kingrat
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Posts posted by kingrat
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I wasn't very imaginative in my choices for 55. Despite having seen nearly a hundred films from that year, I had trouble coming up with my top ten. Only NIGHT OF THE HUNTER ranks as one of my favorites. I have REBEL...as a runner-up, but each time I watch it, I like it and Dean less. EAST OF EDEN rubs me the wrong way as well. Dean's mannerisms irritate me and I've never been a fan of Julie Harris either. Plus, they dubbed Timothy Carey.
I haven't seen: THE COLDITZ STORY, PRINCESS YANG KWEI FEI, THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE CRUZ, A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS, QUEEN BEE, SINCERELY YOURS, IL BIDONE, and LE AMICHE
Lawrence, I have similar feelings about REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Some scenes are very well directed, and when Sal Mineo is on screen, the movie is great. He has a crush on the new boy in school, and Ray shows this clearly and sympathetically. The scenes with the parents, however, are fast forward material, as far as I'm concerned. If you haven't seen the Fred Zinnemann film TERESA, check it out. Same screenwriter as REBEL, and some of the same material, including having a possibly gay character refer to one of his contemporaries as a father figure.
If I prefer EAST OF EDEN to REBEL, it's partly because Raymond Massey is a much more powerful antagonist than the parents in REBEL.
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The best film of 1955 comes from a totally unexpected place: India. Pather Panchali seems like real life unfolding yet with each shot marvelously composed. Smiles of a Summer Night and Diabolique would probably make the top ten, and Le Amiche and Il Bidone would be contenders.
Official Hollywood taste in 1955 has not held up well. Three of the five Best Picture nominees were filmed plays—Picnic, Mister Roberts, The Rose Tattoo. Fox landed their romantic drama Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing in the top five, along with Marty, a remake of a television play, the best of the five, which took home the Oscar.
To me, this is not a great year, but with many interesting films. The top five on my list are in a virtual dead-heat for first.
Top 10 for 1955:
1. EAST OF EDEN – There are several Kazan films I like better. Still, the different acting styles of James Dean, Raymond Massey, and Julie Harris make the drama even livelier, not to mention the great Jo Van Fleet. Kazan knows how to use the wide screen, and the scene between Dean and Van Fleet in her office, the heart of the movie, is worth a shot by shot analysis.
2. SUMMERTIME – The transitional film from David Lean’s black-and-white dramas to his big color epics. Venice is gorgeous, and Katharine Hepburn gives one of her best performances. The music helps, too.
3. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER – Robert Mitchum’s greatest performance, as the sinister preacher on the hunt for money. It hurts that this is Charles Laughton’s only film.
4. BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK – I love it when a director like John Sturges makes a film which can compete with the work of more famous directors. A lean script, a strong visual design, a great cast.
5. A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS – Carol Reed’s film has more emotional depth than his wonderful 40s films like The Third Man, The Fallen Idol, and Odd Man Out. An unusual blend of fantasy, comedy, drama, and pathos set in the East End of London. A boy whose father is away in WWII believes that the one-horned goat he found is a unicorn. A romantic subplot involves the lovely Diana Dors, and Primo Carnera turns up as a wrestler called The Python.
6. RICHARD III – A triumph for Laurence Olivier, who has a grand time playing Shakespeare’s treacherous king.
7. TO CATCH A THIEF – I keep thinking this isn’t one of Hitchcock’s best, but if it’s on TCM and I start watching, I’ll watch the whole movie. Great fun, especially when Jessie Royce Landis is around.
8. MARTY – Catches period details nicely, like Betsy Blair and her family watching Ed Sullivan on Sunday night, yet the situation still rings true. You could remake this today with a Mexican-American protagonist in Texas and not have to change much.
9. THE BIG COMBO – There’s too much talk in the police station in the central part of the movie, but the beginning and end of the movie showcase stunning work by cinematographer John Alton. You know it’s a weird movie when the most tender, loving relationship is between two hit men.
10. LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING – Technicolor romantic drama, exotic setting, great movie theme, William Holden and Jennifer Jones.
Oddly, this year has several films where the director’s achievement greatly overshadows the script and the actors: MR. ARKADIN, KILLER’S KISS, KISS ME DEADLY. Brilliant direction, less satisfying films. Leaving off ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, THE END OF THE AFFAIR, THE LADYKILLERS, and THE LEFT HAND OF GOD seems wrong, too.Guilty pleasures: QUEEN BEE, SINCERELY YOURS. Too bad Joan Crawford and Liberace didn’t make a 50s melodrama together.
Best Actor: James Dean, East of Eden or Robert Mitchum, Night of the Hunter
Best Supporting Actor: Sal Mineo, Rebel Without a Cause
Best Actress: Julie Harris, East of Eden or Anna Magnani, The Rose Tattoo
Best Supporting Actress: Jo Van Fleet, East of Eden-
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Thanks, guys. Bogey, I wish I'd kept a diary with comments on all the films I've seen, even if I might want to reconsider some of the comments later on. TopBilled, we agree about Clifton Webb in THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, though that almost adds to the fun.
By the way, THE LONG MEMORY is scheduled to shown this weekend on TCM.
By the way, according to Kevin Brownlow's biography of David Lean, Brenda de Banzie was difficult to work with, and because there are so many fine character actresses in Britain, she therefore didn't get as many opportunities.
