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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 25, 2017 21:45:50 GMT
My first foray into the 1930s... was a bit of a weak start. It's clear that the cinematic world was still hung up on the advent of sound that story took a bit of a backseat. I'm glad I saw All Quiet on the Western Front last (which was technically a re-watch, but hell I hadn't seen the film since I was in Jr. High, which was over a decade ago). It felt like the first true film to really take note of what the silent era did right, but use sound to its advantage. I could see why this went over well back in 1930, it must have felt then what Saving Private Ryan felt like in 1998. Groundbreaking work all around. But Under the Roofs of Paris and Hell's Angels are not to be forgotten as well, both incredible films with some groundbreaking work both in sound, storytelling, and (at least for the latter) visual effects/ cinematography.
Anyway, here are my line-ups, feel free to show me yours as well (if you have any):
Best Picture: 01. All Quiet on the Western Front. 02. Under the Roofs of Paris. 03. Hell's Angels. 04. People on Sunday. 05. Animal Crackers. 06. The Blue Angel. 07. Earth. 08. City Girl. 09. L'Age d'Or. 10. Murder! ----------------- 11. That Night's Wife. 12. Juno and the Paycock.
Best Director: 01. Lewis Milestone - All Quiet on the Western Front. 02. Howard Hughes - Hell's Angels. 03. Rene Clair - Under the Roofs of Paris. 04. Aleksandr Dovzhenko - Earth. 05. Josef von Sternberg - The Blue Angel.
Best Actor: 01. Emil Jannings - The Blue Angel. 02. Lew Ayres - All Quiet on the Western Front. 03. Edward Chapman - Juno and the Paycock. 04. Herbert Marshall - Murder! 05. Albert Prejean - Under the Roofs of Paris.
Best Actress: 01. Mary Duncan - City Girl. 02. Emiko Yagumo - That Night's Wife. 03. Pola Illery - Under the Roofs of Paris.
Best Supporting Actor: 01. Groucho Marx - Animal Crackers. 02. Harpo Marx - Animal Crackers. 03. Ben Alexander - All Quiet on the Western Front. 04. Louis Wolheim - All Quiet on the Western Front. 05. Togo Yamamoto - That Night's Wife.
Best Supporting Actress: 01. Sara Allgood - Juno and the Paycock. 02. Marlene Dietrich - The Blue Angel. 03. Lya Lys - L'Age d'Or. 04. Jean Harlow - Hell's Angels. 05. Beryl Mercer - All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Original Screenplay: 01. Under the Roofs of Paris. 02. Earth. 03. L'Age d'Or. 04. People on Sunday.
Best Adapted Screenplay: 01. Animal Crackers. 02. All Quiet on the Western Front. 03. The Blue Angel. 04. Murder! 05. Hell's Angels.
Best Ensemble: 01. All Quiet on the Western Front. 02. Animal Crackers. 03. The Blue Angel. 04. Juno and the Paycock. 05. Under the Roofs of Paris.
Best Editing: Earth.
Best Cinematography: Under the Roofs of Paris.
Best Art Direction: All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Costume Design: All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Makeup: All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Visual Effects: Hell's Angels.
Best Sound Design: All Quiet on the Western Front.
Best Original Score: Under the Roofs of Paris.
Best Original Song: "Under the Roofs of Paris" - Under the Roofs of Paris.
This year marked my firsts for Marlene Dietrich, Rene Clair, Howard Hughes, Luis Bunuel, Aleksandr Dovzhenko, and Yasujiro Ozu. While I see the potential in a lot of them, the only ones to truly impress me this year were Clair and Hughes (and he only directed one other film in his lifetime, which is a shame). Also Animal Crackers was a much better film than The Cocoanuts and I can see myself being a fan of the Marx Brothers as time progresses. Not a bad year, but I'm hoping they worked out all the kinks of sound and started focusing on story again (which, from the looks of it, next year certainly seems lined up to be one of the best years in film ever).
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Post by stephen on Jun 25, 2017 21:52:04 GMT
I would like to suggest G.W. Pabst's Westfront 1918, which I had somehow never heard of until I watched it a month ago. It makes a phenomenal complementary film to Milestone's classic -- and from a German filmmaker's perspective to boot! If All Quiet is 1930's Saving Private Ryan, Westfront 1918 is that year's The Thin Red Line analogue. I still prefer All Quiet (it's in my Top 25 of all time), but definitely watch the Pabst before closing the book on 1930.
Oh, and Anna Christie and The Divorcee are musts as well this year. The former is when Greta Garbo truly became Greta Garbo, and Norma Shearer is electric in her Oscar-winning turn in the latter.
