St. Martin's Lane/ Sidewalks of London (1938)



“Everything's luck, see. And good temper. And if you can take a joke. The whole of life's a joke.”

            St. Martin’s Lane better known outside the UK as Sidewalks of London is about a group of buskers or street performers. Buskers were people who would perform outside of London theaters entertaining the crowds as they wait on line to see a show. Charles Stagger (Charles Laughton) is one of many buskers making their living entertaining this way. One day as he is performing a young woman sneaks up and steals his sixpence. She runs away before he can get her but eventually they meet again at a coffee stand. The young woman’s name is Liberty (Vivien Leigh), Libby for short. Also at the coffee stand just happens to be a famous songwriter named Harley Prentiss (Rex Harrison). Libby sees that Prentiss has put down his gold cigarette case without realizing it and she steals the case.

            Charlie sees Libby take the case and he runs after her. He follows her to an abandoned home where Libby seems to be squatting. Libby starts to dance around the large open room. Charlie sees her dance and is taken by her. He blackmails Libby into coming with him so he can turn her in to the police for stealing the case. Charlie takes her back to his place for the night.

            After that night Charlie and Libby become friends. They create a little act along with Charlie’s friends Arthur and Gentry. He never does turn Libby in for the cigarette case but he does have Prentiss come to pick up the case. Prentiss likes what he hears as the busker group practices a new routine. He asks them to perform at a party he will be hosting. On the night of the party Charlie and Libby get into a heated argument over how foolish busking is. Libby goes to Prentiss’s party alone and there that night is a theatrical manager who promises Libby a stage career.

            Charlie waits up all night for Libby. When she comes home he is angry with her but he professes his love for her even going so far as to ask her to marry him. She becomes afraid and once everyone in the house hears her screaming in embarrassment he walks out.

            Liberty becomes the newest West End sensation. Charlie becomes so depressed he turns to drink. He gets thrown in jail for four months after hitting a police officer when he calls to Libby outside a stage door theater and creates a ruckus.

            Libby sees Charlie four months later. She treats him like the dear friend he was to her. She tries to do something good for him by getting him a small audition on a real stage in front of her manager and his people. As Charlie repeats his monologue people keep interrupting. He walks out with Libby chasing after him. She is truly upset that he was not given a proper chance because he is a good actor.

            At the end of the film Charlie realizes that he belongs to the streets. The only place in the world where he belongs is being a busker out on St. Martin’s Lane.

            The performances by Laughton, Leigh, and Harrison are excellent. Laughton I am not really a fan of, I have seen him in other films and was not really impressed. Some of his scenes in this film were way too over the top and theatrical. Vivien Leigh was incredible. You can clearly see she had a great screen presence that the following year would become internationally known. She made Liberty a spunky, feisty, driven character. I loved her cockney accent in some scenes; I just love her British accent in general. The scenes where Leigh was dancing especially the first scene she dances in she was fantastic she was so graceful and beautiful. There was one scene I thought was interesting: Prentiss gets a call from someone saying they want Libby to come to Hollywood. The following year Leigh would be in Hollywood and she would create one of film’s most iconic characters. Rex Harrison all I can say about him is how handsome he was. I am so used to seeing him as the cranky old man from My Fair Lady and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir that seeing him young and not cranky was nice.

            Sidewalks of London is a very good film. I liked the story it was different since I never heard or knew of buskers before this. Each actor right down to the extras give fantastic performances. This is definitely a film to see especially if you are a fan of Vivien Leigh this is one proof that she is much more than Scarlett O’Hara. As of right now Sidewalks of London is available to view on youtube. Take advantage of this available viewing before the film is taken off the site.

Too Hot to Handle (1938)



"You’re the best there is and that’s what’s the matter with you!"

            When Too Hot to Handle was made Clark Gable and Myrna Loy had just been crowned King and Queen of Hollywood in a nationwide poll in the fan magazines. Their crowning came just after they starred together and were perfectly paired in Test Pilot. So of course MGM capitalized on two of their most popular (and money making) stars’ new titles and their previous roles by pairing them yet again in another aviation themed film.

