Sound Films L

Helen Kane

Hedda Hopper

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Ladies’ Man (1931)

Starring William Powell, Kay Francis and Carole Lombard, directed by Lothar Mandes this film has a runtime of 76 mins. The print quality is decent, it’s quite scratchy but the clarity is good.

Review: Every now and then a truly unusual film from the early thirties resurfaces which proves to be a revelation. "The Ladies Man" definitely fits that description. Mature, sophisticated, intelligent and uncompromising, to watch "The Ladies Man" is a breath of fresh air for anyone who is used to finding most of the movies produced in the early talky era crude, formulaic claptrap with "a happy ending"
William Powell is one of my favorite actors, and in this silkenly produced 1931 Paramount bauble he gives a startling world-weary, downbeat, and even tragic performance. He plays an unrepentant gigolo who seems all too aware his dissipated lifestyle dooms him somehow, he just doesn't know when the other shoe is going to drop. Kay Francis was never more appealing and glamorous, and Carole Lombard gives perhaps the first great performance of her career, playing a drunken playgirl driven nearly crazy by her mixed feelings towards Powell's strangely sympathetic cad. To say more would be to spoil a well-directed, well-paced film.
Definitely recommended for anyone with adult tastes and looking for something that's not the same-old same-old….£7.49.

 

Lady By Choice (1934)

Starring Carole Lombard, May Robson and Walter Connolly this film has a runtime of 73 mins and the print quality is very good to excellent.

Review: Fan dancer Carole Lombard 'adopts' tippler bag lady May Robson as her mother in order to improve Carole's public image. The old lady winds up becoming a mother figure to Carole and tries to help her become successful in a more respectable career. But when that falls through, Carole starts to date a young lawyer friend of May's for his money. This creates a rift between the two women and May determines to stop Carole from taking advantage of the lawyer.
May Robson is great. Carole Lombard is beautiful and has good chemistry with May. Fine support from Walter Connolly, Roger Pryor, and Arthur Hohl. Lady for a Day is one of my favorite Frank Capra films. It has great Damon Runyon characters, fun dialogue, and a lot of heart. This is a cash-grab follow-up to that movie but not a sequel. May Robson plays a similar character but this is not Apple Annie. None of the characters in this movie are quite as colorful or enjoyable as those in the Capra movie. Still, it's entertaining enough thanks to Lombard and Robson….£7.49

 

Lady Eve, The (1941)

Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda……£7.49

 

Lady From The Sea, The (1929)

Directed by Castleton Knight and starring Moore Marriott, Ray Milland and Mona Goya, this early British sound film has a runtime of 56 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Plot: A Goodwin Sands lifeboatman rescues a shipwrecked girl who tries to win him away from his fiancée.

Review: British International Pictures who produced this film were responsible for the production of Britain's first full length sound film Blackmail.They turned ailments into part talkies by making the second half into talking pictures.In this instance they effectively remade the film as a talking picture using a few sequences from the silent film.Presumably it must have been worth their while as this film would serve as the bottom half of a double bill for quota purposes.Ray Milland was quite caustic about this film in his autobiography,but it is an entertaining and interesting curio.Also interesting to see Moore Marriott a few years before he found fame with Will Hay. ……£7.49

 

Lady In Danger (1934)

Directed by and starring Tom Walls, this Aldwych farce also stars Yvonne Arnaud, Anne Gret, Hugh Wakefield, Marie Lohr and Cecil Parker. The film has a runtime of 64 mins and the print quality is very good.

Plot: Walls plays an Englishman who's assigned the task of transporting a Queen(Yvonne Arnaud) of a revolution-torn country to England incognito. Hiding her in his London apartment, then his country house gives rise to many misunderstandings among his employees, friends and his Fianceé.

Review: Ben Travers turned this flimsy farce into O Mistress Mine starring Yvonne Printemps and Pierre Fresnay for the St James Theatre in London two years later. Apparently with a song by Cole Porter included – it might have made this version with Yvonne Arnaud and Tom Walls more interesting, although full of the old familiar faces there was no part for either Ralph Lynn or Robertson Hare.
Suave raconteur goes to a European country torn by revolution, saves its Queen by bringing her with him back to England to hide her until the hubbub quietens down. Hiding her Majesty from his fiancé and her mother and his business associates is a little more difficult to achieve though and the expected farcical situations abound. The film starts slowly so bear with it but the bizarre situations multiply with relentless delicious misinterpretations of English and malapropisms from Arnaud and others, none of which would make any sense out of context here. Arnaud and Walls certainly did make a good team, the comic rapport was total, the sly verbal sparring complete. Poor old Hubert Harben gets his usual short shrift from Walls who at one stage calls him a pompous talkative arse and orders him to leave the room before he got a kick in his pants. The King later got one without asking. Stay with it all for the surprise ending.
It's short and scintillating, totally inconsequential but enjoyable to watch and recall….£7.49

 

Lady Lies, The (1929)

Starring Claudette Colbert and Walter Huston……£7.49

 

Lady of Burlesque (1943)

Starring Barbara Stanwyck in an unusual story of murder in a "bump and grind" burlesque theatre. Sassy Dixie Daisy is the hot new attraction at a former opera house that's been turned into a burlesque theater. She's popular with the customers, although not with Ms La Verne, a stuck-up diva who was hoping she'd get the top spot. Also complicating matters is the return of the Princess Nirvena, the show's former star who once had a fling with the boss. When the Princess blackmails her way into the top spot, Dixie is none too pleased. When both La Verne and the Princess are murdered, Dixie becomes a prime suspect. She then sets up a trap to nail the real killer……£7.49

 

Lady On A Train (1945)

Directed by Charles David and starring Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, Edward Everett Horton, and Allen Jenkins, this film has a runtime of 94 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Plot: While in a train halted at a station, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder committed in a nearby building. When she brings the police to the scene of the crime, they think she's crazy since there's no body. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help with her sleuthing.

Review: Deanna Durbin is a "Lady on a Train" in this 1945 mystery/comedy also starring David Bruce, Dan Duryea Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy, Patricia Morison, and George Coulouris. The film is directed by Durbin's future husband, Charles David.
Photographed and wardrobed like the great star she was, Durbin plays Nikki Collins, a débutante who comes to New York to spend the Christmas holidays with her aunt. On the train en route to Grand Central, she looks out the window and sees the murder of an old man. Determined to investigate, she appeals to the mystery writer whose novel she was reading (Bruce). She nearly wrecks his life. His fiancée (Patricia Morison) is suspicious of Nikki, and thanks to Nikki, he gets beat up a lot. Meanwhile, her father's assistant (Horton) can never find her. Nikki finds herself involved with the victim's money-grubbing family and puts herself in danger.
A screwball comedy with the delightful Durbin doing a great job, singing like a dream, and looking fabulous. It's very slight but fun and directed by David with a good pace. The child Durbin was a little manic for me, but I love her adult work. Plus, she had possibly the best voice and best trained voice in films. The rest of the cast is wonderful, particularly David Bruce as the hapless author.
It's a shame that Universal, with such a valuable commodity, didn't buy and/or develop better properties for her. Durbin is often compared with Judy Garland, who definitely got better treatment at MGM.
Durbin was smart to retire while at the top, though with the coming musicals of the '50s, I'm sure her star would have risen even higher. In many hearts, 60 years later, she's still a star. ……£7.49

 

Lady Refuses, The (1931)

Directed by George Archinbaud and starring Betty Compson, John Darrow, Gilbert Emery and Margaret Livingston, this film has a runtime of 71 mins and the print quality is good.

