It's a Wonderful Life (1947)

It's A Wonderful Life is a wonderful movie.

Reel Popcorn Junkie has reviewed several Christmas films in recent weeks. This is the best of the bunch.

It's hard not to cry watching Frank Capra's 1947 film. Fellas, that's OK.

There's tears of empathy for George Bailey (James Stewart), the dreamer from a small town who wants to see the world and be associated with big projects like building bridges and erecting skyscrapers. He dreams of "shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet."

But life keeps George from ever leaving his hometown. Emergencies at home, at work and in the world economy all force him to keep staying put while his family and friends move on to new adventures. They find success in the workplace and their investments, rubbing shoulders with dignitaries and enjoying life's luxuries.

George ends up heading Bailey Building and Loan, a business that helps the town's residents get decent housing. But it's a far than lucrative line of work for its overseers. The enterprise is the only business in Bedford Falls that operates outside the clutches of cold-hearted businessman Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore). There's little money for George to make and he has to work hard to keep Potter's paws off the enterprise.

It's a Wonderful Life has many wonderful scenes. One has Potter trying to woo Bailey to come work for him. There's a promise of a huge pay increase and business trips to large cities. It's like Satan trying to woo Christ in the desert. Bailey tries to get comfortable in a seat that's too small for him as he considers this amazing offer.

Bailey considers killing himself when his forgetful Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) loses a hefty bank deposit on Christmas Eve. Bank examiners are in town and those missing dollars mean scandal, and likely jail, for George.

Heaven sends Bailey's guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), to stop Bailey from taking his own life. His attempts to reason with George go nowhere, until he suggests he wishes he'd never been born. Clarence makes George's wish a reality. He has never existed.

Here's where more tears come easily. Clarence finally gets a chance to show George how his absence affects Bedford Falls. Timely interactions with others through his life have never happened. That impacts others outside Bedford Falls that George never knew existed. No George means the lives of many, many others have been impacted - for the worse.

Appreciating life. Appreciating what you have. Understanding how someone can make a big difference even in a small town. It's these themes that make It's A Wonderful Life a Christmas classic.

Plus, there's a great romance between George and Mary Hatch (Donna Reed), the girl who has loved him since she was a youngster. There's laughs with George and Mary dancing the Charleston at a high school graduation bash and George's pondering what to do when Mary ends up with no clothes and hides in a bush.

George Bailey offers James Stewart one of the finest roles in his career. There's flashes of anger and despair as his character deals with what life has handed him. Lionel Barrymore is fantastic as one of Hollywood's great villains. This man has no soul. "I am an old man and most people hate me, but I don't like them either so that makes it all even," he tells George at one point. That's a wonderful life?

See this film, again and again, and appreciate all of your life's gifts.

Merry Christmas.

RATING: 10/10

FUN FACTS: Why didn't this happen to Titanic? It's A Wonderful Life was nominated for five Oscars, including best movie, actor and director, but didn't win a single Academy Award.

It's A Wonderful Life was James Stewart's first film after serving in the Second World War.

Ward Bond is in the supporting cast as Bert, a police officer. He was Major Seth Adams in television's Wagon Train.

Gloria Grahame is Violet Bick, the other woman who's interested in George Bailey. She won a best supporting Oscar for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful .

Look closely. That's Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer from The Little Rascals who tries to get Mary Ward on the dance floor during the graduation scene.

Key Largo (1948)

The gangsters in this film have no trouble threatening people, roughing them up or shooting them.

But they're the cowards when Mother Nature lashes out with a violent storm. After all, how do you shoot the wind?

Former gangster kingpin Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) wants to rule the roost again in America. "Nobody was as big as Rocco," he boasts. "I'll be big again." Rocco has slipped into Key Largo, Florida by boat with a whack of counterfeit bills. He's brought his goons along including Curly (Thomas Gomez) and the menacing Toots (Harry Lewis).

The thugs have set up shop in a family-owned hotel owned by James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) with the assistance of his daughter-in-law Nora (Lauren Bacall). Her husband was killed during the Second World War. His commanding officer, Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart), travels by bus to visit. Mr. Temple wants to know about his son George's last hours. McCloud is drifting, with no firm roots.