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As with 1953, foreign films—La Strada, Seven Samurai, Rififi—would take the top spots if they were eligible. Knave of Hearts (Monsieur Ripois), Touchez pas au grisbi, Sansho the Bailiff, and perhaps Viaggio in Italia would be contenders, too. The best American films of the year are a varied lot, in genre and in quality. I had to reach for the last couple of spots on the top ten list.
Top 10 for 1954:
1. REAR WINDOW – One of Hitchcock’s best. Yes, the limitation of setting and the wheelchair-bound hero make this one of Hitchcock’s most experimental films—but he turns this into a stylish and entertaining thriller. To me, that’s one of the most appealing things about Hitchcock. Grace Kelly has her definitive role, and James Stewart has one of his best.
2. ON THE WATERFRONT – Method acting doesn’t get much better than this. A great and well-researched screenplay by Budd Schulberg, canny directing by Elia Kazan, location shooting, and fine cinematography by Boris Kaufman. Younger viewers often need to be reminded that gangsters like Johnny Friendly were indeed running some of America’s unions.
3. CRIME WAVE – The first half hour, especially, has sensational directing by Andre de Toth. The location shooting around Los Angeles is another plus. One of my favorite noirs.
4. SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS – Pauline Kael once wrote that this movie was “stamped (and stomped) by Michael Kidd’s muscular choreography.” I couldn’t agree more, and that isn’t to take anything away from Stanley Donen or the fine cast.
5. A STAR IS BORN – Too bad the film was cut, and that scholars have only been able to make a partial restoration. A great showcase for Judy Garland, with able support by James Mason.
6. VERA CRUZ – This western, set in Mexico, is my favorite Robert Aldrich film.
7. BEAT THE DEVIL – First assemble a cast of splendid actors. Then watch Jennifer Jones steal the film from all of them. This movie and Cluny Brown show how good she was at comedy, and it’s too bad she didn’t make more of them. Bogart, who lost money on this film, said that “All the phonies like it.” Yes, Bogey, we do.
8. A BULLET IS WAITING – With only four actors and a dog, this is a contemporary chamber western like Anthony Mann’s The Naked Spur, crossed with Back from Eternity, also directed by John Farrow. When a plane crashes on a remote section of the California coast, the only survivors are a sheriff (Stephen McNally) and the prisoner with him (Rory Calhoun). Jean Simmons looks smashing in blue jeans and a short haircut.
9. THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN – If you admit liking this movie, you probably lose your Snobby Intellectual card for good. Nowhere near so good as Negulesco’s Warner Brothers films, but Italia makes a great background for a romantic popcorn entertainment.
10. GARDEN OF EVIL – The only movie to make one of my top ten lists primarily because of its musical score, one of Bernard Herrmann’s best. Fine color cinematography, location shooting in Mexico, and a strong cast.
Honorable mention: Suddenly, Executive Suite, Hobson’s Choice, The Bridges at Toko-ri, About Mrs. Leslie, Human Desire, Magnificent Obsession, Johnny Guitar
Guilty pleasures: The Silver Chalice, Elephant Walk
Best Actor: Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
Best Supporting Actor: Rod Steiger, On the Waterfront
Best Actress: Judy Garland, A Star Is Born or Jennifer Jones, Beat the Devil
Best Supporting Actress: Brenda de Banzie, Hobson’s Choice-
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Bogie, I'm glad you like WAGES OF FEAR as well. I recently read some viewer reviews of it that said it was the dumbest, dullest garbage they'd ever seen. I can't imagine finding the movie dull.
Lawrence, maybe this review will be more to your taste. I wrote this back in 2011.
I hadn't seen THE WAGES OF FEAR since college, and in these cases you always wonder if you'll still love a film as much as on first viewing. The version I had seen was cut for American audiences, dropping, I believe, some of the unfavorable portrayal of the American oil company and some of the homosexual implications. I remembered loving the almost unbearable nail-biting suspense of the scenes when the trucks make their perilous journey with their cargo of nitroglycerine. Every bend in the road means potential disaster, and you know Clouzot is ruthless enough to kill off any of the four drivers. I remembered, too, the cosmic pessimism and existential angst, which, in this situation, seemed totally justified.
None of that had changed. What was new to me was an admiration for the opening part of the film, which at the same time 1) seemed even better than neorealism, with an amazing documentary sense of a real world in which the story takes place and 2) had an editing rhythm which took my breath away, as if this had been storyboarded just like Hitchcock. I don't recall another film which manages that paradoxical feat. I also admire the completely polyglot world of the film, with, at a minimum, English, French, Spanish, and Italian dialogue in various scenes. Mario (Yves Montand) speaks a little Italian; Luigi (Folco Lulli) speaks a little French; Jo (Charles Vanel) speaks a little English; Bill O' Brien, the oil company boss (William Tubbs), tries a little French, and so on. This adds layers of texture as well as realism.
I recalled that Jo was implicitly gay, but Clouzot's version goes considerably beyond what the American censors could stomach. At the beginning of the film Mario shares a room with Luigi, who cooks and cleans for him in a quasi-spousal way, like Thomas Mitchell looking after Cary Grant in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS. (Maybe it's unfair to make this analogy, since Hawks' film looks like backlot hokum next to Clouzot.) Mario leaves Luigi for Jo because he thinks Jo may be the key to a way out. Jo and Luigi square off in the bar, western-style, over Mario--I'm not sure I've seen that in another film--and Jo uses his power to ruin Mario's date with the pretty Linda (Vera Clouzot). Mario and Luigi clearly prefer women, but they're almost in a prison setting; Jo seems to hate women; and Bimba (Peter van Eyck), the handsome fourth driver, tells Luigi he doesn't like women. The sexual politics of all this will probably be clearer to a contemporary viewer than to audiences back in 1953.
