The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Well, the title of this movie is a plot summary in itself. Emile Zola was a "muckraking" French writer and journalist whose life goes from rags to perhaps not riches but fulfillment. Zola has a hard time keeping jobs and impressing employers because he is controversial and outspoken man that likes to stir the pot and fight against injustice. After the publication of several successful books, the remainder of the film focuses on the wrongful life imprisonment of Captain Alfred Dreyfus for acts of treason he did not commit. Will Zola have the power to free this man before he dies of harsh prison conditions, and will Capt. Dreyfus forgive the military that he loved so much?

The Life of Emile Zola could be called a "rage against the machine" film much like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, although Smith is a better film. While certainly a superior example of a courtroom drama than the awkward third act of Cimarron, Emile Zola is less a story/script than a string of soapbox speeches and phrases about truth and justice. That being said, there were some great aspects to this movie; Paul Muni's excellent performance and transformative makeup carry the film (I just watched the 1932 version of Scarface a few weeks back and Muni is almost unrecognizable here), and Joseph Schildkraut as Capt. Dreyfus infuses the film with many wonderful moments. I'm not sure how much of this film is fictionalized, and I would not be surprised to discover that a lot of it is. The ending of the film and the conclusion of Zola's story is disappointing to say the least, but I guess you can't control how life plays out. Perhaps that was one of the morals of the film... (if you're confused about what I mean, don't worry, Katie will spoil the whole ending for you in just a minute) In any case, Zola is a completely fine film but one that earns only a middle spot of our mental lists of the best of the Best Picture winners thus far. Still, a decent watch if you have never seen it.

This movie is another biopic much like The Great Ziegfeld however not nearly as impressive.  The make up was astounding.  If you see a picture of Paul Muni and then look at his picture on the poster below, it is amazing.  The most interesting part of the movie to me was in the beginning Zola lived with the famous painter Paul Cezanne.  He sort of meanders in and out of Zola's life but he was my favorite character.  There were some very touching moments, for instance when Dreyfus, the man that Zola is defending is finally released after thirtyish years.  He walks through the jail cell several times because the feeling of finally free was so wonderful he had to go through the motions a few times.  That was a fantastic moment.  The movie ends with (spoiler alert) Zola's death.  He dies from carbon monoxide poisoning.  I know that it's based on a true story and that he really did die from that but man.... what a lame-o way to die.  Maybe that's rude, but he just fled the wrath of the Parisian soldiers and when he finally gets home, he dies from a chimney plug.  It just was too weird and sad.  The movie was alright.  It's hard to come off of a wonderful movie like The Great Ziegfeld and not feel like there is a decline in quality.  

The film was shot in reverse order; Paul Muni grew his own beard for the role, and it was trimmed and darkened as he proceeded to scenes where Zola is younger. His makeup took 3-1/2 hours to apply each morning.

"I shall tell the truth. Because if I did not, my nights would be haunted by the spectre of an innocent man expiating under the most frightful torture a crime he never committed."

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Florenz Ziegfeld, a cheap sideshow entertainer, is in constant rivalry with his slightly more successful neighbor Billings, and steals his girlfriend to boot. This pattern is repeated throughout the rest of their lives.   Ziegfeld makes and loses many fortunes putting on the most extravagant productions aptly named "Ziegfeld Follies" where he glorifies the beauty of women.  

I really enjoyed this movie!  It was everything Broadway Melody should've been.  The acting was great, sets were fantastic, the costumes were extravagant, and the singing was great!  Frank Morgan, the guy who played the Wizard in Wizard Of Oz, is Flo's best frenemy who is constantly hiding his women from the affections from Mr. Ziegfeld, who can charm the pants off of any lady!  I loved their relationship.  AND Fanny Brice was in this movie as herself.  Fanny got her start in the Ziegfeld Follies making her way up from the Jewish slums.  This comic act later had her own movie, one of my personal favorites, "Funny Girl" starring Barbra Streisand.  Fanny's fifteen minutes in "The Great Ziegfeld" is fantastic.  She is a goof ball who marches to the beat of her own drum.  This part is a bit bittersweet when Ziegfeld makes it very clear that he didn't hire Fanny for her average looks but for her captivating voice and comic relief.  This leaves the brittle Fanny in tears but motivates her to a jaw-dropping performance.  The levels directors go to get a stellar performance.  In fact, this movie had great female performances including two adorably gifted little girls.  This is my favorite movie yet!  

Well this was a surprise... combining the best parts of Grand Hotel and succeeding where The Broadway Melody only attempted, The Great Ziegfeld was a fantastic example of a period film, a musical and a biopic. Featuring performances at turns powerful and hilarious by William Powell, Frank Morgan and Myrna Loy amongst others, Ziegfeld combines compelling drama with sets, costumes and music that are state of the art even by today's standards. The story was one that really drew you in and I was very interested in seeing what happened next, and there was rarely a dull moment in the film's three hour running time. My only small gripe is that perhaps less time could have been spent showing the lavish stage productions and more time could have been spent showing interesting story developments that were breezed past by showing a newspaper headline on screen... but then the productions were so impressive that I didn't really want less of that either. While Ziegfeld  perhaps did not have the narrative and dramatic scope of Western Front, Cimarron or Cavalcade, the sheer spectacle and technical ambition combined with the best elements described about prior Best Picture winners makes The Great Ziegfeld my favorite best picture winner also. Let it never be said that Katie and I cannot agree :)


Myrna Loy, who was born in Radersburg, MT (pretty close to us!) and received second billing for this film, does not actually appear on screen until 2 hours and 15 minutes into the movie.

Fanny Brice: If I can give Belasco four dollars for silk stockings made of cotton, I can give Ziegfeld a little more for a mink coat made of skunk. 

