History Is Made at Night.

Review #1863: History Is Made at Night.

Cast: 

Charles Boyer (Paul Dumond), Jean Arthur (Irene Vail), Leo Carrillo (Cesare), Colin Clive (Bruce Vail), Ivan Lebedeff (Michael, Vail's Chauffeur), George Meeker (Mr. Norton), Lucien Prival (Private Detective), George Davis (Maestro), and Pierre Watkin (Commodore Eldridge) Directed by Frank Borzage (#1611 - A Farewell to Arms)

Review: 

Admittedly, some genre-bender movies work a bit differently from others. Particularly if they are romance movies that also happen to have a climax that echoes the Titanic disaster to go along with the towering power of love (or something like that). Who else but Walter Wanger to bring such an enterprising production to the screen? Wanger, who started his producing career with The Sheik (1921), certainly liked to bring both message movies and romantic melodramas to the big screen over an extensive career that saw him work both on his own and with studios, with this being distributed by United Artists. He presented the title and a bare script to Borzage (known already with 7th Heaven (1927) and Bad Girl (1931) for romance triumphs) to pitch him the film, which apparently got him on board. The eventual movie was written by C. Graham Baker while the screenplay was done by Gene Towne, Vincent Lawrence & David Hertz. This wasn't exactly a new idea to have a melodrama infused with a natural disaster, as evidenced by films such as Cavalcade (1933) and San Francisco (1936).

It's a pretty good melodrama, all things considered, if only because it actually has a little fun playing screwball humor to go with its eventual turn of suspense to encapsulate a 95-minute experience that mostly gets it done in the ways that matter. The classic melodrama of the time may have had its contrived moments, but one can always find something energetic or dazzling when it comes to the right hands at director or in the chemistry of its stars. It results in a tender experience wrapped with plenty of warmth that carries itself well without becoming wrapped in all of the contrivances possible. Sometimes one requires a bit of sacrifice and struggle when it comes to romance...one that makes us fall for these two folks in how they are together, right down to each of them getting to engage the other with a hastily created hand puppet. Boyer makes for a charming rogue, one who glides through the film with charisma to spare in a down-to-earth sort of way that we gravitate to pretty quickly in ways slightly different from what he wound up doing in countless other movies. Arthur had been acting on-and-off since 1923 with fleeting notice, but The Whole Town's Talking (1935) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) put her on the radar, and she certainly excels at making a sort of every-woman kind of role. It is the foibles that each one shows (mostly in Arthur) that we grow to appreciate, where her vulnerabilities are our vulnerabilities, and her dancing in a vacant restaurant (while fiddling with her heels) certainly makes for one of the more interesting sequences of their fluorescent whirlwind together. This was the penultimate role for Clive (who had gone from the stage in 1925 to both stage and film by the 1930s), who died from complications of tuberculosis a couple of months after the release of this film at the age of 37. He makes for a conniving third lead, one perverted in obsession that believes in how righteous they are all the way to the bitter end, which makes a suitable cold ham performance. Carrillo dazzles well in support by acting as the partner for Boyer for sequences involving high-strung people making the best of interesting scenarios, such as exploring the differences for waiters in France compared to America or a cook finding an old friend on a boat. It's a warm and crispy kind of movie, one where all the parts move with resourceful zip and energy to the proceedings. By the time it maneuvers to the ship for its climax, I was having a pretty breezy time enjoying the surroundings that around these folks that is engaging without being overbearing. Sure, one might know where the end road goes, but the path to get there is the enjoyable part and seeing them have to deal with impending ship doom is still a fine way to handle entertainment. As a whole, it is a nice experience lifted by Borzage and company for a solid gem of smiles all the way around that would be ripe for curious filmgoers everywhere.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Hell's Angels.

Review #1332: Hell's Angels.

Cast: 
Ben Lyon (Monte Rutledge), James Hall (Roy Rutledge), Jean Harlow (Helen), John Darrow (Karl Arnstedt), Lucien Prival (Baron Von Kranz), Frank Clarke (Lt. von Bruen), Roy Wilson ("Baldy" Maloney), Douglas Gilmore (Capt. Redfield), Jane Winton (Baroness Von Kranz), Evelyn Hall (Lady Randolph), William B. Davidson (Staff Major), and Wyndham Standing (RFC squadron commander) Directed by Howard Hughes, James Whale (#069 - The Invisible Man, #071 - Frankenstein, #394 - Bride of Frankenstein, and #465 - The Old Dark House) and Edmund Goulding.

Review: 
Jean Harlow was a star that burned just as twice as bright as others that burned half as long as others for the 1930s during her short career. This was her first breakthrough film happened just appeared in bit roll since 1928 (when she was 17) before being noticed by James Hall while on production on this film which was in transition (having started in October of 1927). The film needed a new lead actress in order to be a talkie since Greta Nissen was being replaced in the lead role because of her Norwegian accent. The man behind the film as producer and director was Howard Hughes, business magnate/engineer who had produced films since 1926 most notably with Two Arabian Knights (1927). He spent nearly three million dollars on this film, sparing no expense in making his epic air story. The film went through multiple directors (Marshall Neilan, Luther Reed), multiple pilots being killed in airplane crashes, and a lawsuit by Hughes in order to provide to try and prevent another pilot film with The Dawn Patrol (1930) from beating it to theaters. The film was not a major success on upon original release, in part because of the large production costs, but it is now known as one of the earliest standout action films. Of note is the dialogue direction by James Whale, who had done direction for the stage production of Journey's End  (which coincidentally would be turned into a film by Whale that same year); there was also some direction done by Goulding, now known for his cultured dramas like Grand Hotel (1932) and The Razor's Edge (1946). There were two writers for the film - Marshall Neilan (story) and Joseph Moncure March (story and dialogue). The film certainly works better on the sum of its action sequences more so than its acting but it is generally interesting to sit through then as now. I will admit though that one film that definitely came to mind when watching this film was Wings (1927), which also featured a love triangle within a World War I plot alongside of notable flashes of color during sequences (although this does that through tinting and an eight minutes Multicolor filmed sequence). While Wings is definitely the better film in its composition, it shouldn't hinder the enjoyment of Hell's Angels - an imperfect but interesting experience that fits for some worthy escapism, albeit one that is a bit long at 131 minutes, but it sure is dreary enough for an epic aviation war film, I suppose.

The highlights of the film are the air sequences and Harlow, undeniably. It is a joy to see scenes done in the air, where one can always seem to sense riveting danger (whether for the character or for the actual pilot) without becoming bored by seeing plane flying and shooting at each other, probably because of how well crafted it is in filming and in execution. Hughes knows what he likes to see in the air come out on screen - this was the first of two films he directed (with the other taking just as long to come out in The Outlaw). The main two actors in Lyon and Hall do not fare as well with attention. Simply put: they are flat, and they barely even seem like siblings at all, with their interactions being the kind of wooden that plague films that know they can't be just action all the time but needs to pad themselves out anyway. Even though Harlow doesn't have as much screen experience as her two male stars, she excels in presence in each scene she appears in. She has that "it" factor like others before her, a bombshell that fits her era handily. Darrow is almost easy to forget, since his dilemma (a German Oxford student conscripted into the nation's Air Force) disappears halfway through (namely by dropping him from the sky) without much to say. Prival makes for an adequate adversary (he even gets to do a duel!), at least. If one is here for air action, you will get that will no trouble, with one even having blue tint to go with its night setting for wondrous effect (with the highlight being a plane crashing right into a blimp). The rest doesn't quite measure up, but it will prove adequate enough for entertainment for its era without trouble.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.