History Unlimited Films: 1935 to 1939.

The Politics of Fear

The Great War assumed new significance as the probability of another global conflict increased. The propaganda of the totalitarian states created deep mistrust: fear of fascism, fear of communism, fear of repeated carnage, fear of subversion and espionage, fears that the free world was ill-prepared to meet new threats as it struggled with economic depression.

The 39 Steps / Alfred Hitchcock

1935. BW. UK. 78 mins. DVD.

Early British Hitchcock comedy spy thriller loosely based on the John Buchan novel, with the chase scenes shot on location in Scotland. A suave Robert Donat stars as Richard Hannay alongside (and for much of the time handcuffed to) Madeleine Carroll. Much better than any of the re-makes and stands above a lot of Hitchcock’s later work in Hollywood. Comedy aside, the film exploits (or parodies?) the growing paranoia of the pre-war years.

The 39 Steps / John Buchan

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The Secret Agent / Alfred Hitchcock

1936. BW. UK. 83 mins. DVD.

Hitchcock followed up The 39 Steps (qv) with this espionage movie based on two of W Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden stories. John Gielgud plays a novelist and war hero whose faked death is a ruse by British Intelligence to provide him with a new identity. As Richard Ashenden he is sent to Switzerland to eliminate an enemy agent. Also involved are Madeleine Carroll and Peter Lorre, the latter giving an uninhibited performance that borders on the lunatic.

Ashenden / W Somerset Maugham

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Triumph of the Will / Leni Riefenstahl

1936. BW. Ger. 127 mins. DVD.

There is no better example of how brilliant film-making can deliver a powerful, unambiguous and totally seductive political message. The official record of the 1934 Nuremberg Rally re-enforced the orchestration of symbols and massed ranks that was at the core of Adolf Hitler’s appeal to national pride and solidarity. The sinister magnetism of Triumph of the Will is still apparent. Mass media have been used to promote extreme nationalism, virulent patriotism and the illusion of ethnic or religious superiority in other places and at other times, but seldom with the same malignant accomplishment.

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La Grande Illusion / Jean Renoir

1937. BW. Fr. 286 mins (3 Titles). DVD.

Three French prisoners in a World War I German prison camp develop an uneasy relationship with the cultured camp commandant. A celebrated commentary on war and mankind, impeccably acted, and directed with real tragic force. The DVD also includes La Bete Humaine and Le Crime de Monsieur Lange.

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Lost Horizon / Frank Capra

1937. BW. USA. 128 mins. DVD.

Welcome to Shangri-La! Ronald Colman is kidnapped and flown to an idyllic Himalayan valley, presided over by benevolent High Lama Sam Jaffe. The inhabitants of the Valley of the Blue Moon live to advanced age. The Utopian society has a purpose — to preserve the best of the world’s knowledge and wisdom against the global cataclysm to come. The film was cut to 118 mins before release because of its pacifist message and was cut again to 109 mins, for the same reason, before its re-issue in 1943. This edition is a restored version, albeit not a totally satisfactory one. An intact soundtrack has been found and incomplete footage has been recovered from a number of sources. The editors have used stills to fill in the gaps in the visuals. A good film made the more interesting because of the historical/censorship context. Based on the novel by James Hilton. The architectural sets were inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is interesting to compare the abduction scenes with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984 qv).

Lost Horizon / James Hilton

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The Dawn Patrol / Edmund Goulding

1938. BW. USA. 103 mins. VHS.

Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone star in this portrayal of fighter pilots in World War I. The film looks back to the unnecessary wastage of young pilots who were sent into combat after just a few hours training. There is an obvious warning for the conflict that was looming large on the horizon.

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The Lady Vanishes / Alfred Hitchcock

1938. BW. UK. 91 mins. DVD.

Comedy, romance and intrigue set on a train journey — the basis of many cinematic clichés. Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood play an argumentative young couple who become embroiled in an international conspiracy while trying to trace a missing elderly lady. There is, of course, a plot to pretend that she was never on the train in the first place. Beautiful cameos of English stereotypes in the Charters and Caldicott scenes.

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Alexander Nevski / Sergei Eisenstein

1938. BW. Rus. 107 mins. DVD.

A fictionalised version of the invasion of 13th century Russia by the Teutonic Knights and their defeat on the frozen Lake Peipus by a peasant army led by Prince Alexander Nevski was seen as a vehicle for inspirational propaganda at a time when tension between Russia and Germany was palpable. Stalin took a personal interest in the production, but the film was immediately shelved after the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Its propaganda value was fully realised following the German invasion of Russia. Visually stunning, with a score by Prokofiev. For a more historically accurate version of events, see The Teutonic Knights by William Urban, available from our Bookshop.

