The Mortal Storm (1940)

Hey! Look! It's two people who are great, together for the second time! Recommended by Carmel, The Mortal Storm is an out-of-print flick from 1940. It's hella rare, people. A video store in Seattle requires a $150 deposit to rent it.

It was great to see it, but honestly this movie was a bit dull and really strange. The deal is that Jimmy and Margaret are young folks in almost-Nazi Germany. All their pals, including the illustrious Robert Young, are wayyy into the Nazis. Only the best movie couple in town + Frank Morgan choose to resist. Resistance is difficult, though, because it tears families apart -- just like Yankee/Mets feuds.

I was really pleased to see the old MGM crew back together in this, but it's probably not worth watching if you're not me or two others.

2/5 pizzas

I Walked With a Zombie (1943)

Because it was recommended by a pal, I watched I Walked With a Zombie sooner rather than later. I then remembered that maybe I wasn't really supposed to waste my time with it after the first 10 minutes. It's no big loss, though, because this movie was only 70 minutes. It's one of those Val Lewton horror B-movies, except its kitsch factor was minimal and was completely and totally eclipsed by the film's racism and boring plot. One lady is maybe a zombie and her nurse [the protagonist and narrator] goes to a St. Sebastian island in the Caribbean to take care of her. When the nurse arrives, she comments to her cab driver [who is black] that "Wasn't it nice that those white men brought those black people to this beautiful island?" Problems. I probably don't even have to mention the issues presented by the topics of Voodoo and tribal dancing in this movie. It's even worse than King Kong in that respect.

Also, it turns out the Tom Conway in the movie is not the Conaway I was thinking of.

1/5 pizzas