Since I’ve been busy for the past few days (not to mention that my brain feels like it’s completely fried out from work), I’ve become semi-obsessed with movies that run from about 60-75 minutes in length. I think they’re what the studios used to call “programmers”: b-movies that were the second feature on the bill, usually made in a short amount of time and with stock members of the studio’s acting stable. I’ve seen quite a few in the last couple of days–I find they fill in the space quite nicely between eating dinner and getting caught up on the latest Governor sex scandal.
One of my favorites is 1932’s Union Depot, a Warner Brothers’ effort that stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Blondell. Since it’s a depression era pre-code, you get all the trimmings: there’s Ruth (Blondell), a chorus girl who’s down on her luck, bums (Fairbanks and Guy Kibbee), a drunk (the lovable Frank McHugh), a counterfeiter on the lam (Alan Hale) and not one, but two sleazy sub-plots! Hurray!
Union Depot is reminiscent of 1932’s Grand Hotel, except that it’s set in a train station and we’re treated to the exploits of the poor, instead of the rich. What I particularly enjoyed were the many subplots that managed to weave together by the end of the film. Since it’s a pre-code, the amount of sex is fairly shocking: when Ruth needs money, she’s willing to prostitute herself out to Chick (Fairbanks), a bum who’s posing as a rich guy thanks to the contents of a suitcase that the drunken McHugh left behind. However, Ruth can’t bring herself to do it and after having a change of heart, Chick decides to play “Sant-y Claus” and help her out. Ruth also has a deliciously twisted back story, which involves a perverted old man that she used to read dirty books too. She thought he was blind–he wasn’t, and when he whipped off his glasses and revealed a pair of evil eyes, Ruth ran for her life. Now, the pervert is hot on her trail and unbeknownst to Ruth, has followed her to Union Depot.
One of the scenes I got the biggest kick out of was in the diner where Chick orders a meal. When he places an order for “a nice tomato salad, a thick sirloin steak smothered in onions, some browned potatoes in creamed gravy, a flock(?) of hot biscuits and some honey, coffee and raisin pie a la mode”, you can only imagine what a meal that sumptuous would cost in 1932. Ready to find out? Here it is:
Using this calculator, that meal would now cost a person $26.56. So back in those days, $2 was equivalent to $30 today. Talk about inflation! I’m always fascinated by the price of food in classic movies. It’s shocking to see a grocery store sign touting that a loaf of bread costs ten cents, while in today’s world, a loaf of bread is fifteen to twenty times that much! It insane.
Money is also a huge factor in Preston Sturges little known comedy, Christmas in July (1940). Like Union Depot, it’s also another “programmer”, this time starring Dick Powell and Ellen Drew, as well as Franklin Pangborn and Sturges’ favorites, William Demarest and Frank Moran. Jimmy (Powell) and Betty (Drew) are a working class couple who spend their evenings sitting on the rooftop of their tenement, listening to the radio. Jimmy is obsessed with winning a coffee slogan contest that he entered, and while Betty doesn’t exactly get his entry (“If You Can’t Sleep at Night, it isn’t the Coffee–It’s the Bunk!”), they both dream about the $25,000 prize money that would change their lives. When Jimmy’s co-workers trick him into thinking he’s won the contest via fake telegram, he and Betty go on a huge shopping spree where Jimmy finally buys Betty an engagement ring, as well as gifts for all their neighbors and a state-of-the-art davenport for his mother.
Out of all the Sturges films I’ve seen, I have to say that Christmas in July has become one of my favorites. Clocking in at under 67 minutes, it’s not only funny and witty, but Sturges shows how the sudden accumulation of money changes the opinions of others who would have treated the couple like a bunch of nobodies beforehand. In that respect, Christmas in July is pretty depressing: money changes you in the eyes of others. It’s a sad, but true realization. Jimmy and Betty are the same people, only richer and yet, everyone fawns over them as though they’re newfound royalty. That is–until it’s revealed that Jimmy’s winning was a joke and suddenly, Jimmy is a “criminal” to those that had just fawned over him. It’s quite hypocritical.
I didn’t realize it until the other day, but Union Depot and Christmas in July are quite similar in tone. What makes them work is the ability for the audiences to identify with their characters: Ruth and Chick or Jimmy and Betty. Both stories are representative of their eras. With Ruth and Chick, they’re just struggling to make it through the depression like everyone else. And with Jimmy and Betty, they’re both working just to make ends meet, in hopes that one day they’ll be able to afford a better life. When both couples come into money, the first thing they do is splurge: a big meal for Chick and some new clothes for Ruth, while Jimmy and Betty run down to the local department store and buy an engagement ring. But despite their wealth, the one thing that really draws you into both stories is love. You get the feeling that each couple could wind up poor and still find a way to make it. Love is stronger than money and the tense situations that test each couple afterwards, prove it.
And that’s the beauty of the one hour movie: a big plot and good acting packed into half the time that a regular movie would take. Sure there are some clunkers, but there are hidden gems as well. The studios cranked these movies out like clockwork out only to fill out double bill features and to meet quotas that theaters set. But what the studios didn’t realize is that in some of these little films, such as Union Depot and Christmas in July, were just as uplifting and entertaining as an top-billed movie, maybe even more so. By the time the 60’s rolled around, the “programmer” was pretty much obsolete and that’s a shame. Thank goodness they’re still around for us to watch today. Although times have changed, good films haven’t and sometimes, you just need a little cinematic pick-me-up that only a well-crafted b-movie programmer can provide.
