MAKSQUIBS CINEMATHEQUE: IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944)

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RECOMMENDED - Meaning Strongly Recommended. A film that's good enough or historically important enough to demand viewing. WARNING: A few real stinkers are important enough to rate this label. And, on the other hand, lots of pretty good or pretty valuable films, don't quite measure up to our RECOMMENDED level. (See also UNIQUE, below.)

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READ ALL ABOUT IT - While there's a book or two (or ten dozen) closely related to just about any film you might think of, here's a specific book you might not have known about (or thought of) that opens a window on the chosen title.

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(Hint: most of the posters will enlarge if you click on them.)

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT - sort of like those EAT THIS, NOT THAT diet books only with film instead of food as the topic. Sometimes, the substitute pick isn't the obvious 'better' choice, but one of those 'flawed-but-interesting' films that often get left behind.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID - some easy to miss element worth noting.

SILENT FILM - hey, figure it out (LOL)

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Like just about everyone with an interest in the movies, I'm watching more films on DVD and going out to movie houses a lot less. Convenience trumps the better experience.
Of course, you lose audience interaction and the poor film now has to compete with all the comforts of home.
It's a bit like seeing Rembrandts & Titians in a book reproduction, or from posters with iffy color values, no texture or weight to the surface and the wrong dimensions . . . all while snacking on chips & soda. (Oops! You get that at your local cinema,too.)
The ease of instant movie gratification risks turning an art form (well, sometimes) into little more than low-grade eye-candy & mindfodder. So, maybe it's worthwhile to write a bit down on what we're all viewing, just to keep fully engaged.

DVDs: the latest opiate of the people meets the internet, where everyone's a critic.
God help us.

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Thursday, June 23, 2022

IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944)

While fellow exiled-directors Jean Renoir & Max Ophuls struggled in WWII Hollywood, René Clair made a remarkably smooth transition. And if the passing years have reversed critical opinions on their American films (especially for Ophuls who batted out masterpieces wherever he landed), this gentle farce retains its charm & freshness. Set in the late 1800s (like Clair’s best film, THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT/’28), it’s the story of a young reporter who mysteriously receives a copy of tomorrow’s newspaper today. The obvious advantages of getting a really Early Edition help him find fame, fortune & tru-love. But what to do when your own obit shows up on tomorrow’s front page? Fight it? Go fatalistic? Dick Powell is a bit long in the tooth for a cub reporter, but he helps the much younger Linda Darnell loosen up. Clair downplays her statuesque quality simply by accentuating how much taller Powell is. Clever. Dudley Nichols interlocks his plot without making dumb choices (not so easy in a Hollywood farce) and Clair delights us (and no doubt himself) casting veteran comics in supporting roles (Jack Oakie, Edgar Kennedy, Sig Rumann, & Edward Brophy) somewhat like Preston Sturges, whose CHRISTMAS IN JULY/’40 (our DOUBLE-BILL, also starring Powell) has a similar light, winning tone.

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Thursday, June 23, 2022

IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944)

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