Shanghai Express (1932) Director: Josef von Sternberg In Shanghai Express, Marlene Dietrich delivers a highly memorable and seductive performance in her fourth of seven films with Josef von Sternberg. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Cinematography (winner). It outperformed the famous Grand Hotel at the box office … Continue reading Shanghai Express
academy award
Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (1932) Director: Edmund Goulding Grand Hotel is a wonderful film released by MGM, a winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the only film to win Best Picture without any other individuals involved being nominated in another category. The film stars Greta Garbo as the dancer, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, … Continue reading Grand Hotel
A Farewell To Arms
A Farewell to Arms (1932) Director: Frank Borzage This interpretation of Hemingway's famous novel starrs Gary Cooper -who also starred in the 1943 version of Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls- and Helen Hayes, and is directed by Frank Borzage. The film won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Sound. A retelling of the plot will not … Continue reading A Farewell To Arms
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation Director: Howard Hawks (1932) A United Artists film, Scarface is one of the greatest gangster films ever made. Following from Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, Scarface details the rise and fall of a Chicago gangster clearly modeled on the life of Al Capone. The film was infamously later remade in … Continue reading Scarface: The Shame of the Nation
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang Director: Mervyn Leroy (1932) This haunting film, based on the true story of Robert Elliott Burns, is an early thriller produced with the intention of exposing the harsh southern chain gang prisons of the early 20th century. Starring Paul Muni, already famous for his portrayal of Tony in Scarface: … Continue reading I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang
The Idea of Revenge in the Iliad and the Odyssey
In both the Iliad and the Odyssey we encounter vengeance exacted by the protagonists. In the Iliad, a poem explicitly about the "rage" or "wrath" of Achilles, we discover the rage that follows from the sorrow for the death of a loved one. In Books XV and XVI, the beloved companion, Patroclus, is killed by Hector … Continue reading The Idea of Revenge in the Iliad and the Odyssey
