POORGOOD Very Good MASTERPIECE| Lost Horizon
(1937) Great fantasy adventure film which cost an incredible amount at the time souring relations between director Capra and Columbia studios. Cuts during the war have now been reinstated but some footage is still lost, replaced by stills in the latest restoration. |
132
min, Black & White
Director Frank Capra Cast Includes Ronald Colman Jane Wyatt John Howard Edward Everett Horton Margo Sam Jaffe H.B. Warner Isabel Jewell Thomas Mitchell Messageboard Discussion |
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| The
Lost Weekend (1937) Fine film. A bit depressing but beautifully acted,the sequence when Milland hallucinates the mouse and the rat is incredibly cinematic. |
101 min, Black & White Director Billy Wilder Cast Includes Ray Milland Jane Wyman Philip Terry Howard da Silva Doris Dowling Frank Faylen Mary Young Messageboard Discussion |
|
| The Magnificent
Ambersons (1942) Great film about the decline of a rich family which goes soft at the end with a poor ending imposed by the studio. Still cinematically very inventive and innovative. |
88 min, Black
& White Director Orson Welles Cast Includes Tim Holt Joseph Cotten Dolores Costello Anne Baxter Agnes Moorehead Ray Collins Richard Bennett Erskine Sanford Messageboard Discussion |
|
| The Maltese
Falcon (1941) Remarkable film which really established the ground rules for film noir though some have argued Bogart's cynical Sam Spade is too assured to be considered a true "trapped" noir hero. Great cast with everyone perfect in their roles, Mary Astor as the deadly Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Sydney Greenstreet as the flattering fat man Kasper Guttman and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo, good though arguably the weak link in the cast (he does overact a bit on occasion). |
100 min,
Black & White
Director John Huston Cast Includes Humphrey Bogart Mary Astor Peter Lorre Sydney Greenstreet Ward Bond Gladys George Barton MacLane Elisha Cook, Jr. |
|
| Meet
John Doe (1941) Quite dark Capra film, the scene in which the crowd turn on Cooper is remarkable. The ending appears fitting enough, to have John kill himself might have been too drastic and not in keeping with the times. |
132 min, Black & White Director Frank Capra Cast Includes Gary Cooper Barbara Stanwyck Edward Arnold Walter Brennan Spring Byington James Gleason Gene Lockhart Photo Gallery Messageboard Discussion |
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Written content of the Golden Age of Hollywood Website (except where indicated) copyright Derek McLellan, 2007.