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The Four Feathers / Zoltan Korda

1939. Colour. UK. 110 mins. DVD.

A slightly subversive look at the British Empire at the height of its powers. John Clements plays a British army officer accused of cowardice, who redeems his honour during the British involvement in the Sudan in 1898. Ralph Richardson gives a superb supporting performance and C Aubrey Smith is terrific as an archetypal ‘Colonel Blimp’. A sideways swipe at ‘stiff-upper-lippery’ from Zoltan and Alexander Korda.

The Four Feathers / C P Wren

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Goodbye Mr. Chips / Sam Wood

1939. BW. UK. 109 mins. DVD.

Based on James Hilton’s nostalgic novel of English public school life, the film features Robert Donat as Mr. Chipping, with Greer Garson as the wife of his earlier years who brings out his vocation. Sentimentality is spiked with bitter paradox — the premature death of Chipping’s wife in childbirth, his friendship with a German schoolmaster who is killed in World War I, the roll call of pupils who had gone on to die in the opposing trenches.

Goodbye Mr. Chips / James Hilton

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Mr Smith Goes to Washington / Frank Capra

1939. BW. USA. 125 mins. DVD.

A variation on Capra’s formula of ‘small-town good guy beats big-city smart alecs’. James Stewart is sent as a Senator to Washington and comes head-to-head with corruption, political chicanery and vested interests, personified by Claude Raines’s career politician. Innocence triumphs over low cunning.

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The Stars Look Down / Carol Reed

1939. BW. UK. 94 mins. DVD.

A harsh depiction of Britain in the depression years, with Michael Redgrave as a miner’s son who wins a university scholarship. His intention to enter politics and work against the rabid capitalism of the mine owners is frustrated by his marriage to a manipulative Margaret Lockwood and the complications caused by the return of her particularly nasty boyfriend, played by Emlyn Williams. Based on the novel by A J Cronin, The Stars Look Down cemented Carol Reed’s reputation as a director.

The Stars Look Down / A J Cronin

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Drama in the Mainstream

Alongside contemporary themes, film studios continued to mine the infinite resource that was represented by history and the classics. A Star is Born is an example of Hollywood’s fascination with itself, a genre that was to develop through many variations.

Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man / Stuart Walker/ George Waggner

1935/1941. BW. USA. 75 mins/70 mins. DVD.

Werewolf of London introduced the fourth great horror theme and character, following on from Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. A botanist on a collecting expedition to Tibet is bitten by a werewolf and infected (with the usual results). But it was The Wolf Man that transmuted and moved the fledgling genre forward, with Lon Chaney Jnr bringing sympathy and tragedy to the eponymous role. Chaney returns to the UK after completing his education in America and learns of the legend of the werewolf from an antique dealer (Evelyn Ankers) and a gypsy fortune teller (Maria Ouspenskaya) whose son (Bela Lugosi) has already been transformed. Dismissing these quaint superstitions, Chaney falls prey to lycanthropic mischief on the moors (with the usual results). Chaney created a role that was to sustain his career, with four more appearances as the wolf man (one with Abbott and Costello). Maria Ouspenskaya gives an outstanding and iconic performance. Evelyn Ankers, and Claude Rains as Chaney’s father, give good support. Make-up artist Jack Pierce’s work on Chaney is a triumph.

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The Bride of Frankenstein / James Whale

1935. BW. USA. 75 mins. DVD.

James Whale and Boris Karloff again, with the sequel to the 1931 Frankenstein. Unusually, this second movie is even better than the first, taking the story forward through the introduction of new characters and a natural extension of the plot. After his disastrous first attempt at creating life, Victor Frankenstein is persuaded by evil genius Dr. Pretorious to try again, this time with a woman in mind. In the meantime the original monster wanders through the countryside from encounter to encounter. A dark vision intermixed with comedy. Elsa Lanchester plays Mary Shelley as well as creating a lasting image as the Bride.

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The Lives of a Bengal Lancer / Henry Hathaway

1935. BW. USA. 119 mins. VHS.

Fairly typical, if superior, gung ho stuff revolving around adventures on the North West Frontier of India under the British Raj, with Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone.

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Mutiny on the Bounty / Frank Lloyd

1935. BW. USA. 132 mins. DVD.

Clark Gable plays Mister Christian opposite Charles Laughton’s sadistic and iconic Captain Bligh. Even without the benefit of Technicolor this version is more convincing than the 1962 remake, which is chiefly memorable for Marlon Brando’s strangulated English accent. The edition includes an interesting feature on life on Pitcairn Island, the eventual destination of the mutineers.

