1931-1940

  • Kenji Mizoguchi – Gion no shimai AKA Sisters of the Gion (1936)

    Kenji Mizoguchi1931-1940ClassicsDramaJapan
    Gion no shimai (1936)
    Gion no shimai (1936)

    Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting her time and money on a loser. She thinks that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them. Omocha therefore tries various schemes to get rid of Furusawa, and set themselves up with better patrons.Read More »

  • Polska Agencja Telegraficzna – Zwiedzamy Gdynie AKA Visiting Gdynia (1936)

    Documentary1931-1940PolandShort Film
    Zwiedzamy Gdynie (1936)
    Zwiedzamy Gdynie (1936)

    Quote:
    Made by the Polish Telegraphic Agency, this reportage shows the construction and operation of the modern cargo port in Gdynia and its facilities. It is a typical example of a propaganda film of the second half of the 1930s, showing the rapid development of the young country and its growing economic power. The film has been digitised based on a copy imported from the Soviet Union in 1980.Read More »

  • Roy Del Ruth – It Had to Happen (1936)

    Roy Del Ruth1931-1940DramaUSA
    It Had to Happen (1936)
    It Had to Happen (1936)

    A poor boy rises to power in politics. When the banker husband of his secret love takes money and flees the country, he replaces the lost amount and becomes implicated in the crime.Read More »

  • Marc Allégret – Entrée des artistes AKA The Curtain Rises (1938)

    Marc Allégret1931-1940France
    Entrée des artistes (1938)
    Entrée des artistes (1938)

    Synopsis:
    ‘Isabelle dreams of becoming a great actress and so she is over the moon when she is accepted into the Conservatoire, France’s leading drama school. Her talents are immediately spotted by her drama instructor, Professor Lambertin, who is appalled to hear that Isabelle may have to abandon her studies so that she can earn her keep in her adopted parents’ laundrette. Isabelle’s guardians have a change of heart when Lambertin visits them in person and convinces them that his is a noble profession and that their ward has the makings of a fine actress. At the school, Isabelle falls in love with an older student, François, who has a reputation as a lady’s man. When François begins an affair with Isabelle, his former girlfriend Cécilia is consumed with anger and jealousy. She plans to use her theatrical training to inflict on her former lover a cruel and deadly revenge…’
    – Films de FranceRead More »

  • Gustav Ucicky – Das Mädchen Johanna AKA Joan The Maid (1935)

    Gustav Ucicky1931-1940DramaEpicGermany
    Das Mädchen Johanna (1935)
    Das Mädchen Johanna (1935)

    France in the 15th Century: The country is marked by the wars with England and internal power struggles. King Charles sees himself powerless against the state. Suddenly a young woman named Johanna emerges from the people, who claims that the Archangel Gabriel appointed her to save France. First the king doubts her words, but he sees that the people, through her are gaining new courage.Read More »

  • Yasujirô Ozu – Ukikusa monogatari AKA A Story of Floating Weeds (1934)

    Yasujiro Ozu1931-1940DramaJapan
    Ukikusa monogatari (1934)
    Ukikusa monogatari (1934)

    PLOT: A kabuki actor’s mistress hatches a jealous plot to bring down her lover’s son.Read More »

  • Teinosuke Kinugasa – Yukinojo henge AKA An Actor’s Revenge (1935)

    Teinosuke Kinugasa1931-1940ClassicsDramaJapan
    Yukinojo henge (1935)
    Yukinojo henge (1935)

    Quote:
    Here is the 1935/1936 original version of “An Actor’s Revenge”, which was hugely popular at that time and a high point in Kazuo Hasegawa’s career. In fact, he even chose to remake this film as his 300th film work, helmed by Kon Ichikawa.

    The original film has 3 parts and runs 310 mins long, released. However, like most pre-1945 jidaigeki, it has been seized and re-edited by GHQ during the occupation era. And now, only this truncated version which runs only 97 mins exists.Read More »

  • Charley Chase & Harold Law – Manhattan Monkey Business (1935)

    Charley Chase1931-1940ComedyHarold LawShort FilmUSA
    Manhattan Monkey Business (1935)
    Manhattan Monkey Business (1935)

    When Charley can’t pay his bill at a restaurant, he is forced to become a waiter.Read More »

  • Takeshi Sato – Chocolate to heitai aka Chocolate and Soldiers (1938)

    1931-1940DramaJapanTakeshi SatoWar
    Chocolate to heitai (1938)
    Chocolate to heitai (1938)

    Chocolate and Soldiers (チョコレートと兵隊, Chokorēto to Heitai) is a 1938 Japanese war film directed by Sato Takeshi and one of the most effective Japanese propaganda films of the late 1930s. The American director Frank Capra said of Chocolate and Soldiers “We can’t beat this kind of thing. We make a film like that maybe once in a decade. We haven’t got the actors. It shows the common Japanese soldier as an individual and as a family man, presenting even enemy Chinese soldiers as brave individuals. It is considered to be a “humanist” film, paying close attention to the human feelings of both the soldier and his family. Cinema theorist Kate Taylor-Jones suggests that Chocolate and Soldiers provided “a vision of the noble, obedient and honourable Japanese army fighting to defend the emperor and Japan.” (from wikipedia)Read More »

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