            Gable plays Chris Hunter a newsreel cameraman. He is widely known as the best newsreel cameraman in the business. He is not liked by too many other newsreel cameramen not because he is really good and captures all the action but because he often fakes his works. A rival of his Bill Dennis (Walter Pidgeon) decides to play a trick on Chris along with some other cameramen. The trick is there is supposed to be a cholera outbreak and that there was a shipment of serum sent into China (where they all happen to be to film a war between China and Japan). They are going to capture the flight coming in with the serum and Chris will be left out in the dust without the story.

            Chris somehow hears about a plane coming in and he is out on the landing field. He has the best shot from his car. As he follows the plane the driver gets clumsy and crashes into the plane. The plane catches fire, Chris races out to the plane and finds that the pilot is a woman. He saves the life of aviatrix Alma Harding (Myrna Loy). She tells Chris that there is no serum it was all a lie… unfortunately the camera picks this confession up.

            Alma tells Chris not to send the film back for people to see since it would shame her making her look bad and she would never get a job again. Chris likes Alma enough to destroy the film. Dennis has other tricks up his sleeve to get back at Chris… he manages to get his hands on the film Chris thought he destroyed and Dennis gives the real film to his boss.

            Dennis blackmails Chris and things between them with Alma start to go a little crazy. The film finds its way to Dennis’ boss and all three are left out of a job since they have all been disgraced. Alma is mad at both men especially Chris since they started to really fall in love with each other. Chris does get to redeem himself in the end and I am more than sure you know that Alma and Chris get together.

            I found this film to be excellently acted by everyone there was not one performance I felt was over the top or not well done. Gable and Loy together are so fantastic.

            Loy wrote in her autobiography that she knew how to play against Gable she always played to his tough side and you can clearly see her do so. Alma is an edgy fast talking character but you can see where Loy brings in a little bit more to play against Gable. This was Loy’s third time playing an aviatrix with guts and it never gets old she was perfect. One of the many reasons why I adore Loy as an actress comes up in this film: Chris and Alma are talking and to kind of not fall in love with her he tells her the two of them as a newsreel team are pals like the comic strip Mutt and Jeff. Something comes up a few minutes later and Chris says it may be too dangerous for them to do. Alma is not afraid and she perfectly, sarcastically, coldly says to Chris “What’s the matter Mr. Mutt? Lost your nerve?” Just the way she said that line and her expression was acting perfection. When Loy says “nerve” she gives her lip a curl that even if she tried to do it again she probably could not it was like a real genuine reaction.

            I really enjoyed Gable. The last half hour of the film he was so great in. The ending is where the film gets silly but it gets silly in a good way. I will not give away what happens but I was laughing and it was Gable who was making me laugh. Chris is a character who was not the greatest guy ever he used people to get a good story he even used Alma but I liked him. I guess Gable really did have such charm that you could not help but like him even if he was a jerk.      

      Walter Pidgeon I have never seen in a film before but I really did not like Dennis at all which I guess was the point since we are supposed to be cheering for Loy and Gable to get together. I do look forward to viewing more films Pidgeon has been in I have heard he is a fabulous actor. Marjorie Main plays a secretary in Chris’s office. If anyone has seen her in The Women, Meet Me in St. Louis, or any of the Ma and Pa Kettle films you know this woman is hilarious and she does not let up here. Her humor and delivery is quick and sarcastic and perfect.

            Too Hot to Handle is a great film. There are a lot of funny moments along with some heart stopping action moments. The writing is excellent with plenty of bite and humor which the cast acts out to perfection. The back of the cover declares “Action meets adventure. A Golden Era treasure”; this declaration could not be any more true. Too Hot to Handle is one of the many films which defines 1930s comedy as well as action and drama and why so many people look to the Golden Age of cinema. It is a classic film too good not to be viewed.  

The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)



“Genghis Khan comes back! Genghis Khan leads the East against the world!”

