FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
A ruthless aspiring ganglord (Paul Muni) zealously protects his young sister (Ann Dvorak) from suitors while wooing the sultry mistress (Karen Morley) of his boss (Osgood Perkins); meanwhile, with help from his loyal henchman (George Raft), he wreaks murderous havoc on rival gangsters while attempting to take over new territory in Chicago.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ann Dvorak Films
• Boris Karloff Films
• Gangsters
• George Raft Films
• Howard Hawks Films
• Karen Morley Films
• Paul Muni Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary begins his review of Scarface by noting that this “best of the early gangster films was completed by Howard Hawks in 1930 but was held up by censors until several changes were made”, in order for “the public to understand that the motion-picture industry was also infuriated by crime.” However, as Peary points out, this film hardly glamorizes gangster life, given that “Paul Muni’s Tony Camonte, who, like many movie gangsters, was based in part on Al Capone, is a stupid, loutish, ugly brute — his scar is his best facial feature since he’s made up to resemble an apeman (he’s like Fredric March’s Mr. Hyde minus the fangs).”

He adds that “screenwriter Ben Hecht based his crime family on the Borgias, so he had a model for the corruption, cruelty, power-lust and decadence that exists” — including “an incest theme” but minus any parental influence; Tony’s father is non-existent and his mother (Inez Palange) is completely ineffectual. Peary correctly notes that “no one who sees this film would want to emulate the lives of these criminals” — but with that said, the “film has exciting, atmospheric cinematography by Lee Garmes; taut, inspired direction by Hawks; and a powerful script by Hecht (with additional dialogue credit going to John Lee Mahin, Seton I. Miller, and W.R. Burnett).”

In GFTFF, Peary outlines several of the film’s highlights, including “the opening, in which the camera pans for several minutes across an emptying party room and ends up showing the first victim being murdered”; and “gangster Boris Karloff being shot just as he bowls — the camera follows the ball down the lane, where it knocks over all the pins, including the king pin, which spins for a while and topples over.” In Alternate Oscars — where he names this the Best Film of the Year — Peary writes that “for real, reel-to-reel excitement, no film filled the bill better than” Scarface, “the best and most ferocious of the gangster cycle.” He notes that “the gangster world Hawks presents is unsavory, sordid, and not enticing” — though “males might be drawn to the beautiful, trampy women played by Ann Dvorak and Karen Morley (two of the great unsung actresses of the period).” (Indeed, Dvorak “almost steals the film”.) Peary adds that “the gangsters themselves are childlike, ignorant brutes who could stand no other company but their own and play dangerously stupid games… We don’t want to be like them and we don’t want to walk the streets when they’re around.”

In GFTFF, Peary writes that Muni “gives one of his finest performances — it is his one character for whom you can feel no sympathy”, and he awards Muni Best Actor of the Year in Alternate Oscars, noting that “Muni plays his character as if he were a cocky punk teenager. Unsophisticated and immature (like all other gangsters), he’s self-impressed, overrates his intelligence (he is proud to use the word disillusioned), boasts nonstop, acts tough, doesn’t listen to his mother…, and is always looking for a good time.” He considers machine guns “toys”, women “meat”, and “likes anything that is ‘hot’.” While he “is usually having a good time” — at which moments “we fear his recklessness” — he “suddenly shifts from being carefree to being serious” and is “downright creepy.” As “Muni’s eyes, face, and tone of voice quickly change”, we “realize what a frightening, depraved individual Tony is.” I find Muni’s performance a tad overdone, but would agree he’s fully invested in his role and quite memorable — as is the entire atmospherically filmed narrative, which is well worth a look by all film fanatics.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Strong performances throughout
  
  
• Lee Garmes’ cinematography
  
  
  
• Ben Hecht’s script

Must See?
Yes, as an early gangster classic.

