The Lower Depths (1936, France) – A thief, a bankrupt baron, and assorted poor people live in a lodging house. Based on Maxim Gorky’s play. I think I rather like socialist realism, especially when it’s done with grim humor. Watched it all.

Big Brown Eyes (1936, USA) – Fast-talking crime comedy, with many right ingredients, but I just don’t care. Watched: 10 minutes.

Winds of the Wasteland (1936, USA) – These old westerns almost make me not like westerns any more. How dreadful! Watched: 8 minutes.

Mayerling (1936, France) – Wonderful historical romance. The crown prince of Austria-Hungary finds the love of his life in 1880s Vienna. Correct in the outline, though the events are a matter of historical controversy to this day. Watched it all.

Klondike Annie (1936, USA) – Any definition of pornography that doesn’t include Mae West’s smile is deficient. But she can’t act, and neither can anyone else in this movie. Watched: 16 minutes.

San Francisco (1936, USA) – I am prejudiced against movies that begin by solemnly informing you that the uninteresting people (including Clark Gable at his most despiccable) you’re about to meet may all die horribly at the end. In this case the disaster is the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but the same applies to, say, the Titanic and Pearl Harbor. Watched: 11 minutes.

Wedding Present (1936, USA) – Cary Grant, the man’s man who put modern boy-men to shame, (yes!), plays a boy-man with an annoying sense of humor. Watched: 8 minutes.