5 Mini Reviews including "Manpower" & "Tea for two"

Five brand new mini reviews from me to you...

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1. Romance in Manhattan (1935; Stephen Roberts)

GREAT (and kind of unknown) Ginger Rogers movie. Shows the reality of a nice illegal immigrant (Francis Lederer) that arrives to America full of hopes and dreams. But when his money is stolen, the only way he finds to stay in the country is living in the rooftop of an equally nice and very understanding girl (you know who) and her little brother. 

It was surprising to see Ginger in this kind of role, I mean, her mom Lela being sooooooo conservative and all. I liked the characters and I liked the interesting situations they showed, like how was the life of a kid selling newspapers in the streets or how people struggled to earn bucks during the Depression. I also loved the funny bits:

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2. Week-end at the Waldorf (1945; Robert. Z. Leonard)

AVERAGE Ginger Rogers movie. It's a remake of Grand Hotel only with less brilliant performances, mood, dialogue, stories, etc.

In the 40s Ginger made great movies like Kitty Foyle and I'll be seeing you, but also very mediocre films like Tender Comrade (review), Lady in the Dark (review) and Once Upon a Honeymoon (review).
I don't like the way she plays adult women in some movies, assuming somehow always the same lordly, insipid expression. I don't know, if she was playing a movie star, I guess she could have done more than playing the stereotype.
The script doesn't help a lot, the stories are uninteresting, even when they tried to make them tragic (like an ill  soldier that is supposed to die, played by a very healthy looking Van Johnson and the girl that falls in love with him, played by Lana Turner). Forgettable movie.

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3. Manpower (1941; Raol Walsh)

Like Joey would say of the "shepherd's pie" that Rachel tried to prepare but according to Ross smelled "like feet"...I LIKED IT! Well, this is a very unknown film, people over Imdb give it a 6.9 but I would give it a 7.4. That's a great difference. 

When the movie starts, it's raining cats and dogs at night, you can see the power lines and some lightnings. And you think "hey, I have never thought about this, but how do the guys at the power company manage to fix these things during the storms? And how did they in those times, with less equipment and technology?" and then [onomatopoeia for surprise] you notice  the movie is about that! Well, kind of.

Edward G. Robinson is a hard worker, tough and he's always trying to get "chicks" (he's no very lucky). George Raft is his best friend. They risk their lives trying to fix the wires and stuff. Then Marlene Dietrich arrives to their lives and messes all up. Well, not because she wanted to, but because Edward really falls in love and asks her to marry him. George Raft hates the girl because he thinks she's a cheater, thief, bad woman, etc.

But Marlene surprises them all with her choices and behavior. At least at the beginning. Eve Arden has also a part in this movie, but very little, although she has a few funny lines.

I liked this movie because it shows things how they are: the characters try to change, to take the right decisions, but that's not always enough; they try to make their best to please the rest and be happy, but that doesn't depend only on them. The leads are great in their roles, Edward being a bit naive; Raft being a protective friend; and Marlene portraying a woman that tries to settle down. The ending could have been better, but I liked it anyway. Great drama.

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4. Tea for Two (1950; David Butler)

There are some musicals that understand that the music and dance sequences should fit the action and seem natural. And some don't. Tea for two has this problem. The story isn't good either: during the Depression a rich girl wants to give a lot of money to an ex boyfriend (that everybody describe as a con man) to make a musical show. But the girl's uncle, S. Z. Sakall lost a lot of money and only can offer a bet: if she doesn't say "yes" during the whole weekend, she will be allowed to finance the show.

So, you think that Doris Day's character is stupid because she want to give the money to such a man.
AND make up with him when they have no chemistry and she's really in love with a talented guy. And then things go beyond stupidity when she decides to invite the whole cast to rehearse at her house.
AND then people randomly sings/dance.
AND Doris randomly sings/dances with the guy she's in love with, but the rendition of one of my favorite songs, Tea for two, is not really memorable.
AND there's a woman that offends Doris but stays to sleep at her mansion because Doris has no personality whatsoever and only sings and smiles.
AND then you don't give a **** about the success of the show or the bet or anything.  

AND to make things worse this WHOLE STORY IS BEING TOLD IN FLASHBACK BECAUSE S.Z.SAKALL THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT STORY TO TELL TO HIS GRANDNIECE AND GRANDNEPHEW. My God. The only person that seemed sane was Eve Arden with her sharp remarks, but her character is lost in the movie.

But I have to say, I really LOVED two dance sequences I can't embed: Doris' tap dancing scene and the Charleston sequence. Watch them on Youtube and save your time.

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5. The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming (1966; Norman Jewison)

Saw this one on TCM. It caught my attention because the cast included Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin (the bad guy from Wait Until Dark and Little Miss Sunshine's grandpa), Brian Keith and Carl Reiner. It was hilarious! A Russian submarine runs around off New England. They are very confused and don't have hostile intentions...but the villagers don't get it. Everyone start panicking and the fun begins :)

I liked everybody's performances, Arkin's was so great as the Russian Lt.Rozanov, with his accent and imperturbability; the whole Whittaker family was fun: Carl playing a whining dad, Eva always making serious remarks and the kid being so sarcastic and a real pain in the ass. And then we have the whole town, some old women that go in a crazy sidecar ride spreading the news, the stupid major, the uncoordinated police, etc etc.

I liked the tone of the movie: if they laughed about the Russians, the also laughed about the Americans. You could see that they were all human beings facing their fears and they even included a bit of romance between an American girl and a handsome Russian I wish run aground over here (the actor was John Phillip Law). Here's the trailer:

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Well, hope you enjoyed! Have a great weekend.