Categories

• Genuine Classic

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Jigsaw Lounge Review
• FilmSite Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
When a young hoodlum (Jimmy Cagney) and his friend (Edward Woods) are betrayed by their fence (Murray Kinnell), they join forces during Prohibition with a bootlegger (Robert Emmett O’Connor) and a wealthy gangster (Leslie Fenton). Cagney’s straight-laced brother (Donald Cook) disapproves of Cagney’s career choice, while his sweet mother (Beryl Mercer) remains clueless. Meanwhile, Cagney mistreats his current girlfriend (Mae Clarke) and woos another (Jean Harlow), while Woods marries his girlfriend (Joan Blondell) and Cagney is unwillingly seduced by O’Connor’s moll (Mia Marvin).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Bootlegging
• Gangsters
• Jean Harlow Films
• Jimmy Cagney Films
• Joan Blondell Films
• Juvenile Delinquents<
• William Wellman Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “seminal Warners gangster film, directed by William Wellman, catapulted James Cagney to stardom”, and that despite being “somewhat dated” it remains worth watching for Cagney’s performance as Tom Powers (which he nominates as one of the best of the year in his Alternate Oscars). He writes that “Cagney is so engaging as Powers, so full of spirit, energy, and charm, that viewers couldn’t help but confuse liking the actor with liking his character”, who is “having a good time — shooting guns, killing other bad guys, hanging out with pretty women…, and making lots of money — while his honest brother (Donald Cook) is a bore, has a cruddy low-pay job as a trolley-car ticket puncher…, and lives with a scowl on his face.” Peary adds that “surely male viewers envied tough guy Powers because he wasn’t afraid to take on bullies and cops since he had no fear of death.”

Peary notes that this film has “several classic scenes: the classic grapefruit bit” (in which “Powers pushed a grapefruit in the kisser of his mistress”); “the badly wounded Cagney tap-stepping his way through a large puddle; Cagney’s off-screen execution of a horse; the delivery of Cagney’s body back home”. It’s likely that the version of this film Peary watched when writing GFTFF didn’t have several additional, memorably racy scenes that were added back in for its DVD release, including “a markedly effeminate tailor measuring Tom for a suit” and “Tom being seduced when hiding out in a woman’s apartment.” Overall, Public Enemy remains a more engaging and nuanced film than its equally well-known counterpart, Little Caesar (1931), both of which were re-released in 1954 with the same prologue cautioning that the lead characters “are a menace that the public must confront”. With that said, the narrative isn’t as tight as it should be (the female characters in particular aren’t fleshed out), making this more of an historic must-see than an all-out classic.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Jimmy Cagney as Tom Powers
  
• Good historical detail and sets
  
  
• Numerous memorable (pre-Code) moments
  
  
  
• Strong direction by Wellman
  
• Atmospheric cinematography
  

Must See?
Yes, for its historical relevance and Oscar-nominated performance by Cagney.

Categories

• Historically Relevant
• Noteworthy Performance(s)

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review (scroll down)
• TCM Article
• FilmSite Review

Synopsis:
In Depression-era Paris, a former bank teller (Charlie Chaplin) with an invalid wife (Mady Corell) and young son (Allison Roddan) has a dark record of secretly marrying and murdering wealthy women. While plotting to kill one of them (Martha Raye), Chaplin intends to test his poison on a down-and-out young girl (Marilyn Nash) but takes pity on her instead. Meanwhile, he relentlessly courts a widow (Isobel Elsom) by sending her bouquets through a flower girl (Barbara Slater), and risks imminent discovery by the police.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Black Comedy
• Charlie Chaplin Films
• Depression Era
• Homicidal Spouses
• Serial Killers

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that “Charles Chaplin’s last masterpiece was certainly his most controversial film”: “while The Great Dictator had been a comedy about Hitler and the Nazis… this was perhaps even more daring. After all, in this comedy Charlie Chaplin, once the lovable tramp, plays a cold-blooded murderer.” However, “Verdoux, the murderer of 14 women, kills only one person (a woman who has no life to begin with) during the film — therefore we find his character palatable”. While Chaplin “wisely doesn’t try to make Verdoux sympathetic”, we “can see traces of the tender, romantic, life-loving man he once was”, and we “understand his bitterness.” Peary writes that this “most compelling and unusual film” — once “championed by James Agee” — has a “storyline [that] is serious and sometimes morbid, but there is hilarity, especially in Chaplin’s scenes with Raye.”