If I've concentrated on the first half of the film, that's because the visceral appeal of the second half needs less commentary. The acting, cinematography, and editing are at such a high level. Yves Montand is a handsome man with great star power, yet he's perfectly believable in this below proletarian role. The print TCM showed is excellent, presumably the one in the Criterion Collection.
Some artists say everything, or almost everything, they want to say in one work, and THE WAGES OF FEAR feels this way to me. This isn't to knock Clouzot's other fine films, but to suggest that THE WAGES OF FEAR is more an ending than a beginning.
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Looks like Bogie and I have the same top two picks, and we join Lawrence with our top pick, while TopBilled's #1 is only one step down for Bogie and me. But I'm a little surprised no one has yet (I think) mentioned my top American film.
1953 was a year of masterpieces by great filmmakers, and with The Wages of Fear, The Earrings of Madame de . . ., Sawdust and Tinsel (aka The Naked Night), I Vitelloni, Tokyo Story, and Ugetsu, the American films are essentially fighting for seventh place.
Striking images from American films this year: Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr on the beach in From Here to Eternity. Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse dancing in the dark. Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame exchanging coffee. Brandon de Wilde crying for Shane to come back. Not to mention Anne Francis as the swamp gal Flamingo trying to feed Barbara Hale to the alligators in A Lion Is in the Streets, my guilty pleasure and campy favorite of the year.
Top 10 for 1953:
1. THE NAKED SPUR – One of Anthony Mann’s best westerns, maybe his best. A “chamber western”—except for an attack by some anonymous Indians, there are only five characters. Alliances twist back and forth. Having Robert Ryan as a sometimes charming villain is always a plus.
2. THE BAND WAGON – There’s other good stuff in the movie, but to repeat, Fred and Cyd dancing in the dark.
3. ALL I DESIRE – Douglas Sirk’s direction at its best, and one of Barbara Stanwyck’s best performances, much softer than she usually plays at this phase of her career.
4. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY –As with ALL I DESIRE, we could wish that the Code allowed just a little more frankness about the sexual aspects of the story. Yet another Fred Zinnemann film where the protagonists are required to stand up against the system. For a while this film seemed too familiar, but seeing a large part of it recently made me appreciate how much Zinnemann’s direction adds. The script condenses a very long novel into a couple of hours, but we don’t get the sense anything has been left out.
5. ROMAN HOLIDAY – Audrey Hepburn charms us, and with all of Rome as a background. I wouldn’t have guessed that William Wyler could make this kind of film so effectively.
6. SHANE – Even more than the western setting, I appreciate George Stevens’ skill in showing us the world through a young boy’s eyes.
7. THE CAPTAIN’S PARADISE – A charming comedy. Alec Guinness has it all: a perfectly domestic wife (Celia Johnson) and a beautiful and sexy wife (Yvonne DeCarlo). There’s trouble in paradise when each wife begins to want what the other one has. And if they were to find out about each other . . . .
8. PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET – The Samuel Fuller film everyone seems to like, and why not? Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, and Thelma Ritter in an exciting thriller.
9. LILI – Leslie Caron as an adorable waif, and one of Bronislau Kaper’s greatest melodies.
10. THE BIG HEAT – As good as Glenn Ford is as the cop seeking revenge for his wife’s murder, Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame steal the picture.
Honorable mention: Julius Caesar, Kiss Me Kate, 99 River Street, The Hitch-Hiker, Calamity Jane, The Cruel Sea, Above and Beyond
Best Actor: Montgomery Clift, From Here to Eternity
Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck, All I Desire or Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday
Best Supporting Actor: Frank Sinatra, From Here to Eternity or Lee Marvin, The Big Heat
Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter, Pickup on South Street-
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Gypsy, thanks for the reference. That sounds like a book I'd like to read.
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I can name a few splendid films made outside the realm of Hollywood, which were later remade, but I would also need to admit I never took the time to watch the Americanized versions. The first that come to mind include Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (1993) and Shall We Dance? (1996), both of which were lovely films and I can only assume in setting them in the states something is lost in translation.
The attempt by Gus Van Zant to remake Psycho (1960) has become legend as a misguided failure, but A Perfect Murder (1998) is a version of a Hitchcock film that can appeal to even the most ardent fan. The plot remains faithful to Dial M For Murder (1954), but with subtle changes in the story line, the remake can stand on its own.
Two films that seem to share the "why bother to remake" phenomenon are Blow-Up (1966) and Blow Out (1981), but again, I haven’t seen the later film. I believe the primary difference is in changing the lead character from a photographer to a sound effects engineer (and the plot follows from there). Can anyone tell me if, in fact, the second is Brian De Palma’s attempt to “improve” on Antonioni’s masterpiece?
