kingrat

Skimpole, I love these categories. No two of us would agree which movies go where, but I had to laugh at some of these categories because they are so accurate. By the way, I would put *Braveheart* exactly where you put it.

Our choice of best performances are usually colored by the films we like best, aren't they? It might be interesting to do a thread on performances we really like in films we're not so fond of.

I'm glad you enjoyed the movie, MaryLyn. The four posters in this thread who have actually seen it--you, rosebette, bingfan, and I--all liked it and have talked about it in similar terms.

1941 had some smashing films at the top of the list, but less depth than some other years in the 1940s. Trying to decide on the last two spots for the top 10 was a problem. Top 10 Films of 1941: *1. Citizen Kane* *2. The Maltese Falcon* *3. The Lady Eve* *4. Ball of Fire* *5. A Woman?s Face* *6. How Green Was My Valley* *7. Ladies in Retirement* *8. Honeymoon for Three* *9. That Hamilton Woman* *10. The Little Foxes* Guilty pleasure: *The Shanghai Gesture* Honorable mention: *Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, Blues in the Night, Man Hunt, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Great Lie, H.M. Pulham Esq., The Wagons Roll at Night, High Sierra* Need to see: *Meet John Doe* Overrated: *Sergeant York* Underrated: *Ladies in Retirement, Honeymoon for Three* For me, this is a difficult year for choosing the best performances. Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart for *The Maltese Falcon* or Humphrey Bogart for *High Sierra*? Or Gary Cooper for *Ball of Fire*? Not Gary Cooper for *Sergeant York*. Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck for *Ball of Fire* or Barbara Stanwyck for *The Lady Eve*? Or Mary Astor for *The Maltese Falcon*? Best Supporting Actor: No obvious choices. Maybe Sydney Greenstreet for *The Maltese Falcon* or Conrad Veidt for *A Woman?s Face*. Best Supporting Actress: Oscar's choice of Mary Astor for *The Great Lie* seems as good as any, though she's even better in a lead role in *The Maltese Falcon*. Copying these posts from Outlook can be annoying, since some punctuation marks vanish, and sometimes the TCM website's bolding works and sometimes not. Edited by: kingrat on Jan 7, 2014 1:51 PM

1943 might be the weakest year of the 1940s. Note: *In Which We Serve* was not eligible for the Oscars until 1943, and if I hadn?t included it in 1942, it would be second on the list here. Top 10 for 1943: *1. Casablanca* *2. Shadow of a Doubt* *3. The Constant Nymph* *4. The Crystal Ball* *5. Five Graves to Cairo* *6. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* *7. The Bells Go Down* *8. The Ox-Bow Incident* *9. Tender Comrade* *10. The Fallen Sparrow* Honorable mention: *Assignment in Brittany, Hangmen Also Die, Lady of Burlesque, The More the Merrier, The Seventh Victim, So Proudly We Hail* This year also doesn?t seem to have the depth of great performances that some of other years have. Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart, *Casablanca* or Joseph Cotten, *Shadow of a Doubt* or John Garfield, *The Fallen Sparrow* Best Supporting Actor: Claude Rains, *Casablanca* is a slight favorite over Charles Coburn, *The More the Merrier* Best Actress: Joan Fontaine, *The Constant Nymph* over Jean Arthur, *The More the Merrier* Best Supporting Actress: Veronica Lake, *So Proudly We Hail*

This Best of 1949 list includes *The Third Man*, which was not eligible for the Oscars until 1950. Like AndyM I would put *Stray Dog* at the top of the list if I were including foreign films. This seems like an outstanding year, and in the right mood I could name any of the top six or eight as my favorite. 1949?s Dandy Dozen: *1. The Third Man* *2. Act of Violence* *3. The Heiress* *4. Gun Crazy* *5. A Letter to Three Wives* *6. Criss Cross* *7. Intruder in the Dust* *8. White Heat* *9. The Passionate Friends* *10. The Reckless Moment* *11. Come to the Stable* *12. We Were Strangers* Honorable mention: *All the King?s Men, The Hasty Heart, Kind Hearts and Coronets, On the Town, The Set-Up, Caught, D.O.A., Adam?s Rib, Pinky, They Live by Night, Flamingo Road, The File on Thelma Jordon* 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: Mary Astor, *Act of Violence*

