"The Ghost Goes West" (1935)

I found this movie quite amusing, and therefore, I enjoyed it.  The plot early on reminded me of a comic rendition of parts of Henry IV--part 1, just small bits of it.  After that, the plot seemed cartoon comic to me.  The music, too.  The comments about Americans by the Scottish characters made me laugh--a laugh in a smirk and one raised eyebrow kind of way.

The movie is short and family--friendly.  So, quite a nice choice for Halloween if you're not into scary.

Okay, an example of the smirk-laugh and raised eyebrow (and yes this is from the movie, it doesn't give anything away, but if you don't want to know even that, then stop reading, 'cause I'm telling it):  In Scotland, the Americans are introduced to music at meals via bagpipes.  In America when they attempt to duplicate it, you get to watch a marching double string bass.  What?  A marching double string bass?  Who can play a jazz bass line on a double string bass when you're booking it around the table?  There's your smirk-laugh and raised eyebrow.

And, ah yes, the early "we don't have a budget for this" solutions--ocean liner in a tub of water for a camera shot.  Okay.  You do what you gotta do.

So there you have it.  A family-friendly Halloween romance.

"Things to Come" (1936)

Boy!  A person could really have a hey-day practicing different literary/film criticisms with this movie--feminist, Marxist, colonist, ecology, modern/postmodern, technology, political/power, cinema/media, even a smidge of education.  You name it, and I'm sure there will be at least a little piece in there that would give you something to chew on.  MacDonald said that this was a movie whose music (Arthur Bliss) has been short shrifted.  If it has been short shrifted, then I agree with MacDonald that this music needs some attention.  The montages feel like concerts with pictures at times, but hello, it was 1935.  MacDonald says that some of the music was composed (and recorded?) before the filming was shot, and is a "milestone" picture when it comes to sound synchronization.  The opening piece is especially interested to hear and watch the juxtaposition of the march-like war music with the sounds of Christmas.  I've not read the H.G. Wells story this is based on, so I don't know how much of the ideas are Wells's and how much is additions to the movie adaptations; but, it is fascinating to see this 1935 view of the next world war.  Semi-SPOILER ALERT:  The war lasts from 1940 - 1970.  The end of the movie is set in 2036.  Also, one place that fascinated/amused me is early on a portion of the people are infected with "wandering sickness".  Sure looked to me like zombies. Maybe before the concept idea of "zombies" came around?  They treated the "problem" about the same:  "shoot 'em!"  Either way, the people infected with wandering sickness walked around half out of it with there arms sticking out in front of them.  I have been trying to figure out some of the accents that some of the characters use.  Some German?  More British?  Doesn't seem American to me, unless it's German-American--which WWII kind of squelched.  Not sure what the accent is because there wasn't a lot of it that was strong.  The more prevalent accent was more subtle.  The only annoying thing about this movie was the sound at the end seemed like it was missing the final I chord.  Maybe that was something missing from the film when they went to restore it?  At any way, I keep trying to hear/get that last I chord sound there in place in my head.  Note some of the 2036 architecture and technology.  Not far off, even if the names were quite different from what we now call them.  Okay, maybe the 2036 costumes could be chuckled at.  That I admit.  Unless, of course, you compare them to early/original Star Trek.

"42nd Street" (1933)

I recognize one of the actors (Dick Powell as "Billy Lawler") which possibly means I've seen it before.  If so, it's been long enough ago that I didn't remember much else from the show.  And it would've been far enough back that it was before I started this film watching quest.  MacDonald says this is the show that started the backstage story of a stage performance show storyline--and I've already seen a number of those.  If I have seen it before, it was still nice to see it again.  And "42nd Street" (the song) is still as infectious as ever.

"The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935)

Not sure that this post qualifies for a "spoiler alert" notice--what's to be spoiled?  Even if you've never seen the movie, what do you expect when you go to watch it?  Nevertheless, if you like warnings, then there are subtle references included in this post.  MacDonald wasn't kidding when he said that the Bride's musical motif was the same as "Bali Hi" in South Pacific.  Can't miss it.   Can't miss the kettle drums from the creation of the heart all the way through the end of the movie either.  Yeah, the music is rich.  The acting is almost comedic in places.  Almost.  The plot takes very distorted and extremely fragmented pieces of what was cut from the original story to fashion this new movie from.  Story moves quickly--so, it seems to me it would survive well in today's plot moving.  I didn't ever latch onto the Monster's musical motif--not on the first listen through, anyway.  The little people in a bottle was disturbing until I saw that there was a variety of figures.  Franz Waxman music.  Interesting that the sustenance of choice was bread and wine.  That's not accidental.