There's trouble before McCloud even arrives at the inn. His bus is stopped by police. They're looking for two escaped prisoners likely headed back to Key Largo. "They always head for home," the bus driver advises.

Here's where director John Huston has a little more fun.

The local force is clueless when it comes to a major criminal - Rocco - in their midst, staying instead focused on two men whose crime was likely not a serious one. At one point, Sheriff Ben Wade takes a look at Rocco and suggests he looks familiar. But he doesn't remember the man he's standing behind is a serious felon.

McCloud walks into trouble. Rocco and his crew have taken over the hotel. The gangster's old girlfriend, Gaye (Claire Trevor), has turned into an alcoholic in the years that he has lived in Cuba. This woman badly needs a drink, constantly.

McCloud says he's not eager to clash with Rocco ("I fight nobody's battles but my own."), but he keeps matching wits with him in an effort to keep the others alive. Nora has caught his eye too. Everybody is forced to stay inside the inn while a violent storm rages. Rocco wants McCloud to pilot a boat back to Cuba. Certain death awaits if he accepts the assignment.

Fine performances carry this film. Key Largo (Keepcase) could have offered Lewis his finest role. Lewis, who just died on June 9, 2013, is a well-dressed hood with a menacing presence. Gomez's Curly isn't as well-built as Toots, but there's an air of menace around him too. And, how about Robinson? He's nice and cool, complete with a fan nearby, when we first meet him. But this killer works up a sweat when the lights start dimming and strong winds blow drinking glasses to the ground. He's intrigued by McCloud and how this veteran can match wits with him, the brains of the counterfeit money deal.

Trevor won an Oscar for her portrayal of Rocco's washed-up lover. The booze has dulled her good looks and killed the beautiful voice Rocco once enjoyed hearing sing. "You wouldn't know it was the same dame," Rocco notes. He doesn't beat her, but his words cut deep.

Huston and Bogart made several films together including the director's debut, The Maltese Falcon, in 1941 and The Treasure of the Sierre Madre.

Key Largo offers viewers a strong cast, great dialogue and a story that keeps you watching.

RATING: 8/10

Dinner at Eight (1933)

Wait a minute, haven't I seen this movie before?

Well, not quite. But Dinner at Eight (1933) could remind viewers of Grand Hotel in several ways.

First off, several actors from Grand Hotel are back for Dinner at Eight. John Barrymore's Larry Renault is a washed-up actor who hasn't succeeded making the transition from silent films to the talkies. His best asset, his looks, is on the downside.

In Grand Hotel, Barrymore was The Baron, a thief posing as a supposedly suave aristocrat to pinch Marlene Dietrich's pearls. Oh, he also needed money badly or risked being roughed up, if not killed, by his criminal colleagues.

Lionel Barrymore was Kringelein in Grand Hotel, a bookkeeper for a big businessman who is dying and wants to live out his last days blowing his estate in fine living. Here, he's Oliver Jordan, an owner of a shipping business who finds tough times running his empire during the Great Depression. Plus, someone is buying up his company's stock with the goal of pushing him out as owner. It doesn't help that out flame Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) wants to sell her shares in Jordan's company because she's starting to be squeezed for cash.

That brings us to Wallace Beery. He was Preysing in Grand Hotel, the businessman desperate to make a deal while finding time for some monkey business with Joan Crawford's stenographer. In Dinner at Eight, his character Dan Packard is a businessman eager to clinch deals and make connections in Washington. He's married a fine-looking, but tough talking, piece of eye candy in Kitty (Jean Harlow). She wants to play doctor with physician Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe).

So, three of Grand Hotel's principal cast are back for Dinner at Eight.

Well, how about the plot?

Grand Hotel was pretty much set at a swank German hotel.

Here, all the action is tied to a dinner party Jordan's wife Millicent (Billie Burke) wants to host to welcome a couple from England's high society.

Dinner at Eight runs nearly two hours, but all its attention centres on preparations leading up to the bash.

