SCFZ

Choose your favorite films from 1934 (according to IMDB).

Each person can vote for up to 20 films. Do not feel compelled to fill the maximum allowable number.

Twenty-film ballots can be formatted as follows:
- Five tiers of four films each, 4/4/4/4/4; scored 5-4-3-2-1 pts/film/tier
- Four tiers of five films each, 5/5/5/5; scored 4.5-3.5-2.5-1.5 pts/film/tier
- Two tiers of ten films each, 10/10; scored 4-2 pts/film/tier
- No tiers, unranked; scored 3 pts/film
- A 20-film three-tier ballot is not possible as yet (pending revision of the present scoring system)

A tiered ballot can include less than 20 films, but in that case the total number of films must still be able to be factored by the number of tiers, so:
- A five tier ballot can include only 20, 15, 10, or 5 films
- A four tier ballot can include only 20, 16, 12, 8, or 4 films
- A three tier ballot (scored 5-3-1) can include only 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, or 3 films
- A two tier ballot can include only 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, or 2 films
- Ballots that are 19, 17, 13, 11, 7 or 1 films must be no tiers (in the present scoring system)

Users are urged to post their provisional lists as soon as possible, so that others can use them for recommendations. You may revise your lists at any point prior to the deadline. Ballots posted by new members who have not participated in other parts of the forum will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and are not guaranteed inclusion on the final list.

Deadline for 1934 lists will be Thursday, September 30th, at around midnight EDT.

Final List

seen: 40+


3 tiers

Heinz im Mond (Robert Adolf Stemmle, Germany)
Funny Little Bunnies (Wilfred Jackson, USA)
The Lost Patrol (John Ford, USA)
Ein Walzer für dich "A Waltz for You" (Georg Zoch, Germany)

Nachtasyl (Ferdinand Diehl, Germany) - not on Imdb, cause adding films there is difficult (I've added it to letterboxd, though)
And She Learned About Dames (??, USA)
Waltzes from Vienna (Alfred Hitchcock, UK)
It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, USA)

Ukikusa monogatari "A Story of Floating Weeds" (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan)
Blossom Time (Paul L. Stein, UK)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, UK)
L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, France)

1934 poll rewatch:
HA! HA! HA! (Dave Fleischer)

1934 = the year when Betty Boop attempted an acid communism coup by exposing the unsuspecting petty-bourgeois citizens (& various "inanimate" consumer products) to laughing gas!


https://youtu.be/eYusI2W436s

perhaps my least favourite year of the 1930s (it's 1933 or 1934) based only on what i've seen of course, so i might well revise that opinion after watching more. most years in the 1930s i'd be struggling to whittle a list down to 20; for 1934 i was reluctantly adding a title or two so i could get a number of films that can be put in five tiers... hope to watch a couple of good things this month so i can feel happier about the end of my ballot


Thirty Day Princess (Marion Gering)
Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks)
L'Atalante (Jean Vigo)

The Thin Man (WS Van Dyke)
The House of Rothschild (Alfred Werker)
You're Telling Me! (Erle Kenton)

Judge Priest (John Ford)
Kentucky Kernels (George Stevens)
The Old Fashioned Way (William Beaudine)

Funny Little Bunnies (Wilfred Jackson)
It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)
Our Daily Bread (King Vidor)

Death Takes a Holiday (Mitchell Leisen)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock)
The Furies (Slavko Vorkapich)

gosh i saw only 3 from this year-_- so many things to catch..

The Furies (Slavko Vorkapich)
Everybody’s Woman (Max Ophüls)
Chanson d’Armor (Jean Epstein)
Rapt (Dimitri Kirsanoff)
Red Hot Mama (Dave Fleischer)

The Thin Man (W.S. Dyke)
Double Door (Charles Vidor)
The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich)
S. S. Tenacity (Julien Duvier)
Maskerade (Willi Forst)

Black Moon (Roy William Neill)
Our Neighbour, Miss Yae (Yasujiro Shimazu)
Zouzou (Marc Allegret)
A Story of Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu)
Ha! Ha! Ha! (Dave Fleischer)

1934 poll No1:
BETTY IN BLUNDERLAND (Dave Fleischer)

Betty's (Red Mamma's) 1934 acid communism manifesto:
1/ laughing gas (or shrink-ola) is the means!
2/ acid communism (referred to as "blunderland" by acid commrades) is the goal!

https://youtu.be/MnuGUgDZ2GI

ballot...

