1931-1940

  • Joseph H. Lewis & Crane Wilbur – Navy Spy (1937)

    1931-1940ActionCrane WilburCrimeJoseph H. LewisUSA

    Synopsis
    A group of international and American criminals are trying to learn the secret formula of a concentrated vapor fuel invented by a U. S. Navy officer, Lieutenant Dan Carrington.Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Jenny (1936)

    1931-1940DramaFranceMarcel Carné

    Jenny is the manager of a night club which harbours dubious activities. Her lover, Lucien, has been dragged into the gang against his will. A man called Benoit is resolved to put an end to the affair between Jenny and Lucien, and employs a hunch-backed accomplice nicknamed Dromadaire. Danielle, Jenny’s daughter, is deserted by her fiancé because of her mother’s life, and finds out the truth ; she confides in Lucien. The two fall in love and decide to go away together. Lucien tells Jenny he is going to break with her, and then is badly injured and taken to hospital after a fight with Benoit. Jenny goes to visit him, and Lucien explains that he is in love with a young lady, whose identity Jenny guesses.Read More »

  • John English & William Witney – King of the Royal Mounted (1940)

    1931-1940AdventureJohn EnglishUSAWarWilliam Witney

    Plot:
    In World War II, the Nazis require a special mineral, Compound X, discovered in Canada. Although intended to cure paralysis, the Nazis have discovered that it can be used in magnetic mines to destroy the British fleet and blockade America to prevent it assisting the Allies. The Mounties discover this plot and work to defeat and capture the Nazi spies sent to obtain the ore. Sgt King’s father is killed in the line of duty, saving his son from death on a circular saw, and leaving him to carry on the fight against the enemy.Read More »

  • Maurice Lehmann & Claude Autant-Lara – Fric-Frac (1939)

    1931-1940Claude Autant-LaraComedyCrimeFranceMaurice Lehmann

    Synopsis:
    Marcel works as assistant to a jeweller whose bossy daughter Renée keeps hitting on him. When he meets lovely Loulou and her lazy friend Jo, he is fascinated by the girl and somehow attracted by their world : Loulou and Jo are crooks. As Marcel naively tries to bring some morality in their lives, the pair turn him into an unwilling accomplice in the robbery of his boss’s jewels.Read More »

  • Carol Reed – Penny Paradise (1938)

    Carol Reed1931-1940ComedyUnited Kingdom

    A Liverpool tug boat captain finds he’s won a fortune on the penny pools and it changes his life. However, after giving up his job and throwing a large expensive party, he discovers that he may not really have won after all.Read More »

  • Robert Bresson – Affaires publiques AKA Public Affairs (1934)

    France1931-1940ArthouseRobert BressonShort Film

    Quote:
    Bresson’s first film is, totally uncharacteristically, a slapstick comedy, centred around two neighbouring republics, Crogandia and Miremia, and the various disasters that befall the ceremonial unveiling of a statue, the launching of a ship, and the crash-landing of a Miremian pilot in Crogandian territory.Read More »

  • Charley Chase & Harold Law – Life Hesitates at 40 (1935)

    1931-1940Charley ChaseClassicsHarold LawShort FilmUSA

    IMDB:
    Charley finds himself having strange spells during which everything around him seems to stop.Read More »

  • Lowell Sherman – Ladies of the Jury (1932)

    Lowell Sherman1931-1940ComedyMysteryUSA

    Edna May Oliver’s success in this film helped convince RKO to cast her in The Penguin Pool Murder as Hildegarde Withers, which led to a brief series.

    Plot Synopsis:
    Edna May Oliver portrays a society dowager called for jury duty on a murder trial wherein a pretty young woman is accused of killing her older husband. She takes her job quite seriously, and soon is playing both “prosecutor” and “DA” with judge and witnesses alike. In this unorthodox but highly entertaining fashion, Ms. Oliver gets to the truth and exposes the genuine murderer before the final fade-out. Incidentally, despite the title, there are gentlemen on the jury, but all eyes are on the formidable Ms. Oliver. Ladies of the Jury was remade in 1937 as We’re on the Jury, with Helen Broderick in the Edna May Oliver role. by Hal EricksonRead More »

  • Boris Barnet – Okraina aka Outskirts (1933)

    Boris Barnet1931-1940ComedyUSSRWarWorld War One

    Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote:
    The first sound film by Boris Barnet, one of the least seen and appreciated masters of the Russian cinema, this 1933 feature follows the impact of World War I on a village. Barnet takes nothing for granted, using sound as no one else had before or since and in the process reinventing the way we experience silence as well as sound. His view of war is expressed in uncanny emotional registers: scenes that begin tragically end comically and vice versa, and one of the more touching story lines involves a woman who falls in love with a German prisoner. Adapted by Barnet and Konstantin Finn from Finn’s novel, this is strong and indelible.Read More »

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