Updated RankingsI watched Seven film by Sam Wood and still couldn't find a way to identify his style. He focuses more on the script than the camera, though Kings Row and Ivy are quite cinematic. He makes actors comfortable with giving big performances, which may be why he made one of the Marx Bros best films.
The Man in Possession (1931)
★ ★ ★ - OkayRobert Montgomery shines as a disgraced family member who ends up as butler to his brother's fiancee. Doesn't quite achieve screwball lift, but has fun sputtering across the runway. Reginald Owen is a standout as the brother.
Hold Your Man (1933)
★ ★ ½ First half is Jean Harlow's finest performance as she out toughs Clark Gable, playing a smooth hustler. Back half sends to to prison and loses the energy (and the Gable.)
Stamboul Quest (1934)
★ ★ ½ Espionage thriller starring Myrna Loy. A couple of good surprises, but a mostly low-key affair. Usually it's fun trying to figure out which side people are really on, but it's kind of frustrating here because you have nobody to root for.
Madame X (1937)
★ ★ ★ - OkayMelodrama goes through a lot of coincidence, but it's all worth it for the lacerating finale. A rare starring role for Gladys George (Maltese Falcon, Roaring Twenties). Great support by Warren William. That ending... damn.
Kings Row (1942)
★ ★ ★ - OkayRonald Reagan gives his best performance, though it still took most of the movie to get used to him as an actor. Charles Coburn and Claude Rains play small town doctors with different views on surgery. Ann Sheridan comes in after an hour and wraps all the threads around her finger. Good thing too, because until then it's mostly on the soft shoulders of Robert Cummings.
Guest Wife (1945)
★ ★ ½ Now in her 40s, Claudette Colbert is still a screwball comedy queen. The script is pretty lame and Don Ameche plays it too slick, but some of it works.
Ivy (1947)
★ ★ ½ Wood's most stylized film is the kind of murder noir I'm always looking to show Mrs. 1SO for Shocktober. It's not a tricky story and I still find Joan Fontaine to be pretty bland as an actress, but there are some good scenes, especially the ending. Always great to nail the ending.