Princess Yang Kwei-Fei (1955)

Machiko Kyō and Masayuki Mori star in the stunning historical drama, Princess Yang Kwei-Fei (1955), available for streaming on Filmstruck.

This is a Japanese film based on the beautiful poem "The Song of Everlasting Regret", written by Bai Juyi, which details the relationship between Emperor Xuanzong (Masayuki Mori) and serving girl Yuahan Kwei-Fei (Machiko Kyō) during the Tang Dynasty (6th century). 

The emperor - still mourning the loss of his beloved wife - has become neglectful of his duties, which causes much concern with his ministers. In an effort to make him forget his sorrow, the ministers begin a search for a shiny new concubine whom they hope will prove just the thing to set him straight.

In their search they discover a serving girl who just happens to be the spitting image of the emperor's late wife, so she is immediately dolled up and presented to the emperor. At first he is uninterested and a bit peeved at such an obvious manipulation, but as time passes he comes to care for her and before long the two are in love. As the story unfolds their happiness is threatened by political upheaval, corruption and misguided loyalties, which ultimately lead to tragedy.

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi and co-produced by Japan's Daiei Film and Hong Kong's Shaw & Sons, Princess Yang Kwei-Fei was released in 1955. This is one of Mizoguchi's final films (followed only by Street of Shame in 1956) and is one of just two films he shot in color. The film is gorgeous in every way and the period costumes and decor of the time especially benefit from the director's choice to film in color. 

Both Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō were prolific actors during the 1950's and the two had starred together in another Mizoguchi film two years earlier, the fantastically unsettling drama/ghost story Ugetsu (1953). Their performances in Princess Yang Kwei-Fei are understated yet incredibly moving. 

Also among the talented cast are Mizoguchi favorite Eitarô Shindô, along with Sô Yamamura and Haruko Sugimura, who appeared in many of Yasujirō Ozu's films. 


(By the way, if you're interested in reading the poem on which the film is based, you can find one translation here.)

Shanghai Express (1932)

I've been a classic film fan all my life, but it's only in the last few years that I began to develop an appreciation for Marlene Dietrich. I never disliked her. It was more that I couldn't see what the fuss was all about.

Then I saw her in A Foreign Affair and I was blown away by her performance. She is glamorous and just plain sexy. Since then I've made a concerted effort to see as many of her films as I can get my hands on, so when I saw Shanghai Express was airing this month on TCM I set that bad boy to record straightaway.

Released in 1932 by Paramount Pictures, the film stars Dietrich as Shanghai Lily, a notorious courtesan of sorts who books passage on the express train from Beiping to Shanghai accompanied by a fellow "fallen woman" named Hui Fei (played by Anna May Wong).

Also aboard the train is Captain Donald "Doc" Harvey (Clive Brook), a British Army doctor with whom Lily was romantically involved some years earlier. Their relationship ended badly, though we discover that both are still very much in love with each other.


We're introduced to a motley crew of passengers: Mrs. Haggerty (Louise Closser Hale), a prim and proper boarding house proprietor; Mr. Carmichael (Lawrence Grant), an English Christian missionary; Sam Salt (Eugene Pallette), a crass American gambler; Eric Baum (Gustav von Seyffertitz), a German opium "supplier"; and the inscrutable Henry Chang played by Warner Oland.

Everyone on board knows who Shanghai Lily is...except for Doc Harvey. Imagine his surprise when he first lays eyes on the famous "fancy woman" he's heard so much about only to discover that she's actually Magdalen, his former flame whom he hasn't seen in five years. The two reconcile...and then China's civil war intervenes, leading the couple and their fellow passengers into a dangerous situation.

Will the train reach Shanghai? Will Magdalen and Doc get their happily-ever-after?

The role of Shanghai Lily was perfect for Marlene Dietrich. She is strong and sensual, yet vulnerable and she manages to convey this without a lot of dialogue. I enjoyed her chemistry with Clive Brook quite a bit. Their characters both feel betrayed by the other and they have very different ways of expressing those feelings. Lily's wry humor pairs well with Doc's quiet dignity. (I've made a note to see more Clive Brook films.)

