1930s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 3)

[zedz]

Did you get Happiness on one of the Last Bolshevik releases, or 'otherwise'? Because Marker's film provides a lot of really valuable context and analysis.

[matrixschmatrix]

I've just finished reading Roy Blount's Hail, Hail, Euphoria!, which is designed as a sort of textual commentary track for Duck Soup- I think Duck Soup was inevitably going to figure high on my list, but the book has bumped it up a few notches. I'd recommend it strongly, it's one of the few things I've read about the Marxes that manages to discuss their work interestingly without turning it into someone irrelevantly academic.

[knives]

I got the Icarus release and the Marker film did help to put it into context, but it only made certain aspects such as the priest more bewildering. The movie is going to make it high on my list if just for the comedy factor(a spotted horse), but I would find it helpful to just talk about the film.

[knives]

I haven't heard word of this film, nor it's director yet in the thread so I figure I should speak up to the movie that made me laugh so hard that I became dehydrated to the point of pissing black this morning. The funny thing is I originally had no interest in seeing it and put it on simply to go to sleep to. I probably wouldn't even have found out what movie it was had I not recognized Eponine from Bernard's Les Miserable in here. Le Schpountz is a comedic wonder that will easily wind up in the top ten of the decade. even on just the surface layer this film is amazing in it's ability to switch from one comedic type to the next. It starts a farce of idiocy, takes a small look into Hawks-esque romcom territory, and winds up as one of the more pleasant rise comedies I've seen. The entire climax is a masterwork of comedic tension where you're expecting a punchline and than an other and an other until I was biting my nails waiting for the other character's reactions to the comedy secrets the movie just would not pull the trigger on.

Shockingly even with all of the laughter the movie produced in me after some research it seems that I barely got any of the jokes. For example the lead character is constantly stating he is from a village outside Marseille, but everyone insults him for being from that city. Turns out the lead actor hails from there. A lot of the jokes seem to be of that sort(including a spoilerish one that ties up the uncle plot)and I didn't get them all. I wish I had had the foresight to record this otherwise unavailable movie just so I could get all of the jokes.

Amazingly the movie does dip into serious subjects, but in a totally organic fashion usually taking place in a blink and you'll miss it way. For example the boss figure mentions antisemitism in regards to the other being rude to him. It's not dwelled upon in the film, but something about the blink and you'll miss it nature makes it weigh on the mind more. Speaking of things that weigh on the mind, while the idiot plot of the first half of the film eventually gets it's proper comeuppance I still felt absolutely terrible laughing at this man's misfortune before that. This man really is something of an idiot and it just made me feel disappointed in myself for laughing. The laughter was good and I feel less ashamed for having done so by the end, but the type of laughter the first part elicits, which is thoroughly examined in the second half, just made me feel like a bad person.

[Cold Bishop]

TCM has been pimping this film hard for the last few years, so its good to hear that it was for good reason...

[knives]

My god you have no idea. I'd love to call it the greatest film about Hollywood, but it's in France. Everything about it is perfect.

[Ann Harding]

Glad to hear that Marcel Pagnol's Le Schpountz made it on TCM! Pagnol is very important figure of 30s French cinema. Originally a playwright, he has been frequently accused of making 'theatrical pictures.' I read that he spent most of the shooting inside the sound recordist truck. Nevertheless, he made a lot of very interesting films on locations at a time when studio was the norm. If you can, try to get hold of Angèle (1934) with Orane Demazis and Fernandel (the same actors as in le Schpountz). This melodrama about a poor girl driven to prostitution by her boyfriend is beautifully handled and played. Fernandel -a famous comic star of French cinema- is brilliant as the hunchback. La Femme du Boulanger (1938) gives Raimu his most famous part as the cuckold baker. (The film played in NY for the duration of the war as it was the last French film to be released there.) Regain (1939) is a superb Giono adaptation. The set designer built a whole village for the film. It's certainly one of the most poetic film of Pagnol.
I won't mention the later films as they don't fit the 30s.
And of course, there is the so-called 'Fanny triology'. The first two films were not directed by Pagnol [Marius (1931, A. Korda) & Fanny (1932, M. Allégret)] but the last, César (1936) was. The films were produced following the huge success of the plays (written by Pagnol). I read recently that the producers refused at first to cast the stage actors who created the parts (Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis). Instead, they wanted Victor Francen, Henri Garat and Marcelle Chantal. (Thank God, they didn't do it!)

