The Great Ziegfeld (1936): Shira's Take

Soon before we started the movie (which feels like years ago, because the movie was over 3 hours long), I said to Eitan, "I hope this movie is all that Broadway Melody wished it was." My hopes, good friends, were beyond met. Through its three hours, there were maybe five minutes that dragged. It was constant entertainment, either with great dramatic plot, silly comedic bits, or amazing musical revue numbers, all of which were completely visually stunning. From the very start, The Great Ziegfeld was entirely enjoyable. I loved the friendly rivalry between Flo Ziegfeld (William Powell) and Billings (Frank Morgan). It was sort of reminiscent of the dogs with the hats in Go, Dog. Go! (every time Billings was interested in a woman, Ziegfeld would charm her into working for him instead). Anna Held (Luise Rainer, Ziegfeld's wife #1) was a classic drama-queenish French girl in the style of Greta Garbo. Billie Burke (Myrna Loy, Ziegfeld's wife #2) touchingly gave up the diamonds Flo bought her so that he could afford to finance four new shows. One slightly cheesy bit was when Ziegfeld said he invested all his money in the stock market. His valet said something along the lines of, "The market's been a bit unstable lately," which was of course followed by a phone call to Ziegfeld letting him know the stock market crashed and he lost all his money. Still, really great movie. Notes to myself: 20 gallons of milk song! Sandow the strongest man's muscle jiggles will live in my mind forever. 8/10

The Great Ziegfeld (1936): Eitan's Take

I'm not sure how much of The Great Ziegfeld is true, but I'm sure much of it is; regardless, it is entirely accurate to call Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. a truly Great man. I was seriously not looking forward to diving into this 3 hour epic mess of a biopic, but I leave it thoroughly impressed by the care and sophistication with which director Robert Z. Leonard examined the life of one of America's greatest showmen. Unlike The Aviator and Citizen Kane, which are truly meditations on fame, fortune, success, ego, and the American Dream, The Great Ziegfeld never really rises above the level of outsider examination, but slowly and patiently we really begin to understand the man -- "Ziggy" to some, "Flo" to others, and all in all one of the most ambitious guys to ever slap his name on a Broadway revue.

From his early days pimping out a by-today's-standards-not-too-muscular but-perfectly-beefy-for-1893 Sandow ("The World's Strongest Man") to his final moments -- broke, withered, alone, and pathetically but not tragically plotting out his next big hit -- we are given a huge window through which we see Ziegfeld in his glory and his misfortune. Adoring of many women and adored back by some of them, Ziegfeld, portrayed with great vigor and charm by William Powell, is an interesting figure, because his success in both romance and show business depended much less on his actual talent than it did on his simple charm and his almost superhuman ability to manipulate, cajole, charm, and buy his way into excellence. Which is not to say that he was a horrible person. His loyalty to his friends, his love for his wives, and his utter stamina shine through his weaker moments.

As a film, the 3 hour production is simply phenomenal. Although it drags a bit in the third act, I was absolutely hooked for the entire film. I was thinking that the brilliant, lavish, and probably expensive as all hell setpieces and recreations of the trademark spiral staircases and multilayered sets were Busby Berkeley-esque, but then I realized that there would be no Busby Berkeley without Florenz Ziegfeld. This man pretty much invented stage spectacle, and the constant onslaught of eye candy was breathtaking at times. At several points in the movie, Shira and I both had our mouths completely agape.

The film is definitely intelligent, exciting, emotionally powerful, and visually eye-popping. I dreaded watching it, and now I realize that this is probably one of the great underrated and little-watched gems of the 1930's. I give it a 7/10.

P.S. TWENTY GALLONS OF MIIIILKKKK
P.P.S. How could you NOT flip out while watching this:

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): Eitan's Take

Oh, Clark Gable, how you continue to woo me. At this pace, I am almost not dreading Gone With the Wind! Mutiny on the Bounty has absolutely secured my love for this actor, if it wasn't already there before. I went into the film with high expectations. I hoped for a badass mutiny scene; lots of epic shots of ships, sails, and storms; killer performances by Gable, Laughton, and Tone; and an overall picture quality that lived up to the utterly fantastic story it was based on. I have always been a sucker for naval stories -- growing up, I was fascinated with the Titanic, the Bismarck, the Andrea Doria, and the vast and exciting history of navies and sea captains. Never been a big fan of pirates, though, which is why the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have rarely captured my full imagination. Mutiny on the Bounty is exactly the type of seafaring story I have come to love, and I can see how many parts of my most recent favorite anchors-aweigh film (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) were influenced by the utterly great 1935 original. I know that MOTB has been remade several times since, but I doubt that they have done it as faithfully, cohesively, and excitingly as Frank Lloyd's version.

