Loving pre-war fantasy films...

Looking through the top 100 films list from the American Film Institute (AFI), I was pleased to see I’ve rewatched quite a few, multiple times. The top 10 starts with “Citizen Kane” (1941) and ends with “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). “Casablanca” (1942) is #3. “Singin’ In the Rain” is mis-dated as ‘39 (it was ‘52), and “Gone With the Wind” as ‘54 (it was ‘39), but the fact is that many of our favorite films were made in the decade before I was born (‘43).

There’s something about the concept of fantasy and the imagination of filmmakers of that time that still impresses. “King Kong” in ‘33 was never equalled; the special effects were too costly, and Ray Harryhausen had to dream up new methods for “Mighty Joe Young” in ‘49. We had all the great Universal monster movies, which began to spoof themselves (“Abbot & Costello Meet…”, “The House of…”) in the ‘40s.

I recently saw Laurel & Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” (‘34, along with “It Happened One Night”). I had no idea how much “The Wizard of Oz” owed visually to that modest action comedy! It looks primitive now, but Stan & Ollie are special and well worth watching. (My grandfather used to laugh his ass off watching them.) It’s a hoot!

​1940’s “The Thief of Bagdad,” debuted Sabu, who was also well-cast in Powell & Pressburger’s terrific “Black Narcissus” a few years later. Michael Powell was one of the three directors working under the Kordas, the powerful family of Hungarian-born filmmakers in England. Technicolor was king, then, following “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz,” so when England entered WWII in ‘39, production was shifted to the U.S., where it was still available. The continuity errors are humorous, as is the tone of the entire movie! And why is it that these crude special effects still charm when, with 21st century CGI, we’re often unimpressed?

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