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Blue Angel, Germany, 1930, 103 min. Starring
Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings. Directed by Josef
von Sternberg. Jannings was the star, but Dietrich
ended up stealing the show with her star-making
role as cabaret chanteuse Lola Lola. Includes her
rendition of 'Falling in Love Again.'
L'Age d'Or, France,
1930, 63 min. Starring Gaston Modot, Lya Lys.
Directed by Luis Buñuel. Buñuel's
second collaboration with Salvador Dali (though
the famed painter's participation was apparently
minimal) was banned after its first showing for
its perceived anti-Catholicism, and didn't end
up having a legal US premiere for almost five
decades. Delightful slice of surrealism.
Morocco, USA,
1930, 92 min. Starring Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich,
Adolphe Menjou. Directed by Joseph Von Sternberg.
For her Hollywood debut, Dietrich teamed once
again with her favorite director. She plays, not
surprisingly, a cabaret singer, caught up in romantic
intrigue with French Foreign Legionnaire Cooper
and upper class Menjou. Beautiful décor
and a luminescent Marlene make this a real treat.
M, Germany, 1931,
111 min. Starring Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann.
Directed by Fritz Lang. Gripping crime story of
a child murderer roaming the streets of Berlin,
while both the police and the local crime syndicate
attempt to bring him down. Chilling, and thought
provoking.
Boudu Saved From Drowning,
France, 1932, 87 min. Starring Michel Simon, Charles
Granval. Directed by Jean Renoir. Renoir looks
at one of his favorite topics – disparity
between classes – in this comic tale of
a Parisian bookseller who rescues a vagabond from
the Seine only to have the man take over his life.
Classic performance by Michel Simon in the title
role.
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