Random Thoughts

The Little Foxes. William Wyler. 1941.

*gasp* Bette Davis!

She’s magnificent here, but that shouldn’t be a surprise.

This is a film set in the somewhat oldee south, but I wonder whether it’s a conscious political decision to have a black person in just about every scene (mostly as servants, of course). It makes a huge change from these other movies I’ve been watching today, which probably had… like… almost zero? zero? black actors in them.

Director William Wyler was a pinko commie, except the pinko and commie parts, of course.

This is kinda brilliant. Wonderful performances, interesting intrigue and on-point cinematography.

It was nominated for all the Oscars this year and won none, which is appropriate for something as good as this.

Popular movies in August 1941 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	7829	8.2	The Little Foxes
	4597	7.7	Here Comes Mr. Jordan
	2651	7.6	Hold That Ghost
	984	7.5	Charlie Chan in Rio
	1042	7.3	Sun Valley Serenade
	487	7.2	Bowery Blitzkrieg
	648	6.9	Whistling in the Dark
	6767	6.9	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
	957	6.8	Manpower
	556	6.8	Life Begins for Andy Hardy

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Sergeant York. Howard Hawks. 1941.

This is a big-budget huge sentimental Hollywood movie written by John Huston and directed by Howard Hawks and starring just about everybody.

This was nominated for all the Oscars and won a couple, and neither is surprising. This is one of those national myth-building American films that pop now and then. It’s Howard Hawks, so it looks good, but coming off of a Fritz Lang high, the huge vistas somehow seem pedestrian.

But it’s just downright disturbing seeing a slightly balding 40-year-old Gary Cooper playing a teenager. He goes for 16-year-old dopey but hits developmentally challenged instead.

Still, it’s an interesting movie. It’s set during the previous war, and the protagonist is a pacifist farmer (well, he’s read the bible and the bible is apparently agin’ it), but he still has to go. Is that a comment on the US’ stance during the current war (so far)? It’s a sub rosa agitation for the US to get involved in the fight against Hitler? But set in the previous war to avoid having the Senate Committee on Hollywood Pro-British Activities come down on them like a ton of rocks?

It’s not a movie for strident atheists.

Unfortunately there’s no documentary extras on this DVD, because I kinda wanted to know what they were thinking when they made this.

Hm…

Some of the response to the film divided along political lines, with advocates of preparedness and aid to Great Britain enthusiastic (“Hollywood’s first solid contribution to the national defense”, said Time) and isolationists calling it “propaganda” for the administration.

Hm… Oh! This is based on a real person, and all the weird stuff in here really happened? I didn’t see that one coming. And Alvin was 30 in 1917, which makes more sense than him being a teenager.

Lots of weird acting choices in here.

Popular movies in July 1941 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	12682	7.8	Sergeant York
	920	7.3	‘Pimpernel’ Smith
	2196	7.1	The Bride Came C.O.D.
	1350	7.1	The Shepherd of the Hills
	407	7.0	Charley’s Aunt
	206	6.0	Bad Men of Missouri

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Man Hunt. Fritz Lang. 1941.

Is this the first American war film (sort of) in this blog series? Everybody’s speaking English, though (except for the Germans), so perhaps it was just financed by Americans, but it’s British?

And it’s Fritz Lang! Golly!

The cinematography is on another plane entirely from these other American films I’ve watched previously. So many details. So stylised. (I know that’s a contradiction.)

It’s thrilling to watch on a scene-by-scene basis, even if the plot doesn’t really make that much sense. It’s been lovingly restored for this blu-ray release.

If this had had a non-moronic plot, it’d have been a classic. The acting’s great and it’s exciting and it looks wonderful. But I can easily see that others wouldn’t be this patient with this nonsense.

[time passes]

I’m now watching the documentary extras on the disc. It’s fascinating! There were congressional hearings after this film was released to investigate pro-British Hollywood activities! Because the US was neutral at this time, of course, and this film is overtly anti-Nazi.

Pro-British activity. Sheesh.

Popular movies in June 1941 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	3867	7.4	Man Hunt
	281	7.2	Underground
	734	7.1	Moon Over Miami
	1258	7.0	Blossoms in the Dust
	951	6.9	Out of the Fog
	376	6.8	Caught in the Draft
	791	6.6	Tom, Dick and Harry
	3968	6.6	The Big Store
	643	6.6	They Met in Bombay
	225	5.6	Broadway Limited

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

Sunny. Herbert Wilcox. 1941.

This is more the video quality I expected from the 50-movie DVD box set. Completely unrestored. But the sound’s kinda good.

This is based on a stage musical, so it’s chock-full with musical numbers and doesn’t have much of a plot. Which is fine by me.

Yay! Edward Everett Horton! I must have seen him in dozens of movies, I think? Or one film a dozen times?

This probably isn’t a very good movie, really, by any sensible standard, but I’m entertained.

Popular movies in May 1941 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	311607	8.4	Citizen Kane
	376	7.7	Shining Victory
	2074	7.5	Love Crazy
	1765	7.2	A Woman’s Face
	2478	7.1	In the Navy
	1621	7.0	Blood and Sand
	215	6.9	The Spider Returns
	220	6.3	The People vs. Dr. Kildare
	914	6.3	The Black Cat
	310	6.3	Million Dollar Baby

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

That Uncertain Feeling. Ernst Lubitsch. 1941.

There’s like… nothing here. The film spins its wheels from the start to the end, and nothing really happens.

It’s plain weird.

But it might just be my lack of concentration? I don’t know. I skipped back a few times because I just didn’t track what (if anything) was happening, and I still don’t know what this film is all about.

I blame alcohol!

I should probably watch this all over again while sober, so take the dice with a grain of salt.

Popular movies in April 1941 according to IMDB:

Poster	Votes	Rating	Movie
	2795	7.8	The Devil and Miss Jones
	3024	7.4	That Hamilton Woman
	2577	7.3	The Great Lie
	2394	7.2	Road to Zanzibar
	4785	7.2	Penny Serenade
	542	6.9	That Night in Rio
	1900	6.9	Ziegfeld Girl
	311	6.8	Love on the Dole
	1705	6.8	That Uncertain Feeling
	818	6.6	Men of Boys Town

This blog post is part of the Decade series.