Warner Archive provided me with free copies of the Blu-Rays I reviewed in this article. The opinions I share are my own.
Katharine Hepburn flies and Greta Garbo talks in these two pre-code pictures from Warner Archive.
Dorothy Arzner‘s Christopher Strong (1933)
Before My Man Godfrey saw Carole Lombard pick-up William Powell in a scavenger hunt for the wealthy there was Christopher Strong, a film named after it’s male lead but which should rightfully be called Cynthia Darrington after Katharine Hepburn’s character
Christopher (Colin Clive) and Cynthia are introduced at a scavenger hunt. They’re not participating in the hunt, though, but two of the sought after items. Christopher is the guy who’s never cheated on his wife that’s needed to win a sport coupe. Cynthia is the woman who’s never had a love affair who’s worth a sable coat. Naturally, their meeting causes their track records to implode. Making matters worse, Cynthia is friend’s with Christopher’s daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler), and Christopher is still married to his daughter’s mom (Billie Burke, aka Glinda the Good Witch).
With an adapted screenplay by Zoe Akins (who IMDB has down as an uncredited contributing writer on My Man Godfrey), Christopher Strong goes the way of a lot of Hepburn movies. In other words, while Cynthia starts the film a daring aviatrix who insists no one will ever get her to stop flying, that resolve doesn’t necessarily last long. Pre-code fans will be properly sated as the film deals with taboo subjects including divorce and cheating. In one of the film’s best scenes Hepburn is asked do some hand modeling to suggest premarital sex. She also has to wear a dress at one point that feels like the inspiration for Lucy’s Martian costume on the I Love Lucy episode, “Lucy Is Envious.”
Bonus Features:
The connection between the shorts included on Warner Archive discs and the feature films can be tangential at best. For instance, I guess “Tomalio” was included because the characters, led by Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, participate in a cross country race and, in Christopher Strong, Celia flies around the world as part of a contest. “Buddy’s Beer Garden” (a cartoon that’s exactly what it sounds like) includes a celebrity caricature of Mae West, so pre-code. “Plane Nuts” is the weakest of the three shorts. Even though it features The Three Stooges, they’re not credited as The Three Stooges, and there are two Busby Berkley-esque dance numbers involving propellers and plane formations.
Clarence Leon Brown‘s Anna Christie (1930)
The last time Chris (George F. Marion) saw his daughter she was five years old. Now Anna (Garbo) is back and hoping her old man can give her a place to stay so she can rest and build her strength up after a tough couple of weeks. Based on a Eugene O’Neill play, Warner Archive’s disc includes two versions of the film. Both star Garbo and one is designated as the German-language alternative version, but this isn’t just a case of the same film being dubbed for a different audience. Both films use the same limited sets, so there is a sense of déjà vu at first. It’s also easy to see how this story would’ve translated on stage.
Under Jacques Feyder’s direction, the German version moves at steadier pace, whereas there are parts of the English version that feel drawn out. This isn’t always a bad thing, and the character of Marty differently benefits the most from these pauses in the English version, where Marie Dressler and Garbo have time to size each other up (whereas in the German version, Marty’s opening scene is cut and there’s less emotional attachment built for Salka Viertel). On the other hand, the different castings for Anna’s love interest make the second half of the movie stronger in the German version. In the American version, Charles Bickford just comes across as a hot head, whereas Theo Shall‘s Matt has a much better handle on his temper, so when he does get angry it stands out.
Besides the fact that her entrance looks are different, Garbo gives two very different (and equally compelling) performances. If her Anna Christie in the American version has more of a jaded sense of humor, in the German version she looks more tired and worn out.
Bonus Features:
For those who enjoyed The MGM Parade episode about Garbo that was included on the Blu-ray release of Queen Christina, turns out it was a two-parter and this disc includes part one. There’s also a Lux Radio Theater broadcast of Anna Christie from 1938 starring Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy and, in honor of Anna Christie’s bad childhood (I guess), a cartoon set on a farm called, “The Booze Hangs High.”
Christopher Strong and Anna Christie are available on Blu-ray now from Warner Archive and to purchase from Movie Zyng.
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