Fox made three Runyonesque comedies in the early 40s starring Cesar Romero — Tall, Dark and Handsome, A Gentleman at Heart, and Dance Hall. All were witty, full of surprising turns, and well crafted. And all were produced as B-movies. While folks have varied judgments about Dance Hall (it was panned at the time, printsContinue reading “A Gentleman at Heart (1942)”
Category Archives: Neglected Gems
Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)
I have a special affection for the Fox comedies of the early ’40s. At a time when the other major studios were going for toney production values to make “prestige” comedies or marrying lurid technicolor to tepid stories playing to Midwestern sensibilities, Fox somehow remained loyal to the gritty escapism of the early and midContinue reading “Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)”
The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
In his prime in the late ’20s and early ’30s, Gregory La Cava was an amazingly versatile and restless director of comedies. When he was assigned to direct The Affairs of Cellini by RKO he had made some of W.C. Fields’s best silents (and according to Fields, invented his lasting screen persona), as well asContinue reading “The Affairs of Cellini (1934)”
Bed of Roses (1933)
Gregory La Cava’s Bed of Roses was one of the films that inspired me to blog about Hollywood comedies of the ’30s and ’40s. I stumbled on it on TCM. I’d never heard of it before then. I admired My Man Godfrey, so I was interested in La Cava’s other films. Bed of Roses surprisedContinue reading “Bed of Roses (1933)”
A Damsel in Distress (1937)
A Damsel in Distress was the first film in the RKO Astaire-Rogers period in which Astaire was featured solo. The Astaire-Rogers magic was wearing thin by 1937. The previous year’s Shall We Dance was less popular than the films that preceded it, and both stars were eager to decouple. The studio decided to take AstaireContinue reading “A Damsel in Distress (1937)”
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)”
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)”
The Princess Comes Across (1936)
The Princess Comes Across is fine example of how Hollywood in the classic period could ruin a good comedy by mixing genres, in this case a screwball comedy and a murder mystery. The Thin Man (1934) and its sequels were so popular that that particular pastiche seemed logical and a proven money-maker for the studios.Continue reading “The Princess Comes Across (1936)”