Best of Enemies: A Stiff Drink and a Lot of Grudges

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a massive soft spot for early sound-era fluff or if you're curious about how they handled the 'booze is bad' era of American cinema. If you're looking for a sharp, cynical look at immigrant tensions, look elsewhere. You will probably hate this if you get annoyed by convenient plot turns where two grown men act like petulant toddlers for ninety minutes.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Best of Enemies (1933) through its definitive frames.

It’s a weird, lopsided little movie. You have Frank Morgan playing the quintessential stiff-upper-lip businessman, Hartman, and honestly, the man could make staring at a wall look like a high-stakes negotiation. He spends half the movie being insufferable about prohibition while secretly hitting the bottle. It’s almost too real in that specific, hypocritical way.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Best of Enemies (1933) through its definitive frames.

Then there’s the German beer garden stuff. It feels like a stage play that got trapped in a film studio. The way they transition from these bitter neighborhood spats to a musical romance in Germany is... well, it’s a choice. One minute they’re fighting over a lease, and the next, everyone is singing jazz in a basement. The rhythm is all over the place. 🎷

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Best of Enemies (1933) through its definitive frames.

I found myself zoning out during the conservatory scenes, but then suddenly, the band starts playing and the energy shifts. It’s not exactly The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom in terms of style, but it has a certain chaotic charm. The kids, Jimmie and Lena, are basically just placeholders for their fathers' baggage. You can almost feel the movie trying to force them to be the glue that holds the whole shaky structure together.

The finale on the ocean liner is just pure, unadulterated nonsense. You have these two old guys bickering over who wrote the 'first note' of reconciliation while the paper blows away into the ocean. It’s exactly the kind of ending that makes you roll your eyes while secretly acknowledging it’s kind of sweet. Or maybe I was just tired.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even particularly good at being a drama. But it feels like a relic from a time when movies weren't afraid to be a little bit dumb just to get to a happy ending. 🍺

Notes from the couch:

• Frank Morgan’s mustache is a character all its own.
• The jazz band segments feel like they were filmed in a completely different movie.
• I really don't understand how Hartman thought he could hide that secret whiskey bottle for that long.
• The whole 'learning German' subplot is handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.