The Usual Choices
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz; William Keighley)
Angels With Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz)
Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks)
The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock)
You Can't Take It With You (Frank Capra)
But how about...
Test Pilot (Victor Fleming)
I thought this was gonna be just another off-the-MGM-production-line cashcow (and it is up to a certain point) but it's also something quite rare: a bromance between two macho-men types which goes beyond mere mateship. Clark Gable is the derring-do test pilot and Spencer Tracy is his best pal who is clearly deeply in love with him. No...I am not cynically applying a 21st Century outlook on a more-naive era. Whilst the love between the two men is of the ribbing / slap-on-the-back kind, it is so directly presented that the implied something-more must have been intentional...quite startling for a 1930's movie. Myrna Loy is there as Clark's female squeeze (they get married of course) but even she knows what's really going on. Some of the dialogue gets a little sticky at times but it is convincingly (and beautifully) delivered by the three leads in a true ensemble performance. Watch it and be impressed by how this eyebrow-raising love story came out of the old Hollywood studio system, was apparently approved by Louis B. Mayer and was MGM's greatest box-office hit of 1938. Talk about being ahead of its time...
...and what about...
The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace)
Charming and lightly-amusing comedy about a family of con artists who are expelled from the French Riviera, meet up with a lonely old lady from England and end up moving in with her. With a scheme to sponge off her, ingratiate themselves into the poor old dear's esteem (and her will) then "retire", this family of liars accidentally discover their decency instead. A little schmaltzy at times (the too-loud & insistent Franz Waxman soundtrack doesn't help), the movie is rescued by the terrific cast (Roland Young and Billie Burke in particular) and oddball little touches... which include a snazzy car called The Flying Wombat and a puppy with a moustache over one eye.
...not to mention...
St. Martin's Lane / Sidewalks of London (Tim Whelan)
One of the lesser-known Charles Laughton showcases, this film is really just a rejig of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights. Instead of a blind girl, the struggling waif is a runaway/dancer/pickpocket (played a bit OTT by Vivien Leigh) and instead of a tramp, the down'n'out hero is a street-performer/busker (played by Charles of course...he was the film's producer after all). Yep, sure enough, he takes her in, takes care of her, she blossoms, breaks his heart and she becomes a big onstage success while he stays at the bottom. Very A Star is Born I grant you, but Charles' performance is light, amiable and totally ham-free (as was his tendency when he tried comedy) and the glimpse into just-pre-WWII London West End life is fascinating. Throw in Rex Harrison and the early harmonica-playing of Larry Adler and you have a minor British movie gem.
...and one personal unmentionable...
You Can't Take It With You (Frank Capra)
In the year of Angels With Dirty Faces, Bringing Up Baby, The Lady Vanishes and The Adventures of Robin Hood, this is the movie which won the Best Picture Oscar?? Part Capra-corn and part-Pulitzer-Prize-winning-play, this story about a family of eccentrics that teaches a family of rich bastards how to live happily is forced-comedy at its most strenuous. While it aims for screwball-rom-com, the film is veered off-course by excessive talking, background character actors who try to remain memorable by out-quirking each other and Capra's usual capitalism-with-a-socialist's-heart bias. Not unpleasant viewing by any means but the film seems to be hellbent on being aggravatingly silly rather than actually funny...and it gets there.
