Heroes For Sale (1933): Following the misadventures of a former WWI hero as he tries to adjust to civilian life, where he's unable to hold a steady job, this is perhaps the first movie with that widely-used plot that I'm aware of. Marketed under the "Forbidden Hollywood" line, by modern standards nothing in this movie is shocking -- the hero has a drug problem, but his morphine addiction is explained as a side effect of being held prisoner by the Germans in WWI. It's not a bad little movie (and I mean little - it barely lasts more than an hour), but very dated and contains some terrible hokey acting. Still, it's interesting as a period piece, giving one a glimpse into the hardships of the Depression as people saw it at the time; this film wasn't allowed to languish in obscurity due its immorality (of which there is none except for the hero's brief drug addiction, which he implausibly kicks with ease) but for its politics -- its message is blatantly pro-labor and anti-big business, a truly subversive thought at the time. Not that the politics are naive: the German immigrant Communist rails against capitalism until one day he discovers a way to make himself a lot of money - and presto, he tosses Marxism aside with comic aplomb. Mildly entertaining, but for social historians mainly.
Grade: C+
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994): When is a remake of a classic film not a remake? This comedy takes most of its plot and characters from Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, and throws in a few specific references to it if you missed the point ("vas you see, the man displays vat ve psychiatrists call manic depression"). It's really a not bad view, but Jennifer Jason Leigh does what she can to ruin the movie with her bad Katherine Hepburn imitation. In fact, everyone in this movie overacts, and Leigh and Tim Robbins aren't Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur by a longshot. It amounts to a failed attempt at a '30s screwball. Don't watch this movie. Go see a really great movie instead - Mr. Deeds Goes To Town!
Grade: C