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)”
Category Archives: William Seiter
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)”
Roberta (1935)
The second of the Astaire-Rogers star vehicles, Roberta has its fans. I’m not one of them. Although, admittedly, many of its fans admire the duo’s dances as if the rest of the film did not exist. If those are the terms, then I’m on board, too. The film contains some memorable chemistry between Astaire andContinue reading “Roberta (1935)”
The Moon’s Our Home (1936)
Another archival surprise, and a big one! The Moon’s Our Home (1936), directed by William Seiter. Where to begin? It stars Henry Fonda (still in the comic scripting mode) and Margaret Sullavan. I’ve only seen Sullavan in a few films — most notably A Shop on Main Street and The Good Fairy. It’s uncanny toContinue reading “The Moon’s Our Home (1936)”
In Person (1935)
To set the context, by 1935 Ginger Rogers had delivered Busby Berkeley’s Golddiggers of 1933, in which she sings in Pig Latin sandwiched in a giant silver dollar, danced with Astaire in Top Hat, and did this weird thing called In Person. Directed by William Seiter, who seemed to staple shots together until he gotContinue reading “In Person (1935)”