It’s amazing in retrospect just how long it took Humphrey Bogart’s career to launch: literally several years and a few dozen movies. One of his underrated films is 1939’s You Can’t Get Away with Murder. Here he is top billed, but…
Read more →1930s Movies
Classic 1930s movie reviews, movie articles and information. Movie reviews from classic movies from 1930 to 1939, the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Ernst Lubitsch Films Noel Coward: Design for Living
Fredric March was already an Oscar winner and a newly minted Hollywood star when he co-starred with Miriam Hopkins and Gary Cooper in Ernst Lubitsch’s 1933 adaptation of the Noel Coward play Design for Living. In 1929, when all the major…
Read more →John Gilbert: The Artist
John Gilbert was a silent screen star whose specialty was hot-house, throbbing romance. He was a great star in the 1920s who, with the advent of sound, crashed and burned and sunk steadily into despair and ruin. Sound familiar? If…
Read more →Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Frank Capra’s classic American Academy Award-nominated political drama starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur is reviewed. Guest blogger Kim Wilson asks some tough questions about politics.
Read more →Bringing Up Baby (1938): A Classic Movie Review
Bringing Up Baby (1938) As one of the most delightful screwball comedies of the 1930s, Bringing Up Baby has been enjoyed by generations and all ages. Directed by Howard Hawks, it is the story of befuddled boy meets impulsive girl…
Read more →An Intermezzo with the Beautiful Ingrid Bergman
World-renowned Swedish violinist Holger Brandt (Gosta Ekman) knows what he is about to do is wrong, but he does it anyway, and invites gifted student pianist Anita Hoffman (Ingrid Bergman) out for a “late dinner and wine” after they meet—not…
Read more →Modern Times (1936): Movie Review
Guest blogger Simon Columb writes: Charlie Chaplin, above anything, was controversial. He was an artist who, through his success, shook the tree and commented on American freedom (The Immigrant) using a character known as “The Little Tramp.” Modern Times remains…
Read more →Who’s Your Top ’30s/’40s Non-Holmes Film Series Sleuth?
From Johann Strauss to George Gershwin: Music! Music! Music!
The focus of Rhapsody in Blue (1945) is the incredible story and classic music of George Gershwin, whose short life ended at age 39, just a few years before this film was made. The bio-drama from Warner Brothers. stars Robert…
Read more →The Toast of New York (1937)
Guest blogger Jacqueline Lynch writes: “The Toast of New York” (1937) turns character actor Edward Arnold into a romantic lead. This alone makes this uneven movie a delight. Based on the true life and financial skullduggery of 19th-century entrepreneur James…
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