Plot: A wealthy London nobleman hires a pretty but poor young girl to distract his playboy son from marrying a golddigger. Complications ensue when the girl and the father begin to fall for each other, and things get even more complicated when the son declares his love for her, too.

Review: Betty Compson was one of the very few silent stars who's career kick started again at the dawn of the talkies. She had a few lucky breaks in her career - first "The Miracle Man"(1919) was her breakthrough to stardom, then when she was almost forgotten Josef von Sternberg came to her rescue with "The Docks of New York", lastly when talkies came in studio heads realised she could play the violin - and loved it in those gimmicky, singie, dancey days. That kept her afloat during the early 30s and she was kept busy with whatever type of genre they threw at her.
This role suited her to a tee - she plays June, a girl down on her luck whose first night on "the game" has turned into a cat and mouse chase with two interfering bobbies!! She is saved by Gerald Courtney (Gilbert Emery) who wants to "hire" her as a decoy to lure his son Russell (John Darrow) away from bad booze and bad women - one Berthine (Margaret Livingston). He sees how well June fits into the gentry atmosphere and performs a "Pygmalion" act on her, clothing her from head to foot in the height of fashion.
So June and Russell "meet" and she proves she can be a real pal to him so he soon forgets Berthine but June finds herself falling in love with his father and Gerald more than reciprocates!! All very complicated as of course Russell falls in love with her and the knowledge that not only has he been duped but his rival is his own father is enough to send him scuttling back to Berthine - and she is happy to oblige!! But Berthine has a jealous lover (Ivan Lebedeff) who has shown from the start that if she crosses him, she will never cross again and before you know it Russell is arrested for murder.
The setting was London and Compson showed she had really soaked up the accents and atmosphere from her trips to England in the 1920s. John Darrow was a pretty poor actor who never escaped poverty row, Margaret Livingston had been a silent vamp ("Sunrise") whose career foundered in the talkies but she found lasting happiness as Mrs. Paul Whiteman!!...£7.49

 

Lady Vanishes, The (1939)

Starring Margaret Lockwood and directed by Alfred Hitchcock……£7.49

 

Last Days of Dolwyn, The (1949)

Written by, directed by and starring by Emlyn Williams, this film also stars Richard Burton and Edith Evans. It has a runtime of 91 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Storyline: A peaceful North Wales village is about to disappear once and for all under the waters of a dam that is about to be built by a powerful water company commanded by a city businessman, at one time a local resident of the place. It's time for the simple villagers to take action and try to save the only place they know and love.

Review: This is a film that is hard to find, but when yo find it, it's worth it. It moves briskly for a drama, and has lots of charm.
It is the story of big business against the little people, in this case the little people being a Welsh village.
But the big business isn't portrayed so one dimensionally, either. In fact, only one heartless man is responsible for the turmoil caused, and indeed the British lord in charge is much more sensible and human. However, the heartless man is in the role of agent, and once lived in the village before being discovered as a thief.
Two elements that magnetize a viewer to this piece are Irony and Atmosphere. This film is high on both, and I love Irony and Atmosphere…..£7.49

 

Last of Mrs Cheyney, The (1929) **UPGRADE – Improved print**

Directed by Sidney Franklin and starring Norma Shearer, Basil Rathbone and George Barraud, this excellent early sound film also features Hedda Hopper in a minor role. The film has a runtime of 94 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Plot: There is a big charity function at the house of Mrs. Cheyney and a lot of society is present. With her rich husband, deceased, rich old Lord Elton and playboy Lord Arthur Dilling are both very interested in the mysterious Fay. Invited to the house of Mrs. Webley, Fay is again the center of attention for Arthur and Elton with her leaning towards stuffy old Elton. When Arthur sees Charles, Fay's Butler, lurking in the gardens, he remembers that Charles was a thief caught in Monte Carlo and he figures that Fay may be more interested in the pearls of Mrs. Webley, which she is. After Fay takes the pearls, but before she can toss them out the window, she is caught by Arthur who is very disappointed in how things are turning out.

Review: This 1929 version has all the tight pacing and wit that the 1937 film lacks. It also doesn't have the tacked-on moralizing ending that so blights the 1937 version. Basil Rathbone (so young!) is charming and funny with that hint of edge that he could do so well. The two-part scene in which he invites Norma Shearer for a little supper at his apartment and is then verbally rebuffed by the "butler," only to return to kiss the hem of Norma's garment is priceless. I watched it four times. Basil Rathbone is believable as an English lord in ways that Robert Montgomery in the 1937 version is so painfully not believable. George Barraud as Charles effaces himself effectively in the beginning scenes as the butler, and his scenes with Rathbone are not marred by the hint of effeminacy Montgomery brings to his fraternization scenes with the butler when that is not called for in the script. As much as I love William Powell, and I think he's the only reason to see the 1937 version, he can't manage to efface himself effectively in the beginning scenes as the butler. He's always William Powell. As enjoyable as Powell is, when you see George Barraud move from effacement to boldness, you really see how it should be done.…..£7.49

 

Last Pair Out aka Sista Paret Ut (1956)

Directed by Alf Sjöberg, written by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson and Björn Bjelfvenstam this film has a runtime of 102 mins and the print quality is excellent. This is a Swedish language film with hardcoded English subtitles.

Plot: About the life of the student, Bo Dahlin. Bo's parents are divorced. Both have been unfaithful. Bo is engaged with Kerstin, but only have eyes for Anita. Anita is filled with self-disgust.

Review: Ingmar Bergman was still settling his score with his parents' generation with this script, which saw production five years after it was written. Both the hero and his girlfriend have blighted marriages, his because his platinum blonde mother (Eva Dahlbeck) only ever married his father for his money and (as she describes explicitly and at great length) wants out because she will no longer deny herself the physical needs satisfied by her toyboy lover; while his girlfriend's mother ironically still yearns for her husband - the catch this time being that she's a widow.
Elegantly directed by Alf Sjöberg and handsomely photographed by Martin Bodin, everyone seems prosperous but miserable. Bergman's previous collaboration with Sjöberg, 'Hets' (1944) casts a visible shadow over the opening and closing scenes populated by very mature looking pupils (Björn Bjelfvenstam's mother actually observes that he looks nearly as old as Jarl Kulle as her lover). Hugo Björne as Professor Jacobi strongly recalls Olof Winnerstrand as the wise old Principal in 'Hets', even down to the final scene in which he offers advice in a room filled with rolled posters as in the earlier film.
In addition to Dahlbeck, two of Bergman's most celebrated female leads are featured, Harriet and Bibi Andersson. Unusually on this occasion the latter is a brunette while the former is a dramatic looking peroxide blonde….£7.49

 

Last Time I Saw Paris, The (1954)

Starring Elizabeth Taylor and Van Johnson. Charles returns to Paris to reminisce about the life he led in Paris after it was liberated. He worked on "Stars and Stripes" when he met Marion and Helen. He would marry and be happy staying in Paris after his discharge and working for a news organization. He would try to write his great novel and that would come between Charlie, his wife and his daughter……£7.49

 

Laughter (1930)

Directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and starring Nancy Carroll, Fredric March, Frank Morgan and Glenn Anders, this film has a runtime of 76 mins and the print quality is very good.

