farrelghf Reviews

It Happened One Night (1934)

Behold the Walls of Jericho!

[10/10 · 8 November 2022]

A screwball masterpiece. The story tells of rich heiress, Ellen Andrews (Colbert), running away from her father to reunite with King Westley (Jameson Thomas), who had eloped with her. On the way to New York, she runs into snappy reporter, Peter Warne (Gable), who had recently lost his job. After recognizing her, he agrees to help her in exchange for an exclusive story. Hilarity soon ensues as the two undergoes a series of (mis)adventures on the way to New York.

A pioneering masterpiece and all-time classic. This movie still holds up greatly and is still a fun one to watch every now and then, even after many-many years and many-many rom-coms and road movies later. If many scenes and scenarios seem familiar, it's because this movie is seen as the pioneer and blueprint to many concepts, tropes, and scenes often found in rom-coms or road movies of the romantic persuasion. Putting aside the blueprint aspect, there is still a lot to be discovered with this movie. The chemistry between the two leads is absolutely brilliant. The story itself is tight and very entertaining featuring lots of great scenes as the duo make their way to New York featuring many misadventures and hilarious occurrences, all the while we see them get closer and closer to each other with every passing mile, also present is fast-paced, clever dialogue (mostly courtesy of Mr. Gable). There is also no shortage of great supporting characters, from fellow bus passengers to motel owners bring their own charm to the movie. Not to mention an abundance of classic scenes. All of this is then wrapped up in a quite satisfying end that'll leave viewers smiling after tagging along in this adventure. All in all, this classic movie is an absolute must watch, even if you're not a fan of romantic comedies or road movies.

The Thin Man (1934)

Waiter, will you serve the nuts?

[10/10 · 8 November 2022]

An all-time classic comedy with a side of whodunnit. The story is about retired detective Nick Charles (Powell) and his wealthy wife (Loy). Wanting nothing more than a relaxing Christmas vacation together, Nick is suddenly brought back into action to investigate the disappearance of an old client Clyde (the titular "Thin Man") at the behest of Clyde's daughter, Dorothy (O'Sullivan). But what had started as a simple missing person suddenly turns into a murder case after Clyde's girlfriend and secretary is found dead, with Clyde as the prime suspect. Nick soon dives deeper into the case with the help of Police Lieutenant Guild (Pendleton), since Dorothy is not convinced of her father's guilt. But soon, Nick discovers a much darker and complicated secret then what he had expected.

An all-time classic, this movie masterfully mixes the classic whodunnit mystery story with comedy more synonymous with the then-burgeoning screwball comedy. The cast, especially Powell and Loy as the lead also did a brilliant job in carrying the tone of the story with rapid-fire dialogue and impeccable comedy timing, along with their brilliant chemistry which makes it all the more believable that they are loving pair who have been through it all together. The mystery side however doesn't take a backseat as it still drives the movie along and is liable to keep viewers on the edge of their seat all movie long. Also, unlike most similar stories, the police can actually be useful at times (despite a rather shaky beginning in their relationship with our hero). The story wraps up in an ending that has to be seen to be believed, the build-up and ending itself is a worthy end to the movie, perfectly capturing the tone of the movie overall, leading the movie to a well-deserved place on the list of must-watch classics.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)

Madman? Monster? Murderer? Scientist?

[10/10 · 8 November 2022]

Another masterpiece from Fritz Lang, this thriller classic is the second installment in the Dr. Mabuse series. The story tells of Dr. Mabuse (Klein-Rogge), now driven to madness and spending his days in an insane asylum. Mabuse spends most of his day writing out plans for criminal acts which would later be acted out by a gang of criminals. Meanwhile, the police, led by Inspector Lohman (Wernicke) are investigating a strange case, where a detective (Meixner), close to solving an intricate conspiracy, suddenly went mad, with clues leading them towards Mabuse. Meanwhile, Professor Baum (Beregi Sr.) is studying the writings of Mabuse when he became too deeply engrossed by the writings going as far to confer with the Doctor. Another part of the story features Thomas Kent (Diessl), a member of Mabuse's gang member torn between his life of crime and a young woman whom he has developed feelings for named Lilli (Liessem). After confessing to her, Kent decides to leave the gang, but things are not so simple for the boss isn't all to willing to let his men go.

