Christmas in July was the first Preston Sturges film I ever saw. By that time I had seen many of the other canonical comedies of the time and had read a lot about Sturges. But the film flummoxed me. What on earth? I laughed a lot but couldn’t get a handle on what I wasContinue reading “Christmas in July (1940)”
Category Archives: The Expanded Canon
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Preston Sturges was the only true comic genius of classic Hollywood comedy. He was the most artistically ambitious comic director of his time. He wanted to do everything better than anyone else around him. He wanted to be the best screenwriter, the best director, the best synthesizer of comic styles — not just of filmContinue reading “The Palm Beach Story (1942)”
Arsenic and Old Lace (1943)
Arsenic and Old Lace was the first Capra comedy I ever saw, long before I cared about who Frank Capra was. As a young teenager watching a Halloween special, I thought it was howlingly funny. When I watched it again as an adult, I thought it was pretty bad. Nowadays, I still think it’s oneContinue reading “Arsenic and Old Lace (1943)”
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Broadway Melody of 1940 was the only film in which Astaire danced with Eleanor Powell; it may also have been the only film in which he played opposite George Murphy. (I need to check this out.) It was the third in the Broadway Melody reprise series, each of which starred Eleanor Powell. Murphy had beenContinue reading “Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)”
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)”
The Merry Widow (1934)
The Merry Widow is probably my favorite of Lubitsch’s film. Until recently it didn’t get much love from film critics and historians, compared with many other Lubitsch comedies. I suspect that was because it appeared to many folks to be just the final sigh of the Jeanette Macdonald-Maurice Chevalier Ruritanian frou-frou musical farces, and itContinue reading “The Merry Widow (1934)”
Nothing Sacred (1937)
Nothing Sacred is very funny and true to its title, very irreverent. It’s a core film in the screwball canon. It’s one of Carole Lombard’s showcase comedies, and the script, credited to Ben Hecht, is crazy witty. For all that, I’m not crazy about it. There are strange things going on that put me offContinue reading “Nothing Sacred (1937)”
The Male Animal (1942)
The Male Animal is only intermittently funny, often plodding as a comedy — but it’s interesting from beginning to end. It was directed by Elliott Nugent, who had written the original Broadway play of it in collaboration with his friend and fellow Ohio State alum, James Thurber. Nugent had played the lead role on stage;Continue reading “The Male Animal (1942)”
Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
Wife vs. Secretary was another experiment in combining comedy and melodrama, but with far more success than most of the others. The melodrama is managed with a light touch and elegance; so is the comedy. The core value of elegance is simplicity, and few films of the time can match Wife vs. Secretary for simplicity.Continue reading “Wife vs. Secretary (1936)”
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)”