Favorite Old Movies

Those below with lots more here

Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944

The year is 1941. The location is a small house next to a cemetery in Brooklyn. In this house live two kind, thoughtful, sweet old ladies, Martha and Abby Brewster who have developed a very bad habit. It appears that they murder lonely old men who have some sort of religious affiliation and they consider doing it a charity. They then leave it to their bugle blowing nephew Teddy (who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt) to take them to the Panama Canal (the cellar) and bury them. In this instance, the “poor fellow” suffers from yellow fever found in the window seat. It is another of their nephews Mortimer Brewster, a dramatic critic, who returns home only to find the man in the seat by mistake. Another nephew, Jonathon, returns to the home after years of fleeing the authorities due to his “unofficial practice” of killing people and using their faces to change his. However the results cause him to look like Boris Karloff (this angers him upon the mention of his similarity to the actor) due to the poor craftsmanship of his German accented, alcoholic sidekick Dr. Einstein. As the story continues, we see each character trying to find resolve in their suddenly been flipped upside-down lives. Mortimer tries to keep his aunts safe and prevent them from continuing their nasty habit while trying to stay sane with the woman he loves (Elaine Harper), the aunts try to continue their “charities”, and Jonathon tries to make a wealthy practice that is stationed inside the home.

Failure to properly renew copyright is the reason that Arsenic and Old Lace is in the Public Domain, even though it was released in 1944

It Happened One Night (1934)

Ellie Andrews has just tied the knot with society aviator King Westley when she is whisked away to her father’s yacht and out of King’s clutches. Ellie jumps ship and eventually winds up on a bus headed back to her husband. Reluctantly she must accept the help of out-of- work reporter Peter Warne. Actually, Warne doesn’t give her any choice: either she sticks with him until he gets her back to her husband, or he’ll blow the whistle on Ellie to her father. Either way, Peter gets what (he thinks!) he wants …. a really juicy newspaper story.
Won 5 Oscars, another 3 wins and 1 nomination.

The Women (1939)

Based on the Clare Booth Luce play of the same name, this MGM comedy is justly famous for its all-female cast and deft direction by George Cukor. The plot centers on a group of gossipy high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily wedded Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) finds her marriage in trouble when shopgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) gets her hooks into Mary’s man. Naturally, this situation becomes the hot talk amongst Mary’s catty friends, especially the scandalmonger Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell), who has little room to talk — she finds herself on a train to Reno and headed for divorce right after Mary. But with a bit of guts and daring, Mary snatches her man right back from Crystal’s clutches. Snappy, witty dialogue, much of it courtesy of veteran screenwriter Anita Loos, helps send this film’s humor over the top. So do the characterizations — Crawford is as venomous as they come, and this was Russell’s first chance to show what she could do as a comedienne. And don’t discount Shearer — her portrayal of good-girl Mary is never overpowered by these two far-flashier roles. The only part of The Women that misses is the fashion-show sequence. It was shot in color — an innovative idea in its day — but now both the concept and clothes are dreary and archaic. Do keep an eye on the supporting players, though, especially Mary Boland as the Countess DeLage. The role was based on a cafe society dame of that era, the Countess DiFrasso, who had a wild affair with Gary Cooper; that romance is satirized here.