My Top 10 Films of 1938
 |
| "...and with Kate's hat, we can pick up Foxtel." |
#02 A Holiday (Cukor)
#03 A Angels With Dirty Faces (Curtiz)
#04 A The Beachcomber / Vessel of Wrath (Pommer)
#05 A- Three Comrades (Borzage)
#06 A- The Citadel (Vidor)
#07 A- The Young in Heart (Wallace)
#08 A- Test Pilot (Fleming)
#09 A- Pygmalion (Asquith; Howard)
#10 A- Bringing Up Baby (Hawks)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 A- The Adventures of Robin Hood (Curtiz; Keighley)
#12 A- Vivacious Lady (Stevens)
#13 B+ St. Martin's Lane / Sidewalks of London (Whelan)
#14 B+ In Old Chicago (King)
#15 B+ Jezebel (Wyler)
#16 B+ Topper Takes a Trip (McLeod)
#17 B+ A Slight Case of Murder (Bacon)
#18 B+ Algiers (Cromwell)
#19 B+ The Dawn Patrol (Goulding)
#20 B+ If I Were King (Lloyd)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B There's Always a Woman [The Thin Man swished around with Nothing Sacred and a little formulaic with it]
> B Of Human Hearts [1st three-quarters absolutely terrific; last quarter absolute shite]
> B The Ware Case [British murder-mystery which is too mild to be of much interest]
> B The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [bloated by lollipop Technicolor with extra sweetness]
> B The Mad Miss Manton [screwball rom-com + murder-mystery which cries out for a stronger supporting cast]
> B The Sisters [based on a popular novel...popular with women...with 1938 women]
> B Next Time I Marry [OK screwball comedy which makes the shift from squabbling to romance too abruptly]
> B Fast Company [another Thin Man style mystery-comedy featuring Melvyn Douglas before he was a good actor]
> B- Having Wonderful Time [very lightweight rom-com which is rescued by star power]
> B- The Shopworn Angel [pretty corny & stupid but Margaret Sullavan shines again]
> B- Love Finds Andy Hardy [#4 in ultimate Americana franchise which is impossible to dislike, or to stomach]
> B- Mr Moto's Gamble [#3 in a merely-okay Japanese sleuth series which WWII understandably killed off]
> B- Four Daughters [smalltown family lives 'n' loves Americana soap which is just too blecch]
> B- Gangs of New York [turns on the clunky old two-strangers-who-could-be-identical-twins device]
> B- Kidnapped [outclassed by the 1948, 1960 and 1971 film versions not to mention the Classics Illustrated comic]
> B- Bluebeard's Eighth Wife [Ernst Lubitsch + Billy Wilder should have produced something better than this]
> B- You Can't Take It With You [A Personal Unmentionable]
> C Suez [is supposedly about the Suez Canal but is actually about bullshit]
> C The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse [the stupid premise swamps the very impressive Warner Bros cast]
> C Nancy Drew...Detective [pretty lame intro-entry to a franchise featuring a pretty lame lead performance]
> C Boys Town [a creaky and false nausea-fest, even when it was first released]
> C The Shining Hour [glossy & vapid soapie that Margaret Sullavan somehow still manages to shine in]
> C Condemned Women [aka Tough Molls in Jail Find True Love and a Stupid Ending]
> C Charlie Chan in Reno [Confucius say: "this movie like weak lumberjack...not much chop"]
> C Smashing the Rackets [needs to stick some keys in the actors' backs and wind them up]
> D The Big Broadcast of 1938 [W.C. Fields playing golf is funny; everything else in this musical-comedy very isn't]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1938 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
Alexander’s Ragtime Band (King); Bank Holiday (Reed); Boy Meets Girl (Bacon); Convict 99 (Varnel); The Divorce of Lady X (Whelan); The Drum (Korda); Four Men and a Prayer (Ford); Hard to Get (Enright); Inspector Hornleigh (Forde); King of Alcatraz (Florey); A Man to Remember (Kanin); Marie Antoinette (Van Dyke); Merrily We Live (McLeod); Old Bones of the River (Varnel); South Riding (Saville); Spawn of the North (Hathaway); This Man is News (MacDonald); To the Victor / Owd Bob (Daves); A Yank at Oxford (Conway); You and Me (Lang)
Best Performances of 1938
Fay Bainter in Jezebel
Alice Brady in In Old Chicago
James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces
Bette Davis in Jezebel
Leslie Howard in Pygmalion
Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette
Margaret Sullavan in Three Comrades
Spencer Tracy in Boys Town
But how about...
Ginger Rogers in Vivacious Lady
An overlooked rom-com which is better than director George Stevens' more-heralded Alice Adams and The More the Merrier, Vivacious Lady is loaded with a terrific Ginger Rogers comic performance. Giving her the opportunity to do a little physical comedy (a ripper of a catfight), combined with a little singing, a little dancing (of course) and a lot of cuddling up and smooching with James Stewart (who makes a good offsider), Ginger clearly relishes the acting showcase. With the support of wonderful character actors such as Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi and Frank Pangborn, Ginger comes across as natural, sincere, warm and, above all, supremely likeable. Who needs Fred?
...and what about...
Charles Laughton & Elsa Lanchester in The Beachcomber / Vessel of Wrath
The acting-blueprint for Bogie & Kate in The African Queen, this partnership of real-life husband & wife is a joy to behold. Charles plays the drunken slob on a tropical island; Elsa plays the Super-Christian missionary determined to punish & reform him...and they end up falling in love, of course. Rougher and cruder than its many subsequent copycat films, neither actors succumb to their later tendency to overact or mug for supposed comedic effect. Instead, they relish the initial clashes, winkle out a grudgingly mutual admiration then develop a sweetly mutual affection which comes across as both appropriate and inevitable. Lovely to see.