"King Kong" (1933)

While I haven't seen it (yet), the premise of the movie sure sounds like a predecessor to Jurassic Park.  L. MacDonald says this is the movie that demonstrated what the impact music underscoring could do to enhance the dramatic impact of a movie.  Also, if they haven't already, Colonialism Theory would shred this movie to pieces.  King Kong is also gotta be an older cousin to the Abominable Snowman in Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  You can also tell that this is early story-telling.  The "horror" aspect to this movie is okay because it wouldn't "really" happen, which makes it interesting to watch.  And one can't forget the whole camera aspect to the film--both with Hollywood's intrusion (the colonialism I've already mentioned) and it's commentary on the making of movies in general (spectator/who's behind the camera/camera as weapon).

"M" (1931)

German.  While the crime perpetrated is quite serious--and the film treats it so--there are humorous moments in this film and it is quite fascinating to watch.  Keep in mind this isn't slapstick or anything obvious like that.  It's quite buried.  Quite.  But it's there.  Irony, for sure.  [Maybe that's my sense of humor.  Irony?]  Definitely an academic humor sparsely scattered in the [social? society?] commentary--subtle and not so subtle--on the things the movie touches on.  And the sound--"the killer's distinctive whistled tune" is all my film history book says--they leave out the best part!  It's "In the Hall of the Mountain King"--How many layers that adds to things!!!!  And the other sounds--definitely on the "create art" side of things instead of atmosphere.  Oh, and there's visual irony, too.  Definitely.

"Vampyr" (1932)

An interesting watch.  Storyline is in the spirit of "Legend of Sleepy Hollow"--at least the start of the movie and the end of the book.  Music is great--especially the string bass--a mix of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and romantic-Berlioz--again in the spirit of, not similar in sounds to.  Almost entirely string sounds, though there was one place with brass horns, and one stringed ... banjo?  That doesn't fit for Germany--but that is the closest I could come up with.  Sounded like a banjo, looked the same shape except it seemed all wooden--like a round bodied ukelele.  Enough similarity to later vampire stuff (which of course, probably built on this), that you think you know what's coming; yet, different enough that you find yourself going, "What are they doing now?" [Yeah, I know that was in 2nd person.]  It's, of course, slower--doesn't have the fast pacing of current day, but it's not badly paced--and it's only an hour and 15 min. long.  Great early special effects--camera tricks and early basic editing.  It's a visual quality that today's CGI don't mimic; it's a nice quality of its own.  You "gotta" watch the shadows.  In German, English subtitles.  Though, I'm not so sure there wasn't at least one French scene.  (The original English version is lost.  So, this is a restored version.)  Not bad.  Almost "amusing", but even I caught myself holding my breath at one point (briefly), and keenly interested to see how things would resolve.

"Steamboat Willie" (1928)

"Vintage Mickey" (1929--Netflix catalog) A collection of early Mickey films including:  "Steamboat Willie" (1928) First cartoon with original sound, "Plane Crazy"--First Micky cartoon produced.  First Micky & Minnie Mouse appearances. (1928), "The Karnival Kid" (1929)--First cartoon where Mickey speaks, "The Birthday Party" (1931), "The Castaway" (1931), "Mickey's Orphans" (1931), "Mickey's Revue" (1932)--First appearance of Goofy, "Building a Building" (1933), and "Mickey's Steam Roller" (1934).  I can see the "mostly music" cartoon style.  It still is from a very different time (obviously) with some humor that I wouldn't have seen in my childhood.  Then there's some of the cultural differences:  spittoons, girdles, how the door bells apparently worked, out houses, "button me up" underwear, box lunches (for 15c, no less), steam rollers, and of course, a horse's collar.  And, yeah, some of the humor raised my eyebrows--didn't drop my jaw--but did raise my eyebrows, probably mostly because now there are slightly different ideas about what a "cartoon" is--or maybe it's not that it's a cartoon, but the humor was different.  The music is definitely vaudeville influenced.  Seems also a mix of city and country influences--okay so it was a mix, but it seemed more of the country than what you see today.  Or that may just be my perception again.  All the sounds seemed to be in the higher pitched ranges of things.  Only the gorilla playing the piano in "The Castaway" seemed to play lower notes.  Or maybe it's not higher pitch but squeakier tones in general.