I haven't seen BLOW OUT, which certainly sounds like a ripoff of BLOW-UP, but there's another ripoff of BLOW-UP which is quite well known: Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION. Sound instead of pictures, disappearing evidence, perpetrators not brought to justice. Coppola gets rid of the mimes (well, that's a plus) and exchanges the artiness of the original for a more conventional mystery. Many like THE CONVERSATION, although I don't, given the sluggish pacing, the ugly sepia sludge so characteristic of 1970s cinematography, the equally ugly misogyny, the sour taste of the whole film. DePalma is probably imitating both films.
For a great remake of a great original, try LE JOUR SE LEVE and the American remake THE LONG NIGHT. Both are first-rate, and there are advantages on each side.
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I'm glad to see the love for two great performances: it's hard to believe Oscar Wilde didn't create the role of Lady Bracknell in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST for Edith Evans, and there are not many performances by children in the history of the movies to equal little Brigitte Fossey in FORBIDDEN GAMES. As an adult actress (Truffaut's THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN) she's more than adequate, but not really special. As a child, however, she was extraordinary.
Swithin, some of us envy your opportunity to see so many greats on the stage!
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I have three special favorites from 1952. Singin’ in the Rain is one of the most joyous films ever made, whereas the two foreign films, Forbidden Games and Umberto D., have among the most emotionally devastating endings committed to celluloid. Ikiru and The Life of Oharu also have places of honor among the foreign films, Le Plaisir is a pleasure, and Fellini’s early comedy The White Sheik provides a little comic relief.
Hollywood favorites run the gamut of genres, although you know it’s the fifties when three of my top twelve are westerns. Confession: sometime I need to man up and watch The Quiet Man from beginning to end. Stage Irish charm is not my thing.
Top Ten for 1952:
1. SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN – So many joyous moments. A credible Paradiso is even harder to make than a credible Purgatorio or Inferno.
2. THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL – Vincente Minnelli’s best non-musical film, gorgeously directed. Excellent cast, good script, first-rate cinematography and sets?
3. HIGH NOON – Might be a position higher if not for Dimitri Tiomkin’s overscoring. The images and dialogue are strong enough to speak for themselves.
4. VIVA ZAPATA! – One of Elia Kazan’s best films, with shout-outs to John Steinbeck’s superb screenplay and Joseph MacDonald’s cinematography. Steinbeck and Kazan understand the politics of revolution all too well. Joseph Wiseman is chilling as the man who loves Humanity in the abstract, and will kill any number of human beings to prove it. That Brando guy is pretty good, too.
5. THE LONG MEMORY – English audiences of the time didn’t want to see that nice John Mills play a man bent on revenge against those who unjustly put him in prison for twelve years. We may have a different opinion. First-rate British noir, with location shooting in the Kentish marshes.
6. THE BIG SKY – My favorite among Howard Hawks’ dramas. Major bromance between Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin; this is as close as the fifties can get to Brokeback Mountain. As usual, Hawks draws back from the full emotional potential of his material (Red River is the major exception), but the romantic glow of his ballad-like approach is also appealing.
7. THE LUSTY MEN – Susan Hayward and Arthur Kennedy are somewhat miscast in this rodeo film, too old for the characters they play, and Hayward suggests Brooklyn rather than an itinerant farm worker, but they act well, as does Robert Mitchum in the lead role, and Mitchum and Hayward have good chemistry together. Nicholas Ray provides plenty of atmosphere, beginning with the early scene where Mitchum visits his old home. One of my favorite Nicholas Ray films.
8. ANGEL FACE – Jean Simmons looks so sweet she couldn’t possibly be a femme fatale. Or could she? Robert Mitchum has great chemistry with her, too. Herbert Marshall and Barbara O’Neil are effectively cast as the father Jean loves and the rich stepmother she, um, doesn’t.
9. THE NARROW MARGIN – A classic film noir, brief, exciting, with Marie Windsor showing the kind of attitude we love in noir dames.
10. FIVE FINGERS – I haven’t seen this movie in years, but remember liking this ironic tale of a German spy (James Mason) very much. This tenth spot might well have gone to BEND OF THE RIVER, another of Anthony Mann’s fine westerns, although the climactic James Stewart-as-Rambo scene is a bit much.
10A. “The Last Leaf” from O. HENRY’S FULL HOUSE – I’m not sure whether to include one-fifth of a film in the top ten. Five directors each interpret an O. Henry story, and the results are variable, with Howard Hawks turning in a surprisingly poor version of “The Ransom of Red Chief.” Jean Negulesco’s “The Last Leaf” is another matter. Negulesco uses expressionist lighting and camera set-ups for this tale of a young woman (Anne Baxter) who wants to die because she’s been abandoned by the man she had an affair with. Fortunately, she has a determined sister (Jean Peters), and the painter upstairs (Gregory Ratoff) turns out to be more of a friend than she ever imagined. What could have been sentimental is deeply moving. Peters and Ratoff were never better. One of Negulesco’s best.
Honorable mention: Bend of the River; The Marrying Kind; Come Back, Little Sheba; My Cousin Rachel; The Man in the White Suit; Kansas City Confidential; The Importance of Being Earnest; Phone Call from a Stranger
Best Actor: Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain
Best Actress: Shirley Booth, Come Back, Little Sheba
Best Supporting Actor: David Wayne, “The Cop and the Anthem” from O. Henry’s Full House or Donald O’Connor (Singin’ in the Rain) or Joseph Wiseman (Viva Zapata!)
