Wild Boys of the Road!

[mike]

Anyone seen this William Wellman film? It was pre-code & on TCM about a half week ago. Whaddafilm! Without giving anything away, these kids really get beaten down by life incredibly badly! VERY stylized in the period it was produced, the great depression in all its raw gritty reality but through the eyes of some just barely coming of age children. It is well worth seeing, I hope it is released commercially soon.

 

[jake_fink]

Yeah it was great. There was very brief period when "socially conscious" films were being produced , mainly by Warners, before the studios realized that schwankily attired and dreadfully witty rich folk made better escapist entertainment. I've wanted to see this one for, seriously, decades, and I finally did, and I was not disappointed. I'm glad TCM is doing this Wellman retrospective (all night pre-code girl-in-trouble pictures last night), as he's a great, though really under-rated director.

 

[Rooster]

Yep, loved it!:eusa_clap

 

[mike]

Yeah it was great. There was very brief period when "socially conscious" films were being produced , mainly by Warners,

yes, it seemed very King Vidor-ish! Minus the ending ofcourse but hey, that's life
I recorded a bunch of the Wellman films on last night, I'm really looking forward to watching them! It's really far too many films to get through this quickly! hahaha I've also been raging over Frank Borzage recently, although his films are reeeally not easy to come across. Although rumor round town is that won't be a problem too much longer....

 

[mike]

I have got to say, I'm really enjoying all these William Wellman films TCM are showing. I am really amazed at the sheer quantity of films he worked on in such a short window of time during the pre-code era.

Aside from "Wild Boys of the Road" (which might have some wheels turning for a dvd release...?) I also watched "Star Witness", which had me from the word 'go' with the utterly cute kids ("more beans please!") followed by their civil war veteran grandfather. Then I watched "So Big" with Barbara Stanwyck in a really interesting role that takes place over the span of her entire life, focusing on her relationship with her son once he grows up and becomes a man but doesn't comprehend what is really important in life. I've also watched a few Loretta Young films Wellman made aswell. Actually, I could watch her all night

But I'm amazed I never followed Wild Bill Wellman's career before! It's like a whole new world is opened to me! A real, cruel, bitter world that I can't help but revisit over and over again. I felt the same way when I first heard of Val Lewton, Frank Borzage or Maurice Tourneur. There's an entire library of fascinating work out there by visionaries that even for huge film fanatics, require major researching to find out what made them tick and what can be gleaned from how their films evolved or remained the same over the span of their careers.
In short, three cheers for Wild Bill Wellman! :eusa_clap

 

[jake_fink]

I'm so glad you're digging the Wellman retrospective. I know I had nothing to do with it but I'm just as pleased as if I did. I'm afraid that even after it's all ver and done with on TCM William Wellman will still be an under-rated great.

Did you see The Letter?

 

[mike]

I'm so glad you're digging the Wellman retrospective. I know I had nothing to do with it but I'm just as pleased as if I did. I'm afraid that even after it's all ver and done with on TCM William Wellman will still be an under-rated great.

Did you see The Letter?

I missed that one I'm afraid! I did just watch Heroes for Sale though! Again, what a weird movie! The twists and turns he puts his characters through. I mean, it seems like it goes out of his way to find stories that absolutely torture his characters! And mostly they play out as mini-epics showing large segments of the person's entire life rather than say a real time 70 minute glimpse into their day.

Who knows, I've been hoping that if this writers strike drags on, they will be forced to get creative - theatrically wide releasing terrific old films that no one usually gets to see on big screens (even if a town only has a multiplex now, it's better than nothing... maybe). So maybe in this wave of great theatrical prints some Wild Bill Wellman can get in there! Wiiishful thinking! lol

 

[jake_fink]

I missed that one I'm afraid! I did just watch Heroes for Sale though! Again, what a weird movie! The twists and turns he puts his characters through. I mean, it seems like it goes out of his way to find stories that absolutely torture his characters! And mostly they play out as mini-epics showing large segments of the person's entire life rather than say a real time 70 minute glimpse into their day.

Who knows, I've been hoping that if this writers strike drags on, they will be forced to get creative - theatrically wide releasing terrific old films that no one usually gets to see on big screens (even if a town only has a multiplex now, it's better than nothing... maybe). So maybe in this wave of great theatrical prints some Wild Bill Wellman can get in there! Wiiishful thinking! lol

I want to move into your universe.

I missed Heroes for Sale, it's another one I haven't ever seen.

More Wellman tonight I think, though I don't know what.