1931-1940

“The Opium Den, from 1935, follows. Three jacked-up junkies pretend to bugger each other with sausages, dildos, and bananas. Lucky for them a lady shows up to provide them a heterosexual outlet for their desires. Oddly, they spend an inordinate amount of time smoking, laughing, and fiddling with their disguises. Yes, these folks are wearing fake noses, heavy make-up, and glasses. Their disguises lay bear the reality of how taboo pornography must’ve been in the 1930’s, especially when one considers the setting for their sexcapades, an opium den. Only junkies and degenerates have illicit sex and take illicit drugs, right? Well, at least the conflation of drugs and sex probably made the “upstanding” middle-class consumers of this stuff feel superior to the bodies projected on their walls. Eventually everyone gets nude, two of the men leave, and a chunky fellow slides his long screwdriver into The Night Mare. The fucking is pretty hot, The Night Mare seems to have mysterious gripping powers inside of her vagina–she almost consumes and spits out the junkie’s cock with every thrust. The junkie pulls out and ejaculates all over himself.”Read More »

The Lady and the Beard, directed by Yasujiro Ozu and starring Tokihiko Okada, is a charming light comedy about a young man who graduates from college, falls in love, shaves his beard at his lady’s suggestion, and finds a job. It’s very charming, and very light. Even my brief summary suggests more plot than actually exists. The film is largely a series of comic vignettes about a vibrant young man and three young women of differing temperaments who take an interest in him. [commentarytrack.com]
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David Kier, one of the thieves in a sensational jewel robbery and subsequent trial, is set free when the turns King’s Evidence on the other members. Kier refuses to give reporter Simon Drake an interview, as Simon thinks he will probably be killed by other gang members, but Simon makes note of his address. Simon is fired by his city editor, MacGregor, for failing to cover another assignment and the editor says he would not believe Kier’s murder if reported by Simon even if it happened. Simon returns home and is persuaded by his wife Pat to have a drink or two. The tipsy Simon, as a joke, telephones Sim and tells him that Kier has just been murdered, and the excited Sim hangs up before Simon can explain it is just a joke.Read More »

Brief Synopsis:
Shirley’s last film on her 20th Century Fox contract (aged 12). Her parents (Oakie, Greenwood) decide to retire from show biz so she can have a normal life. They are unwelcome in the small town until a storm lets the family show their stuff. Clips from earlier films fill in Shirley’s background.Read More »

Plot:
Coquettish socialite Kay Elliott has set her cap for Alan Ward, an associate in her father’s law firm. But while pursuing Alan, she must fend off the advances of a greedy fortune-hunter, who is aided and abetted by his equally voracious sister.Read More »

Synopsis:

‘Lena Bergstrom works in an office and is unhappily in love with her boss, Johan Borg. She decides to quit. Borg’s wife won’t have any children, and when she becomes pregnant she has an illegal abortion. For some reason, Lena’s father believes that it is Lena who has had an abortion.’
– Mattias Thuresson (IMDb)Read More »

2011 restoration by La Cinémathèque Française of the re-edited sound version of Abel Gance’s 1927 epic silent film “Napoleon”.

French language only, no english subtitles.
One of the most high-profile casualties of the transition from silent to sound cinema was the French filmmaker Abel Gance. In the silent era, Gance had proven himself to be as great a cineaste as the other legendary pioneers of cinema, D.W. Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein, through a series of groundbreaking masterpieces that included J’accuse! (1919), La Roue (1923) and Napoléon (1927). It was the latter film that was to earn Gance particular acclaim and lasting recognition as one of the architects of cinema art, a five hour visionary epic that presented the early career of Napoléon Bonaparte with a visual artistry and panache that is, to this day, virtually unrivalled.Read More »

Comedy-mystery featuring Nick and Nora Charles: a former detective and his rich, playful wife. They solve a murder case mostly for the fun of it. Young Dorothy Wynant approaches amateur sleuth Nick Charles when her inventor father appears to be a major suspect in a murder case. In fact, Dorothy is so worried about her father’s guilt that she tries to convince Nick that she did it. Nick’s wife Nora wants him on the case so that she can experience some of the excitement herself. However, Nick is reluctant to get involved until he sees that police Lt. Guild is coming to the wrong conclusions. Nick decides that the best way to clear up the case is to invite all the suspects to dinner with Lt. Guild and see what happens..
imdbRead More »

From the AFI Catalog:

Quote:
The working title of this film was Marry the Girl. MPH’s “In the Cutting Room” adds Sidney Jarvis to the cast, and HR production charts add Eric Blore, Rose Coghlan, Lloyd Ingraham and Jack Adair to the cast. Eric Blore’s participation in the final film is doubtful, while the participation of the others has not been confirmed. RKO borrowed Robert Young from M-G-M for the film. The Bride Walks Out was Edward Small’s first production for RKO. Small was formerly the production head of Reliance Pictures.Read More »