Dinner at Eight (1933): Pre-code fun with an all-star cast

Critics rolled their eyes when in 2010, the film “Valentine’s Day” (and it’s 2011 companion film “New Years Eve”) was released, with it’s star- studded cast, and measly plot lines. This film, while it had it’s endearing moments, didn’t work, mostly due to it’s poor script, but also because it had too much going on. “Dinner At Eight” is a very early example of the same tactic that “Valentine’s Day” employs, and is a film that does it right. An answer to the film “Grand Hotel” from a few years earlier with similar elements, “Dinner At Eight” features an all- star cast for 1933, which includes, but is not limited to Marie Dressler (in a very memorable and perhaps show stopping role), Billie Burke (the future Glinda the Good Witch), John Barrymore (who will break your heart), Lionel Barrymore, Madge Evans, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow, who is divine in the role of the spoiled, self centered wife of Beery. The plot concerns Burke as a society lady who is planning a dinner for a wealthy British couple coming into town and the people she invites.

The first half of “Dinner at Eight” almost plays like a series of vignettes as it expertly jumps between different story lines, telling us exactly what we need to know about these characters. Being a pre-code, depression era film, it also deals with depression era problems, and has a message about hope shoehorned in, which is of course what audiences probably needed to hear in 1933. The performances are all spectacular, but Harlow, Dressler, and John Barrymore, not to leave out the others, are standouts as well as smaller roles played by Louise Closser Hale (who died shortly after filming was completed) as society lady Hattie Loomis and Hilda Vaughn as Harlow’s put upon maid, Tina. No moment in the film is dull, nor does it lag. There is a purpose to every scene and character. The story expertly moves along at a rapid pace.

Promotional image of Jean Harlow

Harlow was something of a sex symbol in the early to mid thirties. Her life and career was cut short by kidney failure, her last film being 1937's Saratoga. She died during filming and a body double and voice double had to be used. Popular films she appeared in besides Dinner at Eight included The Public Enemy, The Beast of the City, Redheaded Woman, Red Dust, China Seas, Wife Vs. Secretary, and Libeled Lady.

"Dinner at Eight" is truly a wonderful picture from start to finish, and helmed by the great George Cukor is a real treat to watch. It just goes to show you that with a good script, cast, and the right director (not to put down Garry Marshall), a film with many story lines can be done well.

Singin' in the Rain (1952): What can be said that hasn't already?

Singin' in the Rain is perhaps one of the most well lauded films ever made. Along with The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Casablanca, it is among some of the most well known films of the classic era. It is considered not only as one of the best movies ever made, but also as one of the best movie musicals ever made. That being said, what can be said about it that hasn't already been said? For starters, we have to trace the steps of two men: Arthur Freed and Gene Kelly.

Nacio Herb Brown (front) and Arthur Freed

In my review for Till The Clouds Roll By I briefly touched on the Freed unit, which between 1939 and 1960 made musicals for MGM. Freed was hired in the '20's by MGM as a songwriter, and with Nacio Herb Brown, wrote dozens of songs that were used in many early musical films. Freed was an uncredited associate producer on The Wizard of Oz, and then proceeded to produce many other popular films, including Babes in Arms, Cabin in the Sky (an all-black cast directed by Vincente Minnelli), For Me and My Gal, Meet Me In St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Easter Parade, On The Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Royal Wedding, An American in Paris, and Showboat. An American in Paris would win a best picture Oscar, as would 1955's Gigi, which was the last successful picture produced in the Freed unit.

Gene Kelly

The Freed unit is probably mostly responsible with getting Gene Kelly's career up and running. Since his start in Hollywood, Kelly took small steps in revolutionizing the American movie musical. In 1944's Cover Girl, Kelly, in a loan-out to Colombia Pictures, danced the famous Alter-Ego Dance, in which he danced with a superimposed image of himself. The success of this film caused MGM to up the ante on Kelly's career, and by the early 50's he was one fo the top musical stars for MGM. in 1949, he starred in the first musical film to be shot on location, On The Town. In 1950, He appeared with Judy Garland in her final film for the studio, Summer Stock, and then the following year he starred in the famed An American in Paris. He was teamed in the latter film, and frequently throughout his career, with Stanley Donen, who would co-direct Singin', with Kelly.

In the early 50's, Freed approached Betty Comden and Adolph Green, famed Broadway lyricists and writers who worked for the Freed Unit, to write a story around his songs, which would be re purposed for the film.  Comden and Green chose to set the story in the late '20's, among the transition from silent to sound films, since that was when a lot of the Freed/Brown songs were written. One song, Make 'Em Laugh, was written for the film, and is almost scarily similar to the Cole Porter tune, Be A Clown. The song was written to showcase Donald O'Conner's talents.

Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont. Hagen recieved an Oscar nomination for this scene stealing role.

The film features along with Kelly, and O'Conner, and third billed Debbie Reynolds (who was all of 19 when the film was in production) a stellar supporting cast including Jean Hagen as the gorgeous but screechy-voiced Lina Lamont ( a role written for Judy Holliday), Millard Mitchell as grouchy studio head RF Simpson, Douglas Fowley as exasperated director Roscoe Dexter, and Cyd Charisse as the glamorous dancer in the Broadway Melody ballet sequence.

O'Connor and Kelly jumping for joy in the "Moses Supposes" number

Singin' in the Rain succeeds on all fronts: as a musical, as a comedy, and as a romance. It is oftentimes laugh out loud funny, with a quick pace that makes the movie never dull. The musicals numbers are all awe-inspiring. Kelly is at the top of his game, and it is a joy to see O'Connor and Reynolds holding their own with him. My favorite musical sequences, aside from the iconic title song, are Moses Supposes and Good Morning. I also thoroughly enjoy the ballet in the middle of the film. This was a practice carried over from An American in Paris, and it is like a little mini-movie within the movie, told completely in song and dance. It was the first time Kelly and Charisse had danced together, but it doesn't show. They have a scorching chemistry, and Charisse's dancing is very sexy in comparison to Debbie Reynolds and her traditional tap. As for romance, the number "You Were Meant For Me" is a very sweeping and sweet (but not overtly so) example.

Kelly and Charisse in one of my favorite moments of the "Broadway Melody" ballet

All in all, Singin' in the Rain deserves it's place as one of the most recognizable films of the golden era, and I hope it's staying power will live on for many many years to come.

Lover Come Back (or When Lovers Meet) (1946): Lucille Ball and George Brent in a post war fluff romcom

Ball in the trailer for  1943's "Best Foot Forward" 

What many people don't know about Lucille Ball is that her career had been going for nearly 2 decades when she rose to international fame on "I Love Lucy". Ball had been climbing up the professional ladder in Hollywood since 1933, and had appeared in small roles in films like That Girl From Paris (1936), Stage Door (1937), opposite Katherine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, and Room Service (1938), co-starring the Marx Brothers. By 1946, Ball had appeared in more then 60 movies, and had lead roles in several including as herself in Best Foot Forward (1943), and the 1942 drama film The Big Street, costarring Henry Fonda (Ball considered The Big Street her favorite of her film career). 

Lover Come Back, which has also been known as When Lovers Meet to avoid confusion with a 1961 Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy of the same name, is a breezy, post-war romcom, and it's plot is pure fluff. Ball stars as Kay Williams, a woman who discovers her beloved husband wasn't faithful while away as a war correspondent and reacts by planting clues that she hadn't been faithful either. This film is cute, and thinly plotted.  It is a good showcase for Ball, who also is given a great wardrobe, designed by Travis Banton and Al Teitelbaum. She was a beautiful woman and looks great in all of her outfits.  George Brent plays her husband, Bill.  Brent gets some fun moments, and has a bit of Cary Grant's comedic flair. Most of the time, Brent can be seen playing romantic lead to Bette Davis in romantic dramas such as Dark Victory and The Great Lie, so it is nice to see him in a lead role that is also a comedic one.  

Vera Zorina

Vera Zorina, who gets third billing and was a new name to me,  plays a woman who Bill had been romancing on the side, and while her acting is mediocre, her looks are stunning. There are great supporting players, especially Raymond Walburn, Carl Esmond, and William Wright as eager suitors of Kay's, and Charles Winninger and Elisabeth Risdon as Bill's fuming father and tolerant mother. Winninger got a lot of laughs out of me and I found Risdon to be amusing in her part as the long suffering wife. Louise Beavers is also a delight as Kay's jovial maid, Martha, and it is a typical role for a black actress of the time. The script is often times silly, but the story is not dull, and the film does have some fun moments for Ball's comedic chops as well as Brent's. Throughout I was smiling and giggling, and I think that was the intent of the filmmakers.

Ball and Brent in a promotional image

"Love Affair" (1939) Reveiw: Dunne and Boyer shine in a romance film that doesn't feel old hat

Love Affair , starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, is truly one of the quintessential romance films of the 1930's. It has been remade twice, most notably as An Affair To Remember in 1957, by the same director, Leo McCarey (That version starred Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr). The story follows a famous French playboy and painter Michel Marnet as he falls in love with American singer Terry McKay. They two meet shipboard and Terry is at first weary of his playboy image and does not want to have her picture taken with him. Later however at port, they visit Michel's grandmother, played by a memorable Maria Ouspenskaya, and realize they are in love with each other. Later, before they disembark the ship, they agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in 6 months if they are fiscally able to marry each other, even though they are each kept by other people (Lee Bowman and Astrid Allwyn).