A thriller classic for the ages, this movie once again shows the brilliance of Lang. The mystery of Dr. Mabuse, his plans, and the criminals is told in a manner which will keep audiences guessing and is quite engaging. Despite the many storylines going on in the movie, they're all told in a straightforward and clear way and isn't convoluted at all, the storylines themselves are all connected and when they do finally come together it's done in a convincing way and it's all tied up in a satisfying and neat manner when the ending arrives. As with all of Lang's previous works, the special effects are done neatly, especially considering when the movie was made and so is the cinematography. All in all, this movie is a great thriller with a compelling story, well-rounded characters, brilliant design, great cinematography and still a great watch, especially if you are a fan of crime thrillers.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

The Finest Specimen I Ever Killed

[9/10 · 8 November 2022]

A riveting horror adventure classic. This movie tells the story of hunting enthusiast Bob (McHale), the sole survivor of a shipwreck on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. Wandering in the island, he soon finds himself knocking on the door of a strange Russian Count, Count Zaroff (Banks). Familiar with his writings on hunting, Zaroff soon invites him in, where he finds himself in the company of The Trowbridge sibling, Eve (Wray) and her brother Martin (Armstrong). Zaroff then tells the story of how he grew weary of hunting until he discovered the titular "Most Dangerous Game", without elaborating further. The already suspicious Bob has his suspicion alleviated when Eve tells him that two sailors that came with her and her brother. Later that night, Martin also disappears, forcing the pair to investigate. Soon enough, they discover the Most Dangerous Game that Zaroff speaks of earlier.

This movie is quite interesting, with quite an intriguing story with an interesting yet poignant message behind it. The action is quite suspenseful and will keep the audience on the edge. Unfortunately, the short runtime means the movie suffers a little from pacing issue, the story seems to be moving too fast, leaving only a short moment for the audience to process everything that's going on in the movie. This also means the movie only has a small room for characterization, as apart from the frankly quite interesting Count Zaroff, the characters can seem a little flat. Despite that, the charming setting and the story should be enough to make this movie enjoyable. The message the movie is trying to convey is also delivered well enough despite the limited runtime.

Metropolis (1927)

The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands is the Heart

[10/10 · 8 November 2022]

A classic masterpiece by the Father of German Expressionist himself, Fritz Lang. This movie tells the story of the son of the titular Metropolis planner, Joh (Froehlich) who falls in love with a working-class prophet, Maria (Helm), after which he sees the reality of the world he lives in, whereupon the working-class is struggling, a far cry from his usual high society life. Meanwhile, Maria predicts the coming of a savior to mediate the planners and the workers (thus leading to the iconic line in this review title). Unfortunately, at the same time, mad scientist Rotwang (Klein-Rogge) is concocting a sinister plan involving a robot made to look like Maria while kidnapping the real Maria.

Despite being made in 1927, the movie still stands to the test of time, many of the film's tropes and convention will seem familiar to Sci-Fi fans (since this movie is the example to many of them), while the story itself is still timeless with a message still relevant to this very day. There are limitations in the movie, especially in the effects department, but that is to be expected considering when this movie was made, even so the limitations ultimately doesn't hinder enjoyment of watching the movie (even adding to it in some cases), especially since Lang did his best in spite of said limitations. Meanwhile, the characters themselves are all quite well-written and acted making the story all the more convincing and the characters sympathetic .

This movie was restored in almost perfect condition in 2010, with two scenes missing and was one of the most sought-after before, and safe to say the effort that went into recovering this movie is well worth it as we finally could witness the magical father of Science Fiction in (almost) all of its glory.