Plot: A former chorus girl weds a millionaire after the composer she loves leaves. Meanwhile, she strings along an artist in love with her. When the composer returns, she struggles with her needs for security vs love. High jinks and drama ensue.

Review: Harry D'Abbadie D'Arrast always complained that this movie, which he considered his best, was undeservedly forgotten, for it created many concepts which would reappear in comedies of later years.
This time he was right. It is surprising to find in such an early film the conflict between economical safeness and spiritual freedom that would later be typical of such wonderful films as Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You, and very especially, George Cukor's Holiday (not a surprising coincidence, since it was written by the same screenwriter as Laughter).
It is an answer to the existentialism dilemma, where the only choices to make are living for the future (marrying a millionaire) or for the present (enjoying the moment you're currently living). Laughter goes even further than the later films, for it incorporates a third answer: suicide, which takes the story for the path of melodrama with a surprising respect of its unity.
In fact, what is most curious about Laughter is that it is much more mature that one would suspect. The structure of the story, the performances and even the humor feels fresher than those of other comedies of the period. A good example is the surprising scene in which Fredric March and Nancy Carroll do some role playing just for the sake of it: they pretend to be a marriage in which he is the woman and she is the man. They both imitate the conventions of each sex's supposedly proper behavior, making fun of predetermined attitudes and social obligations, clearly defending sponaneity and freedom as opposed to that which they parody/criticize (social roles conditioned by sexes).
Also the way the structure of the story is inventive enough, with a past time we never see but which is reflected in the present, and a triggering opening which serves as the conclusion of the movie as well. In fact, many other the elements of the movie (starting by the title itself) are developed in more than one level, like this one.
The biggest fault of the film is not in its final quarter (which, contrary to what I had read, seems to me fluid and coherent with the rest of the film): it is a number of technical limitations, which harm its rhythm for today's audience. These were common in the beginning of sound film (Lubitsch somehow avoided most of them in The Love Parade, made one year before this and quite a miracle).
The shortcoming I found most annoying was the impossibility for the camera to show the characters in a more frontal angle than the profiles during dialogs, which gives some important scenes a very old fashioned stagy feel.
(It had to do with the sound equipment: for what I know, they couldn't edit the sound they recorded, so they had to film each scene with several cameras so that they could use full takes of sound. So there could only be one light setup, and therefore, the characters had to be filmed from the only side where the light was better).
However, compared with most movies of that period, Laughter is a clear winner, and it is no wonder that March considered it one of his best films. His performance is relaxed, joyful and attractive still today, and so is Nancy Carroll's.
It is a pity that D'Arrast is not better known today, nor this movie properly restored/distributed. It is a interesting work on many levels, by a highly original and innovative filmmaker….£7.49

 

Lawless Frontier (1934)

Starring John Wayne. Tobin is after the bandit Zanti who killed his parents. He finds him just as Zanti is about to kill Dusty and kidnap Ruby. Saving the two, he goes after Zanti. He catches him but Zanti escapes the Sheriff's handcuff's and this time Tobin has to chase him into the desert……£7.49

 

Lawless Range (1935)

Starring John Wayne. This is the singing John Wayne (his voice is dubbed by an excellent baritone) in a tale of multiple deceptions and heroisms. The complications of the plot appear to be characteristic of R.N. Bradbury, who likes a good joke, as well as numerous details like the moths around the evening singalong, and the prodigious ease with which his hero plucks the villain (a hornswoggling banker) off his saddle……£7.49

 

Lawyer Man (1932)

Directed by William Dieterle and starring William Powell, Joan Blondell, David Landau, Helen Vinson, Claire Dodd and Allen Jenkins, this film has a runtime of 68 mins and the print quality is very good to excellent.

Plot: Idealistic attorney Anton Adam makes headlines when he successfully prosecutes a prominent New York racketeer named Gilmurry. Adam's sudden renown attracts the attention of high-profile legal eagle Granville Bentley, who asks Adam to become a partner in his law firm. But Adam's rising career takes a nosedive when he's framed by Gilmurry and a sexy actress in a trumped-up breach of promise suit. The only constant in Adam's life is the loyalty and unrequited love of his secretary Olga.

Review: William Powell plays an ambitious bush league lawyer who goes to work for a high-class law firm, taking along his trusted secretary Joan Blondell. It isn't long before Powell's clashing with a corrupt political boss and getting involved with the wrong women. When things come crashing down for him, Powell vows to become successful no matter what tactics he has to use.
Enjoyable Pre-Coder from Warner Bros with nice work from Powell and the always dynamite Joan Blondell. She's great here, throwing in one snappy rejoinder after another. Kinda hard to believe anybody would look twice at another woman if they had sexy young Blondell as an option, but perhaps that's more my personal taste. The supporting cast is nice. The script is fun, though nothing groundbreaking. It's all pretty simple and familiar stuff but well-done and entertaining….£7.49

 

Let George Do It (1940)

Starring George Formby, Phyllis Calvert, Bernard Lee and Donald Calthrop, this film has a runtime of 79 mins and the print quality is good to very good.

Review: This is the film quite rightly regarded as the best George Formby vehicle, with a much more interesting suspense story mixed together as usual with some rousing tunes on his banjolele. I think Leslie Halliwell even included it in his top 100 films of all time, probably pushing the boat out a bit too far for most people!
At Dover George is on his way to Blackpool with the rest of his Dinky Doo troupe, but in the wartime blackout gets lost and ends up in Bergen Norway instead. There through a case of mistaken identity (what happened to the real uke player?) he finds a job awaiting him in sinister Garry Marsh's dance band. The trouble is Marsh is a Nazi agent (spoken incredulously: "A British subject working for Hitler") passing on information to U Boats - George helps decode his messages with the assistance of British agent Phyllis Calvert. He not only has the Nazis to contend with but an outraged Norwegian Bernard Lee popping up throughout to get him for asking his wife if she was a Dinky Doo. The doped up dream sequence where he manages to get to Berlin and sock Hitler on the jaw went down well with the British audiences at the time too definitely not as subtle as Chaplin's Great Dictator though! Great songs: Granddad's Flannelette Nightshirt in the refreshment room to Hal Gordon's utter delight, Mr. Wu's A Window Cleaner Now at band rehearsal, Count Your Blessings And Smile (with the badly dated hep swing trio) & Oh Don't The Wind Blow Cold both in the nightclub. This was Marsh's last Formby film, he joined the RAF just after for the duration of the War; George's mate Ronald Shiner was only given one line in here; Phyllis Calvert got paid the princely sum of £20 a week for the 6 weeks it took to film, and apparently didn't think much of the hero she was supporting – a very dull man who seemed to be always tinkering about with watches being some of her more charitable comments in the 1980's.
Well, it's not a dull film, a low budget period propaganda piece that worked in all departments with plenty of inconsequential but memorable scenes and one I watch every few years with no lessening of enjoyment….£7.49

 

Let’s Go Native (1930)

*Please note presentation is only fair at best*

Starring Jeannette MacDonald and Jack Oakie……£7.49

 

Letter For Evie, A (1946)

Directed by Jules Dassin and starring Marsha Hunt, John Carroll, Hume Cronyn and Spring Byington, this film has a runtime of 89 mins and the print quality is very good.

