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The Palm Beach Story (1942) Directed by Preston Sturges

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 9:40 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 21 December 2008)

This type of movies were very popular in the late '30's and early '40's. Lots of classics were made during that time period and lots of actors got launched to stardom, thanks to movies like this. However as far as '40's screwball comedies are concerned; this really isn't the best movie that the genre has to offer. Sure, it's all good and fun but it's just lacking this bit of cleverness and true hilarity.

Blame the script for this. Mostly these type of movies are brilliantly constructed story-wise and its main characters stumble from the one odd and hilarious situation into the other. Same is also the case with this movie but it just isn't quite all as hilarious and well flowing as you would expect.

Some sequences are too long and too often the movies stays too much at the same place. This is the foremost reason why it feels as if this movie isn't always flowing that well. As an indirect result of this, some characters feel like they are being used, while others feel like they are being overused. The story often feels like it could had made its point earlier and reached what it tried to achieve much earlier. Because of this it takes awhile for the story to really get off the ground.

Sure, it's still a fun and entertaining movie to watch though. It's nothing too hilarious but good enough nevertheless for more than a couple of laughs. The fans of the genre will therefore also not be disappointed with this movie. Guess I'm just not Preston Sturges' biggest fan when it comes down to his screwball comedies. I also thought his other acclaimed screwball comedy "Sullivan's Travels", which he made one year prior to this movie, is a tad bit overrated.

Both movies also star Joel McCrea, who wasn't the biggest actor within the game but he nevertheless is a great leading man, with also the right psychics. Not really sure why he never really truly broke through like an actor. He's mostly known for his work in some early westerns.

It's all good and fun but there are some better genre movies to watch out there in my opinion.

7/10

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Sullivan's Travels (1941) Directed by Preston Sturges

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:06 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 7 November 2008)

All in all, "Sullivan's Travels" was a movie I enjoyed watching but I also had some issues with it. The movie changes its style and tone too often and toward the end the movie is sort of 'loosing' it.

The movie begins as such a fun and adventurous movie, with a great story that showed even more potential. But it's more than a fun movie its also a clever one, that is multiple layered. For instance the movie can also been really watched as one about learning about yourself and live, when a successful Hollywood director goes undercover as an hobo to learn what it means to get in trouble and to live with no help from anyone and without all the money, so he can direct a tough drama he has set his mind on.

But the movie in the end is all about laughing and being happy. The movie is an homage to those who makes us laugh, which comes across a bit odd to me honestly. Seriously why dedicate a movie to a thing like that? Perhaps it was because there was a world war going on at the time? I don't know but it just seems like a silly thing to me.

So the movie has two contrasts in it, happy silly comedy and some tough serious drama with a message to it. I must say that this approach works out fine for most part of the movie but toward the end the movie is sort of loosing it, when its story starts to make some rather awkward turns and the comedy almost completely disappears out of the movie.

It nevertheless remains a well written movie, with also some fine comical dialog in it. I love '40's movies for often featuring this style of dialog. It becomes a huge part of the movie its comedy itself. But also the psychical comedy itself is great, though I wish the entire movie was more like its first 20 minutes or so. That way this movie surely would had been one of the most amusing ones I have seen in my life.

Joel McCrea is a rather unknown actor and one that acted mostly in western's throughout his career but he is really great in this movie. He looks something like the young Paul Newman but of course acts in a more comical way as he does. He was real fine in this movie and it's a bit of a shame that he never really fully broke through as an actor, or won any big important awards during his career. He worked more with director Preston Sturges after this movie but not even he could lift him to stardom.

Veronica Lake was surely one beautiful woman but her acting at times sort of tends to get annoying. She gets her cheeks tightly together when she speaks, or at least she sounds like that. Oh well, at least her looks really saves her performance and ensures that she is a pleasant addition to this movie.

A real mixed bag this one. On the one hand it's a real pleasant and entertaining movie to watch and on the other a bit too serious in parts and perhaps a bit too heavy handed.

7/10

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Colorado Territory (1949) Directed by Raoul Walsh

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 12:33 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 29 September 2006)

Raoul Walsh was perhaps the most entertaining director of the '40's, with movies like "Objective, Burma!", "They Died with Their Boots On" and "Gentleman Jim" behind his name, plus he also made some good early westerns. Sounds like the perfect guy to direct a movie like this, especially since this movie is a western remake of his earlier directed movie classic "High Sierra", with Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. This movie might not be as 'star-filled' as the original but it's just as entertaining, arousing and intriguing on its own.

Westerns from the '40's were much different from the later spaghetti-westerns everybody knows. The early westerns from the '40's and the decades before that are a bit forgotten movies, probably mainly because they differ so much from the later westerns from the '60's and '70's that everybody from that- and later generations, basically grew up with. Westerns from the '40's were much darker and possibly less formulaic. This movie is basically more 'film-noir' than real western. It has all the basic film-noir ingredients in it; Backstabbing characters, treacherous woman, a criminal plot and mysterious unpredictable characters. It makes this movie also real perfect to watch for persons who don't like spaghetti-westerns.

Leave it up to director Raoul Walsh to tell a story well and entertaining. The story of "Colorado Territory" really isn't the most spectacular story you could think of but the way it is told and brought to the screen all can be called spectacular. The movie is filled with some real good action sequences and spectacular looking stunts. But granted that the storytelling is not completely flawless. The movie is perhaps a bit too short and the love story of the movie also doesn't quite work out as good as it could had been. I don't know, for some reason it just doesn't feel right, or connects with the rest of the movie.

The storytelling also makes sure that the movie remains for most part unpredictable, which also helps to make the film-noir elements work out. "Colorado Territory" is a rare both unpredictable and entertaining movie.

The cast is solid. It isn't filled with the most known actors of its period. Perhaps Errol Flynn was expected to play a role in this, since he worked a lot with Raoul Walsh in the '40's but instead the main part is played by Joel McCrea, who was an expert at playing characters in westerns. He plays a good and convincing tough-guy who has a good heart. Perhaps a bit too much of a good heart to make the story entirely believable but that's just common and entirely fitting for '40's movie-making standards.

An interesting to watch- and spectacular entertaining noir-western, that just like its original version "High Sierra", deserves to be seen.

8/10
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