[swo17]

I don't think I'll list a swapsie (I've had few takers in the past, or at least few among them have had a comment about what they saw) but if I were to name one, it would probably be Son of Frankenstein, lest it get overlooked as a presumed second-rate sequel (I think it's easily one of the best horror films of the whole era of the 1930s and '40s)

This was very good, and a bit of a rebound I thought from Bride (which I know is very highly regarded but to me suffers a bit from Back to the Future II syndrome). Rather than try to recapture the flame of the original, this one reinvents the series as an expressionistic nightmare where the architecture is considerably more menacing than any of the monsters. The tone of this hits just the right balance of creepy, campy, and over-the-top, with framing also carefully chosen to bring out the beauty in the twisted, elaborate sets. If nothing else, this is essential viewing to be able to get all of the jokes in Young Frankenstein.

I watched this on Netflix Instant, but I see there are a couple DVD options. Does anyone know if the versions of this in the Universal Legacy Collection and the Ghost/Son Double Feature are comparable?

[Mr Sausage]

I watched this on Netflix Instant, but I see there are a couple DVD options. Does anyone know if the versions of this in the Universal Legacy Collection and the Ghost/Son Double Feature are comparable?

I believe the transfers for both DVD versions are the same (and pretty good if I recall). Don't know what the netflix version is like, unfortunately, but I don't think there's been any recent restoration work done on the film so they're probably comparable in quality.

Glad you liked the film, it really is unfairly overlooked. You may also want to check out the other 1939 movie director Rowland V. Lee made with Rathbone and Karloff (not to mention Vincent Price), The Tower of London. Not as good, I think, but a lot of fun, with about the same level of craft and delicious performances.

[lubitsch]

Le Schpountz
I wish I had had the foresight to record this otherwise unavailable movie

You mean this DVD I mentioned in my viewing guide?

[Tommaso]

Looks like it's OOP, though. The Fnac entry refers to a second-hand seller; a little cheaper than the price asked at amazon marketplace, however.

[knives]

The webpage doesn't seem to say, but are there English subs?

[lubitsch]

The webpage doesn't seem to say, but are there English subs?

Wouldn't have mentioned it else, I have the DVD myself. Apparently this Pagnol series was supposed to be a rather complete edition with all films subbed, but they neither published all films nor are all of the ones that saw the light of DVD outfitted with English subs. But Schpountz certainly has them.

[knives]

Oh thank heavens on that. when I get money(just spent my last few extra cents on the MOC sale)I'll have to get that. Speaking of things that may or may not have subtitles do you know of any release of Sirk's work from this period?

[domino harvey]

Marius is a tremendous film. I mean, the whole trilogy is worth watching (though the middle chapter is a bit creaky) but that one really packs the most punch, though marathoning them in a row definitely makes the emotional payoffs that much sweeter. Coincidentally, were I a more frequent contributor to this thread, I would have made Marius my swapsie.

[Tommaso]

Speaking of things that may or may not have subtitles do you know of any release of Sirk's work from this period?

There's a French set from Carlotta, with French subs only, which has four of his films: "Das Mädchen vom Moorhof", "Stützen der Gesellschaft", "Zu neuen Ufern", and "La Habanera". The latter two are also available on inexpensive discs from Germany (no subs), and "La Habanera" even has a subbed US release if I remember correctly. These are all films well worth seeing, I'd name "Stützen" der Gesellschaft" as a very good Ibsen adaptation and "La Habanera" with its hothouse Spanish atmosphere and a fine Zarah Leander (whom I don't particularly like in general, though more because of her singing than her acting) especially.

But nevertheless, don't let yourself be tricked by the name of Sirk, or Sierck, as he was spelled then: these films have fine cinematography and are very well-made, but they are otherwise not truly outstanding in my view; at least there are quite a few other German films from the period which are far more exceptional, though unfortunately more difficult to see.

[swo17]

Coincidentally, were I a more frequent contributor to this thread, I would have made Marius my swapsie.

Well, I'm calling it one anyway. Just a reminder to everyone--you can nominate anything as a swapsie at any time (just keep it to a handful of your favorite films that you feel will otherwise be overlooked). In nominating a swapsie, you are under no obligation to comment on swapsies nominated by others, or even to watch them all. You are, however, strongly encouraged to at least watch as many of the swapsies summarized in the first post as you can, with the hope that others will pay the same courtesy to your pick(s).

[zedz]

Marius is a tremendous film. I mean, the whole trilogy is worth watching (though the middle chapter is a bit creaky) but that one really packs the most punch, though marathoning them in a row definitely makes the emotional payoffs that much sweeter. Coincidentally, were I a more frequent contributor to this thread, I would have made Marius my swapsie.

