Free and Easy (1930).

Review #2219: Free and Easy.

Cast: 

Buster Keaton (Elmer), Anita Page (Elvira), Trixie Friganza (Ma Plunkett), Robert Montgomery (Larry Mitchell), and Lionel Barrymore (director) Directed by Edward Sedgwick (#774 - The Phantom of the Opera, #1774 - The Cameraman, #1937 - Spite Marriage)

Review: 

At last, it was time to hear the words of Buster Keaton in a film. This was the third feature film with Keaton at the hands of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which came after The Cameraman (1928) and Spite Marriage (1929). Followers of Keaton already know that his MGM tenure was the one he regretted the most, but at least those two films were actually liked by people even when it came to studio-maintained mayhem. With this film, one would get the weirdest of the two worlds: a movie where Keaton gets to talk and also gets to be in the foreground in favor of featuring cameo appearances from performers such as Willy Haynes, Jackie Coogan, Lionel Barrymore and, well, also Cecil B. DeMille and Fred Niblo. The film was shot in several languages such as Spanish (the latter was called Estrellados, which had Keaton play opposite a different lead actress) and French (mainly with intertitles, but still). There are three credited writers: Richard Schayer (a career guy behind co-work such as The Mummy) wrote the "scenario", while Paul Dickey did the "adaptation", and Al Boasberg (one of the co-writers of The General) was behind the dialogue. Made for roughly $500,000, the film was enough of a hit with audiences that Keaton would continue to do a few more films with MGM, such as his next sound feature with Doughboys (1930) and five further films until 1934.

Poor, poor, poor Keaton. There have been so many good Keaton movies in the previous decade that it becomes apparent not long into this one that he has become a puppet for mediocre setups. Sure, his accent when it comes to voicework is pretty earthy on the ears and he does have some interesting moments when it comes to antics within the backlot. But the romantic triangle is flabby and pathetic, and the overall execution is 92 painfully average minutes that cannot measure even with one of his weaker silent efforts such as say, The Saphead (1920). It is plain and all-around just not interesting to watch a movie dilly-dally on a set when you've seen better days for Keaton in mayhem. You've seen better movies when it comes to "inside a studio" in films such as Show People (1928), which incidentally was also an MGM film. The funny thing about Page was fresh off The Broadway Melody (1929), the original all-talking MGM musical (mediocre as hell to folks like me, but it was a really big thing back then). Her and Montgomery have about as much energy together as a sound test. Probably the one highlight is Keaton getting to audition as an actor and doing such things like bumbling a line about swooning queens. He may be playing a silly boob, but at least he at least is physical enough and committed enough to even try his hand at singing. God help us the film is one of those that thinks it is amusing to have a conversation where characters think they are talking about the same thing but actually are not. I don't even feel like thinking about the downbeat ending, because, well, it seems fitting to give an ending where our hero gets the shaft in a non-memorable movie. In the long run, going from any random silent Keaton feature to this film is practically like night and day. It is a movie that probably would've been better if done a few years earlier because, well, Keaton would've had the time and energy to really make it a worthwhile effort. Instead, it is just not worth the effort to call it a lame movie.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

Duel in the Sun.

Review #1369: Duel in the Sun.

Cast: 
Jennifer Jones (Pearl Chavez), Joseph Cotten (Jesse McCanles), Gregory Peck (Lewton McCanles), Lionel Barrymore (Senator Jackson McCanles), Lillian Gish (Laura Belle McCanles), Walter Huston (Jubal Crabbe, The Sinkiller), Charles Bickford (Sam Pierce), Harry Carey (Lem Smoot), Charles Dingle (Sheriff Hardy), Herbert Marshall (Scott Chavez), Sidney Blackmer (The "Lover" of Mrs. Chavez), and Butterfly McQueen (Vashti) Directed by King Vidor (#987 - Show People and #1015 - Bardelys the Magnificent)