Plot: Evie's co-workers at the uniform shirt factory, and her almost-fiancée's inability to kiss, inspire her to slip a letter into a size sixteen-and-a-half shirt for some anonymous soldier. It's received by "Wolf" Larson, who immediately throws it away, but his sensitive, dreaming--and short--buddy John McPherson snags it, and begins a correspondence with Evie, pretending to be Wolf. But things get complicated when Evie wants to meet her tall, handsome soldier. And even more complicated when Wolf sees Evie and likes what he sees.

Review: This charming comedy caught me completely by surprise. Though the story borrows from "Cyrano de Bergerac," director Jules Dassin puts a modern comedic spin on it, and is ably assisted thanks to a knockout comedy performance by Hume Cronyn. In it, Cronyn plays a soldier who writes to a working girl Marsha Hunt, but sends her a photo of his handsome Lothario buddy (John Carroll). Hunt is lovely as Evie, and it's easy to see why Cronyn would fall for her. The movie also didn't end exactly as I expected, which was another pleasant surprise. TCM seems to be the only place to find this movie, so eye its schedule for an upcoming showing. Definitely worth seeking it, especially for Cronyn, who is brilliant in this film….£7.49

 

Letters From My Windmill aka Les Lettres de Mon Moulin (1954)

Directed by Marcel Pagnol, who also wrote the screenplay which was based on four short stories from the book of the same name, by Alphonse Daudet, this film stars Antonin Fabre, Rellys, Fernand Sardou, Robert Vattier and Pierrette Bruno. It has a runtime of 154 mins and the print quality is excellent. This is a French language film with hardcoded English subtitles.

Plot: Consists of four stories from the book of the same name by Alphonse Daudet: "The Three Low Masses", "The Elixir of Father Gaucher", "The Priest of Cucugnan" and "The Secret Of Master Cornille".

Review: It was to be Marcel Pagnol's last film ;like Mankiewicz,he did not make any movies (apart from a short) in the last twenty years of his life ;probably busy writing his memoirs ("le Château De Ma Mère,La Gloire de Mon Père " which were successfully tranferred to the screen by Yves Robert in the late eighties.
Alphonse Daudet's short stories were tailor made for a Provençal director such as Pagnol;if you go to Provence,you can visit the windmill where Daudet was supposed to write his "letters" ;actually he never lived in that place,but in the castle of some of his friends near the legendary mill.But it's true that most of the stories which were included in "LETTRES DE MON MOULIN" are true stories:Daudet was told about Maitre Cornille ,MR Seguin's goat and others by peasants and shepherds he used to meet when he walked across the hills.
Pagnol selected three short stories:
segment 1 "L'ELixir du Reverend Père Gaucher" :this delicious elixir (liquor)is still selling in Provence today!Father Gaucher inherits a lot of stuff from his auntie;particularly interesting is the receipt of a liquor.A dealer (FErnand Sardou) is very interested and the fact that it is made by monks gives a " serious" guarantee to the product.As the father gets drunk every time he makes his liquor,his mates the monks invent a new absolution:the absolution while the sinner is sinning!
Segment 2: "LE SECRET DE MAITRE CORNILLE".The novel underwent some changes:the writer Daudet appears in the flesh ;it's him who reveals the secret:the windmill is running but there's no wheat in it,it runs light.
The philosophy was ahead of its time: clean energy please!
Segment 3:"LES TROIS MESSES BASSES " The devil takes the shape of Garrigou,the sacristan and begins to lead a priest into temptation:it's Christmas night,but before the Reveillon (midnight meal),the religious man has got to celebrate three masses;the devil talks and talks and talks of the turkeys,trouts and truffles,they will have after the services ;so the priest entirely botches the last mass, skipping the Pater and the Credo.God is not prepared to accept it.
It was the time when Pagnol's style had begun to be a bit obsolete;but you can watch these three shorts with pleasure….£7.49

 

Letty Lynton (1932)

Directed by Clarence Brown and starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Nils Asther, Lewis Stone and May Robson, this film has a runtime of 84 mins and the print quality is OK to Good

This film, one of the seminal works of the pre-Code era, has been unavailable commercially since January 17, 1936, when a federal court ruled that MGM's script too closely resembled the play "Dishonored Lady" without having acquired the rights or given proper screen credit. The play, written by Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes for leading lady Katharine Cornell, opened on Broadway at the Empire Theatre on April 30, 1930, running for 127 performances. The U.S. copyright of the play will expire in 2025.

Plot: Wealthy socialite Letty Lynton is returning to New York, abandoning one-tine lover Emile Renaul in South America, when she strikes up a shipboard romance with Jerry Darrow. Renault is waiting for her in New York and will not leave her alone, so she poisons him. When detectives take her to the D.A.s office, Jerry cooks up an alibi.

Review: ... unlike so many lost or unavailable films. The plot initially seems not so unusual, especially for a Joan Crawford MGM vehicle of the 1930's. Joan plays a fabulously wealthy playgirl living in South America who decides to return home for a multitude of reasons - she wants to turn over a new leaf, she wants to make up with the mother (May Robson) who has been pushing her away all her life, but most of all she wants to get out of the grasp of a possessive lover (Nils Asther) that is smothering her and objectifying her to the point that she is frightened. She takes a ship home to New York, and on the way there falls in love with the charming heir Hale Darrow (Robert Montgomery). The two become engaged with the press waiting to snap their pictures as the boat docks, but as the picture is snapped, what does Letty see but the possessive lover she thought she left in South America, literally licking his chops for her and waiting for her to land.
Young Darrow knows nothing of Letty's past, Letty's mom still wants nothing to do with her, and as for her old lover, he's demanding she continue the affair or else he will publicize some torrid love letters she wrote. How does this all turn out? Quite unexpectedly, I'll tell you that much and I'll also tell you, thank goodness for precode where justice in the movies - as in life - didn't always have the predictable nature of a form letter like it did after 1934.
MGM threw its A-list talent at this one including Joan's gowns by Adrian, Lewis Stone with a short but important part at the end, and some first class character actors. The only thing that doesn't ring quite true is May Robson as Joan's mother. Robson's acting and characterization are perfect, but she was almost 50 years older than Joan, looks it, and it just doesn't seem plausible that they could be mother and daughter with that age difference staring you in the face. Still it's a minor quibble and I'd highly recommend watching it if you ever get the opportunity….£7.49

 

Libeled Lady (1936)

Starring Jean Harlow, William Powell and Myrna Loy……£7.49

 

Liebelei (1933)

Directed by Max Ophuls and starring Paul Hörbiger, Magda Schneider, Luise Ullrich and Olga Tschechowa, this film has a runtime of 85 mins and the print quality is very good to excellent. This is a German language film with English subtitles.

