I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) **

Get your mind out of the gutter—I’m not that type of girl! Paul Muni plays James Allen, a returning WWI GI who finds unemployment and then is unjustly convicted of theft and sent to a southern prison to serve on a chain gang, in this classic 1932 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. One of Warner Bros. social conscience films, and the recipient of three Academy Award nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor (Muni), and Best Sound), the film depicts the harsh...

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Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) **

Are you someone who saw Down and Out in Beverly Hills back in 1986 (attired in some form of stone-washed denim or Lycra skirt) and thought it was hilarious? Yet, somehow, today if someone were to mention it you would say it was terrible and that contrary to what others might say, you never crimped your hair or made the mistake of thinking hair mousse was edible. Oh, the inescapable 80s. Down and Out in Beverly Hills was a remake of this 1932 French...

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Love Me Tonight (1932) **1/2

But what about tomorrow? Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, this 1932 romantic musical set the bar very high for subsequent musicals. Many critics cite it as one of the greatest and innovative musicals of the 1930s. Song and dialogue are cleverly woven together to tell the unlikely love story of a very frustrated Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald) and a handsome Parisian tailor named Maurice (Maurice Chevalier). The beginning of the film is unforgettable,...

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M (1931) **

The original title of this classic 1931 German film was Murderers Among Us. Though Hitler had not come to power yet, his little friends, the Nazis, had achieved great success in recent Reichstag elections. So, when they saw this title they naturally assumed it was about them--you would think this admission would have had a bigger effect on the German population. Anyway, they tried to derail director Fritz Lang’s production, via, not surprisingly,...

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Vampyr (1932) *1/2

If only the scythe had come before I watched this! Some critics regard this 1932 gothic horror film Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s greatest work and one of the greatest horror films of all time. I don’t know if I’m actually an expert, but I have to strongly disagree. I think his The Passion of Joan of Arc is truly a good film, but I hated Vampyr. The way Dryer incorporates imagery is interesting, but the story was just too all over the place...

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The Public Enemy (1931) **

What an apt title for the film that eventually brought us the Hays Production Code. Too bad Chuck D, Flav, and Terminator X weren’t around to help directors “Fight the Power” in the 30s…then again, I can’t imagine them having much say in an atmosphere where overt racism could still pass censors. Oh, the ironies of Hollywood! William Wellman directed this penultimate gangster film starring James Cagney as amoral thug Tom Powers. Based on the John...

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City Lights (1931) **

I suppose Charlie Chaplin had never heard the adage “silence is deadly” before 1931. He soon heard it from Academy voters when it came time to nominate the best films for that year. It would seem that people were a bit testy that some British chap didn’t want to showcase his wonderful accent and prove to everyone that the most famous actor in the world wasn’t too big for talkies. He was. Many critics view City Lights as Chaplin’s greatest film. I...

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Dracula (1931) **

Notice the caption on the above poster: “A Nightmare of Horror”? It was no-doubt dedicated to all the men who have forgotten to buy a card or send flowers on Valentine’s Day—the day this film was released in 1931. Only a male producer would think this would be a good release date for a film about a man who sucks the lifeblood out of women! In this classic horror film, directed by Tod Browning, Bela Lugosi immortalized the image of Dracula for countless...

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Frankenstein (1931) **

After a record-breaking nine-year reign as the Sexiest Man Alive Max Schreck sadly found himself dethroned in November 1931 by a green-faced monster: Boris Karloff. Upon hearing the news, Max cried, “Oh, die Unmenschlichkeit des Ganzen!” while Boris wondered, “I wonder if I’ll have to do more B-pictures if this is a hit?” Oh, Boris, the inhumanity of it all! Based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel of the same name, this 1931 classic horror film...

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Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931) **

What’s more tabu: wearing a white thong in public after Labor Day or not mourning Michael Jackson because you know he was a sick SOB? F.W. Murnau directed this 1931 silent classic filmed completely in the South Seas with a cast of natives (or whatever PC term you want to insert). It is part documentary and part fictional romance. At the start of production the film was supposed to be a collaboration between Murnau and the acclaimed documentarian...

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The Million (Le million) 1931 **

Even though this is a French musical comedy it feels very American in one way: somehow people who can’t pay their bills still find enough money to buy lottery tickets. This 1931 Rene Clair film stars Rene Lefevre as Michel, a Parisian painter who can’t find enough francs to pay his creditors. Engaged to the pure Beatrice (Annabella), who lives across the hall, Michel finds himself lusting after Wanda, a woman whose portrait he’s painting. After Beatrice...

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Freedom for Us (À nous la liberté) 1930 **

Ah, if only the assembly lines of America had not dwindled (or moved to Mexico & China), perhaps there would be less "freedom" for us…or at least 11% of us. This 1931 French comedy, directed by Rene Clair, is a clever little picture that serves as a witty indictment of modern society’s drive toward mechanization. If you’ve seen both this and Chaplin’s Modern Times, then you no doubt noticed their similarities. This might be why the French studio...

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