Twentieth Century (1934)

Twentieth Century (1934)

[6] A floundering Broadway director ingratiates himself to an old flame in order to rekindle his career in Twentieth Century. This film is often regarded as the grandfather of screwball comedy, one of my favorite genres. John Barrymore and Carole Lombard give…
The Little Minister (1934)

The Little Minister (1934)

[5] A young minister (John Beal) falls in love with a gypsy (Katharine Hepburn) and begins a village scandal. Hepburn and Beal are fairly matched and the rural setting is lovingly evoked through impressive indoor sets. The story, based on a novel…
Spitfire (1934)

Spitfire (1934)

[4] Katharine Hepburn goes as far against type as possible in Spitfire, playing a hillbillie faith healer who gets accused of witchcraft by her backwoods community. Hepburn is far too erudite to sell the role convincingly, but it's interesting to watch her…
Five Came Back (1939)

Five Came Back (1939)

[7] Lucille Ball and John Carradine are among the 12-passenger crew of a small passenger plane that crashes in South America. The motley crew, which includes a child, a socialite, and a prisoner sentenced to death, must work together to repair the…
The Public Enemy (1931)

The Public Enemy (1931)

[7] James Cagney makes his breakthrough performance as a Chicago street kid who becomes a successful gangster during prohibition. I don't usually like gangster movies, but director William Wellman (Wings, The Ox-Bow Incident) frames The Public Enemy as a cautionary tale with…
Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

[7] Charles Laughton plays H.G. Wells' mad scientist in the first film version of The Island of Dr Moreau. It's a reasonably faithful adaptation until the halfway point, where it gets as loose as the Demi Moore version of The Scarlet Letter.…
A Woman Rebels (1936)

A Woman Rebels (1936)

[6] Katharine Hepburn plays a woman determined to dodge marriage and make a career for herself. She gets pretty far, until an unexpected turn of events turns her into a single mother. A Woman Rebels presents a peek at the feminist persona…
Of Human Hearts (1938)

Of Human Hearts (1938)

[6] Walter Huston and Jimmy Stewart star as a father and son at odds with one another in the years preceding The Civil War. Huston's a preacher and Stewart's character wants to pursue the earthly profession of medicine. Beulah Bondi earned an…
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

[7] Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland reteam after their initial pairing in Captain Blood. This time, they're in a love triangle that plays out during an Indian massacre of British women and children, later spurring into action the contents of Alfred…
Cimarron (1931)

Cimarron (1931)

[5] This early Oscar-winning best picture is uneven at best. Richard Dix makes for a hammy lead, while Irene Dunne is stuck playing his harpy of a wife. The film follows the two as they move west to Oklahoma at the end…