1930s Hall of Fame Part 2

Yeah, I read the other reviews afterwards (only thing I do beforehand is see what photos have been used so I can try and pick a different one).

Personally it felt like it took a while to 'click', not just for me as a viewer but also for those concerned making it. Not sure I can really express it better than that without tying my words in knots so I hope that at least makes some sense to someone lol.

I was wondering if anyone had some good quality links for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as The Thin Man? I tried playing them on ffilms but they weren't loading for me.

I got one for The Thin Man I will PM you about it.

Sent you a link for Dr J & Mr H Mija

Thanks guys!

Humanity and Paper Balloons



A good beginning twenty minutes to the film and I really liked the last minute of the film as well. The meat of the film, the other 64 minutes, left a bit to be desired for me. I'll chalk it half up to too much happening at once and admittedly there were scenes which made it hard for me to continue to comprehend what was going on, so yes half of it is on me. The other half is that I just didn't care enough about the two main characters stories enough to solidly enjoy the film. The films brightest point for me is the great setting that was used. Also great cinematography. The scenes that were doing in the rain were my favorite. It definitely is a really nice looking 30s film. But in the end, an overall middling film for me that probably won't stick with me much although I would still be willing to give it another chance.

Gosh some of you are speeding through these...

I watched Virtue and The Goddess which made for an interesting double bill. For a while I thought I had accidentally signed up to the Prostitute Hall of Fame. It's actually really interesting to see the 1930s take on this subject and in both cases very sympathetic, perhaps surprisingly so.

Virtue was quite a fun watch, with its wise talking characters. I was enjoying it a lot until the bit where Mae gets tricked out of the money and for a while after that it plays almost like a melodramatic farce with mistaken identity and everything which I found a bit difficult to watch. Thankfully, it was redeemed by the ending. I thought the characters and their dynamic were interesting. Neither of them are particularly honest with each other to start with so things are bound to get worse before they get better. The acting was good - Mae's character and feelings particularly came across during the scene where Jimmy suspects her. There were some interesting dynamics between the supporting cast as well.

The Goddess is more serious and more moving. Quite honestly a lot of this film could play out in pretty much the same way in this century, anywhere in the world. The message does come across as being a little bit deliberate and heavy handed but it's a good message. I thought the lead actress was very good. It's quite a natural performance. I liked the way they indicated the prostitution without showing it by focusing on the feet.

Don't worry Thursday I will be slowest probably this go around!

THINK about it. . .
a girl is engaged/married to a not so great guy (in this case, as far as the dad is concerned), runs off on an adventure where she meets a roguish man and after a while, they fall in love.

Never it saw it that way, but it kinda hits all the setups for such a book.

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I've never read a Harlequin romance novel, but I image it's full of overly dramatized romantic interludes with lusty heavy breathing, followed by heaving chest, trembling lips and sweat on the brow...that sort of stuff. So yeah I don't think the style is at all like It Happened One Night.

sooo, i'm guessing you DON'T see it



don't really matter, thought it was an amusing perception

Well, with Thursday joining in on the (unofficially titled) Prostitution HoF, we now have EVERYONE with a review in.

AMAZING work all!!

Spoilers by the barrel

A decade and a half of prohibition-based intoxication.

The initial war scenes feel quite staged but do their job of introducing the three cornerstones of the story fairly well and do so quite briskly, a pace that is generally maintained quite nicely with the 'newsreel' style montages used to periodically move proceedings along.

Acting is good pretty much across the board and there is some lovely snappy dialogue dotted throughout, though for me the one attempt at a more slapstick style of humour around the midpoint really should have been excised as it's totally out of place.

Sadly although Jean's songs are generally in context, and imo deliberately meant to be a little insipid in terms of performance, they do cause little dips in the enjoyment for me; though I have to say Gladys George does deliver nicely, if rather briefly, with her one moment in that regard later on.

The period is nicely recreated (as it should be, being not that far removed in time) with the story quite believable up until the slightly contrived ending, and although a little light in terms of action for the style of tale most of what there is is reasonably well staged imo.

As an aside - anybody else notice how Panama gives Eddie the lowdown about Jean quitting yet when he comes back a couple of minutes later she's telling the barman she thinks Eddie doesn't know? Just thought I'd mention it in passing.

Overall it's an enjoyable watch that holds the attention all the way through and a very good nomination imo.

Do people actually read romantic fiction ... Harlequin style or otherwise?

(yeah, I'm kidding ... even I've heard of Mills and Boon)

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Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

This IS a pretty impressive psychological horror for it's time and, watching this, it's easy to see how cricket would enjoy this as a modern film. It does have a more visceral experience while also adding more depth than simply the usual "gentleman and the brute".

March does an excellent job as both sides of "Good Ash and Bad Ash" lol. But, seriously, there is a very good mix of the two. It isn't a completely stark line separating the two. Jekyll is not completely wholesome and Hyde isn't narrowed down to simply being a monster. He is the unleashed, unfettered Jekyll.
I've seen a few versions of this story in my time and the norm is that both aspects are at the farthest extremes of one another. Day and night as it were. But in this film, we see a far more intimate correlation between the two "sides".
We see the "why" of Mr. Hyde's appetite as we witness Jekyll's frustrations and impatience. Giving a more fuller, more connected bond between the two parts of one man. A lot of this is in much of the dialogue that both Jekyll and Hyde share the same beliefs.

Dr. Jekyll: Things one can't do, are the ones I want to.

Dr. Jekyll: That's not a matter of conduct; but, elementary instinct.
Dr. Lanyon: You ought to control those instincts.
Dr. Jekyll: Are you pretending that either can or do? We may control our actions; but, not our impulses.


One odd scene I rather enjoyed was the (I believe) the first night Mr. Hyde goes out, and it's raining and he looks up and smiles, enjoying the rain. I found that a nice touch showing the uninhibited, primal joy of being in the rain.

With some of the camerawork, the initial first person POV, I was a little iffy about. I do enjoy the technique, but for some reason, and this is solely on me, it seemed to cause a hesitation in the movie getting started. Again, I didn't dislike it, I simply had an iffy experience to it.
The split screens DID work pretty well for me. Especially in scenes where there is a slow close to one side as a final comment was made.
Same goes with the acrobatic/jumping of Mr. Hyde when he was being chased. Exhibiting his more primate side, as it were.

And, of course, before I close I MUST give due credit to Miriam Hopkins as the victimized Ivy Pearson. My heart TRULY went out to her and for her. An excellent, excellent bit of acting, procuring such sympathy from us, the audience.


And yes, CR, this DOES deserve one of my BRAVOs!!

We are now at 40% reviewed within the first week of this Hall of Fame

not too shabby

Glad you liked it! For me it's going to be one helluva tough call to pick the #1 film. So many great films in this HoF. I'm loving this Hof, I wish we would have had time to do a third one. Well maybe someday.