What is wonderful about Love Affair is that even though it's been done before (like in Chained from 1934, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable) it doesn't feel old hat and doesn't lag or get boring. This was the first time I had seen Dunne or Boyer, and both are completely wonderful and captivating in their roles. They have a good chemistry together as well. Dunne is an amazing actress. She was a good comedic and dramatic actress as well as an amazing vocalist. She gets to show off all three skills here. Boyer plays his role to perfection and goes through the range of emotions believably. The film never at any point seems overtly melodramatic or corny. The script is full of funny moments as all as tear jerking moments. Bowman and Allwyn as Dunne and Boyer's "others" respectively, turn in good performances, but they maybe seem understated only because of Dunne and Boyer's chemistry. Ouspenskaya is the other draw here, and she is simply wonderful and memorable in her role as Grandmother Janou.

Dunne and Boyer lovingly embrace before leaving each other.

The film also has amazing 1930's period flavor, including it's costumes and sets. Some of the sets and costumes just made me go "Wow!". In short, it is a nearly perfect and well crafted film. It will make you laugh as well as tug at your heart-strings.

"Curly Top" (1935) Review: Overtly cutesy, but not in a bad way

Shirley Temple was America's sweetheart and saving grace during Depression era America. The little girl was all of 4 when she appeared in her first film The Red-Haired Alibi in 1932 and by 1934 she appeared in Bright Eyes, which was the first film expressly written for her. Curly Top  came on the heels of Bright Eyes, and is in many ways a similar picture. In Bright Eyes, Temple plays a lovable little girl who is the subject of a custody battle between a pilot and her mother's rich employer when her mother passes away. Curly Top follows Temple as an adorable and somewhat mischievious young orphan, who is whisked away to be with a rich orphanage trustee who has told her she has been adopted by a man named Jones, but it is really him. In both films, Temple is overtly cutesy, but not in a bad way. She was a fine and possibly the best child actress there ever was. In looking up information about the film, it was unearthed that Temple's mother coached her through her scenes, but her performance does not show any signs of coaching. She is a natural. Her co-stars in the film were unknown to me, John Boles as the Trustee, and Rochelle Hudson as Temple's sister, Mary, whom Boles fall in love with. The film also has several songs, 2 for Temple, 2 for Boles, and 1 for Hudson. This is the film where Temple's famous "Animal Crackers in my Soup number debuted.

Animal Crackers in my Soup!

The film also includes an expert supporting cast of character actors and actresses including underused Jane Darwell as a kindly matron of the oprhanage, hilarious Arthur Treacher as Reynolds, the butler, and Rafaela Ottiano as a firm matron of the orphanage. Ottiano has minimal screen time, but is immensely memorable. The film contains one of my favorite exchanges in which Ottiano's Mrs. Higgins is scolding Temple for letting her pony she inherited (and she also has a duck) from her parents into the orphanage and out of the rain. Missus Higgins tells Elizabeth that she is going to send her duck and pony away and temple says "My duck can do a wonderful trick! My duck can lay an egg." Mrs Higgins sneered back "Just what is so wonderful about that?" and Temple responds "Well, can you lay an egg?" It's an adorable and funny moment in the show, well executed by Ottiano.

The main conflict in Curly Top is a romantic one. Mary and Mr. Morgan (Boles) have fallen for one another but a young pilot named Jimmy (Maurice Murphy) has also fallen in love with Mary and proposes. Mary accepts, only after she overhears Morgan saying he doesn't love her. In the end of course, all the wrinkles are ironed out and they all live happily ever after.

Boles and Hudson

It's a silly plot line, but just what Depression era audiences craved. Temple was the beacon of hope for early and mid '30's audiences and her roles reflected the times. She was often cast as a young precocious little girl who won everyone over, and she had certainly done that with the American public.

