1950s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 3)

[knives]

If the situation pops up I'll be certain to work along. Sounds interesting at least.

[dustybooks]

So I guess I'm proposing a "fun" tangent exercise for those participating (and those not, I guess!) to revisit any disliked film by a favorite director from this decade, reexamine it, and give an honest appraisal in this thread of its current value, looking at past objections and placing it within present expectations and realizations. This isn't going to yield much success if you just saw it a few months ago, but the longer the span between viewings, the more insight I think such behavior can accrue. Anyone interested in participating?

Would love to do this... fits right in with my plan to revisit Stage Fright.

I made a minor discovery this past week -- Fielder Cook's feature version of Patterns ('56) --that's probably old news to a lot of us, but for me as a big fan of Rod Serling's later work, it was a pleasant surprise. I should say that I have not yet seen the surviving telecine of the TV version, which I understand is considerably better, but coming anew to the material itself I found it packed quite a wallop. The movie's origins are obvious enough -- it's almost a chamber piece, just a series of lengthy claustrophobic scenes in offices and board rooms with little relief -- but I found this to work in its favor; the interpersonal drama of a "boy wonder" junior executive unknowingly brought in to replace a competent elder statesman is universal and engrossing in a way that hasn't dated as much as I'd naturally expect.

Cook uses darkness and sporadic silence (specifically, the conspicuous quiet of the other board members when tyrannical boss Ramsey is berating the long-suffering Bill Briggs) extremely well, and Serling's unsentimental storytelling and unforced emotional notes are a plus; it's nice to see him get away from his later tendency to write characters as personal mouthpieces. The performances are excellent too; I know Van Heflin was a replacement, but the combat between Ed Begley and Everett Sloane is harrowing! Don't know, again, how much of this comes from me not having seen the live TV version yet, but I was gripped enough to consider a place for this in the lower reaches of my list.

[Tommaso]

So I guess I'm proposing a "fun" tangent exercise for those participating (and those not, I guess!) to revisit any disliked film by a favorite director from this decade, reexamine it, and give an honest appraisal in this thread of its current value, looking at past objections and placing it within present expectations and realizations.

All right, I'll re-watch Oh, Rosalinda...!. But noone will get me to sit through What Price Glory? again.

[puxzkkx]

Yield to the Night is indeed fantastic! A good tonic to Ikiru - this is a truly sensitive meditation on death and the will to live, dressed up (or at least advertised as) a B-exploitation! And domino was right about the bravura cinematography - Thompson gets his actress, and his central locations, from every angle and with every movement. But his agenda with the camera is so whole with the film's aesthetic that the audacity of some of these jibs and receding dollies is not immediately noticeable unless you look for it. Diana Dors is great, giving a different kind of performance than I expected - withdrawn, intuitive rather than melodramatic. And I loved the glimpses into the camaraderie of the prison guards. This one may make my list.

[Michael Kerpan]

Tommaso -- I would like to _think_ that having seen hundreds and hundreds of Japanese films (and having gained some ability to understand spoken _movie_ Japanese -- which is usually considerably slower than everyday speech), I can sort out good from bad performances. Besides -- one can always check to see what kind of a career a performer had -- and whether directors wanted to work with the person again (after what I considered a bad performance). ;~}

As to Takemine in the two Kinoshita "Carmen" films -- there is no doubt that she is wonderful, but so much else about these movies annoys me that I can't wholeheartedly enjoy them. But NOTHING in the films annoys me more than the over-use of a canted camera in Carmen's Pure Love. Sadly, Kinoshita relied on gimmicks in many of his post-Carmen Comes Home films. Kinoshita was a directors whose heart was in the right place, but whose work I find hard to appreciate because of aesthetic incompatibilities.

[zedz]

I have a proposal.