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Post by stephen on Jun 25, 2017 21:57:29 GMT
As for 1931, here are the must-sees:
M City Lights Mata Hari Frankenstein Dracula The Public Enemy Little Caesar Skippy Min and Bill The Maltese Falcon A Free Soul Svengali Tabu Bad Girl The Champ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde An American Tragedy Anna Christie (there are two versions, an English-language one in 1930 and the German-language one in ’31)
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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 25, 2017 21:58:26 GMT
stephenIt's a shame, I really wanted to watch Anna Christie, but couldn't find it anywhere (without having to pay of course, but I'm a cheapskate). Will most definitely get around to that (and The Divorcee at some point). As for Westfront 1918, I actually could've sworn that was actually a film from 1918. I must have skipped over it on my watch-list, but I do know it's on there. I'll certainly check that out. I liked Pabst's work on Pandora's Box, even if I felt it could be... "edgier" per se. I knew you were a fan of All Quiet so I thought you'd be happy with the result for this year.
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Post by stephen on Jun 25, 2017 22:03:06 GMT
stephen It's a shame, I really wanted to watch Anna Christie, but couldn't find it anywhere (without having to pay of course, but I'm a cheapskate). Will most definitely get around to that (and The Divorcee at some point). As for Westfront 1918, I actually could've sworn that was actually a film from 1918. I must have skipped over it on my watch-list, but I do know it's on there. I'll certainly check that out. I liked Pabst's work on Pandora's Box, even if I felt it could be... "edgier" per se. I knew you were a fan of All Quiet so I thought you'd be happy with the result for this year. Yeah, I initially thought it was a 1918 film that I had somehow overlooked and was ecstatic about it, as 1918 is easily one of the weaker years in my personal lineups. But it is a 1930 film, alas, and it's eclipsed in almost every category by All Quiet on the Western Front, but it is still a terrific picture in its own right. I'd have no problem hooking you up with some of the older films by, say, uploading them to my Vimeo account and sending you the link. Just let me know what you're keen to watch.
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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 25, 2017 22:10:07 GMT
stephenI would certainly appreciate that! I'll let you know if there are any I'm struggling to find. Currently, I think Public Enemy is the only one I've had difficulty with for next year, but the rest I have lined up one way or another. I just went through and I think I actually have all of those films in my watch-list (it seriously looks like such a great year, I might go over my ten film limit). The only two I've seen so far are Little Caesar and Dracula and both are great in drastically different ways. By the way, I love the signature under your avatar. I just read that review (having not seen the film, but I doubt I ever, ever will) and it's hilarious. And makes me worry about Trevorrow running the final Star Wars.
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Post by stephen on Jun 25, 2017 22:28:35 GMT
stephen I would certainly appreciate that! I'll let you know if there are any I'm struggling to find. Currently, I think Public Enemy is the only one I've had difficulty with for next year, but the rest I have lined up one way or another. I just went through and I think I actually have all of those films in my watch-list (it seriously looks like such a great year, I might go over my ten film limit). The only two I've seen so far are Little Caesar and Dracula and both are great in drastically different ways. By the way, I love the signature under your avatar. I just read that review (having not seen the film, but I doubt I ever, ever will) and it's hilarious. And makes me worry about Trevorrow running the final Star Wars. 1931 is a very good year. I mean, the Academy pretty well dropped the ball on Best Picture, but for the most part, there's a lot of good stuff. And you're edging close to the glory years of early Japanese cinema, which I'm definitely excited to recommend to you.
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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 25, 2017 22:33:42 GMT
stephenIt looks to be one of the best, honestly. I just hope it doesn't disappoint! I'll probably check out Cimarron just for shits and giggles, but yeah, seems pretty lame compared to just about every other film on my watch-list for that year. I'm pretty rough on most foreign cinema, so I'll be looking out for your recommendations for sure. Obviously Kurosawa and Ozu are musts and I have just about every one of their films on my watch-list, but I'll be sure to ask you for any others.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2017 22:37:00 GMT
What did you think of L'Age d'Or? I love Bunuel, and Un Chien Andalou is probably my favorite short film, so I was kinda anticipating a masterpiece with it. I ended up thinking it was just okay (possibly because of all the anticipation I had).
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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 26, 2017 2:09:32 GMT
@tepebenjamin
As you can see by it being so low on my list, I was pretty lukewarm on it myself. It's the first Bunuel I'd seen, but I learned a lot about him during a World Cinema course about half a year ago, and I know his work is pretty off-the-wall. I appreciate its sentiments about society and the caste system and what not, but it didn't feel like much of a movie to me. It probably didn't help that he and Dali had a falling out right as the film was about to be made, and I know their collaboration is what made Un Chien Andalou so strong, but this film just didn't work for me. Still, so so so much potential for greatness there in Bunuel, and I can see where David Lynch gets so much of his influence, so I'm excited to see more of his work. Also between this and Under the Roofs of Paris, I don't think Gaston Modot is that great of an actor... So seeing that he's in so much acclaimed work this decade kind of worries me (similar to my feelings of Alfred Abel in the 1920s, but at least he surprised me with his work in Metropolis, so maybe I'll be surprised). Lya Lys on the other hand is phenomenal and deserved a better co-star (even though I can't say this film really calls for strong acting).