The film takes a bit of time to get started, and I found myself checking the clock every minute or so during the boring, drawn out scene where the Bounty prepares to set sail. But the second act, with its riveting storm scenes, rising tension, and totally un-hammy acting by the three fine leading men, assured my total admiration for the film. I was especially impressed with the details: the fantastic rear-projection during the scenes in which Bligh is set asea with his loyal men aboard a dinghy, the subtle chemistry between Gable and Tone, and the realistic character development when Bligh starts to become a genuine leader for his men adrift in the sad little boat. It is no wonder that all three men were nominated for Best Actor (a distinction that only this film holds, to this day).

Although the romance stuff on Tahiti was a little silly, the film still kept my rapt attention for over two hours. No swashbuckling, no violence (except for copious flogging... was this directed by Mel Gibson?), no adventuring on the high seas... just a terrific seafaring story, awesomely well-told. All around great acting, great production values, and an admirable (haha, no pun intended) reluctance to succumb to awkward moralizing earn this film a solid score. If the bloated love scenes had been taken out, it would earn an 8, but as it stands, I give it a very respectable 7/10.

Note to myself: tighty whities = awesome.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): Shira's Take

Okay, I feel like a typical stupid American movie viewer when I say this, but it took an hour and a half to get to the effing mutiny. The movie should be called "(Really Hard-to-Watch Flogging Scenes Resulting Eventually in a) Mutiny on the Bounty". Basically, I'm inclined to like movies with people as charming as Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) and as villainous as Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). The only problem is the part of this movie that showed Bligh for the sadistic creep he was lasted so so long and was truly painful. Now, I know we needed to understand why a good guy like Christian would want to take over the ship, but I think about a half an hour in we understood. I loved Franchot Tone as Roger Byam, the future admiral with conflicting feelings of loyalty to the crown and camaraderie to Christian. I'm really glad I watched this movie, because now I appreciate Frank Lloyd for the visionary director I think he truly was, instead of the oh-so-sad director of Cavalcade (a.k.a. worst movie ever). Basically, I think it was a very good movie, if a little drawn out and depressing. Notes to myself: Clark Gable became a sexy pirate at the end! Ellison (Eddie Quillan) looks just like River Phoenix. Charles Laughton is totally a charicature of himself. Herbert Mundin played a small role in this movie, and I recognized him from Cavalcade. It was very exciting, and I'm sure I will be recognizing more and more actors from previous best picture winners. 7/10

It Happened One Night (1934): Eitan's Take

Every once in a while, a romantic comedy comes around that completely restores my faith in the genre. Interestingly enough, that once in a while happened in 1934... Oh, Frank Capra, how you tug at my heartstrings, how you pull chuckles from my tummy like grass from a soft lawn. I was very, very much looking forward to this highly popular, eternally revered film, and wow -- I was NOT disappointed. Brimming with silly sex appeal, a sweet sense of humor, a rather edgy disposition, and truly unforgettable chemistry between Claudette Colbert as a freewheeling young socialite and Clark Gable as a smarmy, clever, and thoroughly adorable newspaper reporter sharing a seat with her on a bus, It Happened One Night truly earned every single one of its five major (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay) Oscars. Coming off of the wretched banality of Grand Hotel and Cavalcade, this movie was just such a charming relief. I don’t think the smile left my face for a single moment (though the film did begin to drag a bit near the end).

I am really surprised that I had never taken the time to watch this movie before. It has the zing of all my favorite screwball comedies -- Some Like it Hot, His Girl Friday, and Arsenic and Old Lace -- but it also has remarkable depth and believable character development. Many of the scenes in the movie are indelible parts of cinema history. I loved the donut-dunking scene and the tender night in the hay and the tremendously effective hitchhiking sequence, as well as the uproarious scene where Gable teaches Colbert how he undresses himself (“Now here’s where I mix it up a bit!”). It’s rare that I watch a film so completely lovable and so convincingly romantic, and these perfectly-executed scenes add up to a charming, silly, and near-perfect whole. I love the fact that although we never see the lovers -- brought together by madcap romantic desire and a set of incredibly adventurous circumstances -- engage in a kiss, the film ends with the suggestion of very kinky sex, with the killer combination of a roadside auto camp and a trumpet...

