Tag Archives: 2/5

#11-The Thin Man

Quick Recap: Clyde Wynant, eccentric inventor, has disappeared. His friend Nick Charles, world famous detective,and wife Nora take on the case to help solve the mystery. While searching for Wynant, his lover/secretary is murdered. Wynant becomes suspect number 1 and it is up to Charles to clear his name and find the real killer. There’s also a cute dog. A ridiculously cute dog.

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I don’t like dogs, but this one won me over

Fun(?)Fact: This movie was so popular that it inspired a series of movies centered around Nick and Nora Charles, as well as a radio broadcast and tv show.

My thoughts: In writing about this movie, I think it’s important for me to separate my thoughts into two parts. The first part is the actual mystery of Clyde Wynant. I was mildly interested in who the real murderer was, and I did enjoy the few twists and turns. I especially liked the end of the movie when Charles hosts a dinner party for all of the suspects so that he can reveal the true killer. It was a little over the top, but then again, this is 1930’s cinema.

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Every classic movie needs a spinning newspaper montage

So, mystery aside, the real fun in this movie came from the banter between detective husband and wife, Nick and Nora Charles. I genuinely laughed at their exchanges and I was surprised by how strong their chemistry was together. Nick treated Nora as an equal and as a true friend. It was easy to see how much they loved each other, but also how much they respected and enjoyed each other. The character of Nick Charles is especially interesting. The creation of a brilliant, smart ass detective has been run into the ground. Yet, in this context, it’s refreshing and sincere. In most of the scenes, Charles is drinking heavily, to the point one wonders about his alcoholism. He sobers up immediately once he realizes something about the case and it’s amazing to see such a quick transition.

Final review: 2/5. I wouldn’t watch this again. Nick and Nora were charming and the dog was damn cute, but the mystery was meh. It was interesting the watch the beginning of the detective genre take off, but I wouldn’t want to sit through it again.

Where I watched it: Netflix DVD

Up Next: North by Northwest

 

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#8- Way Down East

Quick Recap: A young country girl, Anna,  is sent to her cousin’s house and falls for a man named Sanderson. Sanderson seduces Anna and holds a mock wedding just so he can sleep with her. After discovering she is pregnant, Sanderson admits to the scam and leaves. Soon after, Anna’s mother dies and she eventually gives birth to a baby boy who dies in infancy. Anna is forced to find work after her landlord discovers she has no husband. She eventually finds work with a farming family who are very religious, but kind. It is revealed that Sanderson lives just a few houses down. Things are going well and Anna even begins to fall in love with David, the Squire’s son. Everything comes crashing down when the Squire finds out Anna had a child out of wedlock. She explains her side of the story and then runs away. Even though finding out she is not who he thought, David chases after her and dramatically rescues her from an icy river. All is forgiven and the two eventually marry.

Fun (?) Fact: The icy rescue scene at the end of the movie was done without special effects.

My Thoughts: I do my best not to read about the movie ahead of time so that I won’t form any opinions beforehand. So when I do have an idea, it is nice to know that it sometimes matches up with what is true. Take, for instance, the movie’s premise of a girl ruined by her mock marriage. The whole thing seemed incredibly outdated for 1920, until I later read that the movie is based on a very popular play from 1890. Of course Lillian Gish was wonderful, although I would love to see her play a villain just once instead of the innocent, everything-that-can-go-wrong-does-go-wrong character. Besides the outdated (for its time) plot, I was bored with the subplots of all the other couples falling in love. Apparently there is a revised version so maybe some of this is taken out? I guess I do appreciate the lightheartedness that was put into some of the scenes. I can imagine young couples going on a date to see this movie because it is essentially a romance. I don’t know who in their right mind would bring a date to Birth of a Nation or even Intolerance,  so good for Griffith for branching out a little. The ice rescue scene at the end was pretty amazing and just shows how talented Griffith was.

Final Review: 2/5. Once again, this is my personal opinion in the movie and not necessarily what someone else might think. I am not a romance movie kind of girl so it wasn’t really my cup of tea. I much preferred Intolerance but I would rather watch this than Broken Blossoms. I’m still drinking because of that one.

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#3- Birth of a Nation

Quick recap: This is a Civil War era film, directed by the great DW Griffith. There are two plot lines involving the North and the South and how each is effected. The first part of the movie (it was originally two parts) is pre Civil War up to the end and the second part is all about the Reconstruction. In the second part of the film, African-Americans are given rights and wreak havoc on everything and everybody. The KKK rises up to protect all those innocent white people and everything is ok.

Fun (?) fact: The KKK used this movie as a recruiting tool. Of course they did.

My thoughts: So the first part was really no different than Gone With the Wind, with all its epic-ness. Nothing I haven’t seen before but I suppose for its time, I can see why people loved it. I sat through this part thinking, ‘This isn’t so controversial!” and then I got worried that the internet has desensitized me too much. And THAT’S when the second part started. Wow. It’s like I can almost imagine Griffith had a checklist of everything offensive to African- Americans and laughed maniacally as he put it into the film.

man in blackface eating fried chicken. Yeah.

Besides being offensive, this film did not interest me at all. I love historical movies as you shall see in later posts, but nothing kept me glued to the screen.

Final review: 2 out of 5. Not going to recommend this one, unless you want to watch it for its value to film. I watched the movie on archive.org.

Where I watched it: http://www.archive.org

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