Plot: A Viennese opera house, early in the century. In attendance are lieutenants Kaiser and Lobheimer. Two young ladies on the balcony, Mizzi and Christine, drop their opera glasses, hitting one of the officers. The Baron von Eggersdorff arrives in his box. Lobheimer leaves early for his tryst with the Baron's wife. The Baron soon arrives home, in a suspicious mood. Lobheimer rejoins Kaiser in a café with the two girls. Lobheimer soon falls for Christine... The Baroness wonders why her lover has been absent for so long; the two now part for good. But the Baron learns the secret and discovers that a key still in his wife's possession opens the lieutenant's door. He challenges Lobheimer to a duel..

Review: . The camera of Franz Planer follows the protagonists in long tracking shots, observes precisely the development of an affection and later deep love between Fritz (Wolfgang Liebeneiner) and Christine (Magda Schneider) during the nightly walk through the sleeping city and their endless swings of waltzing through the empty coffee bar. It is also great how Ophüls exemplarily trusts in the viewer's imagination to make things visible. The couple has forgotten the world around them, being only close together, overwhelmed by the feelings, which suddenly arise in them. The slow waltz resembles a soft hug, but the melancholy in this dance is perceptible and especially Fritz, who has a secret tête-à-tête with a bored baroness, seems to fear, that the love for Christine might not have a happy ending.
And last but not least some words about Gustaf Gründgens who plays the cheated baron: In the scenes, he is acting mainly only with looks, with stringent, frigid looks, that whoosh across the room like bullets. The precision of his performance is masterful and probably the best in this film….£7.49

 

Liebling Der Gotter (1930)

Starring Emil Jannings, Renate Müller and Olga Tschechowa the film has a runtime of 94 mins and the print quality is good. The film is presented in German language with English subtitles….£7.49

 

Life With Father (1947)

Starring William Powell and Irene Dunne. A lovely comedy. In late nineteenth century New York a Wall Street broker likes to think his house runs his way, but finds himself constantly bemused at how much of what happens is down to his wife. His children are also stretching their wings, discovering girls and making money out of patent medicine selling. When it comes to light he has never been baptized and everyone starts insisting he must do so, it all starts to get a bit too much. I must just mention one wonderful scene in this film when William Powell and Irene Dunne sit down to go through the household accounts……£7.49

 

Lights of New York, The (1928)

This film stars Helene Costello, Cullen Landis, Mary Carr, Wheeler Oakman and Eugene Pallette, it has a runtime of 57 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Storyline: A young kid from Upstate New York named Eddie (Landis) is conned into fronting for a speakeasy on Broadway. Throughout the con there is an inevitable chorus-girl with a heart of gold (Costello), a cop-killing gangster boss (Oakman) and his downtrodden ex-girlfriend (Brockwell)

Review: LIGHTS OF NEW YORK was the first "all-taking" feature film, coming in at a brisk 57 minutes and directed by Bryan Foy (of the famous vaudeville family).
The story has two dopey barbers (Cullen Landis, Eugene Palette) yearning for a chance at "big city life" and getting involved with gangsters and bootleg booze. One of the guys gets framed for the murder of a cop but is saved at the last minute by a gun moll (Gladys Brockwell).
Much of the story takes place in a night club called The Night Hawk, which is run by a crook named Hawk (Wheeler Oakman) who has his eye on a pretty chorine (Helene Costello) who is the girl friend of Landis. Costello gets to do a brief dance, and we hear Harry Downing (made up to resemble Ted Lewis) sing "At Dawning) in his best Al Jolson style.
The acting ranges from good (Palette and Brockwell) to awful (Oakman). A couple of the actors muff their lines but then keep right on with the scene. As noted elsewhere this was intended to be a short 2-reeler and was made on a shoestring budget. Yet the sound quality is surprisingly good, the voices all register clearly, and there is a neat cinematic touch in the silhouette death.
The film was a box-office smash even though it was shown as a silent film where theaters were not wired for the new sound technology. No one expected this little film to gross an amazing $1.3 million. It briefly made stars of Costello and Landis and certainly launched Palette on his long career as a star character actor.
Co-stars include Mary Carr as the mother, Robert Elliott as the detective, Eddie Kane as the street cop, and Tom Dugan as a thug….£7.49

 

Lilac aka Coeur De Lilas (1932)

Starring Jean Gabin, Marcelle Romee and Andre Luguet this is a French film with English intertitles and a runtime of 84 mins. The print quality is good.

"Coeur de Lilas " is a worthwhile find.Its screenplay is original and its directing is often brilliant.
The movie begins and ends with a military parade:in the neighborhood,brats are doing the same till one of them says he has enough with soldiers and they play cops and robbers ...just to discover a dead body on the "Fortifications" (which do not exist anymore in Paris nowadays).The "game "subject will return as Jean Gabin and his pals do a travesty of a trial and in the last pictures when one of the kids says " a cop must not be moved",actually the moral of the story.
The first scenes of "Coeur de Lilas" suffer from an old-fashioned theatrical acting but as soon it takes place in the greasy spoon where Gabin and chanteuse Frehel sing "la Môme Caoutchouc" ( =rubber gal),the film hits its stride .Many of its elements would emerge again in other more famous French movies or in Litvak's future career.
-The bad gal falling in love with an undercover policeman (and sighing :"I wish there were not so many cops in this world":of course she does not know his true identity)who tries to worm information out of her would be used by Pierre Chenal in his "l'Alibi" (1937) -The guinguettes down by the river Marne where Fernandel (in one of his smallest part of a best man) sings for the bride would be a permanent feature of the French film noir :see "la Belle Equipe" (1936) by Duvivier and Becker's "Casque d'Or" (1952) -The desperate lovers surrounded by a farandole ,it's already the ending of "Les Enfants du Paradis" in miniature.
-The hallucinations during the heroine's running already display the director's interest in madness ("the snake pit",1946) ……£7.49

 

Limelight (1952)

Starring Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce, Buster Keaton and Sydney Chaplin this film has a runtime of 132 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Review: Charles Chaplin is, at least for me, the best film maker of all time. And Limelight is his best film. It is one of the 10 films I have given 100/100.
The film is about this old comedian who can't find himself a job. He saves a young girl who tried to commit suicide. Well, they become friends and stuff.
Simply the film is perfect. There is nothing bad I could say about it. Well, maybe the ballet scene was too long (but maybe I just can't concentrate enough). The script, the music, the actors, the whole philosophical structure of the film! They are all perfect. And the end of the film is something so beautiful that you really have to see it.
If there is one thing you have to see, make sure it'll be Chaplin's Limelight!....£7.49

 

Little Caesar (1931)

Starring Edward G.Robinson……£7.49

 

Little Lise (1930)

Directed by Jean Gremillon and starring Pierre Alcove, Joe Alex, Alex Bernard and Julien Bertheau, this film has a runtime of 73 mins and the print quality is good to very good. This is a French language film with English subtitles.

Plot: Victor Berthier, a good man but also a very jealous one, killed his wife in a fit of jealousy. After serving a few years in a chain gang, he is released for good behavior. He feels very happy to be able to return to Paris and to meet Lise, his daughter, again. But, to his dismay, he finds that Lise, through the fault of André, her lover and pimp, has unwillingly committed a murder.

