68. FREAKS (1932)

Running Time: 62 minutes
Directed By: Tod Browning
Written By: Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins, from his novel Spurs
Main Cast: Wallace Ford, Olga Baclanova, Harry Earles, Henry Victor, Daisy Earles, Leila Hyams

Sidenote: Just wanted to take a moment and make mention of the fact that the entry for "Freaks" appears on page 100 of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book. With 942 pages of movies to watch, I'm approximately 1/9 of the way complete, which may not be anything to boast about, but I felt it was somewhat of a menial accomplishment.

CAN A FULL GROWN WOMAN TRULY LOVE A MIDGET?

Tod Browning's final film in the "1001" book, "Freaks" was a really good movie, but I think it may have fell below my expectations and not lived up to the hype, as it is Browning's most famous film, yet in my opinion, not his best.

The movie takes place in a circus, much like Browning's previous and better film, "The Unknown", and the first characters that we're introduced to are Hans and Frieda, two midgets who are very happily engaged. At least they're very happy until Hans lays his eyes on one of the few non-freaks in the film, Cleopatra, the trapeze artist. Hans quickly becomes smitten with the goreous Cleopatra and before you can say "oddity" he's head over heels for her, and has forgotten all about his fiance. Meanwhile, Cleopatra's real intentions are purely monetary, as she goes gaga for all of the gifts and cash that Hans presents her with. In actuality, Cleopatra is really having an affair with the circus strong man, Hercules, a very rude, obnoxious, brute of a man who gets his jollies making fun of the physically less fortunate circus acts.

When Cleopatra learns that Hans has come into an inheritance and that he's loaded with cash, she gets the idea to marry him and then "dispose" of him, so that the inheritance will be hers, and so she can be with Hercules. Cleopatra and Hercules devise the scheme and the tall woman and the short man are soon married, in a very festive ceremony. When the freaks decide to make her one of their own, by passing a large goblet of wine around a table and chanting, she "freaks" out and throws the wine into one of their faces. She shortly thereafter apologizes to Hans for insulting his friends, blames it on the wine and continues forward with her plan to get rid of him, by poisoning him.

The freaks in the picture are really kind of a side element, as they don't play any real part in furthering the plot and are seemingly just put on camera for shock value. There's also a small side plot involving Phroso the Clown and Venus, a normal woman who travels with the circus and the romance that develops between the two. There are a few other very small plots involving the freaks, that really don't take up much of the short sixty-two minute film and are really just playing sexond fiddle to the Cleopatra/Hans stuff.

I was really disapointed in this film and the main reason I was, was because I really expected more out of it. That's not to say it wasn't enjoyable, but it certainly wasn't as good as "The Unknown", another one of Browning's films and a lesser known one at that, that is actually much better than this. This film did have it's moments and really, in the end, it wasn't bad at all and it's a movie that I could definitely see growing on me in time, and something that I wouldn't mind seeing again down the road. The acting was mediocre, the plot was better than average and everything else was good, so I call that a good day at the office and it could've been way worse.

RATING: 7/10 Before I watched it, I was really expecting this one to go all the way and snag a '10' rating, but it'll have to settle for a '7'

NEXT UP: Me and My Gal...My first Spencer Tracy movie and unfortunately I'm going to have to skip it.

January 14, 2010 2:42am

55. Dracula (1931)

Running Time: 74 minutes

Directed By: Tod Browning

Written By: Garrett Fort, from play by John L. Balderston and Hamilton Deane

Main Cast: Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Helen Chandler, David Manners

Sidenote: You may have noticed that I haven't made a post in nearly a week, and you may also remember that in my last post I mentioned that I'd be taking a few days off to watch a few movies that I recieved as early Christmas presents. That I did, as I watched Whatever Works and Scenes from A Marriage. Whatever Works is the newest Woody Allen movie to be released to DVD and while I am a Woody Allen nut, it is one of the first things I bought when I got some Christmas cash from my parents. It was actually, a bit to my surprise, wonderful. The reason I say "to my surprise" is because I haven't really cared much for the recent Woody Allen films, that are Scoop, Cassandra's Dream and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. This was a total throwback for Allen as he returned to his native New York and returned to the type of comedy that made me fall in love with his films in the first place. Larry David is great as the neurotic Woody Allen character. Scenes from A Marriage is an Ingmar Bergman film that I saw earlier this summer and it quickly became a personal favorite, so I felt the need to quickly add it to my DVD collection and watch it again to make sure those same old feeling were still there. They were!! This film is fantastic, as the characters are fleshed out and the dialogue is perfect, as it totally grabs you and pulls you right into these characters lives. This is a movie that I was shocked to realize is not included in the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book. Anyway, two great films and now I'm back to the book and now we must move on to the business at hand...

MONSTER MASH: PART ONE OF TWO

Directed by Tod Browning, Dracula was one that I had mixed feelings about going into. I had an urge to see it, as I loved Browning's previous "1001" entry, "The Unknown", but I really wasn't all that excited, because I figured I'd basically just be seeing the origin of all the parodies, remakes and cliches that I've seen over the years.

While everyone knows the story of Dracula, I'm still going to recount the plot here, because that's my standard format and it's my blog, so I guess I can go ahead and conduct business as usual.

