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JANUARY 7
ROPE

Hitchcock slyly focuses on Brandon and Phillip, who kill a schoolmate and throw a party afterwards. The guests include the dead man’s girlfriend, his father – and the friends’ former teacher, suspicious James Stewart, who watches his hosts slowly deteriorate. How long before Stewart discovers the truth? “A taut piece of suspense filmmaking… witty and engaging, full of bone-dry humor.”—DVDjournal.com. 1948
“Good and evil, right and wrong were invented for the ordinary average man, the inferior man, because he needs them.” – Brandon waxing philosophic at his dinner party… also dropping a big hint

Farley Granger finally snaps with James Stewart

FYI
Hitchcock’s 44th movie. It's also his 11th in America, first color movie, first independent production, and his first of four with James Stewart. Color, independence, and Stewart weren’t the only firsts here for this director. After seeing this story on stage, he decided to film it in real time. However, cameras could only hold ten minutes of film, so he could only shoot ten-minute takes. It’s an interesting experiment. See how he solves this problem.
Rope is based on the play Rope’s End by the English playwright Patrick Hamilton – the author of Angel Street, on which Gaslight was based. Rope’s End, Hamilton’s first work to appear on Broadway, ran for 100 performances in 1929.
The two young men in the story – on stage and in the film – are based on the infamous Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Enamored with each other and Nietzsche, they murdered a schoolmate in 1924 for the thrill of it, because they could, and because they felt morally superior to him. Clarence Darrow defended them in the resulting trial. They both ended up in Joliet.

FEBRUARY 4
IF I HAD A MILLION
Refusing to leave relatives any money, the old man finds eight strangers in the phone book and sends each a million dollars. The money makes a difference for some, changes nothing for others. The experience may change that old man most of all. “Runs the gamut from side-splitting to heartbreaking… There's a little something for everyone here.”—culturevulture.net. 1932

“Road hogs. A constant menace to society. They should be wiped out, Emily. Do you hear, wiped out!” – W.C. Fields complaining, as usual

W.C. Fields and his wife solve their road hog problem with the money they receive

FYI

Every modern critic comments that yeah, they got a million bucks, but that was back when a million bucks was real money. Hate to break it to them, but a million bucks is still real money.

If I Had a Million is a story told in episodic form – here’s one recipient, here’s another and another -- but there’s more to it than that. Each episode has a different director, and each episode boasts different writers. Plus, look carefully for evidence that the Production Code hadn’t come into existence yet. Actually, you don’t have to look all that hard, what with W.C. Fields and Alison Skipworth as a married couple sleeping in a double bed – as just one example.
In addition to W.C. Fields, the movie also includes Charles Laughton, Gary Cooper, George Raft, May Robson, and Roscoe Karns.
Click on the link at the bottom of this page for further information about the Production Code.

MARCH 3
THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY SOXER

When bubbly 17-year-old Shirley Temple gets a crush on Cary Grant, he can’t get rid of her. But then he gets help from an unexpected source: her sister, judge Myrna Loy, sentences him to date Shirley until she gets over him. In the process, Loy and Grant develop their own crush… to our delight. “The audience laughed so loud I missed some of the lines.” —The New Republic. 1947

“I couldn't help overhearing. I had my ear to the door.” – Ray Collins getting a chance to crack wise

Cary Grant must be very tolerant -- and very careful! -- with this bobby soxer

FYI

Cary Grant, an artist? Why not? Of course his artist representation is a late 1940s portrayal – not a sandal or an India print bedspread in sight!

Wikipedia defines “bobby soxer” as “a 1940s sociologic coinage denoting the fans of swing music and its creators like Frank Sinatra, the first singing teen idol. They were zealous, usually teenage and young adult girls from about 12 to 25.”
A zealous teenager: this describes Shirley Temple’s character perfectly, and against her passionate, enthusiastic onslaught Grant’s character hasn’t got a chance. Until… well, watch and see.

This movie also stars several wonderful character actors, including Ray Collins, who attracted Hollywood’s attention with Orson Welles’ famous Mercury Theatre; Harry Davenport, white-haired and frisky, as always; and Rudy Vallee – who performs his trademarked snooty prig to perfection.

APRIL 7
SAN FRANCISCO

As we anticipate the spectacle of the 1906 earthquake, we’re treated to Clark Gable’s hard-nosed independence, Spencer Tracy’s wise, priestly intervention, and Jeanette MacDonald’s innocence and powerful singing. “Incisive, star-packed, superbly-handled melodrama… old-time Hollywood at its very best, offering something for everybody.”—Leslie Halliwell. 1936
“You're in probably the wickedest, most corrupt, the most Godless city in America. Sometimes it frightens me.”—Spencer Tracy to Jeanette, damning San Francisco with faint praise

Clark Gable learns a lesson about love and sacrifice

FYI

The first of three movies Gable and Tracy made together. The other two: Test Pilot (1938) and Boom Town (1940). “The guy’s good. There’s nobody in the business who can touch him, and you’re a fool to try,” claimed Gable of Tracy’s acting skill. Humphrey Bogart said something similar: “Spence is the best we have, because you don’t see the mechanism at work.”

But Tracy himself scoffed at acting in general. His philosophy: “Remember your lines and don’t bump into the furniture.”

As astonishing as the special effects are, they won no Academy Awards. The movie was nominated for six, including acting, directing, and best picture, but it won only for best sound. Hmm.
Jeanette MacDonald takes a break from her seven pairings with Nelson Eddy.