![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieIn my never-ending quest to discuss obscure things of little interest to anyone on my flist :D, today's topic is classic but obscure movies that deserve to be better known. All three are black and white, available on VHS (though not yet on DVD) and are guaranteed 100% good :)
History is Made at Night: (Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur). I have never been able to figure out the relevance of the title, but other than that, this is a brilliant, severely underrated gem. Any movie that has a truly romantic love affair, a surprisingly mature look at abusive relationships, a ship wreck (there is a scene in it that James Cameron completely stole for Titanic), and some inspired comedy is something else. It's swoonily romantic, with Charles Boyer playing a dashing Parisian headwaiter as one of his patented reluctant romantics and Jean Arthur (who has never looked lovelier or more vulnerable) as a woman trying to escape an abusive marriage. The plot is pretty simple. Jean Arthur has had enough of her abusive (whether only emotionally or also physically is never made clear) marriage and has started divorce proceedings. Her controlling husband wants her back and because of the laws of the time, if she is caught in any "impropriety" she won't be able to initiate a divorce. So he arranges for her to be compromised (by having a man in her rooms at night) in front of witnesses. Charles Boyer who is passing by intervenes and saves her and whisks her away for a night where she rediscovers than men can be gentle and honorable, and love strikes. But unfortunately, not all is so simple and she is forced to return to her husband as Boyer fruitlessly searches for her.
This movie is swoonily romantic. My favorite is when she comes back to explain and take away his hurt (as he thinks she is a frivolous bored rich woman who amused herself with him). Major swoon. And you truly feel for her character, as the portrayal of an abusive relationship is quite accurate. This is a movie I pop in when I feel down...
The Dark Angel: (Fredric March, Merle Oberon). Now, this one begs to be remade as a Bollywood movie. It's melodramatic as all get-out and I adore it. Alan (Fredric March) and Kitty (Merle Oberon) grew up together and have always been a couple. There's also Fredric's brother, Gerald (played by Herbert Marshall) who is in love with Kitty but keeps it to himself, because he knows it's pointless. Unfortunately, they are all British upper class and World War I strikes, and Alan and Gerald are being shipped to the front. Kitty and Alan want to get married but due to bizarre British law are unable to do so. They are desperate and Kitty decides to spend the night with Alan "without the benefit of the clergy" as who knows what will happen in the war. As she leaves his rooms in the morning, Gerald sees a woman leaving his brother's quarters and is appalled because he thinks Alan is being a scummy cheat on a woman whom he loves. Alan refuses to admit who the woman was as Kitty's reputation would be gone and things are really frosty between the brothers, to say the least, which is not good as Gerald ends up Alan's commanding officer and refuses any requests for leave (as Alan is desperate to go back to marry Kitty). Tragedy strikes and Alan is presumed dead. Is he? How will Kitty move on with her life? Will true love triumph? Of course it will. Sorry, Gerald, you are out of luck :) The last scene of the movie is one of the most manipulative yet romantic and favorite scenes of mine. Fredric March was excellent at protraying youthful optimists becoming shattered wrecks (see the inferior "Smilin Through,") Herbert Marshall is lovely and urbane, and Merle Oberon (one of my favorite classic actresses) is beautiful and poised and charming and fun. You could see how she has two men in love with her.
The Clock: (Robert Walker, Judy Garland). This one has no melodrama, unlike the above two. It's a really fresh and natural look at a young and lonely GI with a 48-hour pass in NYC before he is shipped out and the office girl he meets and falls in love with. It's quiet and tender and full of real little touches: they spend their afternoon at the Metropolitan museum and get interrupted by nosy schoolgirls. They get separated by subway crowds, he buys her an orchid for her hair after seeing another man do that for his girlfriend. They end up going on a milk run to help a driver and she ends up falling asleep on his shoulder. This is one of my all-time favorites and its open ending is beautiful.
I have no pictures from these movies as they aren't super well-known. So here are pics of the actors.
