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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Alphabet Meme

Its been awhile since my last post, so being tagged to participate in an an alphabet meme of favorite films by Jonas at All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!  gives me a chance to get back into the swing of things.

Meme originated at Blog Cabins: Movie Reviews and Commentary.

In keeping with the spirit of the blog, entries will be late silent to 1934.

A - ATALANTE,  L' 1934 – One of the great films. 

B - BOMBSHELL 1933 – Tough decision with Broadway 1929 and The Bat Whispers 1930. My favorite Lee Tracy performance.

C - CARDBOARD LOVER, THE 1928 - Marion Davies at her funniest in this delightful comedy.

D - DIPLOMANIACS 1933 – Oompah!

E - EVE’S LEAVES 1926 – Leatrice Joy shines in this clever comedy about an inexperienced girl learning about love.

F - FOLLOW THRU 1930 – Fun, early TC musical with a great cast.

G - GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 - Classic pre-code.

H - HAPPY DAYS 1930 –See and Hear the impressive singing and dancing talents of Frank Richardson, Marjorie White, Ann Pennington, and Tom Patricola.

I - IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934 – The last stop for those who prefer Capra’s pre-code, pre-corn work.  

J - JEWELL ROBBERY 1932 – Lubitsch–like, with Kay Francis and William Powell.

K - KING OF JAZZ, THE 1930 –Stylish, innovative, and technically advanced early talkie revue.

L - LONESOME 1928 – Moving film about two love starved people who find each other. Directed by Pal Fejos 

M - MY BEST GIRL 1927 – Social class opposites attract.

N - NIGHT NURSE 1931 – Sadistic bad guy Gable gets it in the end from nurse Stanwyck.

O - OVER THE HILL 1931 – Poignant slice of life well directed by the underappreciated Henry King.  

P - PEACH O'RENO 1932 – Bert Wheeler gives a great comedic cross-dress performance.

R - ROMOLA 1925 - William Powell in tights.

S - SO THIS IS AFRICA 1933 – Wheeler and Woolsey lighten up the Dark Continent.

T - TROUBLE IN PARADISE 1932 – Ahhh, Lubitsch. Perhaps his best…and that’s saying something.

U -UNHOLY NIGHT, THE 1929 – Stagy, static, and uncinematic , but fun for a dawn of sound film fanatic.

V - VAMPYR - DER TRAUM DES ALLAN GREY 1932 – Dreyer’s classic vampire film.

W - WERE RICH AGAIN 1934 – Charming early screwball comedy.

X - X MARKS THE SPOT 1931 – Obscure Tiffany production with an interesting cast.

Y - YOU SAID A MOUTHFUL 1932 – Starring funny man Joe E. Brown and a pre-coy Ginger Rogers.

Z - ZANDER THE GREAT 1925 –Marion Davies does Mary Pickford.

I'm not good at tagging, so if anyone wants to participate, consider yourself tagged by me.

13 Comments:

Blogger Jonas Nordin said...

Jreat Jim! That's one swell list you got there. Obscure favorites a go-go!

12:30 PM  
Blogger jtk said...

Hi Jonas,

Thanks! And thanks for tagging me. The obscurerer the better!

jtk

2:22 PM  
Blogger Raquel Stecher said...

I'm so glad to see your back and posting!

Great selections. We share the same "G" - Gold Digers of 1933!

9:12 PM  
Blogger jtk said...

Hi Raquelle,

Thanks, it's nice to be back!

You just cant of wrong with Gold Diggers of 1933!

jtk

9:35 PM  
Blogger monescu said...

Here's my alphabet meme, up to 1934 (my list for all years would be considerably different, though it would still contain some of these titles). I took your entry for the letter X: I've never seen it, but I haven't seen any other pre-1934 X titles either.