Best Supporting Actress: Jean Peters, “The Last Leaf” from O. Henry’s Full House or one of these amazing dames: Edith Evans (The Importance of Being Earnest) or Marie Windsor (The Narrow Margin)-
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filmlover, I'm crazy about CLUNY BROWN and the Losey remake of M. Very fine films.
skimpole, as for TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, I consider this a hilarious campfest. Yes, there are critics who take it seriously, but they must have been at some other movie. I kept watching in the hope that there would be another scene where Claire Trevor hammed it up outrageously, and she did, she did! Minnellli thought the studio ruined it in the editing phase, but given the goshawful lines and good actors giving bad performances (CT isn't the only one), this could never have been a good movie. Recommended to fans of THE COBWEB, and vice versa. Of course there are good Minnelli films like THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and some might prefer to watch those.
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1001 Movies isn't usually that much on target. Every one of those films is well worth seeing. That's a reasonable critical consensus, even if we can all think of others.
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I like The Browning Version very much -- it's on my list. I just find that wife such a flat, stereotyped character. Sort of like the evil nun in Black Narcissus. A 1950 film which I did not include is The Astonished Heart, based on one of Noel Coward's short plays (from Tonight at 8:30, the same series that gave us Brief Encounter). The Astonished Heart gives us a much more rounded picture of the bored English woman than The Browning Version does (and features, in addition to Coward, Celia Johnson and Margaret Leighton).
Swithin, to go off topic just a bit, there are several Rattigan plays or scripts where a big scene toward the end involves someone telling off a domineering female. Think SEPARATE TABLES, THE WAY TO THE STARS, THE BROWNING VERSION, FRENCH WITHOUT TEARS. This must be autobiographical, perhaps his mother. I'll echo your wish that Rattigan had given the wife just a touch of sympathy.
To get back on topic quickly, I'm glad that THE BROWNING VERSION has some fans. Rattigan was very out of fashion during the Angry Young Men era, but now people seem to appreciate his work again.
And filmlover, I'm glad you mentioned RAWHIDE, another unsung film. I suppose it's another variation of THE PETRIFIED FOREST, but well done.
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Thelma Ritter fans need to seek out THE MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER, because for once she has the star role, even if Jeanne Crain gets top billing. The part calls for more emotional range than her usual characters, and she delivers.
THE BROWNING VERSION was on an earlier edition of this top ten list, and Michael Redgrave's performance as an unpopular teacher and henpecked husband makes this a must-see. One of my favorite play-to-movie adaptations.
HE RAN ALL THE WAY is a solid crime film. Garfield is, as usual, outstanding, and a young and relatively slim Shelley Winters is surprisingly subtle as the young woman attracted to him. Yes, I just used the words "Shelley Winters" and "subtle" in the same sentence! Definitely my favorite Shelley Winters performance.
SHOW BOAT has a glorious musical score. Both the 30s version and the 50s version have their strengths and weaknesses.
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Man, am I glad to see the love for DECISION BEFORE DAWN. Sometimes you feel like the only person who's ever seen a particular movie. Anatole Litvak is one of the two most underrated directors of the classic era (Negulesco is the other), with three films I consider masterpieces, THE LONG NIGHT and THE JOURNEY being the other two.
Now I'm finally caught up with the gang.
1951: the movies this year have such variety that no strong overall themes emerge, as far as I can tell, except that there are a staggering number of superb performances. A Streetcar Named Desire dominated the acting awards, even though Marlon Brando failed to win an Oscar (which at that point in his career he very much wanted), but the list of great performances by men in leading roles would also have to include Robert Ryan (On Dangerous Ground), Alastair Sim (A Christmas Carol), Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train), Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun), Michael Redgrave (The Browning Version), John Garfield (He Ran All the Way), Kirk Douglas (Ace in the Hole), Canada Lee (Cry, the Beloved Country), and Humphrey Bogart (The African Queen).
The women weren’t too shabby, either, with Vivien Leigh being joined by Ida Lupino (On Dangerous Ground), Thelma Ritter (The Model and the Marriage Broker), Katharine Hepburn (The African Queen), and Pier Angeli (Teresa).
Early Summer and Diary of a Country Priest would be contenders for the top ten if I were including foreign films.
Top Ten for 1951:
1. CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY – Not a movie that’s supposed to be good for you, just a great film. Location shooting in South Africa helps. The bitterly ironic plot—a basically good man accidentally kills one of the few white men trying to help—leads to a moving conclusion where much is implied in the few words that one of the grieving fathers can say to the other.
2. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN – One of Hitchcock’s best, with Robert Walker in his greatest role as the pathological Bruno. Hitch doesn’t really know what to do with the insufficiently blonde Ruth Roman, but otherwise it’s terrific.
3. WESTWARD THE WOMEN – Not a big hit at the time, but it looks mighty good today, as the mail order brides on a wagon train learn how to cope with difficulties on their own.
4. DECISION BEFORE DAWN – One of the most obscure films ever nominated for Best Picture, but you know what? It fully deserved the nomination. Litvak films in the rubble of Germany. Oskar Werner returns to his native land to spy for the Americans. What he sees, and what we can see in his eyes, make the movie unforgettable.5. M - Joseph Losey's remake is, astonishingly, about as good as the original. Sensational cinematography, with much location work in downtown L.A. Strong cast, too.
