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Synopsis:
The daughter (Deanna Durbin) of an out-of-work classical trombonist (Adolph Menjou) convinces a wealthy socialite (Alice Brady) to fund the creation of a new orchestra — but when Brady’s husband (Eugene Pallette) finds out, he refuses to let the scheme move forward; meanwhile, the great conductor Leopold Stokowski is equally adamant in his refusal to help Durbin or her father.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Adolph Menjou Films
• Deanna Durbin Films
• “Let’s Put On a Show!”
• Musicals

Review:
Deanna Durbin’s follow-up to her breakthrough role in Three Smart Girls (1936) was this hyperkinetic fairytale about a can-do teen with enough tenacity and persistence to overcome literally any obstacle placed in her way. For Depression-era audiences, a story about how nearly impossible it is for the have-nots to gain access to a world of employment and privilege must have felt right on target, but today the film simply comes across like a Vehicle — both for Durbin (who, naturally, is asked to sing a few random songs) and for Stokowski (who, naturally, gets to conduct a few pieces with his orchestra). While there’s something undeniably admirable about Durbin’s fearless performance (she rarely pauses to take a breath), her character eventually wears on one’s nerves; she’s like Judy Garland in overdrive, minus the vulnerability. All film fanatics should be familiar with Durbin’s work, given what an erstwhile phenomenon she was — but I recommend sticking with Three Smart Girls instead.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Deanna Durbin’s enthusiastic (if ultimately wearying) performance as Patsy
  

Must See?
No; this one is really only must-see for Durbin enthusiasts.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Spinning Image Review
• TCM Article
• Chicago Reader Capsule Review
• At a Glance Film Review

Synopsis:
A poor woodcutter (Bernard Miles) and his wife (Jessie Matthews) wish for a son of any size, and are delighted when the Forest Queen (June Thorburn) blesses them with Tom Thumb (Russ Tamblyn). When a pair of thieves (Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers) convince Tom to help them steal a bag of gold, his parents are falsely accused of the theft, and Tom enlists the help of his friend Woody (Alan Young) to capture the real culprits.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Falsely Accused
• Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Mythology
• George Pal Films
• Musicals
• Peter Sellers Films
• Russ Tamblyn Films
• Thieves and Criminals

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that “Russ Tamblyn had his best role” in this “classic M-G-M production of the Grimm fairytale, directed by George Pal”. He notes that the “film is colorful, isn’t at all schmaltzy, and has imaginatively designed sets and a spectacular musical number in which the remarkably talented Tamblyn does a great dance with Pal’s puppets”. However, he concedes that “if you’re an adult, you may wish you were a kid again so you could enjoy it as you once did”. I’m largely in agreement with Peary, though not quite as enthusiastic. It’s fun to see Pal’s classic “Puppetooning” on screen:

and Tamblyn’s athletic dancing is consistently superb:

… but his character is poorly conceived; indeed, it’s downright creepy seeing the 24-year-old Tamblyn placed into a cradle by his adoring adoptive parents:

— and one never quite understands exactly how old he’s meant to be (nor, for that matter, where he came from before magically appearing on their doorstep).

Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers are appropriately buffoonish as the “evil twosome who want to use Tom for their own ends”, but their quibbling schtick eventually wears out its welcome:

… and while Miles and Matthews make a sweet elderly couple, they aren’t given much screentime after the nicely conceived opening sequences.

Meanwhile, the requisite romantic subplot — between lovely Thorburn and Young (who will be forever etched in my mind’s eye alongside Mr. Ed) — is, perhaps predictably, rather insipid.

With all that said, there’s enough life and color to this production that ff parents will surely feel fine putting it in front of their kids. Pinocchio (1940) it ain’t — but then few films are.

Note: If you think you vaguely recognize Matthews from somewhere, it may be from her starring role 20+ years earlier in the enormously successful British musical Evergreen (1934).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Russ Tamblyn’s athletic dancing
  
• Fine special effects
  

Must See?
No, though those interested in Pal’s Puppetooning will certainly want to check it out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• SciFilm Review
• Moria Review
• TCM Article
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
Ollie (Oliver Hardy) is heartbroken when he learns his French sweetheart (Jean Parker) is already married. To drown his sorrows, he and his buddy Stan (Stan Laurel) join the Foreign Legion, but leave after just a few days, and are soon cited for desertion.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Comedy
• Jean Parker Films
• Laurel and Hardy Films
• Military

Review:
The Flying Deuces is notable as the first film Laurel & Hardy made together after leaving Hal Roach Studios, and is cited by fans as one of their best later works. Unfortunately, there’s little here to impress those who aren’t diehard fans of the duo, given that the weak storyline is uninspired, and the boys’ gags are not among their best. The one moment I did notice myself perking up was when Laurel starts strumming his bedsprings like a harp, in a clear homage to (satire of?) similar scenes by Harpo in the Marx Brothers’ films; however, this simply made me wish I was watching one of the latter titles. The final shot is mildly surreal, but certainly not worth waiting for.

