Gold Diggers of 1933 directed by Mervyn LeRoy

The film Gold Diggers of 1933 was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The film is considered a musical although there isn't as much singing as there is in later musicals. The film is a play within a film with much of the singing taking place during the plays.

The film revolves around the depression and the hard times affecting citizens of the United States. The thing that struck me the most was how the film began and finished. The opening scene was of Fay singing "We're in the Money" and rehearsing with the cast for the opening of the play. During rehearsal the police come in and reposes the costumes and props because the producer hasn't paid his bill yet. The film then turns to following the lives of three women, Polly, Carol and Trixie who work in the theater business and the hardships they go through in order to obtain and keep work. The film then turns to the three women getting revenge against the social elite who think they're nothing but gold diggers and parasites. The end of the movie ends in happiness with all three women finding love with the social elitist men who changed their minds about the generalizations they had made about the women previously. The final scene of the film is a scene from the play in which the "forgotten men" are portrayed and highlights the end of the depression that the beginning of the film hinted at.

Overall I really liked the film even though the character development was rather weak and the plays within the film were kind of confusing. The main themes of the movie captured my attention and I really enjoyed that it was made during the depression and highlighted some of the important issues and struggles facing people during the era.

Baby Face directed by Alfred Green

The film Baby Face was directed by Alfred Green and released in 1933. The film is a Fallen Woman film that centers around a woman named Lily Powers who climbs up the success ladder using her womanly ways.

The story begins with Lily working as more than a waitress at her father's speakeasy. Soon after the film begins her father dies, leaving Lily on her own. Lily receives some sound advice from a shoemaker, Mr. Cragg. Who tells Lily she can get anything she wants because of her power over men and she should use that power to exploit them and gain the riches she wants. Lily and a servant from her father's speakeasy name Chico hop a train to New York where Lily begins working her way up the corporate ladder at a bank. Throughout the film Lily seduces men using her good looks and charm to gain access to those higher up in the bank, all the while not caring about the men she used to get there. In one instance, Lily uses Mr. Stevens to get to the Vice President, Mr. Carter, once she succeeds she tosses Mr. Stevens away without giving him a second glance. After Mr. Carter makes Lily his kept woman, Stevens comes back and begs Lily to marry him, when she refuses he breaks into her bedroom and seeing Mr. Carter promptly kills him, and then kills himself out of despair. Seeing that both men are dead, Lily calmly calls the police but seems to not have an intense reaction towards the dead men in her house.

The film continues on with Lily uses her womanly ways to garner the attention of men and obtain what she wants. In the end Lily has finally gained her riches and marries Courtland Trenholm the new president of the bank. Even though Lily has finally settled down and gotten married, she is still living for herself only and still doesn't truly care for her husband. This is evident when Courtland is being indicted by the Bank and has to gather one million dollars for his bond to get out of jail. He asks Lily for her money, jewels and bank bonds but, Lily refuses because she feels she worked her entire life for this wealth and refuses to give it up for a man. Lily gathers her things and leaves Courtland, only to shortly realize after that it's not the wealth she wants but the love and relationship with her husband Courtland. She rushes back to him to find him on the floor of his office apparently after a suicide attempt. Seeing this, Lily runs to be by his side, tells him she loves him and will do anything for him even give him all the money she has. This event highlights how Lily progressively changed throughout the movie.

Overall I really enjoyed the film and liked that the ending was a happy one for Lily. This movie falls into the fallen woman category because for most of the duration of the film Lily is unhappy and is continually searching for what she truly wants out of life. It isn't until the end of the film that Lily is redeemed by realizing her love isn't for money and wealth but for her husband, the man who loved her despite her past.

Scarface directed by Howard Hawks

The film Scarface was released in 1932 and was directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes. The film was based off a book by the same title and many of the events depicted in the film are based on real life events. This film was again reproduced in the 1980's, and the films have an almost identical plot line. One of the original gangster films to come out of that genre, the film revolved around prohibition and the men who tried to rule the illegal trafficking of alcohol during that time.

