Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise is one of the films on Classic Hollywood’s Mount Rushmore. It’s the most concentrated example of Lubitsch’s famous style, so distilled that it’s almost abstract. Lubitsch himself considered it his greatest stylistic achievement. But there’s trouble in paradise in more ways than one. For me, this dazzling artifact lacks bothContinue reading “Trouble in Paradise (1932)”
Author Archives: Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr.
The Thin Man (1934)
The Thin Man is one of the most influential films that Hollywood ever produced. It’s included in the American Film Institute’s list of 100 funniest films (in a list made in 2000 the film comes in at #32); IMDB users have given it a stratospheric score of 8 of 10 (only three films have scoredContinue reading “The Thin Man (1934)”
Every Night at Eight (1935)
Every Night at Eight was one of the dozens of “Radio Contest/Singing Sisters” movies made in the ’30s. It has very little to recommend it. Directed by Raoul Walsh, a director I don’t like, its male lead is George Raft, an actor I detest. It tells the tired tale of a group of young workingContinue reading “Every Night at Eight (1935)”
Jewel Robbery (1932)
Jewel Robbery has experienced a formidable change of fortune recently. In the past, film historians sometimes mentioned it respectfully in passing in the context of William Powell’s career, or as an example of elegant pre-code badinage, or as one of the more successful imitations of Lubitsch’s style. It’s getting a lot more love nowadays, andContinue reading “Jewel Robbery (1932)”
On the Avenue (1937)
On paper, On the Avenue looks like a great classical Hollywood musical. All the songs are by Irving Berlin. It’s directed by Roy Del Ruth, an unsung master of the genre. It stars Dick Powell, Alice Faye, and Madeleine Carroll. The script is by two good writers, Gene Markey and William Conselman. Lucien Andriot wasContinue reading “On the Avenue (1937)”
Folies Bergère de Paris (1935)
Folies Bergère de Paris has become one of my favorite musical comedies of the period. It was Maurice Chevalier’s last American film before the end of World War II, and it’s one of his best. At the moment, I’d place it up there with Love Me Tonight. I’ve always taken Chevalier in small doses. HisContinue reading “Folies Bergère de Paris (1935)”
Sally, Irene and Mary (1938)
The 1938 version of Sally, Irene and Mary is nominally a remake of a famous but hard to get silent musical made in 1925. The original starred Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, and Sally O’Neil as the title characters. That original is a well made and visually interesting comedy/melodrama, directed by the legendary Edmund Goulding, andContinue reading “Sally, Irene and Mary (1938)”
Thanks a Million (1935)
Thanks A Million is, like most of the Dick Powell comedies of the mid-1930s, a pip, a perfect example of a neglected gem. It fits somewhere on the line of Depression-era political satire-comedies that stretches from Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) to The Devil and Miss Jones (1941). In many respects it follows the template of theContinue reading “Thanks a Million (1935)”
College Coach (1933)
William “Wild Bill” Wellman’s College Coach is a bona fide piece of work — and not in a good way. It’s an exceedingly strange comedy about a college whose trustees decide that they can save the school from financial ruin only by perking up its loser football program by hiring a notoriously shady, publicity-hound coach-to-the-highest-bidder,Continue reading “College Coach (1933)”
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
At this moment, I consider Howard Hawks’s Bringing Up Baby the greatest comedy Hollywood ever produced. I may change my mind. I haven’t always been that fond of it. Each time I watched it in the past (there have been many) I saw something iffy, and it was always something different — chunky pacing, stuffyContinue reading “Bringing Up Baby (1938)”