Today was quite a pleasant day because I spent it with the handsome man Joel McCrea and because all of the films I watched were less than eighty minutes long which can be nice after seeing tons of over two-hour epics. Let’s make the post short and sweet as well.
The Common Law (1931)
Joel McCrea plays a painter. The Common Law is a pre-code and you can tell simply by the fact that he paints his model, Constance Bennett, in the nude! Escandalo! She just broke up with someone and starts hanging out with Joel more and more which leads to them falling in love. But they do keep secrets about their pasts from each other which leads to trouble.
Sorry to objectify him but I couldn’t help but notice that Joel McCrea is handsome in a modern way. Does it make sense?
I enjoyed The Common Law despite it having a pretty simple, conventional plot, mostly because I found it to be very stylish. Constance Bennett looks amazing and some sequences are pretty interesting. There is a section of the film taking place during a party and it felt like a silent movie with Louise Brooks.
Internes Can’t Take Money (1937)
(What’s with that spelling?)
Always a pleasure to see Barbara Stanwyck!
The plot of Internes Can’t Take Money is pretty bizarre: we begin with Barbara seeing Joel McCrea, a doctor, about a hand injury. She’s clearly in a difficult financial situation and he seems sympathetic so a viewer prepares for a nice, romantic story. But the story soon turns out to involve gangsters and missing babies.
It’s dramatic and weird but Barbara is a delight to watch and it’s kind of impressive how much was fit in barely eighty minutes.
The Unseen (1945)
A spooooky noir about a murder and a governess who gets in the middle of an intrigue. And she suspects Joel McCrea!
Gail Russell plays the lead and she’s beautiful and vulnerable. She seems very creeped out by the children she’s taking care of and there is nothing weird about that because these are some scary kids. This whole thing is very The Innocents and I for one enjoyed the gothic moodiness of The Unseen (although, of course, it does not come CLOSE to The Innocents which I consider a masterpiece).
It’s a short spooky story perfect for a rainy night when you just want something simple.
Cattle Drive (1951)
A western. For kids!
Dean Stockwell plays a spoiled rich daddy’s son but one day he gets lost in the desert and a cowboy, Joel McCrea takes him in.
I think it’s pretty obvious to anyone who read the above statement that at first Dean is angry and does not want to do the silly cowboy nonsense but ends up loving it.
Nothing to say here: an average children’s film. Joel was pretty hot as a cowboy.
Fort Massacre (1958)
And we finish off with another western. This time, Joel McCrea does not play a cool cowboy but a very racist sergeant who takes charge over what remains of a group of soldiers after an Apache attack.
The basic story is very simple: the soldiers need water but can’t access it without the risk of another attack from Native Americans. But there are also personal issues and doubts the men are dealing with accompanying their fight to survive.
It’s an interesting film about problematic people but it kind of wastes its potential.
None of today’s films were particularly amazing but all of them were more or less painless. I enjoyed it.
Swingin' at the Seance 