A Place in the Sun (1951)

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t like this movie at all. I felt very disappointed and distracted by various elements of this film, especially the music. It always seemed to be overly dramatic at points in the film that weren’t THAT dramatic, like the instance where George and Alice go to the courthouse to get married. The marriage licensing office is closed due to the Labor Day holiday, and the only thing the director really needed to do was show the sign and then the characters’ reactions to the office being closed. But instead, the camera zoomed into the sign and played some of the most dramatic music I’ve ever heard. It was music I would imagine would be playing if the world were about to end, but really, the marriage license office was just closed for the day. Even though this was meant to be a dramatic film, I just thought the use of drums and string instruments used were too dramatic for it.

I was also extremely disappointed in the lack of character development. For such a lengthy movie, you would think the director would have focused a bit more on certain character development. But at the end of the movie, I felt like I barely knew George, who the movie was entirely about! It was obvious that he led a double life with two girlfriends and was dealing with the consequences of his choices, but it seemed as though he had underlying issues with his mother from whom he was distanced. Every time he would call her, he never seemed like he wanted to talk to her or update her on his life, but it’s never clear why he doesn’t want to talk or what happened in his past that made him and his mother so estranged. It just seemed weird to me that this relationship was never really discussed in depth, and it truly bothered me that the audience never finds out more about his mother.

Elizabeth Taylor’s character of Angela is also not very well developed. It’s clear that she comes from a wealthy family that likes to throw extravagant parties and have a good time, but the audience never really finds out about her personal life. She falls in love with George, at which point she has only known for a few days, and then seems to dedicate herself to him and make him happy. The audience never learns about her personal goals, hopes, dreams, or anything else like that, and I really wanted to know more about her. She seemed almost mysterious, but I hated that we didn’t get a chance to learn more about her. The audience knew much more about her overall family and their lifestyle than they did this main character, and this seriously bothered me.

Although based on a true and tragic story, this movie was a flop for me. I had high hopes for it, but the lack of character development and overuse of overly dramatic music seemed to kill it for me.

Double Indemnity

I was very pleased to discover that I really enjoyed this film. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to get much from this type of movie because they always seemed so cliche and boring to me. But Double Indemnity kept my attention the entire length of the film and even had me at the edge of my seat at times. I felt like the director and writer of the script did a fantastic job at making this film suspenseful but not scary, which was what really kept me engaged in the movie. But I found the most interesting aspect about this film was how many rules the director broke in terms of following the Motion Picture Code. Originally, it seemed like the code restricted director's from any kind of creativity on-screen. They couldn't even show a married couple laying in bed together; most of the time they had two twin sized beds in their shared bedroom, which is now seen as absurd. The code restricted sex, violence, drugs, and pretty much anything with a negative connotation attached with it. But this movie definitely went against the code. It involved a couple having an affair, suggestive language, and even a planned-out murder. Now, I can understand why the Motion Picture Company created and tried to enforce the code. But sex and violence were things that audiences wanted to see! They viewed going to the movies as a way to escape from reality and see things they wouldn't normally see in everyday life. In that sense, I can also understand why many directors of film noir genre movies made the choice to break the rules of the code and include these things in their films as tools of entertainment. But there are still some things I do not really understand about film noir movies.

After discussing the typical traits of movies that fall into the category of film noir, I was still confused about a few things about this particular movie. Just after the main characters in this film commit the murder and dump the dead body on the railroad tracks, they have problems starting their car. While hearing the engine having trouble starting, I could feel my heart drop into my stomach. Then I realized that I was on the criminal's side because I wanted them to get away with it! Now, I'm pretty sure being sympathetic to a criminal isn't a good thing (and I'm pretty sure it also goes against the code), but I really wanted that car to start! I couldn't really figure out why I was so passionately on their side, but I was wondering if anyone else felt this way? Or better yet, why did the director want the audience to be sympathetic with the criminals of the story?

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

This week our class watched John Ford’s 1940 film titled “The Grapes of Wrath.” I must say, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this film and I’m still not sure if I liked it or not. But, like most films, there were some things I found very enjoyable and other things I really didn’t enjoy much.

