IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)

Jimmy Stewart has lived his entire life in the small town of Bedford Falls, New York.  As a child his main goal in life was to escape the town and explore the world.  That never happened.  Life and Fate prevented his ever leaving, but maybe that wasn't so bad because he ended up marrying the beautiful Donna Reed, having some cute children and giving the townsfolk a banking alternative to the wicked Lionel Barrymore who is a slumlord and runs the towns biggest bank. (I always get a kick out of seeing Lionel play an evil character, since, in my mind, I always see him as Kringelein from GRAND HOTEL.)  Things are actually going pretty good for Stewart...all the way up until Christmas Eve, 1945.  That's when Stewart's banking partner, Thomas Mitchell, makes a foolish mistake which could destroy Stewart's life and pretty much the hopes of the entire town.  Stewart is beside himself with fear and decides to throw himself into the river to make it look like an accidental drowning.  That way his family could cash in on his life insurance.  But then, right as he's about to jump, some blinking star creatures send an angel down to talk some sense into him and show him what life would be like if he had never been born.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is a wonderful film with great acting from an impressive cast.  It also looks really nice, but one of the things that always bothered me is when Stewart turned down his childhood friends offer of investing in plastics.  His friend ends up filthy rich and Stewart ends up literally one mistake away from suicide!  I felt that twist in the story was unneeded.  Another thing that bothered me: the last act went completely over the top with the unrealistic sentimentality.  And Lionel Barrymore never got any punishment for being a total asshole for decades or for stealing the other banks money!  And while the "never been born" part was very entertaining, it was (for somebody like myself who cannot see that my being alive is beneficial to anybody) kinda depressing.  If an angel-in-training was ever sent to talk me out of suicide with this "never been born" bullshit, he'd probably slit my throat and walk home defeated and wingless.

That said, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is still required viewing for anybody who loves Cinema...mainly because of the acting.  Also (for anybody keeping score), I fully believe that THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the correct choice for Best Picture of the Year.  It's simply a better film than IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

DINNER AT EIGHT (1933)

I heard that MGM's DINNER AT EIGHT was made because of the success of the previous years all-star GRAND HOTEL.  I have no idea if that is true or not, but it sounds reasonable.  Whatever the reason, I'm glad DAE was made and managed to find its way to my handsome eyeballs.

Once again both Lionel and John Barrymore appear in a film together (although sadly this time they don't have any scenes together).  The main story is about the wife (Billie Burke) of shipping magnate, Lionel Barrymore, wanting to throw an impressive dinner party.  The film opens with her excitedly making preparations and calling people to invite them.  After that, the film moves on to visit some of the invited guests as they live their lives.  Many of the scenes are quite long and the film is very interesting in how it the story is told in little bits and pieces all assembling together to tell a larger story.  I don't know if anybody else was impressed by that, but I thought it was very interesting.  The larger story is actually about Lionel's failing business and a corrupt businessman's (Wallace Beery) attempt to steal the company out from under Lionel.  Beery's wife, Jean Harlow, has other plans. 

Story aside, the main attraction is the star power.  DINNER AT EIGHT's cast is absolutely mind-blowing: Jean Harlow (her argument scene with Wallace Beery alone is worth the price of admission), Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Billie "Glinda the Good Witch" Burke, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe, John Barrymore (he was hypnotically amazing), Marie Dressler, Madge Evans and a number of great supporting actors like Grant Mitchell, John Davidson and Edwin Maxwell (I love his voice).

DINNER AT EIGHT isn't for everybody and it does kinda start a little slow, but if you like classic movies I think that you will really enjoy it.  The story builds and builds and I was actually sad when it ended.  It could have gone on, at the pace it was going, for another hour and I would have been just fine.  Recommended.