Cecil B. DeMille

Madam Satan (1930) Best known for making The Ten Commandments (twice), DeMille was the master of large budget films that depicted more gladiators, more chariots & more Roman orgies than audiences had ever imagined. However in 1930, with the introduction of sound, he attempted a musical-comedy-disaster film: Madam Satan. This film must be seen to be believed. It featured a gigantic airship floating over the Manhattan skyline (a state of the art special effect in 1930) as well as a masked costume ball featuring dozens of beautiful young women in stunning costumes. It also showcased the immensely popular singer, Lillian Roth. Unfortunately, it was more than the audiences could digest —it failed at the box office. DeMille never again attempted a musical.

Sign of the Cross (1932) If Cecil B. DeMille had made no other film, this film would be enough to prove that he was the creative genius who invented the Biblical Epic. Starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert, this film moves from salacious scenes of the emperor’s wife (Claudette Colbert) taking a milk bath (half-naked) all the way to horrific scenes of depravity at the colosseum —Christians ravaged and dismembered by wild animals. Distribution prints had many missing scenes that were edited out to satisfy religious groups such as the League for Decency. Fortunately, the film has been expertly restored. It features great supporting performances by Charles Laughton and Ian Keith.

Busby Berkeley Highlights (1933 -1935) Busby Berkeley made a series of movies between 1933 and 1935 in which he invented a style of kaleidoscopic choreography that has never been equaled. The movies are all very much the same: a simple story that culminates in a spectacular song and dance number involving scores of beautiful girls dancing their way into geometric formations that defy the imagination. The songs that were written for these numbers have become classics. Most people have heard the songs but don’t realize that they were introduced to the public through Busby Berkeley’s movies. Songs such as 42nd Street, Lullaby of Broadway and I Only Have Eyes For You. Berkeley employed the most talented singers and dancers in film. You will see the likes of Ginger Rogers, Ruby Keeler, James Cagney and Dick Powell perform some of the most breathtaking musical numbers ever put on film. By the end of the 30s Berkeley films had fallen out of favor. Busby Berkeley continued to direct conventional films but he was a forgotten director. Today he is recognized as one of the true artistic geniuses of American film. (If you want to watch the musical numbers only, look for “The Busby Berkeley Disc” DVD.)

Le Jour Se Leve (1939, French) One of the most poetic and beautiful films ever made. When Sight and Sound released it first list (1953) of the ten best films of all time this film was ranked number seven. It is the story of a man who must confront his doubts about the young girl he is in love with. He must decide if the truth about her might be too much to bear. He is alone in his small room knowing that the police will return at dawn to take him by force. In the face of certain death he must confront the truth of his existence and the meaning of love. Jean Gabin at his best. The story unfolds as a series of flashbacks —an innovative, new technique in 1939.

I Wake Up Screaming (1941) Considered by many to be the first true film noir. This film is a curious mixture of two genres of film...a film noir featuring the great Laird Cregar as a police detective who has become obsessed with the murder of a young waitress. The film blends in an understated romantic sub-plot in order to show off Betty Grable in her bathing suit…she was then the most famous pinup image in the world (not to mention the highest paid actress in Hollywood). The melody of Somewhere Over the Rainbow mysteriously shows up in this movie — made by 20th Century Studios which apparently borrowed the song from MGM. (MGM made the Wizard of Oz, two years earlier.) The melody provides a haunting counterpoint to the dark shadows cast by the unexplained death of the waitress…Perhaps an example of Orson Welles’ famous observation that “…the best things in films are divine accidents”.

Val Lewton: Cat People (1942) As the head of RKO’s B-Film division Val Lewton worked with limited resources and little time. His job was to make money fast enough to save the studio from bankruptcy. He saved RKO and in the process also invented the film genre of psychological horror. Val Lewton’s  movies get inside your head and they stay there. Largely unrecognized during his own life, Val Lewton is now regarded as a film genius of the first rank. Martin Scorsese produced a wonderful documentary on Val Lewton for TCM, The Man In The Shadows.

Fallen Angel (1945) A wonderful example of Otto Preminger’s early work. This film features one of the truly unforgettable performances by Linda Darnell, who was 22 years old when she took on the role of Stella, a disgruntled waitress in a small town diner near Monterey. Stella is surrounded by old men with no money and no prospects. They are all interested in her –but she has nothing but contempt for them. Then handsome, young Dana Andrews arrives in town and gets mixed up in a plot to swindle two spinster sisters out of their money. This movie has it all: con men and psychics…spinster sisters and a waitress who is too hot to spend the rest of her life in a dreary little town. John Carradine and Charles Bickford give superb supporting performances

Nightmare Alley (1947) This film is the stuff of legends. When this film was released on DVD in 2005 it had rarely been seen in the previous 50 years. After a limited release during (1947 – 1954) this film was relegated to the vault due to a legal battle that erupted between George Jessel (the producer) and Twenty Century Fox over its ownership. Even most film critics had only seen pirated copies of the film before 2000 (when the legal dispute was finally resolved). After starring in The Razor’s Edge in 1946 Tyrone Power decided he wanted to try something more challenging than playing handsome swashbuckler roles such as Zorro. And because he was a major star the studio gave him an A-list director (Edmund Goulding) and plenty of money without looking too hard at the project he had in mind. When the studio finally got around to taking a hard look at Nightmare Alley they panicked and added their own ending to soften the impact of the film’s disturbing denouement. Then the studio withdrew the promotional budget for the film.