Note: As a public domain title, The Flying Deuces is available for free viewing on www.archive.org.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Laurel playing his bedsprings a la Harpo
  

Must See?
No; this one is only recommended for Laurel and Hardy fans.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• At a Glance Film Review
• TCM Article
• NY Times Original Review (scroll down)
• Digitally Obsessed Review

Synopsis:
A young woman (Deborah Margolies) returning home after a stint in prison struggles to reconnect with her daughter (Jessica Hergert) and estranged husband (Edward Mason) while scraping together a living.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ex-Cons
• Feminism and Women’s Issues
• Survival

Review:
The Dozens holds the distinction of being one of the most challenging titles in Peary’s GFTFF to get ahold of. An ultra-low-budget indie film shot in Boston, it was released the same year as another Boston-based indie included in Peary’s book — The Dark End of the Street (1981) — leading one to presume Peary saw them both at some sort of festival, and they made enough of an impression for him to want to recommend them. However, while Dark End… remains a gritty hidden treat (and is worth seeking out), The Dozens comes across as merely a fragmented attempt at what could have been a much more absorbing character study. Margolies is refreshingly feisty and memorable in the lead role, but the narrative gives her far too little to work with: we see her struggling to find her way in life post-prison, but there’s nothing particularly revelatory about her experiences. As Janet Maslin wrote in her cautiously positive review of the film for the NY Times, “Its drama unfolds with more frankness than insight”.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Deborah Margolies as Sally
  
• Fine use of gritty Boston environs
  

Must See?
No; you don’t need to bother seeking this one out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
A Polynesian youth named Moana prepares to marry his mate by undergoing a series of rituals.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Documentary
• Native Peoples
• Robert Flaherty Films
• Silent Films

Review:
Robert Flaherty’s commissioned follow-up to his groundbreaking documentary Nanook of the North (1922) was this similarly episodic look at the lives of natives in a land still largely free from Western influences. As with Nanook, Flaherty took great liberties with his storyline, deliberately recruiting actors to play family members, and requesting that a painful, lengthy, recently outdated tattooing ritual be revived for the purposes of filming. Overall, Moana remains a less fulfilling documentary than Nanook, primarily because of a problem Flaherty himself hadn’t anticipated: the Polynesians weren’t engaged in the same kind of man-against-nature survival tactics as their Arctic counterparts. Indeed, their only “enemy” appears to be wild boar. While it’s fun to see Moana and his brother spearfishing and shimmying up coconut trees, and women neatly creating fabric from pulp, these isolated scenes in and of themselves don’t create much dramatic tension. F.W. Murnau’s overtly fictional Tabu (1931) offers a much more nuanced variation on the same theme, and is my recommended pick as “must-see” instead.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• An intriguing (albeit semi-fictionalized) look at Polynesian culture
  
  

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a look simply for its historical status as one of Flaherty’s earliest films. Listed as a film with Historical relevance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Jonathan Rosenbaum’s Review/Essay

Synopsis:
Herring fishermen in a North Sea coastal village head out to sea and bring their haul back to land for selling.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Documentary
• Fishermen
• Silent Films

Review:
John Grierson’s Drifters is the type of movie that requires a bit of contextualization in order to appreciate its historical relevance (and hence its inclusion in Peary’s GFTFF). Taken at face value, it’s simply a reasonably engaging b&w silent documentary about the lives of herring fishermen in England, one which amply demonstrates that fishing is HARD, highly collaborative work — but it won’t strike one as particularly revelatory from a cinematic standpoint. However, knowing that Grierson would go on to spearhead the British Documentary Film Movement — which was established to “educate citizens in an understanding of democratic society” — one gains a better appreciation of what, specifically, he was aiming for with Drifters (which remains the only feature film he actually directed himself). It’s interesting to note that he was apparently heavily influenced by Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925); ffs will surely notice parallels in style.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A powerfully shot and edited early documentary
  
  

Must See?
No, though it’s certainly worth a look for its historical importance.

