I’ve come late to appreciating Tay Garnett’s comedies, of which One Way Passage is probably the best. Garnett, who was once a darling of French cinéastes, is most remembered nowadays for his exotic action and war films like Slave Ship and Bataan and the noir classic The Postman Always Rings Twice. He also made fineContinue reading “One Way Passage (1932)”
Category Archives: Kay Francis
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
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)”
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)”