Man With A Movie List

Director: Frank Borzage Year: 1933 Run-time: 1 hr 6 min Source: Youtube - This is, I think, the last Borzage film on the list.  It sticks with the general theme of a romance under assault from the world.  However, the Spencer Tracy character breaks the general archetype, straining the limits of the audience's sympathy with the way he treats his doting lover in a way that a modern audience would find uncomfortable, but he does mostly redeem himself in the end.  In a way, the tension between the Borzage melodramatic style and Tracy's wit and shenanigans make this film more "accessible" than Borzage's earlier work. - However, audiences didn't seem to think so.  This wasn't Tracy's breakout role, although he had been slowly gaining traction for a few years.  Loretta Young is in my opinion the real star here.  The way that she devotes herself to the hardened Spencer Tracy could come off as weak in a lesser actress, but I think Young pulls it off in a...

Director: Frank Borzage Year: 1929 Run-time: 1 hour (reconstructed - much of the footage is missing) Source: DVD from Edition Filmmuseum Dan Sallitt's Excellent Analysis Notable for:   There were three Frank Borzage movies released in just a couple months, with Lucky Star being the first, and The River being the last.  The River has the same male lead as Lucky Star , Charles Farrell, this time partnered with Mary Duncan (not an especially well-known actress, but as I learned somewhat surreptitiously, was the 1928 Round-up Queen in my hometown of Pendleton.)  It was a critical and commercial flop on account of its salaciousness.  It contained scenes that were more explicitly erotic than anything in the American cinema at the time, and was heavily censored in many theaters. Verdict :  Although we only have an hour of reconstructed footage to work with, it is clear that this is very different from the prevous Borzage films on the list.  It has elem...

Director: Frank Borzage Year: 1929 Run-time: 1 hr 30 min Source: Youtube Wikipedia Notable For:   With the same director and stars as Street Angel (Gaynor and Farrell would star in 12 films together), Lucky Star is another film that adheres to Borzage's theme of love inspiring people to improve themselves.  Farrell plays a disabled WWI veteran, and the way that his hometown leaves him to fend for himself in a small cabin is a not-so-subtle message. Verdict:   Farrell takes a paternalistic role towards Jaynor's farm girl character, and in an early scene he even spanks her after he catches her stealing.  (The history of spanking girls in film is explored in this recent video.)  The start of their relationship is pretty creepy from a modern perspective.  Nevertheless, Borzage is an effective director, and there are still some touching scenes in this one.  Even the hokum ending that involves Farrell overcoming his disability through sheer will....

Director: Frank Borzage Year: 1928 Runtime: 1 hr 42 min Source: Youtube Street Angel  is, first and foremost, a wonderfully resonant little romance film.  I use the word 'little' not because it's a short film, but because the plot is minimalist, even for the era.  The silent film forced directors to economize when it came to plot details, so as not to overload the screen with titles.  There have been excellent films on this list that don't compromise, and succeed at telling deep stories by virtue of epic vision (and length).  But Street Angel  is an example of simple, effective, story design, where each scene serves a fundamental purpose, and nothing feels out of place.  Every thing built towards an extraordinarily effective climax with a poignant message about love, that I'm hesitant to share, except to say that it speaks volumes about perception and how we strive to be the people we appear to those we love.  I found it endearing, and hope t...