my favorite movies of 1933:

favorite of 1933:

(Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern. Directed by Leo McCarey.)

From the scene where Harpo tries to fool Groucho into thinking he’s looking in a mirror, to the extravagant musical number about going to war, Duck Soup is the Marx Brothers’ supreme achievement.

When asked about the political significance of Duck Soup, Groucho responded: “What significance? We were just four Jews trying to get a laugh.” A funny line, but I don’t believe he meant it. Their driving motivation might have been to make the audience laugh, but underneath is a satire of the reckless belligerence and foolish vanity of politicians.

Chicolini, when were you born?
I don’t remember. I was just a little baby.

Stream Duck Soup on these sites.

2nd favorite of 1933:

The Story of Temple Drake

(Miriam Hopkins, Jack La Rue. Directed by Stephen Roberts.)

A privileged socialite (Miriam Hopkins) finds her whole life shaken up when she gets in a car accident in the middle of nowhere, and seeks refuge in a house full of shady characters.

Even if you’re familiar with the anything-goes pre-Code era of 1929 to mid-1934, you might be shocked at some of the barriers broken by this movie (which was loosely adapted from a William Faulkner novel, Sanctuary). How many movies from the ’30s confront sexual assault as a serious problem, instead of laughing it off?

The Story of Temple Drake was viewed as so scandalous that it contributed to the end of the pre-Code era the next year. But the real scandal is that this movie was generally unavailable until the past decade or so.

Criterion has released The Story of Temple Drake on blu-ray (and DVD) with a beautifully crisp picture quality, and bonus features that delve into questions like why this movie was so important and whether it was a feminist movie or a sexist one. They point out the irony that we’re lucky the movie was completely banned, unlike other pre-Code movies which were allowed to be shown but with offending scenes cut from the film. And I mean “cut” literally, as in pieces of film were sliced out of the original negatives with razor blades, and some of those scenes are gone forever. In contrast, The Story of Temple Drake was considered wholly irredeemable, so no one bothered to cut it up in order to screen the rest of it. And now we can see it in its full and true form.

I don’t know anywhere to stream The Story of Temple Drake, but the blu-ray and DVD are part of the Barnes & Noble 50% off sale on all Criterion movies, which is going through the rest of November 2021. Amazon is also lowering its price. (If you miss the Barnes & Noble sale, it usually happens every July and November.)

3rd favorite of 1933:

Design for Living

(Miriam Hopkins, Gary Cooper, Frederic March, Edward Everett Horton. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.)

This is another pre-Code movie starring Miriam Hopkins that’s shockingly modern for 1933. At times it feels like a far-sighted precursor to Seinfeld with its frank discussions of dating and sex. And unlike most movies of the time, they actually use the word “sex.”

IMDb sums up the premise: “A woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.”

A thing happened to me that usually happens to men. You see, a man can meet two, three, or four women, and fall in love with all of them, and then, by a process of interesting elimination, he is able to decide which he prefers. But a woman must decide purely on instinct, guesswork, if she wants to be considered nice. Oh, it’s quite all right for her to try on a hundred hats before she picks one out! …
Fine. But which chapeau do you want, madame?
Both.

Stream Design for Living on the Criterion Channel (try a free trial if you don’t subscribe), the Roku Channel (free with ads) or Redbox (also free with ads).

4th favorite of 1933:

The Invisible Man

(Claude Rains, William Harrigan, Gloria Stuart, Henry Travers. Directed James Whale.)