During the Western List Project, I was conversing with zedz about Ray's the True Story of Jesse James and he singled out Hope Lange's performance and even though I'd seen the film and hated it, several years had passed and I did not even remember that she was in the film. And it occurred to me, even though Ray is someone I hold very highly and take seriously, I'd dismissed this film so thoroughly that it'd almost completely slipped from my memory. This happens to all of us, of course-- when you see 500, 600, 700 movies a year, there's often not a lot of room in your mind for more than your immediate quality response and a few relevant details. But I've seen a lot of films in the interim. Would this, or any other disappointing film from an otherwise revered director, remain a failure when looked at again after the fact?

So I guess I'm proposing a "fun" tangent exercise for those participating (and those not, I guess!) to revisit any disliked film by a favorite director from this decade, reexamine it, and give an honest appraisal in this thread of its current value, looking at past objections and placing it within present expectations and realizations. This isn't going to yield much success if you just saw it a few months ago, but the longer the span between viewings, the more insight I think such behavior can accrue. Anyone interested in participating?

Sounds like fun, if I can think of an eligible title.

And if it's any consolation, I can't remember a thing about Hope Lange in The True Story of Jesse James either! Did I single her out in a good or a bad way?

EDIT: Hey, the search function worked and it all came flooding back. Thanks for ruining my day, domino!

[Tommaso]

Tommaso -- I would like to _think_ that having seen hundreds and hundreds of Japanese films (and having gained some ability to understand spoken _movie_ Japanese -- which is usually considerably slower than everyday speech), I can sort out good from bad performances.

Oh, I had no doubt about that. I just don't think that I am able to do it.

As to the two Carmen films, I find them at least interesting in so far as they (for me) represent a Japanese cinema of the 50s that is decidedly different from that of the 'big four', much 'lighter', more 'mainstream entertainment' in the western sense of the word. I'd be interested to see more Japanese 'musicals' of that kind, if there are any. As to Kinoshita, I do love Twenty-Four Eyes, in spite of the criticism voiced regarding its politics, and quite like "The River Fuefuki", too. On the other hand, I found Narayama far too artificial without being really interesting because of it (unlike "Kwaidan", which I know you hate). I'll try to see at least Tragedy of Japan for this listmaking.

[Michael Kerpan]

I'll try to see at least Tragedy of Japan for this listmaking.

I don't precisely _like_ Tragedy of Japan, but this is probably Kinoshita's most interesting film of the decade.

[matrixschmatrix]

Just watched the first specific to this project movie, Where the Sidewalk Ends- as with Whirlpool, it didn't really work for me. Here, I thought some of the underlying character concepts were fine- Andrews' tormented, corrupt cop reminded me of Robert Ryan in On Dangerous Ground, and both he and Tierney were good in it, but the plot seemed kind of infuriating. Rather than teasing out the conflicts in Andrews' character, it just has a bunch of really implausible things happen in short order, and lets him redeem himself through a grand gesture rather than really dealing with a damn thing.

I'm always happy to see a movie that exposes institutional corruption among the cops, but the way Tierney's father was railroaded seemed more of a convenient way to create a conflict than something that actually fits the situation- there was never any meaningful evidence against the guy. I liked the hint of a deep bond between Andrews and his partner, and I liked the texture of the movie overall, but I spent too much time being just irritated for the thing to work.

[Dylan]

Thanks to those who recommended Mandy. It probably won't make my top 50, but it's a lovely early fifties drama with good performances and beautiful Douglas Slocombe photography.

I haven't seen a single mention here of my #1 nineteen-fifties film: Fellini's La Strada. And aside from a couple nods to Nights of Cabiria, I haven't seen mention of Fellini at all. He used to be a darling on the forum but it seems his popularity here has waned a bit in recent years. Most of Fellini's fifties films will make my top 50.

Now, here is my "spotlight title":

Mauro Bolognini's La Notte Brava (1959). The Bolognini/Pasolini script is hands down one of the all-time greatest examples of cause and effect screenwriting I've encountered - from the first second it just takes off & moves & flies so astoundingly well from one dramatic situation to the next and it keeps this up with flow until the final beautiful image. I was moved and swooning and laughing and on the edge of my seat... beyond this, an amazing cast including Laurent Terzieff and Rosanna Schiaffino, great Piero Piccioni score & period Italian pop songs, excellent cinematography - the works - who knew? I hadn't even heard of this film before I sat down to watch it but it was as tremendously entertaining as any film I've ever seen. Why Bolognini's basically unheard of in the US I'll never know.

