Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Haven Kaycee
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
gavin6942
The public defender's secretary (Sylvia Sidney) and an ex-convict (Henry Fonda) get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.When Fritz Lang came to America, he seemed to specialize in film noir. This was one of his earliest films. Unfortunately, because of the censors, we will likely never get to see his proper vision... as much as fifteen minutes have been cut for violence. Today, these scenes would probably be considered tame or laughable.The film today may be in the public domain (this is unclear), as the available copies are not as crisp as they could be (though not nearly as bad as hey could be, either). The film recorded a loss of $48,045, which is rather startling in retrospect -- how could Lang or Fonda be attached to a box office bomb?
edwagreen
Story or no story, what woman would give up her baby and flee with her condemned husband? This was one of the problems I had with a fairly good film. As always, the acting by Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sidney were very good.The picture again tries to prove that once you're a convict, you're labeled that way for life,even when you try to go straight. Such was the case with Fonda, who tried to go straight, but the rejection by others led only to more trouble for him.William Gargan was excellent as the victim-priest. It was the experiences of the Fonda character which wouldn't allow him to believe police officials that he had been exonerated of the crime he had been charged with. Sad commentary on our lives.
secondtake
You Only Live Once (1937)Ah, to see such a simple, moving, constantly changing drama with a criminal undertone (or overtone) is a treat. This isn't quite from the Warner Brother heyday in the early 1930s, where the form was established and made dark and really fast. But this is pre-film noir, strictly speaking, forming a bridge between the two worlds. In fact, like Stagecoach two years later, this is a daring William Wanger production, going out on a limb, and using brilliant German director Fritz Lang for an essentially American drama.The innocent man fighting for his life, the loving woman who will do anything to help, the evil or doubtfully trustworthy authorities of every kind, the kindly defense lawyer, and the priest, all are archetypes used before but mixed together with brilliance. If there is a clunky moment or two, there is just one or two, and the whole thing is mostly bracing and quite beautiful. It's also a fairy tale, of sorts, the kind of moral fable where you sort of know the ending but don't mind because it's point is so beautiful.Henry Fonda is here presaging his famous "breakout" roles in "Jezebel," "Young Mr. Lincoln," and "Grapes of Wrath," and his love-interest, Sylvia Sidney, is known for a role she had just finished in "Sabotage." Both are spot on perfect. And as their involvement goes through some surprises, it turns into a kind of "They Live by Night," which you should also see. The whole idea of two people in love against the world, which doesn't understand them, is as poignant and lasting as it gets, and Lang, whatever his usual dark sentiments, lets this part of it shine through, too.
RResende
This is from a time in which Fritz Lang still wanted (or thought he could) to go on making American films as he was doing them in Germany. We have a theme with social concerns, a useless attack on the morality of the system and prejudice. It's vapid, and it's superficial. Lang was good with manipulating images, with creating powerful scenery that could, by itself, pass a mood, usually an oppressive mood, maybe an advance of what nazism would become and symbolize to western civilization.But here he has to submit to his new environment. In this moment in cinema history the differences Lang might have found were probably in the kind of effective control he lost over the choices in his films. This is an American film, more than an auteur film, and watching this means understanding this fact. The outcome, in this case, is a total mess, i think. There are only a few things worth watching, but even those can be found much better integrated, and thus much more powerful, in other films: one of those things is when we feel Lang was able to create visually. Here we have two particularly interesting moments: one is when Fonda is in a cage waiting for his execution moment to come. The cage is designed for the light to go through and produce the light we see. This is enhanced by the upper position Lang gives to his camera, as he liked to do, in order to give us the sensation of some outer/superior force controlling what's beneath. The other moment is the fog with vultures walking undefined in the prison escape scene. As with the cage, it's a moment of tension and importance in the unimportant plot. I suppose Lang, not being able to cover the whole film with his vision at least tried to hold these moments. These clips are worthwhile, but i've seen them in better contexts.the other thing worth watching is Fonda. Before Marlon Brando, he is one of the few who understood what was necessary for an actor to do in order to make a film work. He is very contained, but he walks, talks, and expresses in a way which is made for the camera, for the film. It's a pleasure to watch him but again, there are better sources for us to understand his qualities My opinion: 1/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com