Review: This is the strangest film Gremillon made .Its soundtrack is absolutely bewildering:during the cast and credits ,some kind of "exotic" song is heard the words of which are difficult to understand ,even for a French.Two lines come back as a sinister leitmotiv (Il Voulait Une Femme et Il Vola =He wanted a woman and he stole);then in the horrifying penal colony of Cayenne ,at night,the convicts break into a "Ferme Tes Yeux Bleus =Close your blue eyes";the ending ,which is one of the saddest ,the most depressing I know features a South American like black musicians orchestra.
A convict comes back to his dear France and to his dear daughter,"La Petite Lise" to be confronted with tragedy.When he was away ,Lise became a prostitute (the word is never uttered),but is about to redeem her soul thanks to her boyfriend' s heartfelt love.But they need 3000 Francs to buy a garage in the country and to start a brand new life (sounds like the words to an Edith Piaf song;actually the whole films sounds like a Piaf song even if the chanteuse was about 16 when it was made) The two young actors's playing seems old-fashioned today ,and only Alcover's performance can touch today's audience.But he is deeply moving as a father who gave it all and did it again .But if you were a father ,wouldn't you do the same?
An objection remains: the way the script writers depict the Jew is ,par excellence ,the cliché:of course,he is a pawnbroker,stingy,deceitful,unkind ,spineless.This is not the only movie where the Jews are demeaned.
"La Petite Lise" is Gremillon's third feature film after "Maldone" and "Gardiens De Phare"…£7.49

 

Live For Life aka Vivre Pour Vivre (1967)

Directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Yves Montand, Candice Bergen, Annie Girardot, Irene Tunc and Anouk Ferjac, this film has a runtime of 125 mins and the print quality is very good to excellent. This is a French language film with hardcoded English subtitles.

Plot: Robert Colomb, a famous TV newscaster, is married to Catherine, but is continually unfaithful. He is about to replace his current mistress, Mireille, with Jacqueline when he meets, and becomes fascinated with Candice. He takes her along on an assignment in Kenya and later establishes an "arrangement" with her in Amsterdam. When he tells Catherine about the affair, she is silent. He is assigned to Viet Nam, tells Candice their affair is over and, to his astonishment, discovers that is more than acceptable to her as she as tired of him. Returning from a Vietnamese prison he decides to return also to Catherine, but discovers she has made a new life for herself. He ponders whether he should break into her life again, rekindle their old love or just disappear from her life. While he is pondering, Catherine---a big hand for the little lady---makes the decision for this selfish and conceited ass.

Review: In Paris, the famous forty year-old journalist Robert Colomb (Yves Montand) is married with Catherine (Annie Girardot) but he is an unfaithful husband. After a love affair with the gorgeous actress Mireille (Irène Tunc), Robert meets the twenty-one year-old American model Candice (Candice Bergen), who has come to Paris for taking photos, in a hotel and feels a great attraction for her. Later, he meets her again by chance in a box fight and they begin a torrid affair. Robert is assigned by the television to interview a group of mercenaries in Congo, and he takes Candice to Nairobi with him and his photographer and friend Michel (Michel Parbot) pretending that they are tourists in a tour. Robert promises Candice to tell his wife about their love affair, but he has no courage to disclose the truth to his wife that proposes him to celebrate his birthday in Amsterdam, where they had traveled in their first trip together. Out of the blue, Candice appears in Amsterdam and in the end Robert tells the truth to Catherine about his double-life and the affair with Candice. Catherine leaves him and Robert moves to Candice's place, but six months later they break their relationship. Candice returns to New York and Robert travels to Vietnam to cover the war, where he is imprisoned by the communists. When he returns to Paris, he misses Catherine, but she has a new life with another man.
"Vivre Pour Vivre" is a classy and charming romance about infidelity and loss of a wolf French journalist. Claude Lelouch supports the magnificent story with a screenplay the uses one of the most beautiful music scores of the cinema history as the substitute for dialogs and the result is impressive. As I refereed in the title of my review, the director uses the sounds of silence- when words are not necessary. The lead trio composed by Yves Montand, Annie Girardot and Candice Bergen (for me, the most gorgeous actress from the late 60's and 70's) show awesome chemistry and performances. The sequence in close when Catherine hears the truth from Robert about his infidelity is stunning. The locations, the worldwide situation in the 60's as background with the use of footages and the cinematography are also wonderful. Only today I have finally seen this movie, since in the 60's I did not have the necessary age to watch in the movie theaters and only now this film has been released on DVD in Brazil by Classicline distributor. The conclusion was totally unexpected for me. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Viver Por Viver" ("To Live for Living")….£7.49

 

Locked Door, The (1929) **UPGRADE**

Directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Rod La Rocque, William Boyd, Betty Bronson and Mack Swain, this film has a runtime of 73 mins and the print quality is very good.

Storyline: While Ann and the son of her boss are out on a ship beyond the 12-mile limit, which allows liquor to be consumed, the son, Frank makes unwanted advances towards her. While she is fighting him off, the ship is raided and the passengers herded ashore. Eighteen months later Ann is celebrating her one year anniversary to Lawrence Reagan when her young sister-in-law announces she is in love, and it turns out to be Frank. Ann decides to save her husband's sister from a fate worse than death, and goes to Frank's apartment to prevent an elopement. Lawrence also goes to the apartment that night, and everyone is entangled in a crime of passion.

Review: The attraction here is not just Barbara Stanwyck, even though it's her first talkie and she handles her role with a secure professionalism that belies her cinematic inexperience. Born for the camera she was! But an equally impressive performance is delivered by Rod La Rocque as the serial cad who mistreats her and then sets his sights on her younger sister. The trappings are typical 20's soap opera/melodrama, in this case derived from a stage play. But not typical for the era is La Rocque's well-tailored villain who seems to have stepped out of a story from a much later era; in fact, his performance would not be considered one bit dated even by today's standards - highly unusual for a film from 1929. His line readings and body language bespeak a decadent, spoiled rogue without a scintilla of conscience, all of this enhanced by delicately tapered sideburns. He also has a smooth, deep speaking voice. The look and style of the film are standard for the era but include an interesting, lively panoramic dance party sequence on a "drinking boat" (pleasure boats that sailed outside the 12-mile limit of the US coast so the patrons could drink alcohol illegally during the Prohibition era) intercut with an intimate scene between Stanwyck and La Rocque in one of the cabins.……£7.49

 

Lola Montes (1955)

Directed by Max Ophuls and starring Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook, Henri Guisol and Lise Delamare, this film has a runtime of 115 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Plot: The film tells the tragic story of Lola Montès, a great adventurer who becomes the main attraction of a circus after being the lover of various important European men.

