Review of You Can't Take It with You (1938) by Reginald R — 28 Jul 2008

[b]Anatomy of a Murder[/b], Otto Preminger's sharp courthouse drama, kept me awake and interested all through it's 2 hour 40 minute duration. The film employed a little bit of the kind of off-beat, jazzy noir that has trademarked a whole range of superb efforts in the history of film as we know it. Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, Altman's The Long Goodbye, several pictures by the Coen brothers. You get the general idea. Furthermore, the dialogue and story-progression in Anatomy of a Murder is very strong and thorough. The beautiful camerawork lingers just the right time in each juicy scene.

Released in 1959, the film came out at an interesting crossroads in time where it was clearly still a classic, major Hollywood production, but had a bit of controversial, daring content: i.e. direct references to rape, and some use of similarly strong language, which was - although used in a clinical fashion - still subject to controversy, and certainly impossible to have been found on a major feature a few years earlier.

In the film, a washed-up attorney Jimmy Steward and his even more washed-up partner take up a murder case that gets ever more ambiguous at every turn. Each person's motivations and reactions are depicted commendably well. The score (and cameo) by Duke Ellington is also very excellent.

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With that relatively lenghty review it's sad to say I have little energy left to comment on the rest of these films, each of which would deserve just as much praise, if not more.

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[b]You Can't Take It With You[/b]. From a smart, up-beat stage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Frank Capra doesn't disappoint. Positive values and.

Great family fun.

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[b]12 Angry Men[/b]. The jury has to reach a unanimous decision. Luckily it seems like an open and shut case. NOT TO HENRY FONDA IT DOESN'T! 12 men, one room, one life at stake, lots of heat. A classic by Sidney Lumet.

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[b]Mr. Smith Goes to Washington[/b]. One U.S senate, one boy scout James Steward, one filibuster. Another electrofying classic from Frank Capra.

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[b]The Philadelphia Story. [/b]Katharine Hepburn in superb form. James Steward in superb form. Cary Grant in superb form. What more is there to life? Describe this as a sophisticated comedy and multiply by a hundred after amplifying to infinity.