Capsule Reviews 1/5/11

Darkened Rooms (1929)
Neil Hamilton and Evelyn Brendt star in a good little drama that plays better than many films made at the same time (ie those coming at the advent of sound). The film is about Hamilton who is photographer who wants to get into the spiritualism racket because he feels that there is big money in it. Into his life collapses Brendt who is an out of work dancer on the skids. He takes her in and makes her his assistant. She falls for him and he for her, but she's worried about the racket taking over his life. Pure melodrama it is, but its also very watchable. the best thing I can say is I can't wait to share it with friends.

Six Hours to Live (1932)
Warner Baxter is a diplomat opposed to a treaty that will eventually lead to war and ruin. His enemies want them out of the way, so they kill him. However they didn't count on a scientists ability to bring back the dead for the title amount of time. Can Baxter fix his life and the world in the time left to him? Creaky early science fiction drama that is less about the science then what it is to be alive and the need to do right. Filled with longing looks and questions of life and death this is neat little film. Why it's not better known is beyond me. Sure it's not perfect but at the same time it has a nice little kick in it that was for me rather unexpected. Definitely worth a look.

While Paris Sleeps (1932)
Gritty, close to sleazy melodrama about a Devil's Island convict who breaks out and makes his way back to Paris to see his dying wife and the daughter he hasn't seen in almost ten years. Arriving in the city he finds he is too late, his wife has died and his daughter has disappeared having been turned out onto the street by her landlord. The film focuses on the daughter and how the innocent woman walks through events not aware of the true implications. A good melodrama, more of interest for the attitude that is thirty or forty years too early with its implications of sex and violence (one man is thrown in a furnace alive). Something worth keeping an eye out for.