Review: It is not entirely fair to recommend Lola Montes so highly, or admire it so, since even the version that screened recently at the Film Forum in NYC, purported to be the definitive restoration, is *still* a truncated version. The original director's cut that premiered in France in 1955, and then to immediate withdrawal after its "disaster" of a reception at 140 minutes, is no longer available. At the least, it's a saving grace that so much has been saved in this 115 minute cut, considering how many version there are and how they vary with the running time.
And, for Pete sake, if by some chance you can see it on the big-screen (it's soon to leave the Film Forum for its *second* run following the re-release last October and its re-premiere at the NYFF), do so. The filmmaker, Max Ophuls, in what was his unintentional swan song- he died at 55- shot the hell out of this picture, with director of photography Christian Matras taking the 2:35:1 frame with new Eastmancolor by the horns and shaking it for all it could be worth within the context of a "vibrant" 19th century costume melodrama bio-pic. The colors all jump off so splendidly, with such a force that compels one to not have too long of a blink, as to do so would be to miss on little surprises, little things that Ophuls uses in his frame which he careens and swivels and moves around with the freedom of a curious, pleasantly intoxicated fowl. It's one of the first masterpieces of the widescreen color film.
But it's not just a great film in technical terms. That would be too easy perhaps for Ophuls, who uses this backdrop of the sweeping and sensational to pierce through other deeper things going on with the characters. In Lola Montes his character is someone who re-lives what has happened in her relatively short life (relatively since she's not really "old" in the sense of being tucked away from the public's gaze) as a main attraction in a French circus.
She's an object first and person second in this context, which as one can imagine bustles and throbs with excitement and fun as only something of a cousin to Fellini could be. And yet as a person she's had quite a journey to where she's at: from aristocratic daughter given away to a marriage she has to run away from (unfaithful husband, figures with a wife who is about as beautiful a being as could be in the immediate vicinity), then becomes a ballerina (her childhood dream), and then... well, a topic of gossip and scandal, such as romancing a conductor, all ending in Bavaria with her hopes of possibly settling down squandered for good. Hence the circus gig.
It's a story that's given that same kaleidoscopic view as in Citizen Kane, but this time with the twist that the protagonist isn't given the sort of "luxury" of already being dead as the story of a life is sifted through and given a LARGER-than-LIFE context. Lola's story is a spectacle, sometimes farce, sometimes legend, sometimes one of those too-much-to-believe sagas that keeps those glued to their seats while Lola also entertains with trapeze work! And yet under the blue lights, under the costume changes and other mock-ups and even the Q&A sessions that the ringmaster holds with the audience and Lola, the soul of this woman is about as "there" as a near-empty gas tank. She may still be alive, but it's a kind of limbo that would be too insane if it weren't true and played out to full spectacle and extravaganza.
As said, this is a work of true technical mastery, and there's one amazing camera move or one amazing little direction (I just smiled ear to ear seeing in the opening how the circus performers rolled out, and it stayed for a solid five minutes). But, too, Ophuls has an engaging, wonderful actress on top of having a complete knockout visually: Martine Carol, who I'm not sure I've seen outside of this film, pulls out a performance that wavers between weepy, flustered, driven, elegant, tortured, calm and hiding back hysteria. It's half diva and half substantially undermined human soul, and she pulls it off like it's the performance of a life. Good marks also go to Peter Ustinov as the Ringmaster, chugging along through a script that he knows almost too well (we get very amusing asides with one of the "little" people in the red costumes trying to get their change back from him mid-act), and the actor who played the Bavarian king. In Ophuls hands, they're not just other pieces of the set, but actors who work so diligently to make this all one cohesive piece.
And, really, that's what makes Lola Montes ultimately so remarkable. Ophuls has moments of melodrama, maybe so much so that one will have to really love costume-period-melodrama flicks to really appreciate it (I actually don't usually, this is an exception), and at the same time they all work as part of this story about what lies behind the pomp and circumstance. You can get lost from time to time in this movie, and it's thrilling to get wrapped up in it. And as well as an artistic achievement of considerable proportions, it's a really fun movie to boot….£7.49

 

Lonely Wives (1931)

Directed by Russell Mack and starring Edward Everett Horton, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante and Patsy Ruth Miller, this film has a runtime of 85 mins and the print quality is very good to excellent.

Plot: A lonely husband, whose wife has been away, hires a look-a-like impersonator to fill his place and fool his mother-in-law while he plays around with a pretty coquette. His wife returns that night and confusion prevails.

Review: The strange connection between a passionate lawyer and a vaudeville impersonator leads to romantic complications for their LONELY WIVES.
Edward Everett Horton, that nervous fuss-budget who enlivened so many films as a top character actor during Hollywood's Golden Age, here gets a rare starring role and a chance to really flex his comedic muscles. Although it's a little difficult to think of Horton as a romantic idol--even a funny one--he certainly has the lovely ladies adoring him in this lively Pre-Code farce.
Providing double trouble, Horton plays the dual roles of a stern lawyer who ‘blooms' into a Don Juan every evening at 8 PM and the talented mimic who wishes to impersonate the lawyer on the stage. Add the lonely wives--Esther Ralston & Laura La Plante--and you're likely to get a merry marital mix-up.
Patsy Ruth Miller plays the lawyer's too flirtatious new secretary. Spencer Charters staggers through the role of the household's increasingly inebriated butler. Best of all is elderly Maude Eburne, an underappreciated actress with considerable comic skills, who tackles the role of Ms. Ralston's boisterous mother. Chubby Ms. Eburne easily holds her own with either Hortons and gets to utter the film's final, funniest line….£7.49

 

Lorna (1964)

Starring Lorna Maitland and directed by Russ Meyer……£7.49

 

Lost Horizon (1937)

Directed by Frank Capra and starring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt and Edward Everett Horton, this is the reconstructed version of the film with a runtime of 132 mins and in places uses stills to fill in the missing footage. The print quality is very good.

Plot: British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash land in the Himalayas, and are rescued by the people of the mysterious, Eden-like valley of Shangri-la. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-la provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.

Review: I have seen this film many times over the years and it never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps other Capra films are better known, but I don't think they can hold a candle to this one. The cast, every one, turn in stunning performances. In his secondary role as Ronald Colman's brother, I believe John Howard's performance was superb, even among this stellar cast. His career consisted of leads in "B" films (Bulldog Drummond) or usually the second man in "A" films (such as The Philadelphia Story). A talented, highly underrated actor in my view, he was of the opinion that he deserved better roles, such as those of Ronald Colman. I agree. And how about that musical score! THE BEST OF ANY FILM, in my humble opinion. What a treat it is to watch a real gem - - Lost Horizon. Incidentally the film is far better than the book by James Hilton. Could another actor have portrayed Robert Conway as Ronald Colman has? I doubt it, even in that age of excellent actors. The scene where his brother George, aided by the Russian girl, try to convince him that Shangri-La is not what it is, is remarkable for Colman's reaction. He turns away and his face changes from disbelief to uncertainty then to acceptance of their arguments. All this without dialogue. Shortly after he turns to look at Shangri-La for the last time before plunging into the outside world and again, silently, his emotions touch us all. (At least they touch me!) We are very fortunate to have this masterpiece available to us. Now, will future generations recognize this film for what it is? Judging from today's "hits" I really wonder….£7.49

 

Lost Zeppelin, The (1929)

Starring Conway Tearle and Ricardo Cortez……£7.49

 

Lottery Bride, The (1930)

Starring Jeannette MacDonald, Zasu Pitts and Joe E.Brown……£7.49

 

Love Affair (1939)

Starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. French playboy Michel Marnet and American Terry McKay fall in love aboard ship. They arrange to reunite 6 months later, after Michel has had a chance to earn a decent living. Unfortunately, their meeting is foiled when Terry is injured minutes before their rendezvous……£7.49

 

Love Among the Millionaires (1930)

Starring Clara Bow. Review:

This was my first movie of Clara Bow. But, I was a fan- because I've seen documentaries and short clips of her and I instantly fell in love with her. She had great charisma, energy. You just have to watch her. I think she was wonderful. She looks at ease. Even though many said she didn't like talkies and her Brooklyn accent wasn't good……£7.49

 

Love Before Breakfast (1936)

Starring Carole Lombard, Preston Foster and Cesar Romero this film has a runtime of 70 mins and the print quality is very good.