Clark Gable’s utter charm almost makes me look forward to Gone With the Wind. ALMOST. It Happened One Night earns a 9/10.

It Happened One Night (1934): Shira's Take

Watching It Happened One Night, I realized I have very little to say about it in this blog. I think that's because most of what I usually have to say about movies is complaints. For this movie, I just don't have any (though it would have been nice to see Gable and Colbert as Peter and Ellen kiss at least once). It clearly wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it was just so entirely enjoyable and cute. I don't so much see it as a best picture winner--if it came out today, I think it would just be seen as a romantic comedy without too much merit. Still, Frank Capra made it work in his classic, lovely way. Claudette Colbert was completely adorable, despite her at-times-spoiled-brattiness. Clark Gable was silly and goofy and still managed to make me (and probably ever other straight woman who has seen this movie) fall completely in love with him. I understand completely why this movie is still so loved. It's just a perfect feel-good movie that completely made up for my hatred of Cavalcade. Notes to myself: when a guy's first name is King, his last name shouldn't be able to double as a first name, because I just assume that King is his title. Also, I'm getting a little tired of the eyebrows on women of the 1930s. Sculpt from whatcha got instead of removing it all and drawing new brows an inch above where they naturally lie. 8/10

Cavalcade (1933): Eitan's Take

Nearly every review you can find of Cavalcade is quick to mention that this film -- this abysmal, miserable, death march of a film -- has fallen into complete obscurity and watching it, it is completely obvious why. The film is a rather gloomy affair, a sort of Forrest Gump-style epic sweep through the changing times surrounding two families on supposedly different sides of the class spectrum as they grow old, get married, die, and in general act like boring, prissy thugs for 30-odd years. Oh look! There's the Boer War! And the Titanic! Oh, how about that, the first solo flight across the English Channel! And World War I, complete with lame montages, preachy speeches about the meaning of war, and woozy victory parades! Well, gosh, I feel like I've just gotten a complete history lesson!

The absolute lack of grace, subtlety, wit, and style doom this film from the very beginning. Characters are hard to sort out; there is almost no plot development other than the changes forced upon these cardboard characters by placards indicating that -- snoooooze -- three or four years have passed and now it's time to be dragged along for another obligatory moment of early 20th century history. While we're at it, how about a few more montages. Oh, hey, another montage? And another? Thanks. I really feel like I'm being swept up by the currents of history... Honestly, I would have much rather read a dry British history textbook than slog through this movie again. There is clearly no accounting for taste; incredible that the same Academy that picked the subtle, evocative, and harrowing All Quiet on the Western Front (a truly moving epic of WWI) and Cimarron (a smart and bittersweet meditation on the sweep of American history) could just a few years later think highly of themselves for picking this terrible movie. I'm sure they thought they were picking something "important," but 70 years later, it's clear they were just picking a real piece of shit. 3/10

Cavalcade (1933): Shira's Take

There is nothing worse than this movie. Seriously. Far beyond just boring or hard to watch, this movie was completely abhorrent in every possible way. Firstly, every single actor in the movie had a whiny, yuppie voice that made me want to stick sharpened pencils in my ears. Secondly, the main character, Jane Marryot (played by Diana Wynyard) bore a striking resemblance to Odo (from Star Trek: Deep Space 9). These complaints could be looked past if only it was a remotely bearable movie. Unfortunately, it was not. April 14, 1912: A couple (Edward Marryot and childhood friend Edith) decide to honeymoon on a ship for the romance of it all. They conveniently have a discussion about how if they die that night, it would be okay, because they're just so happy right now. Then, of course, they walk away, and the camera pans in to show you a life preserver that reads "TITANIC". Gah. I hate to think that back in 1933 people were actually surprised by that. A five-minute long repetitive WWI montage did not help the movie's case, nor did the sudden news that, though the war has ended, Jane and Robert Marryot's (played by Clive Brook) son has died, after which, OF COURSE, Jane faints in the most cliched way possible. Jesus. I can't even connect my thoughts on how utterly stupid this movie was. Notes to myself: No. There is nothing to remember about this atrocious movie. 1/10