1950: Movies Sorted By Tier
Submitted by jim on Tue, 02/01/2005 - 10:09
Tags:
Loved
In a Lonely Place
... Opening scene: Humphrey Bogart is in his car. Another car pulls up along side. A young woman looks over, recognizes Bogart's character, and says "Why it's D___ S____!". I blink, wondering if I've heard correctly, and then blurt out incredulously, "DICK STEEL?! His name is DICK STEEL?!" I had to stop the movie so my wife and I could make a full recovery. It turns out his name is "Dix Steele" (which is almost funnier), but I won't belabor the gag any further. Suffice to say this moment was about the worst possible tone-setter, and yet the movie recovered quickly and perfectly. Easily the best Bogart performance I've seen to date, Gloria Grahame is fantastic too, and their chemistry can't be beat (they're in love, he's a burned-out screenwriter/murder suspect with a temper, the suspicion wears them down, and we hope it doesn't doom their relationship). Between this and Sunset Boulevard 1950 wins the "best year for movies about Hollywood" in a walk.Rashomon
Sunset Boulevard
... I'm generally not a big fan of noirs, so it was a treat to find one I love. Everyone was terrific: William Holden as the reluctant gigolo, Gloria Swansen as the forgotten silent film megastar, Erich von Stroheim as her butler (even if he did hate the role), and Nancy Olsen as the only wholesome character in the movie. Watching the documentary, it was fascinating to learn that everyone was pretty much playing themselves to varying degrees! This is probably the best movie about Hollywood I've ever seen, and it's a shockingly scathing indictment, particularly for 1950. Anyway, two little side notes: Buster Keaton gets maybe 20 seconds of screen time, in which he gets to say "pass" twice during a bridge game. Twenty non-contiguous seconds, two words, and yet he carves out a little actorly moment for himself. Truly remarkable what that man could do with his eyes. It's such a shame that he too was basically playing himself as one of the "waxworks." My other side note relates to William Holden: I never would have guessed he was the same actor as the leader of The Wild Bunch; he really reminded me of Joseph Cotten here.Really Liked
The Asphalt Jungle
... Some pretty serious old school acting going on here, particularly in Sterling Haydon's steely squint and telegraphed tics, but even with those distractions you can sense why Doc thinks he's the man he wants on his side. I thought those heist movies from the mid-50s were prototypical, but appearently this one came out of the cookie cutter first, and it's a good one.Cinderella
Glad I Saw
Born Yesterday
... Judy Holliday really is fantastic, and it's totally not her fault I kept thinking of Jean Hagen's Lina Lamont from Singin' in the Rain, but I did. I wonder how much Hagen borrowed? Anyway, Holliday plays the ditzy fiancee to Broderick Crawford's (also excellent) boorish junk magnate. He hires reporter William Holden (great, as usual) to smarten her up, but of course there are consequences to that decision. With such great performances I'm not sure why this one didn't grab me more. Perhaps it was feeling a bit too often like the movie was a commercial for the U.S. founding fathers, not having much laughter evoked (lots of smiles, though), or maybe it was just the pacing. Still definitely worth a viewing though, and the gin rummy game is a fabulous scene.Guilty Pleasures
- None Yet
Could Have Missed
- None Yet
Unranked
All About Eve
... needs rewatchin'Treasure Island
... been too longShould Have Missed
- None Yet
El Sucko Grande
- None Yet
Cloned From:
I, too, am not always a big fan of film noirs. For me, it always comes back to Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, and Body Heat (if that counts).
You caught me as I was in the process of adding In a Lonely Place! You should definitely check that one out too, if you haven't already.
It was at #3441 on my to-see list, but for Dix Steel and Jim Biancolo, I bump it up to #1890! :-)
(I don't really bother to number or count my to-see list that accurately.)
:-) Even unnumbered, are there really that many on the list?!
I know you're not really writing up reviews any more, but I'd love to hear your thoughts when you get to it.
I can't really count 'em because 'the list' is spread across several lists, with uncounted overlap. I have my own list, then whatever is unseen of Rosenbaum's Essential 1000 and They Shoot Pictures' 1000, and then whatever is in the 'great' and 'very good' categories in yours and stooky's lists. I'm sure there is considerable overlap. But even my own list has 1000+ titles by itself.
I'm kind of torn on what I should do with movies I watch to leave some impression of what I thought of it. Right now, I'm just giving them a number on the same scale as the rest of my database, but that doesn't seem right because it's based on some ridiculous notion of objective judgement. But I don't want to start from scratch - all the old numbers won't mean anything. Maybe I should go back to writing down my reactions to films, but then I keep running into titles like Code Unknown (2000) - I know I liked it, but there's no way in hell I can articulate why, or what makes it a good movie.
But sure, if I get to the film in the next few years I'll try to remember to let you know what I thought of it.
Well you make me fancy seeing Sunset Boulevard and In a Lonely Place again soon.
Next stops?: Los Olvidados, La Ronde, Les Enfants Terribles, Gone to Earth, Born Yesterday
Only Born Yesterday is available via Netflix, and I have duly queued it, thanks!
Hey, I notice your recommendations here diverge from those under 1950 in your 1,000 (+) Essential Films list. You mention Les Enfants Terribles, Gone to Earth, and Born Yesterday here, but there those are missing and instead there's Winchester '73 and The Gunfighter. Are you trying to tailor your recommendations here to my tastes, or did you feel like you needed a couple westerns on the other list to cover a broad range?