Metropolis (1927) is...

... many things.

I had the absolute pleasure seeing Kino's newly restored Metropolis (1927) with the 25 minutes of lost footage that was recovered from Buenos Aires, Argentina. What a delight! Carlos took me to the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA and we got to see the most complete version of the film on the big screen. This is not the complete version just the most complete. There are still a few missing scenes. However, a lot of missing footage clipped from existing scenes and entire whole scenes were recovered and woven into the film. In hopes of getting this longer version of the movie out to audiences quicker, the lost scenes that were added were not digitally remastered so it's very easy to tell what was missing. One lost scene I was happy to see was with Georgy worker 11811, who switches outfits and lives with Freder, goes off galavanting in the world of the upper class. A pivotal scene which I'm sure for political reasons was removed from various versions. Having it back in the movie helps the plot line and demonstrates the great contrast between the lives of the workers and the lives of the wealthy in Metropolis.

Kino is showcasing this new version in select cities across the US this summer and it will soon be on DVD. If you get an opportunity, please watch it. I had seen this film many times (including once before on the big screen) but watching this new version was like experiencing the film for the very first time.

After I left the theater, I thought about what Metropolis (1927) is, because let's face it, it's more than a movie. So I came up with a list. If you have seen the newest version of Metropolis, please share your thoughts. And if you have anything you'd like to add to this list, feel free to let me know and I will add it here and credit you.

Metropolis (1927) is...

• an allegory
• steampunk 
• retrofuturism
• Art Deco p-rn
• one Hitler's favorite film
• epic
• the film that almost sent UFA into bankruptcy
• fractured
• influential
• referenced in many films years after it came out
• Biblical
• science fiction
• Marxist
• visually stunning
• German Expressionism
• a dystopian tale
• ahead of its time
• misunderstood
• an original screenplay written by Fritz Lang and wife Thea von Harbou
• socially conscious
• in the public domain
• just begging for literary analysis and therefore...
• an English major's dream
• unlike any other film ever made
• Raygun Gothic
• the original Gotham
• iconic
• historically important

One Girl's Confession (1953) and Joran van der Sloot

image from Film Noir Photos

I've been working my way through the various films in the Bad Girls of Noir collections (Vol. 1 and Vol 
2) when I came across this little gem: One Girl's Confession (1953).  This film is pretty unusual for a noir in one respect: the story focuses on a female protagonist. If you look at the history of major film noirs, Out of the Past (1947),  The Killing (1956),  Double Indemnity (1944), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), etc. they all have female characters who play significant roles in the story, but everything revolves around the male lead. So to watch a film noir about a woman was very refreshing.

One Girl's Confession is a story about Mary Adams (Cleo Moore), a hardworking girl who seems down on her luck even though her outrageously good looks seem to hypnotize men. She works at a restaurant owned by the same sleazy scumbag that ruined her own father financially years ago. When she sees the scumbag hoarding money, she decides to take revenge and steals the dough and hides it. Fully knowing the extent of what she's done, she happily confesses and is willing to serve out a jail sentence. The only hitch is that she won't reveal where the cash is stashed. It's waiting for her once she gets out of the clink. However, when Mary is put on probation and is released earlier than she thought, the life she was plotting out for herself doesn't quite work out the way she planned.

After I watched the film, I headed off to the gym to work off some tension and get some cardio. While on the elliptical, I caught a glimpse of the king of major sleazy scumbags, Joran van der Sloot on one of the gym's televisions. My ire towards that poor excuse for a human being helped me burn off some extra calories. Now you may be asking, so what does that have to do with One Girl's Confession?

Here is the asshole in question.

Joran van der Sloot has been tied to missing American teenager Natalie Holloway since she disappeared in Aruba on May 30th, 2005. On May 30th, 2010, exactly five years later, he's now tied to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez, who was found dead in Sloot's hotel room in Peru. This piece of s**t who is pretending to be a man was tried several times for the Holloway murder but couldn't be convicted. Even though undercover agent Patrick van der Eem got van der Sloot to reveal that he dumped Holloway's body into the ocean, Sloot still got away with his crime.  So off he went to the Netherlands to get high and traffic prostitutes. The story of Joran van der Scumbag is a long and complicated one that I won't go into here but at least you get the jist.

Now let's compare van der Sloot with Mary Adams:

Mary Adams - Committed a crime (theft), confessed and gave herself in, served her sentence, at several times was willing to give away the fruits of her crime ($$$) to help others, faced hardship but learned her lesson.