Anna May Wong is interesting to watch, as usual, but there isn't much to her role. I wanted more screen time for Wong and I think a bit of back story for her character, Hui Fei could have made her actions later in the film even more powerful.

Shanghai Express was the fourth of seven films Dietrich made with director Josef von Sternberg, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Romance in Manhattan (1935)

Romance in Manhattan is an absolute treat.  As a big Ginger Rogers fan, I expect to enjoy everything she's in, but this film proved to be so much more than I thought it would be. The story has a lot of heart and I was completely charmed by the characters.

Released by RKO Radio Pictures in 1935, the film stars Frances Lederer as Karel Novak, a Czech immigrant who makes the trip to America with his life savings and the expectation of a chance at a better life.  He's managed to save up the $58 he needs to obtain citizenship, only to find out upon arrival that the price has gone up to $200.  Desperate, he offers to work off the balance owed, but to no avail. He is ordered to return to Czechoslovakia.

Heartbroken, he reluctantly boards the ship, but as he watches New York City grow smaller in the distance he finds it impossible to leave after all he went through to get there, so he jumps ship and swims to shore. He doesn't realize until later that he has lost all of the money he had, leaving him flat-broke and homeless in a strange city.

Enter Ginger Rogers as Sylvia Dennis, a spunky chorus girl who happens upon Karel sneaking food left out for her and her fellow chorus girls outside of their club. She permits him to eat his fill and even offers him money, but he refuses, insisting all he really wants is a job. She offers to speak with her brother to see if he knows of anything available. Her brother, Frank (Jimmy Butler) is only about thirteen years old, but he agrees to share his gig selling newspapers with Karel until he's able to find a better job, and Sylvia provides Karel with blankets so he can sleep on the roof of their building.

Everything is rosy...for a while. From there we see the trio suffer through unemployment and trouble with the law, but nothing is so bad it can't be fixed, right? (Especially in a romantic drama released during the Depression!)

Primarily the story focuses on Karel's journey as an illegal immigrant trying to make it in Depression-era New York City. It's wonderful to see him triumph in spite of the many obstacles in his path. Sylvia's close bond with her precocious little brother is also a delight, as is the expected - but very sweet - love story with Karel.

Jimmy Butler is adorable as Frank. He appeared in several movies from the early thirties through the early forties (including Stella Dallas and Boys Town) before joining the army during World War II. He died in combat on February 18, 1945 - two days before his 24th birthday.

(The film's director, Stephen Roberts, died from a heart attack at age 40 the year after Romance in Manhattan was released. This was his final picture.)

The film also features J. Farrell MacDonald as a no-nonsense, kind-hearted police officer and the wonderful Donald Meek doing what he does best as a nervous judge.

Overall, I found a lot to enjoy in Romance in Manhattan. It's short and sweet with a great script and characters to root for - I highly recommend it. If you love Ginger Rogers and films made in the thirties, this one is a must.

I Love You Again (1940)

For me, Myrna Loy is never better than when she's playing verbal volleyball with William Powell and I Love You Again is another fantastic demonstration of the pair's chemistry: chock full of sass and those droll one-liners that Loy and Powell both do so well.  

Released in 1940 by MGM Studios, the film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke (who directed Powell and Loy in the first four movies of The Thin Man series) and went on to be a big success. 

I Love You Again stars William Powell as stuffy, penny-pinching businessman Larry Wilson...at first.  The film opens at the bar on a vacation cruise and here we meet Larry, whose uptight personality has earned him quite a reputation with his fellow passengers, who call him Grape Juice Man in reference to his signature drink: ginger ale and grape juice.

On the last night of the cruise, an inebriated man named 'Doc' Ryan (Frank McHugh) hassles Larry for being too high-and-mighty to have a drink with him, but when Doc slips and falls into the ocean, Larry jumps in after him and winds up saving his life, taking an oar to the head while he's at it. 

   

The blow knocks him unconscious and when he comes to, Larry Wilson is no more.  Doc is there in his room with him, wishing to befriend the man who saved his life, but the two of them soon discover that he is not the same man that just rescued Doc from drowning.  