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

After a brief hiatus, The Working Title has returned! Katie and I have been very busy as of late but rest assured that we are still happily living together and bringing you our picky opinions! 

Based on historical events and a classic book by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, Mutiny on the Bounty's plot is pretty well spelled out in it's title and (awkwardly, as if to say, 'here is the moral of the film you haven't even seen yet') at the beginning of the film. The HMS Bounty is on a relatively simple voyage to Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants for Jamaica with a crew of a few officers and midshipmen led by the charismatic and motivational Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) and the iron-fisted disciplinarian Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). After several overzealous punishments dealt by Bligh lead to fatal results and an idyllic few months in Tahiti are cut short, the strain becomes too much for the crew and Christian leads a mutiny against Bligh whom is cast adrift. Bligh survives and brings some of the mutineers back to England where they must stand trial and almost certain death for their crimes against God and country. Will Christian sacrifice his new life in Tahiti to help save his crew, and will Bligh face the consequences of his actions or will he have a compassionate change of heart?

The historical accuracy and depiction of its characters have been scrutinized and long debated, but I have not read the book and am certainly not a scholar on the subject so I can only evaluate this film on it's own merits. Gable once again gives a strong performance and Laughton is effectively slimy if not very deep. The film begins very optimistically as the Bounty sets sail, and the pace and escalation of conflict as Bligh's ego and arrogance are exposed is gripping and interesting. The scenes in Tahiti were humorous and sometimes insightful, and the camerawork and photography for scenes on the ship and in the sea were very impressive for the time, hearkening to more recent and incredible films like Master and Commander. While still a good film, the nearly fatal flaw of this film is that after the climactic titular event, the pace and interest level of the film drop sharply for me. The film just kind of coasts to the finish line, and the ending seems a bit too cut and dry and wrapped in a pretty bow; nevertheless, there's enough there to justify most of it's classic status and it still ranks as one of the better (but not best) of the Best Picture winners thus far.

I actually really enjoyed this movie.  It was redone in the sixties with Marlon Brando as Gable's part however, it did not win an Oscar.  I guess I didn't know how attractive Gable was until this movie.  I mean with sometimes the moustache he can kind of look like a beady-eyed creep (harsh, I know) but man he is a good lookin' gent!  My biggest problem with the movie was that Gable's name was Mister Christian which reminded me of the song "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger.  So I was singing that any time they said his name, kind of like church "call and response" liturgy.  The first part of this movie had a great mix of the serious and humor.  The second half is sort of like a Tahitian South Pacific.  Two captains aboard the bounty fall in love with Tahitian ladies.  (I, of course, sing "NOTHING LIKE A DAME!!!!!")  The one thing, that Tim actually mentioned during the movie, was that the violence, though sporadic, hits you like a ton of bricks.  I mean people are dying and getting whipped... it was pretty intense for the thirties.  The acting in this movie is very good.  Laughton does an amazing job at making you hate him.  And Gable, while saving the ship from Captain Bligh's tyranny walks a fine line between hero and villain while his shipmate and bestie, Byam is always on the right side by staying dutiful to his country and friends with the his mutinous buddy, Mister Christian (Oh, the time has come...).  

A tragedy nearly occurred during filming when an 18-foot replica of the Bounty with two crewmen aboard separated from its tow and was adrift for two days before being found by a search party. 

"When you're back in England with the fleet again, you'll hear the hue and cry against me. From now on they'll spell mutiny with my name."

It Happened One Night (1934)

This classic is about a spoiled brat, Claudette Colbert, who gets married behind her father's back.  He wants it annulled and she is madly in love.  So, she runs away from her home in Miami to her husband in New York.  She is aided by Clark Gable, a reporter looking for a story disguised as a good samaritan. 

Well ladies and gents, this here is the introduction of the first romantic comedy.  I really liked this movie.  It was your basic girl meets guy.  Girl and guy hate each other.  Girl and guy get closer by working together.  Girl and guy still pretend to hate each other.  And then guy finally sees girl naked.  Ya know, the basics.  It's basically the original The Sure Thing.  I am a sucker for John Cusack.  But basically Cusack is the lead, Colbert.  Colbert is trying to make it back to her "sure thing" but falls in love with her comrade along the way.  The supporting characters are very funny, especially the guy who sings every response.  However, Gable and Colbert are fantastic together, even though they both could care less for the film.  The most famous scene in the movie is when Gable tries to teach Colbert how to flag down a car and fails.  Colbert then flags a car down by flashing a bit of leg, basically porn for film in the 1930's. 

It's funny to think that the romantic comedy, now one of the most pedestrian and typical of film genres, was so ahead of it's time in 1934 that some of the cast and crew reportedly thought this movie was going to be awful. Audiences of the time knew better and this film became one of the only films to sweep every Oscar it was nominated for, deservedly so because it's often laugh-out-loud funny. Katie nails the formula pretty well in her review, although this movie is likely not as suggestive or risqué as she might lead you to believe.  A curtain (the Wall of Jericho, colorfully dubbed by Gable) separates the stars when they are sharing a room and (scandal!) changing clothes in the same room... until the very end, but you will have to watch the film to see what I mean. Clark Gable, who will go on to star in many Best Picture winners, gives a wonderfully magnetic pre-Orson Welles performance that brings this film back to the acting standard set by Grand Hotel. Sure, you will be able to guess how the picture turns out but you will have many unexpected laughs along the way, and this combined with the confident direction of the great Frank Capra makes this film a winner. While perhaps not as perfect an example of the genre as The Philadelphia Story or the much-later Sleepless in Seattle, It Happened One Night earns it's place as one of the earliest and finest of the Best Picture winners.


According to William L. Shirer's "Berlin Diary", It Happened One Night was one of Adolf Hitler's favorites movies. 

"Oh, I see, young people in love are never hungry. "