Wednesday, 1 April 2020

110

The Green Goddess (1930 - b/w) - Ropey Lost World schlock.
See also the severely abridged Moby Dick (1930 - b/w).

The Maltese Falcon (1931 - b/w) - It feels like a rehearsal. Ricardo Cortez is no Bogie, but future BBC sitcom star Bebe Daniels is quite good, Ranelagh-born Dudley Digges tries his best, but he doesn't quite have the presence of Greenstreet.

Local Boy Makes Good (1931 - b/w) - Joe E. ***** Brown.

Flaming Gold (1932 - b/w) - Another William Boyd western, but in oil drag.

The Crowd Roars (1932 - b/w)/International Speedway (1939 - b/w) - The same film, one with Cagney racing, the other his aul pal Pat O'Brien.

I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932 -b/w)/20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932 - b/w) - For years, I got these confused. Which one has Spencer Tracy? Which was one has Paul Muni.

The Man Who Dared (1933 -b/w) - Forgettable Fox political biopic.

Frisco Kid (1935 - b/w) - Not the Gene Wilding film, but a James Cagney gangster film in period garb.

The Captain's Kid (1936 - b/w) - Ropey comic-strip comedy with Guy Kibbee.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 - b/w) - It is epic, conventional, but epic. It lacks the weirdness of the 1968 film, but this is an Errol Flynn vehicle.
See also The Prince and the Pauper (1937 - b/w), which feels like a ceremony rather than a film.

BlockHeads (1937 - b/w)/Pardon Us (1931-b/w) - Early Laurel and Hardy.

They Won't Forget (1937 - b/w) - What is this Claude Rains vehicle? Begins with elderly Civil War vets. Something about prejudice and Lana Turner.

Sergeant Murphy (1937 - b/w) - Goofy Reagan horse comedy.

Another Dawn (1937 - b/w) - Routine period exotica with Kay Francis and Errol Flynn.

She Loved A Fireman (1937 - b/w) - Rote Warner B from the 30s.
See also The Office Wife (1930 - b/w), Sinner's Holiday (1930 -b/w), A Soldier's Plaything (1930 - b/w), The Naughty Flirt (1931 - b/w). The Lady Who Dared (1931 - b/w), Street of Women (1931 - b/w), Expensive Women (1931 - b/w), Scarlet Dawn (1932 - b/w), Play Girl (1932 - b/w), Central Park (1932 - b/w), The Mind Reader (1933 -b/w), Female (1933 - b/w - perhaps not a B, but this Ruth Chatterton romance is short enough, under an hour), Straight is the Way (1934 - b/w), Big Hearted Herbert (1934 - b/w), Midnight Alibi (1934 - b/w), Pursuit (1935 - b/w), Don't Bet On Blondes (1935 -b/w - with a young Errol Flynn), the Widow from Monte Carlo with Dolores Del Rio (1935 - b/w), Jailbreak (1936 - b/w), The Law in her Hands (1936 - b/w), Here Comes Carter (1936 - b/w), King of Hockey (1936 - b/w), Personal Maid's Secret (1936 - b/w), Women are Trouble (1936 - b/w), Man Hunt (1936 - b/w), Boulder Dam (1936 - b/w), Smashing the Money Ring (1937 - b/w), Draegerman Courage (1937 - b/w), Missing Witnesses (1937 - b/w), Love is On The Air (1937 - b/w), The Footloose Heiress (1937  - b/w), Once A Doctor (1937 - b/w), Secret Service of the Air (1939 - b/w), Fugitive in the Sky (1936 - b/w), Submarine D-1 (1937 -b/w), The Footloose Heiress (1937 - b/w), Public Wedding (1938 - b/w), White Bondage (1938 - b/w),  Mr. Chump (1938 - b/w), Penrod's Double Trouble (1938 -b/w), The Kid Comes Back (1938 - b/w), Waterfront (1939 - b/w), The Daredevil Drivers (1939 - b/w), Kid Nightingale (1939 - b/w).

Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939 - b/w) - Rote series comedy with Glenda Farrell. See also Smart Blonde (1937 - b/w), the Adventurous Blonde (1937 - b/w), Miss Pacific Fleet (1935 - b/w), Fly Away Baby (1938), Torchy Gets Her Man (1938 - b/w), Blondes at Work (1939 - b/w) and Torchy Blane Runs for Mayor (1939 - b/w), plus Torchy Blaine in Panama (1938 -b/w) with Lola Lane and Playing with Dynamite (1939 - b/w) with Jane Wyman.

Nancy Drew, Detective (1938 - b/w)/Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter (1938 - b/w)/Nancy Drew, Reporter (1939 - b/w)/Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939 - b/w) - Bonita Granville's a bit insufferable.

Each Dawn I Die (1939 - b/w) - Rote Cagney action. See also G-Men (1935 - b/w).

Dust Be My Destiny (1939 - b/w) - Routine story of a wrongly jailed man, with John Garfield.

Invisible Stripes (1939 - b/w) - Seeing Flora Robson in a Bogie/Raft film is weird.
See also Marked Woman (1937 - b/w), Racket Busters (1938 - b/w), You Can't Get Away with Murder (1938 - b/w) and Crime School (1938- b/w) or its Ronald Reagan remake Hell's Kitchen (1939 - b/w).

River's End (1940 - b/w) - Ropey Canadian-set Northern.

Knute Rockne - All-American (1940 - b/w) - Story of the Norwegian-born Notre Dame coach/player, played by Pat O'Brien, but costarring Ronald Reagan. Being proper Irish, the Notre Dame theme just reminds me of Airplane! O'Brien also sings There is a Happy Land Far Far Away, which was the basis for the Slade song Run Runaway (not Far Far Away - that's another Slade song).

Wild Irish Rose (1947) - Oirish blackface musical.

Johnny Belinda (1948 - b/w) - Mawkish story of deaf Jane Wyman.

Perfect Strangers (1950 - b/w) - Another worthless weepie, with Ginger Rogers.
See also Til We Meet Again (1940 - b/w), The Man Who Talked Too Much (1940 - b/w), Saturday's Children (1940 - b/w), Close to My Heart (1951 - b/w) with Gene Tierney and Ray Milland, Miracle in the Rain (1956 - b/w) with Jane Wyman.

The Glass Menagerie (1950 - b/w) - Turgid adap of the old Tennessee Williams chestnut. Jane Wyman seems to be playing a child.

Come Fill the Cup (1951 - b/w) - Cagney soaper.

Stop, You're Killing Me (1952) - Forgettable Runyon musical.

Island in the Sky (1953 - b/w) - Imagine being stuck in the Canadian tundra with Andy Devine and John Wayne. Wouldn't that be hell? Here it is.


The Rising of the Moon (1957 - b/w) - John Ford whimsy with all the aul lads - Cyril Cusack, Noel Purcell, Jack MacGowran, John "Tom Riordan" Cowley Denis O'Dea,, Jimmy O'Dea, Maureen Potter, Godfrey Quigley, Donal Donnelly. Basically, it's panto quality. Tyrone Power hosts, because they needed a big name.

The Helen Morgan Story (1957 - b/w) - Downbeat, exploitative musical with Ann Blyth and Paul Newman.

Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957 - b/w) - Arguably the first kitchen sink film

Home Before Dark (1958 - b/w) - Dreary Jean Simmons-Dan O'Herlihy romance of a mental patient disguised as a thriller.

The Young Philadelphians (1959 - b/w) - Dreary Paul Newman soapie.

Look Back in Anger (1939 - b/w) - Urgh. Certainly grim.

The Sundowners (1960) - Dreary mammoth Australian modern western. Has a cheery soundtrack but is not a comedy.

Sunrise at Campobello (1960) - Winds of War- Prelude.

Girl of the Night (1960 - b/w) - Dreary televisual story about Anne Francis, looking lovely as always, as a hooker.
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