CLASSIC MOVIE GUIDE

POOR

GOOD

Very Good

MASTERPIECE

City Lights (1931) This movie just gets better every time I see it : Chaplin's courage to keep making silent movies into the sound era really paid off. John McCabe described the final poignant moments when the flower girl her sight now restored finally sees her benefactor the Little Tramp : "She does not know what to say; he does not know what to say. She is stunned, happy, unbelieving, disappointed to the heart, moved to the heart. He looks at her timidly, smiling in tender pain. He is hopeful, yet he dare not hope, yet he dare not fail to hope. As he watches her eyes, the camera moves in to him for that rarity in Chaplin films, a closeup. The scene fades."	86 min, Black & White Director Charles Chaplin Cast Includes Charlie Chaplin Virginia Cherrill Harry Myers Hank Mann Links Messageboard Discussion
The Crowd (1928) Superb silent drama about ordinary people struggling through life enlivened by Germanic touches such as the incredible travelling shot which comes right down to our hero James Murray at his desk. Plucked from the ranks of the extras Murray gives a great performance, sadly he was to kill himself just a few years later.	104 min, Black & White Director King Vidor Cast Includes Eleanor Boardman James Murray Bert Roach Daniel G. Tomlinson Dell Henderson Lucy Beaumont Links Messageboard Discussion
Dames (1934) Pretty good Berkeley musical with some eye-catching production numbers. The most impressive is probably "I Only Have Eyes For You" though the title number is almost the definitive Berkeley number : if I was to show someone what the great choreographer was all about that is the number I would show. The straight plot of this one is more engaging than I remember and certainly better than GoldDiggers of 1935. The flustered presence of Guy Kibbee to me adds a lot of laughs.	90 min, Black & White Director Ray Enright Cast Includes Joan Blondell Dick Powell Ruby Keeler ZaSu Pitts Hugh Herbert Guy Kibbee Phil Regan Links Messageboard Discussion
Destry Rides Again (1939) Marlene Dietrich made this movie to revive her career. It was an unusual role for her but she couldn't keep going with the pure Von Sternberg persona : the era of that was over. In the mid 30s Marlene's films were box office disasters and by 1939 she was box office poison. The public tired of the sultry unattainable foreign woman, Garbo too had to respond to changing times and starred in a comedy Ninotchka (1939). Marlene's stock had fallen so far she was employed by Universal (the Von Sternbergs had been made by one of the majors Paramount) who produced Destry Rides Again (1939). It is a good comedy western which I enjoy, not the greatest but good fun.	94 min, Black & White Director George Marshall Cast Includes James Stewart Marlene Dietrich Charles Winninger Brian Donlevy Una Merkel Mischa Auer Allen Jenkins Links Messageboard Discussion
Double Indemnity (1944) One of the greatest film noirs, compulsively rewatchable, for me one of the most enjoyable classic films with great performances from MacMurray, Stanwyck and Robinson.	106 min, Black & White Director Billy Wilder Cast Includes Barbara Stanwyck Fred MacMurray Edward G. Robinson Porter Hall Fortunio Bonanova Jean Heather Links Photo Gallery Messageboard Discussion

Don't forget our sister site the Golden Age of Hollywood Messageboard

The Golden Age of Hollywood Banners by Ktrek.

Written content of the Golden Age of Hollywood Website (except where indicated) copyright Derek McLellan, 2007.