The 39 Steps (1935)
CRUMBLIES… … Ooooohhhhh – perfect! Do you need more of a review than that? This – second only to Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939) – is Robert Donat’s best film. And it’s … Continue Reading The 39 Steps (1935)
Captain Boycott (1947)
CRUMBLIES… Old Jack has a weakness for those British movies of the the mid twentieth Century. Still in black and white, telling stories with warm caricature and earnestness, and before … Continue Reading Captain Boycott (1947)
The Winslow Boy (1948)
CRUMBLIES… This movie is glorious. Better than that – sublime. This is Robert Donat at his most brilliant, combining the cool with the sympathetic. It is the story of the … Continue Reading The Winslow Boy (1948)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
CRUMBLIES… Now this is the one! I know there have been a load of remakes, and before this version a slew of silents, but of the lot, this version is … Continue Reading The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
The New Lot (1943)
CRUMBLIES… A snifter of a Robert Donat performance, this. It’s 1943 again – and for real – and his run of war propaganda films tips into recruitment in a 40 … Continue Reading The New Lot (1943)
The Adventures of Tartu (1943)
CRUMBLIES… Hot on the heels of the propagandist’s wet dream that was The Young Mr Pitt (1942), and probably desperate for a whiff of mid-war modernity and crazy, Robert Donat‘s twelfth … Continue Reading The Adventures of Tartu (1943)
The Young Mr Pitt (1942)
CRUMBLIES… And on to Robert Donat‘s eleventh film. It’s 1942. His last movie, Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), came with an Oscar for Best Actor and then a pause. The world is … Continue Reading The Young Mr Pitt (1942)
Perfect Strangers / Vacation from Marriage (1945)
CRUMBLIES… Old Mrs Jack, bless her, was a live wire. She charmed old Jack here out of his tense shell in the 1950s. We were too young to have … Continue Reading Perfect Strangers / Vacation from Marriage (1945)
Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
CRUMBLIES, thousands of them. And all boys… Let the years pass but our hearts will remember, Schooldays at Brookfield ended too soon. Fight to the death in the mire of … Continue Reading Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
The Ghost Goes West (1935)
CRUMBLIES… A bit more Robert Donat, I fancy – as my Grandpa Gus would say. Here is his 7th film. He’s three years into his film career, a proper movie … Continue Reading The Ghost Goes West (1935)
The Citadel (1938)
CRUMBLIES… The Donat-watch goes on! So to his 9th film, and just one away from the great old school-master… The Citadel is a fantastic tale from A.J. Cronin – he … Continue Reading The Citadel (1938)
The Magic Box (1951)
CRUMBLIES… Old Jack is having a bit of a Robert Donat period. My old Grandpa Gus was a fan and, well, so should you be. An occasional treat in British … Continue Reading The Magic Box (1951)
Lease of Life (1954)
CRUMBLIES… Back in the day, old Jack’s Grandpa – a soft sod – waxed lyrical about Robert Donat. He of The 39 Steps (1935), The Citadel (1938) and the incomparably … Continue Reading Lease of Life (1954)
MOVIE BLETHER - MOVIE REVIEWS FOR YOUR MIDDLE AND... FINAL YEARS 