The Woman In Red - 1935 - USA

The Woman In Red - 1935 - 6/10

 
Professional horsewoman meets amateur polo player.
Shelby works for rich Nicko, who is territorially possessive about Johnny.
Dressage, polo, stables, investors.
Nouveau riche vies with impoverished aristocrats.
I wonder if this had been a spicier Pre-Code a year earlier.
Stanwyck solid as ever, Raymond boyishly handsome, but bland.

Vivacious Lady - 1938 - USA

Vivacious Lady - 1938 - 6/10

 
Milquetoast professor goes to the Big Apple to fetch a feckless cousin.
In the nightclub, he spies the songbird and it’s love at first sight.
Within two days, they are married and heading back to small town USA.
Where he does tell his parents, his students, or fiancé that he wed a blonde lounge singer.
What would others think?  Dude, grow a spine.
Jimmy Stewart with his bumbling, stammering shtick grows tiresome; the romance rang false.
1930’s RomCom has dated badly for me.  Resonated more with Depression audiences.

You’ve Got Mail - 1998 - USA

You’ve Got Mail - 1998 - 5/10  

 
Kathleen owns a small children’s bookshop in Manhattan (!).
Coming soon to her neighborhood, a behemoth book chain (think Borders, RIP).
No worries, she thinks.  Meantime, she carries an online romance with a username.
Straightforward encounter here, not a convict, 12-year-old, Prince Of Nigeria.
You can predict this one.  As huge scale and predatory pricing destroy competition.
A RomCom with a contrived love angle that defies logic or belief.
Hated this when it screened, still find it emotionally sleazy.

The Fare - 2014 - USA

The Fare - 2014 - 7/10

Car driver Harris rolls down a deserted stretch of nowhere.
Seems like a prank, but no, the fare is waiting along the road.
Attractive, a little sad, Penny climbs in, gives her destination.
Both talk freely, swap quips, enter an easy camaraderie.
Until the cab nears a storm, then Penny vanishes.

 
Next scene, Harris heads towards the fare, Penny … into the storm.
Small film with a tremendous heart.
Timeslip, classic mythology, well realized story.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370772

The Other Bennet Sister - 2026 - UK

The Other Bennet Sister - 2026 - 7/10

 
Who would be Mary, the bookworm, best seen previously in the 1980 adaptation.
Here, after her sisters marry, she is dispatched to London to stay with her aunt and uncle.
Who encourage her, bolster her, permit her to emerge from her shell.
Costume drama, RomCom all the way, brilliantly cast, with people who resemble you and I.
Final act seems to drag a trifle, squeezing the last ounce of predictability.
Goes without saying, you ought to have viewed at least one version beforehand.
For Janeites, this will please.  On the fence?  10 episodes, 30 minutes each.

Bride & Prejudice - 2004 - UK

Bride & Prejudice - 2004 - 6/10

 
Another Austen adaptation, Bollywood style (expect musical numbers).
The unmarried Bakshi sisters are in a dither over the arrival of rich American Will Darcy.
Eldest daughter Lalita immediately takes a dislike to the snobbish newcomer.
Rather than a clash of class, this is more a clash of cultures.
Purists should back off, for the rest, fairly entertaining.
I found “Darcy” miscast, although I appear to be in a minority.

Friday The Thirteenth - 1933 - UK

Friday The Thirteenth - 1933 - 6/10

 
The bus accident was a bad one; there were fatalities.
Then the clock rewinds to 24 hours earlier, and we watch backstories.
Bus driver and conductor, a blackmailer, the badger game, coppers after a confidence man.
A stock speculator and his addled wife, another husband surprising his wife on their anniversary.
Most will watch for the schoolteacher and chorus girl Millie.
The often scantily dressed Jessie Matthews, with the most expressive eyes since Clara Bow.

First A Girl - 1935 - UK

First A Girl - 1935 - 6/10

 
Aspiring performer Elizabeth is befriended by female impersonator Victor.
When misfortune strikes, she steps in and pretends to be a man, pretending to be a woman.
Continental acclaim ensues.
Music, romance, comedy in breezy remake of 1933’s Victor And Victoria.
Several gaudy musical numbers, over-the-top and weirdly irresistible.
Songs are not so catchy to me, but I was fascinated by the triple rhyming structure of many.
Jessie Matthews is adorably cute.
Like Joan Morgan before her, Hollywood made Matthews an offer (Damsel In Distress with Fred Astaire).
Her studio refused to let her go.  The indifferent hand of Fortune.

Pride And Prejudice - 1995 - UK

Pride And Prejudice - 1995 - 8/10

 
THE adaptation that Janeites rally around.
The Netherfield estate is to be let by the young Mr. Bingley, a single gentleman of good fortune.
Young Bennet sisters are in a tizzy, hopes mix with delusion.
Only Elizabeth and Jane, the two eldest, check themselves.
This has version has unsparing production values, and an extended run time that breathes.
Genuine chemistry between leads Ehre and Firth fueled this intensely.
The emotional restraint is faithful to Austen, and a contrast to cathartic outbursts of other attempts.

Pick-Up - 1933 - USA

Pick-Up - 1933 - 6/10

 
Mary is handed $5.00, then released from the penitentiary.
In the big city, she’s soon down to pennies, when a cabbie takes pity on her.
Harry lets her crash in his apartment, which she soon spruces up.
They make a good team, with a bright future, except –
She neglects to tell him about a tiny detail … her husband … still in the slammer.
Racy Pre-Code (tame now) deals with suicide, premarital sex, crime.
Raft & Sidney star, plus a treat to see Charles Middleton as a good guy.