[the preacher]

Why Bolognini's basically unheard of in the US I'll never know (his film I Knew Her Well will make my top ten for the sixties list).

I Knew Her Well was directed by Antonio Pietrangeli, no Bolognini. Speaking of Pietrangeli, Il sole negli occhi (1953) is an absolute masterpiece and it will make my fifties list for sure. A sensible and intelligent mix of woman's picture and social cinema, don't miss this one if you can find a copy.

[Dylan]

Now - as a hard core Italian cinema buff - I'm pretty embarrassed. You're absolutely right, of course. I do love both directors, though.

[the preacher]

I have a bunch of Italian contenders for the fifties list: Germi, De Sica, Castellani, De Santis, Pietrangeli, Fellini, Visconti, Camerini, Antonioni, Monicelli... The final cut will be very very hard!

[thirtyframesasecond]

Catching up with a weekend's viewing - Los Olvidados is almost certainly going to be high up in my list. Bunuel takes up the mantle of the neorealists but adds plenty of his unique symbolism to produce a very poignant and sad tale of poverty in the Mexico City slums. Francis, God's Jester is also an understated Rossellini film about the life and works of the early Franciscans. It comprises nine separate vignettes and even though I've no interest in the Catholic faith, it works. Ballad of a Soldier might suffer to an extent in comparison with The Cranes are Flying, the former being very formal in comparison to the more electric nature of the latter. There's only going to be room for one Russian war tragedy in my list, I think.

[Calvin]

I haven't seen anywhere near 50 films from the decade (I'm working on it!) but from those I have seen, these will likely make the cut:

The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)
The Human Condition (Kobayashi, 1959)
Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958)
Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
The 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959)
Ordet (Dreyer, 1955)
Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
On the Waterfront (Kazan, 1954)
Paths of Glory (Kubrick, 1957)
Forbidden Games (Clément, 1952)
Rebel Without a Cause (Ray, 1955)
A Man Escaped (Bresson, 1956)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (Lean, 1957)
Singin' in the Rain (Kelly/Donen, 1952)
The Seventh Seal (Bergman, 1957)
North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959)
Throne of Blood (Kurosawa, 1957)
Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950)

I'm going to try and get together a list of 50 before the deadline.

[Michael Kerpan]

50s favorites -- Bunuel: Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, Nazarin, Los olvidados, El, Illusion Travels by Streetcar, El bruto, Susana (Not yet seen -- Daughter of Deceit, The River and Death, That Is the Dawn, La fièvre monte à El Pao). Pretty like much all the others I've seen -- but not so much as these.

[bnowalk]

I’m new to the list projects, too, but I’ve been catching up on past discussions lately and I’m excited to finally participate. My preliminary ‘50s list is already too long, and it can only get more crowded.

On that note, I caught up with Josef von Sternberg’s grand finale this week. Not sure if Macao will make my list but I’m not ruling it out, either. The climactic chase down the alleys, over the docks, through the nets is pure Sternberg, though until then, the film does lack a bit of his typically rich atmosphere. Only Jane Russell has some ambivalence to her, everyone else neatly sorted on one side or the other (or in the case of Gloria Grahame, one side and then the other, but never ambiguously). It’s always impressive how Sternberg can pack a nice plot into an hour and a half and take his time anyway. Macao in particular is about soaking up the world in a way that even, say, The Shanghai Gesture would be busy plotting.