Review: I enjoyed "Love Before Breakfast" very much and think with a slight re-write it could have earned a 9, as it was a nice little screwball comedy.
The film begins with a very rich industrialist (Preston Foster) buying an oil company just so he can transfer a guy overseas (Cesar Romero) in order to have a chance at the girl (Carole Lombard). Now Foster isn't a total jerk--the transfer is a promotion for Romero and he's thrilled to take it. The plan is for Romero to stay in Japan for two years and then return to marry Lombard. However, it's pretty obvious that this relationship has some problems--not the least of which is the conniving Foster. Now it could be easy to dislike Foster since he is manipulative and a bit of a stalker, however, the writers did a good job making his character likable. He's rich but a pretty swell guy. Heck, I might have married him if he'd asked! But, as for Lombard, she gives him a very hard time--after all, Foster IS responsible for the boyfriend going overseas. And, after a while, she does come to like Foster and is willing to marry him instead. However, Foster isn't happy with this--after all, if Romero was home, would she still be willing to do this? So, he brings Romero back and treats him with every kindness to allow Lombard a chance to choose. Who she chooses, how and why is something you'll just have to see for yourself.
I liked this story very much, but did have a complaint about one thing. I think that Lombard's character was made a bit too volatile and annoying. It got bad enough towards the end that I could not believe that Foster would still want such a nasty...um...'lady'. As for the rest of the cast, they are quite dandy. I liked Lombard's mother and the dog (an adorable little thing), but I especially liked the small part played by Richard Carle--he wasn't in the movie a lot, but was great in the scenes where he appeared.
Overall, an enjoyable little comedy only marred, very slightly, by a female character that is, at times, just a bit too annoying and snippy. Still, give it a look--it's a nice forgotten little film…..£7.49

 

Lower Depths, The (1936) aka Les Bas Fonds aka Underworld

Directed by Jean Renoir and adapted from trhe famous play by Maxim Gorky, this film stars Jean Gabin, Suzy Prim, Louis Jouvet, Jany Holt and Vladimir Sokoloff. It has a runtime of 93 mins and the print quality is excellent. It is a French language film with English subtitles.

Plot: The winner of the Louis Delluc Prize as the most outstanding French photo-play of 1936, as selected by the Young Independent Critics of France (an organization and not a description.) The film treats the imprisoning hold of poverty; the disheartening odds of people rising from such social despair, and the ease in which those in the upper spheres of Society may descend.

Review: Strictly speaking there are two alternate ways of making an adaption. One is to adapt the original text to the screen as it was written, the other is to modernize the text completely, thus giving it a new interpretation. These extremes locate to the opposite ends of the axle loyal-disloyal. Jean Renoir's "The Lower Depths" (1936) is far from the former, though it isn't particularly radical nor a modernization. One who is interested in the loyal fashion might wish to take a look at Kurosawa's 1957 version of the same material. The original material in question is Maxim Gorky's famous play of the same name which premiered in the early 1900's.
Gorky's play is often regarded as a hallmark of socialist realism, but it lacks the unambiguous moral message which we usually associate with the style. It's a play without a formal plot, paying more attention to characters and their relationships. Renoir has changed a lot and added new milieus, scenes, and minor characters. For example, Renoir gives more space for the friendship between the bankrupt baron and the thief, probably in order to highlight his view of humanity above social borders. Overall, Renoir has taken the most interesting characters of Gorky's play and chosen to focus on their drama rather than creating a film about a cave-like milieu and its relation to its various inhabitants. It is the spectator's choice whether this is for the better or worse, but Renoir's motives seem clear: he most likely wanted to give coherence to the story and thus enhance its ethical nature.
Due to these choices Renoir's "The Lower Depths" grows into a story about a thief (Jean Gabin) who falls in love with a girl. They live in the same slum -- a typical courtyard-ish milieu for Renoir's 30's films -- with the girl's sister, the thief's former partner, who is married to the owner of the slum apartments but wants to escape her marriage. Meanwhile the thief befriends a baron who has lost his social status and is now creating a new life in the lower depths.
Gorky's story is really ideal to the French Poetic Realism, but the film has replaced Gorky's pessimism with warm romance and an optimistic spirit. To me, whether this makes "The Lower Depths" better or worse is not an interesting question. What is interesting, on the other hand, is that it makes it different. Renoir once again manages to approach themes of friendship and solidarity with an authentic yet non-sentimental perspective. The final shot, which has righteously been compared to the famous finale of Chaplin's "Modern Times" (1936), expresses faith and hope, but not in excess, precisely because Renoir's image is indeterminate enough. Or, as Luka puts it, "If you believe in it, it is real."…£7.49

 

Lydia (1941)

Directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Merle Oberon, Joseph Cotton and Edna May Oliver, this film has a runtime of 94 mins and the print quality is excellent.

Plot: Lydia MacMillan, a wealthy old woman who has never married, is invited by an old beau, Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, for a reunion with the men who have been in her life to reminisce about the times when they were young and courted her. In memory, each romance seemed splendid and destined for happiness, but in each case, Lydia realizes, the truth was less romantic, and ill-starred.

Review: If you can feel the pain and longing of others (and who can't?), this picture will break your heart. Yes, it is slow, even plodding at times, but the ending overrides all of that.
Being totally, hopelessly (or is it hopefully?) in love, she rejects the stability offered by a loyal, devoted suitor and friend for the memory of the one man who made her blood boil. Although he did not return to her, as promised, she thinks of him constantly and dares to cherish the hope that one day he may, after all, return to her.
She is an old woman when in fact he does reappear by chance in her life. Pathetically, this is to somehow justify the wasted years. She is trembling with anticipation, ready to learn why he was unable to return to her, his lover, eager to forgive even though it has cost her youth and happiness.
Need I go on? He doesn't even remember who she is. He was the one man in her life; she learns much too late that she was obviously one of a great many women in his.
More than a "women's picture" or conventional tearjerker, this one deserves your attention. Just be patient…..£7.49

 

Ready to buy? Email your choices to silentfilmdvd@gmail.com and we will send you a paypal invoice. We also accept payment by cheque within the UK.

 

Prices including p&p are as follows:

 

Within UK  

1 disk £7.49

3 disks £20.00

5 disks £30.00

10 disks £50.00

10 + disks  £5.00 per disk

 

Outside UK  

1 disk £8.99

3 disks £20.00

5 disks £30.00

10 disks £50.00

10+ disks £5.00 per disk

 

File transfer

£5.00 per title

 

If you want more information on any of the titles then please email us, we'll be happy to help.

 

Please remember if you need a film to be NTSC to make this clear when ordering

 

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Email: silentfilmdvd@gmail.com