Review:
Sometimes one can really sense the grip of a producer when it comes to how a film comes out. One such producer in terms of presence is David O. Selznick. He was the son of silent movie producer distributor Lewis J. Selznick, who had established film companies at important locations in film locations: World Film Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey and Selznick Pictures in California. At the age of 24 in 1926, the young Selznick went to Hollywood, finding his way to assistant story editor at MGM, and he moved his way around in the prevailing years from MGM to Paramount to RKO, becoming Head of Production in 1931 before going back to MGM in 1933, complete with a production unit for himself much in the same way Irving Thalberg (ill in health at the time) had. However, he desired to have his own studio for production, so he found a backlot and studio to lease out through RKO. He produced numerous films from 1936 to 1940 (distributed through different studios), such as A Star is Born (1937), Nothing Sacred (1937) and his two crowning achievements in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940), both winning Best Picture for their respective years. He dissolved the company in 1940, taking some time off from production and loaning out some of his contracted stars and directors to other studios. In 1943 and 1946, he formed Vanguard Films and Selznick Releasing Organization to return to production and distribution, respectively. He attempted hard to try and top the successes of the past he had, with mixed results, later stating that he wasted his life trying to outdo it, and he stopped his independent productions in 1948, going on to co-produce films with other makers, with his last venture being the star-crossed A Farewell to Arms (1957). When it comes to this film, Selznick spared no expense in terms of budget and turbulent production from start to finish. Some films may have an uncredited director when it comes to disagreements with a producer, but this is one that has six un-credited directors: Josef von Sternberg, William Dieterle, William Cameron Menzies, Otto Brower, Sidney Franklin, and Selznick himself, since Vidor and the producer had disagreements that led to him walking out (having three credited cinematographers and four editors helps too). Vidor was a respected filmmaker before and after this film, debuting as a director at the age of 19 in 1913 with short films before moving to features in 1919 before finding a contract with Goldwyn Pictures (later MGM) and eventual success with movies such as The Big Parade (1925) and The Crowd (1928). He directed numerous films over the prevailing decades (slowing down after the 1950s), with his last work being a documentary with The Metaphor (1980), released two years before his death in 1982 at the age of 88. Although he did not win an Academy Award on five nominations in his career, he received an Academy Honorary Award in 1979 to recognize his achievements as an innovator. This was a film based off the novel of the same name by Niven Busch, who had pitched the film to RKO for his wife Teresa Wright to star in, but Wright's pregnancy nixed that idea. One pairing that was thought of prior to production was John Wayne and Hedy Lamarr before Jones (who had risen to quick stardom and had won an Academy Award at the age of 25) was brought in, with Selznick (whose affair with Jones later led to divorce and marriage) was credited for writing the film alongside Oliver H.P. Garrett and Ben Hecht. The film cost over $5 million to make (owing to expensive Technicolor film stock, location shooting and multiple re-shoots) and $2 million to advertise (a hefty sum for the time), with the film receiving a great deal of infamy for its excess in terms of its excess in romantic content, with one derisive joke calling the film "Lust in the Dust", with the film having its troubles with the Hays Code (with one sequence involving a dance by Jones being deleted).

This is definitely the kind of film that is best at being as ridiculous as it wants, a melodrama that fits all the molds of the modern age in how relentless it is in being a soap opera with all the trimmings (despite some dated material involving race) and competent acting to make this a silly treat that exceeds the senses that surely stands out for its decade, completed with a lengthy run-time of 145 minute (at least with the overture, anyway). It certainly isn't a great Western or romance by any means, but one will get some sort of enjoyment at an attempt at making an epic, which one should guess right away from its opening narration from Orson Welles, since I guess having the main character's fate being death really needs to be told to us from the get go, which is odd since the novel apparently ended with the main character living. Jones (who would later marry Selznick in 1949) shines in gritty detail, a woundedly obsessed role that exudes passion in the ways that matter in terms of romance, although it is actually the showdown sequence at the end that is her shining moment, complete with her own stunt work in the rocks with scrapes and cuts. Cotten is quiet yet fairly effective as the most level-headed one of the group, which goes okay despite not having as much screen-time in the second half. Peck is certainly electrifying in his rough role, full of energy like a beast of burden (having arrived from stage to film in 1944 to quick stardom), one that demands your attention as the bad man you love to hate (as is the case in plenty of interesting Westerns). Barrymore shines as an old battle axe, spending most of his time commanding coarse presence without needing to get out of his wheelchair (which he primarily used due to having an unhealed broken hip and arthritis since 1938). Gish (who earned her one and only Academy Award nomination for this film) shines with honesty in a role that demands sincerity. Huston proves worthy to view in his fiery brimstone approach to trying to rid the dangers of sin. If one is desiring of a different kind of Western, one may find something fitting with a weird film like this, where its romantic gestures having a strange lasting power to them. The film, controversy be darned, managed to break just even with audiences, who were probably tempted to see it one way or the other when it came to the furor it could inspire from the powers that be with decency (for the time, at least). One notable person who found this film influential was Martin Scorsese, which he saw when he was four years old. Sure, the film doesn't quite live up to Gone with the Wind, but the undeniable truth is that both films have a lasting appeal to them, with this being one to see in Selznick's power of obsession on display, a bold piece of escapism for better or worse.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Grand Hotel (1932).

Review #1338: Grand Hotel.

