"Juarez" is one of those countless historical dramas that came flying off the studio assembly line in the 1930s and 40s. Solidly crafted but unmemorable, safe and anonymous in style, but respectable enough not to insult your movie lover intelligence. Who knows if this is at all true to historical events? I could figure it out but I'd have to look it up on Wikipedia. As is, the film is a hagiographic love letter to Benito Juarez, played by Paul Muni made up to look like a grumpy frog, while at the same time manages to be an apologia to Maximilian von Hapsburg (Brian Aherne), who in this version of events is depicted as a well meaning dupe who was installed as Mexico's president by Napolean for nefarious reasons. I have trouble believing that a member of a royal family could be this much of a dim bulb, but then I look around at our own recent leaders (and some current ones) and think...."well, ok, maybe."
The film's biggest asset is von Hapsburg's wife, played by Bette Davis, who gets to do MAD scenes. Giving Bette Davis mad scenes to play is like giving a pyromaniac permission to have at it with your backyard grill, and I'm surprised anyone was still alive by the time she was done. I think she literally just got bored standing around on set listening to a bunch of old white dudes in starched collars and unacceptable haircuts delivering lines that were a 1930s screen writer's best guess at how white dudes at the time would have sounded, and she's like...."hold my beer."
Aherne received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in this, and the film was also sort of nominated for Best B&W Cinematography. I say "sort of," because it was included in a short list of nominees that was then winnowed down to the two that Academy members actually got to vote on, those two being "Stagecoach" and "Wuthering Heights."
Grade: B.
The film's biggest asset is von Hapsburg's wife, played by Bette Davis, who gets to do MAD scenes. Giving Bette Davis mad scenes to play is like giving a pyromaniac permission to have at it with your backyard grill, and I'm surprised anyone was still alive by the time she was done. I think she literally just got bored standing around on set listening to a bunch of old white dudes in starched collars and unacceptable haircuts delivering lines that were a 1930s screen writer's best guess at how white dudes at the time would have sounded, and she's like...."hold my beer."
Aherne received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in this, and the film was also sort of nominated for Best B&W Cinematography. I say "sort of," because it was included in a short list of nominees that was then winnowed down to the two that Academy members actually got to vote on, those two being "Stagecoach" and "Wuthering Heights."
Grade: B.