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A Tale of Two Cities / Jack Conway

1936. BW. USA. 121 mins. VHS.

Charles Dickens’s story of a feckless British lawyer’s self-sacrifice, for love of a good woman and admiration of a better man, during the French Revolution. This version stars Ronald Colman. A later version, with Dirk Bogarde, is included in the Dickens Collection that appears on our 1945-1949 page.

A Tale of Two Cities / Charles Dickens

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A Star is Born / William Wellman

1937. Colour. USA. 111 mins. DVD.

A rising star marries an established leading man whose career is slowly destroyed by his alcoholism. An abrasive and remarkably accurate study of Hollywood in its heyday. The script gained an Academy Award, with Dorothy Parker heading the screenwriter credits. Janet Gaynor and Frederic March.

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The Adventures of Robin Hood / William Keighley, Michael Curtiz

1938. Colour. USA. 97 mins. DVD.

Errol Flynn swashes his buckle in early 3-colour Technicolor, alongside Olivia Havilland as Maid Marian. Basil Rathbone exudes an appropriate amount of menace as the villainous Guy of Gisbourne, and Claude Rains is convincingly decadent and sly as King John. Almost operatic in its overall treatment, the action choreography is magnificent.

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Gone With The Wind / Victor Fleming

1939. Colour. USA. 224 mins. DVD.

The most popular movie ever made? The pre-production hype was legendary, the content almost justifies the length, the sets are often astounding, the plot pure soap opera. Spoilt Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara tangles with cynical opportunist Rhett Butler. Will they, won’t they? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. In the meantime the American Civil War goes on around the family plantation of Tara. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable shine, as do most of the supporting cast. Whole books have been written about Gone With The Wind. This 4 DVD edition has impressive chunks of interesting information and interviews.

Gone With The Wind / Margaret Mitchell

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The Hound of the Baskervilles / Sidney Lanfield

1939. BW. USA. 80 mins. DVD.

Holmes and Watson disentangle Conan Doyle’s much-repeated mystery amongst the mists of a doom laden Dartmoor. Basil Rathbone sets his stamp on the lead character and Nigel Bruce bumbles along admirably as Watson.

The Hound of the Baskervilles / Arthur Conan Doyle

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Jamaica Inn / Alfred Hitchcock

1939. BW. UK. 95 mins. DVD.

Stereotyped West Country smugglers and wreckers in a melodrama based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Maureen O’Hara appears in her first starring role and Charles Laughton seems to be sending up the whole business. Possibly most notable as the last film made by Hitchcock before departing for Hollywood.

Jamaica Inn / Daphne du Maurier

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Wuthering Heights / William Wyler

1939. BW. UK. 95 mins. DVD.

Thought by many to be the definitive version of Emily Bronte’s classic novel, with Laurence Olivier as the brooding and tortured Heathcliff. Passion and revenge revolve around his relationship with Merle Oberon’s Cathy.

Wuthering Heights / Emily Bronte

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Young Mr Lincoln / John Ford

1939. BW. USA. 100 mins. DVD.

Set against the nicely-drawn period backdrop of 19th century rural America, Young Mr Lincoln sees Henry Fonda in a typically sympathetic and understated role as the country lawyer taking on his first case.

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Comedy as Panacea?

Hollywood responded to economic depression with movies that offered an escape from hard reality. Song-and-dance extravaganzas (not represented here) and slick comedies were amongst the products that gave brief respite. These movies were the start of a tradition of sophisticated comedies that provided vehicles for major stars.

A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races / Sam Wood

1935/1937. BW. USA. 96/109 mins. VHS.

Two Marx Brothers classics for the price of one! Fast-paced action and faster-paced dialogue — inimitable verbal slapstick from the masters.

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Mr. Deeds Goes to Town / Frank Capra

1936. BW. USA. 111 mins. DVD.

Frank Capra was the greatest exponent of the feelgood movie in New Deal USA. His most popular films set out to demonstrate the inherent goodness of the common man and to idealise the values of small-town America. Gary Cooper is the poet from the sticks who goes to New York to collect a vast inheritance and proceeds to give it away to the needy. When taken to court to prove his sanity his honesty and good intentions conquer cynical opposition.

