ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[Fran]

[Meryl]

Fran, you beat me to Captains Courageous by mere seconds! 

[Ellemeno]

From IMDb: pleasant low-budget drama with "good gangsters" redeemed by rural folks
This uplifting crime-drama, from the early years of Republic Pictures before the studio became an assembly-line, stars usual second-banana and character actor William Hall (a leading man in the Robert Kellard vein) as a former coal-miner who has come to the big city and gets in the way of two rival gangs fighting over a girl, and then finds himself associated with one of the gangs unintentionally. That gang hides out in a rural area (the leader of the gang, Dean Jagger, is not with them...this is just the colorful, "loveable" members of the gang!), where they meet a rural family and a small-time businessman and a dog, all of whom transform the minor criminals and cause them to finally stand up to the gang boss. Ah, there's nothing like those criminals with a heart of gold one finds in Damon Runyon or in 1930's movies. If you can accept the Hallmark Channel premise of this b-programmer, it's actually quite entertaining and fast moving, and has some nice supporting acting from the likes of Ward Bond (as the "cook" of the gang). "Bill" the dog gets a lot of screen time, and he's a good performer in the Rin Tin Tin Jr. vein who fights for the honor of the reformed gang moll with the Hungarian accent, played by Steffi Duna, who seems a lot more comfortable in the "good girl" than in the "tough girl" role. No great analysis is needed of a film such as this. It's good rainy-day entertainment with a positive, uplifting message, but still a crime film. Short of a Touched By An Angel or Highway To Heaven episode, one doesn't see this combination very often nowadays. Worth searching out for b-movie fanatics--others can wait.

[Fran]

Fran, you beat me to Captains Courageous by mere seconds! 

Meryl, your "D" poster is way cooler than any one
I would have found, so I'm glad it worked out how
it did.
 

[MaineWriter]

[Meryl]

Grand Illusion (French: La Grande Illusion) is a 1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir (1894-1979)—son of artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema.  In 1938, Grand Illusion was the first foreign language film nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

[Fran]

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

The story of the Chicago fire of 1871

[southendmd]

With Paul Robeson

[memento]