The Band Wagon – when an aging Hollywood dancer comes to Broadway, a couple of his playwright pals put together a musical. They’re sure it will be a hit and cast him in the lead role. Things get stressful between members of the cast. When the play has a disastrous opening night, the troupe members decide they must pull together to make the show a success.
A Tale of Two Cities (1935) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” Charles Dickens‘ tale of love and tumult during the French Revolution comes to the screen in a sumptuous film version by the producer famed for nurturing sprawling literary works: David O. Selznick (David Copperfield, Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind). Ronald Colman (The Prisoner of Zenda) stars as Sydney Carton. He’s sardonic, dissolute, a wastrel… And destined to redeem himself in an act of courageous sacrifice. “It’s a far, far better thing I do than I’ve ever done,” Carton muses at that defining moment.
Romeo and Juliet (1936), starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Basil Rathbone, Edna May Oliver, John Barrymore, C. Aubrey Smith Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s classic tale of love and youth ruined by a family feud. The Montagues and the Capulets, two powerful families of Verona, hate each other. Romeo, a Montague, crashes a Capulet party, and there meets Juliet. They fall in love and secretly marry. After killing a nephew of Lady Capulet in a fight, Romeo is banished from Verona. Capulet tries to marry Juliet to Paris, a prince. Juliet seeks the counsel of Friar Laurence, who married her and Romeo. He suggests a daring plan that ends tragically.