The Racket (1928)

 

At first glance, this is a simple tale of a good cop trying to take down a mob boss in the days of Prohibition. But it manages to pack a surprising amount of depth and hints at systemic corruption into its short runtime. While the pacing doesn't quite hold up and everything seems pretty cliche, I can definitely see this one being hip and fresh at the time. There were a few moments that I still found pretty darned cool - two rival gangs circling each other in public place, guns openly hidden in their jacket pockets like kids pretending to have guns; the lackey from the corrupt D.A.'s office turning on the main villain before he can expose them. Again, it's a little slow, but a strong film from the silent era.

17 to go...

One Night of Love (1934)

 

After many pleasant surprises in the recent old films I'd seen, this one was a real disappointment. Imagine the film Whiplash, but Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons fall in love. That's essentially this film. An American girl moves to Italy with hopes of becoming an opera singer. A firm and famous teacher takes her under his wing. After two years of growing to hate him and his harsh methods, she decides she's in love with him and he with her. There's not the slightest whiff of chemistry in any of it or in any other interactions in the film. I can only imagine it was nominated for the elaborate musical scenes throughout. This movie sucks.

18 to go...