            The Mask of Fu Manchu is one of those old “horror” films from the 1930s that is so much fun to laugh at. All I could do while watching this film was laugh.

            Fu Manchu (played by Boris Karloff) wants the mask of Genghis Kahn because it apparently has great powers to where he can take over the world. Some British archeologists from The British Museum have also been looking for the mask. One of the archeologists Sir Lionel Barton knows the exact location but he will not tell anyone where it is.  After he talks with his associates Nyland Smith and Terrance “Terry” Granville he gets kidnapped and brought to Fu Manchu’s palace.

            Fu Manchu tortures Barton by lying him down under a bell without food and water and sleep for days. Barton’s daughter Sheila has been really worried about him. She tells Terry and Smith that her father has told her where the mask along with a sword is buried. Word gets to Fu Manchu that the mask and sword have been found. He sends a messenger to Sheila, Terry, and Smith that he will give them Barton back is they hand Fu Manchu the mask and sword. Terry decides to give the evil man a replica of each artifact.

            Unfortunately Terry has no such luck in fooling Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu has Terry tortured by his sadistic daughter Fah Lo See (Myrna Loy). After she has tortured Terry Manchu injects him with a concoction made of all kinds of venom that will allow Terry’s mind to be controlled. He sends Terry back to convince Sheila and Smith that Barton (who is now dead) now wants the mask and sword moved to a different location.

            Needless to say the three Britons come very close to the end but with a lot of luck and only six minutes left to the film they save the day and kill Fu Manchu and get the mask and sword.

            The plot sounds really good I would go see a film with this plot today but this is part the reason why some old films get a bad rep. The acting was horrible and outrageously overdone especially by Karen Morely who plays Sheila. It was like she was giving her all and it just came out as overacting to the point where it was sad. Of course I had to see this film no matter how corny it was because Myrna Loy is in it and this is when she was still in the vamp/exotic stage of her career. I was cracking up so bad from just seeing her! I will say Loy definitely had the face to play the exotic roles which is funny because she was of English, Welsh, and Scottish descent. What I cracked me up the most with is that Loy is playing a sadistic Asian woman who pretty much rapes Terry by keeping him “entertained.” From the moment Fah Lo See lays eyes on Terry all she has on her mind is having her way with him.  Karloff I have never really seen in any other film besides this but Fu Manchu was a panic he was the corniest part of the whole film. There was one scene in the film where  Manchu was talking about his daughter who is a character not a real person but I was thinking of Loy he was talking to a crowd of people gathered at his palace and he told them to listen to his daughter even though she is “ugly and insignificant.” Then a few scenes later he tells someone that his daughter is beautiful!  With Fu Manchu we know that he is evil because he keeps talking about taking over the world and only leads the captives being carried by one of his followers to their torturous ending but with Fah So Lee we see her sadistic side when she yells for her henchmen to whip Terry and she looks sexualy excited in a twisted way.

            The Mask of Fu Manchu does have some good points despite being really silly in others. Fu Manchu is a very sinister and diabolical character as well as Fah Lo See. Had the script and the acting been a bit better surrounding the two sinister characters the film may not have been so cheesy. The plot is really interesting you can see where Indiana Jones may have been inspired from.

            I say sit through The Mask of Fu Manchu at least once especially if you are really into cheesy ‘30s “horror” films or if you want to see Myrna Loy before she broke out of her vamp stereotype. The film is a great laugh.

 

Wild Target



“My name is Victor Maynard, and I am 54 years old and I work as a professional killer.”

            If you live in the US you may not have heard of Wild Target unless you are a big fan of Rupert Grint or Emily Blunt. I was in England last summer and all I saw on the side of buses was posters and advertisements for this movie. I like Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint so I had to see this somehow.  

            The story is mainly about a professional assassin named Victor Maynard. He is a very well known assassin who no one knows what he looks like. Victor comes from a family of assassins. He mother is always on him for his kills and telling him to stay focused.