Or I could be tired and out of practice.

"A Nous la Liberte'" (1931)

I'm afraid I'm listening to this with too modern of a set of ears to hear the novelty of what was going on with sound with this movie.  Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  In my opinion, the plot isn't as predictable as many movies are--and it's not a mystery movie either.  It's a light-hearted movie; I wouldn't call it a musical, but it's not far from it.  I did catch at least one musical joke that prompted me to laugh out loud (the dinner entertainment).  This movie is also in the same spirit as Chaplin's "Modern Times".  There is some social critique going on, but it doesn't make for somber movie-viewing.  French film.

Upon thinking further:  I think the fact that the factory is a phonograph factory and that this is an early sound film is intended to speak something really loudly.

"Le Million" (1931)

an absurd, but funny/amusing, surrealist French comedy.  Even the sound contributed to the surrealism.  It intro'd the beginning with the ending, so that the rest of it was how it got from one end to the other and "turned out all right".  Definitely used up a chunk of my suspense rations watching it, but that was mostly all right.  It was also a musical--a few of the pieces were operatic; they were a nice touch.  The movie is worth the watch.

"The Good Earth" (1937)

I did not like the first 20 pages of the novel (I could get no further). I do not like the movie. I do not know why. I do like the importance of the land, and the leading lady, but that's about the only consistent threads I liked the whole movie through. I do understand why it got the cinematography award. Other than the appeal of the exotic (China), I do not understand the appeal of this movie. However, I will grant that it is well-written, so it is a decent enough story. Also, story-wise, it's a predecessor to the movie "The Days of Heaven".

 I will admit that my attitude here might be colored a bit of the season of the month. Perhaps in a lazier time and day, I would have a different opinion.

"Second Honeymoon" (1937)

Romantic comedy. Not my style of comedy--but I don't usually find movies with my comedy style, so that's nothing to discount the movie for. a Tyrone Powers flick. Interesting camera shot of a harpoon hitting a giant ray. Enough twists to the plot for a general romantic comedy movie.

"Stagecoach" (1939)

Western. Opening credits advertise music based on American folk songs--"I'm leaving Cheyenne", "I'm going to leave old Texas now" "I dream of the Jeannie with the light brown hair" are some of the ones I remember catching, but I'm sure that's not all of them. Story has a major theme of social class tensions in it. Also plays with questions of right and wrong--at least a little. The black cat was a nice touch. This is the John Wayne movie with the Apache who is shot off a lead pair of horses (of 3 pair) and is driven over by the stagecoach. Music was nice, yes. Nice flesh and blood characters.

"The Rules of the Game" (1939)

French movie. With time for only one watch through and subtitles, I wasn't able to watch camera shots much, especially for the "long shot" that Renoir added as a new idea. Movie was originally banned and not re-shown until 1965. I'm actually glad I watched the Renoir introduction that was included with this movie. It at least shared what inspired the movie, what he was aiming for, and how he had seen carrying it out. As far as carrying out his ends, I'd say he did, accomplished his aims/ends well. This is not a "feel good movie". Spoiler alert: Loose morals (or no morals, take your pick) and shooting the national hero by accident is not exactly a rousing story with a "hip hip hooray" ending.

"Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1938)

Loved this movie. It's a musical. Since the story's about a band, there were a lot of natural places to add songs; and unlike "The Great Waltz" (where the instrument playing was so clearly mimed--which was how they could dance playing bassoons), if they mimed this, they did a good job of it. And not only were there tons of quality songs, a number of them I knew because they've become standards: "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (of course), "Blue Skies", "We're Having a Heat Wave", "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", and "Easter Parade" are the one's I recognized for sure. Had a young Ethel Merman. (After the days of "I Love Lucy," I was sure I'd know her. The whole movie I thought I knew. When the end credits rolled, I found I was wrong. Whoops.) Still 30s spectacle--but all dance numbers, and not too overdone, but still lavish. Several music styles as the band's story traveled through time--ragtime, big band, blues, swing. Story was strong enough to pull through all the songs. Overall: Win.

"The Great Waltz" (1938)

"We have dramatized the spirit rather than the facts of his life, ..." I'm hung up on this phrase...
 It took me watching the movie to understand this quote. And only watching this movie clarified it ...

