1935 - THE GOOD FAIRY, good 1930's romantic comedy

An early film from William Wyler who was entering his best period as a director.  Margaret Sullivan a rather unconventional actress is an orphan who gets a job at one of those opulent movie theaters which don't exist anymore. She ends up getting involved with three men. A waiter, the theater owner and a morose attorney. 

Wyler was a great director who could work in about any genre and what this film also has going for it is a screenplay by the legendary Preston Sturges.  This film is loaded with his weird characters and goofy situations.

 

If you are a fan of classic Hollywood actors, seeing Frank Morgan, the Wizard of Oz himself and classy British actor Herbert Marshall act like complete fools makes this film a lot of fun.  Margaret Sullivan didn't do a lot of films but she was an excellent performer and managed to play the naive orphan without looking like an idiot.

 

This is a very well made and still very entertaining comedy from as they used to say "the golden age of Hollywood."  Wyler 's direction is very smooth when it comes to moving the story along and working with actors always his strong points throughout his career. A high recommendation for this one.

The running time is 98 minutes. 

1940 - THE LETTER, classic 40's Hollywood at it's best.

Bette Davis is the British wife of a planter played by the great Herbert Marshall.  The film opens will Davis emptying a revolver into a man she claims was trying to rape her.  As the plot proceeds Davis's lawyer realizes that the dead man was actually her lover who had planned to break it off with her.

This is classic Hollywood film studio stuff.  The director was William Wyler.  The writer Howard Koch adapted the Somerset Maugham play based on a real incident.  But towering over everyone is Warner Brother's diva star Bette Davis who expertly inhabits her leading role.

Apparently the strong willed Davis, who could be a terror on a set. However she  worked well with the equally tough minded Wyler, a professional who always insisted on doing it his way. These two personalities made three good pictures together. 

Finally, you have to give a lot of credit to the studio technicians who made it happen, The Letter was filmed completely in the studio, the film's technical aspects are at a very high level.

95 minutes.