Overlooked Classics: Reducing (1931)

 

If you are like me, you having probably also been extremely enjoying having Marie Dressler as the star of the month on TCM. It is fantastic to look at the career of this fantastic comedic actress. Having been watch TCM on Monday nights recently I have been constantly delighted in the talent of this woman.  So today we are going to look at a delightful, but sadly overlooked comedy staring her and Polly Moran called Reducing.

Though she is forgotten today Marie Dressler was a huge movie star in the 1930's. Though she started her film career in 1914 in Tillie's Punctured Romance (the first feature length comedian). Though that film was a hit her film career never really took off in the silent era. However in the early 1930's her career really took off. She was not your average Hollwood star. She did not look like Hollywood's traditional leading ladies. She was also not esspically young at this time. However her popularity was inmatched. She was in fact even a bigger star then Greta Garbo, and in 1930 she won an academy award for her performance in Min and Bill (she was 60 years old at the time). She passed away in 1934 but left behind her a fantastic film legacy.

This film was directed by Charles F. Reisner. Reisner had been the associate director on the Charlie Chaplin films The Kid, The Pilgrim, and The Gold Rush. You can also see him on camera playing the bully in Charlie Chaplin's The Kid. He also directed Buster Keaton's Steam Boat Bill Jr.. He would also later direct Lost in a Harem (with Abbott and Costello) and The Big Store (with the Marx Brothers). 

The film's story begins as Polly (played by Polly Moran) invites her sister to ask her sister Marie (played by Marie Dressler) to live with her after she discovers Marie has money problems. Marie's daughter Vivian (played by Anita Page) begins to fall for the boyfriend of Polly's daughter Joyce (played by Sally Eilers) making a fight rose up in the family.

This film is a simple but delightful comedy. The jokes are quite funny, the characters very likable, the cast is great and the whole film is just pleasant to watch. It is interesting to note that this movie followed Marie Dressler's academy award winning performance in Min and Bill. Even though this is a more lightweight film she turns out just as good of a performance here. In fact all the performances in this movie are great.

This film was not popular with critics, but audiences loved it. MGM soon put Marie Dressler and Polly Moran in another film. This film would be called politics and would also be directed by Charles F, Reisner.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2155/Reducing/articles.html

Finding Dory

 

Finding Dory

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland












Michael's Movie Grade: A

Review: Fantastic film is even better than the first.

The best thing about this film is just how great of a character Dory is. She is not only funny, but a genuinely sweet person (or fish) that is much more than a funny quirk. While her memory loss was just something funny in the first movie, it gains a more serious side here, but without every losing the fun that was in the first one. Her memory loss actually is a big problem for her. However with her mind and loving (and adventurous) heart she can overcome this problem. This is what really works about this character and I can't help but think it is a great message aimed at those with disabilities. They don't make her a dumb character like so many other films would, but actually a fairly smart one who does suffer from memory loss. In this character is where the heart of the film lies. While she is just as funny as every there is a great amount of depth to the character here.

On top of all that this film is full of great humor, heart, and just plain fun. This is a film that has a strong emotional center to it, but doesn't let this interfere with the movie's sense of fun, which also doesn't interfere with the emotion. The story may be reminiscant of the first movie, but it is told even better here.

Overall a fantastic film that all fans of Disney and Pixar should enjoy very much. But that's not all we have a short to look at.

Piper

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Review: Delightful sweet cartoon is reminiscent of some of Disney's better Silly Symphonies of the 1930's. This cartoon is a very lovely looking film with a good heart and a sense of humor. This whole film is just very charming. The story is very simple which is perfect for a short. The character animation is fantastic here, and the main character is very well represented for it. Overall just a very lovely short.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Central Intelligence

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: C

Review: Surprisingly funny, and enjoyable film despite big faults.

This film does have big faults. The biggest fault is Kevin Hart's overacting. He is not a bad actor when he doesn't overact, but he can be really annoying when he does overact. The storyline is very predictable and there are many times when you can tell what is going to happen before it does. With these big faults, why did I give the film a passing grade? Well it made me laugh. While there are many jokes that miss the mark, the ones that are funny are quite funny. When this film made me laugh, it did it well. On top of that while the story was overly predictable, it was an enjoyable, even if it was completely unoriginal. We have seen the story done many times before, but it is still done decently here.

This is not one of the all time great comedies. There are too many faults and jokes that miss, but when this film is funny it is quite funny, add a decently told storyline and you a get an enjoyable time at the movies, even if it doesn't come close to being a classic.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Now You See Me 2

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland




















Michael's Movie Grade: C-

Review: Entertaining time passer, but little else.