Oh good, I’m only half chasing you this time. Union Depot is one of my favorite pre-codes, even though it was done on the cheap. I think Joan Blondell was the sexiest woman ever. It’s not her looks or her figure so much — she was pretty but no beauty, and there’s a reason that she was usually the best friend of the leading lady. But she had everything that I find sexy — intelligence, wit, and the willingness to speak her mind under any circumstances. I go weak in the knees when she comes on. It doesn’t matter who she’s sharing the screen with — if she’s on, I’m watching her.
Personal note: I’m dying here at work for the next few weeks, and because your writing deserves more than just a snappy line or two, I haven’t been commenting. But this is a daily stop for me — it’s my favorite blog on any subject, period. I just don’t want you to get discouraged over lack of response — as long as you keep writing, there will be wonderful me out here in the dark. I did manage to watch Yellow Sky, but I stupidly forgot to set the DVR for Trial.
Great discussion of a couple of interesting films. I also love to notice the price of food, and especially what they’re eating.
Fantastic posting. I like the gritty early Warners’ films a lot, and agree with you that it is fascinating to see how much can be packed into just 60 or 70 minutes. Unfortunately not enough of these films are commercially available, or shown on TCM, in the UK… I’d especially like to see ‘Union Depot’ for Blondell, and also for Frank McHugh – I’ve mainly seen him in movies where he is a comic foil to Cagney, such as ‘Footlight Parade’, where he is great, and ‘The Irish in Us’, where I think his slapstick gets a bit over the top. I was impressed with him in a straight role in ‘The Crowd Roars’, and would love to see him playing a drunk.
With this film being made at the height of the Great Depression, I suppose that meal would have been an unaffordable dream for many people.
Also, having seen and loved ‘Grand Hotel’ recently, I like the idea of seeing a movie with a similar portmanteau style but focusing on poor rather than rich people.
Jon – I completely agree about Blondell. She’s one of the reasons why so many of the early WB movies work, no matter how bad the scripts may be. She doesn’t make me go weak in the knees–since I’m a girl (those spots are reserved for Arthur Kennedy and Robert Ryan)–but she’s everything I would have liked to be: adorable, snappy and vulnerable all rolled into one. I kind of wish I was into old movies when I was a teenager, because I could see her characters having a lot of influence over my behavior, as weird as that may sound.
I’m guessing you have that book that just came out on her a few months ago. I bought it right away and I love her so much more after reading that.
It’s funny, I actually thought this was one of my weaker write ups because I’m drowning with the holidays coming up and work. I know that a lot of internet time is cut down for everyone when RL interferes, but thank you for letting me know you’re still with me. I’ve always respected your opinion and it means a lot to know that you like mine as well!
Jacqueline – Have you ever seen the scene in “Yours Mine and Ours” (the 68 version, of course)where Henry Fonda and Lucy are buying like, 4, shopping carts full of groceries and when they go to the checkout, their total is $126 for 20 people! I think it’s equivalent to around $700 now. Insane.
Hi Judy!
My mom and I were watching a few of the WB movies and I commented that they should just stick them all in a boxset for a cheap price. They don’t even have to give extras, just the movies. I’m not sure how WB puts things out in the UK though. Sometimes, for kicks, I browse the TCM UK schedule and seethe in jealousy at some of the rarer WB/MGM movies you’re getting.
The first Frank McHugh movie I saw was “I Love You Again” with Powell and Loy, and I absolutely loved him in that. There’s one movie I just saw, “Havana Widows” where he kind of overplays the drunk card, but there are parts where he’s so amusing, it’s hard not to laugh.
I just watched “The Crowd Roars” a week or two ago and his scene is the most depressing thing in the film. I know I should feel bad at Cagney’s fall from grace, but the image of Frank McHugh getting killed is just awful
This is getting long, but I have to add that I LOVED Grand Hotel as well, especially Joan Crawford and Lionel Barrymore. I think he was my favorite character in the whole film.
Thanks for replying.:) I’m surprised to hear that you’re jealous of some of the movies we get on TCM over here, because it always seems to me as if you get far more rarities in the US! Maybe it’s that the grass is always greener… I do agree it would be lovely if they brought out more of the early Warner films in box sets, because it is so good to have the clear prints – and, although extras are nice, I do agree that the film is the main thing.
I loved ‘The Crowd Roars’ (I actually wrote a long, rambling review of it on my livejournal which still failed to mention about half the points I wanted to make … my lj name is alice45 if you are ever interested in looking, though don’t feel you have to:). The first time I watched it I was so mesmerised by Cagney that I didn’t really take enough notice of everybody else, but second time round I noticed more how good Ann Dvorak and Joan Blondell are, and also Frank McHugh in his small role. And yes, his death is very sad… although for me the saddest scene in the film is the one where Cagney is asking one person for another for a job, and being turned away from all of them – it seems to be such a picture of the Great Depression, as with those dinner menus.
Lionel and John Barrymore were both my favourites in ‘Grand Hotel’ (great when they have scenes together), though I also loved Garbo in that film.
Judy,
This was a while back, but when I was browsing the TCM UK schedules, I was really jealous because you were getting the MGM movies from the ’60s. And while they’re not that good, they’re usually fun to watch.
The first time I watched it I was so mesmerised by Cagney that I didn’t really take enough notice of everybody else,
That’s the problem with Cagney movies–and I mean that loosely–he’s so good, you really only pay attention to him. I became a huge Ann Dvorak fan after watching “Three on a Match”. I never even realized that she was the doomed girl in “G-Men”, because it’s really Cagney’s movie. My introduction to Joan Blondell was more through her 50’s roles in “Desk Set” and “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” I loved her so much in those, I made a note to look for her 30’s movies. I’m so glad I did!
I’m definitely going to check out your LJ! I enjoy reading other people’s movie reviews (and I’m over there as well). It always gives me a different perspective on them and usually, I have to go re-watch them afterwards.