Early 1930s & Holiday Favorites

I watched these films recently:

In Gay Madrid (1930) Ramon Navarro, Dorothy Jordan. Story of a wastrel nobleman's son who is sent to a small village to straighten him out where he falls for the local belle. It is a rocky road to true love. Along the way we have songs and waltzes and duels. Very dated but it is short as were so many early films. The leads were very attractive and I can see why Navarro was a matinee' idol. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020997/

Love In The Rough (1930) Robert Montgomery, Dorothy Jordan. Another early pre-code film where they just throw in songs and dancing and comic routines at random places. I guess to see what worked. Bob is cute and I can see why my Mom and her girlfriends were crazy about him. But he is very different from the mature guy who was a Presidents communications director. This script is about golf, for heavens sake, and the men who play it, and OMG, the girls who play too, and every once in a while, they all stop for a routine of some sort. LOL 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021100/

Cabin In The Cotton (1932) Bette Davis, Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Jordan. Plantation workers, the company store, child labor in the fields, class and economic discrimination. It's all here in a story of the share croppers son, who gets educated and climbs up the ladder or the rich owners company. He is torn between his friends and family and their needs and the family of the owner, especially the daughter who flirts and sweet talks him into doing her will. Much to ponder and also has Bette saying her famous line: "I'd like ta kiss ya, but I jes washed mah hair." Makes no sense, but she was vamping the country boy. 7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022735/

Stingaree (1934) Irene Dunne, Richard Dix, Mary Boland, Andy Devine. Set in Australia, the plot is about a bandit who becomes enamored of poor relation of Boland, who fancies herself a gifted singer. She has a musical evening so she has can sing for a visiting composer, and the bandit who has heard the girl sing, arranges for her to have a chance too. The composer is interested in helping the girl and arranges for her to begin her studies and then tour the worlds stages singing. The songs and staging of the numbers are okay, but the plot and elements of the production are mediocre. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025833/

Topper (1937) Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young(Oscar nominee), Billie Burke. Great cast in film about ghosts.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029682/

Suspicion (1941) Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine. Hitchcock directs for Selznick. Some wicked battles, I've read, between the two titans, Hitch and DOS. Commented on previously. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034248/

Mr. Lucky (1943) Cary Grant, Lorraine Day, Charles Bickford. Cary is a cad and only in the end does he redeem himself. Which begs the question whether there was interference to made the film more upbeat. He can be the charmer who turns the knife or breaks a heart with the best of them. Here he is a gambling ship owner who needs a front to use for one big night to score a lot of money and leave with all the proceeds. So he hooks up with a group of women raising money for war relief. He woos the beautiful, rich leader of the organization, and we think he is falling too, but he does a switcheroo - or does he. A favorite Grant film for me, along with Suspicion. He should have gone all the way and done a real villain. He was real and good at it. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036174/

Christmas In Connecticut (1945) Barbara Stanwyke, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner, S. Z. Zakall. Charming holiday favorite commented on before. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037595/

Miracle On 34th Street (1947) Edmund Guinn, Maureen O'Hara, Natalie Wood, John Payne. Santa Claus comes to NYC to work at Macy's, Love this film. Every part is perfect. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/

It Happened On 5th Ave. (1947) Victor Moore, Gale Storm, Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles. Script nominated for an Oscar, and it is clever. Moore is Aloysius T. McKeever, a gentleman bum, who moves into the vacant mansion of wealthy Michael O'Conner, when he leaves for his other home in VA. At the time of our story, Mikes daughter decides to leave school and shows up at the house. McKeever keeps collecting strays and before long the house is brimming with assorted characters. Plus, the owner(Ruggles) acting as a bum who is put to work, his estranged wife(Harding) also drafted to cook, and said daughter. She is sweet on the first guy brought into the house, Jim. He is a veteran who McKeever met in the park, where he was residing on a park bench. This motley crew sticks together through the holidays and we see them all around the big dining room table sharing a toast. This is a new Holiday film for me and I really enjoyed it a lot. I'm adding it to my December films list. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039502/

B. F. Daughter (1948) Barbara Stanwyke, Van Heflin, Charles Coburn. Polly (rich girl), meets Tom (poor professor) and they fall in love, marry against her papa's wishes. She tries to help on the sly cause hubby is proud, don't ya know, and won't be beholden to nobody. WWII comes along and creates further problems between our couple. B. F. tries to help but really can't understand what his daughter sees in Tom. And when he dies, Polly is devastated. A Matinee' Ladies film, with hankies needed. Back then. We are more hard-hearted and cynical now. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040141/

Come To The Stable (1949) Loretta Young, Celeste Holme, Hugh Marlowe, Elsa Lancaster. A favorite holiday movie, watched and commented on several years in a row. 9/19 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041257/

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!