Bazaar (Mikhail Tsekhanovsky)
Marijka the Unfaithful (Vladislav Vančura)
Song of Armor (Jean Epstein)
The Furies (Slavko Vorkapich)
Soldier’s Story (Čeněk Zahradníček, Vladimír Šmejkal)

Betty in Blunderland (Dave Fleischer)
The Prodigal Son (Luis Trenker)
We Live in Prague (Otakar Vávra)
Ha! Ha! Ha! (Dave Fleischer)
Along Came a Duck (Burt Gillett, Steve Muffati)

-------------------------------------------------

in the last few yrs, logged (2!)...
WE LIVE IN PRAGUE (Otakar Vávra)
HA! HA! HA! (Dave Fleischer)

in a more distant past, watched (1!)...
MARIJKA THE UNFAITHFUL (Vladislav Vančura)
HEAVE - HO! (Martin Frič)
THE HEROIC CAPTAIN KORKORÁN (Miroslav Cikán)
A DREAM WALKING (Dave Fleischer)
FUNNY LITTLE BUNNIES (Wilfred Jackson)

watched for the poll (7!)...
BETTY IN BLUNDERLAND (Dave Fleischer)
THE ATOM OF ETERNITY (Čeněk Zahradníček)
SOLDIER’S STORY (Čeněk Zahradníček, Vladimír Šmejkal)
HANDS (Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke)
5/ BAZAAR (Mikhail Tsekhanovsky)
GOOD MORNING, EVE! (Roy Mack)
SANKICHI THE MONKEY: SHOCK TROOPS (Mitsuyo Seo)
LOCOMOTIVES (Humphrey Jennings)
LADIES LAKE (Marc Allégret)
10/ THE PRODIGAL SON (Luis Trenker)
DON'T MAKE GRANDPA ANGRY (Karel Lamač)
RED HOT MAMMA (Dave Fleischer)
MICKEY PLAYS PAPA (Burt Gillett)
THE FURIES (Slavko Vorkapich)
15/ SONG OF ARMOR (Jean Epstein)
ALONG CAME A DUCK (Burt Gillett, Steve Muffati)
THE HEARTS OF AGE (Orson Welles, William Vance)
A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME (Burt Gillett, James Tyer)

Rippin' year, as are all 1930s. This'd probably be my list now. Will try to actually watch a few for the poll this time, since it ain't 2007 or similarly humdrum:

Angèle (Pagnol)

The Downfall of Osen (Mizoguchi) ('35 on LB, but IMDb has '34)
L'Atalante (Vigo)
Story of Floating Weeds (Ozu)
Man of Aran (Flaherty)
The Scarlet Empress (Sternberg)
It Happened One Night (Capra)
La signora di tutti (Ophuls)
Rapt (Kirsanoff)
The Goddess (Wu)
Liliom (Lang)
The Lost Patrol (Ford)
A Modern Hero (Pabst)
Maria Chapdelaine (Duvivier)
Our Neighbor Miss Yae (Shimazu)
Now and Forever (Hathaway)
El Compadre Mendoza (de Fuentes)
The Wedding of Palo (Dalsheim)
Uzhmuri (Gogoberidze)
S. S. Tenacity (Duvivier)

wba wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 11:08 am Final List
Mister Cinders (Friedrich Zelnik, UK)

You putting this first had me intrigued - but's 1935 on IMDb.

karl wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:00 pm

wba wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 11:08 am Final List
Mister Cinders (Friedrich Zelnik, UK)

You putting this first had me intrigued - but's 1935 on IMDb.

