Seventh Heaven

 

(1937)
Directed by Henry King
Written by Melville Baker, from a play by Austin Strong
Starring Simone Simon, James Stewart, Jean Hersholt, Gale Sondergaard
IMDB Entry

Sometimes old time Hollywood did casting that seems nonsensical to modern audiences, after we get used to a particular actor's type of performance. Seventh Heaven is a perfect example of this, but still manages to be a very good movie.

Chico (Jimmy Stewart) is a sewer cleaner in 1914 Paris, who hopes to be promoted to be a street washer. But one day he sees Diane (Simone Simon) being beaten by her sister Nana (Gale Sondergaard). He jumps in to save her and learns she has nowhere to go.* Chico takes her to his apartment. He is a gentleman towards her and sleeps the night at a friends. Chico is very opinionated and declares himself an atheist and Diane asks him to visit Father Chevillon (Jean Hersholt), who indulges him. The relationship between Chico and Diane deepens, and, when he is drafted, the proposes and they marry. But going into the trenches makes it all uncertain.

First of all, it's pretty hard to think of Stewart as a Frenchman named Chico. He has all the mannerisms that made him a star, and it's too much of a jump to see him as anything other but James Stewart. Still, he handles the full-on romantic role well

Simone Simon, is more believable as a Frenchwoman, mostly because she was French. Here she plays a wounded little bird character, who has suffered and strives to be happy, unable to believe her good luck in finding Chico. She had been brought to the US, but her career never took off, partly because she developed the reputation of being temperamental. She said it had to do with her adjustment to American society, but she never became a major star, though she did make an impression in Cat People, playing a similar troubled character.

Gale Sondergaard won an early Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and is best known for playing sultry and intimidating woman. She is far from sultry here -- the madam of a bordello who beats Diane for not acquiescing to her clients' desires. 

A couple of familiar names have bit parts. Sig Ruman -- the Marx Brothers' foil in A Night at the Opera and other films -- shows up as a customer of the bordello who gets upset when Diane rejects his advances. John Hamilton -- Perry White from The Adventures of Superman -- plays a gendarme, but it's easy to miss him.

The movie is a remake of a very early talkie (or, rather, a silent film with sound added), which won Oscars for Best Actress, Director, and Screenplay.

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*Her sister runs what is probably a bordello, though since this is after the Hayes Code, that's kept vague.

The Locked Door

 (1929)
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Written by George Scarborough, Earl Brown, screenplay by C. Gardner Sullivan from the play The Sign on the Door by Channing Pollock.
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Rod La Rocque, William "Stage" Boyd, Betty Bronson
IMDB Entry

The early days of talkies were a bonanza for playwrights. Hollywood needed screenplays, and what better way than to buy an already successful play and adapt it for the screen? The Locked Door is a prime example.

During Prohibition, the young and inexperienced Ann Carter (Barbara Stanwyck) accepts an invitation by Frank Devereux (Rod La Roque) for a dinner aboard a ship just outside the twelve-mile limit, so alcohol can be served. Devereaux tries to seduce her, locking her in the room with him, but the police have a pilot who surreptitiously takes the ship into US waters. It's raided and Ann and Devereaux are arrested, but jump bail.

A year and a half later, Ann is happily married to Lawrence Reagan (William "Stage" Boyd*). Reagan's sister Helen (Betty Bronson) introduces her new boyfriend -- Devereaux.** Ann warns her to stay away from him, but doesn't dare explain why. Helen plans to run away with Devereaux, and Ann goes to him to beg him to call it off. Cad that he is, he refuses. But Lawrence shows up to try to convince him otherwise.

The plot doesn't hide its stage origins -- why should it?  Most of the movie takes place in Devereaux's apartment, and I will say the ending is a bit inconvenient and out of character. 

This was Barbara Stanwyck's first credited role and she handles it quite well. She hadn't quite formed her hard-as-nails persona, though there are signs of it. Rod La Rocque was a busy leading man of the time and has the right touch of smarmy smoothness to make him an excellent cad.  William "Stage" Boyd is OK, if a bit wooden.

Two important figures have small parts. The great Zasu Pitts appears as a hotel telephone operator. She isn't given a lot to do, though she does have some amusing lines. Mack Swain was a silent film heavy, best known as Charlie Chaplin's partner in The Gold Rush.*** Adjacent to stardom was George Bunny, brother of John Bunny, one of Hollywood's first silent film comedians.

The film holds up pretty well overall and is still entertaining.

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*No connection to the actor known for playing Hopalong Cassidy. But when he was arrested for drugs, it affected the other Boyd when the photo of him was mixed up. Hoppy couldn't get work for awhile, but managed to overcome it when he took on the role that he is famous for.

