Film 20: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Netflix Summary: Tough guy Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) plays Pied Piper to a gang of teenage hoods (the Dead End Kids) while boyhood pal turned priest Jerry Connelly (Pat O'Brien) tries to save their souls in this gangster classic from director Michael Curtiz. The two vie for control of the neighborhood, but when Connelly is almost killed by Rocky's duplicitous associates (Humphrey Bogart and George Bancroft), Rocky guns them down and finds himself sentenced to death.


Fun Fact: The famous Irish bar "Rocky Sullivan's Pub" in New York City was named after Cagney's character.





Film Viewing Due Date: 9/4/10

A Star is Born (1937) Review

girl by locker says: Being that this movie has been remade twice since the original 1937 production, I really wanted to like it and had high hopes. It is a classic Hollywood story in which a young girl, Esther Blodgett, reaches for her dreams and sets her ambitions on becoming a movie star. When she reaches Los Angeles she eventually meets and falls in love with Norman Maine, a celebrity actor and alcoholic who is on his way down the stardom scale. He is still high enough in his career and can use his clout to get Esther her first foot in the door though, eventually, her star eclipses his.

 

While it is a solid movie, extremely well-written and posing interesting questions on what we will give up in order to obtain our ambitions, it overall left me lacking something. Frederic March is stellar in his role of Norman Maine and has a perfect balance between stardom, ego, fragility, and I was moved with how he played his spiral down into a has-been. Janet Gaynor also played an excellent part and was, in fact, a great choice to play the innocent girl not yet tainted with the trials of life. However, I just never bought into the fact that her character was able to outshine that of March's. He always seemed to be the bigger star to me, even when he turned into a nobody. 

 

I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars on Netflix. It is definitely an interesting movie to watch, in particular for anyone who seeks a career in the entertainment industry or even a highly ambitious one. It will make you stop and think about what is important in life.  

Juror #3 says: I believe I know why this movie was remade a few times - it didn't fulfill its potential.  The other reason being that Hollywood has always been in love with Hollywood, so this tale of an actresses rise from humble beginnings to a movie star while a popular actor's star fades clearly struck a chord.  In the end I couldn't help but think that the script needed about three more rewrites, but what I suspect is that this movie fell victim to producer edits.  The story and character development was way too cautious for the plot line, as if the movie was created by focus groups.  I felt everything in this movie fell short with one exception - the use of technicolor film.  After watching so many black and white films up to this point, A Star is Born looked as if you could take each shot from the film, frame it and hang it on your wall.  But that isn't nearly enough for me to recommend this movie.  I rate it a 2/5

Film 19: A Star is Born (1937)

Netflix Summary: The original version of the thrice-lensed, behind-the-scenes tale about celebrity's double-edged saber. Starry-eyed Esther Blodgett yearns to make it big in Hollywood, and when she captures the attention, and heart, of matinee idol Norman Maine at an A-list party, she's on her way. But while Esther's star soars, tosspot Norman's career nose-dives. Will Tinseltown's vagaries destroy their love?

Academy Awards: The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning the award for Best Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (March), Best Actress (Gaynor), Best Assistant Director, and Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay.


Film Viewing Due Date: 8/25

Fury (1936) Reviews

juror #3 says:

The films in the thirties appear to be somewhat fascinated by mob justice.  We referenced this in our review for The Informer, comparing it to the fabulous ending in the movie M.  In Fury, Fritz Lang returns to the popular theme albeit with a twist.  Unlike M where Lang questions our right to judgment, in Fury he makes the decision to confront the viewer head-on with the dreaded “what if”…what if you’re wrong?  Spencer Tracy does a fantastic job playing the moral bond holding his family together, but after he is wrongly imprisoned while on the way to reunite with the love of his life he is “crucified” by the townspeople’s assumptions.  Well, we THOUGHT he was crucified, but Tracy returns from a miraculous escape with a bitter and angry demeanor.  He’s prepared for revenge and doesn’t care the cost.  No mercy will be shown to those who took the law into their own hands. 

I enjoyed Fury for it’s character arc even if I found the end a bit quick and not particularly well developed.  And it’s worth noting that I fell in love with Sylvia Sidney and have since looked up her film resume.  Lang knew what he was doing with his stories and I appreciate the small touches he adds to his films to help round out a scene.  The ending disappointed slightly but overall I was entertained.  I’ll rate it a 4/5.

girl by locker says:

Fury is the second Fritz Lang movie we have watched during our 1930's cinema study. His first movie of our curriculum, M, has so far been my favorite we have seen of the decade and Fury isn’t too far behind. Lang is obviously interested in the study of mob violence and the destructive forces it can unleash in people, as it is a theme we saw in both movies. I wonder if Lang’s escape from Nazi Germany and the mass violence that he presumably witnessed first hand had a lot of influence on the topic. I assume yes.

In the US during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, I generally associate lynching and mob violence with race relations and this movie makes no mention that the majority of this violence was geared toward African Americans. I don’t see that as a huge problem as I think the point of the movie was to look at how humans react to hysteria and not to comment on race. To be honest, I think the movie would have been too controversial to get made had it also dealt with race as well.

I liked how the movie jumped from a bland love story, to an action flick with the mob hysteria and ultimately a courtroom drama. It was an interesting juxtaposition of scenes. I give this a 4/5 stars on Netflix.