Charles Boyer (I've found out while searching for pictures, he killed himself after his wife died of cancer. Ouch):
Jean Arthur:
Fredric March (in the center):
Merle Oberon:
Robert Walker and Judy Garland in "The Clock:"
History is Made at Night: (Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur). I have never been able to figure out the relevance of the title, but other than that, this is a brilliant, severely underrated gem. Any movie that has a truly romantic love affair, a surprisingly mature look at abusive relationships, a ship wreck (there is a scene in it that James Cameron completely stole for Titanic), and some inspired comedy is something else. It's swoonily romantic, with Charles Boyer playing a dashing Parisian headwaiter as one of his patented reluctant romantics and Jean Arthur (who has never looked lovelier or more vulnerable) as a woman trying to escape an abusive marriage. The plot is pretty simple. Jean Arthur has had enough of her abusive (whether only emotionally or also physically is never made clear) marriage and has started divorce proceedings. Her controlling husband wants her back and because of the laws of the time, if she is caught in any "impropriety" she won't be able to initiate a divorce. So he arranges for her to be compromised (by having a man in her rooms at night) in front of witnesses. Charles Boyer who is passing by intervenes and saves her and whisks her away for a night where she rediscovers than men can be gentle and honorable, and love strikes. But unfortunately, not all is so simple and she is forced to return to her husband as Boyer fruitlessly searches for her.
This movie is swoonily romantic. My favorite is when she comes back to explain and take away his hurt (as he thinks she is a frivolous bored rich woman who amused herself with him). Major swoon. And you truly feel for her character, as the portrayal of an abusive relationship is quite accurate. This is a movie I pop in when I feel down...
The Dark Angel: (Fredric March, Merle Oberon). Now, this one begs to be remade as a Bollywood movie. It's melodramatic as all get-out and I adore it. Alan (Fredric March) and Kitty (Merle Oberon) grew up together and have always been a couple. There's also Fredric's brother, Gerald (played by Herbert Marshall) who is in love with Kitty but keeps it to himself, because he knows it's pointless. Unfortunately, they are all British upper class and World War I strikes, and Alan and Gerald are being shipped to the front. Kitty and Alan want to get married but due to bizarre British law are unable to do so. They are desperate and Kitty decides to spend the night with Alan "without the benefit of the clergy" as who knows what will happen in the war. As she leaves his rooms in the morning, Gerald sees a woman leaving his brother's quarters and is appalled because he thinks Alan is being a scummy cheat on a woman whom he loves. Alan refuses to admit who the woman was as Kitty's reputation would be gone and things are really frosty between the brothers, to say the least, which is not good as Gerald ends up Alan's commanding officer and refuses any requests for leave (as Alan is desperate to go back to marry Kitty). Tragedy strikes and Alan is presumed dead. Is he? How will Kitty move on with her life? Will true love triumph? Of course it will. Sorry, Gerald, you are out of luck :) The last scene of the movie is one of the most manipulative yet romantic and favorite scenes of mine. Fredric March was excellent at protraying youthful optimists becoming shattered wrecks (see the inferior "Smilin Through,") Herbert Marshall is lovely and urbane, and Merle Oberon (one of my favorite classic actresses) is beautiful and poised and charming and fun. You could see how she has two men in love with her.
The Clock: (Robert Walker, Judy Garland). This one has no melodrama, unlike the above two. It's a really fresh and natural look at a young and lonely GI with a 48-hour pass in NYC before he is shipped out and the office girl he meets and falls in love with. It's quiet and tender and full of real little touches: they spend their afternoon at the Metropolitan museum and get interrupted by nosy schoolgirls. They get separated by subway crowds, he buys her an orchid for her hair after seeing another man do that for his girlfriend. They end up going on a milk run to help a driver and she ends up falling asleep on his shoulder. This is one of my all-time favorites and its open ending is beautiful.
I have no pictures from these movies as they aren't super well-known. So here are pics of the actors.
Charles Boyer (I've found out while searching for pictures, he killed himself after his wife died of cancer. Ouch):
Jean Arthur:
Fredric March (in the center):
Merle Oberon:
Robert Walker and Judy Garland in "The Clock:"
