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Re: Best films of 1939 (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray,  in Movies
I hold John Wayne in higher regard as an actor than many, though I don't think it is culpable to not be a John Wayne fan. "Elizabeth and Essex" is not on my list. "Stagecoach" probably should be, though I chose a different John Ford movie from 1939.
I am a Joseph Callea fan, BTW. I am not a Basil Rathbone fan. I think that la Davis was often hammy, but Rathbone always was.
You are free to post your own list. I think it would be an interesting one.
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Mar 15 '08
9:56 am PDT
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Best films of 1939 (Reply to this comment)
by levotb1
I don't agree with Mr. Murray at all. He completely left out two genre-making films from '39--"The Hound Of The Baskervilles" and "Five Came Back". While not necessarily THE greatest of all the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films, "Hound" had enough mystery and creepiness in it to satisfy most Fright Night moviegoers. Perhaps some didn't like the film because the dog gets killed in the end! But the ONE film I can't believe Mr. Murray left off his list was one of early, great film noirs--"Five Came Back". While certainly NOT a "pleasant" film, like all great film noirs, it had its lighter moments. How could Mr. Murray not mention that this was character actor Joseph Callea's (an opera singer-turned actor) best roles? Or Lucille Ball's best role? Or Wendy Barrie's best? Or Chester Morris' best? Or C. Aubrey Smith's best? Even "Quiet, please!" Allan Jenkins best? Even Kent Taylor and Patrick Knowles were terrific! And I'm not even mentioning John Carradine. The props and sets were cheap, being RKO, so to compare it to GWTW would be a little ridiculous. They screwed up bigtime by using white men's feet at the end when the Javarro head shrinkers were closing in on Callea! Yet even the music, a march by the great Roy Webb, was great! I think two of the scariest films ever made were "Hound" and "Five Came Back". I had bad dreams of years after seeing both of those films.
That Mr. Murray didn't put "Stagecoach" in the top 5 of 1939 shows he's not a Wayne fan and probably didn't watch the film more than once. I've seen that film over 100 times and it's just as good now as it was when I first watched it. It WAS THE greatest character actor film of all time--that one and 1946's "It's A Wonderful Life". Because most reviewers are leftists or at the very least liberals, it is no wonder that Wayne's films--even his best, "Stagecoach"--are not on most lists. In "Stagecoach", every character actor is fantastic in his/her own way. You actually feel as though you KNOW the characters and by the end of the film, you do.
I disagree that "Dark Victory" or any of Bette Davis' films of 1939 were "great films". A terrible actor who blinked when he spoke on camera brought down "Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex". While Bette was great in it, the film itsself was not. She was good in "The Old Maid" and "Dark Victory", but they were hardly her best roles. "Of Human Bondage" had been her greatest role to that point. George Brent, while we sympathized with his character in "Dark Victory" kept the film from being a great one.
I hardly consider ANY of the "Mr. Smith" films to be "great" ones. Capra's and Jimmy Stewart's best film ("It's A Wonderful Life") was yet to come. How Mr. Murray could pick "Juarez"--one of the worst films made because it wasted the talents of such gifted actors as Davis, Ahern and Muni--over "Stagecoach" is beyond me, except in the terms I discuss above (re: Hollywood sentiment against Wayne). Nor do I consider "Wuthering Heights" to be a great film. Oberon brought down many films and Olivier never seemed "right" doing non-Shakespearian roles.
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Mar 14 '08
10:27 pm PDT
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I Like How You Zeroed In On A Year... (Reply to this comment)
by AinsleyJo
...and what a year!!! This is when my mom graduated from high school!
But it was quite a year historically, too--and was the year that The World's Fair was first held in New York.
I'll have to look up this year and see just how many historic/cultural/etc. major events took place then.
Kudos!
AJ :o)
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Dec 10 '04
7:45 am PST
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yup (Reply to this comment)
by garym
What a year! I wonder how much the war set back the progress of films.
Insightful and enjoyable review.
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Sep 06 '02
2:21 pm PDT
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yup (Reply to this comment)
by garym
What a year! I wonder how much the war set back the progress of films.
Insightful and enjoyable review.
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Sep 06 '02
2:21 pm PDT
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yup (Reply to this comment)
by garym
What a year! I wonder how much the war set back the progress of films.
Insightful and enjoyable review.
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Sep 06 '02
2:18 pm PDT
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Re: Wonder why... (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray, in Movies
1938 was a better film year globally. If I did a 1938 list it would have Alexander Nevsky, The Lady Vanishes, and Drums, and Pygmalion.
Speaking of Brits, Olivia de Haviland's father was one, but she was born in Tokyo and moved to California at age 3 and went to Mills College in Oakland, so I'd count her as "American."
"The Women" is one of the 10 most entertaining movies of 1939 but has no particular visual flair.
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Aug 31 '02
9:08 am PDT
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Re: Good job (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray, in Movies
Thanks. Have you seen Heddy Lamar in "Algiers"? Leigh was a great actress as well as a great beauty (and Scarlett a great role).
Fonda was very good as the young lawyer and his discomfort with jingoism seems especially apropos right now.
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Aug 30 '02
4:06 pm PDT
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Re: One thing to keep in mind about "Gone With the Wind"... (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray, in Movies
I did include it, though it's more ofltural phenomenon than a good movie (like "Star Wars"), ahead of movies I like more, including The Fourt Feathers, The Women, Stagecoach, and Dark Victory.
The shot of the wounded was famously dismissed by D. W. Griffiths. The fire was a big conflagration, but was not filmed with any visual acuity. What is great is Vivien Leigh, followed by Clark Gable, but many of the other characters are impossible stereotypes (Leslie Howard and Olivia de Haviland were not slouches as actors, but Wilkes and Melanie are beyond them or anyone else).
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Aug 30 '02
4:03 pm PDT
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One thing to keep in mind about "Gone With the Wind"... (Reply to this comment)
by NFP
...before raking it too much over the coals, is to consider the awe with which audiences received the scenes in which Atlanta burns, and the aerial shot of the thousands of wounded troops being treated. Both those two moments w-- among several others -- were quite remarkable feats of technology and production at the time, and helped make the movie memorable. I'm willing to overlook a lot of desderved nit-picking in order to laud the achievements of this epic, which truly redfined the term for Hollywood, I think.
cheers,
nick
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Aug 30 '02
2:58 pm PDT
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