**A similar plot to Indiscreet, filmed a year later.

***Snowed in, he goes mad with hunger and thinks Chaplin is a chicken.

It Happened Tomorrow

(1944)
Directed by René Clair
Written by Dudley Nicholds, René Clair, from a story by Lord Dunsany
Starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Edgar Kennedy, John Philber
IMDB Entry

René Clair was in some ways ahead of his time. Nowadays, fantasy rules the movie roost, but it was very unusual to see in silent days and in early talkies.  Clair, however, had a penchant for fantasy and, in 1944, he directed a fantasy that is still a common theme today.

It starts at the 50th wedding anniversary of Lawrence and Sylvia Stevens (Dick Powell and Linda Darnell), where they reminisce about how the first met.  Lawrence is an obit writer for a newspaper who hopes to be a reporter some day. His fellow obit writer, Pop Benson (John Philber) tell him that time is an illusion and hands him a newspaper. He puts it in his pocket without reading it and goes to a vaudeville act featuring the Great Sigolini* (Jack Oakie), a mind reader, and his daughter Sylvia (Linda Darnell), who has a clairvoyance act. Lawrence is fascinated and asks Sylvia out.  She turns him down.

The next day, he realizes he has an advance copy of today's evening paper.* The headline indicates there will be a robbery. As he argues with his editor to cover the opera, Sylvia shows up. Lawrence takes her, and, sure enough, there's a robbery.

Police Inspector Mulrooney (Edgar Kennedy) thinks Lawrence is part of the gang. He's thrown in jail, and Pop Benson shows up to give him another newspaper that clears him. But when he asks for one more in order to bet on the races, things go bad.

The situation has been used before and has been used since, but this is a charming example. The final situation is handled cleverly with a twist that is quite logical. There's also a subtle nod to Sylvia's supposed clairvoyance at the end.

Dick Powell made a career out of being charming and is excellent here.  Linda Darnell was a former child star who was a moderate success once she grew up, but who never made it to being a major star. Still, she's quite good here. Jack Oakie always plays the same time: a brash and wisecracking midwesterner*** and doesn't fail to amuse. Edgar "slow burn" Kennedy is hard to recognize in his Keystone Kop makeup. Marx Brothers foil Sig Ruman has a small part as a promoter.

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*Real name Oscar Smith

**A little explanation for the younger readers. For many years, there were morning and evening newspapers. In New York, for instance, the Times was a morning paper and the Post was an evening one.  Evening papers had the breaking news of the day, including the late sports scores. Once TV news became a thing, evening papers started struggling: TV would be even more up to date. Some papers converted to morning papers; others failed. I'd be surprised if there were any in operation nowadays.

***Even when he's the head of Bacteria.

The Decameron (TV)

 

(2024)
Created by Kathleen Jordan
Starring  Amar Chadga-Patel, Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jacktion, Tony Hale, Douggle McMeekin, Tanya Reynolds, Amar Chadha-Patel, Lou Gala, Karan Gil, Leila Farzad
IMDB Entry

There's always room for drama during a pandemic. The Decameron makes good use of that -- and also room for comedy.

The premise is simple. In 1348, a group of nobles and their servants hole up in a country villa to get away from the Black Death ravaging Florence, Italy. Filomena (Jessica Plummer) is there with her servant Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) to meet and marry her betrothed, who she has never met. Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin) is a hypochondriac with delusions of grandeur and is attended by his doctor Dionero (Amar Chadha-Patel). Panfilo (Karan Gil), there to curry favor with the owner of the villa, is with his overly pious wife Neifile (Lou Gala). Filomena (Jessica Plummer) has come to escape Florence after her father died of the plague, attended by Licisca (Tanya Reynolds). And the steward, Sirisco (Tony Hale), tries to keep things running smoothly.

It would take too long to summarize the plot, which is twisty and with the characters' stories intertwined. Misia, for instance, has smuggled her lover into the villa, where she dies of plague. The owner of the villa is also dead, but Sirisco keeps the information secret and Filomena insists that she's married him.  Panfilo is gay, but that doesn't bother Neifile, who has made a vow of chastity. Licisca impersonates Filomena, who she thinks is dead -- until the shows up. And that barely scratches the surface.

There's sex and passion throughout as the characters go through twists and turns in order to live their luxurious lives amid the death.

Saorisa-Monica Jackson made her mark as the lead in Derry Girls,* whereas Tanya Reynolds impressed as Lily, the writer of alien erotica, in Sex Education.  The actors are uniformly excellent throughout.

The show is funny, bawdy, and often quite touching. Worth taking a look.

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*This was the third actress from the show who I spotted in other works, including Louisa Harland (Renegade Nell) and Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Big Mood).