Review of International House (1933)

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I've always liked movies where lots of unassociated stuff happens. Movies like this, which are little more than showcases for popular acts of the time they were made, are among my favorites. ("Stormy Weather" is another good example.)

You won't find a better example of this than "International House." The plot, such as it is, involves a Chinese guy who has invented something called a "radio scope" which, even though they didn't know it at the time, basically predicted the concept of satellite television. All kinds of bidders are flying to China from all over the world to bid on the contraption, including an Eastern Eurpopean Millionaire (Bela Lugosi, in one of his few non-horror roles; he's actually pretty good here), an American Ingenue with a capital "I" (Peggy Hopkins Joyce, who apparently really WAS an American ingenue) and other sorts. Tossed into the mix is of course WC Fields, who manages to land a bizarre flying contraption in the lobby of the hotel (you need to see this at least once before you die. It's pretty funny)!

The acts on TV (and in the hotel, in the case of Burns and Allen) are really what the movie is all about. Cab Calloway's "Reefer Man" is a stand out, as is Rose Marie, all of about eight years old at the time singing a song that Sophie Tucker might have sung, given the chance.

Fields is simply excellent here, as is his perennial movie nemesis, Franklin Pangborn (as the head clerk at the hotel desk--but why is this guy running a hotel in CHINA?)

This is definitely a film you can watch many times, either all the way through or just for the parts you like best. Recommended!

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Perhaps one of the most surreal and special experiences in Hollywood filmmaking. The musical numbers are a hoot -especially the chorus made up of dancers dressed in art deco celophane outfits and Cab Calloway's manic rendition of "Reefer Man" (not to mention a pre-adolescent and disturbingly sexy Baby Rose Marie performing a hot torch number). The jokes are a treat -you'll find yourself saying, "I can't believe they got away with this!" when you hear some of the lines from WC Fields as well as Burns and Allen (it was pre-code, by the way).

In the end, you're amazed at the strange, dream-like quality of the film. Something akin to Busby Berkley meets a Dali painting.

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With regard to the review of Nov 19 2001, it sounds like the reviewer obtained an incomplete copy of the film. My VHS has the scenes he states were deleted on his copy, and the video quality is great on mine! I wonder if he obtained a 'third party' video?

I've loved this film since I was a child and know almost all the lines by heart. It is still fun to watch every so often just to see everyone ham it up!

W.C. Fields was masterful in his role, having been done before alcohol took its toll on him. Peggy Hopkins Joyce, who was so well-known then and so little-known now, fills her role (and her gowns) with professional ease. Burns and Allen are a pleasure, as always, as the doctor and nurse at the hotel. This is a rare opportunity to see Bela Lugosi in a comedy part, and it makes me regret once more that he was so typecast as Dracula. Franklin Pangborn camps it up as usual as the hotel manager. Yes, there is a dated cultural ethnocentricity as one would expect with a film from this era, but nothing really offensive.

Not a bad moment in this film. If you receive a cassette with the scenes missing as reviewed below, return it. Get the whole movie, it's worth it!

Honest reviews on International House (1933)

If you aren't the kind of person that likes comedy, then this film is not for you. You have to have a pulse and a funny bone to view this crazy side splitting 1933 comedy. I had never knew W.C Fields was so down to earth with his jokes. When Rudy Valee was singing a rather bizarre ballad, W.C. Fields made a rude remark about his singing. There's another scene in the movie where W.C. Fields drove his car down the outside stairs of the hotel. As crazy as it may seem, it was really funny. (Yoohoo!) This is the word you'll hear when Mr. Fields asks from his helicoptor "What city is this?" (PRICELESS!)

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One of the cinema's unheralded treasures, "International House" (1933) is a refreshingly bizarre musical-comedy that could only be made during the Depression era. Untouched by the Hays Office, the laughs come at a good clip with a once-in-a-lifetime cast: W.C. Fields, Burns and Allen, Stu Erwin, Bela Lugosi, Franklin Pangborn, Cab Calloway, Baby Rose Marie, and other names too numerous to mention. As Professor Quail, Fields does not make his grand entrance until the halfway mark, but dominates the proceedings with a nonstop stream of one-liners and alcoholic intake. A must-see!