Bright Star - 2009 - UK

Bright Star - 2009 - 6/10

 
Romance between poet John Keats and neighbor Fanny Brawne.
In spite of mutual attraction, the match is not assured.  Money, or lack of same.
Keats is an impoverished poet, and this is very much the Austen era, where wealth and status matter.
Then there is Keats’ friend, Charles Brown, who strongly disapproves of her.
Story, romance, dialogue, everything is understated, perhaps too much.
Fans of period dramas, this one should appeal.

Red-Headed Woman - 1932 - USA

Red-Headed Woman - 1932 - 7/10

 
Lil chases after boss Bill, who is young, handsome, rich.
Oh, and married, too.
No matter, Lil cooks the sausage … a couple of times … and Bill is soon hers.
Does Bill ever wise up?  Even when Lil targets his even wealthier friends?
Heavy cutting notwithstanding, this steamy Pre-Code reeks of sex, adultery, innuendo.
For teens who think they invented sex, your grandma, your great-grandma was way ahead of you.

If Only You Could Cook - 1935 - USA

If Only You Could Cook - 1935 - 6/10

 
Automobile tycoon Jim cannot convince the board to accept sweeping new designs.
Deco, snowdrop vehicles.
He huffs out.  On a park bench, he meets the unemployed Joan.
She persuades him to accompany her for a twofer job: butler and cook.
Of course they are hired … by gangsters.
Amusing Depression era RomCom is farfetched entertainment.
Working girl, millionaire, good-natured criminals, tight ensemble.

Shopworn - 1932 - USA

Shopworn - 1932 - 6/10

 
College grad, pre-med David and waitress Kitty overcome a frosty beginning.
Then the relationship becomes serious enough to consider marriage.
Noses soon twitch.  Kitty may be a nice girl, decent, but not our kind.  Our class.
Interference is hard-nosed, and the pair don’t stand a chance.
Plain faced Regis Toomey OK, if oldish, as the square son.
Stanwyck luminous as the smitten Kitty, with a core of steel.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366591

Pride And Prejudice - 1940 - USA

Pride And Prejudice - 1940 - 6/10

 
Worth a watch for fans of lavish, old Hollywood adaptation of Jane Austen.
Two rich gentleman arrive in the countryside, eligible bachelors both.
Did I mention rich?
In no time, Mrs Bennet maneuvers to land a son-in-law for her daughter.
At barely two hours, this version has been cut to the bone, and hurries along.
Greer Garson, in her mid-thirties, looks too old, and resembles Miss Muffet.
Olivier, however, is ideal.  Reserved, aloof, coldly elegant.
One wonders if David Rintoul studied his Darcy for the 1980 series.

Man’s Castle - 1933 - USA

Man’s Castle - 1933 - 6/10

 
Waif Trina, hopeless and starving, is befriended by the gruff Bill.
Gives her a meal, finds her a place to live in Shantytown, off Park Avenue.
Despite the grim Depression, Trina’s head soon fills with hopes and dreams.
She has a roof over her head.  As well as someone to hold onto.
Bill, however, hears the siren song of the train whistle, watches birds flying overhead.
He dreams of the place I have always referred to as “Elsewhere”.
Loretta Young glowing as the besotted Trina, Tracy’s Bill seems a tad too old.

Love Actually - 2003 - UK

Love Actually - 2003 - 7/10

 
Zelda and I first watched this during its initial theatrical run.
Surprisingly, there were only two other couples in an otherwise empty theater.
Time has proven kind to this holiday bonbon, now is a staple in many homes.
Stories interweave.  Comical, romantic, poignant, frustrated, thwarted.
Looking past the credits, one might guess what relationships will founder, what might succeed.
Tremendous casting a major asset.  Film is overlong, but never feels that way.

Bad Girl - 1931 - USA

Bad Girl - 1931 - 5/10

 
Kitchen sink schmaltz of two working class stiffs with zero communication skills.
First meeting is hardly meet-cute, and the progression into marriage seems madness.
Over and over, they miss cues and generally misunderstand the other.
Understandable if there was a torrid romance before the menfolk shipped off to war.
The aftermath of those marriages turned into Noir murders.
Anyway, Dorothy is “bad” with Eddie for one night, which is enough to get knocked up.
Eddie, wildly acclaimed on release, grated on me throughout.

A Vitagraph Romance - 1909 - USA

A Vitagraph Romance - 1909 - 6/10 

 
Love blossoms between a young writer and daughter of a senator.
Defying her father, they elope, only to discover Love does not pay the bills.
Glamor enters, and they begin working for Vitagraph Studios, making films.
Charming short showcases the three main owners of Vitagraph, as well as their leading lady, Florence Turner.
Also, for buffs, a stroll though the Brooklyn studio backlots.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366203

Gambling Ship - 1933 - USA

Gambling Ship - 1933 - 6/10 

 
After dodging a murder rap, Ace Corbin leaves Chicago, California bound.
On the train, he chances upon a pretty innocent, Eleanor, and they contemplate a future together.
Once in California, however, the old ways call, and Ace is soon managing an offshore casino.
And Eleanor proves not to be quite the virtuous virgin.
Pre-Code cannot make up its mind between romance and crime. 
Watch for Cary and other pros.  Otherwise, this is tired goods.