Larry Wilson is really George Carey, a suave conman who suffered amnesia for the past nine years after he took a blow to the head.  Unfortunately for George, he has no memory of his life as Larry Wilson - he doesn't know what he does for a living or even where he lives, but a quick glance at his bank account balance indicates that he has saved up a sizable chunk of money ripe for the taking.

So, in typical swindler fashion, he decides to go "home" to Habersville, New York and collect his money, which he agrees to share with Doc in exchange for his assistance in pulling it off. 

He doesn't count on the surprise waiting for him at the pier, though: turns out he's married to a beautiful woman named Kay (Myrna Loy) and he thinks it's his lucky day, but he soon finds out that he and his wife are separated and she is ready to make the separation legal.  So much so that she's already seeing other people.

George doesn't care all that much, at first.  After all, Kay is really Larry's wife, not George's, and he doesn't feel one way or the other about her or anyone else in Habersville.  All he wants is the money.  Unfortunately, nothing is ever easy and he learns that the hundred grand he thought was his is, in fact, money held in trust for community projects.  He only has a modest savings to call his own.

So George, ever the enterprising fellow, cooks up a scheme to bilk some of the town's wealthier men out of their money.  But when the best laid plans mix with the worst of intentions, George finds himself in spot after spot of trouble, all the while falling in love with his own wife.  

Will George go through with it or will he choose Larry's life over George's?

There are so many fantastic scenes in the film: George dancing with himself, Kay dumping eggs on George's head, George tramping through the woods with a troupe of reverent Boy Scouts.  William Powell is very funny as debonair George Carey, especially in scenes that put George out of his element.   Powell delivers his lines with perfect timing and inflection, but this role also showcases his skill as a physical comedian, which is an absolute treat.  

Myrna Loy is fantastic, as always.  She doesn't get as much screen time here as in some of her other pairings with Powell, but she is effective and engaging in every one of her scenes.  She is the perfect counterpart to Powell's character: wholly (and often humorously) unimpressed with George, who is using every trick in the book to win her back.  

The supporting cast is good.  Frank McHugh as Doc, George Carey's partner of sorts, is funny and gets a lot of good lines.  I enjoyed his performance a lot. The film also features Nella Walker as Kay's mother,  Donald Douglas as Kay's boyfriend and Edmund Lowe as the "villain of the piece".

I Love You Again is a wonderful film.  The story is original, fast-paced and immensely funny.  I love every minute of it.

Roberta (1935)

I'm a big Ginger Rogers fan, so it's surprising me to that this was the first time I had seen Roberta (1935).  Irene Dunne gets top billing for this film, so it isn't a true Rogers/Astaire musical, but it should have been, considering that the two of them contribute the best parts of the film.

The first scene opens on a ship headed for Paris.  John Kent (Randolph Scott), a former college football hero, is traveling there with his good friend Huck Haines (Fred Astaire), a bandleader who has booked a gig in the city for his dance band, the Wabash Indianians.

Unfortunately, when their client (an excitable club owner played by Luis Alberni) discovers that they're a dance band - not a band of American Indians - he fires them immediately, despite their attempt at changing his mind with a fun, creative performance in which Huck plays the "organ".

Randolph Scott as John and Fred Astaire as Huck

Astaire et al performing The Pipe Organ Number

Now in Paris with no job, the group has nowhere to stay and no idea what to do next, until John reveals that his aunt Minnie (played by the fabulous Helen Westley) lives in Paris - and happens to be the famous, wealthy dressmaker "Roberta".  He thinks maybe she can help the band land a gig, so he pays her a visit at her dress shop.

Helen Westley as Aunt Minnie

There John meets Aunt Minnie's assistant Stephanie (Irene Dunne).  He is instantly charmed by her and she seems to think he's pretty adorable, too.

Irene Dunne as Stephanie

While John is talking with his aunt, he meets Countess Scharwenka (Ginger Rogers), a fiery Polish nightclub entertainer who has taken Paris by storm.  Wanting to impress John, she tells him she can get his friend's band a job at her nightclub - assuming they're good - so, since Huck and the Indianians happen to be at Roberta's, he forces her to hear them play right then.