This film is a dark morality play that presents Tyrone Power as a charming but despicable con artist who swindles wealthy people out of their money.  He starts out in a small time traveling carnival act and then moves on to become a huge success as a nightclub psychic who contacts the dead. Then the plot turns in an unexpected direction: Tyrone Power meets a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. The interactions between Tyrone Power and Helen Walker (the psychiatrist) provide some of the most charged sexual/psychological drama ever created for film.The movie is based on a book by William Gresham (Nightmare Alley, 1946) which has its own interesting history.

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) John Huston is best known for directing The Maltese Falcon; however this film may be his masterpiece. A great cast, including Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe and the then unknown Marilyn Monroe. The ending will shock you..!

Sunset Boulevard (1950) Although best known for Some Like It Hot, this is perhaps Billy Wilder's greatest movie. Featuring several famous silent film actors and a legendary director, this film is a disturbing commentary on the film business; Gloria Swanson, one of the great stars of the silent film era, plays a deluded, has-been who is waiting for a call from the studio…The strange butler\chauffeur is played by the great German director Erich von Stroheim; and there is even a fleeting glance of Buster Keaton playing cards. Swanson, who provides a stunning performance throughout the movie, delivers the iconic last line of the movie: “Mr. DeMille…I am ready for my close-up...” It is worth noting that Swanson was a remarkably intelligent actress who delivered exactly the nuanced performance Wilder was hoping for…one that should have been awarded the Academy Award for best actress. (Judy Holliday won the best actress award for her remarkable performance in Born Yesterday —a comedy that has not aged well.)

Night of the Hunter (1955) A psychopath, fresh out of prison, searches for two children who may know where the money from a bank robbery is hidden. A very scary movie staring Robert Mitchum as a psychopath who masquerades as a preacher. (Charles Laughton was initially in charge of directing the movie, however he turned the movie over to several assistant directors who finished it, creating an unexpected dreamlike narrative in the middle part of the film. ) Mitchum delivers a stunning performance…

Baby Doll (1956)  This is the film that made Carroll Baker famous (for better or worse). It is filled with the ornate sexual confusion of a teenage girl who is battling to fend off the attention of the men who surround her with their desire. Directed by Elia Kazan (On The Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire) the release of this film (1956) generated intense controversy. (Cardinal Spelman denounced the film from the pulpit of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.) The film is based on a combination of two short plays by Tennessee Williams; the principal actors in this film (Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach) all hail from the Actors Studio in New York. This film (which received four Academy Award nominations) is like quicksand --the more you struggle to define it, the deeper you sink into its existential complexity.

Baby Doll (book) Caroll Baker's auto biography is a must read —her account of her life early life as an actress is shaped by her astonishing intelligence.

Misc Films

Don’t Bother To Knock (1952)

.. excerpt from Mike Finnegan’s Twilight Time review:

“Made early in her blazing movie career before the full range of her comedic and dramatic gifts were fully explored, it’s intriguing to note that many later reappraisals of the Marilyn Monroe thriller Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) cite the storyline of a mentally fragile woman whose personal insecurities and sad delusions trigger dangerous behavior seem to prefigure her later-in-life struggles. It does endure as a neatly executed noir exercise with a richer than usual bench of character portrayals from Monroe’s colleagues Richard Widmark, young Donna Corcoran, Jeanne Cagney, Lurene Tuttle, Elisha Cook Jr., Jim Backus and Verna Felton, and in that company, Monroe impressively delivers the goods … Monroe reportedly struggled with the role and caused some consternation with her director and castmates, but 66 years later, that very process of struggle seems to vindicate the promise of her undeniable talent…

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Entertaining Films that are easy to watch

Dracula’s Daughter (1936) One of the most under-rated Dracula movies. This movie] implies that Dracula’s daughter is a Lesbian!

Day-Time Wife (1939) A sparkling romantic comedy starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell (then only 15 years old but pretending to be 20-something). This film is as seductive as vintage champagne.

Phoebe In Wonderland (2008) Elle Fanning plays a ten year old girl who is slipping ever deeper into mental illness. She is the lead character in the school play but her strange behavior frightens the other children. This film is a stunning example of Elle Fanning’s remarkable talent as a young actor —in one scene she delivers a mini-solilique on her existential predicament. In another scene, in which she is auditioning for the role of Alice, Phoebe is challenged by the drama teacher, who politely scolds her for giving an uninspired presentation. Phoebe responds by giving a more intense interpretation —revealing the underlying power of her imagination, which is colored by her mental illness. (Remakable acting for a ten year old actor!)

Smile (2009) An edgy satire about a CA Junior Miss pageant. Melanie Griffith (still a ravishing teenager) in one of her first films. Bruce Dern delivers a surprisingly subtle performance.This movie has gained a following of serious film buffs —it is well on its way to becoming a “film of destiny.”

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justwatch.com is a good site for locating older films