Three on a Match

Mervyn LeRoy's Three on a Match opens with three schoolgirls going their separate ways after graduating from public school. Mary (Joan Blondell) ends up in reform school and becomes a showgirl. Ruth (Bette Davis) opts for business school and becomes a stenographer. Vivian (Ann Dvorak) marries into a comfortable life but finds herself bored with it.

Soon after they reunite -- and the titular superstition is invoked -- Vivian runs off with another man with her young son in tow. And the luck of the three women shifts following Vivian's decision, some good and some bad. But what will befall them after all of them?

There's just that certain spark to pre-Code titles that Hollywood has tried to replicate countless times in the years since that brief era to varying success. And boy, does Three on a Match have that spark in spades. (There's a promotional still of Blondell that perhaps best exemplifies this period in Hollywood.) Just goes to show that there's no Hollywood era quite like the pre-Code one.

LeRoy -- a man whose career dipped its toe in various genres throughout the years -- shows a sharp eye towards the melodramatic nature of Three on a Match. As he would do with Waterloo Bridge and Random Harvest the following decade, he doesn't demonize the leads for their wrongdoings as they try to survive in the world they're a part of. Some are simply put on the wrong path beyond their control.

Three on a Match shows that Hollywood just doesn't make movies like they used to nearly a century ago. Very seldom do you see character morality get tested nowadays as was commonplace for the pre-Code era, let alone complicated female characters. And boy, is that ending a doozy.

My Rating: *****

Random Harvest

I usually don't care much for love stories. (I'm a cynic, so sue me.) If I do decide to watch one, it's usually one that's either doomed from the start or on its last legs. The best ones, however, are those that appear perfect but are anything but.

That can describe the relationship between Paula (Greer Garson) and "Smithy" (Ronald Colman) in Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest. Yes, they meet, fall in love and get married, but neither know of Smithy's past prior to their meeting. Then Smithy remembers who he is...but forgets his life with Paula.

Much like LeRoy's earlier film Waterloo Bridge, Random Harvest spends the first third revolving around the budding romance, the second third on their separation, and the final third on their possible reconciliation. (The endings for both films, however, are very different.) Even then the stories between the lovers bear striking resemblances.

And to make the story more potent, LeRoy enlisted the likes of Garson and Colman. Garson has a number of heartbreaking expressions throughout the final third which make the film have more of an impact. Colman in turn has a vulnerable look in his eyes that makes his work in the first third more lasting. The combination of these two looks during the final moments all the more enduring.

Random Harvest is a very lovely film. Thanks to the work from LeRoy, Garson and Colman, the film takes a simple plot (which in the wrong hands would be a melodramatic mess) and makes Random Harvest a romance for the ages.

My Rating: *****

Waterloo Bridge

In the opening moments of Mervyn LeRoy's Waterloo Bridge, an aging soldier remembers a conversation he had with a woman. A quick smile appears on his face, but sorrow soon seeps in and his eyes begin to water. Who is this man and the woman he remembers?

The man is Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor). The woman is Myra Lester (Vivien Leigh), a ballet dancer he falls in love with almost instantly. Their first meeting they fall in love. Their second day they plan to get married. The third day Roy gets shipped off. Myra receives news that Roy was killed in action, and she slips into a deep depression.

Leigh is one of the undisputed greats of Hollywood's Golden Age. Taylor was more recognized as a movie star than as an actor, which is a shame since he was very good in roles like Waterloo Bridge. Seeing them together on screen emphasizes not just that they were very attractive people (they were) but also showing they were talented too.

What's interesting is that the film doesn't rely just on Leigh and Taylor's ability to say lines with conviction. It also relies on their ability to say anything without even speaking speaking, mainly through facial expressions and body language. Three moments in particular: the hope on Roy's face after first meeting Myra; the shock seeping into her face when she sees him very much alive; and the loving, wordless exchanges between them as the waltz to "Auld Lang Syne".

Waterloo Bridge is fantastic. In the wrong hands, this would've been the typical melodrama of the era. Instead, LeRoy makes sure that the romance cliches are absent, and that Leigh and Taylor don't hit a false note at any point. Safe to say all three succeeded.

My Rating: *****

The Bad Seed

Why is it children in horror movies are always creepy? Anyone that has seen The Omen or The Shining can agree with me on that.

Probably one of the first "creepy kid" horror movies was 1956's The Bad Seed. Most kids in horror movies are possessed or taken over by some sort of spirit. Patty McCormack's Rhoda Penmark is just downright evil. Seriously, wouldn't you be freaked out by a kid like her?

With most other people in movies that have killed, they worry if they'll get caught. Not Rhoda. All the worrying is done by her mother Christine (Nancy Kelly). Rhoda could barely care if she gets caught. She just goes on with her day like any normal eight-year-old (or sociopath) would.

The Bad Seed has to be one of the more underrated horror movies out there, though it does get a little schlocky in some scenes. McCormack is probably the most horrifying kid in any movie. Hey, you try finding a kid creepier than Rhoda Penmark. (Trust me, there isn't.)

My Rating: ****1/2