...not to mention...
Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne in The Lady Vanishes
Ah...Charters & Caldicott...the absolute epitome of the silly, straightlaced, pompous Englishmen so beautifully lampooned by Monty Python. It was in TLV that the couple (if any two men were a couple...) originated and they were such a popular pairing, that their characters were repeated in many other British movies, occasionally under other names. Cricket-obsessed, armed with such phrases as "Now, see here..." and "It just isn't done, old boy..." and clearly suffering from genophobia, the pair are the firmest of platonic friends. And, as such, are highly amusing and a major asset when the chips are down, wot?
...and one personal unmentionable...
Mickey Rooney in Boys Town
Andy Hardy as a tough teenage hoodlum? A tough teenage hoodlum who discovers the true meaning of friendship & loyalty & decency from friendly, loyal and decent orphans & juvies? Played by the all-singin' all-dancin' all-vim'n'vigour Mickey Rooney? From the first moment when he is confronted by Father Spencer Tracy (feet up on the desk; hat tilted forward; smokin' a coffin nail), Mickey shows us that he is out of his acting depth...even the fake injury fakeness is clearly overdone. It is only when the young thug turns and starts bawlin' unashamedly do we see something approaching believability...Mickey goes straight for the heartstrings, something he is far more comfortable with.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1938
 |
| "...but Mother...llama legs are so last year." |
#02 James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces
#03 Jean Dixon in Holiday
#04 Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne in The Lady Vanishes
#05 Lew Ayres in Holiday
#06 Roland Young in The Young in Heart
#07 Clark Gable & Myrna Loy & Spencer Tracy in Test Pilot
#08 Wendy Hiller in Pygmalion
#09 Katharine Hepburn in Holiday
#10 Charles Laughton & Elsa Lanchester in The Beachcomber / Vessel of Wrath
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Ginger Rogers in Vivacious Lady
#12 Margaret Sullavan in Three Comrades
#13 Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes
#14 Ralph Richardson in The Citadel
#15 Leslie Howard in Pygmalion
#16 Margaret Sullavan in The Shining Hour
#17 Robert Donat in The Citadel
#18 Roland Young in Topper Takes a Trip
#19 Margaret Sullavan in The Shopworn Angel
#20 Sally Eilers in Condemned Women
#21 Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood
#22 Charles Laughton in St. Martin's Lane / Sidewalks of London
#23 Billie Burke in The Young in Heart
#24 Edward Arnold in You Can't Take It With You
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Spencer Tracy in Boys Town [his heart never seems to be in it]
> Bette Davis in Jezebel [comes across as a nice-try audition for Scarlett O'Hara]
> Pat O'Brien in Angels With Dirty Faces [he was never much of an actor, was he?]
> Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby [Kate was just never meant to be an airhead]
> Basil Rathbone & Claude Rains in The Adventures of Robin Hood [paper cut-out bad guys]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1938 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock)
SILVER: Holiday (George Cukor)
BRONZE: Angels With Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Cary Grant (Bringing Up Baby)
SILVER: James Cagney (Angels With Dirty Faces)
BRONZE: Michael Redgrave (The Lady Vanishes)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Ginger Rogers (Vivacious Lady)
SILVER: Wendy Hiller (Pygmalion)
BRONZE: Katharine Hepburn (Holiday)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Roland Young (The Young in Heart)
SILVER: Lew Ayres (Holiday)
BRONZE: Ralph Richardson (The Citadel)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Jean Dixon (Holiday)
SILVER: Billie Burke (The Young in Heart)
BRONZE: Rosalind Russell (The Citadel)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne (The Lady Vanishes)
SILVER: Clark Gable & Myrna Loy & Spencer Tracy (Test Pilot)
BRONZE: Charles Laughton & Elsa Lanchester (The Beachcomber / Vessel of Wrath)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: The Dead End Kids (Angels With Dirty Faces)
SILVER: Frankie Thomas (Nancy Drew...Detective)
BRONZE: Mickey Rooney (Love Finds Andy Hardy)
The Alternate Razzies for 1938 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (Mitchell Leisen)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Mickey Rooney (Boys Town)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Hedy Lamarr (Algiers)
