His Girl Friday (1940)

I've been slacking with my reviews lately.  I blame Gone with the Wind.  It was just so... so... much, that after that other movies just seem too mundane to be worth commenting on.  In fact it felt much like this film project was already over, because we have, if you think about it, already come full circle.  Sixteen weeks ago we saw the also epic and industry-defining The Birth of a Nation, which even shares many story elements with Gone with the Wind, especially in the first and early second acts.  From those primitive beginnings, pretty much all the major filmmaking techniques have now been realized.  Everything D. W. Griffith set out to do has been revisited and perfected is one monumental effort.  At least according to the standards of the time, Gone with the Wind was very much the Ultimate Movie.

So where do we go from here?  I realize now that the '30s really were the true Golden Age of Hollywood; the period that is the most "classic."  What sets the next phase of film history apart is a more visible effort to push boundaries; deconstruct old ideas; play with form and tone.  Because, in the wake of the Ultimate Movie, what else was there to do?

Gone with the Wind (1939)

So, that was Gone with the Wind, was it?  Far more complicated than I expected.  On just about every level.  I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I'll start with Scarlett.  Lots of people seem to hate her (such as my wife).  I didn't.  I didn't like her either - she's hardly a very sympathetic person (and would likely scorn you for pitying her).  But I think the movie's portrayal of her speaks well of it, and is indicative of its general approach.  While there are rose-colored glasses aplenty for the fairy tale of the Old South and especially that whole slavery thing, regarding its leads I found the movie impressively observant and even handed.  Scarlett is simply presented as a hard-headed woman with "gumption," as the novel's author, Margaret Mitchell, put it; neither demonized nor sugar-coated.  The consequences of her actions do not leave any single, simplistic conclusion to draw about her, except that she's complicated and willful and fun to watch.  As Garry Marshall put it in the movie Soapdish: "Stable?  I'm stable.  Who wants to watch me on television?"

Gone With the Wind (1939)

Let me preface this review by saying that the movie wasn't as bad as I remembered it being.  Don't get me wrong - I still didn't like it - but this time I dislike it for different reasons than I used to.  This is interesting to me, because ordinarily if I don't like a movie I simply never watch it again.  So this is quite possibly the first time I've ever rewatched a movie I didn't like, and therefore I am a bit surprised at what I took away from it.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

In which images of patriotism evoke a craving for mystery meat, Frank Capra demonstrates his eerie precognition skills, country bumpkins become U.S. senators, and politics is SERIOUS BUSINESS.  Intrigued?  Then it’s time for Mandie to review Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

It's a bit tricky for me writing "dwarfs" with an "f."  I'm a Tolkien fan, and so more used to the smoother (and more dangerous) "dwarves."  One might define "dwarves" as a fictional race, while "dwarfs" are people with the genetic condition, but... well in this story they could be either one.  I can't tell.  I don't suppose anybody really thought about it much - they simply are what they are on the surface.  That's much of the modern appeal to fairy tales.  Timeless, placeless; they exist outside of any context but familiar human conflicts.  They are very close to drama and action in pure, theoretical form.

By the way, the story sometimes goes around that the use of dwarfs was a Disney euphemism, and Snow White actually met up with seven thieves in the original story (as in the '90s TV movie, Snow White: A Tale of Terror).  But that would depend greatly on which version you consider the "original."  Apparently they are thieves in some regional versions of the tale, but dwarfs appear much more commonly, including in the Brothers Grimm version.  So Snow White is actually among the most faithful adaptations Disney has ever produced (they still change plenty, but mostly for the sake of streamlining, not sanitizing).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

I'm sorry to be posting this so late!  Somehow the week got away from both of us, but with a new film to watch tomorrow it was obvious that last week's review needed to get posted, and stat.

So, Snow White.  I grew up loving Disney movies (and still love them, and pretty much all things Disney) to this day, and since this is the film that started the whole thing I have to have a bit of a soft spot for it.  But it was never my favorite Disney animated movie.  I think as a young child that honor went to Cinderella and as I got older my loyalties switched to Sleeping Beauty (but only because Maleficent is such a badass).  Anyway, I'm supposed to be talking about Snow White!

Captain Blood (1935)

Well, what is there to say about this one?  There is a thin but persistent political undercurrent - a recurring theme of bondage, of masters and slaves in various (and fluctuating) relationships, leading unequivocally to the conclusion that servants owe nothing to an unjust leader.  Sortof the lighthearted, blockbuster version of The Battleship Potemkin.  Potentially heady stuff in another time and place, but here it's pure, escapist entertainment, painted with broad, bold strokes and absolutely unapologetic about it.  That's what makes it great.  These days it's hard to make a film like this, largely because there are only so many variations possible without diluting the purity of the essential story.  Usually they either come out as a ripoff or a convoluted mess.  The key is all in the performance.  You have to set aside doubt and go straight at it with the strength and certainty of Errol Flynn's chin.

Captain Blood (1935)

This is easily my favorite movie that we've watched thus far.  HIGHLY entertaining, well acted (mostly - but more on that later), well paced, good action, etc.  I honestly have next to no complaints about this film.  I was very interested to see how influential Errol Flynn is though.  Amazingly enough, this is the first Errol Flynn movie I have ever seen (and yes, I do have a bit of a crush on him...or at least on his character of Peter Blood. What a FOX.)