Cast: 
Greta Garbo (Grusinskaya, the dancer), John Barrymore (Baron Felix von Geigern), Joan Crawford (Flaemmchen, the stenographer), Wallace Beery (General Director Preysing), Lionel Barrymore (Otto Kringelein), Lewis Stone (Dr. Otternschlag), Jean Hersholt (Senf, the porter), Robert McWade (Meierheim), Purnell B. Pratt (Zinnowitz), Ferdinand Gottschalk (Pimenov), Rafaela Ottiano (Suzette), and Morgan Wallace (Chauffeur) Directed by Edmund Goulding (#1332 - Hell's Angels)

Review: 
"Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens."

Theatricality goes a long way when you have the star-power to go with it. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the studio for stars in the 1930s, and Irving Thalberg was precisely the person to create big films through the power of picks - selecting scripts, gathering staff, etc. He had purchased the rights to adapt the novel Menschen im Hotel (1929) by Vicki Baum (who had been a chambermaid at a few high-class Berlin hotels), which was turned into a play by William A. Drake the following year (a musical of the same name was also adapted from the novel and play in 1989). Drake, alongside un-credited writers in Béla Balázs and Edgar Allan Woolf, helped to turn it into a film through writing, which comes together like a series of vignettes or an anthology piece, but it was one of the first films to utilize more than two stars to serve as headliners, which now seems like a common thing (as proven by future big-name productions in the following decades to be covered another time). It also has one key distinction - the only Best Picture winner to have no nominations in any other category. MGM would continue this trend with the comedy Dinner at Eight (which also features both Barrymores and Beery) the following year, and it would be re-made by the studio in 1945 as Week-End at the Waldorf. In any case, this is a film that has an undeniable staying power with its core five cast that a lesser cast or less capable director would've turned into plain old-hat melodrama. At 112 minutes, it pulls off entertainment that worked for Great Depression audiences and still works for modern audiences, where one shining star doesn't shine too bright over everybody else, mostly because not all of them share the stage at one point in the film. One starts with Garbo, who had risen from parts in films in her native Sweden to star in Hollywood in the span of six years, with her naturalistic acting (which worked well for silent and sound) being just as known as her reclusive nature, right down to the most memorable line of the film being how she just wants to be alone. She fares just fine, mostly when sharing the passion and focus with Barrymore, with her personally requesting red front-lighting for her love scenes, which certainly work. J. Barrymore (nicknamed "The Great Profile" with a noted career of stage and film since 1903) fares just as calmly, where one does not dwell on the considerable age difference between him and Garbo but instead focuses on his charm, which can go for either romance or dialogue with L. Barrymore. Crawford (a resilient star through self promotion alongside talent) shines with resourcefulness, a lady for the moment, whether it is hope or desperation (a role that was trimmed by the censors of the time for various reasons). L. Barrymore proves to be a fair surrogate for the audience, where one wants to see someone's attempt at a mild-mannered attempt at a first and last great gesture of life, although that makes it seem more tragic than it really is, particularly since this part could've been more grating (or on the other hand a sad one) with a different actor. Beery goes for the ham with a German accent in tow (with a promise that only he would have to put on an accent convincing him to sign on), with mixed results, really, although if a heavy is needed, one can't go wrong with someone like Beery. In any case, one will find themselves pulled into a film with spectacle to spare, from its production quality (most signified in its lobby scenes, along with art direction from Cedric Gibbons) down to its reasonable direction from Goulding that keeps everything going to the right room without missing a beat, which makes it endure to this very day.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Mark of the Vampire.

Review #470: Mark of the Vampire.

Cast
Lionel Barrymore (Professor Zelen), Elizabeth Allan (Irena Borotyn), Bela Lugosi (Count Mora), Lionel Atwill (Inspector Neumann), Jean Hersholt (Baron Otto von Zinden), Henry Wadsworth (Fedor Vincente), Donald Meek (Dr. J. Doskil), Ivan F. Simpson (Jan), Carroll Borland (Luna), and Franklyn Ardell (Chauffeur) Directed by Tod Browning (#071 - Dracula)

Review
Mark of the Vampire starts off well, though it is a bit of a surprise that this only runs 60 minutes, although apparently the studio cut 20 minutes out of the film, for reasons still not fully determined. The actors do a fine job, and Lugosi (Save for one scene at the end) does a great job because his menacing presence is different than how he was in Dracula: He resorts to walking around the sets, with makeup on the face, sometimes appearing out of nowhere, mostly accompanied by (accomplice?) another vampire, played by Carroll Borland, who reminds me of Wednesday Addams for some reason. The music is very effective, creepy and chilling. The sets look fine, and the film starts to gather steam around the 40 minute mark, when Barrymore (Who is never given a proper introduction scene, by the way) and the others are just about to go hunting for the vampire...And then come the last part of the film and the ending that derails it all. Whether you like twist endings or not, the ending...just seems like a big cop-out. To sum the ending (which I will color in black text, so just highlight the text if you want to know the ending) up is basically this:

To catch Baron Otto who apparently murdered Karell Borotyn, a Baron who died in the beginning, Zelen and Irena Borotyn, Karell's daughter hired actors to scare the Baron enough to get him hypnotized and get him to to do the murder to a look alike of the dead man, using a hot cup as a guise for the drained blood and a pincer for the marks on his neck. 

