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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 5, 2022 14:53:58 GMT -5
Thriller/ Horror Movies of 1945
“Spellbound”: Hitchcock, with help from Dali, goes all Freudian psychology on us. Not a favorite Hitchcock for me, but worth a look for the dream sequences, Ingrid Bergman and Leo G. Carroll’s final scene.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray”: The title role is Hurd Hatfield’s claim to fame. Donna Reed is beautiful, and the painting is a truly macabre work of art, which I never knew until I saw it there three years ago, hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. Further trivia about it and the painter, Ivan Albright, is that he wound up living in Woodstock, Vermont, one of the neighbors of my best friend’s family.
“Isle of the Dead”: Karloff and a bunch of eerie people take refuge from the plague on a Greek island during th Balkan Wars. All you need to know is that Val Lewton produced (and apparently wrote) this creepy little meditation on death, vampirism, and just the hint of necrophilia.
“Hangover Square”: Laird Cregar, a heavy-set heavy who specialized in portraying seemingly gentle oddball types, only made a few films before dying young. This one, the last, is a variation on “The Lodger” (1944) and the Jack the Ripper character, and shows not just how good Cregar was, but how good he might have been if he could have found different types of roles. I love Linda Darnell in this, too, off whom you can't take your eyes.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 5, 2022 15:04:00 GMT -5
For some reason, I've seen a lot of fine movies that came out in 1945, so I'm going to post them occasionally, by category. War Movies of 1945 “They Were Expendable”: “Objective, Burma!”: “Back to Bataan”: I've seen all three of these, but it's been so long that I have only vague memories of any of them. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 5, 2022 15:35:58 GMT -5
For some reason, I've seen a lot of fine movies that came out in 1945, so I'm going to post them occasionally, by category. War Movies of 1945 “They Were Expendable”: “Objective, Burma!”: “Back to Bataan”: I've seen all three of these, but it's been so long that I have only vague memories of any of them. If you can only see one of them, go with "Expendable." |
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Post by badwolf on Apr 5, 2022 16:38:46 GMT -5
Spellbound wins 1945 for me.
Also really liked Mildred Pierce and And Then There Were None.
Detour was okay. Did not care much for The Woman in Green, most likely because of Nigel Bruce again.
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Post by commond on Apr 5, 2022 17:45:05 GMT -5
It's been a long time since I've seen Rome, Open City or Children of Paradise, but those would be the frontrunners. I have vague memories of A Brief Encounter and I Know Where I'm Going, as well. I've never seen Leave Her to Heaven. That looks interesting. I am a huge fan of post-war cinema but we haven't quite arrived there yet.
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Post by coke & comics on Apr 8, 2022 10:15:29 GMT -5
1945 is a tricky year. It's filled with films I think were good, but don't recall well. I have a list, and if I trust it (I don't), my favorite films are: Mildred Pierce, I Know Where I'm Going!, The Lost Weekend, Brief Encounter, and Detour.
But I remember most of those films about as well as the character in The Lost Weekend. Unrelated, I drink a lot.
Three noirs, two romances... I Know Where I'm Going is the one I recall best, having seen it the most recently. It's a charming Powell/Pressburger. The premise would be used by a hundred or more romcoms in the decades to come. The woman who has everything figured out... until she meets a man. This one's set in Scotland and I always like things set in Scotland.
Other favorite films all already mentioned. Scarlet Street, Body Snatcher, They Were Expendable.
I think of Spellbound as weaker Hitchcock. And I've seen one serial from the year, The Purple Monster Strikes. Can't say I recommend it, but the alien's outfit reminds me of Thanos.
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Post by badwolf on Apr 8, 2022 12:08:37 GMT -5
Spellbound used to be my favorite Hitchcock but when I re-watched it recently it wasn't as effective. Maybe because I knew what the parallel lines were already. I found that really intriguing the first time, like a "hidden pictures" sort of thing.
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Post by berkley on Apr 8, 2022 14:42:30 GMT -5
Spellbound used to be my favorite Hitchcock but when I re-watched it recently it wasn't as effective. Maybe because I knew what the parallel lines were already. I found that really intriguing the first time, like a "hidden pictures" sort of thing.
I watched it last week - for the first time, for all practical purposes: I thought I'd seen it on tv as a kid, but didn't recognise any scenes or moments seeing it the other night. It's also been a while since I watched anything with Ingrid Bergman and I'd forgotten what a powerful screen presence she has: off the charts. Another thing that struck me was how her character was written: she was the investigator, the protector, the decision-maker, generally she very much took the active part compared to Gregory Peck's largely passive role. This seems fairly unusual for female characters at the time, so from that perspective I think this might have been one of her most interesting parts.
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Post by berkley on Apr 13, 2022 16:07:36 GMT -5
1945:
Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis) - regularly appears on "greatest films of all time" lists. I saw it on the big screen several years ago and can understand why.
Detour - saw this at the same theatre more recently, just 2 or 3 years back. Nice little Noir that punches above its weight.