Anatahan, on the other hand, is definitely going to make the cut, currently among my top 15. I feel completely inadequate to the film, but I’ll try. Not only is it this at once a primal story of social experimentation (remove highly organized group from external organization; add girl; add gun; simmer) and very specific look at a particular segment of post-war Japan, but perhaps most fascinatingly Anatahan is the most overtly meta of Sternberg’s films. Obviously there’s his English narration describing this plot as if he were one of the Japanese crewmembers, not to mention the way he narrates events that he doesn’t see, sometimes admitting it. There’s also the way Sternberg the director finally took all his lattice and nets and chandeliers and turned them into what they always have been, a jungle, and what’s more, what should be his most natural setting yet is his most artificial. It’s also gorgeous, a master of light at the top of his game, but it’s that constant play, for lack of a better term, with the reality and movie-ness of his story that most excites me about Anatahan. Can’t wait to watch it again closer to the deadline. Obviously highly recommended.

Lastly, Jet Pilot has its charms—notably the use of color and the subtle distortion of the just-below-eyelevel shots that have us constantly looking up at all these pilots—but it’s not a serious contender for me, personally. Definitely glad I saw it, though.

[puxzkkx]

I haven't seen a single mention here of my #1 nineteen-fifties film: Fellini's La Strada. And aside from a couple nods to Nights of Cabiria, I haven't seen mention of Fellini at all. He used to be a darling on the forum but it seems his popularity here has waned a bit in recent years. Most of Fellini's fifties films will make my top 50.

Nights of Cabiria will be my number one for this list, actually, unless I 'vote strategically' - I'm not the hugest Fellini fan although I love that film, 8 1/2 and La dolce vita. I don't like La strada at all, however, I find it creepily misogynistic and cloying in a way that is abetted by Masina's tendency to mug. But Nights of Cabiria is, for me, so much more restrained and human than anything else he ever did. Regarding Bolognini, I've only seen one film of his - Il bell'Antonio, which I thought was dull-as-dishwater macho apologism. That kind of put me off, but I guess I'm missing something?

I think Mandy, if anything, proves that Stephen Moyer of True Blood actually is an immortal vampire, as he was clearly alive in 1952 and playing the male lead here.

[domino harvey]

Lastly, Jet Pilot has its charms—notably the use of color and the subtle distortion of the just-below-eyelevel shots that have us constantly looking up at all these pilots—

Isn't this a by-product of the film being shot Academy ratio and then sitting on the shelf for a few years before it was released, matted for widescreen? Good film though and very underrated

[thirtyframesasecond]

Carol Reed has a very good 40s but I presume the critical consensus is that he dropped off post-The Third Man. Our Man in Havana is a witty production of the Graham Greene novel that Greene himself adapted. Alec Guinness gives a superb performance as a secret agent/vacuum cleaner salesman hopelessly out of his depth. Has anyone seen A Kid For Two Farthings? It's the only other film of his from this decade that intrigues me - wondering whether anyone's willing to vouch for it.

[zedz]

Lastly, Jet Pilot has its charms—notably the use of color and the subtle distortion of the just-below-eyelevel shots that have us constantly looking up at all these pilots—

Isn't this a by-product of the film being shot Academy ratio and then sitting on the shelf for a few years before it was released, matted for widescreen?

Yes, I find it pretty much unwatchable for that reason. The images are completely butchered.

[antnield]

Carol Reed has a very good 40s but I presume the critical consensus is that he dropped off post-The Third Man. Our Man in Havana is a witty production of the Graham Greene novel that Greene himself adapted. Alec Guinness gives a superb performance as a secret agent/vacuum cleaner salesman hopelessly out of his depth. Has anyone seen A Kid For Two Farthings? It's the only other film of his from this decade that intrigues me - wondering whether anyone's willing to vouch for it.

Outcast of the Islands is the Reed from the fifties that needs rediscovering.

[tojoed]

Outcast of the Islands is the Reed from the fifties that needs rediscovering.

I agree, the finest adaptation of Conrad with a great performance by Trevor Howard. This would be in my top 20.

[knives]

Is this disc good? Not too concerned with the quality of the movie at the moment, just want to actually see some German movies this round.

[tarpilot]

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