In Alternate Oscars, Peary names this the Best Film of the Year and once again awards Chaplin the Best Actor award (for the third time!), thus providing plenty of additional written analysis. Peary’s selection of Monsieur Verdoux as the “best film” in a year filled with so many other worthy contenders — including the Peary-nominated Black Narcissus, Great Expectations, Miracle on 34th Street, Nightmare Alley, and Out of the Past — speaks volumes about his adoration for Chaplin’s oeuvre (and for underdog films that were unfairly maligned due to their creator’s politics). He writes that, “Depite its morbid plot line”, this film is “full of wit, ranging from Verdoux’s sardonic lines to wild Chaplinesque slapstick”.

Peary adds that “Verdoux’s scenes with Martha Raye’s loudmouthed, nasty Annabella are some of the funniest in all of Chaplin’s work”, with “the sequence in which he tries to poison her… [a] most complex comedy routine”, and “Verdoux’s discovery of Annabella at his wedding to Madame Grosnay” [Elsom] “hilariously complicated.” He writes that “in addition to the humor, the picture has charm… poignancy… and tenderness”, yet “we never forget that the Chaplin who wrote and directed this film is quite cynical, quite serious”: while “no one would think that Charlie Chaplin could give us the creeps… that’s our reaction just before he kills Lydia [Margaret Hoffman]”. Verdoux is presented as a “wise but insane man”, and “viewers must decide for themselves where Verdoux is bound” (heaven or hell), given that he isn’t “so sympathetic or likable that we automatically forgive his crimes”.

In his review of Chaplin’s acting, Peary writes that his Verdoux was “without question” “the best performance in 1947”. In addition to Chaplin’s ability to present a highly complex character (as discussed above), Peary notes that “at forty-eight he was still a masterful physical comedian, as exhibited when he backflips out of a window and when, without stopping his conversation or spilling his tea, he tumbles off a couch and onto his knees while proposing to Madame Grosnay.” Among Chaplin’s many hilarious scenes with Raye, Peary highlights “Verdoux’s attempt to drown her American Tragedy-style in a lake. When she suspects something is fishy, he quickly sits down, legs crossed, with the hilariously innocent expression of a naughty five-year-old.” Peary further adds that it’s “most interesting watching Chaplin play a dapper, gentlemanly Lothario, capable of seducing any woman he speaks to… In his conquests he’s as aggressive as Groucho Marx… but uses words like Charles Boyer.” Peary writes that he sees “Verdoux as the flip side of Chaplin’s Little Tramp”: while “Verdoux still acts in a gentlemanly manner, he has long given up the dignity and self-respect that is key to the Little Tramp’s resilience and survival.”

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Charlie Chaplin as Monsieur Verdoux
  
• Martha Raye as Annabella
  
• Marilyn Nash as The Girl
  
• Many memorable scenes and sequences
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a dark classic by a master director. Discussed at length in Peary’s Cult Movies 3 book.

Categories

• Important Director

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review
• Combustible Celluloid Review
• TCM Article
• Salon Review

Synopsis:
A small-time hood named Rico (Edward G. Robinson) rises to prominence as a gangster, but is frustrated when his best friend (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) chooses a life with his new dancing partner (Glenda Farrell) over crime.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Films
• Edward G. Robinson Films
• Gangsters
• Mervyn LeRoy Films
• Rise-and-Fall

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “first of the sound gangster films” — directed by Mervyn LeRoy — “is somewhat dated, but still has power, thanks to Edward G. Robinson’s performance as the vicious, swaggering braggart Enrico Bandello, who rises from two-bit hood to public enemy number one.” He notes that “Rico has no redeeming qualities, no economic or social reasons for having chosen a life of crime. He just lusts for power, fame (gangsters make headlines), territory (an essential element in gangster films) — he gets the coveted North Side — and money (the spoils of gang warfare) — like Caesar.” Most of Peary’s GFTFF review focuses on “the only person [Rico] has feelings for” — his “former partner, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.” — noting that “their relationship is central to one interpretation of the film: Rico is a latent homosexual whose suppressed sexual aggression manifests itself in shooting men.” He concludes his review by noting that the “best scenes in the movie come at the end, when Rico has lost his power” and utters his “famous last words: ‘Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?'”