To start, I really enjoyed some of the characters as they seemed to bring a comedic, light-hearted feeling to it. I think my favorite character was Grandpa because he was so out there and a bit odd. His odd behaviors were funny and entertaining to watch, and I feel as though his character lifted the spirits of the other family members. I was pretty disappointed when he died so early into their trip to California, and I think his death really affected the family’s trip because they no longer had their funny and crazy grandpa to make them laugh. I also found the character of grandma really entertaining because of her hilarious mannerisms. I believe there were even a few scenes where she didn’t have any dialogue, but would simply stick her tongue out or make a weird noise. To be honest, I think the grandparents were the two most entertaining characters in the film. Without them, I’m pretty sure I would have lost interest in this film much earlier than I did.

After both of the grandparents died, I found it extremely difficult to focus on the film because I just thought it was so boring without those two characters. The story itself wasn’t too bad, but it just seemed to drag on and on. I think I tend to lose interest in movies that are revolved around such depressing themes. I tried really hard to concentrate and look for other things within the film that I liked, but I couldn’t get passed the fact that nothing seemed to go right for this poor family! I mean, there were a few times during the film where I found myself saying, “Really? Come on! Something has to go right for them, right?” During their long journey from Oklahoma to California, both of the grandparents died, they had numerous car troubles, and they were low on food and water for the majority of the trip. Seriously? And just when you think nothing else worse could happen, things somehow get a lot worse once they arrive in California. Connie up and leaves his wife because he couldn’t handle the pressure of not being able to find work and living in different camps, Jim Casy gets killed, and Tom gets in a fight with one of the camp officers which forces the family to sneak out leave that camp the next night. Once I realized things were probably never going to go well for this family, my interest in the film dropped dramatically.

After thinking about it, I don’t think I enjoyed this film very much because it was so depressing. I think I would have been more interested in this film if good things would have happened to the Joad family every now and then. But the fact that almost nothing good happened to the family throughout the movie just made it less enjoyable for me.

Gold Diggers of 1933

This week, our class got to watch the 1933 musical titled “Gold Diggers of 1933,” and I was very excited about it. I used to be extremely involved in my high school’s theater department, specifically in our musical theater productions, so I was really excited to see a musical that I had never seen before.

One aspect of this film I really enjoyed was the music itself. The majority of the songs seemed so upbeat and happy even though the musical revolved around the depression and how it was affecting showgirls at that time. The music was actually a really interesting aspect of this film due to its upbeat nature in contrast with its pretty depressing plot. About halfway through the film, I started wondering why the musical director and director of the film would have chosen to have such happy musical numbers but I couldn’t really come up with a good reason. The only idea I had in my mind was that the director wanted something to bring up the mood of the film since the film’s topic was pretty depressing. But as contrasting as the music was, I enjoyed that it was so upbeat. If all of the music in the film was depressing, slow, and sad, I do not think I would have enjoyed the film as much as I did. However, the music was not the only thing I enjoyed about this film.

I also really enjoyed the character of Trixie because she seemed to bring up the morale of her fellow showgirls and of the overall film. Her sarcastic attitude and love for life made the film easy to watch when she was on-screen, and she also brought a lot of laughter and joy to the audience (and I’m sure the rest of the audience, at least in our class). Trixie’s relationship with Mr. Peabody was also hilarious, and surprised me by how they ended up getting married at the end of the film. I kind of expected Mr. Peabody to be mad at her once he figured out she was just using him for his money, but I was glad to see that he embraced her and seemed to be so nice that it caused her to develop genuine feelings for him. I will say, it seemed like Trixie always sort of liked him for more than just his money, but I didn’t ever expect them to get married like they did in the end. Overall, I think Trixie’s character really pulled this movie together.

Oddly enough, I couldn’t think of anything about this movie that I didn’t like. The plot, music, characters-I thought they were all great. I guess the only criticism I have about this movie would concern the lack of character development in most of the main characters. It seemed like the showgirls and their boyfriends had good (or at least entertaining) relationships, but the audience never really gets to know the characters on a more personal level. I just wish the director would have put more thought into the character development. But other than that, I really enjoyed this film and I think it is one that everyone can enjoy.