Stage Door is one of the most revered movies in the high canon of classic Hollywood comedies, deservedly. Probably the most utopian, non-heterosexist story produced by Hollywood by that time. Read as queer, it works. Read as women’s friendship and solidarity, it works, too. As critique of the whole infrastructure of romantic comedy, also works.Continue reading “Stage Door (1937)”
Category Archives: adolphe menjou
Little Miss Marker (1934)
Little Miss Marker was Shirley Temple’s breakthrough film. She was five years old when she made it. Watching her in it is an unnerving experience in more ways than one. The whole film is a weird experience. Directed by Alexander Hall, some of it is so bad, so poorly paced and edited, and so oldContinue reading “Little Miss Marker (1934)”
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
The Astaire-Rogers partnership began to evaporate after Shall We Dance in 1937. They did make one other Sandrich-directed film, Carefree, before their subsequent films began to count as reunions, but you can feel that the studios no longer trust the magic. Both Astaire and Rogers had to some extent been yoked into the partnership byContinue reading “You Were Never Lovelier (1942)”
The Milky Way (1936)
The Milky Way is one of my favorite comedies of the period. It’s hilarious on every level — physical, verbal, and situational. It’s a puzzle to me why it isn’t venerated more. It stars Harold Lloyd in one of his few speaking roles after his career as one of the three comic silent film geniusesContinue reading “The Milky Way (1936)”
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
One Hundred Men and a Girl was Deanna Durbin’s second film, and like the first, Three Smart Girls, it was conceived and directed by Henry Koster. Its premise is sweet and daring. Durbin plays the daughter of a down-and-out symphony orchestra director, John Cardwell (Adolphe Menjou), whose one-hundred person orchestra is out of work. TheyContinue reading “One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)”
Broadway Gondolier (1935)
I’m very fond of Broadway Gondolier. It’s probably more responsible for my getting into this blogging project than any other film. I recorded it from TCM one night many years ago for later watching. When I got around to seeing it, I was thoroughly charmed. I’d never heard of it before — but that’s noContinue reading “Broadway Gondolier (1935)”
Café Metropole (1937)
Café Metropole is one of the odd, original movies you often encounter in this zone. It doesn’t seem to be very well known. There’s almost no historical or critical writing on it. There are some warm, affectionate comments about it on IMDB — they’re fun to read after you’ve seen the film. But I feelContinue reading “Café Metropole (1937)”
That’s Right, You’re Wrong (1939)
It was hard to get a solid hold of That’s Right You’re Wrong. I mean that literally — I had to get it from the U of Washington’s project of digitizing classic films directly from 16mm onto 3-DVD sets. It’s the first of many Kay Kyser films I didn’t know a thing about. I didContinue reading “That’s Right, You’re Wrong (1939)”