1930s

  • Michael Curtiz – The Walking Dead (1936)

    USA1931-1940CrimeHorrorMichael Curtiz

    Down-on-his-luck John Ellman is framed for a judge’s murder. After he’s convicted and sentenced to death, witnesses come forth and prove his innocence. But it was too late for a stay to be granted and Ellman is executed. A doctor uses an experimental procedure to restore him to life, though the full outcome is other than expected.Read More »

  • René Clair – Quatorze juillet AKA Bastille Day (1933)

    1931-1940ComedyFranceRené ClairRomance

    Quote:
    René Clair, the most distinguished of the French motion-picture directors, is one of the great men of the cinema. His triumphant photoplays, Sous les toits de Paris, Le Million and, the finest of them all, A nous la liberté, stand among the genuine classics of the films. Now M. Clair, who has tried cheerful sentiment in Sous les toits, farce in Le Million, and brilliant social satire in A nous la liberté, gives up some of his adventurousness and returns to the quiet romantic mood of his earliest success in the new work called Quatorze juillet (“Fourteenth of July”). Read More »

  • Damian Kocur & Anastasiia Solonevych – As It Was (2023)

    2021-2030Anastasiia SolonevychDramaPolandShort Film

    Lera has been living in Berlin for almost a year since the outbreak of the full scale invasion in Ukraine. Lera does not feel well in Berlin and makes an impulsive decision to go back to Kyiv for the first time since the war started. On her way, Lera finds out that her family is not in Kyiv and won’t arrive until the next day. So she meets her friend Kyrylo, with whom she spends the day, just like before the war. Next morning, Lera meets her mother and sister. She finally feels at home, but still doubts whether she will stay in Kyiv or go back to Berlin.Read More »

  • Elizabeth Woodman Wright – Windy Ledge Farm (1932)

    1931-1940DocumentaryElizabeth Woodman WrightExperimentalUSA

    Quote:
    Simple title cards link ten home movies shot at Maine’s Windy Ledge Farm, at a neighbor’s place, and visiting the Brownes in Chocorua, New Hampshire. We watch an uncle mow, farm hands haying with the White Mountains in the background, various young children playing, a lad holding his cat while carrying milk cans on a yoke, a pointer stalking a cat, the annual burning of brush and rubbish, and a montage of chores and relaxation on the farm. The last shot is of spring, a flag in the background. The films are sweet and straightforward, with clear black and white images.Read More »

  • Marc Allégret – Zou Zou (1934)

    Marc Allégret1931-1940CrimeFranceMusical

    Zou Zou tries to help her childhood friend prove his innocence after he’s accused of murder.Read More »

  • José Bohr – Una luz en mi camino (1939)

    1931-1940DramaJosé BohrMexico

    In a small city, talented María was trained as a singer by blind composer Narciso. They both dream of making it big in the capital but, when they finally make the move, they find that success is not achieved without struggles.Read More »

  • Lewis Jacobs – Footnote to Fact (1933)

    1931-1940DocumentaryExperimentalLewis JacobsUSA

    Quote:
    “This is one part of a proposed four-part film intended to document the Great Depression that was to be called AS I WALK. The other parts were never completed; consequently, FOOTNOTE TO FACT must stand alone. The film was to be post-synchronized, using sound in a stream-of-consciousness technique.” – Lewis JacobsRead More »

  • Rudy Burckhardt – Haiti (1938)

    1931-1940DocumentaryExperimentalRudy BurckhardtUSA

    Quote:
    “Burckhardt’s travelogue of Port-au-Prince is a unique city symphony whose pace and rhythm favor tropical island life. He does not focus on voodoo but on Haiti’s daily life, neighbors, jokes, gossip, small dramas, Saturday night dances, and ghost stories,” evoking a place where time seems to stand still.” – Bruce PosnerRead More »

  • Archie Mayo – The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935)

    Archie Mayo1931-1940ClassicsMysteryUSA

    Frank Patton is the promoter of the Lucky Legs Contest. The problem is that he always skips town before paying the $1000 to the winner. Mr. Bradbury, suitor of Cloverdale winner Margie, hires intoxicated Perry Mason to find Frank. Perry knows the scheme that Patton is using and has Spudsy find him, but Frank is dead when Perry arrives. The how is a surgeons scalpel, but the who is not yet known.Read More »

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