Category: Directed by Victor Fleming
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High concept propaganda picture without enough concern for executing that high concept; neither from writer Dalton Trumbo or director Fleming, leaving the cast to (ably) fend for themselves. After a protracted setup with Spencer Tracy doing a middling job romancing Irene Dunne, the story moves to Tracy mentoring new flier Van Johnson (who will eventually…
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I’m not sure how much would be different about Red Dust if the film weren’t so hideously racist, particularly when it comes to poor Willie Fung (as the houseboy), but at least it wouldn’t go out on such a nasty note. Especially since the finale, despite being contrived, at least plays to the film’s strengths,…
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As Captains Courageous enters its third act, Spencer Tracy (as a Portugese fisherman) reminds Freddie Bartholomew (a spoiled blue blood kid Tracy rescues after he falls overboard from an ocean liner) it’s almost time to go home to his regular life. It’s a shock for Bartholomew, but also for the viewer. Even though the first…
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By the time the door opens and Dorothy (Judy Garland) finds herself over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz has already completed one full narrative arc and is starting another. The film opens with Garland in a crisis–she’s a teenage girl on a farm where no one has time for her (it’s a busy farm,…
The Stop Button 