Man of Conquest (1939)

I'm annoyed with myself because I've seen two classic Hollywood stinkers in a row. Last night was Man of Conquest, which is a hagiographic faux-western about Sam Houston and Andrew Jackson. As you might imagine, it is insane and full of ridiculous inaccuracies. Now, Sam Houston's life was also insane and absurd, so perhaps that all makes sense, but trying to make this guy into some kind of amazing, freedom-loving war hero is just nuts, although he did negotiate on behalf of the Cherokee nation. Sam Houston's life would make an interesting biopic, of course, but this one was invested mostly in convincing us all that "Andy" Jackson was one of the best presidents and best Americans ever to have lived (!) and that rebellion in Texas against México was somehow justified because the settler colonial state allowed individuals to own guns and México did not. Actually, this does make sense. These filmmakers probably believe that the South's secession was also justified and laudable. This is as much a bit of pro-gun propaganda and a redefinition of the second amendment as it is a pro-genocide Andrew Jackson film. No thanks.

Swanee River: the Story of Stephen C. Foster (1939)

Oh my god. This is a biopic of the composer Stephen Foster, who wrote "Oh, Susanna!", "Swanee River", "Camptown Races" and a bunch of other songs. It stars Don Ameche, who is great! Andrea Leeds is not given anything to do except love Stephen Foster. Swanee River also stars... Al Jolson as EP Christy (of Christy's Minstrels fame). This makes the film truly unhinged as a historical object. There is an insane amount of blackface in this movie, and Swanee River seems to think it is laudable that Foster took music from the enslaved Black folks he knew and made good money off of it. This is sort of a crazy movie. And its ending is completely bananas.

Swanee River covers over the likely fact that Stephen Foster killed himself. It also invents a very strange alcoholism plot that feels completely fake onscreen, even if the man actually was a hard drinker. E.P. Christy, as it turns out, also committed suicide two years before Foster did. But Swanee River would have us believe that Christy (in blackface, of course) rushed from the theatre to Foster's bedside and then back to the performance, where he performed Foster's latest tune, "Old Folks at Home", to a crowd who sang along (they apparently memorize the lyrics spontaneously). Then the film – while Jolson and the crown are still singing – cuts to images from the American South, including a man picking cotton, a plantation mansion, and an old Black woman sitting outside a cottage. This is how the movie ends. It's unhinged.

Anyway you can watch this technicolor non-masterpiece on YouTube if you so desire.

Two with Sonja Henie & Tyrone Power

Thin Ice is a totally absurd Sonja Henie picture with Tyrone Power as her love interest. He's some Swiss prince or somesuch nonsense. This whole thing is stupidly absurd and delightful, and I enjoyed myself. Both this film and Second Fiddle (two years later) were directed by Sidney Lanfield.

Second Fiddle is a truly charming little Irving Berlin musical. This is fundamentally a much better musical than Thin Ice. All of the songs are diegetic, and of course Tyrone Power does not sing – although he writes a song and croaks out a few lovesick bars while writing it. I have to say that I don't think Sonja Henie is that interesting, but she's pleasant enough, and this film has Edna May Oliver doing tons of great comic shtick, and of course Tyrone Power. He's quite funny in this, and just as handsome as ever. This is a nice little riff on the formula established with Thin Ice, and Second Fiddle has great Irving Berlin tunes.

The Great Victor Herbert (1939)

I didn't like The Great Victor Herbert at all. It's a jukebox musical using the music of Victor Herbert with the character of Victor Herbert functioning as a kind of ringmaster or yenta for the two main characters, played by Allan Jones and Mary Martin (both in gorgeous voice). But The Great Victor Herbert is really a riff on the Star Is Born plot, and these plot machinations, where the husband is an egomaniacal jerk and the wife is longsuffering, sacrificial, and faithful are so boring. In fact, I was really bored by this whole business. The music great, obviously, but this plot is tired.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

This version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is filmed like a horror movie for much of its running time. This makes the whole thing pretty great – much more interesting than a standard historical epic from this period in film history. Several other notable things: A young Edmond O'Brien is very very handsome in this. The 1996 animated feature clearly quotes the prayer sequence from this movie. And there is an amazing visual effect at the movie's end.

When Tomorrow Comes

When Tomorrow Comes is a charming melodrama. It would be remade by Douglas Sirk, eventually. This is a lovely little romantic–tragic follow-up to Love Story starring that earlier movie's leads, Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Also, I think I had forgotten just how much I love those two performers. They're wonderful together onscreen. I just love them. When Tomorrow Comes is, surprisingly, hard to find (no DVD release or normal streaming possibilities). It does not deserve this fate. It's no Love Story, of course, but it's quite good, and it has a pretty terrific hurricane sequence.