Monsieur Verdoux **
Charles Chaplin, 1947
US
@ Northwest Film Forum

I was just reading last night that the United States was one of the first nations to recognize Franco's Spain after World War II. Except in times of dire economic crisis, we're pretty happy to sacrifice pretty much any other values in the name of capitalism. 1947 must have been a particularly bad time to release this, then.

Some people seem to have confused "greatest American comedy" and "funniest American movie" in contemporary discussions of this picture's historical status. I have no idea how you could support the second, but the first might not be out of the question. If by greatest you mean best use of the tools of film comedy to lambast libertarian greed and support of monstrous policies to pay for our way of life, then this is certainly up there. I found it to be intermittently funny, although some bits were very good, particularly the scene in the boat.

Though I've noticed it at other screenings as well, here I felt particularly sheepish when I discovered that I would laugh most before humorous events took place on screen, largely finished by the time they happened, simply because Chaplin's comedy relies on the big delivery of some mistake or pratfall you can predict, rather than a true element of surprise. In other words, I might start laughing at the point where it becomes obvious to the audience that Monsieur Verdoux is going to believe he's drunk the poisoned wine, at the moment his companion switches the glasses, rather the moment when he finally gets the mortally terrified look on his face. Not sure if it's that I undervalue the execution and overvalue the construction/set-up of the scene, or if anticipation really is more than half the fun.

See also: IMDb | TCMDb

Daisy Kenyon **
Otto Preminger, 1947
US
@ Film Forum

They used the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video from Don't Look Back as a trailer beforehand. I'd never realized that Allan Ginsberg is standing a few yards back at the far left of the frame talking to someone facing away from the camera.

Henry Fonda has his moments here, but the character lives too much inside his own head for Fonda to really do much with the role. Dana Andrews, on the other hand, is deliciously^ condescending, especially towards the women.

Best moment: Andrews' despicable lawyer is lashing out at his wife for eavesdropping on a phone call to his mistress. His younger daughter creeps into the room silently before he throttles the poor woman and yells, "I never thought you were worth killing before, but now I realize I was wrong!" or something completely over-the-top like that.

See also: TCMdb

^ "Delicious" in that how can you truly root for the woman in the melodrama without a truly loathsome man opposite?

Laura ***
Otto Preminger, 1944
US
@ Film Forum

Man, what a way to start off the year. The cast is strong across the board, although it's really the dialogue that sticks and not the characters. Also, a lot of whiskey is consumed. I was reminded a bit of Scarlet Street by the star-crossed May-December romance involving art in New York City, although the sympathies are very much shifted around.

Clifton Webb is memorable for the way he just stares into space while saying his lines. Kind of like his character's life is simply a well-rehearsed collection of unbelievably witty one-liners delivered to whomever might happen to be around--that is, within the logic of the story on screen and not necessarily from our point of view. He and Andrews both have terrific voices. It's kind of funny how short Webb's narration is at the beginning, although I guess it does pick back up when he's telling the backstory to Andrews' detective.

See also: TCMdb