In the years leading up to WWII, Hollywood movies were popular in the cities of Europe. Favorite comedies included the slapstick A Night at the Opera, in which the Marx Brothers help two young lovers take revenge on the opera world. The famous shipboard scene, in which 15 people crowd into a tiny state room, immortalized the line, “Is it my imagination, or is it getting crowded in here?” Popular dramas numbered Mutiny on the Bounty, based on real-life events, which pits Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) against Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). Midshipman Roger Byam (Franchot Tone) is tried for the mutiny, a scene which became a classic of cinema courtroom drama. Read more movie history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
