A Day at the Races (1937)

Pretty Judy (Maureen O’Sullivan) runs a Sanitarium that is short on cash. The bad guys are trying to buy her out so they can open a casino to go with the horse track next door. Her singer boyfriend blew all his cash on a racehorse, so he’s no help. Tony (Chico) tries to convince rich inmate (Margaret Dumont) to invest but she is obsessed with a doctor Hackenbush (Groucho) she saw in Florida. So Tony (Chico) sends a telegram inviting Hackenbush (Groucho) to visit. He does but unbeknownst to everyone, he’s a horse doctor. Harpo (Stuffy) is also there but he doesn’t have much to say.

Much of the manic tone and unconventional style of their earlier work is toned down for A Day at the Races. Groucho behaved less like a psychotic disconnected with what’s going on around him and more like a real person. He knows he’s a fraud and cares what happens to Judy. The end result is more importance felt for the situation Judy finds herself in and the comedic bits feel that much funnier. I can’t be sure if this tonal shift is due to Hollywood slowly reining the brothers in or if maturity was creeping in. Either way, it is a welcome change.

The most manic scene is where Hackenbush (Groucho) is forced to examine Mrs. Upjohn (Dumont) by an actual physician and he stalls with the help of Tony (Chico) and Stuffy (Harpo). It’s absolute insanity and it wouldn’t have had the same impact had the stakes not been high.

For me, this is the best Marx Brothers film so far. Producer Irving Thalberg died tragically at age 37 before filming wrapped and Groucho stated that he lost interest in making movies. I hope this doesn't bode ominously for the remaining films, but I already know a couple are stinkers. AMRU 4.

"If you're looking for my fingerprints, you're a little early!"

The Devil-Doll (1936)

Two convicts escape together. One wants to exact revenge on his business partners who conspired to get him falsely imprisoned. The other wants to continue his work trying to make people little so that they eat less. When convict number 2 dies abruptly, convict 1 uses the talent of his creepy wife to complete his plan.

Wow, what crappy acting. I'm starting to think Lionel Barrymore wasn't the actor I thought he was. Seems the only part he can play is Lionel Barrymore. Still, he wasn't the worst offender in this one. Young hottie Maureen O'Sullivan did a good job playing a young hottie.

Allegedly classified as horror, it comes off more like a melodrama. The title makes it sound like an early version of Child's Play, but it's more of an early (and better) version of Attack of the Puppet People.

You see, shrinking people to six inches tall is fairly easy (obviously) but it seems their brain shrinks as well, making them incapable of free will. Lucky for convict 2, they can be controlled by staring at them with a constipated look on your face. Let's pack up the meth lab and head to Paris for some good old-fashioned revenge! Wait, how does an escaped convict and an off the grid swamp-scientist afford that? Best not to ask such questions.

Here is Tod Browning's penultimate (that's fancy-talk for second to last) directorial effort. I've seen a fair number of them and still not sure what to make of him. Seems he does well with good talent around him, and not so much otherwise. Freaks supposedly ruined his career, but he was pushing 60 by the time he did his last seven years later. Maybe TCM will run a bio on him sometime.

It's a fair, very watchable movie, that's not terribly crafted. The oversized sets for the little people to climb on were well done. And the special effects, while not amazing, were good for the day. Not Tod Browning's worst work. AMRU 3.

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

I tried to play something of a trick on my wife. She loves historical, romantic costume dramas like North and South and whatnot, and her absolute favorite is the 1995 BBC version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Yes, she has the 40 DVD set with the 4,007 hours of commentary and outtakes, and she's read the book eleventy-eleven times, backwards even. So, I reasoned, I should order the 1940 version from Netflix.

Well, she saw it coming and pushed it down the queue. Eventually it came in and I made her watch it using brutal force.

What the '95 version crammed 500 pages of witty dialog and formal societal behavior into 300 minutes, the 1940 edition crammed it into 118. With that kind of compression, you are bound to have lost scenes, changed plots, and missing characters (Where are you, Tom Bombadil?) My wife braced herself. My take is: not bad.

Now, all I can compare this to is the '95 version as I'd rather take a bullet than read Austen, but I have to say, and my wife agrees, they did not cut the story. It's all there. The major characters, the most important dialog, plot points, everything. Of course when you do compress a story like that, there are some silly side effects. Events that happen months apart take place the same day.

Story synopsis time! Mister and Missus Bennet have five silly daughters. As the Bennet's have no male heirs, their humble home will go to the next male in the family, Mister Bennet's cousin, the revolting Mister Collins. Oldest and prettiest daughter Jane catches the eye of fabulously wealthy Mister Bingley. Bingley's friend, the fabulously MORE wealthy Mister Darcy, is grumpy and dismissive. Protagonist second daughter Elizabeth is not amused by him, and they proceed to jab at each other in a very Sam and Diane season one sort of way. Bingley ditches Jane, who is heartbroken, and it turns out Darcy is to blame. Lizzy considers the horizontal mambo with Darcy's arch nemesis Wickham, who runs off with youngest and silliest daughter Lydia, and, well Darcy shows his honor, Elizabeth shows her appreciation, and Jane and Bingley get it on again, and everybody is happy, even Mister Collins who beds down Lizzie's best friend.

Ummm, Spoiler alert!

What was my wife's take? Add hoops to the skirts and it's Gone With the Wind. Very close to the truth, it turns out. The dresses were borrowed from Gone With the Wind and everything was styled as late Victorian rather than late Elizabethan. But it don't stop there! Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable were actually considered for the lead roles!

She thought it was ... ok, I guess. High praise indeed, as Sir Laurence can no way compare to the absolutely hunky Colin Firth. Here's a few other things I noticed. 20 year old Lizzy Bennet was played by 35 year old Greer Garson. Big sis Jane was played by 29 year old Maureen O'Sullivan.

This was a fairly big movie in it's day, but it could have been bigger. Had it been filmed in Technic(ly)color, it would have been easier to watch. I'm glad I watched it, and my wife felt the same. AMRU 3.

By the way, the 2005 version, despite Keira Knightley's hotness, totally blew.