Links:

• IMDb entry

Synopsis:
An aspiring private detective (Robert Sacchi) has surgery to look just like Humphrey Bogart, and quickly acquires a host of clients — including a young woman (Olivia Hussey) who fears for her father’s life; Sacchi’s larger-than-life landlady (A’leisha Brevard), whose boyfriend (Buck Kartalian) has gone missing; and a beautiful heiress (Michelle Phillips) being blackmailed.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Detectives and Private Eyes
• Yvonne De Carlo Films

Review:
Film fanatics are sure to get a kick out of this affectionate homage to Humphrey Bogart and the Golden Age of Hollywood, based on a novel by Andrew J. Fenady (who also produced the film). Sacchi (playing “Sam Marlow”) is not only a spot-on Bogart-impersonator, but a decent actor to boot, making one feel eerily at times as though Bogart himself has been resurrected to make one final film. (Such a vision rings especially possible in light of Tupac Shakur’s recent “appearance” via hologram at the Coachella Music Festival.) The storyline is, perhaps predictably, overly complex at times (just like Bogart’s own private eye flicks often were), with seemingly countless clients entering Marlow’s office asking for assistance — though eventually their requests all coalesce into one interwoven tale, a la The Maltese Falcon (1941), of a search for valuable jewels known as the Eyes of Alexander. (An exception is a hilarious subplot involving Marlow’s aggressive landlady, played by female impersonator A’leisha Brevard).

Excellent use is made of iconic L.A. locales, with Marlow frequenting the Hollywood Bowl, the Ambassador Hotel, and the Hollywood Wax Museum, among other choice locations. Meanwhile, the screenplay is simply littered with fun references to a variety of Hollywood films and actors — most notably in the character played by Phillips, who’s made up to look remarkably like Gene Tierney. (And who won’t get a kick out of Marlow’s enormous crush on Tierney-in-Laura, with a replica of Laura’s famous portrait hanging in his office, and the film’s memorable theme music emerging at key moments?) Other real-life Golden-Era Hollywood actors (including Victor Buono, Herbert Lom, and Richard Bakalyan) are smartly given a host of supporting roles — and any film fanatic will be tickled to notice TCM host Robert Osborne (!) showing up early on as a reporter; he gets just one line, but you’ll instantly recognize his distinctive voice. (See still below for evidence.)

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Robert Sacchi as Sam Marlow
  
• Michelle Phillips as Gena
  
• A host of fondly familiar supporting faces
  
• Robert Osborne in a one-line role (watch and listen closely!)
  
• Nice use of diverse L.A. locales
  

Must See?
Yes; film fanatics will surely have fun with this one. Listed as a Sleeper, a Cult Movie, and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book — all of which makes sense to me.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Spinning Image Review

Synopsis:
Upon learning that two planets will soon crash into the Earth, a scientist (Larry Keaton) — with funding from a self-serving millionaire (John Hoyt) — works to create a spaceship that will allow a team of select individuals and animals to escape and start a new life. Meanwhile, Keaton’s scientist-daughter (Barbara Rush) falls in love with the pilot (Richard Derr) who delivered the bad news to her father, much to the consternation of her current beau (Peter Hansen).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Barbara Rush Films
• Disaster Flicks
• George Pal Films
• Love Triangle
• Science Fiction
• Survival

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary notes that “George Pal’s follow-up to Destination Moon” is “a much better film than [its] predecessor because its premise is much more exciting, encompassing no less than the destruction of earth”. He argues that the “Oscar-winning special effects are particularly impressive during the catastrophe-riddled climax, which, of course, includes New York being struck by a tidal wave”.

Yet while I agree with Peary that this second film is more intrinsically engaging than Destination Moon, the latter is must-see for historical purposes (as the film which first made space exploration seem like a realistic possibility), while WWC will primarily be of interest to sci-fi fans interested in what is probably the first cinematic depiction of the destruction of the Earth.

In his more detailed analysis of When Worlds Collide, DVD Savant refers to it as “a charming hoot, but still a far better movie than the idiotic Armageddon.” He concedes, however, that “the scientific details are sketchy, especially from the maker of the fastidiously accurate Destination Moon.” For instance, he bluntly notes:

Nowadays, it would seem obvious that if you could only take forty people, the best hope for mankind would be to make most of the human passengers female scientists, doctors and engineers – all extremely young and all fit to bear children. The male component of the passenger list might only be test tubes of sperm for later artificial insemination. Why waste cargo weight on a bunch of redundant drones, when you need all the breeder females you can get?

But what fun would that be to envision — right? Even more disturbing to my mind is the utter homogeneity of the core group of potential travellers, who are all (all) white.

You’d think that some kind of perspective on future diversity would be taken into consideration even back in 1951 — but so it goes. Regardless, those who enjoy ’50s sci-fi flicks will be able to take the film’s more dated elements in stride, and simply enjoy its “impressive special effects”, which “wowed ’em in 1951 and can still spark imagination and wonder” (though I’ll admit to finding some of them — i.e., the final matte paintings representing the planet Zyra — to come across as hopelessly artificial).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• George Pal’s Oscar-winning special effects
  

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a look.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• SciFilm Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review
• Moria Review
• Time Out Capsule Review