Mike’s Top Ten of 1932
You definitely start to see an overall increase in quality when you get to 1932. Previous sound years have really good films, but you can’t really go 20 deep with films most people would want to watch. Here, you’re starting to be able to do that. It’s exciting to me to see Hollywood growing up. To put this into terms you young people who don’t know anything before 2002 can understand: Hollywood in the silent era was a full-sized Groot. And then sound happened and the whole thing got blowed up. And now, we’re dealing with a Baby Groot, slowly coming into its own again. We’re watching it get back to form.
1932 and 1933 are also the two years where Hollywood started really pushing the envelope, subject matter-wise, which lead to the creation of the Production Code. There are a couple of those here. You get your smatter of sex, violence and social problems. And then other cool stuff, like what might be the most bizarre film Hollywood made in the studio era. (more…)
Pic of the Day: “Mr. Cogburn, did you find a bottle with a hundred and twenty-five dollars in it?” “Objection your Honor, Leading.” “Sustained. Rephrase the question.” “What happened then?” “I found a bottle with a hundred and twenty-five dollars in it.”
Mike’s Top Ten of 1931
1931 places us firmly in the sound era. The only silent films you’ll see here are ones made either foreign, or by very specific auteurs. Now that sound is the norm, we start to see the era of Pre-Code films seep in. More specifically, one type of picture that would be very big in this era: the gangster picture.
The gangster picture sees its heyday from 1931 through the early 40s, when it starts to fade away and be melded into the noir genre. Also here, a genre that is only starting to emerge now, with sound, the horror film. The horror genre wasn’t really prevalent in the silent era. There are notable exceptions, but the genre only really starts to take off in 1931, with three very iconic films of the genre coming out and paving the way.
There’s not a whole lot to say about 1931, since it’s still transition to sound, and Pre-Code. Mostly of interest are the specific films that came out this year. (more…)
Pic of the Day: “We’re finally getting out of this turkey town, and now you wanna crawl back into your cell, right? You wanna end up like John? You just can’t stay seventeen forever.”
Mike’s Top Ten of 1930
1930 is a year that’s memorable historically because it’s smack-dab in the middle of the transition to sound. The Jazz Singer comes out October 1927. Hollywood only starts getting into talkies in 1929, because it took them the first year to clear out the inventory and start new. The transition to sound is a fascinating era. Because first it’s all about showing films with sound. A lot of them are plays, with tableau staging and very theatrical stories and performances. Then slowly, as techniques begin to be developed and technology gets better (because remember, in order to shoot sound at first they had to keep cameras — which were very loud, as were the lights — stationary and had giant soundproof booths just to pick up everything), they start to get more advanced. By 1932, they’ve basically perfected the sound technology and are moving into narrative advancements.
But in 1930, you have an interesting mix of films that are just learning to use sound. Still a smattering of silents, but mostly talkies. And the talkies you see that do well here are of very specific genres: comedy, western, war, musical. The quintessential genres. You also see a very specific genre emerge: Pre-Code films. Now that Hollywood has the use of sound, they have much more leeway on dialogue. And they’re starting to go into some pretty dangerous territory, which will get them in trouble in a few years and lead to a self-censorship that prevented them from going into the subjects of sex and addiction and all that good stuff.
It’s an interesting year. There’s some good stuff in it. A lot of stuff that only works when you understand the era, but this year did give us an all-time great film. Like legitimate all-time, still holds up today, still one of the greatest films ever made. And the fact that it happened during the transition to sound is all the more impressive. (more…)
Pic of the Day: “I want to to ask you something: do you believe his story?” “I don’t know whether I believe it or not. Maybe I don’t.” “So how come you vote not guilty?” “Well, there were eleven votes for guilty. It’s not easy to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.”
Pic of the Day: “Our first game is called Well Begun is Half-Done.” “I don’t like the sound of that.” “Otherwise titled Let’s Tidy up the Nursery.” “I told you she was tricky.”
Pic of the Day: “Ya know sometimes I forget why I play the game. I do it because of Mr. October.” “You mean the guy from the Chippendales Calendar?” “No that was Dwayne Zachemore… I mean whoever it was…”
Pic of the Day: “How old are you, Amsterdam?” “I’m not sure, sir. I never did quite figure it.” “I’m forty-seven. Forty-seven years old. You know how I stayed alive this long? All these years? Fear. The spectacle of fearsome acts. Somebody steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me, I cut off his head, stick it on a pike, raise it high up so all on the streets can see. That’s what preserves the order of things. Fear.”
Pic of the Day: “Do you like me just a little bit?” “Your general appearance is not distasteful.”
Pic of the Day: “Mabel is not crazy, she’s unusual. She’s not crazy, so don’t say she’s crazy.”
Pic of the Day: “Your parents say you’re always lying.” “Oh, I lie now and then, I suppose. Sometimes I’d tell them the truth and they still wouldn’t believe me, so I prefer to lie.”
Pic of the Day: “But every once in a while, there’s a day when I don’t have to be a princess. No lessons, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day I can change my fate.”
Pic of the Day: “Why are we fighting to save the humans? They’re a primitive and violent race.” “Were we so different? They’re a young species. They have much to learn. But I’ve seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”
Pic of the Day: “So, now, in keeping with WZRB policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local ‘blood and guts’, TV 30 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, and exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide.”
Pic of the Day: “It’s okay, he do some work.” “I did not.” “You clean something off deck, no?” “You made me do something.” “That was work.”
Pic of the Day: “You know what, you look like you put your face on backwards this morning.” “You’ve got too much mouth, mack.” “So, tell my dentist.”