Peary elaborates on his praise for Robinson’s performance in Alternate Oscars, where he names Robinson Best Actor of the Year and notes, “Robinson is frightening as the swaggering, power-hungry Rico, not a character anyone would want to emulate. When he’s just a henchman, he scowls constantly, looks at everyone with sideways glances under a pulled-down hat, and is always snarling, talking back, or arguing… He uses his thumb when he talks, intimidatingly pointing it at others or thumping his chest like a dictator. Only when he becomes powerful is he cheerful, admiring himself in the mirror, getting his picture taken, combing his hair, having a banquet thrown in his honor, smoking cigars, wearing the outfit and pinky ring that a gangster he envied once wore.” However, when “Rico tumbles back to the gutter, he becomes a grotesque, primitive, slovenly figure.” Indeed Rico could be viewed as pure “id” — his character isn’t nuanced, but rather simply representative of Desire for Power. Fairbanks, Jr.’s role offers audiences an opportunity to see someone more human and humane, grappling with loyalty versus future goals; he’s fine in his supporting role, as is gutsy Farrell.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Edward G. Robinson as Rico
  
• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Joe
  
• Glenda Farrell as Olga
  
• Atmospheric cinematography by Tony Gaudio
  

Must See?
Yes, for its historical relevance and Robinson’s performance.

Categories

• Historically Relevant
• Noteworthy Performance(s)

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TV Guide Review
• DVD Savant Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
A penniless artist (Rene Lefevre) caught flirting with his client (Vanda Greville) is excited to learn from his friend (Louis Allibert) that one of them has won the lottery, but is quickly dismayed to learn that his fiancee (Annabella) has given Lefevre’s coat — which contains the winning ticket — to a thief (Paul Ollivier), who in turn has sold it to a pompous opera singer (Constantin Siroesco). Can the jacket — and the ticket — be found, and Lefevre’s romance with Annabella salvaged?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• French Films
• Millionaires
• Musicals
• Rene Clair Films
• Romantic Comedy

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “famous early musical” by Rene Clair — centered on a “mad scramble to retrieve [Lefevre’s] jacket from, first, a police fugitive and, later, an opera singer who’s giving his last performance before going on tour” — mixes “farce, slapstick, and Gilbert and Sullivan”; but he argues that while Clair “neatly sets up his gags, they don’t really deliver”, and that “this classic has lost a lot of its freshness.” He points out that the “major problem is obvious – the characters aren’t very funny”. However, he concedes that the “film benefits from Clair’s innovative use of sound and music, as well as his decision to again use Lazare Meerson as his set designer and Georges Perinal as his cinematographer.” I’m more or less in agreement with Peary’s assessment, though I believe the film is innovative enough in its presentation, style, and storyline to merit a must-see look. While we certainly don’t care much about these characters (other than poor Annabella, who has terrible taste in men) and the collective singing is a bit forced, it’s undeniably clever how Clair and his team manage to set up a fast-paced, madcap race for a jacket that’s slippier than black ice; you can’t help feeling viscerably pulled to the beaten-up jacket as you see it hanging on hooks, being torn apart, and landing on top of an unsuspecting taxi cab, all the while knowing that it’s actually the tiny slip of paper inside that’s really desired (will it be there?).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Luminous cinematography and sets
  
• Nicely choreographed comedic sequences
  

Must See?
Yes, once, for its historical relevance as an innovative early talkie-musical.

Categories

• Historically Relevant

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• DVD Savant Review
• NY Times Original Review