The ending shortchanges what was until up that point, the climax. Yes, I'm aware that this was a remake of an earlier film, London After Midnight (a 1927 lost film, one of the most sought after lost films), and I know it would've sounded cliche to have the vampires simply get eliminated, but the film still would've been very enjoyable nonetheless. The effects were nice, such as when Luna is shown arriving in the castle...with bat wings still on her. Browning does an okay job directing, but the film still could've been better. While it may cheat (or satisfy anyone liking twist endings) the audience, it's still a (mostly) decent film overall.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Key Largo.

Review #419: Key Largo.

Cast
Humphrey Bogart (Frank McCloud), Edward G. Robinson (Johnny Rocco), Lauren Bacall (Nora Temple), Lionel Barrymore (James Temple), Claire Trevor (Gaye Dawn), Thomas Gomez (Richard "Curly" Hoff), Harry Lewis (Edward "Toots" Bass), John Rodney (Deputy Sheriff Clyde Sawyer), Marc Lawrence (Ziggy), and Dan Seymour (Angel Garcia) Directed by John Huston (#081 - The Maltese Falcon (1941), #094 - The Misfits, #224 - Casino Royale (1967)

Review
Once again I have the chance to review a film directed by John Huston, and one with Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson, who I loved in The Cincinnati Kid (#273), with Laura Bacall and Lionel Barrymore, who I last reviewed in America (not everyday you review a star who stars in silent and talkie films), so this was irresistible. And it did not disappoint. The main four (Bogart, Robinson, Bacall and Barrymore) all do respectable jobs, but Claire Trevor stands out among the rest, especially when she sings a capella in front of everyone, a moving scene. This film has a tense pace going, never letting go of its roots, having a climatic ending and a good directing job by Huston once again.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: America.

Review #415: America.

Cast
Neil Hamilton (Nathan Holden), Erville Alderson (Justice Montague), Carol Dempster (Nancy Montague), Charles Emmett Mack (Charles Montague), Lee Beggs (Samuel Adams), John Dunton (John Hancock), Lionel Barrymore (Capt. Walter Butler), Arthur Donaldson (King George III), Charles Bennett (William Pitt), Frank Walsh (Thomas Jefferson), Frank McGlynn Sr. (Patrick Henry), and Arthur Dewey (George Washington) Directed by D. W. Griffith.

Review

The first film to be reviewed with D. W. Griffith, America was at the last parts of his directing career, and this film wasn't much of a success in 1924. Is the film any good anyway? Sort of. The facial movements aren't bad, but Hamilton and Alderson don't exactly do the best job. The battle scenes are alright, and the film tries in the history department, looking decent. The film has a length that I imagine some audiences in 1924 might not have liked, over 2 hours at about 140 minutes, and sometimes it feels slow, but if you want a film that has some patriotism, this might be for you, even if it is a bit dated.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

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Movie Night: It's a Wonderful Life.

Review #319: It's a Wonderful Life.

Cast
James Stewart (George Bailey), Donna Reed (Mary Bailey), Henry Travers (Clarence Odbody), Lionel Barrymore (Henry F. Potter), Thomas Mitchell (Billy Bailey), Beulah Bondi (Ma Bailey), Frank Faylen (Ernie Bishop), Ward Bond (Bert), Gloria Grahame (Violet Bick), and H. B. Warner (Mr. Gower) Directed by Frank Capra (#102 -  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)

Review
I know it sounds incredibly cliche to review this film, that it sounds all cheerful (The word Wonderful is in the title after all) and all that Christmas spirit and such (which either ends on December 26th or keeps on going until January for some reason). But as it turns out, it's a strangely depressing yet strangely useful film. Capra and Stewart are a good pair, and it works in this film extremely well. I actually thought this would be that film that would be extremely overrated, and that their was another Christmas classic everyone was talking about. I was wrong. Stewart and Travers are the main standouts (though Travers doesn't play a big role till about the last hour), with Bailey not just being a goody goody boy scout, Stewart also convey the darkness that is believable to the end. While it might sound caramel sweet at times, it has some good acting combined with humanity and good will. And isn't that what Christmas needs? Classics to watch, and goodwill toward men and women. While this film wasn't a success in its original release, it would later gain a reputation as one of the Christmas classics. Merry Christmas.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.