Trouble In Paradise (1932) Director: Ernst Lubistch The film is popularly considered Lubitsch's greatest film and was one of his own favorites. It was honored with the moniker for the "Lubitsch Touch". Wes Anderson later credited the film as the inspiration behind The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014. The story is based on the 1931 … Continue reading Trouble In Paradise
The Odd Story of the 1919-1920 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel
When the Pulitzer Prize committee met in 1919 for the award for best Novel, they hastily exchanged telegrams and letters, and nominated Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons at the last minute. They initially reached a "reluctant" conclusion that no novel was deserving of the award, however shortly before the announcement was released one of the jury … Continue reading The Odd Story of the 1919-1920 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel
Vampyr
Vampyr (1932) Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer In German the film was called Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Gray, or "Vampyr: The Dream of Allan Gray." It was funded by Nicolas de Gunzburg, who also starred in the film under a pseudonym, and the script was based on J. Sheridan Le Fanu's In A Glass Darkly, … Continue reading Vampyr
The Origins of the Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize was established through a provision in Mr. Joseph Pulitzer's estate. Through his will, he left $250,000 to Columbia University for the award, and a total of $2,000,000 to establish a journalism school in his name. Who was Joseph Pulitzer? He was born Pulitzer Josef (as was common for a name in Hungary) … Continue reading The Origins of the Pulitzer Prize
Arrowsmith
Arrowsmith (1931) Director: John Ford Arrowsmith was an early John Ford film, based on the novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, though thankfully it did not win, as the film is awkward and the plot is mostly uninteresting. It tells the story of … Continue reading Arrowsmith
Thoughts on Iphigenia in Tauris
The title of Euripides's Iphigenia in Tauris can literally be translated as 'Iphigenia Among the Taurians'. The term Tauris is not actually a place, but it refers to the Greek word for the Crimean Peninsula (Taurike). The Iphigenia story has fascinated and horrified artists since antiquity. Several later versions of the Iphigenia story were created, including one … Continue reading Thoughts on Iphigenia in Tauris
À nous la liberté
À nous la liberté (1931) Director: Rene Clair "Freedom for us all" is a quirky French musical/comedy directed by Rene Clair. It contains beautiful set designs, not unlike Clair's other French films of the early 1930s, like Sous les toits de Paris. The films tells the story of two friends who were at one time … Continue reading À nous la liberté
Le Sang d’un Poète
Le Sang d'un Poète (The Blood of a Poet) Director: Jean Cocteau (1930) The film is an avant-garde, surrealist, and slightly unsettling movie. Cocteau developed the idea shortly after his notable novel, Les Enfants Terribles. It was the first part in his 'Orphic trilogy', followed by Orpheus nearly 20 years later in 1949. Chilean actor, Enrique Riveros, … Continue reading Le Sang d’un Poète
À propos de Nice
À propos de Nice (1930) Director: Jean Vigo Jean Vigo made this short and avant-garde, documentary-styled film (in English the title is "Concerning Nice") when he was 25 years old. It was his debut film - a silent montage exposing French culture in the Mediterranean tourist city of Nice. He made the film with Dzigo … Continue reading À propos de Nice
The Covered Wagon
The Covered Wagon (1923) Director: James Cruze The Covered Wagon was the first great Western epic film. It was billed as the next big budget film, after Birth of a Nation. It was produced by Paramount Pictures. The story was adopted from the novel by Emerson Hough. The plot begins in 1848 as a caravan of … Continue reading The Covered Wagon
