Film No. 9. 12th film shown Thurs 31st May
Philip French said "Hecht and MacArthurs classic newspaper comedy is frequently revived on stage and has been filmed four times. This first film version, a milestone work in every sense, helped, through its fast wise cracking dialogue and rapid editing, to change the sight and sound of the new talkies. Adolph Menjou as the suave double crossing editor Walter Burns and Pat O'Brien as his star reporter head a great cast."
1 comment:
Despite the poor sound quality and jumpy print, I still managed to really enjoy this film. Strangely, the central character of Hildy is the weakest element for me. Pat O'Brien's acting is a bit one dimensional, and very SHOUTY(perhaps he didn't get the jist of how talkies worked!), and the narrative thread of him to-ing and fro-ing between work and fiancee lacked drama and believability. This wasn't helped by the fiancee's lack of on-screen time. And so, it was only with the entrance of editor Walter Burns halfway through, that the film truly took off.
For such an early talkie, it was quite impressive to see how unrestricted the movements of the actors were, with the sound recording their dialogue no matter where they moved to on set. The long dolly/tracking shots were not only "showing off" pieces, but also could be seen to represent the long walk to the gallows. The very first scene is nicely shot, lots of heightened concrete/natural sounds and multiple angles of the gallows being trial tested. It sets up the story's context and the authentic black(gallows) humour of the press room.
The most flashy sequence of trickery must surely be when Burns and Hildy drink at the bar, the whole scene shown in the mirror. Contemporary audiences must have loved this stuff. Again, as well as showing off, I think we could also read this mise en scene as Burns reflecting himself onto Hildy, and Hildy having to take a good look at himself in the mirror in order to decide his life path.
But, in the end, the dialogue's the thing, and there were some great one liners. My favourite was Burns's reflection on being in love once in his life... "it was with my third wife".
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