The characters are likable, but underdeveloped. The plot is entertaining but not much more. None of the twists though are that well devolved and too many of them are quite predictable. The effects look great. The acting is quite good. This movie is entertaining but I doubt it's going to leave much of an impression.

This is an enjoyable movie to watch, but it lacks any depth or anything memberable.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Warcraft

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Extremely boring movie has all of the clichés of fantasy movies, but none of the charm of the better ones.

Even though I have only seen this movie once, I feel I have seen it many more times, and not in a good way. This movie is  simply a collection of tired movie clichés. Nothing new is added here, you are essentially watching a movie that rips off of every fantasy movie ever made, but without adding anything to it. To make matters worse the pace is so fast that I never felt that I got to know who any of these characters are. The characters seem to be nothing but plot devices.

This film might be better for those who have played the game it is based off of. I have not played this game and I can say I found the movie horrible, and it is not worth the time if you also haven't played the game, and it might be bad for those who have as well (I don't know).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Loud, obnoxious and just plain irritating.

This movie seems afraid to shut up. There is constant noise, whether it be loud music or just characters being obnoxious. This film seems to think if it was ever quiet for a few seconds people would lose all interest. The result is the film just being irritating to sit through. This also leads to another awful thing about this movie. The pace is to fast for us to care about a thing. We never stop and spend anytime with these characters, we never stop and see just how much is a stake. It moves from one scene to the next constantly to the point of just being obnoxious. Attempts to add drama fail horribly, because we barely spend enough time with these serious scenes to care.

To make matters worse this film has horrible villains. Be-bop and Rock Steady are just irritating and loud. Not enough time is spent with Shredder to see him as a real threat. Krang is given a horrible voice that is just a pain to listen to.

I am not expecting high art, but the turtles deserve better than this.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Me Before You

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade: C

Review: Quite likable if really predictable tearjerker.

The story offers nothing new. We have seen this story many times before. It is full of storytelling conventions that we have long accepted, and it knows this. The pace of the film rushes quite a bit, however that doesn't hurt the movie because we have accepted these story points and we know they are going to happen before we see them. However despite all this the film manages to be quite likable. This is mainly because of the characters. These characters are very charming and just a joy to watch. Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin have great chemistry. You truly believe the romance between them. On top of that with the fantastic settings this film is a joy to look at. This whole film looks beautiful.

This film seems to be really liked by audiences, but not so much by critics. I personally understand both sides. This film is very unoriginal and it lacks the depth it probably should have. On the other hand the acting is excellent, the movie looks great, and the characters are quite likable. Judge it for yourself whether you should see it or not. As for me I liked it despite it's problems.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Overlooked Classics: She Done Him Right (1933)

 

When it comes to classic theatrical cartoon shorts the studios that immediately jump to our minds are Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM, and Fleshier Brothers. However we cartoon fans too often overlook the Walter Lantz Studio (home of Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy and Andy Panda). However when you take a look at this studios output there is no doubt some really great cartons were made at this studio. Cartoons like The Barber of Seville, Ski for Two, The Legend of Rock-a-Bye Point, Convict Concerto, Fish Fry, Confidence and many others are definitely classic cartoons and great films by any standard. Because of this we are going to take a look at one of the Lantz studios most forgotten cartoons.  This cartoon is She Done Him Right.

The main character of this film is Pooch the Pup. Pooch the Pup was the first original cartoon character to come from the Walter Lantz Studio. The studio however got it's start making Oswald the Lucky Rabbit character. Who was as many of you know (it is so cool I can say that now) was created by Walt Disney. Walt would learn he did not own the rights to the character when his boss at that time Charles Mintz would demand the cartoons be made on a much lower budget, and Walt refused. Walt would leave the studio and create Mickey Mouse along with Ub Iwerks. Charles Mintz would briefly take over the character though soon Universal took the rights away from Mintz and give them to Walter Lantz. Pooch the Pup however was not that different from Oswald despite the fact that the studio was making cartoons with both characters at the same time.