6. THE AFRICAN QUEEN – Bogart and Hepburn make a great combination.
7. ON DANGEROUS GROUND – I think Nicholas Ray unbalances the film by devoting so much time to Robert Ryan’s cop on the edge, a much fresher character then than now, and for me the film doesn’t really begin until he drives to the snow country. The romantic subplot, which Ray didn’t like, is exactly what I do like, and Ryan and Ida Lupino are both remarkable, with Ward Bond excellent as the father of the murdered boy.
8. THE PROWLER – Losey has two films on this year's list. This film has problems of balance also, but the final third, in the ghost town, makes up for any previous shortcomings. Who knew that the desire to own a motel on the road to Vegas could prove so treacherous?
9. PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN – Only Jack Cardiff’s sensational cinematography and Albert Lewin’s direction are enough for Ava Gardner’s goddess-like beauty. A bit slow in places, with too much narration (but in James Mason’s voice!), and some dazzling, unforgettable moments.
10. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS – The final ballet is so great that nothing else matters.
Honorable mention: The Browning Version, Ace in the Hole, The Lavender Hill Mob, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Place in the Sun, A Christmas Carol, The Model and the Marriage Broker, He Ran All the Way, The House on Telegraph Hill, The Steel Helmet, The Tall Target, Show Boat, Teresa
Best Actor: Robert Ryan, On Dangerous Ground
Best Actress: Ida Lupino, On Dangerous Ground
Best Supporting Actor: Oskar Werner, Decision Before Dawn
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Collinge (Teresa) or Hildegard Knef (Decision Before Dawn)-
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Now about those other 1940s favorites: the first eight directors are the ones mentioned three times or more in my top ten lists for the decade.
Favorite Directors of the 1940s:
Preston Sturges
William Wyler
Michael Powell
Jean Negulesco
Alfred Hitchcock
John Huston
David Lean
Orson Welles
Max Ophuls
Carol Reed
Favorite Actresses of the 1940s:
Ida Lupino
Jennifer Jones
Vivien Leigh
Bette Davis
Barbara Stanwyck
Paulette Goddard
Joan Crawford
Olivia De Havilland
Gene Tierney
Mary Astor
Favorite Actors of the 1940s:
Cary Grant
Henry Fonda
Humphrey Bogart
Tyrone Power
Claude Rains
John Garfield
Robert Ryan
Walter Pidgeon
Ray Milland
Peter Lorre
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Good grief, I go out of town for half a day and I'm two years behind. Now about 1950:
1950: another very good year for Hollywood. Three films are so iconic that they have become part of our culture. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE is one of the most imitated films ever made. The plots, characters, and ambiance of ALL ABOUT EVE and SUNSET BOULEVARD are part of our common movie culture, although the imitators never come up with lines as good as “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night” or “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.”
Film noir continues to flourish, with IN A LONELY PLACE, THE BREAKING POINT, PANIC IN THE STREETS, TRY AND GET ME, NIGHT AND THE CITY, NO WAY OUT, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, and the “femme noirs” NO MAN OF HER OWN, THE DAMNED DON’T CRY, and MADELEINE adding to the darkness. This was the year Anthony Mann transitioned from film noir to the western. I prefer THE FURIES and DEVIL’S DOORWAY to WINCHESTER ’73, but all three have their points. Add WAGON MASTER, RIO GRANDE, and TWO FLAGS WEST, and the western looks like a major genre this year. Its prominence will continue through the decade. (Some also consider STARS IN MY CROWN a western, but I would classify it as Americana.)
Two films which depict the human consequences of war, THREE CAME HOME and THE MEN, also add to the excellence of the year, as does a fine re-telling of the Paris Exposition story, SO LONG AT THE FAIR. On the lighter side, KING SOLOMON’S MINES is an enjoyable adventure tale; two hit Broadway comedies, HARVEY and BORN YESTERDAY, made it to the screen; and FATHER OF THE BRIDE pleases many Spencer Tracy fans.
Top 10 for 1950:
1. ALL ABOUT EVE – As the theater has become a more and more marginal part of American life, it’s interesting, and perhaps nostalgic, to watch films where it mattered greatly. With the witty lines of Joseph L. Mankiewicz perfectly delivered, this is perfect of its kind.
2. SUNSET BOULEVARD – The good folk of the contemporary Hollywood scenes inevitably seem a little dull compared to the creepy decadent types of the previous era. Those aspiring screenwriters could only dream of writing a script as great, and with as much resonance as, this one. William Holden, who seems like such a sturdy masculine type, does self-loathing better than any other actor. Billy Wilder at his best.
3. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE –I’d love to cut or at least trim some of Jean Hagen’s scenes; she’s almost as annoying here as in SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, where’s she supposed to be annoying. Otherwise, this is perfection. My favorite Marilyn Monroe performance. I smile whenever Sam Jaffe or James Whitmore or Louis Calhern is on screen. Sam Jaffe delaying his escape to watch the teenage girl dance to the jukebox is one of my favorite moments in film. The silent robbery scene has been much imitated.
4. IN A LONELY PLACE – My favorite Nicholas Ray film, favorite Gloria Grahame performance, and perhaps my favorite Humphrey Bogart performance. Yet another film this year about an aspiring screenwriter.
5. THE FURIES – The ending doesn’t quite work (and I wish it were Richard Widmark or Glenn Ford instead of Wendell Corey), but the rest of the movie is wonderful. The scenes between Barbara Stanwyck and Gilbert Roland are the heart of the film. Blanche Yurka is one of the most terrifying mothers or mothers-in-law you could have, and Judith Anderson is the stepmother Stanwyck loathes. Walter Huston is perfectly cast as the patriarch of the ranch.