Huck and the Wabash Indianians perform Let's Begin

To Countess Sharwenka's dismay, she discovers that John's friend the bandleader just so happens to be an old boyfriend of hers - and the one person in Paris who knows her true identity: not as a Polish Countess, but as Lizzie Gatz, a small town girl from Indiana.

Lizzie convinces Huck to keep her identity a secret in exchange for a gig for his band at the nightclub where she performs.  (She manages to get it for him, too - even though her boss is the same nightclub owner that fired the band when they first arrived in Paris.)

Lizzie and Huck renew their friendship and reminisce about old times.

Then Lizzie, as Countess Scharwenka (Polish accent and moxie galore) performs I'll Be Hard to Handle, my favorite song of the film:

A wonderful dance number follows:

Meanwhile, John grows more and more interested in Stephanie, but he hasn't quite gotten over Sophie (played by gorgeous Claire Dodd), a girl who just recently dumped him because she felt he wasn't sophisticated enough for her.  Huck thinks that Sophie is a self-involved snob and John is probably better off without her, anyway.

Things seem to be going swimmingly...and then Aunt Minnie suddenly passes away.  Everyone knows Minnie intended to leave the shop to Stephanie (who, we find out, has secretly been the shop's head designer all along), but because she didn't leave a will, the shop goes to her next of kin, John.  John has no interest in running the shop by himself, so he and Stephanie agree to a partnership.  All the while their attraction continues to grow.

Unfortunately, Sophie learns about John's inheritance in a recently published newspaper article and decides she wants her old country bumpkin boyfriend after all, so she heads to Paris intent on winning him back.

What little plot that follows is mostly uninspired and contrived, with only the Rogers/Astaire song-and-dance scenes to save the film.  Ginger Rogers looks positively gorgeous in every scene and she is hands-down my favorite part of the movie.

Rogers and Astaire sing one of my favorite duets of all time, I Won't Dance, followed by a fantastic tap solo performed by Astaire.

Irene Dunne, who is usually so smart and funny and striking on screen, is dreadfully boring in this film. Anyone would have been with the lackluster lines she was given.

I did enjoy listening to Dunne sing - she performed four solos in the film, all beautiful ballads, and three of them were written by genius composer Jerome Kern: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Yesterdays and Lovely to Look At.

Irene Dunne performing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

The song and dance numbers were definitely the best scenes of the movie, but another highlight for me was the fashion.  There are a TON of glamorous dresses in this movie, so that was fun to watch, especially then-unknown Lucille Ball in a non-speaking role as one of the fashion models.

Overall, Roberta is a cute movie.  Lots of laughs (courtesy of Rogers and Astaire), musical numbers and beautiful gowns kept me entertained, but the silly plot kept getting in the way.

Rogers and Astaire make it worth a watch, though!

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1813, is pretty much universally considered to be her most beloved novel.  Personally I like Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility best, but Pride and Prejudice is without question my favorite Austen story to watch.  I put on the BBC's 1995 mini series every few months or so - it's a tough one to beat!


That being said, when Turner Classic Movies recently aired the 1940 film adaptation, I knew I had to watch it.  Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier?  Yes, please!  And just as I'd hoped, I had a lot of fun watching this version of Pride and Prejudice (1940).

Set in early 19th century England, the story follows Miss Elizabeth Bennet (Greer Garson), the intelligent, vivacious and witty second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, played by Edmund Gwenn and Mary Boland.  She lives with her family in their modest country house just outside the neighboring village of Meryton.

Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet

The Bennet Sisters

The film opens in a dress shop in Meryton, where Mrs. Bennet and her two eldest daughters, Elizabeth (Garson) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) are shopping for new gowns.  Through the shop's window, they witness the arrival of an elegant carriage and its three impressive inhabitants, two gentlemen and a lady.

Mrs. Bennet and her daughters soon learn very good news: the gentlemen, Mr. Bingley (Bruce Lester) and Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), are both wealthy and single, and as we all know: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy

Mr. Bingley, they learn, has just rented Netherfield Park, a long-vacant estate in the area, and he has brought his sister Caroline (Frieda Inescort) and his good friend Darcy to stay with him for a while.