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Nothing Sacred / William Wellman

1937. BW. USA. 77 mins. DVD.

An acerbic satire on the tabloid press with Carole Lombard as the attention-seeking provincial who fakes terminal cancer to maintain her celebrity status in New York. Frederic March is the reporter who exploits the story to the utmost before falling in love with the subject. One of a long line of films that deal with the dubious practices of the media. The Front Page (1931) successfully remade by Billy Wilder in 1974 is another example, as is Ace in the Hole, again directed by Billy Wilder, in 1951. Unfortunately none of these titles is currently listed on Amazon in Region 2 format. But the theme is also picked up in Citizen Kane (1941qv).

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Bringing Up Baby / Howard Hawks

1938. BW. USA. 102 mins. DVD.

Sparkling example of the ‘sophisticated comedy’ genre that calls up every cliché in the book—whacky, zany, screwball, madcap, etc., etc., etc. Cary Grant is a professor of palaeontology who is hoping for a major donation to his museum but is diverted by a scatty Katherine Hepburn, two leopards, a dog and a lost dinosaur bone — not to mention his impending marriage ....

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Gangster as Star Maker

By the late 1930s the immense popularity of the gangster movie was beginning to create some of the greatest Hollywood stars and provide a foretaste of a massive volume of output.

The Petrified Forest / Archie Mayo

1936. BW. USA. 83 mins. VHS.

Humphrey Bogart in his first substantial role, alongside Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Bogart and Howard reprise their Broadway roles in the Robert Sherwood play where travellers at a desert way station are held hostage by the gangster anti-hero. Perhaps a little over-philosophical.

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Angels with Dirty Faces / Michael Curtiz

1938. BW. USA. 97 mins. VHS.

The fully-fledged neighbourhood-hero/gangster theme. Ex-con Jimmy Cagney returns to his Brooklyn roots, is adopted as a role model by the Dead End Kids and comes into conflict with childhood friend Pat O’Brien, now the local priest. Ultimately Cagney redeems himself by pretending cowardice when sent to the electric chair. Cagney swaggers impressively through most of the film, in contrast with his convincing final collapse.

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The Roaring Twenties / Raoul Walsh

1939. BW. USA. 106 mins. VHS.

World War I veterans Cagney, Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn return home to New York. Cagney is unwittingly drawn into bootlegging, builds and loses a crime empire and is eventually killed through saving the life of the husband of the woman he loves. Cagney in another tale of redemption, perhaps the best of the Warner gangster movies.

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Hollywood as Mythmaker

Pulp pot-boilers featuring rhinestone cowboys gave little warning of the dramatic subtleties that were to emerge in Hollywood’s second great theme. An authentic American voice created and continually re-created the myth of the American West.

Destry Rides Again / George Marshall

1939. BW. USA. 94 mins. VHS.

‘See What the Boys in the Backroom Will Have!’ A mild-mannered deputy is roused to anger and straps on his guns with predictable results. This standard plot is the springboard for suspense, comedy, romance and splendid characterisation, with James Stewart as the gangling good guy and Marlene Dietrich as the worldly saloon songstress.

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Dodge City / Michael Curtiz

1939. Colour. USA. 104 mins. VHS.

The Wyatt Earp-style hero takes on the job of sheriff and cleans up the West’s great railhead town. Errol Flynn stars with a young Olivia de Havilland. It is amazing how often this basic plot can be successfully repeated!

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Stagecoach, Fort Apache / John Ford

1939/1948. BW. USA. 99/127 mins. VHS.

Last on this page but foremost as a milestone for the period, John Ford’s classic Western raised the bar for everything that followed. Stagecoach overflows with genre archetypes: the tart with the heart of gold (Claire Trevor), the southern gentleman fallen from grace (John Carradine), the drunken doctor (Thomas Mitchell), the loveable sidekick (Andy Devine) and John Wayne as the outlawed Ringo Kid who gets his showdown with the baddies in the end. Add in one of the great Indian chases, Yakima Canutt’s stuntwork and the backdrop of Monument Valley and the result is an indisputable American masterpiece. Fort Apache (1948) features Henry Fonda as a by-the-book commanding officer, Wayne as his rebellious second-in-command and Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen in great character roles.

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Documentary as Art

Night Mail raised documentary cinema to a totally new level and remains an all-time classic.

Night Mail, West Highland / Basil Wright, Harry Watt / John Gray

1936/1960. BW. UK. 25 mins/30 mins. DVD.

The working of the British postal services seems an unlikely subject for a film that moved the documentary to a higher plateau. But add in dramatic photography, an hypnotic reading of his own poem by WH Auden, a commentary by veteran documentary-maker John Grierson and a score composed by Benjamin Britten, and you have a perfect little gem. The DVD also includes a (much later) examination of the spectacular West Highland Line and its impact on remote communities — a fascinating social document.

Collected Poems / W H Auden

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