Top cast:John Bunny,Van Dyke Brooke,Wallace Reid
Director:Isao Takahata
Genre:Game-Show
Region:Norway
Year:2016
Storyline:As is true of many of Howard Hawks"" finest films (including he crime filmScarface (1932),Twentieth Century (1934),His Girl Friday (1940),To Have and Have Not (1944), the detective filmThe Big Sleep (1946),Monkey Business (1952), andGentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)), this masterpiece was not nominated for a single Academy Award." [Note: Hawks"" and his wife""s pet nicknames for each other were Slim and Steve.] The film was also the first time that Bogart worked with Hawks - Bogart and Bacall were further teamed together in Hawks"" follow-up filmThe Big Sleep (1946), a version of Raymond Chandler""s first Philip Marlowe novel." She muses about her beloved:The moment I saw him smileI knew he was just my styleMy only regret is we""ve never metThough I dream of him all the whileEsther ambles over to the window seat, sitting and looking out over the neighbor""s place in the direction of the Boy-Next-Door ("at 5133") as she continues singing about her crush on he teenager who lives closeby:How can I ignore the Boy Next Door?I love him more than I can sayDoesn""t try to please me, doesn""t even tease meAnd he never sees me glance his wayAnd though I""m heartsore, the Boy Next DoorAffection for me won""t displayI just adore him, so I can""t ignore himThe Boy Next DoorDuring the playing of the song""s melody, Esther primps and prances in front of the hallway mirror, and then does a little dance with herself at the foot of the stairs.I can""t get myself right.I wanted to look mellow and I look brittle.My face doesn""t compose well - it""s all highlights.How can I dim myself down, Leon? Suggest something.Oh, I""m so bored with this face.I wish I had someone else""s face.Whose face would you have if you had your choice? Oh well, I guess one gets the face one deserves.Her dapper boyfriend/lover, who shares her cynical view of love and a business partnership, is the suave and handsome playboy Count Leon D""Algout (Melvyn Douglas), who responds wittily: "There""s one marvelous advantage to your conversation, Swana.Filmed in journalistic, documentary-style black and white textures with some low-key lighting and chiaroscuro (often provided by a candle or low light source) - beautifully captured by Gregg Toland""s expert cinematography (remarkably un-nominated!), he picture records with astute realism rural America in the 30s.