            Victor gets called for a new assignment: he is to kill a sexy, free spirited con artist named Rose. She has pissed off a man named Ferguson by switching out a Rembrandt painting with a fake. Victor starts following Rose but she knows she is being watched and eventually gets away from him and he says to himself that she is out of control. He comes across her again but this time he actually saves her instead of killing her. Since he did not kill Rose when he had the chance Ferguson sends his body guards to kill her instead. Victor shoots the man who is about to kill Rose. There is another of Ferguson’s men, he has the assassin and the con artist cornered but a kid named Tony comes out of nowhere and shoots the body guard in the shoulder. He lies to both Tony and Rose telling them that he is an undercover detective. He takes an immediate liking to Tony and tells the young man he can be trained to be a “detective.”  

            All three manage to get away. Victor takes Rose and Tony to his house where they will be safe. The three become very close.

            In the mean time Ferguson has hired an assassin who is supposed to be matched with Victor. His name is Hector Dickson and he is all too eager to kill his competitor.

            Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, and Bill Nighy are excellent together. Blunt is so good as Rose she really makes the movie. Her best scene is when we are first introduced to Rose: we see her literally riding her bike across Trafalgar Square not giving a crap about the traffic lights or cars. She then rides her bike across the front of the National Gallery where there is a sign that says no bikes allowed. She lights firecrackers to distract the museum guards and then proceeds to ride her bike THROUGH the museum itself!!! Rose is a very good character I liked her craziness and boldness. Blunt does an excellent job she is one of the only actresses around today who is truly talented in any film she makes. Grint is a panic. From the moment we see him he is a paranoid mess but he is a lovable character. Tony and Rose are always going at it in a brother/sister kind of way that is really cute. Nighy I have never seen in a film before but I liked him he was really good as Victor. Right from the beginning even though he was supposed to be this ruthless killer he still had a heart to him.

            Martin Freeman from the British version of The Office was Hector Dickson. He was really clean cut and put together that he looked really creepy. I found it funny that he played Tim in The Office Jim in the Us Office is based off of and Emily Blunt is married to John Krasinski who plays Jim. Little six degrees of The Office separation going on.

            Wild Target is really funny and very entertaining. I liked the plot of assassins and con- artists. I believe Wild Target is now available on DVD in the US. If you want to see something different than the typical crappy love stories and assassin stories I highly recommend watching this movie.

Whipsaw (1935)

I always enjoy seeing an actor or actress play a character that we are not used to seeing. In Whipsaw we get to see Myrna Loy play a jewel thief while Spencer Tracy is literally the man chasing after/keeping an eye on her.

            Vivian Palmer (Loy) is a jewel thief who runs a scam with her boyfriend Ed and his friend Harry. The three separate after the heist but now they have another group of thieves looking for the pearls they stole form them. Vivian heads to New York. Word gets to the New York government that Vivian is in town so they send an agent Mac McBride to go undercover as someone looking to get in on a job with the threesome. Mac poses as Danny Ackerman.

            Vivian and Mac try to stay one step ahead of some bad guys who are after Ed. Somewhere along the way Vivian finds out or can tell that Danny is really a government agent. She does not tell him she knows who he is. They both use each other to get to Ed and Harry. The two start to fall in love as well (which should not be totally shocking at all).          

            Ed has hidden pearls from the last time the trio pulled off a heist in the handle of Vivian’s brush. She swears she does not know about the pearls’ location and she genuinely does not know. One night her brush falls and the pearls come out. Mac no longer believes Vivian and arrests her.

            While trying to take Vivian in she and Mac run into the other group of thieves in a small diner. Mac has Vivian go into the bathroom by smudging dirt on her face. After she leaves Mac starts a gun fight here he is wounded and the thieves die.

            You should know the ending: Vivian and Mac fall in love and get together.