Joran van der Sloot - Committed a crime (murder), kept quiet about certain details and got help from his daddy, never served a sentence, tried to extort money, never learned his lesson and killed again.

I came away from One Girl's Confession with a good feeling inside. I came away from all the news coverage of Joran van der Sloot with incredible anger. Mary Adams is poor trying to make ends meet, van der Sloot comes from privilege. Mary tries to be kind while Sloot thinks other people are beneath him. 

I was so affected by these two stories that I just had to write this post. It's so interesting how both of these stories, of two polar opposite characters (one fictional and one unfortunately real), intersected. It just goes to show how easy it is to relate classic films to every day life.

TCM Spotlight: Charlie Chan Collection DVD Set

Charlie Chan = Awesome

I simply adore Charlie Chan movies. They are easy mysteries that are fun to watch. So when Warner Bros. contacted me about reviewing the new TCM Spotlight Charlie Chan Collection, I was very excited because it was a good opportunity for me to watch more films in the series, especially ones I haven't seen. This set includes 4 new-to-DVD Charlie Chans. Three Sidney Toler Chan's Dark Alibi (1946), Dangerous Money (1946) and The Trap (1946). The fourth film, The Chinese Ring (1947), features Roland Winters as Charlie Chan.

From what I can tell from the folks I spoke to on Facebook, many classic film fans love Charlie Chan and are well-versed in all things related to this series. Nevertheless here is a little background on the films. 

The Charlie Chan mysteries were a series of 6 novels written by Earl Derr Briggers. The character in the novels works for the Honolulu police but in the movie franchise, Charlie Chan, the witty and clever Chinese detective, travels all over the world solving crimes as he goes. At first the films were done with a Chinese actor in the part of Charlie Chan but those proved unpopular. Later, popular Swedish actor Warner Oland (from Old San Francisco fame) took on the role of Chan. You may be asking yourself, what's a Swedish dude doing playing the part of a Chinaman? Although Oland was born in Sweden, he had Mongolian ancestry which made him look exotic. So for the movie studio Fox, he was Asian enough. Oland did the series and it became wildly popular. He died suddenly in 1938 and to keep the series going, they hired Scottish actor Sidney Toler to replace Oland. Toler made about 22 Chan films (some for Fox who then abandoned them and Toler bought the rights and made the rest with Monogram Pictures) until he passed away in 1947. To milk the last out of the money teat that was the Chan franchise, they hired American actor Roland Winters to film the last 6 pictures.

In my honest opinion, Oland was the best Chan, Toler was good but not great and Winters was a disaster. Who is your favorite Chan?

If you are brand new to the Charlie Chan series, you may want to start out with one of the feature-length Oland films first such as Charlie Chan in Shangai (1935). If you love the series and want some more, than this set would be a nice addition to your film collection. Here are some of my thoughts on the set:

DVD Set: It's DVD not DVD-R which is excellent and the packaging is superb. Don't expect any extras though!

Dark Alibi: Ex-cons gone straight are being framed for various bank robberies. Charlie Chan, his son Jimmy Chan and assistant Birmingham Brown are on the case. This is an enjoyable mystery with a lot of humorous moments. Great watching for a rainy day.

Dangerous Money: A murder on a cruise ship? Charlie Chan is on the case! Along with Jimmy Chan and Chattanooga Brown. This is the best film out of the set. Really enjoyable, great plot, lots of kooky characters and you'll keep changing your mind about who-dun-it.

The Trap: A girl's been murdered on Malibu Beach, another one is missing and a whole bunch of others are in danger. Jimmy Chan is called onto the case but Charlie Chan takes over and is followed by Birmingham Brown. This is by far the worst film out of the set. The gaggle of gals are simply annoying and it's difficult to care about the characters or the story.

The Chinese Ring: The princess of China has been murdered and someone is stealing money from her bank account. Charlie Chan (Roland Winters), Jimmy Chan and Birmingham Brown are on the case. Winters is simply awful as Chan but the story is good and it makes up for his shortfall [minor spoiler alert] This one is pretty dark especially since a child is murdered in the story.

This boxed set goes on sale tomorrow, June 8th. This would make a great gift for a die-hard classic film buff or someone who likes short, easy mysteries. It's not for everyone though.

Oh and something about it being on Blu-Ray too. ::smirk::

Here are a couple of videos from YouTube that Warner Bros. sent me. They'll give you a good sense of the three main characters (Charlie Chan, Jimmy Chan and the exchangeable Browns) and of the style of these movies. Enjoy!