The Hollywood Studios, Year-By-Year – Paramount, 1933 – The Sign of the Cross & Island of Lost Souls
Jul 10, 2020
Paramount, 1933 (or so): a Charles Laughton and Karl Struss double feature. We start with Cecil B. DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, pitting piety against perversion. Fredric March in a mini skirt, Claudette Colbert in a milk bath, Laughton as a ditzy Nero, and a bunch of Christians bedecked with arrows. But are the Christians really Communists, or are they Mormons? Next, Island of Lost Souls, based on H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau. What is the metaphor? (D)evolution or (r)evolution? It's men with whips all the way down. The hairy proletariat. The pathos of Bela Lugosi. The dilemma of Lota, the Panther Woman. All this and more!
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: The Sign of the Cross (dir: Cecil B. De Mille)
0h 49m 09s: Island of Lost Souls (dir: Earl C. Kenton)
1h 15m 57s: Elise Goes Wilder
+++
* Check out our Complete Upcoming Episode Schedule
* Catch up with Dave’s fledgling Précis du cinema efforts on the Anagramsci Blog or on Letterboxd
* Find Elise’s latest film piece on Depression era film romance
*And Read lots of Elise’s Writing at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cléo, and Bright Lights.*
Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy
Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com
Theme Music:
“What’s Yr Take on Cassavetes?” – Le Tigre