After Tomorrow (1932)

Movies were only with sound for 5 years when Frank Borzage's underrated After Tomorrow came out. This may be one of my favorite movies I've seen from 1932. Really impressed me.

This movie features a standout performance by Josephine Hull, who only made a handful of pictures including Harvey with Jimmy Stewart nearly 20 years later. She's younger in this movie, but still very motherly, and quite an overbearing mother in fact.  She plays Mrs. Piper, mother to Peter Piper (Charles Farrell) and says things like, "in every man lurks a beast that can be aroused." Hey, that was pretty steamy stuff to say back then in the pre-code era.

Petey wants to get married to Sidney (Marian Nixon). But they're dirt-poor, and pinching every penny they have left. After all, this is the Depression (set in New York). Mother loves her boy so much that she tries to break up the marriage. Minna Gombell plays a much more verbally abusive mother to Sidney. And soon there is little doubt that the marriage will ever take place, even after a very funny impromptu rehearsal sequence.

Little Man, What Now? (1934)

An interesting episodic film from the early 1930s. Margaret Sullivan and Douglass Montgomery are a young couple in Weimar Germany. Margaret's expecting. Times are hard. Hitler is never mentioned by name, but there are scenes where we see people gathering for rallies.

Throughout the the film the two move from place to place and interact with some interesting characters who only appear in one or two scenes. These supporting characters (played by some great 1930s character actors) are either villainous or angelic, the latter helping them in desperate moments. An alternate title for this film might be "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (I made that up). I couldn't help cheering the couple on throughout; the are good decent people, and make such a cute, lovable couple.

There is one unforgettable moment in a department store with Douglass Montgomery and a character who is playing a famous actor. At the end, the baby is born (this is not a spoiler), and one character says to the newborn "Little man, what now?" (hence the title) which is an interesting thought, back then in 1934 and even today in 2011 with our hindsight. I left the theater thinking about what kind of life that child would have had; today he'd be almost 80 years old.

Directed by Frank Borzage.
Highly recommended.