The Happy Decade
The 1930s means the Great Depression. And 1937 is the double dip of the Depression. But for films, it was a great decade, with lively, fun stuff coming out each year.
Let's see what Jesse Walker chose as his top ten for 1937.
2. Grand Illusion
3. Night Must Fall
4. Nothing Sacred
5. The Awful Truth
6. Make Way for Tomorrow
7. Un Carnet de Bal
8. The Great Garrick
9. Stage Door
10. Easy Living
Pepe Le Moko is pretty good, though I don't think it should be #1.
Most film critics would choose Grand Illusion as #1. Certainly it should be top ten, even if it's probably the most overrated of Renoir's films.
Haven't seen Night Must Fall in years. I think it's okay, but top ten?
Nothing Sacred is a fine screwball comedy, if not as fine as people remember.
The Awful Truth is a central screwball comedy (and made Cary Grant's career) even if it isn't the top of the top.
Make Way For Tomorrow is, famously, Leo McCarey's favorite film of the year. It's very sweet (and bitter--okay, it's bittersweet) and certainly not like anything else Hollywood was making at the time. Of course, if it had been a hit they would have made more.
Haven't seen Un Carnet de Bal (why use French now when you didn't for La Grande Illusion?), but it seems like a busy year for Duvivier.
Never seen The Great Garrick, though I like James Whale and it sounds like fun.
Stage Door is a fine mix of comedy and drama that Gregory La Cava and cast made up as they went along (certainly has little to do with the Kaufman and Ferber play).
Easy Living is decent screwball, a warm-up for Sturges making his own films (though Mitchell Leisen, who drove both Sturges and Wilder into directing, isn't that bad).
12. Pearls of the Crown
13. On the Avenue
14. Mr. Fantômas
15. Désiré
16. Shall We Dance
17. The Old Mill
18. Stand-In
19. Even—As You and I
20. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Never seen 11, though Powell's 30s films tend to be his apprentice work. Never seen 12 either. 13 is a pretty good musical with a superior score. 14 is a short. 15 I've never seen (haven't seen much Sacha Guitry). 16 is the musical of the year, even if the A and R formula is getting tired. 17 is certainly a classic, though a short. 18 is a little-known but fairly enjoyable comedy. 19 is a short. 20 (which Jesse amusingly credits to David Hand) should probably be #1.
A Damsel In Distress (Fred going it alone without Ginger, but he brought Burns and Allen along, as well as Gershwin)
A Day At The Races (either the last classic Marx Brothers comedy or the first where there's trouble)
Way Out West (Maybe the best feature from a team that wasn't at their best in features)
You Only Live Once
Angel (Lubitsch getting too fine for the public's taste), Broadway Melody Of 1938, Captain's Courageous (where Spencer Tracy wins an Oscar for his Chico Marx impression), Dead End, Topper
Jesse often mentions films he'd like to see. I'd love to see the 1937 version of Pygmalion from the Netherlands.
Other films of note:
Artists And Models, Black Legion, Café Metropole, Double Wedding, The Good Earth, Harvest, High Wide And Handsome, History Is Made At Night, Hold 'Em Navy, Hollywood Hotel, Hotel Haywire, The Hurricane, I'ts Love I'm After, Kid Galahad, The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney, The Life Of Emile Zola, Lost Horizon, Madame Bovary, Madame X, Maytime, One Hundred Men And A Girl, Parnell, Penrod And Sam, The Perfect Specimen, The Prince And The Pauper, The Prizoner Of Zenda, Quality Street, Rasputin, Riding High, Rosalie, San Quentin, Saratoga (Jean Harlow's last film, with stand-ins taking her place after she died), Springtime In The Rockies, A Star Is Born (Jesse's not impressed, but it's probably the best version), Stella Dallas, Swing High Swing Low, Thank You Mr. Moto, The Toast Of New York, Tovarich, True Confession, Wee Willie Winkie, Wells Fargo, When You're In Love, White Cargo, Young And Innocent
posted by LAGuy @ 6:43 AM
3 Comments:
The wild thing about A Damsel in Distress is: It's got Fred Astaire dancing, it's got the Gershwins writing songs, and it's got P.G. Wodehouse writing the script, but the best thing in it is Gracie Allen.
Anyway: Damsel in Distress, Day at the Races, and Way Out West are all solidly good, though the stars all did much better work. I saw You Only Live Once for the first time fairly recently and was disappointed.
I want you to write the introduction to my book The Films of David Hand.
Quite a few literary and historical adaptations that year.
TCM just showed Algiers, which was Hollywood's remake of Pepe le Moko. You can argue about Gabin and Boyer, but one thing Pepe doesn't have is Hedy Lamarr.
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