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January 01, 2009
Ten Best Movies of 2008, Part II
Once again, Seraphic Secret is taking a short break from blogging the Gaza war to look back at the Ten Best Movies I screened in 2008. I have to admit that I did not see one contemporary release that comes close to the quality and passion of these older films. And keep in mind that most of these classic studio movies were produced on modest budgets, never intended as studio blockbusters. These ten products of Hollywood's golden age are what Hollywood used to do best: solid, unpretentious entertainment.
William Boyd, Mary Astor, Louis Wolheim in
Two Arabian Knights.
4. Two Arabian Knights, (1927), produced by Howard Hughes, Directed by Lewish Milestone, starring William Boyd, Louis Wolheim , who was fluent in Yiddish, and Mary Astor. Winner of the Oscar for Best Comedy Direction in 1927, the first and last time that category was included in the Oscar ceremonies. This hilarious and beautifully crafted movie was immensely popular with the public. Until quite recently, it was considered a lost classic, and then the negative was unearthed among the Howard Hughes archive. Boyd, the future Hopalong Cassidy, unbelievably young and matinee idol handsome, is paired with Louis Wolheim—his trademark broken nose is like a potato glued between his eyes—are squabbling WWI doughboys, captured by the Germans. They escape to Constantinople and there compete for the affections of an Arabian princess, the stunning Mary Astor. The script by Donald McGibney Wallace Smith Cyril Gardner James T. O'Donohoe and, whew, George Marion Jr. is tight and liberally sprinkled with brilliant sight gags. A sparkling pleasure from beginning to end.
3. Blonde Crazy (1931) starring Jimmy Cagney, and Joan Blondell, Directed by Roy Del Ruth. Wonderful and clever film about two con artists, the manic Jimmy Cagney, and the sexy, wisecracking Joan Blondell. Most of their victims are low-life crooks and con artists. But Cagney is tempted by a big score to become an outright thief, breaking the code Blondell holds dear. Like most movies, this is a love story. Cagney is all jangling nerves, constantly looking for the next mark, while the wide-eyed Joan Blondell waits for her partner in crime to realize that this partnership can yield only love or heartbreak. Blondell was one of the hardest working actresses in Hollywood. Born poor, to vaudeville performers—her father's real name was Blustein—she clawed her way to the top and never took her fame or good fortune for granted. For a few months Blondell was shooting so many films simultaneously—Blondell appeared in more Warner Bros. films than any other actress— she finally checked into a hotel and slept for three days straight.
Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones in Cluny Brown.
2. Cluny Brown, (1946) with Jennifer Jones and Charles Boyer. This was director Ernst Lubitch’s last film. The Lubitch touch is most in evidence with Jennifer Jone's light-as-air performance as Cluny, a poor young beauty who is sent away by her uncle to “work respectable” as a maid in the English countryside. You see, Cluny is a passionate plumber, and everywhere she goes in polite society people are shocked, just shocked by Cluny's commitment to good plumbing. There's a great moment when Cluny confronts an overflowing sink, rolls up her sleeves, and then all business, rolls down her stockings to attack the problem. Charles Boyer stares in disbelief, and then his expression softens and love settles into his heart. Jennifer Jones won an Oscar for her fine work in Song of Bernadette, but as everyone in the movie business knows, comedy is harder than drama and here Jones is just incandescent. Cluny Brown, not often screened, is a gentle comedy and an irresistible love story that should be seen by everyone who loves movies.
1. Bombshell, (1933) Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Una Merkel and Franchot Tone. Harlow plays Harlow. That's what this film is really about. Harlow, all wisecracks and fed-up with Hollywood's merry-go-round insanity, is Lola Burns, a Hollywood sexpot. Her father and brother are always looking for handouts, and the studio publicity flack cooks up outrageous publicity stunts to add heat to an overheated reputation as a smoldering blonde bombshell. Harlow, a hugely appealing and gifted comedienne, delivers the best most energized performance of her career. In truth, like Lola, Harlow yearned for a normal life, a husband and children, but was thwarted by bad judgment in men, and a monstrously overbearing mother who controlled every aspect of her daughter's life and career. The great director Victor Fleming with ace screenwriters John Lee Mahin and Jules Furthman cooked up this Hollywood tale as a thinly disguised look at Fleming's former lover, silent film star Clara Bow. Fleming observed that Bow's life, on the surface was Hollywood glamorous, but when Bow went home at night, her mansion was filled with dog droppings and her deeply unstable family soaked her for every penny she earned. Bombshell is actually a screwball comedy before Hollywood invented that most entertaining genre.
Here's Part I of my Ten Best of 2008.
My close friend Dirty Harry agrees with Seraphic Secret, the New York Times review of Valkyrie, reveals a severely broken moral compass.
And hey, let's start a list of The IDF's Greatest Hits of the Gaza War. Here's #1.
This calls for another BB morale booster for our troops:
My friends Jameel and Aussie Dave brilliantly live-blog the war. I suggest a Pulitzer Prize for both, but we all know that only politically correct liberals are ever in the running.
And heeeeer's hard-working Jack with Gaza Round-up 5.5. Somebody treat this man to lunch at Pico Kosher Deli.
Seraphic Secret volunteers.
The IDF has a You Tube account where you can screen their latest blockbusters.
Oh man, definitely need yet one more BB morale booster. Posted by Robert J. Avrech at January 1, 2009 01:09 PM If BB is considered Politically Incorrect then she os OK in my book... Posted by: Bill at January 1, 2009 10:19 PM Update number 6 coming soon. Posted by: Jack at January 1, 2009 11:39 PM
Here's the current rocket range of those pesky Hamas missiles the dinosaur media is so sanguine about. Tel-Aviv is next. No wonder Israel finally went to war. H/T The Muqata
BB says: “Hang tough, Israel. We're in this together.” Comments
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