A marching bassoon?????
And I stand corrected. They were dancing. Or waltzing. And there were two of them.

Once upon a time, there was a pair of horses pulling a cart. From this cart was heard an argument. "I'm a musical." "No, I'm not." "Yes, I am." "No, I'm not." Meanwhile, from the other direction came another pair of horses pulling another cart. This cart, too, had an argument. "I'm an operetta." "No, an opera." "An operetta." "An opera." Suddenly, with a great Depression spectacle crash, the two carts collided. All four horses ran away with a big chunk of the plot leaving a confusion of two carts and no solution to the arguments. "Well," said one voice, "we have part of the plot left anyway. Let's make it a romance." "Oh," said another voice, "we must make sure it's okay with the censor board, or our audience won't come to see it." "We've got enough pieces of cart here to put a light movie together. Let's see--a smattering of silly from musicals, plenty of high soprano cadenza's to make a piccolo player sigh in delight, and an impressive camera shot following a pair of waltzers in a circle around a garden gazebo to help nail an academy award." "I know! We'll call it...'The Great Waltz'."

"Bringing Up Baby" (1938)

Romantic comedy with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. I have wanted to watch this movie since reading the short story it was based on. Very much enjoyed the movie. I think it's on the list as an example of "Screwball Comedy".

"The Adventures in Robin Hood" (1938)

When I was in high school, I watched the movie "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". While I wouldn't call the movie a "I gotta rewatch it" movie, I loved the music from it enough to buy the sheet music. I played that music for a long time and it still ranks among the music I like playing (as I get to it). A few years ago, I read the Robin Hood stories. I liked them even better then the "Prince of Thieves" movie. Don't get me wrong--the "Prince of Thieves" is a quality action movie--but the spirit of the book was more one of jest. Maybe closer to the original "A-Team" series. This multiple award winning version (1938) is of a spirit of the book--laughter in the face of danger, fanciful rescues, and, while no campfire songs as the book documents, the soundtrack is rousing enough to qualify. The spirit of the book--just fun, good-guys-get-the-bad-guys, good-guys-win fun, wrapped up in a movie. I very rarely rank a movie I'd watch multiple times. This is one of them.

"A Star Is Born" (1937)

This movie is one of those that it's how you spin it. The main view that the movie emphasizes is about the cost and heartache that comes along with getting your dreams. They do accomplish this, but the movie could easily be said to be about something else due to the amount of screen time it gives to other matters as related as they might be. I'm not sure, but I think one of the original novelties of this picture is the idea of shooting one scene with three cameras--so you only have to shoot it once, then you have options to edit from. Music was (obviously) still studio orchestra--but seemed to fit what I now have associated as the "older movie" style of music; so, the music is past the "beginning".

"Lost Horizon" (1937)

It is folly to believe that it is an external government or belief system that is the cause of all our troubles--that if we just had the right system of governance, that everyone will be happy and crime will be nearly non-existent. It's an idea expressed by Plato ("Republic") and was the thought of some of the early founders of this country--that if you just get the right external system, all your problems will be solved. The problem isn't with the system. We live in a fallen and sinful world because humans are fallen and sinful. It is not the external system at fault, it is the internal sinfulness of humans. The perfect system only exists after this life in heaven. So, Shangri-La (the place in this film), is pure myth--not possible. THAT being said, this was a film I very much enjoyed. It is a restored film--so that was interesting in itself. There were occasional places where still photos had to be used, because the film no longer exists. The whole process of restoring this would be fascinating to follow much closer. One of the implied questions posed by the story is: If a person was confronted with a perfect society, what would they do with it? How would they react? One character knew more of what to do with dead things than live people. More directly: Could diplomatic relations be carried out and done with no weapons of any kind? If so, what would that look like? Is that possible? I watched just a snitch of the special features--long enough to see a couple of examples of before and after film restoration bits, and to see one of the only existing actual film footage made off of negatives. (The film is otherwise almost entirely made off of other prints.) It showed me I was definitely missing out what the experience could've been like. The music when they were traveling originally to Shangri-La reminded me of the music we played at ABC from Kazakhstan--the style chording, the instrumentation. Since it's set in Tibet, that's not too far off. But that style music seemed to be just in that place in the film. It showed me how far the use of models have come in seeing this early example.  Guess I had something to say about this one.