Yikes, I forgot that *Odd Man Out* belonged in the 1947 discussion. *The Fallen Idol* was released in England in 1948, but not eligible for Oscar consideration until 1949. I have deliberately excluded foreign language films from these lists, although that means omitting many favorites. Best of 1948: *1. The Red Shoes* *2. Letter from an Unknown Woman* *3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* *4. The Fallen Idol* *5. Johnny Belinda* *6. Raw Deal* *7. The Snake Pit* *8. The Search* *9. Silver River* *10. The Lady from Shanghai* Close: *Red River, Saraband for Dead Lovers, So Evil My Love, Portrait of Jennie, Homecoming, Julia Misbehaves* Underrated: *Saraband for Dead Lovers, So Evil My Love* Overrated: *Hamlet* Best Actor: Ralph Richardson, *The Fallen Idol* or Humphrey Bogart, *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* Best Supporting Actor: Walter Huston, *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre*Best Supporting Actress: Flora Robson, *Saraband for Dead Lovers* Best Actress: Olivia De Havilland, *The Snake Pit* and Joan Fontaine, *Letter from an Unknown Woman* (tie). Wouldn?t that have been fun! Edited by: kingrat on Jan 6, 2014 2:25 PM

Andy, we?re in total agreement about something else: 1947 was one of the great years for Hollywood films. That is, if you like film noir, 1940s romances, and women?s films?and I do, I do. Trying to make a top 10 is all but impossible with so many splendid movies to choose from. *1. Black Narcissus* *2. Deep Valley* *3. The Long Night* *4. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir* *5. Nightmare Alley* *6. The Macomber Affair* *7. High Barbaree* *8. Night Song* *9. Out of the Past* *10. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami* This year is so great that I could easily pick 10 more films which would make a top 10 most years: *1. Crossfire* *2. Secret Beyond the Door* *3. Dead Reckoning* *4. Born To Kill* *5. Miracle on 34th Street* *6. Brute Force* *7. Great Expectations* *8. Framed* *9. Nora Prentiss* *10. The Guilt of Janet Ames* Honorable mention: *The Unfinished Dance, The Bishop?s Wife, Kiss of Death, They Won?t Believe Me, Smash-Up, Green Dolphin Street, Forever Amber, Captain From Castile*. Underrated: most of the films in the top 20 Overrated: *Life With Father*, *Monsieur Verdoux* Best Actor: Tyrone Power, *Nightmare Alley* or Henry Fonda, **The Long Night**Best Actress: Ida Lupino, *Deep Valley* with Deborah Kerr a close second for *Black Narcissus* Best Supporting Actor: Robert Preston, *The Macomber Affair* Best Supporting Actress: Helen Walker, *Nightmare Alley* with Kathleen Byron a close second for *Black Narcissus* 1947 had some of the most outstanding performances by women you will ever see. By the way, not one of these performances was nominated for an Oscar: Ida Lupino and Fay Bainter in *Deep Valley* Deborah Kerr and Kathleen Byron in *Black Narcissus* Barbara Bel Geddes and Ann Dvorak in *The Long Night* Ann Dvorak in *The Private Affairs of Bel Ami* Helen Walker and Joan Blondell in *Nightmare Alley* Gene Tierney in *The Ghost and Mrs. Muir* Joan Bennett in *The Macomber Affair* Jane Greer in *Out of the Past* Rosalind Russell in *The Guilt of Janet Ames* Merle Oberon and Ethel Barrymore in *Night Song* Martha Raye in *Monsieur Verdoux* Edited by: kingrat on Jan 3, 2014 6:40 PM

Although I had a vague recollection that 1942 wasn?t such a great year, that turned out not to be the case. I couldn?t whittle the final 12 down to 10 or give an approximate ranking. Alphabetical order, then, except for the first one which is my choice for best of the year: *1. Johnny Eager* *2. The Hard Way* *3. In This Our Life* *4. In Which We Serve* *5. Kings Row* *6. The Magnificent Ambersons* *7. Mrs. Miniver* *8. Now, Voyager* *9. The Palm Beach Story* *10. Reap the Wild Wind* *11. Sullivan?s Travels* *12. To Be or Not To Be* Honorable Mention: *The Commandos Strike at Dawn, The Major and the Minor, Random Harvest, Roxie Hart* Best Actor: No strong favorite. Joel McCrea for *Sullivan?s Travels* or Ronald Colman for *Random Harvest* or Joseph Cotten for *The Magnificent Ambersons*. Best Supporting Actor: Van Heflin for *Johnny Eager*, with Claude Rains for *Kings Row* as second choice. Best Actress: Bette Davis for *Now, Voyager*, with Ida Lupino for *The Hard Way* as second choice. Best Supporting Actress: Florence Bates for *The Moon and Sixpence*, with Agnes Moorehead for *The Magnificent Ambersons* and Betty Field for *Kings Row* as other outstanding choices. Edited by: kingrat on Jan 3, 2014 4:09 PM

