The Washington Masquerade (1932)

In The Washington Masquerade, Lionel Barrymore plays a relentlessly uncompromising lawyer who is elected to the Senate only to falter due to a moment (or moments) of moral weakness. In this, the film is more realistic and in some ways more interesting than the later Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Frank Capra would have filmed a movie standing on his head before he would have corrupted his Jefferson Smith character (played by James Stewart) who, in Capra's world, signified All that Was Right and True. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a crowd-pleasing popcorn movie and a good one, too, but it doesn't have the sort of melancholy grasps at realism that The Washington Masquerade contains.

Based on Henry Bernstein's play "The Claw," (Barrymore played the role on stage ten years earlier), The Washington Masquerade sets up Karen Morley as a manipulative, seductive opportunist, the fine Diane Sinclair as Barrymore's wise daughter, and a wide array of character actors playing corrupt government officials, not least of which is Nils Asther, who excelled in playing smarmy, predatory, illicit lovers.

Wouldn't you know it, but the film has some faults that keep it from being first-rate: the over-the-top speeches Barrymore spouts about God and Country and the Common Good would have made even Jefferson Smith do a double-take. These bromides had to have been dated when this film was made and even when the play was written. Secondly, MGM continued to shoot itself in the foot with hurried, out-of-the-blue wrap-up endings guaranteed to make your jaw drop. I won't give away the ending of this one, but don't expect much.

The good acting shines through, though, and even those who find Barrymore's acting over-done (I don't) may enjoy this one for its uncompromising tone.

The Washington Masquerade is not available on DVD or VHS, but has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

When a Fellow Needs a Friend (1932)

When a Fellow Needs a Friend is a fine little film starring child star Jackie Cooper; a movie more successful, in fact, than many of the ones MGM made by and for adults. Those films often resorted to jaw-dropping twists of plot in order to get the guy and the gal together in the last frame. There's nothing too far-fetched in this movie, though, and some of it is quite effective, and it's also a love story of sorts.

Cooper is teamed up this time with character actor Charles 'Chic' Sale. Though born in 1885, Sale made a career playing old men even though he was only in his '40s! In this film Sale's character, Uncle Jonas, helps Cooper learn courage despite a crippling physical handicap and over-protective parents. Andy Shuford is also excellent as Cooper's bullying cousin, "Froggie". Cooper crying in several scenes caused some viewers to think he cried too much. I don't mind his crying if the story warrants it, which it did here.

There's nothing too profound or Oscar-worthy here, just a good little story well-told. If this movie was released to theatres this week, and marketed to kids, it would be a money maker.

When a Fellow Needs a Friend is not available on DVD or VHS, but has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

But the Flesh is Weak (1932)

What bizarre catalyst propelled Irving Thalberg and company to churn out one MGM romantic "comedy" after another starring leads whose defining characteristics were boorish, brutish, insufferable infantilism? I would argue that in the hands of William Haines, this sort of material could border on comic genius, in a surreal Jonathon Winters-ish way. Usually, though, it just thuds and offends, and But the Flesh Is Weak is a prime example.

In this film, written by Ivor Novello, deadbeat Robert Montgomery and his philandering father, C. Aubrey Smith, do their best to mooch from, seduce, and wed (or not) rich women. That's practically the entire story. Montgomery at first latches onto the interesting Heather Thatcher, but then quickly dumps her for a widow, Nora Gregor (better known for her role in Renoir 's Rules of the Game).

There may be a fine line between romantic persistence and cloddish, creepy annoyance, but this screenplay asks Robert Montgomery to dash over it and never look back. Gregor 's ending line "I knew I loved you when you hit me" was the straw that broke the camel's back for Mary. Bleahhh.

Thatcher's role is sympathetically written, for all the good that does the film; Edward Everett Horton plays Gregor's rival suitor in a part that doesn't play to his strengths.

There might have been an amusing line scattered here or there; if so, I can't remember them.

Remade by MGM in 1941 as Free and Easy.

But the Flesh Is Weak is available on Warner Archives DVD-R and has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

Lovers Courageous (1932)

Based on a play by Frederick Lonsdale (MGM would film his The Last of Mrs. Cheyney at least twice), Lovers Courageous is an oh-so-typical MGM early '30s film. In fact, MGM filmed Faithless, with a similar plot (lower class guy woos and marries rich girl) the same year, with the same lead actor, Robert Montgomery. If you watch a lot of old movies, you'll see this plot over and over and over again.

Faithless wasn't a great movie, but better than this one, which is too reliant on some stagy, formal dialogue which just doesn't ring true. Montgomery is perfect for these sorts of care-free, whatever-may-come characters, but it sometimes seems as if he's having to play two characters: a witty, subtle, funny guy in some scenes (possibly partially improvised), and an earnest, flowery, Victorian-leaning one in the "serious" scenes. He's supposed to be a determined playwright and a good one, but I didn't buy that at all, not least for the reason that the dialogue he supposedly writes is atrocious.

Having said that this film isn't very good, it's also true to say it has an inherent emotion-tugging tragectory which is intrinsically suspenseful, even when you know the ending will be happy. Madge Evans as the rich girl is lovely, as always. In this film she's expected to marry Reginald Owen, who plays a brash Englishman as a broad caricature. How more believable and interesting the movie would have been if the person Evans' betrothed had been a real person, and maybe even somewhat sympathetic. As it stands now, there's no contest between the suitors.

