Robert Riskin (1897–1955)

A famous heiress on the run from her father is helped by a reporter.

Amusing in places, but tedious overall. For much of the movie I was distracted by the fact that a grown woman who was apparently kidnapped by her father is hiding from the police rather than getting their help. And the idea of calling her husband (who she's trying to get to) never even comes up. It seems very bizarre that it won all the Oscars it did; it's entertaining, but it's not by any stretch a Great Film.

(Jun. 2009)

A young couple is separated by class tensions between their families.

Hollywood's version of being relevant to social issues: a story about a guy with so much money he can support a large family in luxury for decades, through the great depression, without working - and he's supposed to be the lower-class half of the equation. What the serious fuck? Besides that, the movie's dull, poorly crafted, and desperate to seem zany. The only good parts are when it takes a break to be a Jimmy Stewart show more movie - but for the most part it isn't; it's a Lionel Barrymore Wants You To Know What's Wrong With You movie.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: C minus

GPA: 1.9/4 show less

C- (Meh).

An airplane is hijacked and taken to a utopia. At least, the filmmakers meant it to be a utopia. It's more like a bomb shelter. I guess in 1937 a bomb shelter made for a plausible utopia?

(Dec. 2023)

A man from a family of rich snobs becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family.