1940 was an exceptional year. My top 10 would be something like this, with the first three very close: *1. Rebecca* *2. The Letter* *3. The Grapes of Wrath* *4. His Girl Friday* *5. Remember the Night* *6. The Mortal Storm* *7. The Great McGinty* *8. The Great Dictator* *9. Waterloo Bridge* *10. Johnny Apollo* Honorable mention, in alphabetical order: *Arise My Love* *The Bank Dick* *City for Conquest* *Dance, Girl, Dance* *Fantasia* *Foreign Correspondent* *It All Came True* *The Long Voyage Home* *The Philadelphia Story* *Strange Cargo* *They Drive by Night* Best Actor: Henry Fonda, *The Grapes of Wrath* Best Supporting Actor: James Stephenson, *The Letter* Best Supporting Actress: Judith Anderson, *Rebecca* Best Actress: Bette Davis, *The Letter*--but also Oscar-worthy (alphabetical order) are Joan Fontaine, *Rebecca*; Katharine Hepburn, *The Philadelphia Story*; Vivien Leigh, *Waterloo Bridge*; Rosalind Russell, *His Girl Friday*; Barbara Stanwyck, *Remember the Night*; and Margaret Sullavan, *The Mortal Storm*. And yes, I also like Ginger Rogers in *Kitty Foyle*. Actresses today would kill for parts like these.

Who but TCM would show 9 films back to back directed by the very obscure Charles Brabin? All were made at the beginning of the sound era, between 1929 and 1933. The only one I've even heard of is *The Secret of Madame Blanche*, with Irene Dunne starring in another variation of the Madame X story. Susan Doll has an excellent article about it in the current Movie Morlocks blog. A friend has recommended *Washington Masquerade*, starring Lionel Barrymore. Pre-code fans and lovers of rarities should be in clover.

I believe that *Saving Mr. Banks* will appeal to many TCM fans, especially those who have seen *Mary Poppins*. This very well-made film wants to make you laugh and make you cry a little, and the characters are well-written. Emma Thompson is terrific as P.L. Travers, and the scenes where the Sherman brothers, wonderfully played by Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak, and the scriptwriter (Bradley Whitford) desperately try to get her to appreciate their work put a big smile on my face. The film cleverly makes use of the songs from *Mary Poppins*, which we see in the process of creation. The visual design and the costumes are great. I don't know if this is a movie for children--it does deal with the death of a parent--but many TCM fans will enjoy it.

SueSue, I'm hoping with you that Mary Poppins will be the opening night film. I loved *Saving Mr. Banks*.

I hate films that show torture, especially by the "good guys," or rape; almost all horror films (I do like Robert Wise's *The Haunting* or an atmospheric film like *I Walked With a Zombie*); almost all films showing gore, blood, violence, and "creative" ways of maiming and killing; and I dislike most superhero films. Yes, that limits the current films I want to see. I'm not a fan of films that invent sadistic things for the villain to do just to show that he's a bad guy. I don't like films that feel to need to beat you over the head to "prove" a point that was perfectly obvious anyway.

*Klute* (1971, dir. Alan J. Pakula) has solid performances and a fairly good script, but is sunk by the murky cinematography of Gordon Willis, which is ugly, dated, pretentious, and dysfunctional. Perhaps TCM showed a poor print of a film badly in need of restoration, but I?m inclined to think this is how Willis wanted the film to look, just as Robert Altman wanted a barely audible soundtrack for *McCabe and Mrs. Miller*. Watching Klute, I didn?t know who had shot it, but thought, ?Wow, this influenced *The Godfather*.? Which Willis also shot, and some of which is also too murky and mannered for my taste, though *Klute* is much worse. Oddly enough, Pakula?s next film, *Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing* (1973), is one of the best-looking films of the 1970s, with superb cinematography by Christopher Challis. At least at this early stage of his career?these are his second and third movies?Pakula seems overshadowed by the visual style of his DPs. I?ve always vaguely associated Pakula with movies I liked, without remembering exactly which films he directed. Checking imdb, I?ve seen nine of his sixteen films and more or less liked all of them except *Klute*. In general, his work is based on the storytelling principles of classic Hollywood, although *Klute* is trendier in this regard than most of his films. Perhaps Willis is trying to create a color equivalent for film noir. If so, he fails. A call girl?s life is a dark world. Yep, I get that, but I like to be able to see what is going on. The brief action scenes are all throwaways because we can?t see what?s going on. When the detective and the call girl finally, as we knew they would, have sex, we can?t tell anything about their emotions by looking at their faces because, you guessed it, we can?t actually see their faces. When the call girl?s apartment is trashed, she holds up something and screams. I was guessing it was a wig, but later dialogue tells us it was ****-stained underwear. When the call girl and the detective find a junkie hooker and her boyfriend, the left side of the screen is in light. Naturally, the two junkies are in darkness on the right. Willis seems eventually to have grown away from his love affair with gloomy brown, and I like his work with Woody Allen. I should mention one brilliantly shot scene in *Klute*: with huge Warhol-like pictures on the wall, a casting director and his assistant go down the row of young women trying out for a cosmetics commercial. We never see the heads of the casting director and his assistant (shades of *Rebel Without a Cause*). Jane Fonda won the Oscar, though she doesn?t really have any big scenes. Her scenes with the psychiatrist are particularly good. In her early movies like *Period of Adjustment* and *In the Cool of the Day* she looks like a very pretty young woman who tries hard but isn?t much of an actress. By *They Shoot Horses, Don?t They?* she had learned to act. By the way, her shag haircut is probably one of the most influential hairstyles in the history of movies. Donald Sutherland?s character is drastically underwritten. He?s a private detective who?s basically a decent guy; everything else is supplied by Sutherland?s agreeable screen presence. Rita Gam has a great scene as a madam, Dorothy Tristan and Roy Scheider excel as the two junkies mentioned above, and Jean Stapleton adds a jolt of energy in her one brief scene late in the movie.