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tobias
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Post by tobias on Jun 26, 2017 14:32:14 GMT
idioticbunny My personal top 10 looks somewhat like this: 1. People on Sunday 2. Le Roman de Renard 3. Earth 4. A Propos de Niche 5. All Quiet on the Western Front 6. L'age D'or 7. City Girl 8. Morocco 9. The Blue Angel 10. Tomatos Another Day I guess leaning a little more towards the avant-gardistic side. I personally think you would have enjoyed Morocco a lot. It's full on Sternberg but more polished than The Blue Angel. Le Roman de Renard is also one to come back to. As far as I'm concerned it's the first ever stop-motion feature film and it's actually my very favorite stop-motion film. The humor is very dark though (but it's also kind of a kids film, very weird). Cool to see you liked the Clair so much. I have to watch some of his feature films sometime (I'm most excited for Le Million), I've only seen his 2 famous silent shorts. As for '31 try not to miss Mädchen in Uniform. That's my #2 of the year (behind everybodys darling: M). La chienne, Die 3 Groschen-Oper, The Smiling Lieutenant & Tabu are also underappreciated (Tabu is probably the most unique among those). Edit: Oh and don't worry, Hitchcock, Ozu and Bunuel do get better (although I personally like L'age D'or quite a lot for how oddball it is). Hitchcock's 39 Steps is an absolute knockout as far as lovers on the run movies go, Ozu's I Was Born But... is every bit as fantastic as people say and even though Bunuel goes on a very long hiatus, I'm sure you'd enjoy his 1950 Los Olvidados which is a lot more down to earth.
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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 26, 2017 17:38:34 GMT
tobiasIt's a shame, I really wanted to watch Morocco, being a big von Sternberg fan over the past couple years, and I had bookmarked a copy of it and by the time I got around to watching it, it had disappeared and I couldn't find another. As for Le Roman de Renard, I'm wondering why you have it in 1931? It says it was released in Germany in 1937 and France 1941, but I honestly thought it was from 1930 (until I looked it up) because of the IMDB date next to it. I really wanted to see it but couldn't find it anywhere. It sounds right up my alley. Oh yes, definitely get around to some Clair (I mean, that is, if his other films live up to Under the Roofs of Paris). That film honestly made me think it must have inspired just about every French director, or anyone who has an idea of France, because it's such a warm, pleasant movie (even despite its slightly heartbreaking turn about 2/3 of the way through) and that's all due to Clair. The writing needs some work, but his direction is perfect. Would've been my win easily if not for the fantastic, groundbreaking stuff from Milestone and Hughes. It's sad too, I wanted to watch Le Million as well, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I'm settling for A Nous la Liberte which thankfully is on FilmStruck (along with Threepenny Opera, Limite, and La Chienne, so I'll be getting my fill of foreign cinema). I actually just finished Tabu and Madchen in Uniform yesterday, and both are very unique, but I'll discuss them more when I finish up the year so I can have some clear thoughts on the films. I couldn't find The Smiling Lieutenant anywhere either, so I'll be having to skip that for the time being. Seems a lot of Lubitsch is hard to find - makes it seem like I'm always avoiding his films but I promise I'm not! Haha. Hitchcock is actually my favorite director, which is why I've been adding all of his films to the mix because while he's my favorite, I've only seen about half of his output, so I wanted to finally see every film he's made. Amazingly, the only pre- Rebecca film of his I've seen is 39 Steps, and I wasn't as big of a fan as the rest, but I'm happy to re-watch it now that I've kind of delved into more 1920s/30s work. I'm sure it was just jarring to see the Hitchcock I loved from Vertigo and Psycho with far less technological advancements, so I have a feeling I'll love it a lot more then. Excited for The Lady Vanishes, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Sabotage as well. As for Ozu and Bunuel, I think this is another case like Murnau or Dreyer where their earlier work isn't reflective of their genius later on, though it shows the potential is there. I've seen some lengthy clips of Bunuel's later work and it seems right up my alley, so I'm excited. Ozu I haven't seen a lot from, but obviously Tokyo Story is a fan favorite around here, so I'll be sure to check out I Was Born But....