Ha, thanks for pointing it out!
Zelnik is one of my favorite directors. I thought I was one film amiss on Imdb 1934, but didn't consider my no. 1 pick...

karl wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:00 pm

wba wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 11:08 am Final List
Mister Cinders (Friedrich Zelnik, UK)

You putting this first had me intrigued

Here's my letterboxd list for Zelnik: https://letterboxd.com/wba/list/friedrich-zelnik/

It's very difficult to get hold of most of his films, though.
And seeing as there's so very, very little available (even on KG and such similar sources) of silent German cinema subtitled in English, I doubt you'll ever get to see many of his films.
He's one of the most important Weimar film directors, though, on a similar level as Max Mack (the godfather of German film) and Ludwig Berger - two others who have almost zilch (silents) available.

i'm sorry just not in movie mode right now, and not even internet mode really, so this is all retrospective and i'm not gonna watch any more:

the black cat (edgar g ulmer)
the captain hates the sea (lewis milestone) - gilbert's last film
chanson d'armor (jean epstein)
the prodigal son (luis trenker)
jolly fellows (grigori aleksandrov)
rapt (dimitri kirsanoff)
the scarlet pimpernel (harold young)
dead water (gerard rutten)
la signora di tutti (max ophüls)
marijka the unfaithful (vladislav vančura)
maskerade (willi forst)
el compadre mendoza (fernando de fuentes)
the merry widow (lubitsch)
le grand jeu (jacques feyder)
judge priest (john ford)
man of aran (robert j. flaherty)
the private life of don juan (alexander korda) fairbanks snr's last film
la dolorosa (jean grémillon)
la ruta de don quijote (ramón biadiú)
we live in prague (otakar vávra)

what i should be watching cuz i've got them but i'm too mired in apathy:
amok
uzhmuri
dos monjes
giallo

twodeadmagpies wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 7:01 pm apathy

Apathy, in Stoic philosophy, condition of being totally free from the pathē, which roughly are the emotions and passions, notably pain, fear, desire, and pleasure. Although remote origins of the doctrine can probably be found in the Cynics (second half of the 4th century BC), it was Zeno of Citium (4th–3rd century BC) who explicitly taught that the pathē were to be extirpated entirely.

i just realized that — as opposed to the usual definition of apathy (viz above) — for a cinephile it means a condition of being totally free from the Pathé (or free from the moving images of the Pathé Brothers of France).

Prelims...

The Black Cat
El Compadre Mendoza
The Gay Divorcee
It Happened One Night
It Never Happened - James Sibley Watson
Man Of Aran
The Man Who Knew Too Much
La Mujer Del Puerto - Arcady Boytler
Our Daily Bread

le grand jeu
la signora di tutti
l'atalante
rapt/the kidnapping
the 20th century
the scarlet empress
compadre mendoza
marika nevernice
heat lightning
chanson d'armor
la mujer del puerto
one more river
crime without passion
our neighbor miss yae
a story of floating weeds
jolly fellows
maskerade
the gay divorcee
boule de suif

to watch: dos monjes

https://letterboxd.com/film/katharine-h ... reen-test/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s_peRKVROo

btw. does anyone know (Evelyn???) where to find "Good Morning, Eve!" (Roy Mack, 1934)?
on kg (or anywhere else i can reach) it is absent.

Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden preparing their latest meal. After the meal, they take a stroll through time. They make a few stops along the way for some musical interludes. These stops include in the Gardens of Emperor Nero of Rome for a concert circa 100 A.D., in King Arthur’s court, and at a beach resort in current times.

despite (in general) i tend to be dismissive as far as Holywood production is concerned, i am always highly curious about any (possibly (techni)colorful) Holywood films made (obviously) on mind-altering substances.

Once Eve partakes of the forbidden apple, the couple embarks on a trip through the ages...

1934 poll No6:
GOOD MORNING, EVE! (Roy Mack)

if my ratio got it right, "Adam" (staged by 53 yrs old actor) is actually a member of the nudist colony dreaming (in sleep) about being time-traveling Adam. and despite his fellow nudist "Eve" (staged by 25 yrs old actress) is nearly 30 yrs younger, he prefers to satiate his ephebophilia with some other "ribs". this colorful advertisement of promiscuity was much less trippy than i expected.

ultimately, "Adam" asks his fellow nudists, "Are you ready for the ceremony?"
and all the nudists respond by their enthusiastic (unanimous), "Yes! Sure!"
however, instead of all the remaining fig leaves falling down, cops rush into the film frame to finally enforce the prudish Hays code.
(and this is probably why this flick only lasts 19 minutes.)

