BOTTOMED OUT!!! •A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935)

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             SPLODGE! NOTES: 1^st. Mon. in FEBRUARY (05/02/07)

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                           1^st.  Quartile

 

                           FEBRUARY

                            AD 2007

 

                          Monday 05^th

 

             Registration:    7.30    -      8.00 pm

             Screening: >>>>> 8.00  (*EIGHT*!!!!)  pm <<<<<

 

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                               TONIGHT! -

 

              BOTTOMED OUT!!!

                                    (Tonight's feature occupies the entire programme.)

 

•A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

(1935)

 

 

Anita Louise as Titania and James Cagney as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, as shot by William Dieterle in 1935.

Yes! Splodge! is back for 2007!
Curses, you may think, and, yes, it IS a curse, of sorts! More work for us, more fun for YOU!

 

This year, we head off with something a little unusual -  it is both a "seasonal" selection, and - uncharacteristically - classy for we (usually) low-art types. Now, normally, had we wanted to run through the humans-transforming-into-animals routine, we'd have headed straight for THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1933)("Paging Dr. Moreau... "), or one of the freakier, mythological Sword & Sandal flicks, but - just to keep you all slightly confused - we've run to the Bard, by way of Warner Bros. instead. You can thank your lucky stars it ain't LA BELLE ET LA BĘTE (1945) again.

 

Ow, all right, we confess - the real reason we want to have a look at this prehistoric production is to check out the thespian efforts of a juvenile KENNETH ANGER, in the role of the Changeling Prince! (I kid you not!)

 

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935) is an intriguing mix of art and kitsch, of European sensibility - Max Reinhardt's overall conception and design - and a Hollywood studio's pursuit of prestige through the popularization of a great work.
The production design, photography, special effects, music and choreography are impressive and often combine to memorably magical effect. We especially liked all the sparkling!

 

The all-star cast is more, er, contentious, although there is general, if not universal agreement about the success of the comic parts - JAMES CAGNEY as Bottom, JOE E. BROWN as Flute, MICKEY ROONEY as Puck, Hugh Herbert as Snout - and VICTOR JORY - looking as if he had just stepped out of Wagnerian opera - or STAR WARS - as the saturnine Oberon. (We would have sworn from the giggling that was ED WYNN in the part of Ninny's Wall, but nope, the book insists it is the wonderful ARTHUR TREACHER!)

 

Now, in case you are a little short on the plot for this fantastic fantasy, here's a quick refresher (make sure you have some aspirin handy, 'tho!) - Theseus, Duke of Athens, is going to marry Hyppolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Demetrius is engaged to Hermia, but Hermia loves Lysander, and Helena loves Demetrius. Meanwhile, Oberon and Titania, from the Kingdom of the Fairies have been having a slight quarrel as to whether or not the boy Titania is raising will join Titania's band or Oberon's, so Oberon tries to get him from her with the use of a little magic. But they're not alone in that forest. Lysander and Hermina have planned a rendezvous there, Helena and Demetrius are there, too, as well asa band of actors - who are practicing a play for the ongoing wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Due to some misunderstandings by Puck, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused...

 

Prod Co: Warner Bros Pictures.  Prod: Max Reinhardt. Dir: Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle. Scr: Charles Kenyon, Mary McCall Jr. Phot: Hal Mohr ; Art Des: Anton Grot. Ed:Ralph Dawson. Mus: ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD.  Cast: JAMES CAGNEY, JOE E. BROWN, DICK POWELL, MICKEY ROONEY, VICTOR JORY, OLIVIA DE HAVILAND, ARTHUR TREACHER, KENNETH ANGER. 

117 mins. NFVLS