Somehow, despite subbing more in March than in January and February combined, I watched more new-to-me films than those same two months. I also read 2.5 books, but that’s another story. TCM’s star of the month was Jean Harlow, so I watched every film of her’s they showed (except the two I’d already seen). Via Netflix I saw some real essentials (I only have three films left from the combined AFI 100 Years…100 Films list; 123 films in all); you can see Oscar Vault Monday links to two of them below (I also included links to some films I reviewed for YAM Magazine). Also, for the first time ever, I have seen at least one film from eleven different decades. That’s a feat I hope to duplicate often. All and all March was a great month for me and films. As per usual, after the cut there is a full list of all the new-to-me films, as well as five favorites.

1. The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
2. A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
3. Cabaret
4. The Human Comedy
5. Test Pilot
6. The Dresser
7. The Emperor Waltz
8. Jezebel
9. All This, and Heaven Too
10. Ieri, oggi, domani (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)
11. Captain Blood (1935)
12. Kings Row (1942)
13. Four Daughters
14. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
15. Kiss of Death (1947)
16. Sullivan’s Travels
17. New York Stories
18. Obsession
19. Shall We Dance (1937)
20. The Star
21. Tortilla Flat
22. Between Two Worlds
23. D.O.A. (1950)
24. Storm In A Teacup
25. The Richest Girl in the World
26. Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear)
27. Georgy Girl
28. High Noon
29. The Gold Rush
30. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
31. The Sunshine Boys (1975)
32. Ginger e Fred (Ginger & Fred)
33. The Three Musketeers (1948)
34. Safe in Hell
35. Scaramouche (1952)
36. Texas (1941)
37. The Last Station
38. Two Weeks in Another Town
39. Red-Headed Woman
40. Three Wise Girls
41. Riffraff (1936)
42. Suzy
43. Indiscretion of An American Wife
44. More Than a Secretary
45. The Age of Consent (1932)
46. Bed of Roses (1933)
47. Stella Dallas (1937)
48. Ten Cents a Dance (1931)
49. Shopworn
50. Father Is a Bachelor
51. Repo Man
52. A Canterbury Tale
53. Apocalypse Now
54. The Last Picture Show
55. The Harder They Fall
56. Love Me Tonight
57. Going Hollywood
58. Shanghai Express
59. La passion de Jeanne d’Arc
60. Saint Joan
61. For Heaven’s Sake (1926)
62. Green Light
63. The Story of Mankind
64. Husbands and Wives
65. The Man from Laramie
66. The Pumpkin Eater
67. The Rich Are Always with Us
68. So Big! (1932)
69. They Call It Sin
70. Week-end Marriage
71. The Painted Veil (1934)
72. The Right To Live (1935)
73. Robot Monster
74. The Public Enemy
75. Bombshell
76. Reckless
77. Personal Property
78. I Live My Life
79. Manhattan Murder Mystery
80. Sunnyside Up
81. Follow The Fleet
82. Bonjour tristesse
83. Irene
84. Carnal Knowledge
85. Easy To Love (1934)
86. In Caliente (aka Viva Senorita)
87. The Cook (1918)
88. The Boogens
89. The Unsinkable Molly Brown
90. Thunder Road
91. Small Time Crooks
92. Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
93. Sherlock Jr.
94. The Natural
95. Nashville
96. MASH
97. Broadway Melody of 1940
98. The Boob
99. I Take This Woman (1940)
100. Wife Vs. Secretary
101. Red Dust
102. Hold Your Man (1933)
103. China Seas
104. The Secret Six
105. Saratoga
106. They Live By Night
107. A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
108. Take the Money and Run
109. Shock Corridor
110. Rich Man, Poor Girl
111. The Jazz Singer (1927)
112. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
113. Berserk!
114. Gypsy (1962)
115. Guys and Dolls
116. Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman
117. Ohayō (Good Morning)
118. The Big Street
119. Sounds From A Town I Love
120. Edge of the City
121. Unknown (2011)
122. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing
123. Miss Grant Takes Richmond
124. Pocketful of Miracles
125. Oliver Twist (1948)
126. Adventures of Don Juan
127. The Land That Time Forgot
128. The Secret Garden (1949)
129. No Highway in the Sky
130. Waterloo Bridge (1940)
131. Waterloo Bridge (1931)
132. Noah’s Ark (1928)
133. Roma, città aperta (Rome, Open City)
134. Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows)
135. Strange Cargo (1940)
136. Daisy Kenyon
137. Taris, roi de l’eau
138. Don’t Drink the Water (1994)
139. This Woman Is Dangerous
140. Goodbye, My Fancy
141. The Damned Don’t Cry
142. Dinner At Eight
143. The Girl From Missouri
144. The Beast of the City

1910s: 1
1920s: 9
1930s: 52
1940s: 27
1950s: 21
1960s: 10
1970s: 9
1980s: 6
1990s: 3
2000s: 4
2010s: 1

Picking five favorites this month was harder than usual, but I persevered and forced myself to choose. Last month two of my favorites were from the 80s. Oddly enough, this month one is from that decade, as well as two from the 70s. So here they are, my favorites. Sadly, there’s no Leslie Howard this month.