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Post by Joaquim on Jun 26, 2017 18:42:42 GMT
stephen It's a shame, I really wanted to watch Anna Christie, but couldn't find it anywhere (without having to pay of course, but I'm a cheapskate). Will most definitely get around to that (and The Divorcee at some point). As for Westfront 1918, I actually could've sworn that was actually a film from 1918. I must have skipped over it on my watch-list, but I do know it's on there. I'll certainly check that out. I liked Pabst's work on Pandora's Box, even if I felt it could be... "edgier" per se. I knew you were a fan of All Quiet so I thought you'd be happy with the result for this year. Yeah, I initially thought it was a 1918 film that I had somehow overlooked and was ecstatic about it, as 1918 is easily one of the weaker years in my personal lineups. But it is a 1930 film, alas, and it's eclipsed in almost every category by All Quiet on the Western Front, but it is still a terrific picture in its own right. I'd have no problem hooking you up with some of the older films by, say, uploading them to my Vimeo account and sending you the link. Just let me know what you're keen to watch. Think you can hook me up with some Vimeo links too? I'm just collecting links right now for when I get around to watching these older films and there's lots I haven't been able to find from my usual online resources.
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tobias
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Post by tobias on Jun 26, 2017 20:14:03 GMT
tobias It's a shame, I really wanted to watch Morocco, being a big von Sternberg fan over the past couple years, and I had bookmarked a copy of it and by the time I got around to watching it, it had disappeared and I couldn't find another. As for Le Roman de Renard, I'm wondering why you have it in 1931? It says it was released in Germany in 1937 and France 1941, but I honestly thought it was from 1930 (until I looked it up) because of the IMDB date next to it. I really wanted to see it but couldn't find it anywhere. It sounds right up my alley. Oh yes, definitely get around to some Clair (I mean, that is, if his other films live up to Under the Roofs of Paris). That film honestly made me think it must have inspired just about every French director, or anyone who has an idea of France, because it's such a warm, pleasant movie (even despite its slightly heartbreaking turn about 2/3 of the way through) and that's all due to Clair. The writing needs some work, but his direction is perfect. Would've been my win easily if not for the fantastic, groundbreaking stuff from Milestone and Hughes. It's sad too, I wanted to watch Le Million as well, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I'm settling for A Nous la Liberte which thankfully is on FilmStruck (along with Threepenny Opera, Limite, and La Chienne, so I'll be getting my fill of foreign cinema). I actually just finished Tabu and Madchen in Uniform yesterday, and both are very unique, but I'll discuss them more when I finish up the year so I can have some clear thoughts on the films. I couldn't find The Smiling Lieutenant anywhere either, so I'll be having to skip that for the time being. Seems a lot of Lubitsch is hard to find - makes it seem like I'm always avoiding his films but I promise I'm not! Haha. Hitchcock is actually my favorite director, which is why I've been adding all of his films to the mix because while he's my favorite, I've only seen about half of his output, so I wanted to finally see every film he's made. Amazingly, the only pre- Rebecca film of his I've seen is 39 Steps, and I wasn't as big of a fan as the rest, but I'm happy to re-watch it now that I've kind of delved into more 1920s/30s work. I'm sure it was just jarring to see the Hitchcock I loved from Vertigo and Psycho with far less technological advancements, so I have a feeling I'll love it a lot more then. Excited for The Lady Vanishes, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Sabotage as well. As for Ozu and Bunuel, I think this is another case like Murnau or Dreyer where their earlier work isn't reflective of their genius later on, though it shows the potential is there. I've seen some lengthy clips of Bunuel's later work and it seems right up my alley, so I'm excited. Ozu I haven't seen a lot from, but obviously Tokyo Story is a fan favorite around here, so I'll be sure to check out I Was Born But.... Oh, that must have been the Morocco copy I watched. That's a shame. Here's a copy of Le Roman de Renard, you only have to slap subtitles over it (there's also another Starewicz short film at the end of it): The release date is a little weird. I belive 1930 is when it was actually finished. 1937 was the real first public screaning. They had problems with the soundtrack apparently. A lot of Lubitsch's stuff has been sitting on dailymotion for years. Here's the simling lieutenant for instance: You should be able to find most of his other famous stuff aswell. The Lady Vanishes is excellent. The Man Who Knew too Much is better than the remake imo. 39 Steps has to be my favorite british Hitchcock film though.
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Post by idioticbunny on Jun 26, 2017 21:00:06 GMT
Thanks for the links! I'll probably place Le Roman de Renard under 1937, but I'll be sure to add that link for when I get there. I typically check Dailymotion as a last ditch effort ( save torrents... ), but couldn't find it before. Must not have looked hard enough. Thanks! I own all three of them (plus Foreign Correspondent) as part of a Hitchcock Blu-ray collection through Criterion, so I'm definitely going to check them out when I get to their respective years.
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Post by taranofprydain on Jun 27, 2017 23:04:04 GMT
All Quiet on the Western Front is a masterpiece.
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