AFFAIRS OF A GENTLEMAN - 1934
BULLDOG DRUMMOND STRIKES BACK - 1934
COUNSELLOR AT LAW - 1933
DUCK SOUP - 1933
EVENINGS FOR SALE - 1932
FOOTLIGHT PARADE - 1933
GUILTY AS HELL - 1932
HORSE FEATHERS - 1932
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS - 1933
JEWEL ROBBERY - 1932
KENNEL MURDER CASE, THE - 1933
LOVE ME TONIGHT - 1932
MONKEY BUSINESS - 1931
NIGHT CLUB LADY - 1932
ONE WAY PASSAGE - 1932
PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD
QUEEN CHRISTINA - 1933
ROMAN SCANDALS - 1933
SVENGALI - 1931
TROUBLE IN PARADISE - 1932
UNDER 18 - 1931
VAMPYR - 1931
WE'RE NOT DRESSING - 1934
X MARKS THE SPOT - 1931
YOU'RE TELLING ME! - 1934
ZOO IN BUDAPEST - 1933

10:14 AM  
Blogger jtk said...

Great picks! Bulldog Drummond Strikes back is a favorite of mine. Guilty as Hell and Kennel Murder Case are full of great shots, and I like just about everything with the Marx Brothers, William Powell, and Warren William. I dont think I've seen Night Club Lady, but I am a big fan of Columbia Studio pre-codes. Columbia Studio got an undeserved bad rep, but they produced a lot of pre-code gems.

jtk

8:36 PM  
Blogger monescu said...

Several of your choices are close second-choices for me-- though, despite the appeal of obscurity, I wouldn't in a million years forsake DUCK SOUP for DIPLOMANIACS (though I must admit I love "Sing to Me", and the film has one of my favorite lines in cinema history: "I've got what it takes to take what they've got!!!").

I agree that Columbia pre-codes are overlooked and underrated... indeed, my second choice for the letter N would have been another Columbia whodunit, THE NINTH GUEST (1934).

Here's my list covering all years (near runners-up are in parenthesis... you could see I had tough times with the letters L and T!!):

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE - 1945
BRIEF ENCOUNTER - 1945
CASABLANCA - 1942
DUCK SOUP - 1933(DOUBLE INDEMNITY - 1944)
ED WOOD - 1994
THE FOUR FEATHERS - 1939
GREEN FOR DANGER - 1946
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - 1964 (HIS GIRL FRIDAY - 1940)
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - 1946(AN INSPECTOR CALLS - 1954)
JEWEL ROBBERY - 1932
THE KENNEL MURDER CASE - 1933(KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS - 1949)
THE LADY VANISHES - 1938(LOVE AFFAIR - 1939, THE LAST OF SHEILA - 1973, THE LADYKILLERS - 1955, THE LADY EVE - 1941)
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH - 1946
NORTH BY NORTHWEST - 1959
ONE, TWO, THREE - 1946
PICCADILLY JIM - 1936(THE PORTRAIT OF JENNIE - 1948, PETER IBBETTSON - 1935, THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD - 1932)
Q PLANES - 1939
REBECCA - 1940
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER - 1940(SHERLOCK JR. - 1924)
TROUBLE IN PARADISE - 1932 (TWELVE ANGRY MEN - 1957, THE THIRD MAN - 1949, THE THIN MAN - 1934, TO BE OR NOT TO BE - 1942)
UNFAITHFULLY YOURS -1948
THE VERDICT - 1946
WONDER MAN - 1945
X: THE MAN WITH X RAY EYES- 1963
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN - 1974 (THE YOUNG IN HEART - 1938)
ZELIG - 1983

(My choice for X is rather silly, but what should I choose: XANADU? That X MARKS THE SPOT film that I haven't seen? (I haven't seen XANADU either, but I've got a pretty good idea...).

3:39 AM  
Blogger jtk said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

9:40 AM  
Blogger jtk said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

9:44 AM  
Blogger Erich Kuersten said...

I LOVE Unholy Night, too! I taped it off some late night UHF channel in the early 1980s and have been watching it all the time since. It's so boring you fall asleep and then dream about it! I still haven't seen it all the way through, but when you have a weird Asian mystic AND Boris Karloff, then you got something, and yes, love that old hissy sound!

5:14 PM  
Blogger jtk said...

Hi Erich,

Yes, the Unholy night made an impression on me. It features a great cast and was "directed" by Lionel Barrymore. I love 1929 talkies.

jtk

2:06 PM  
Blogger Brian Paige said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

1:11 PM  
Blogger jtk said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

10:40 PM  

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