Sheet music for "Animal Crackers" with promotion for the film

"Cain and Mabel" (1936) Review: Overlooked 1930's Romcom gem

Davies in a 1936 publicity still

Gable in a screenshot from the movie

Marion Davies may be a name unfamiliar to some classic movie fans, and if she is, you must soon become acquainted with her and her work. Davies was infamous for being the mistress of William Randolph Hearst (who produced and/or paid for a lot of her pictures), but her real crowning glory should be her comedic acting chops. Davies had her start in the silents, including the great silent gem Show People in which she plays a bouncy country girl who breaks into movies. Her first talking picture was Marianne in 1929, and it was also released in a silent version. Cain and Mabel came at the end of Davies' career and it is her second to last picture. Davies' talkie career was sprinkled with great leading men, including Leslie Howard (1931's Five and Ten), Robert Montgomery (1932's Blondie of the Follies and her last picture 1937's Ever Since Eve), Bing Crosby (1933's Going Hollywood), and Gary Cooper (1934's Operator 13).  Her co star in Cain and Mabel is Clark Gable, who at this point was a fairly big star because of his role in 1934's It Happened One Night, which Cain and Mabel seems to be in response to. Gable and Davies had appeared together earlier in 1932's Polly of the Circus.

Davies and Gable show off some great romantic tension in "Cain and Mabel".

Cain and Mabel follows two young career people on the rise: Waitress turned hoofer Mabel O'Dare and prizefighter Larry Cain. The pair meet in a typically 'meet cute" romantic comedy way: Mabel has the hotel room above Cain's and is keeping him up with her dance practice, while he is trying to rest up for a fight. Due to this, they at first have a mutual disdain for one another. Mabel's hokey show Words and Music is becoming a flop and Larry's boxing career is on the skids and so Mabel's friend and publicity man Aloysius  Rielly (Roscoe Karns, another holdover from It Happened One Night) cooks up a phony romance for the pair.  The film is a great romantic comedy and has many hilarious moments.

William Collier and Allen Jenkins (both behind) cheer on Clark Gable in a scene from "Cain and Mabel"

In addition to Gable and Davies' solid romantic chemistry, it is greatly strengthened by it's terrific supporting cast, which in addition to Karns, Allen Jenkins, Walter Cattlet, Ruth Donnelly, David Carlyle, and William Collier, Sr. Pert Kelton also has a hilarious bit part as a mouthy chorus girl. The film also includes some outrageously over the top Busby Berkley style musical numbers, choreographed by Bobby Connolly. These are all very grand and silly, with big costumes and outlandishly complicated sets that don't make sense for a stage show, but such is Hollywood. Something should also be said about the screenplay written by Laird Doyle from a story by H.C. Witwer. The dialogue is oftentimes hilariously funny, and some lines take a moment to sink in, which means that  the great supporting cast is well seasoned in comedic timing. The direction by Lloyd Bacon is fast and breezy, much like a great romantic comedy should be. Cain and Mabel is a forgotten 1930's romantic comedy gem and should not be missed!

Character actress tribute: Mary Wickes

The leading ladies of the golden age of Hollywood are great and all, but some of the greatest performances came from the character actresses, those actresses backing up the leading lady. Born Mary Wickenhauser, Mary Wickes was a perfect example of the character actress, and worked alongside some of classic Hollywood's greatest actresses. Wickes was a tall woman, she was 5 foot 10 inches and she had a gruff voice, making her perfect for these supporting roles with light comedy in them

in "The Man Who Came To Dinner"

Her first screen role, Miss Preen in The Man Who Came To Dinner, was a recreation of the role she played in the Broadway production. Wickes would go on to appear in many films in supporting roles. She played sarcastic nurse Dora in Now, Voyager, a crowning achievement of Bette Davis's career, appeared with Abbott and Costello in Who Done It?, and in the '50's appeared as long suffering maid Stella in the Doris Day musical On Moonlight Bay and it's sequel By The Light Of The Silvery Moon.She also appeared in the beloved classic musical White Christmas as housekeeper Emma and played a maid named "Katie" in Annette Funicello's self titled serial on The Mickey Mouse Club. She would appear with Davis again in 1948's June Bride and Day again in 1959's Leave It To Jane and appeared as one of the "Pick-a-little ladies" in the 1962 film adaptation of the musical The Music Man.

With Bette Davis in "June Bride"

 In the '60's Wickes appeared in The Trouble with Angels and Where Angels Go Trouble Follows a pair of films where she played a nun. Much later in her career, she would appear as a nun again, in the popular Sister Act films. This is where I first saw her as a youngster in the 90's and I loved her gruff line delivery. She also appeared as Aunt March in the 1994 version of Little Women. Wickes also appeared on television throughout her career and frequently with Lucille Ball in her many television series, including an episode of I Love Lucy where she played a ballet instructor. 

With Lucille Ball, 1952; This picture always makes me smile!

Mary Wickes is an actress who should not be forgotten in the scope of Hollywood character actresses. She passed away in 1995, before the release of her final role in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is one of my favorite actresses and I hope that if you did not know about her, this post has piqued your interest enough to take a look into her widespread career.

Wickes as Sister Mary Lazarus in "Sister Act" and as Aunt March in "Little Women"