Mrs. Bennet, thinking of her five unmarried daughters, hauls Elizabeth and Jane out of the dress shop and into their carriage, frantic to get home to her husband so she can share this news with him and urge him to call upon their new neighbors and - fingers crossed - set in motion the events that will lead to a wedding (or two).

Their neighbor, Lady Lucas (Marjorie Wood), who has also just learned the news, rushes after Mrs. Bennet, hauling her own unmarried daughter Charlotte (Karen Morley) into their carriage and rushing off toward home to speak to her husband.

The ensuing race scene is one of my favorites of the film.  No, this does not happen in the novel and yes, it is silly and implausible, but it surprised me and made me laugh, so I ignored my inner critic and just enjoyed it!the critic in me.

The Bennet girls eventually do meet the newcomers when the village gathers at a ball.  Mr. Bingley, amiable and kind, is an immediate favorite with his new neighbors, particularly Jane.

Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy, however, do not make a favorable impression.  Mr. Darcy especially is seen as proud and haughty, even insulting Elizabeth when he tells Mr. Bingley he will not dance with her because he "is in no humor tonight to give consequence to the middle classes at play". Of course, he has no idea Elizabeth is within earshot when he says this and, although she laughs it off, the damage has been done.

Elizabeth meets another young man at the dance: Mr. Wickham (Edward Ashley Cooper), a militia soldier stationed in Meryton.  She likes Mr. Wickham immediately and, already halfway to hating Mr. Darcy, is shocked and disgusted when Wickham tells her of the terrible wrong he suffered at Darcy's hands.

Soon after, Mr. Bennet's cousin, Mr. Collins (Melville Cooper) arrives at Longbourn for a visit. The Bennet family has never met Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet is predisposed to hate him, as he will inherit their home and land upon Mr. Bennet's death.  Her feelings are soon changed, however, when Mr. Collins, who is looking for a wife, makes it clear that he would be willing to marry one of the Bennet girls in the hope that this gesture will smooth out any ill feelings toward him.

Unfortunately for Elizabeth, Mr. Collins settles on her.  (But only after learning that Jane is already practically engaged to someone else.)

Another ball brings Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together again when Darcy saves Elizabeth from Mr. Collins, who has been chasing her around all day.  This, followed by a little light flirtation (during a darling scene in which Elizabeth trounces Darcy at archery),  goes a long way toward changing Elizabeth's opinion of him.  Unfortunately, her family's less-than-model behavior and Darcy's snobbery clash and he turns on her again.

Mr. Darcy "schools" Miss Elizabeth on archery

The film goes on to reveal secrets, scandals, surprise marriage proposals and a twist at the end that is nothing at all like the book and likely angered its fair share of Austen fans.  I enjoyed this version of Pride of Prejudice, even with the changes and omissions.  It is far from a faithful adaptation of the novel (which is set around 1813, NOT 1830-something as in the film), but I was pleasantly surprised by the passably authentic language and overall I found the movie fun to watch.

Greer Garson is beautiful in this film, as always.   Her face was always so expressive - for me, she dominates every scene, in this movie and every movie she's in.  She was 36 years old when they made this film, so she was considerably older than Elizabeth Bennet is in the novel, but Garson's sparkling screen presence made me forget all about that.

Laurence Olivier's Darcy was a bit wooden at times, as if he was going for "proud and rigid" and fell a touch short.  I thought the scenes that allowed him to be a little flirtatious or tender were better suited for him.  He seemed romantic then and Olivier excelled at romantic.

Overall, the supporting cast was great with Ann Rutherford as Lydia Bennet, Heather Angel as Kitty Bennet, E.E. Clive as Sir William Lucas and Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine de Bourgh.  Frieda Inescort was so elegant - I thought she was a wonderful Caroline Bingley.  Karen Morley was far too pretty to play Charlotte, who is described as plain in the novel (which is thought to be the main reason she never expects to find a husband).

I particularly enjoyed Marsha Hunt as Mary Bennet - she was adorable in this role and I wanted her to have more screen time.

In the end, I thought this was an enjoyable version of Pride and Prejudice.  If you like the core story of the novel and don't mind a few changes to the plot (and a complete change in time period to allow for large, puffy-sleeved gowns, because they are apparently more interesting) I think this version is worth a watch.