Cabaret, 1972 (dir. Bob Fosse)

This was one of the first films I saw in the month. It was one of TCM’s last films featured during their 31 Days of Oscar. I loved every minute of it, though because I’d seen a stage production of the show in college I was prepared for it to be much sadder than it actually was. Liza Minnelli was born to play that part and she attacks the role with such amazing gusto. Due to some wonderfully timed babysitting in the middle of the month, I had a little extra pocket money and I am happy to report that this film is now part of my DVD collection.

Repo Man, 1984 (dir. Alex Cox)

TCM shows cult movies on Friday nights. I like to DVR them and watch them on Saturday morning. Some of these films are better than others. One of the better ones they showed in March was Alex Cox’s debut feature Repo Man. This film is everything I want in a movie. It’s funny, it’s strange, there are great one-liners, the characters are interesting and there may or may not be dead aliens in the trunk of a car poised for repossesion. Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton are hilarious as a newbie repo man and a jaded vetran, respectively. This film is just good, clean, cult cinema at its finest.

La passion de Jeanne d’Arc, 1928 (dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer)

This is pure, viceral, emotional cinema as art. This is the kind of film that elevates cinema to the finest of fine arts and dares filmmakers to push the medium further and further. I find it fascinating that a film that is nearly 90 years old can be so powerful and feel as fresh and modern as ever. It is said that Maria Falconetti gives one of the finest screen performances of all time. This is no exaggeration. To paraphrase Norma Desmond, “we didn’t need words, we had faces.” Falconetti emotes an amazing range of emotions with just her eyes alone. I’m glad I’m not an actress; after seeing this I would just give up.

Personal Property, 1937 (dir. W.S. Van Dyke)

I actually already reviewed this film for YAM Magzine, and like the two films I wrote Oscar Vault Monday posts for, I wasn’t going to include this in my favorite five. But I just couldn’t not. This film is just too much fun. Jean Harlow and Robert Taylor have such amazing chemistry. This was actually Harlow’s penultimate film (her last was Saratoga), the star died at only 26 of renal failure. I would say its a shame she died so young, but at least she left an amazing body of work before she went. I’d also like to say that I used to hate Robert Taylor. He is so stiff and wooden in his 40s and 50s films, but in March I watched several of his 30s films and he used to be so charming! He’s great in screwball comedies. Whoever decided he needed to try costume dramas needs a punch in the face. Sadly, I don’t think this film is available on DVD. If it’s ever released, I will be the first one in line to buy it.

Carnal Knowledge, 1971 (dir. Mike Nichols)

Which brings me to 70s film #2. Mike Nichols is the king of heavy relationship dramas and this film really shows his talent. The film is a condamnation of 40s and 50s sexual repression, which led to the sexual revolution of the 60s, and how it affected two college buddies. While this film may not be all that shocking today, outside of smut, there was nothing like this at the time. (It’s even featured in an episode of The Wonder Years). Jack Nicholson gives an astounding performance (as always), as does Art Garfunkel (yes, of Simon and Garfunkel fame). Ann-Margaret literally sheds her good-girl image, giving a fearless perofrmance as one of Jack’s lovers. She earned an Oscar nomination for her work. Some might find the film a tad mean-spirited at times, but I think it’s just brutally honest. Definitely a film that deserves more than one viewing. Its available to stream on Instant Netflix, so go get yourself some scotch and give it a watch.

So that was my month. If anyone’s interested, the books I read were Sidney Lumet’s Making Movies and Robert K Elder’s The Film That Changed My Life. They are both fabulous reads. I also read 150 pages into Truffaut’s The Films In My Life (I actually finished it today). I also just got Simon Callow’s two-part Orson Welles biography and Woody Allen On Woody Allen. Hopefully I’ll be finished with those by the end of the month. Speaking of Allen, I believe I only have 7  (8 if you count the upcoming Midnight In Paris) of his feature films left to watch. I promise a retropsective when I’m done. I hope you all have a great April and wish you some happy watching!