Excellent Doug Fairbanks Jr. Movie From Early 1930's......All His 1930's Movies Were Unusually Good
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This is an excellent movie.
It's about the culture of celebrity creation by the mass media, politicians, and others, and shows the hard life and hard times the newly created and celebrated "hero" is put through (he actually was a hero USA Naval submarine officer).
This is an important subject, and few good examinations and treatments of it have ever been made.
The Anita Ekberg fragment of LA DOLCHE VITA (1960) also does a good job of showing "behind the scenes" truth about media professionals and treatment of celebrities, and the effects of the "celebrity life" on celebrities themselves. The Anita Ekberg fragment of LA DOLCHE VITA (1960) lasted only about 20 minutes during a movie lasting more than 2 hours, but the image of Anita became the signature image of the film, and justifiably.
IT'S TOUGH TO BE FAMOUS (1932) starring Doug Fairbanks Jr. and Mary Brian is a blunt, no-nonsense look and implied criticism of the entire phenomenon of "hero celebrities" which most celebrities become in time, at one level or another. Readers, viewers, concert and show ticket buyers are all urged to worship the celebrated performer, and the list of celebrity victims is long....Elvis, Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, John Barrymore, and on and on and on.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. had a famous movie star father, came of age for young leading man roles just as the talkie movie technology became widespread (early 1930's), and had a lot of talent performing the role of the intelligent and often unwilling hero types he was so often cast in.
All his movies are worth collecting and seeing. I've never seen one he starred in during the 1930's which was bad....quite a compliment considering how many bad movies were made then, and were made at all times.
Really good movies are rare and precious.
IT'S TOUGH TO BE FAMOUS (1932) and THE NARROW CORNER (1933) both starred Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and are both worth getting and seeing often.
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Written by Tex Allen
01/09/2014,
Columbia PA USA