I watched the trilogy for the first time last year and enjoyed it. I'd agree with Marius being the best of the bunch, but I was deeply fascinated by Cesar, directed by Pagnol himself, simply because there were so many odd / 'bad' directorial choices - things no industry-trained professional would allow to appear in their film, but which Pagnol did because he didn't know any better or didn't care. It was weirdly liberating, and a number of the oddities and infelicities ended up working effectively.

[knives]

Le Schpountz definitely follows in the odd choice body of things, but I think these things that no 'good' director would do make the film even better or at least a more fascinating and engaging experience. It's mostly in tone though that these oddities pop up which suggests that they are, at this stage, more intentional than anything else. I really urge everyone to search it out(as I will the Fanny trilogy).

[swo17]

Uh oh. I just realized I could already make a strong top 50 right now out of only those films I've watched since February, and there are still like 200 more films I'm planning to watch in the next few months. This is going to be brutal.

[Tommaso]

Oh yes, I have the same problem, but I already had it with the 20s list, and it even hurt me more then to have to leave out so many great films from the list. As for my to-watch list: I've already given up the attempt to complete my knowledge of the US and Asian cinema of the 30s, and will instead concentrate on Europe, as usual. I hope I'll at least get Ophuls, Gremillon and Duvivier done, and perhaps some more stuff from Eastern Europe and Russia.

[knives]

Yeah, I started unable to put together one good list and now I could easily squeeze two, maybe three, lists without getting to the truly bad titles.

[knives]

Remember how we were talking about Waterloo Bridge in the context of the sound era. Well I think Borzage's Lilliom fits that same exact shoe. The usage of sound is great and even a little experimental by today's standards. There's this sort of false musical thing going that's most pronounced in the beer sequence where we see the soundtrack (right down to the singers) as the lead's speak this very rhythmic dialogue. I also love how characters and actions tend to be introduced offscreen with some form of noise.

The only disadvantage to this is Farrell who occupied masculinity with ease during the silent era, but with sound makes me suffer from a severe chortle. He sounds like Sylvester high on helium. The ascot and stripes don't help him either in his supposed role as a tough guy. In Borzage's films he has usually been really pathetic though, definitely not a Bancroft sort, and that makes me believe these various anti-masculine aspects intentional. To steal from the Naruse log line the men are too weak to survive while the women are too strong to just let them die and allow the masculine suffering to stop.

The film is also insanely gorgeous in a pale Dreyer sort of way. This is true of all of his films I suppose, but the addition of sound seems to make it more pronounced. The world is barely there and there's only the occasional chair or valise to hint at people living in these buildings. That's not limited to the interiors though. In fact the exteriors occasionally seem more barren than the inside. Borzage's world is but a stage made of cardboard and as easily torn as it's lost men.

I also have to give one last tiny shout out to Estelle Taylor who plays one of the most magnificent little shits I've seen. she's absolutely perfect and leaves me smiling every second she's on screen.

[Sloper]

I agree with most of your assessment on Liliom, knives - I tried to like Farrell's performance on the basis that he's meant to be playing an obnoxious, insecure little man, and if the character were as nasty as the one Boyer plays in the Lang version it might have worked better...but ultimately he is pretty terrible. The rest of the cast aren't exactly kicking arse either, with the notable exception of Rose Hobart who I thought was very moving.

But yes, leaden script and acting really don't matter when you have images like these. I agree about the spare aesthetic, indeed slightly Dreyer-esque in continually suggesting a higher, simpler realm that transcends the degradation and corruption on display, but with that layer of lush, dewy-eyed romanticism that was more prevalent in earlier Borzages (at least the four I've seen...) Too many beautiful moments to single out, but in particular the use of the fairground lights throughout the film was simply astonishing, culminating in that moment - a sort of flamboyant, ecstatic nightmare - when the train rushes at us from within the distant lights, straight through the window. It reproduced, for me, the alleged effect of that 'arrival of a train' film from the earliest days of cinema; I definitely flinched, anyway. The whole notion of the celestial train was beautifully, dreamily done, especially that eerie sound effect they came up with as a heavenly equivalent to the pulsing noise of the train's movement along the tracks. I still prefer the Lang version for its grittiness and emotional intensity, and for Boyer of course, but really I think Borzage is just going for very different effects.

[knives]

I was going to bring up the train too, but thought better of it. I have no clue how exactly they did that, I doubt they actually bought a train but rear projection had to have been at play, but it is one of the more astonishing effects I've ever seen. This was my introduction to sound Borzage, unfortunate that so much of his work in unavailable, and given the circumstances I don't think the film could have turned up much better.