By words that just hang in the air and stories that aren't going anywhere

[sovay]

I cannot say that I am going to town on the free channels of the Roku, because as of late I have been so exhausted that I am watching fewer movies than usual, but I am fascinated by TVTime because it gives me access to a remarkable number of British films which have been otherwise difficult to impossible to find—noirs, musical comedies, the aforementioned quota quickies—so long as I am willing to watch them at a quality that gives pirated media a bad name. It reminds me of the early days of Netflix and YouTube and I keep expecting to discover one evening that it's all been pulled on grounds of massive rights sketchiness, but in the meantime it's enabling me to pursue several avenues of exploration that until now had obliged me to wait on the hazards of Criterion and TCM and once upon a time the local arthouses. I am still out of luck on a couple of particular titles, of course, and I am dead out of luck when it comes to finding a couple of source novels in my local library, which would be less annoying if I could find them on my local internet. I'm not entirely sure what I'm researching and am not asking for suggestions, but I'll report back if it resolves into anything more complicated than comparative literature. If nothing else, I had never thought of John Mills as a noir-identified actor like Eric Portman or James Mason, but I've just seen him in a second example after The October Man (1947) and there's at least a third on my radar. I suppose when you are a national archetype, it's an unavoidable phase.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Anyway, my Ealing rarities recs! Although idk whether they'll have these anyway - Studio Canal seem to have the rights and guard them jealously. (If you want to find my original thoughts where I actually got around to writing them down + gifs, my 1930s tag is mainly these.)

I find it a bit hard to judge them because while I have favourites and ones that I definitely didn't like and things, I am generally just so charmed by the whole vibe and existence of the little 1930s Brit films that I am probably an unreliable source. (Some of them aren't 1930s - they are a random collection and mostly 1930s-40s but you get the odd 1950s ones, too.)

Anyway, the standouts:

Laburnum Grove (1936) - probably the single best film on any of these sets (which are usually not top drawer stuff for the most part), so you may have seen it already.

The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947) - stars Googie Withers who is just wonderful in it. Period drama about an Edwardian woman running a farm with masses of location filming of real agricultural workers just at the time things were about to change forever. (There's a really unfortunate subplot with her sister played by Jean Kent that stops me from giving it top marks, but otherwise it would have them.) There is a surprisingly distressing amount of harm to sheep!

Secret Lives (1937) - this is a really interesting WWI spy drama about a woman (Brigitte Horney) who gets dragged into espionage and the cost of it ever after. (But because it is a 1930s film they still have time for a tropey marriage of convenience bit in the middle!)

Cheer Boys Cheer (1939) I do not know if this is actually as good as I thought it was or it just had the luck of being the first one I watched (and after Meet Mr Lucifer, a not-good 1950s film, which only redeems itself because it has Barbara Murray and Gordon Jackson) but it is a comedy about rival beer companies, starring Nova Pilbeam and Peter Coke as Margaret and John, the daughter and son of the two company owners. John needs reforming and Margaret is prepared to crash the car at high speed until he does (this somehow works for them). There is some actual spanking that happens, but I was ok with it because Margaret's response is to bring a spanner to threaten him with next time they meet. Also there was Edmund Gwenn, but Margaret's love of speed is the star of the film. It is a random one, though. It just pleased me very much at the time.

Return to Yesterday (1940) - let down by a romance plot in the middle, but since the film isn't very whole-hearted about that anyway, (the female lead ends up with her original boyfriend anyway!) what's left is a really fun thing about Clive Brook as a runaway jaded Hollywood star winding up in a small town rep production, and there's also May Whitty in the cast and I found it really fun and delightful.

The Shiralee (1957) - this is somehow an actual film made by ealing in Australia in the 1950s? Anyway, it was pretty good - about a swagman (Peter Finch) lumbered with his five year old daughter, but v kitchen sink-ish (as much as the OUtback can be), and not sentimental.

[sovay]

Anyway, my Ealing rarities recs! Although idk whether they'll have these anyway - Studio Canal seem to have the rights and guard them jealously.

I may or may not be able to get hold of any of them, but I still appreciate the recommendations.

Anyway, the standouts

I have heard of several of these, but seen none of them! The Shiralee came up recently because spatch and I were watching The Sundowners (1960), similarly an American film made in Australia, also surprisingly good and far less sentimental than a summary would suggest. Return to Yesterday just sounds delightful. Speaking of Clive Brook and Googie Withers, have you seen—or have I already recommended to you—On Approval (1944)?

[thisbluespirit]

Speaking of Clive Brook and Googie Withers, have you seen—or have I already recommended to you—On Approval (1944)?

I haven't seen it! I will have to keep an eye out - I have a feeling I've seen it go past on Talking Pictures before. Thanks!