bujaki
Senior HTF Member
Sparrows (Milestone BD) 1926. This is one helluva movie. Pickford's late silent masterpiece and a horrific film involving children. I can well imagine the original audience gasping at the brutality and squalor these kids endure, and their escape is nothing short of Hitchcockian in its hair-raising suspense. Shot by a crackerjack team of cinematographers: Charles Rosher, Hal Mohr and Karl Struss. This is highly recommended.
Victoria the Great (Network Zone B BD) 1937. Solid pageant directed by journeyman Herbert Wilcox who used the many talents of his wife, Anna Neagle, quite well. Neagle was a handsome woman who could act, sing and dance. She did Victoria a favor, for Victoria was far from a handsome woman. The always excellent Anton Walbrook played Prince Albert. The finale was shot in Technicolor. The BFI used the best and longest elements available and the transfer looks quite good, even the Technicolor. The print runs 121 minutes (IMDb lists a shorter running time). I'd seen this before at MoMA even with the color finale (which includes an unfortunate, albeit brief, blackface number), but I don't recall the running time.
Sixty Glorious Years (Network Zone B BD) 1938. Shot in Technicolor, this appendage to 1937's Victoria the Great fleshes out or expands incidents in the life of the monarch and her prince. The same team repeats their efforts here with basically the same results: if you liked the the first film, you'll like the second one. I should add that both films were shot by the great F.A. Young, his first forays into Technicolor. I hope the name sounds familiar... I also attended a screening of this film at MoMA.
Evergreen (Network Region 2 PAL DVD) 1934. Could this be Jessie Matthews best film? Imaginatively directed by Victor Saville, the film has a knock-out number called "When You've Got a Little Springtime in Your Heart" which travels back in time from 1934 to 1904. When it stops in 1914 it becomes a mechanized ballet which grows frantic as the munitions factory (the shells are chorus girls) conveyor belt increases production speed and the lighting grows darker and the editing is brisker and the whole thing becomes a cacophony of confusion. Brilliant! And of course, there is the beautiful solo dancing of Matthews as she sings the gorgeous Rodgers and Hart melody "Dancing on the Ceiling." Bliss.
Victoria the Great (Network Zone B BD) 1937. Solid pageant directed by journeyman Herbert Wilcox who used the many talents of his wife, Anna Neagle, quite well. Neagle was a handsome woman who could act, sing and dance. She did Victoria a favor, for Victoria was far from a handsome woman. The always excellent Anton Walbrook played Prince Albert. The finale was shot in Technicolor. The BFI used the best and longest elements available and the transfer looks quite good, even the Technicolor. The print runs 121 minutes (IMDb lists a shorter running time). I'd seen this before at MoMA even with the color finale (which includes an unfortunate, albeit brief, blackface number), but I don't recall the running time.
Sixty Glorious Years (Network Zone B BD) 1938. Shot in Technicolor, this appendage to 1937's Victoria the Great fleshes out or expands incidents in the life of the monarch and her prince. The same team repeats their efforts here with basically the same results: if you liked the the first film, you'll like the second one. I should add that both films were shot by the great F.A. Young, his first forays into Technicolor. I hope the name sounds familiar... I also attended a screening of this film at MoMA.
Evergreen (Network Region 2 PAL DVD) 1934. Could this be Jessie Matthews best film? Imaginatively directed by Victor Saville, the film has a knock-out number called "When You've Got a Little Springtime in Your Heart" which travels back in time from 1934 to 1904. When it stops in 1914 it becomes a mechanized ballet which grows frantic as the munitions factory (the shells are chorus girls) conveyor belt increases production speed and the lighting grows darker and the editing is brisker and the whole thing becomes a cacophony of confusion. Brilliant! And of course, there is the beautiful solo dancing of Matthews as she sings the gorgeous Rodgers and Hart melody "Dancing on the Ceiling." Bliss.
