Classic Hollywood made a lot of derivative, unimaginative, and badly made comedies, but some were so ham-handed and spiritless that they are insults to the genre and the medium. One of these is Columbia’s The Amazing Mr. Williams. I’d prefer to just let it rot in oblivion but it has enough fans that I can’tContinue reading “The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939)”
Category Archives: Joan Blondell
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Gold Diggers of 1933 — directed by Mervyn LeRoy and spectacularized by Busby Berkeley — has been more thoroughly watched, interpreted, contextualized, explained, poked, prodded, and dissected over the years than any other comedy of the era. It has been glossed in terms the male gaze, the commodification of women, the reduction of female bodiesContinue reading “Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)”
Two Girls on Broadway (1940)
I find Two Girls on Broadway interesting for two reasons. First, it’s one of the three dance comedies Lana Turner made as a 19-20 year old in the 1939-40 span. The other is that it’s a remake of the foundational Hollywood film musical, The Broadway Melody (1929), and it attacks the problems of that filmContinue reading “Two Girls on Broadway (1940)”
Stand In (1937)
Stand In isn’t well known. It’s not quite obscure, since Humphrey Bogart has a supporting role in it and the Bogart cult would never let one of his films be ignored. (As it happens, Bogart is the weakest link in it — he snarls, smoulders, and mugs his way through the story, humorless as heContinue reading “Stand In (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)”