Your spirits will be kept up, though by some other fine character actors: Beryl Mercer, as Montgomery's mother and, especially, Roland Young as Evans' father's aide. Young, in the last film of his MGM contract, effortlessly drifts through this affair as if he had nothing better to do that week and thought he might earn some money and some laughs by being in a movie.

Lovers Courageous is not available on DVD or VHS, but has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

Gentleman's Fate (1931)

Gentleman's Fate is another in a long line of early '30s films seemingly rigged by Louis B. Mayer in order to trash John Gilbert's career. This one does its part.

The plot of Gentleman's Fate is remarkably similar to the story of Michael Corleone in Mario Puzo's The Godfather: a respectable man is "pulled back" into his mob-based family when his father, the head thug, is on his deathbed. His violence-prone brother convinces him to join the gang, where he is eventually forced to commit a murder. His girlfriend wants nothing to do with his new occupation...does all this sound familiar?

This isn't 1972 Paramount, however, but 1931 MGM on a budget and, in fact, Gentleman's Fate is one of the sloppiest MGM films I've seen, with numerous continuity gaffes and anomalies, and some awkwardly bizarre and slapdash editing. Moreover, the screenplay is all over the map, bringing humor and contrivances to a story that needs stark realism to work.

John Gilbert gives it his best; that he didn't call in a shoddy performance regardless of the shoddy screenplay is admirable. Joining him are dependable actors Leila Hyams, Anita Page, Marie Provost, and Louis Wolheim (who was dying of cancer) as Gilbert's brother. Wolheim's perfect for the part, looking as if he'd stepped out of Chester Gould's Dick Tracy comic strip. Most of these actors were "in trouble" with the MGM head office at the time, and were perhaps cast in this film for punishment. Why make the audience suffer, though?

Gentleman's Fate is not available on DVD or VHS, but has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies. Worth seeing for fans of the actors listed above, or for those interested in pre-code crime films.

Blondie of the Follies (1932)

In the same year that MGM cast Marion Davies in the embarrassing Polly of the Circus, they sort of made amends by casting her in the far more interesting Blondie of the Follies (what was next: Molly of the Midway?).

Blondie of the Follies benefits from two major talents allowed the freedom to do their stuff: Davies and co-screenwriter Anita Loos. In this film, Davies is allowed to show the range of her acting talents, from careful, poignant scenes to parody (in an out-of-place but funny scene with Jimmy Durante, playing himself). Under the hand of Loos and Francis Marion, the dialogue is fast, smart, quick-witted; one would never guess this was the same Anita Loos who wrote sap four years later like San Francisco.

Special mention needs to go to the perpetually old-looking James Gleason, who's given a choice role as Davies' father, attempting to prevent her from leaving their dreary tenement existence for the stage. Often used as stock comedy relief, Gleason was here given a role requiring depth of feeling, and he delivers it.

Blondie of the Follies also stars Robert Montgomery, and Billie Dove as the other compenents of a love triangle, and Zasu Pitts, who's supposed to be Davies' sister (!).

One might guess MGM tried to wreck this film in another completely implausible happy wrap-up scene of the sort the company specialized in. It didn't work - Blondie of the Follies is still worth seeing.

Blondie of the Follies is not available on DVD or VHS, but has been broadcast on Turner Classic Movies.

Grand Hotel (1932)

Muchly much has been written about Grand Hotel, one of the slickest entertainments MGM concocted, so just a few thoughts for the road:

Grand Hotel was the first Hollywood film designed to showcase a wide array of top talent in one ambitious dramatic setting. This I knew, but I hadn’t previously realized that Grand Hotel created the template not only for future star vehicles centered on one setting, but also for the disaster genre and the disaster genre parodies. When John Wayne’s 1954 The High and the Mighty dropped the Grand Hotel format on a plane and added a disaster, that film paved the way for Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno. The High and the Mighty was also the key inspiration, even moreso than Airport, for Airplane! And so it goes.

Irving Thalberg’s artistic instincts were correct in not shooting Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford in the same scene. In the MGM “universe”, these actresses occupy different worlds and their characters were in fact opposites, one ethereal, elusive and mysterious, the other earthy, open and street-smart. To modern-day eyes, Crawford ‘s acting is more believable, but Garbo, even when over-the-top, has an indefinable old-world allure that makes Crawford look cheap in comparison (Rudolph Valentino had the same qualities in comparison to his ‘30s counterparts).

As for the men, John Barrymore’s more subtle acting holds up better than Lionel Barrymore’s flamboyant performance, and Wallace Beery – is Wallace Beery no matter the costume or accent.

The Warner Bros. DVD contains a fine, but too short, documentary on the making of Grand Hotel, a promo short of Grand Hotel’s premiere, containing rare shots of MGM actors and the film’s director, Edmund Goulding, trailers, and a bizarre and not very funny Warner Bros. short parody of Grand Hotel. No complaints about the quality of the print - it looks great to me.

Grand Hotel is recommended for fans of classic Hollywood actors, those who enjoy a good, Saturday afternoon story, and as an example of sophisticated 1930s Hollywood product at its polished best.