camerawork and editing are utterly SUPERB in this film. THe first forty minutes are probably 80% some kinds of music type or rhythmic thing going on. But it's really not a musical, not in the sense that similar films like Lubitsch or lloyd were putting out. This is more an entertainment than a musical. Sure Jolsen sings, and many others break into song or fall into the rhythm of the film, but the lyrics feel almost improvisational, they're not good, but they are charming and the salesmanship of the lyrics and story on behalf of the entire cast is wonderful.
Jolsen plays Bumper, "the Mayor of Central Park," the leading bum of New York City. He's on great terms with the mayor of New York City, played brilliantly by Frank Morgan ( I wonder if anyone else could have possibly played the part so well). Also appearing is silent clown Harry Langdon in a wonderful turn as Egghead.
Morgan is in love with a girl named June, but he's suspicious of her for good reason. Bumper doesn't know June and he LOVES being a bum, he prefers it over getting rich quick or work.
Anyway this is an imperfect but delightful little film. It's flawed, but in a good, and almost deliberate way. and the direction and cinematography are wonderfully rich and the editing style directly incorporates some Eisenstein touches.
I can't think of a hollywood film from the thirties as astonishing as this except maybe Gabriel over the White House.
and it was definitely a good antidote to watching High School Musical (gag).
Adam

 

[Armin Jager]

I can't think of a hollywood film from the thirties as astonishing as this except maybe Gabriel over the White House.

It's certainly a very interesting movie though I'm not sure at what it exactly aims with the bums shown as living the right way, presenting Harry Langdon as socialist and Frank Morgan as lovesick mayor. Nevertheless it's a constantly inventive film (I loved the nude scene ) and is to be considered for a TOP 100 list of the 30's. Milestone strikes me as a major director of the 30's and not just the director of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
I've almost finished the challenge, but am waiting mostly for the John Ford boxsets, I haven't seen THE LOST PATROL and THE INFORMER and there's no point watching synchronized and shortened videotapes if the real thing comes out in two months. Therefore I wait with my TOP 100 list until then, I have exactly 50 films now in it.

 

[streeter]

Well, just one left - I Was Born, But... I've been searching for it for over three years without having to pay $30+, but it looks like I might be able to see it pretty soon. It has taken me 2 1/2 years to see the last 8 films on my to-see list.
Also, what happened to Brian Lawrence? Does he not post here anymore?

 

[streeter]

Yay, I finally finished the challenge!
Are we ever going to do one for the 1940s?