The Pied Piper (1942)

Unlike the last couple I've watched recently, this film is pretty darned good. An elderly Englishman is tasked with escorting a couple children home to London as the Germans invade France. Along the way he keeps accumulating more children, hence the film's title. It's a bit of an odd mix of humor and the horrors of the war, but I definitely recommend it.

35 to go...

The Human Comedy (1943)

Overall, this is just a slightly-below-average slice-of-life show filmed and set during WWII. There's no real through plot and just little vignettes that loosely tie together. I could have almost got on board with recommending it until I got to the ending which was so incredibly tone deaf I said, "What the f***" out loud. [Spoiler alert for a 77-year-old movie] So our main character learns via telegram that his brother has died in the war and goes home to tell his family. When he gets to the front porch he encounters his brother's best friend from the army whom the family has never met. He decides this is just as good as having his brother back and shouts up to the family that the soldier has returned home. Are you kidding me?

36 to go...

Wilson (1944)

No real plot here, just an overview of Woodrow Wilson's career from president of Princeton University to the end of his tenure as President of the United States. The movie avoids any nuance and paints Wilson as a saint and almost a martyr for the causes of peace and prosperity. Ignoring, of course, the fact that he couldn't have cared less for the struggles of minorities in the country. Alexander Knox does give a very good performance as Wilson, but this film is entirely skippable.

37 to go...