              Myrna Loy I have to say was alright. Maybe it was the character who was a bit blah but there was not one moment where Loy smiled or looked happy at all except for maybe the end. It seemed like her character had the weight of the world on her shoulders or like Loy was not enjoying herself making the film. Tracy and Loy definitely save Whipsaw from being outrageously boring. It is odd that after Loy’s success in The Thin Man playing comedy that they put her in such a boring story that really did nothing to show more of her range. It was as if they were still trying to find her type and put her in whatever they could. This was Spencer Tracy’s first film at MGM. Tracy had played the same thing over at Fox before he came to MGM so this was not took much of a stretch from what he was used to playing. The following year he would get his type of films changed and be nominated for an Oscar. Loy and Tracy were a good screen couple though you can see their chemistry. One character touch I thought was nice was how Mac called Vivian by her last name throughout the whole film it was like he was keeping his distance from getting to close to her.

            The story is not too bad but it gets to be a bit much in the middle when Vivian and Mac stay at a farm house. I won’t give it away but one part it was trying to humanize Vivian to show she is not just a crook and has a change of heart about the way she has been living her life.

            Whipsaw is not a bad film. It feels slow in some parts and I found others a little confusing. With a stronger script the film could have been even better. I caught Whipsaw on TCM a few weeks ago but I will definitely be buying it on DVD eventually (come on, by now if you follow this blog you should know how much I adore Myrna Loy so I must get it). Watch Whipsaw for the fact that it is a Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy pairing.



A League of Their Own



“There’s no crying in baseball!”

            A League of Their Own is one of my all time favorite movies. I can quote it all day and never tire of doing so. Pretty much everyone in my family can say one word or line from the movie and we are all off saying the next line. My family is a bunch of baseball fanatics. We are a house divided with two of my brothers and my dad liking the Mets and me, my mom, and another brother liking the Yankees. My grandpa almost got to play for the Mets and Yankees when he was younger. My uncle is a diehard Yankees fan who played a ton of baseball when he was younger. So as you can see we are a big baseball family all around.

            As a whole the movie is about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) put together during World War II but specifically it is about two sisters from Oregon who are in a local baseball club. The sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller are total opposites: Dottie is gorgeous with all eyes on her and Kit feels like a total outcast and that she is nothing compared to her sister. The sisters argue and fight but deep down they really care for each other; Dottie would not go to try outs unless Kit got to go too. Kit wants to live life but Dottie has a husband she feels she has all she wants in her life that playing baseball is just something to do. These things the sisters want and desire most keep them at odds.

            Kit and Dottie are recruited to the Rockford Peaches. They are one of the best teams in the league. The team is managed by former Major League Baseball player Jimmy Dugan. He is a wreck he is always drunk and just does not care about the team. Dottie takes over the first came after Jimmy barges in drunk and pees in the sink! After a while he comes to realize his team has great talent.

            The AAGPBL almost gets shut down but as the women in the league begin to show what they can really do game attendance picks up and the league becomes very popular. The first World Series for the league is played between the Peaches and the Racine Belles.

            The cast is amazing. It is one of the best casted movies. Geena Davis is incredible as Dottie she makes the character so believable. Tom Hanks is just awesome as Jimmy Dugan from the moment he comes up on screen he is a panic. Madonna pretty much plays herself as Mae Mortabito. Rosie O’Donnell is also a laugh as Mae’s sidekick Doris Murphy. Perhaps the best character of the movie is Stillwell who is the character Evelyn’s son. He makes so much trouble that Jimmy and a couple of the other players want to kill him haha. The rest of the cast is perfect they all do a fantastic job. They all look like ball players.



"What if at a key moment in the game by shirt pops open and uh oops my bosoms come out?"
"Mae you think there are men in this country that ain't seen your bosoms?"



            What I really like about A League of Their Own is how it shows a part of American history not many people may know. I certainly did not know that there was a women’s professional baseball league during World War II when all the male ball players had to go overseas to fight. The movie is based off Dottie Kamenshenk who played for the AAGPBL. She played in the league for six years and pitched seventeen shut out games. My uncle got a chance to meet Collins and he said she was really nice and how great it was to sit and talk to her about her time playing baseball.