What can give viewers some indigestion is trying to figure out what type of movie Dinner at Eight is supposed to be. Its mood varies widely depending on the subplot. Larry Renault keeps pounding back booze with the knowledge the good times are long gone. No laughs there. The Packards start off looking like a couple fighting for laughs, but the unhappiness in their relationship gets fleshed out as the movie continues. This marriage is in rough shape. Even the maid sees a chance to cash in on their discord.

Millicent's efforts to organize her party are on the light side. There's problems in the kitchen. Her servants are at each other's throats. Meanwhile, hubby Oliver is dealing with a serious illness that could drop his anchor for good.

Karen Morley appears briefly as Talbot's wife, Lucy. She knows all about his dalliances with patients, but continues to stand by him. Again, the heaviness of wife confronting husband seems strange in a film that includes pratfalls on stairs.

Watch for some fine support work from Louise Closser Hale and Grant Mitchell. They're relatives of Millicent's who are pressed into service when some dinner party invitees can't attend. Mitchell's Ed Loomis wold rather be at the movies watching a Great Garbo film. There's another tie to Grand Hotel.

Great cast. Interesting storylines. But audiences might be confused about what type of movie they're watching. Comedy? Drama? Melodrama?


RATING: 8/10

MORBID AND FUN FACTS: Director George Cukor also helmed the very fine The Philadelphia Story .

Marie Dressler died in 1934. She was 65. Louise Closser Hale would only earn one more credit, Duck Soup , before her death in 1933 at age 60.

Grand Hotel (1932)

Check out this film.

Grand Hotel won an Oscar for best picture in 1933. It's still worth reserving some time to watch more than 80 years after its initial release.

What a cast. There's a long line of Hollywood greats in this drama from director Edward Goulding (Dark Victory).

Greta Garbo only made 32 films in her short career. Just eight more came after this. Within 10 years her last film was in the can and she became a recluse. John Barrymore, grandfather of Drew Barrymore (ET) would be dead a decade later because of his alcoholism. Wow. Joan Crawford looks great as a stenographer who also acts an escort to well-heeled businessmen.

A series of telephone calls helps set up the film's various story lines at a posh German hotel. General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery) is under the gun to close a business deal. He's married. He has a family. He's ready to act on his attractions to Flaemmchen, Crawford's character during a business trip to England. Preysing is also willing to sacrifice his ethics to make sure said deal happens.

Garbo's Grusinskaya either suffers from an acute case of stage fright or desperately needs the adulation of a packed house to keep dancing. "Their applause did not come," she laments after a performance. The Baron (John Barrymore) is, in fact, a criminal out to get Grusinskaya's pricey string of pearls. The conman who suggests his dog is the only thing he loves manages to get swept away with Grusinskaya when he gets caught in her suite after pinching her pearls. But, with no pearls, his partner-in-crime Morgan Wallace suggests death will come quick. Garbo strikes me as a little over-the-top, not to mention hard to understand at some points. Audiences do get to hear her say, "I want to be alone."

Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore, John's brother) is dying from some terminal disease. He wants to spend his last days in luxury. The Grand Hotel is where he'll die and spend what money he has saved. "I'm going to live," he vows, and takes action when he's given a dinky room after checking in. But the Grand Hotel offers Kringelein numerous ways to rejuvenate his life. He makes a killing gambling. New friendships are established. He gets to cut a rug with Flaemmchen. By golly, he just happens to be a bookkeeper at Preysing's factory. Hmmm. It's three years into the Great Depression and an industry titan is ridiculed for his behaviour. Coincidence?

The hotel's guests don't have all the fun. There's a small nod to the staff with some neat shots of the switchboard operators and a porter, Serf (Jean Hersholt), dealing with a family crisis.

Goulding keeps this film moving from story to story. There's at least one very good laugh included in all this drama that results in death and scandal. A steady stream of classical music is a bit much, but it sets the mood of high society.

Great film. Great cast. See it.

RATING: 8/10

FUN FACTS: Lionel Barrymore was Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life. Potter is not quite so endearing as Kringelein.