13 October 2010

Fear Before the (Fredric) March of Flames

As most of the classic film blogosphere is well aware, TCM's Star of the Month for October is none other than Fredric March. As he is one of my favorite actors from back in the day, you can probably imagine that I'm pretty thrilled with this. I listed some of the films in which he appears in my review of A Star of Born (which, perhaps not coincidentally, I watched again last night). To that list I can add the 1935 screen adaptation of Les Miserables (which also featured the great Charles Laughton), the Hal Roach-produced romantic comedy There Goes my Heart (1938, also starring Virginia Bruce and a Todd-less Patsy Kelly), and Nothing Sacred (1937, directed by William Wellman and co-starring the always entertaining Carole Lombard). Last but not least, March was fantastic opposite an equally-awesome Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (1960).

I am eagerly anticipating Design for Living (1933) when it airs later this month -- with Ernst Lubitsch directing a film adapted from a play by Noel Coward, how can one go wrong? Hopefully I be able to write a glowing review. Most of the films I've mentioned in this post will be airing on TCM this month. Hopefully you'll catch as many of them as you can.

ADDENDUM: 

I just watched Bedtime Story (1941, co-starring Loretta Young and her menagerie of outlandish early 40s hats). I enjoyed this one, as well. The climactic scene in the hotel room brings to mind the stateroom scene from A Night at the Opera, I thought.

1 comment:

  1. Personally I thought Design For Living was terrific -- in fact, I liked it so much, I bought a copy of the original Noel Coward play just to compare the two. I hope you like it as well.

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