            A League of Their Own is one of the best baseball movies around. It is not about a world class player from the Yankees or about an against all odds story. It is about women coming out of their homes to play a game they love and to say they did something in their lives that they are proud of. They are doing something that men do. The story is also about the nation coming together during tough times. World War II is a fascinating time to study in American history. Everyone was united coming together to help each other. Studying women’s roles and fashion during the war in very interesting.

            A League of Their Own is so much fun to watch especially with people who know the movie and you can quote the lines with. To me it is almost movie perfection there is drama and plenty of comedy all excellently played without going over the top in any direction. If you have not seen this movie yet then I have no idea what you are waiting for get going and watch it!!



The real Rockford Peaches team



Dottie Kamenshenk



Bridesmaids



I recently read a review on Bridesmaids posted by member of a message board I frequent that sums up the movie perfectly: “It’s like a chick flick made for chicks who hate chick flicks.” I could not agree more with this comment! Bridesmaids is the anti-chick flick. There is nothing sweet concerning this movie it is just one raunchy laugh after another.

            Kristen Wiig plays Annie Walker (wonder if she watches Covert Affairs). Her friend Lillian (played by the ever hilarious Maya Rudolph) has just asked Annie to be her maid of honor for her wedding. Annie and Lillian have been best friends since they were little so the pressure is Annie to do a good job. The pressure get even heavier once Lillian introduces Annie to the other bridesmaids especially Helen who is the wife of Lillian’s fiancé’s boss’s wife. Helen is rich and spoiled and has completely taken over planning the wedding. The other bridesmaids are all insane in their own ways: Rita is bored housewife with three boys (who hysterically explains “I cracked a blanket in half!”); Becca is young and innocent and just looking for a good time; Megan is just wacked out of her mind but becomes the voice of reason in the end.

            Right off the bat nothing goes right for Annie being the maid of honor: Helen has taken over everything and all the other women, including Lillian, side with her. Annie’s life is also spinning out of control with nothing going her way.

            Some parts of the movie drag and some of the jokes are just way too drawn out but the whole thing is just really funny. The cast is one of the best assembled in years. Kristen Wiig also wrote the movie so if you know her well enough from Saturday Night Live or some of her other movies you can see her dry, sarcastic, raunchy humor come through. I was very happy with Maya Rudolph’s performance here. I have viewed Rudolph in her movie Away We Go and was not impressed with her acting which bummed me out because I really like her. You can clearly see that Wiig and Rudolph have a good friendship outside the movie. You can believe their characters are best friends. The funniest person in the movie hands down has to go to Melissa McCarthy as Megan. She was this butch sort of woman who was just crazy. When Annie and Megan meet for the first time Megan tells Annie a story that is guaranteed to make your laugh so hard your stomach will hurt (my brother was laughing so hard he could not breathe). Ellie Kemper from The Office plays Becca and she was as always so adorable. Wendi McLendon- Covy played Rita; the woman never fails to make me laugh. I am always excited to see her in something she was so fantastic in Reno 911!. Rose Byrn plays Helen. Helen was a rich, manipulative bitch who is meant to get on your nerves. The whole time my brother and I kept saying “God Rose Byrn is gorgeous” haha.

            Since I know Kristen Wiig’s comedy pretty well I was not expecting a typical chick flick. There are some chick flick-y moments that I felt kind of brought the movie to a standstill. But let me just say this now do not go into seeing Bridesmaids thinking it is going to be a cute as a button Reese Witherspoon- type chick flick because you will be sorely disappointed. My favorite part of the movie (which I am not telling because it is WAY too funny to reveal) is almost like disgusting guy toilet humor and I could not stop laughing! Bridesmaids is raunchy and hysterical from beginning (literally raunchy right at the beginning) to end. Wiig has definitely proved not all “girl” movies need to be sweet and cute. I am so sick of chick flicks I have pretty much gotten rid of all the ones I had on DVD (I say “almost” because there are some like How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days that are really good.). I was walked out of the theater after Bridesmaids so satisfied. Hopefully more “chick flicks” like this will be made in the future.

            See Bridesmaids if you like movies such as The Hangover and Knocked Up.