Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Warner Brothers – 1939: THE ROARING TWENTIES and DUST BE MY DESTINY [Plus: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto]

Warner Brothers, 1939: this is a big one, a double feature of Dave Faves, The Roaring Twenties, directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney and Priscilla Lane (among others), and Dust Be My Destiny, directed by Lewis Seiler and starring John Garfield and Priscilla Lane again. We take the opportunity to contrast Cagney and Garfield, Warners' characteristic "proletarian" male stars of the early 30s and late 30s respectively, teasing out what they mean for the evolving American Left. Then, the return (again) of Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: we briefly discuss Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961), comparing it stylistically and thematically to David Lynch's Fire Walk with Me. But why didn't Sheryl Lee get an Oscar nom, like Natalie Wood?

 

Time Codes:

0h 01m 00s:                THE ROARING TWENTIES [dir. Raoul Walsh]

0h 44m 34s:                DUST BE MY DESTINY [dir. Lewis Seiler]

1h 22m 41s:                Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto – SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961) [dir. Elia Kazan]       

Studio Film Capsules provided The Warner Brothers Story by Clive Hirschhorn

Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler                             

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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s

* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)

* Read Elise’s latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.

* Check out Dave’s new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project! 

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