Only seen 68 films from 1934, and as a result I don't have the strongest list. The bottom 3 or 4 are just strong 7.5s (really good films) rounded up for the purposes of this list - would not mind upgrading these. The rest are variations of great:

Tier 1

Maskerade (1934, Willi Forst)
Les misérables (1934, Raymond Bernard)
L'Atalante (1934, Jean Vigo)
Shen nu / The Goddess (1934, Yonggang Wu)

Tier 2

It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra)
El compadre Mendoza / Godfather Mendoza (1934, Juan Bustillo Oro, Fernando de Fuentes)
The Private Life of Don Juan (1934, Alexander Korda)
La signora di tutti / Everybody's Woman (1934, Max Ophüls)

Tier 3

Hej-Rup! / Heave Ho! (1934, Martin Fric)
Chanson d'Armor (1934, Jean Epstein)
Angèle (1934, Marcel Pagnol)
Liliom (1934, Fritz Lang)

Tier 4

Amok (1934, Fyodor Otsep)
Le grand jeu (1934, Jacques Feyder)
Twentieth Century (1934, Howard Hawks)
Tarzan and His Mate (1934, Cedric Gibbons)

Tier 5

The Lost Patrol (1934, John Ford)
Ukikusa monogatari / A Story of Floating Weeds (1934, Yasujirô Ozu)
Jimmy the Gent (1934, Michael Curtiz)
The Thin Man (1934, W.S. Van Dyke)

lav diazepam wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:24 pm i just realized that — as opposed to the usual definition of apathy (viz above) — for a cinephile it means a condition of being totally free from the Pathé (or free from the moving images of the Pathé Brothers of France).

you're wonderful

i second that emotion

1934 films I have, but am yet to see, in a relative order of interest:

Palos brudefærd / The Wedding of Palo (Friedrich Dalsheim)
Mauvaise Graine (Billy Wilder & Alexander Esway)
No Greater Glory (Frank Borzage)
Die Englische Heirat / The English Marriage (Reinhold Schünzel)
La belle de nuit (Louis Valray)
Fashions of 1934 (William Dieterle)
Le dernier milliardaire / The Last Millionaire (René Clair)
Gold (Karl Hartl)
Mlody las / Young Forest (Joseph Lejtes)

Any I should prioritise?

i reciprocate both of those emotions!
(now, leaving to harvest the hazelnuts.)

Some 1934 hot-takes:

British Agent - Curtiz. Rough draft of Casablanca.

Liliom - Lang. A little disappointing. A lot disappointing if you compare it to the sublime Borzage version.

Behold My Wife - Leisen. About interracial romance, sorta, but it's one of those movies where they don't have a vocabulary adequate for discussing their issue, huge mess of conflicting signals. Recommended for that reason to Greg X.

Burn Em Up Barnes, Episodes 1-12 - who cares?
Barnes and his little pal Frankie are so Batman and Robin I couldn't believe it.

Bubbling Over - I forget
Questionable twenty-minute showcase for black performers. Evelyn bait?

Behold My Wife - Leisen. About interracial romance, sorta, but it's one of those movies where they don't have a vocabulary adequate for discussing their issue, huge mess of conflicting signals. Recommended for that reason to Greg X.

Sounds like that would be right up my alley, much appreciated!

Well, I finally watched a feature-length '34 for the poll: MGM's cosy baseball mystery, Death on the Diamond. Between fall semester reading and the Blue Jays race for a wild card spot, I'm not making enough time for movies, but hopefully I'll do better over the next 20 days. I'll be sure to get to Bubbling Over and some other short subject curiosities. Baseball fans will enjoy Death on the Diamond; no one else will.

greennui wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:32 pm The Furies (Slavko Vorkapich)

That's a really striking piece of film, but it was used as-is for the credits sequence of Ben Hecht's Crime Without Passion, where Vorkapich was credited for Special Effects... and it's even more effective in context.

CWP looks like it might be the most formally adventurous mainstream Hollywood movie of the 30s -- post-Expressionist post-Lang with a heavy precode flavor and general "what rock did these people crawl out from under?" vibe. Distorted parodies of courtroom activities anticipate Stranger On The Third Floor, so proto-noir, baby!

1860 - Alessandro Blasetti.

Beautiful rural-Sicily pictorial field and a narrative that anticipates a lot of the great postwar Italian films, from The Leopard and Bandits Of Orgosolo to Christ Stopped At Eboli and Salvatore Giulani. Great way to get my feet wet in 1930s Italian production. Low-key fascist propaganda maybe, but it's easy to ignore.