I wonder how Eugene Pallette felt–more, how his co-stars felt–about having the closest thing to a close-up in The Benson Murder Case. I’ve never been more acutely aware of shot distance than I was during the film. Tuttle has a standard pattern. Long shot–usually a lengthy long shot, sometimes an entire scene is one shot–followed […]
Entries Tagged as 'Paul Lukas'
Strange Cargo (1940, Frank Borzage)
March 20th, 2008 · No Comments
A lot of Strange Cargo is really good. Borzage isn’t the most dynamic director, but every time he has a startlingly mediocre shot, he follows it with a good one in the next few minutes. The film’s got lengthy first act–thirty minutes–and then moves from confined location to confined location. The first act is the […]
Tagged: Clark Gable· Frank Borzage· Joan Crawford· Lawrence Hazard· Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer· Paul Lukas· Peter Lorre· Richard Sale· ★★½
The Lady Vanishes (1938, Alfred Hitchcock)
February 22nd, 2007 · No Comments
The Lady Vanishes might be the most fun Hitchcock ever lets an audience have with one of his films. Vanishes maintains a comedic sensibility throughout and for the most part, that sensibility overtakes the mystery element. Even the mystery element gives way to an action element–besides North by Northwest (which only barely qualifies) and Foreign […]
Tagged: Alfred Hitchcock· Ethel Lina White· Frank Launder· Gainsborough Pictures· Margaret Lockwood· Michael Redgrave· Paul Lukas· Sidney Gilliat· ★★★★
Watch on the Rhine (1943, Herman Shumlin)
June 1st, 2006 · No Comments
Wow, Watch on the Rhine’s got it all. Not only does it have a nice metaphor for the United States waking up to the horrors of the Nazis and determining to do something about it (which the United States never did), it’s also got a nice ending telling mothers their place is to send their […]
Tagged: Dashiell Hammett· George Coulouris· Herman Shumlin· Lillian Hellman· Lucile Watson· Paul Lukas· Warner Bros.· ★★★