The film starts out with a rickety old carriage taking several people into the hills of Transylvania, including Renfield, a British solicitor. Once arriving at the destination, just before sundown, Renfield requests to be taken farther into the hills to an area known as Borgo Pass, where he must meet with a "man" by the name of Count Dracula. While the driver is hesitant and scared due to some old superstitions and rumors, Renfield is also persistent, and eventually gets his way. He soon arrives at Borgo Pass and to Count Dracula's castle. His business there: to finalize the deal of some property that Dracula has purchased in London, by the name of Carfax Abbey, which is located next to an insane asylum. This is of course where we get our first peek at Lugosi as Dracula and I must say the man certainly looks the part of a creepy, blood sucker, complete with black cape and slicked back, black hair. When Renfield cuts his finger while eating a meal that Dracula prepared for him, the Count nearly leaps on him right then and there, but restrains himself until the papers are finalized. Once the paperwork is finalized, Dracula puts a spell on Renfield, causing him to faint and thus the feast for Count Dracula begins and his new assistant is born, as Renfield will now succumb to all of his masters needs.

Soon after this, Renfield is captured in London and placed into the insane asylum that sits near Carfax Abbey, Drac's new home. Dwight Frye is fantastic as the cackling, lurching Renfield. Dracula begins to prey on the proprietor's of the insane asylum, Dr. Seward, his daughter Mina, her fiance John and Professor Van Helsing. Van Helsing is a great character that allows you to really root for the good guys in the film. While Dracula is slick and almost cool, Van Helsing is there to balance out the good vs. evil formula and give the good side a real hero.

Almost all the roles in the film are fantastic: Van Helsing, Renfield and of course Count Dracula, played superbly by Bela Lugosi. There's even some comic relief in the hospital attendant Martin. While I did have a few small complaints about the film, the big one being the very anti-climatic ending, that is all wrapped up within four minutes, for the majority this is a great film and something that would be awesome to watch when Halloween time rolls around. While, I never really cared much for vampire and/or Dracula stories (see the "Nosferatu" review, earlier in the blog) this one, for some reason, grabbed me and really hooked me into the characters, setting, and performances. Lugosi's Dracula is creepy and his surroundings are even more so, as his crypt is constantly surrounded by rats, spiders or even...armadillos?!

RATING: 7/10 Took off a few points for the ending and a few other dull spots, but all in all Browning is quickly becoming a favorite director of mine and I can't wait for his next addition to my journey.

NEXT UP: Frankenstein...Monster Mash: Part Two of Two. This review probably won't make it up here until Saturday. With it being Christmas Eve, the family plans are starting to take place in full effect.

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2009 5:51pm

33. The Unknown (1927)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Directed By: Tod Browning

Written By: Tod Browning, Waldemar Young

Main Cast: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Norman Kerry, John George

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...IN THE CENTER RING...ALONZO THE ARMLESS!!"

Hopefully my great movie streak keeps up, because The Unknown makes the third movie in a row that was magnificent. I'm so glad that I was able to catch this one on Turner Classic Movies, as Netflix doesn't carry the DVD and the cheapest version of this film on Amazon is $25.

Lon Chaney plays Alonzo the Armless, a traveling circus performer who's gimmick is that he throws knives with his feet. Alonzo is assisted by the lovely Nanon (Crawford) for whom he has fallen in love with, but she doesn't know it yet, however they are best friends. One of Nanon's pet peeves is men who cannot keep their hands to themselves and one man who possesses this trait is Malabar the Mighty, a strongman performer who also travels with the same circus, and who is also in love with Nanon. One of the reasons Nanon is so close with Alonzo, is because he is armless and therefore cannot paw at her like most men do.

But back to Alonzo, who has a big secret that he's keeping from everyone, except his trusty sidekick Cojo. The secret...he has arms! With the help of Cojo, Alonzo keeps his arms strapped to his torso at all times, unless he's alone, and in no danger of being found out. He also doesn't want to be found out by the police, because he's a fugitive and the fact that he has two thumbs on his right hand would make him an easy suspect to catch. When the circus owner and Nanon's father, Antonio Zanzi discovers Alonzo's secret, Alonzo strangles him, and Nanon witnesses it, except she doesn't see the perpetrators face, only his two thumbed right hand.

After some thought, Alonzo comes to the realization that he'll never be able to have Nanon to himself, because if they were ever to marry, she would first of all, discover that he has arms, and second of all realize that he was the man that killed her father. He schemes up a plan to have his arms surgically removed, so that he may be with Nanon and live happily ever after, so he does it. After several weeks of recuperation, Alonzo returns to Nanon, but discovers that her initial dislike for Malabar the Mighty has turned to love and in Alonzo's absence they've gotten engaged. The scene where Alonzo is told of the engagement is priceless, as he breaks down into a temporary fit of hysteria, laughing and screaming.

While I didn't care too much for Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera, he was absolutely marvelous in this as Alonzo the Armless where some of his mannerisms and expressions speak volumes, in a day when movies were still silent. The Unknown was almost a short film, running at approximately sixty minutes and when the hour was up, I didn't want it to end. When you, the viewer, learn of Malabar and Nanon's engagement, while Alonzo is lying up in a hospital bed, recuperating from having his arms removed for Nanon's sake, you just know that when he gets back the shit is totally gonna hit the fan...and it totally does. Joan Crawford also hands in a mighty fine performance in The Unknown and at only twenty two at the time of this picture, she's not too shabby to look at either, gracing the screen with her ravishing beauty. As one last quick after thought, for anyone looking to get into the exciting world of silent cinema, I think The Unknown would be a great start in dragging a silent virgin into the genre.

RATING: 10/10 For those of you who are interested in taking in The Unknown, I do believe it's on YouTube as well, and at only sixty minutes, is well worth the watch.

NEXT UP: Oktyabr...which means October...and how ironic that I'll be watching it in the month of October!

October 16, 2009 4:34am