Like some presenters, Deborah Nadoolman Landis is probably more effective in person. She did a good job at the film festival talking about Jean Seberg's haircut and little black dress in *Bonjour Tristesse*, and how during the film Deborah Kerr begins dressing more casually as she tries to fit in with David Niven's life. I wish she had used specific examples from *Silkwood* and from *Klute*. The mention of Lucille Ball after *Out of the Past* was strange; I was thrown by that, too. Ms. Landis is very knowledgeable, and with a little fine-tuning she could present interesting insights about costume design.

Andy, I want to second your recommendation of *I COMPAGNI (THE ORGANIZER)* on the 29th. If you like good stories, interesting characters, and dramatic situations, this is a great choice even if you usually don't go for subtitled Italian films. Marcello Mastroianni stars as the rather shy and dedicated union organizer who tries to energize the factory workers to strike for better working conditions and more pay. The re-creation of an old-fashioned factory is breathtaking, too. I also want to second TopBilled's recommendations of *THE REMAINS OF THE DAY*, a favorite, and *LOVE LETTERS*, one of the best romantic films of the 40s with one of Jennifer Jones' best roles. What life would a woman choose if she had amnesia and had forgotten her previous life?

I'm torn between three movies which have been shown at the festivals but not on TCM. *Wild River* - Gorgeous restoration, with beautiful autumnal colors. One of Kazan's best films, with great, career-best performances by Jo Van Fleet and Lee Remick. A Fox film, and more of them are now available to TCM. *Went the Day Well?* - This Alberto Cavalcanti film, about an English village resisting Nazi occupation, was a huge hit with audiences. I don't know if rights issues for TV are a problem. The TCM audience would love it. *Whistle Down the Wind* - Now that Bryan Forbes is no longer with us, it would be even more poignant to have this wonderful film available to the TCM audience. It is not available on Region 1 DVD. Hayley Mills plays a girl who believes that the escaped convict (Alan Bates) hiding in the barn is Jesus. For this conception to work, absolutely everything--script, direction, music, cinematography, professional and non-professional actors, with lots of children--had to be exactly right. And it is.

Some people don't like it, Fred, and I am one of them. The donkey is great, but Bresson "proves" his hypothesis that people are basically evil and that grace is an unmerited gift (as in Calvinism or the 17th-century French Catholic version, Jansenism) by making people act, well, basically evil. The director identifies totally with his lofty, remote, and all-powerful deity. I like some of Bresson's other films a lot, especially *A Man Escaped*, where human beings still have some capacity for goodness, the director is willing to cast attractive and talented people, and the deity he worships is good as well as powerful.

I'm also a fan of the Richard Todd/Patricia Neal version of The Hasty Heart. Strong performances, especially in the lead roles.

I believe the reference is to a Mexican film (missed the title) which shown a couple side by side naked in bed, then later, through the window, showed the woman presumably on top of the man. An earlier chapter showed a woman giving birth (this from the Russian film *Wednesday*).

I'd like to agree with all the posters who have praised TCM for showing so many movies associated with *The Story of Film*, and I'd love for some of these to be recycled in the next couple of years in the appropriate category (Silents, Imports, Underground, etc.). TCM's programmers follow the Big Tent approach, trying to give every segment of its diverse and vocal audience some of what it likes. If you don't like recent films, how about a month of Fred Astaire musicals? Last year, people wanted more Christmas movies, so this December's schedule has more Christmas movies. The last couple of years have included many more pre-Codes. If you've looked at the February schedule, there are more older films and fewer recent films than in some previous years for the 31 Days of Oscar. This is no doubt a balance to the newer films shown in connection with the Cousins documentary, which certainly made some of us think a little harder about what our own history of film would look like.

Another unusual family is the one in *Until They Sail*, which has Joan Fontaine and Sandra Dee as sisters. Granted, some families do have children 20 years or more apart.

I would rate *Pather Panchali* and *The Mother and the ***** very highly. Some of the others, not so much.

I should also mention another remarkable directing debut: Mike Nichols and *Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*