Lost Horizon (1937)

 

When a wise diplomat's plane crashes in the snows of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.

Big budget over-the-top fantasy, still entertaining after all these years despite the naive utopism.

Halliwell****: "Much re-cut romantic adventure which leaves out some of the emphasis of a favorite Utopian novel but stands up pretty well on its own, at least as a supreme example of Hollywood moonshine, with perfect casting, direction and music. If the design has a touch of Ziegfeld, that's Hollywood."

Maltin****: "A rare movie experience, with haunting finale." 

Design for Living (1933)

A woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.

Despite censorship and unusual casting the is still an amazingly open-minded  and entertaining ménage à trois comedy, made with Ernst Lubitsch's sure hand for such material.


Halliwell**: "Elegant but miscast version of a scintillating play, with all the sex and the sting removed (at the insistence of the Legion of Decency, then coming into power). Ben Hecht claimed to have removed all but one line of Coward's dialogue: 'For the good of our immortal souls!'"

Maltin***: "Most of the witty innuendos are left intact (even if the pacing isn't quite right)."

Summer Storm (1944)

 

 

In this filmed Chekhov adaptation, Olga is an alluring peasant woman who lures cynical aristocrat Fedor away from his milquetoast fiancée, with tragic consequences. 

 

From memory: Grand Hollywood adaptation of Chekhov's novel with excellent performances by Sanders, Darnell and especially Horton is well staged, but somehow doesn't quite fit the tone of the book.

 

Halliwell*: "One Hollywood's occasional aberrations, an attempt to do something very European in typical west coast style. An interesting failure."

 

Maltin**: "Darnell gives one of her best performances...Dreary adaptation...enlivened by Horton as an amoral Russian count." 

Ladies Should Listen (1934)

Ladies Should Listen (1934)

The switchboard operator in an apartment building falls in love with a businessman (and playboy) who lives in the building, whom she has gotten to know only over the phone.

Lively, but only fairly entertaining screwball comedy; it lacks wit and sharpness and is only occasionally funny, but does showcase the talent of young Cary Grant.

Halliwell (no star): "Moderately beguiling, instantly forgettable romantic frou-frou."

Maltin**: "...flimsy comedy, no great shakes."

Smart Woman (1931)

A woman sets out to regain the affections of her cheating husband Donald Gibson after she returns from a trip to Paris, where she had to look after her sick mother.

Slight comedy, well-made with an adequate cast, quite modern in its depiction of sexual relationships, but it shows that it's an adaptation of a stage play.

Maltin***: "Highly amusing, sophisticated comedy-drama of sexual politics."

The Devil Is a Woman (1935)

An older man is obsessed for a woman who can belong to no-one.