I really enjoyed the use of symbolism throughout the film. The use of an "X" in the scene in some form (either a shadow, a light, on a placard, etc). The use of this symbol was in the scene either before, during or after a murder. Up until this point in the films we've watched I haven't seen a large use of symbolism throughout an entire movie, until Scarface. I'm not certain if the director did this purposefully but, I feel that because it was such a prominent element used for the duration of the film, it was done intentionally. Because murders were not allowed to be shown directly in a scene, the utilization of a signifier, the "X", highlights that someone has just died.

I also felt that the characters were very developed within the film. The main characters Tony, Cesca, and Poppy all had very in-depth character backgrounds and the audience felt as if they could identify with these characters. Some other supporting characters such as, Johnny Lovo and Guino both had a sense of character but was limited in scope. I feel that Cesca, Tony's sister was portrayed in a way that the audience could relate to, in terms of frustration with her hypocritical brother.

Although the film was definitely a drama comic relief was provided by Tony's secretary and I feel was a perfect touch to the movie!

Redskin

The film Redskin was a silent melodrama from 1929. The film made huge advances in the film genre by using a larger amount of dialog throughout the film with a much more cohesive narrative. The film also had themes dealing with education and identity which play a large role within the film.

The thing that stood out to me the most while watching the film was the use of color. For a silent film during this period I thought the quality of the color with amazing! The use of color was only during the periods when the main characters, Wing Foot and Corn Blossom were in their respective homes located somewhere in the Mesa canyon/desert in Arizona. The other scenes, located at the Indian Boarding School were shot in black and white. I felt that the use in color for only specific locations was possibly because of financing. If it was done for a specific reason, I feel that utilizing the outdoor scenery was a great idea. All the vivid colors of the brush, trees and fabulous colors of the Native Americans outfits made the movie and scenes that much more special. I also feel that in the scenes with color are the scenes in which the main characters felt at home even if they were shunned from their communities, like Wing Foot.

Another use of effects throughout the movie, was the costume changes by Wing Foot and Corn Blossom. While he was a young child Wing Foot dressed like the members of his tribe, in normal native garb once he was taken to the boarding school he was forced into following the schools dress code, short hair and the white mans clothing style. Once he was in college he had adapted to that style of dress and wore suits and kept his hair short on his own freewill. After leaving college and returning home he once again changed his manner of dress into traditional native american clothing once again, in order for his father and community to accept him. As the movie progressed Wing Foot stayed in his native american attire as he tried to re-identify himself as a Native American.

Within Our Gates by Oscar Micheaux

Within Our Gates (1919) was written, produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux. It was a film created as a protest against as well as, a response to the film by D.W. Griffith entitled, The Birth of a Nation. It is also the earliest surviving film directed by Micheaux.

The theme of using religion to keep African-Americans from uplifting their race and obtaining rights such as an education and the ability to vote was a very interesting and reoccurring theme within the film. One great example of this is when the Reverend Ned preaches to an all African-American congregation about how African-Americans would be the first to go to Heaven because the whites were too wrapped up in their material possessions and education which God disliked. But, since the African-American congregation did not have such material possessions or an education they should not have any worries about going to Heaven. A few scenes later the same Reverend is seen talking to two white men saying that he believed what he was preaching, when in all actuality he thought that everyone should have equal rights.

During another scene in which Mrs. Warwick, the kindly old lady who helped Sylvia was discussing her plan of funding the school with Mrs. Stratton the topic of using religion to oppress others was brought up. Mrs. Stratton was deeply racist and gave Mrs. Warwick the advice of not giving the school any money but instead giving a lesser amount to a known African-American reverend who would keep the African-Americans in their place. Although Mrs. Warwick told her friend she disagreed with her ideas and was going to fund the school but instead give them even more money than asked for!

The theme of religion was greatly intertwined with the themes of education and literacy throughout the film. I appreciated the subtle and blatant ways in which Micheaux discussed and portrayed these themes because they were crucial points of the film.