This film had two directors one of them was Walter Lantz, himself and the other was Bill Nolan. Bill Nolan is perhaps best remembered today for helping redesign Felix the Cat and for his work with Walter Lantz. After Bill Nolan's work with Lantz he would become an animator at the Fleshier Brothers Studio, working on some Popeye cartoons and the feature length Gulliver's Travels. Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan were the studios main directors at this time. The animators for this cartoon include Manuel Moreno, Lester Kline, Fred Kopietz, George Grandpre, Ernest Smythe. Lester Kline and Ernest Smythe would spend their whole careers working for Lantz. With the exception of one cartoon at MGM (The Alley Cat) the same would be true for Manuel Moreno. Fred Kopietz would have a good career as a Disney animator later and George Grandpre would have a long career at Warner Brothers, working on many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melody cartoons. It is unfortunate however due to their lack of credit, it is unknown who that voices for this cartoon are. Hopefully someone will find that information someday.

This cartoon is one of the great examples of pre-code (referring to the production code, Hollywood's own system of censoring it's films) Lantz at it's best. This cartoon abounds with energy. It has a very lively soundtrack  with a fantastic performance of Minnie the Moochers' Wedding Day, a lot of bizarre humor and of course many jokes the censors would not allow if it was made after the production code. The whole film is just a lot of fun, and it shows why the Walter Lantz studio was so good.

Less than a week ago me and a very good friend of mine were able to see this cartoon on the big screen like it was meant to be seen . It was a fantastic experience and if any of you get a chance to watch these classic cartoon shorts on the big screen take it. It makes these great films even better.

-Michael J. Ruhland
Resourses Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

Silent Film of the Month: A Woman of Paris (1923)

 

Run Time: 78 minutes. Studio: Untied Artists.  Director: Charlie Chaplin. Writer: Charlie Chaplin. Producer: Charlie Chaplin Cinematographers: Roland Totheroh, Jack Wilson. Main Cast: Edna Purviance, Clarence Geldart, Carl Miller, Lydia Knott.

In 1919 the United Artists studio was formed. It was created by four of the most important names working in film at that time. These were Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Despite Charlie Chaplin being one of the founders of the studio, he couldn't make films there right away. This was because he was still under contract with First National. Because of this his first film for United Artists was not released until 1923. The other owners of the studio were however disappointed by Chaplin's choice for a first film for the studio. Rather than doing a film with his world famous Tramp character, he decided instead to do a drama, that he would barely appear in. This film would be my Silent Film of the Month, A Woman of Paris.

Rather than staring Chaplin himself this film stared Edna Purviance. Purviance was Chaplin's leading lady from 1915 to 1923. However she would remain on Chaplin's payroll for the rest of her life. Charlie felt Edna had a future as a dramatic actress. Because of this he wanted to make this film to promote her as such. Despite her talent her career as a dramatic actress would not take off. She would star in another film called The Sea Gull which would be produced by Charlie Chaplin, and directed by famed director Josef von Sternberg. That film was never released because Chaplin was not happy with it. It is unfortunately a lost film today.

Because of this the film opens with a letter to the audience written by Charlie Chaplin to make sure they know that this film is not a comedy and that Charlie will not be appearing in this film (though he does make a short cameo in which he is barely recognizable). This film's story was loosely based off of the romances of actress Peggy Hopkins Joyce, who Chaplin had recently had an affair with. The film stars Marie (played by Edna Purvince) who wants to leave her country home and run off with her finance Jean (played by Carl Miller). Marie and Jean plan to take a train to Paris. However after Jean's father dies, he is unable to make the train, and Marie leaves by herself. In Paris Marie becomes a high society lady and the mistress of the well respected Pierre Revel (played by Adolphe Menjou). Jean comes to Paris and is shocked to find what Marie has become. I will not give away what happens after this but it leads to a very shocking and effective ending that Chaplin spent a long time tring to work out.

A Woman of Paris is a fantastically well made film. Charlie Chaplin was still a great director even when he is not appearing in the film. Chaplin shows here that he was not just a great comedy filmmaker but a great filmmaker no matter what type of film he was making. However Chaplin's direction isn't the only great thing about this film. The acting is great. Enda Purviance and Adolphe Menjou are piticurally fantastic in this movie. Also this film has beautiful cinematography by Roland Totheroh and Jack Wilson, both of whom were regular cinematographers for Charlie Chaplin (in fact they worked on very few films that weren't Charlie Chaplin films). The story of this film is not anything groundbreakingly original, but it is told very well, and it is still a good story. 

A Woman of Paris faired very well with critics. Critics especially praised it's direction and cinematography. However it did not do well at the box office, most audiences were unhappy to see a Charlie Chaplin film with so little Charlie Chaplin. They simply wanted something very different from what they got. However that does not make this film any less great. The next Charlie Chaplin film would be The Gold Rush which would more than satisfy those wanting another Little Tramp picture (and with good reason The Gold Rush is a masterpiece).

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/442072/A-Woman-of-Paris/