Thursday, November 3

 

My first blog list

In honor of the Paramount pre-code series that begins at the Balboa tonight and runs through November 24th, here are my current ten favorite Paramount feature films from the period, each accompanied by a favorite quote:

1. Love Me Tonight (Nov. 11)
Jeanette MacDonald: "Do you ever think of anything but men?"
Myrna Loy: "Yes, schoolboys."
2. Shanghai Express (Nov. 12)
Anna May Wong: "I confess I don't quite know the standard of respectability that you demand in your boarding house, Mrs. Haggerty."
3. Trouble in Paradise (Nov. 20)
Kay Francis: "Marriage is a beautiful mistake which two people make together."
4. Design For Living (Nov. 11)
Edward Everett Horton: "Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day."
5. Morocco (Nov. 23)
Marlene Dietrich: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, while his pretty young wife has the time of her life."
6. the Smiling Lieutenant (Nov. 20)
Miriam Hopkins: "I got all my knowledge out of the Royal Encyclopedia. A special edition arranged for Flausenthurm, with all the interesting things left out."
7. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Nov. 15)
Holmes Herbert: "Perhaps you're forgetting, you're engaged to Muriel."
Frederic March: "Forgotten it? Can a man dying of thirst forget water?"
8. the Scarlet Empress (Nov. 5)
John Lodge: "You have old-fashioned ideas. This is the 18th century!"
9. Horse Feathers (Nov. 13)
Groucho Marx: "Whatever it is, I'm against it."
10. the Love Parade (not scheduled to play)
Maurice Chevalier: "I've blushed to admit, I've still plenty of it,
But nobody's using it now!"

I hope to revisit a number of these, as well as some others that didn't quite make the list, and see as many still-unseen films as I can over the next few weeks, so I expect there will be some changes. My lists are never set in stone. For good measure, here are five of my favorite Betty Boop cartoons; I imagine most or all of them will be among the cartoons peppered in with the features for this series.

1. Bimbo's Initiation
2. Snow-White
3. Betty Boop's Ups and Downs
4. Ha Ha Ha!
5. The Old Man of the Mountain

Comments:
Brian, this is a cool idea+list.

I'm a rabid fan of Love Me Tonight.
The most Lubitschian of films not made by Lubitsch. And with those terrific songs by Rodgers & Hart.

I've never seen a single Betty Boop cartoon. I've been remiss--will have to, on DVD.
 
Howdy Brian,

FYI, a fair few Betty Boop cartoons are in the public domain, and some (including a few that you mention) are available for free download here:
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=betty%20boop%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies

Thanks to the good folks at Archive.org:
http://www.archive.org/

Enjoy,
John
 
Thanks for the tip, John. I'd forgotten about those.

girish, the downside to the fact that so many Fleischer Bros. cartoons are in the public domain is that poor-quality prints tend to proliferate. I've never seen a Betty Boop short on DVD that had nearly as good an image as that found on the VHS box set released by Republic Pictures a number of years ago. If you still have a player and a nearby mom-and-pop rental store with a good selection, I'd highly recommend renting tapes #2 and #3 in that particular collection to get the optimal Betty home viewing experience.

According to Jeffrey Anderson's column in this morning's Examiner, a print of Bimbo's Initiation will be playing between Duck Soup and Million Dollar Legs this Sunday.
 
Thanks, Brian, for the tip. I'll keep those specific volume numbers in mind. Yes, I still have and use my VCR. I have a closet full of films on VHS, most of them taped off TCM.
 
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