6. THREE CAME HOME – Thanks to TCM, this film is beginning to attract a following. Claudette Colbert plays a writer who is interned in a Japanese prison camp in Borneo, along with her husband and son. Jean Negulesco underplays the dangers and horrors, so that when they do come, they arrive with even more of a punch. Sessue Hayakawa is excellent as the sometimes sympathetic camp commandant.
7. WAGON MASTER – I tend to feel suspicious of the pastoral impulses of John Ford, but this film, a sympathetic portrayal of a group of Mormons heading west, is an exception. One of his best films.
8. THE BREAKING POINT – Who could believe that this is based on the same Hemingway novel as TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT? Film noir Hemingway, with John Garfield in top form and Patricia Neal in one of her best roles as a good bad girl.
9. STARS IN MY CROWN – It’s hard to believe the scene where the handsome young preacher (Joel McCrea) makes up Uncle Famous’ will and saves him from hanging, but I certainly want to believe it. A mix of fable and realism, a gentle and episodic film with some painful parts, well directed and acted.
10. THE MEN – Hard to choose between THE MEN, DEVIL’S DOORWAY, PANIC IN THE STREETS, and MADELEINE for the last spot. Marlon Brando’s screen debut, but both the script and director Fred Zinnemann firmly place Brando and his character as one among the group of paraplegics in a hospital. Teresa Wright plays the fiancée who has difficulty coming to terms with the actual condition of the man she loves.
Best Actor: William Holden, Sunset Boulevard
Best Actress: Bette Davis, All About Eve
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Jaffe, The Asphalt Jungle
Best Supporting Actress: Judith Anderson, The Furies-
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Top 10 for the 1940s, alphabetical order:
The Best Years of Our Lives
Black Narcissus
Brief Encounter
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Deep Valley
Leave Her to Heaven
Letter from an Unknown Woman
The Long Night
The Red Shoes-
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Frank, thanks for reminding me that REIGN OF TERROR (aka THE BLACK BOOK) belongs on my honorable mention list for 1949. I'd only seen this on TCM is a murky version, but the restoration made John Alton's cinematography look great.
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kingrat, if I excluded foreign language films, I'm not sure how I would do the sixties. I've seen a lot of English language films, but not a lot I'd want to put on a top ten list.
Lawrence, you're not going to be the only one with this problem! 1962 was a great year for classic Hollywood movies, but some of the other years in the 1960s are not so good.
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Trying to figure out the correct year for these films is almost as hard as deciding on favorites! For instance, THE THIRD MAN was released in 1949 in England, but was not eligible for the Oscars until 1950. If you use Oscar years, my two favorite films for 1943 are CASABLANCA and IN WHICH WE SERVE, but both were released in 1942 elsewhere, which makes 1943 the one year during the 1940s where I have to scrounge around for favorites.
Trying to get the right year for foreign films is even dicier, which is one of the reasons I'm excluding them. There are a couple of years coming up in the 1950s where foreign films would dominate the list. Concentrating on the English-language films has given me a better grasp of Hollywood history.
For those who haven't seen THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS, the characters are not necessarily that sympathetic, but the direction can take your breath away. Look at the scene in the taxi between Ann Todd and Claude Rains. Each bit of dialogue, each look, each gesture, each change of lighting and of camera shot tells you something new about the situation of this married couple. The technical level of the process shot is extremely high, too, and the changes of lighting capture the sensation of passing car lights.
CAUGHT has Robert Ryan playing a Howard Hughes-like character, with Barbara Bel Geddes the wife who wants to escape with James Mason.
My choices for performances would probably be:
Best Actor: Robert Ryan, THE SET-UP
Best Supporting Actor, Juano Hernandez, INTRUDER IN THE DUST
Best Actress, Olivia De Havilland, THE HEIRESS
Best Supporting Actress, Margaret Wycherly, WHITE HEAT
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STRAY DOG is my favorite film of this year--one of my favorites of any year--but I'm limiting the list to English-language films. 1949 was a strong year with many fine movies.
Top 10 for 1949:
1. The Third Man
2. The Heiress
3. Gun Crazy
4. A Letter to Three Wives
5. Criss Cross
6. White Heat
7. The Passionate Friends
8. 12 O'Clock High
9. The Reckless Moment
10. Intruder in the Dust
Honorable mention:
Thieves' Highway
Come to the Stable
Too Late for Tears
We Were Strangers
Border Incident
The Set-Up
Caught
All the King's Men
The Hasty Heart
Kind Hearts and Coronets
On the Town
D.O.A.
Adam's Rib
Battleground
Pinky
Flamingo Road
The File on Thelma Jordon
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Losey's remake of M is pretty darn good. Great location photography in downtown LA and especially in the Bradbury Building. Excellent supporting cast, and David Wayne is effective in the Peter Lorre role. I saw this on the big screen at the Palm Springs film noir festival, and it looked incredible.
And I'm glad to see the love for THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI, which isn't available on DVD. Albert Lewin is a much underrated director, and the cast is excellent, especially George Sanders as the cad and Ann Dvorak as the one woman who is his intellectual equal. Because Angela Lansbury often played character roles, even as a young woman, it's interesting to see her play a sweet, warm young mother.
