February's "New to Me" Viewings

Sometimes, you just don't get to watch as many classic films as you would like.  In fact, sometimes, you feel like you're going into withdrawals for want of a great classic.  That's how this past month has been for me.  With the Olympics taking the bulk of my TV viewing time in February, I found myself watching only seven classic films the entire month.  All seven were "new to me" titles.

1.  Harriet Craig  (1950)  Starring Joan Crawford and Wendell Corey.  An overbearing, controlling woman seeks to run her household and her husband.  She lies, she manipulates, and she doesn't care if she ruins her husband's career...just as long as everyone in her life remains under her thumb. Wendell Corey seemed like an odd choice for a leading man, but I think he did fine in the role. Joan is her usual, wonderful, dramatic self. A solid, interesting, 3-star film.

2.  The Shining Hour  (1938)  Starring Joan Crawford, Margaret Sullavan, Robert Young, and Melvyn Douglas.  A nightclub singer (Joan) marries society man Douglas, encounters opposition from his family (especially from his older sister, portrayed by Fay Bainter), then falls in love with his brother (Robert Young).  This wasn't a "hate-it, turn it off" film, but I wasn't overly interested in it and found it difficult to get through, so I'm giving it 2 stars.

3.  Stagecoach  (1939)  Starring Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine, and Thomas Mitchell. Yes, I finally caught this much-raved-about classic, which sees a a pregnant woman, an outlaw, a prostitute, a gambler, the town drunk, and a few others traveling together on a stagecoach through Indian country.  I'm going with 3 stars on this, but it's  more like 3.5, and I will admit that I am beginning to see John Wayne in a more favorable light (which I began to do after catching The Quiet Man last August).

4.  Mother Carey's Chickens  (1938)  Up until yesterday, this touching dramedy was my best film discovery of the month.  Featuring the terrific ensemble cast of Anne Shirley, Ruby Keeler, James Ellison, Fay Bainter, Walter Brennan, and Frank Albertson, this charmer is definitely one I want to write about in a bit more depth, so expect a brief review in the next week or so.  I'm going with 3 stars on this, but it's very close to 4...definitely 3.5 stars.

5.  The King and Four Queens  (1956)  Starring Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker, with Jo Van Fleet (and others) in support.  After learning that there is gold on their property, a con man moves in on a widow and her four widowed daughters-in-law.  Starved for a man's attention, all four women are drawn to the stranger, and that suits our hot-blooded Clark just fine.  Mother-in-law Jo Van Fleet, however, is determined that her daughters-in-law will not succumb to the man's charms. Although I love Clark Gable as he aged, I didn't care for this movie and give it only 2 stars  Just an aside...Jo Van Fleet is terrific in this role.  I caught her in Wild River last year, and her acting took the film from 4 to 5 stars for me.  She's not one of the well-known supporting players...but she ought to be!

6.  Wuthering Heights (1939)  This is one of the films in the Majestic Hollywood book, so while I don't overly care for the story, nor do I care for Laurence Olivier, it was a film I had to watch.  It's the tragic story of Heathcliff (Olivier) and Cathy (Merle Oberon), who love each other passionately but who are kept apart because of Heathcliff's low social standing and Cathy's desire for status.  I am very middle of the road on this.  While the acting is terrific, especially that of Olivier, I never cared about either of the lead characters.  Cathy is incredibly selfish and proud, and Heathcliff is so brooding and angry that it's hard to have much sympathy for him.  I'm giving this film 3 stars---solid, enjoyable, liked it okay.

7.  The Slender Thread  (1965)  Starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft, this was my best film discovery of the month. It's a meaty drama which brings a crisis line volunteer and a suicidal woman together on the phone.  The acting is terrific---as is typical of anything starring the great Sidney Poitier.  I'm going with 4 stars on this.  (Read my review HERE)

With the Olympics behind us and a DVR full of several dozen unwatched titles, I expect that March will find many "new to me" films crossing my path.  I hope so anyway, because while I love watching tried and true faves over and over again, there is something quite exciting about catching a film for the first time.

Happy viewing!