In the summer of 1965, on a small island off the New England coast, two 12-year-old outcasts Sam and Suzy (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) fall in love and run away together into the wild, sparking a frantic search. Wes Anderson had been fine tuning his Roald Dahl inspired heightened reality since Rushmore and this film, a charming ode to teenage love and finding someone who matches your freak, feels like the one where he finally got it exactly as he wanted.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) runs away from her controlling father and makes a deal with suave reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) to help her reach New York to reunite with her lover, but along the way the mismatched pair slowly fall for each other. With this film Frank Capra practically invented the romantic comedy as we now know it. Unfortunately, that means everything it does has since become an overused trope and much of its original entertainment value has now been lost. It's one of those films I can admire for all the ground-breaking work it does, but acknowledge it doesn't hold up all too well and has since been overshadowed by better films that built and improved on what it established. Also, the ending is really rather odd, almost like the stars bolted before they could film the final scene so they had to shoot around them (which seems likely given neither wanted to make it in the first place).
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) is the shy daughter of the Larrabee family's chauffeur. All her life she's been in love with playboy David Larrabee (William Holden), but he never noticed her. After studying in Paris for two years, Sabrina returns stylish and confident and instantly turns the head of the now engaged David, forcing his older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) to keep them apart (and save his business deal with the bride's father), but Linus ends up falling for Sabrina himself. Sabrina has all the ingredients needed for a classic romantic comedy. There's a witty and breezy script from Ernest Lehman and Billy Wilder, playful direction from Wilder, a great supporting cast of eccentric characters, and a trio of leads who play their roles to perfection. Oh, and some stunning costumes for Hepburn by Edith Head and Hubert de Givenchy. The only problem is the leads are so out of sync in terms of age that Bogart is old enough to be Hepburn AND Holden's father. Rumour has it he wanted Lauren Bacall, his own wife, for the title role, but that wouldn't have solved anything because she was only few years older than Hepburn.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
While travelling on the Twentieth Century train from Chicago to New York, pompous Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) finds himself reunited with his former protegee and lover Lily Garland (Carole Lombard), now a major film star and as big a ham as Jaffe himself. Desperate for a hit after a string of flops, and still obsessed with her, Jaffe lies and schemes his way into getting Lily to sign up for his new show. The same year that Capra was inventing the romcom, Hawks was inventing the screwball comedy, although it would take a few more tries before he finally perfected it. The joy here is getting to see Barrymore and Lombard engage in one epic ham-off, as they both go ridiculously over the top playing ridiculously over the top people.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Twins Delphine and Solange (played by real life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac) live in the town of Rochefort where Delphine is a dancing teacher and Solange plays the piano. Both dream of finding success and love in Paris, and may get their chance when a carnival comes to town. Jacques Demy's follow up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a joyful, brightly coloured love letter to classic Hollywood musicals. He even ropes in Gene Kelly to cameo and do a little dance with a pair of sailors. This is a film that is just sheer bliss from beginning to end, not even that completely random axe murderer subplot in the second half can put a damper on things.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Con artist Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) has set her sights on Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), the bookish heir to a brewery fortune, but ends up falling for him for real. When Charles learns about Jean's past he casts her aside. Determined to get even, Jean reinvents herself as the aristocratic Lady Eve Sidwich and begins to torment a confused Charles. Sometimes all a movie needs to get by is one truly great performance and The Lady Eve certainly has one courtesy of Barbara Stanwyck. She is simply mesmerising as Jean/Lady Eve and the film is a duller experience whenever she's off screen. No one else is able to keep up with her, except for the horse that keeps headbutting Fonda during the proposal scene. Alas, even Stanwyck can't make up for the fact the film doesn't have a satisfying ending and just sort of fizzles out.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
While on holiday, Johnny Case (Cary Grant) falls in love with Julia (Doris Nolan) and agrees to marry her, unaware she's part of the obscenely wealthy and snobby Seton family. Things are complicated further when he meets her sister Linda (Katharine Hepburn) and sparks fly between them. Like It Happened One Night and many other classic movies, this one suffers from the fact that it has been copied and pasted by so many movies since that it now feels tired and predictable. It also can't seem to decide if it's a drama or a comedy and doesn't exactly satisfy as either. Still, it has that classic Hepburn/Grant chemistry and that alone is always worth the price of admission.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Showgirls and best friends Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy (Jane Russell) are travelling to Paris so Lorelei can marry her rich fiancé Gus (Tommy Noonan), but his disapproving father dispatches a private detective (that Dorothy falls for) to sabotage the relationship. 1953 was the year of Marilyn. Her star had already been steadily rising with supporting roles in films like The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, and Monkey Business, but in '53 she finally landed starring roles in three big hits: Niagara, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Obviously intended as a vehicle for Russell, and would've been a fairly okay one, but Monroe's standout performance elevates the whole thing. She turns playing the ditzy blonde into a side-splitting artform and then goes on to perform the single most iconic and imitated musical number in cinema history as she slips on that legendary pink dress and belts out 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend'.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011 More Mark Greig
I like your recommendations although I would have chosen His Girl Friday for Howard Hawks. It may be a personal preference, but I love that gender bent remake of The Front Page.
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