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End of the decade posts would be good. Do we still have 1949 to go?
Speedracer has made some fine comments about SILVER RIVER. One of Raoul Walsh's best films, sez me. (I agree that the ending isn't up to the rest.) Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan make a great couple. Flynn is also, not surprisingly, good in ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN.
Glad to see the love for SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC. It's a solid film, with great music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. John Mills was in a remarkable number of good films during this part of his career.
About some of the less familiar films on my list: RAW DEAL is one film noir fans have to see. Great direction by Anthony Mann, even greater cinematography by John Alton, and bad girl Claire Trevor doing the voiceover, which is unusual. Oh, and Raymond Burr as a psychopath. As TopBilled noted, SO EVIL MY LOVE is a Gothic thriller or Victorian noir--sometimes these are called gaslight noirs. This was shown a few years ago when Ray Milland was SOTM. A handsome and villainous Milland, the icy beauty of Ann Todd, and top supporting work by Geraldine Fitzgerald and Raymond Huntley. If you like the genre, this is a good one. SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS, a costume drama, is based on a historical situation in a German court. Again, excellent of its type, and this is the only film I can think of where Flora Robson, who's so good no matter what the role, proves that she has sex appeal, too.
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Top Ten Films of...
in Your Favorites
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Abroad, 1956 featured two great films on religious themes, A MAN ESCAPED and THE BURMESE HARP. Two decidedly secular French films, GERVAISE and LA TRAVERSEE DE PARIS (A PIG ACROSS PARIS aka FOUR BAGS FULL), are also top ten material. Hollywood’s top two were one of the best westerns ever made and one of the best crime films ever made. In general, however, Hollywood was more impressed by big-scale projects like GIANT, THE KING AND I, WAR AND PEACE, and the Oscar winner, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, which deserve honorable mention, but don’t make the list.
Top 10 for 1956:
1. THE SEARCHERS – John Ford’s masterpiece.
2. THE KILLING – Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece. I like Kubrick better in the early years when he still cares, at least a little, about human beings. Juicy supporting roles for Elisha Cook, Jr., Marie Windsor, and Timothy Carey? Now that’s noir. This is glorious on the big screen.
3. BIGGER THAN LIFE – There’s something of a drop-off after the top two, but this is one of one of Nicholas Ray’s best films, even if I’m too cowardly to want to see it very often. Life in a TV-perfect suburban home turns out to be nearly fatal. Ray composes fearlessly for the Cinemascope screen, and if you see this on the big screen in a great print, you will really appreciate Ray’s vision. After the garish colors of Johnny Guitar, we have the cool blue and beige of Bigger Than Life. James Mason has the chance to shine, and he does.
4. DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL – I always have to look up the name of the director: Charles Martin. Who? He really hits this one out of the park, however. George Sanders plays a scoundrel—surprise!—and the supporting cast includes his brother, Tom Conway, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. A solid, twisty crime film, with Sanders in one of his best roles.
5. SEVEN MEN FROM NOW – The team of Budd Boetticher, Burt Kennedy, and Randolph Scott made six westerns together, all of which I like, but this one and RIDE LONESOME (1959) are my favorites. I love the way we’re plunged right into the story from the get-go.
6. THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW – There’s very little suspense in this film, given the 1950s and the production code, but watching it unfold as directed by Douglas Sirk and acted by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Joan Bennett is all I desire (so to speak).
7. THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH – The 1950s was such a good decade for Hitchcock. Not one of his deepest films, but very entertaining. Another one I’m happy to see whenever it’s on, and I love the Moroccan setting. Too bad Doris Day didn’t work with Hitchcock more. He might have worked with or against her persona in interesting ways.
8. MIRACLE IN THE RAIN – This is really a belated 1940s romantic fantasy, and, not surprisingly, it’s set during World War II. I can understand if people don’t like this kind of film, but the realism of Jane Wyman’s workplace and her constricted life with her mother make the fantasy element of the ending acceptable to me. Jane Wyman is at her best.
9. WRITTEN ON THE WIND – The print we saw at the 2015 TCM festival was disappointingly grainy. Dorothy Malone, however, was just as trashy as ever. Robert Stack: “You’re a filthy liar!” Dorothy Malone: “I’m just filthy.” They don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Compulsively watchable.
10. BACK FROM ETERNITY – An airplane crashes in the jungle, and moral dilemmas ensue. Strong cast, well directed by John Farrow, who had also directed the earlier version, FIVE CAME BACK.
1956 also has a costume drama I would be happy to watch just for the costumes: DIANE, a tale of Diane de Poitiers, with Lana Turner wearing a spectacular Walter Plunkett creation in every scene. The young and hunky Roger Moore is an added attraction. The very tight costumes worn by Burt, Tony, and Gina in TRAPEZE are appealing, too.
Honorable mention: THE KING AND I, GIANT, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, FORBIDDEN PLANET, TRAPEZE, WAR AND PEACE
Best Actor: James Mason, Bigger Than Life
Best Supporting Actor: Elisha Cook, Jr., The Killing (honorable mention to Mark Rydell for Crime in the Streets)
Best Actress: Jane Wyman, Miracle in the Rain
Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Pavan (Diane), Brenda de Banzie (The Man Who Knew Too Much), Marie Windsor (The Killing) or Helen Hayes (Anastasia)