Adam’s Rib (1949)

Oh dear. It’s probably not good when you watch a film and then need to look up what genres it’s supposed to belong to, just to be sure. Adam’s Rib is allegedly a comedy, drama and romance. It’s not funny or romantic and the drama is awful.

Show People (1928)

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wonderful. Being humbled can be a wonderful and exciting experience. I’m watching films to find out about them as well as for entertainment. I’d never even heard of Marion Davies before but she’s really great in Show People. She’s in other films, too, many of which look to be worth pursuing. Taking that step to knowing more, but also knowing you knew so little really can be exciting!

Holiday (1938)

Of the three Grant/Hepburn collaborations I’ve seen, Holiday is the weakest. That’s not saying much about its weaknesses, however, as the other two are The Philadelphia Story (1940) and the riotously funny, off-the-wall Bringing Up Baby (1938 – evidently a busy year for both).

The Rains Came (1939)

The Rains Came has some very impressive special effects. This took me completely by surprise since I was only watching it as a Myrna Loy film. It deservedly won an Academy Award for its special effects and they still hold up today.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967)

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is about prejudice. Not just based on colour but on age, too. Many characters are carrying around some sort of prejudice, whether they know it or not, just like in real life. The narrative is a very contrived one, but it’s something that can largely be forgiven and ignored considering what we get: a very powerful and gripping film about people talking to each other.

The Kennel Murder Case (1932)

Philo Vance has been around the block a few times. The star of Twelve novels and fifteen films (as well as radio and TV series), his speciality is murder cases. All twelve novels are named “The X Murder Case” and all but two of those was adapted to film at least once. The Kennel Murder case is his sixth outing, but fifth film. It features William Powell as the detective for the fourth and last time. The first four Philo Vance films were among the earliest talkies and were all released over a fourteen-month period. If they’d kept making them at that rate there’d be 298 of them by the beginning of 2016!

Lonesome (1928)

“Gee, it’s funny how lonesome a fella can be… especially with a million people around him.”

Lonesome is such a sweet film. It depicts the business of modern life: getting up for work; commuting; putting in a long, chaotic day; chatting to friends afterwards about weekend plans; saying goodbye as they pair off; going back to your apartment to kill time… alone. It’s serious, it’s fun, it’s sweet, it’s beautiful. It’s Modern Times without the slapstick. It’s the film I expected Modern Times to be. It delivers.

A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)

Very sad. While Laurel & Hardy had a couple of duds at Hal Roach Studios (Babes in Toyland and, to a lesser extent, A Chump at Oxford), at least these films were bad or disappointing Laurel & Hardy films. A-Haunting We Will Go is a film with the boys in it but it’s not Laurel & Hardy. There are very few gags at all and those that do feature just aren’t right. They’re cowards, they bumble and they run from bad guys but the resemblance is paper thin. What we’re given instead is a boring story featuring some mobsters and a travelling magician. Quite a lot of time is given to showing magic tricks that are all too easy to set up in this medium. I’d be surprised if they impressed in 1942, but it’s all rather dull and predictable now. At least the first film the boys did for 20th Century Fox (Great Guns) was funny. This isn’t. Avoid.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Given its renown, I had high hopes for this one. It’s amusing, watchable and has that Buster Keaton charm… but it never truly catches fire in the way that some of his other films like The General, Seven Chances or The Navigator do. Even though many other good films suffer in comparison with Buster’s best, I feel this isn’t a film that would convince newcomers to silent film – it’s one for those who crave more Keaton magic.

The Cameraman (1928)

1928? This film feels like quite a step backwards for Buster Keaton. It’s full of cheap gags about people bumping into things, falling over, not being unable to work out revolving doors and other basic slapstick. Silly stuff, that’s usually only mildly amusing like two men getting changed in the same cubicle, losing swimming togs in a public pool and a young man having his brain fried so much by love that he’s unable to function properly. There aren’t really any eye-opening stunts. There is, however, a very sweet, innocent love story. That, and a monkey…