Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce

Warner Bros.

October 20, 1945

Crime Drama

DVD
B-

I've seen this before, possibly more than once, but maybe not in over twenty-five years.  This time I was most struck by, one, how much better the female performances are than the male (and, yes, I will always love Eve Arden); and two, how Forties it is, not just in its noir feel but in references to the economy and the War.  Faulkner apparently was one of the uncredited contract workers who adapted the James M. Cain novel.  Michael Curtiz directed, after The Adventures of Robin Hood and before Life with Father.

That Uncertain Feeling

That Uncertain Feeling
United Artists
April 20, 1941
Romcom
DVD
B-

I said that Nothing Sacred was a romance and a comedy but not a romcom.  Well, I think this is, although, yes, with the Lubitsch touch.  It is a triangle where an insurance-salesman (Douglas, going from boring to scheming) woos and tricks his wife (Oberon, lovely and fun), who's strayed with a "genius" musician (Meredith, both irritating and surprisingly sexy).  Although slow-moving at times (something I've noticed in other Lubitsch movies), it is witty and at times laugh-out-loud funny, with a good cast, including, yes, a scene-stealing Eve Arden.  The movie bombed at the time, but while I don't think it's on the level of Design for Living (reviewed here https://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/02/design-for-living.html), it is better than I expected, especially compared to the other "comedy classics" so far.