Mildred Pierce - haven't seen it since i was a kid and barely recall anything about it but don't remember it ever being a great favourite of mine
The Naughty Nineties - I remember finding the 1890s setting a bit of a mis-match at times for the Abbott & Costello duo but there is one funny bit near the beginning where Abbott is telling someone to raise or lower a big painting, and Costello takes it as instructions to sing higher or lower. And the famous Who's on first? bit is in there too.
Rome, Open City - just saw this the other night. Powerful war-time drama. Filmed so close to the time and place in which it is set, the emotions are raw.
Spellbound - see my post above. Hitchcock and Bergman, can't go wrong.
Tonight and Every Night - another Rita Hayworth musical. As in Cover Girl, I thought the colour didn't seem to show up her looks as effectively as the black and white films with Astaire. Still a nice movie, though.
As in some previous years I'll go with one of the consensus picks and name Les Enfants du Paradis as my top movie of 1945.
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Post by Pharozonk on Apr 14, 2022 8:44:00 GMT -5
“Hangover Square”: Laird Cregar, a heavy-set heavy who specialized in portraying seemingly gentle oddball types, only made a few films before dying young. This one, the last, is a variation on “The Lodger” (1944) and the Jack the Ripper character, and shows not just how good Cregar was, but how good he might have been if he could have found different types of roles. I love Linda Darnell in this, too, off whom you can't take your eyes. A great movie that also prefigures the early work of Spanish (se)xploitation legend Jesús Franco. His 1962 breakthrough effort The Awful Dr. Orloff is heavily indebted to Hangover Square and is well worth a watch for fans of classic Gothic horror! |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 14, 2022 13:13:30 GMT -5
Moving on to 1946. This is another one of those years where the answer is so self-evident to me that it just seems disingenuous to pretend that any other film has a shot. So my favorite film of 1946 is... The Big Sleep - You can argue that Bogie wasn't really right for Marlowe. You can point out that the plot is at best labrynthine and at worst nonsense. And you might even be right. But I don't care. Bogie and Bacall absolutely sizzle together. The dialogue is as good as any ever put on film. I can, quite simply watch this movie and then turn around and re-watch it and enjoy it just as much. And that's really what matters. This is seriously a top ten to twenty film for me. Not that there aren't other very fine films from 1946. It's a Wonderful Life - Yeah, it's pretty corny. But, cynical as I am, there's still a little bit of me that wants George Bailey to exist and stand up to Old Man Potter. And maybe that's part of the reason that I do what I do. But...damn...those kids are annoying. The Postman Always Rings Twice - A classic film noir based on one of the bedrocks of literary noir. I'd argue it's Lana Turner's finest performance and close to being that for John Garfield. If I had a complaint it is probably that the whole thing isn't quite gritty enough to accurately represent James M. Cain's incredible novel. Hare-Raising Hare - The Schlesinger crew in Termite Terrace kept raising the bar in 1946. They still weren't quite to the golden age of Looney Tunes, but it was definitely within sight. This short with the first appearance of the monster who would later be named Gossamer is just an absolute delight. There are a number of films that I really need to re-visit including, Notorious (honestly most of Hitchcock's films at this point need a re-watch), The Killers, The Stranger, The Blue Dahlia, 1946 in flim for those who want a look. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 14, 2022 13:33:19 GMT -5
Hair-Raising Hare is brilliant - the manicure bit is still one of my favorites scenes in any Bugs Bunny cartoon. And I absolutely adore the monster-who-would-be-named-Gossamer.
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Post by badwolf on Apr 14, 2022 13:55:48 GMT -5
I would agree with The Big Sleep, with Notorious and The Stranger following behind.
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 14, 2022 14:29:51 GMT -5
Was just about to squeeze in my last few 1945 movies:
Comedy
"Christmas in Connecticut" is one of Barbara Stanwyck's best, a great screwball with the usual Golden Age of Movies character actors: Sydney Greenstrret, "Cuddle" Sakall leading the way.
"Without Love" is an oft forgotten Tracy-Hepburn teaming, but I find it endearing, not least because of Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn's performances. A little different and good bcause of that.
Miscellaneous
"Enchanted Cottage" is a fantasy-romance with Robert Young and Dorothy Malone as an unattractive and unlikely pair of lovers.
"The Corn Is Green" stars Bette Davis as a Welsh schoolteacher who finally finds a student who can get out o the backbreaking life of a coal miner. As usual, Davis was willing to forego glamour for grit and gives a great performance.
"Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" features Edward G. Robinson's finest performance. At the least, it's among his top three. An episodic recounting of a year (maybe a bit more) in the lives of Norwegian-American farmers in Wisconsin as the war begins to change their lives. Robinson is nothing short of brilliant, playing a kind, but tough, sentimental but hardheaded man who knows life at its sweetest and most bitter. Margaret O'Brien is his sassy daughter, and their relationship is the centerpiece of the film. Not sappy, either. In fact, the barn-burning sequence is as ahrrowing as anything you'd see today. Filmed in glorious black and white. WATCH THIS MOVIE!
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Post by Pharozonk on Apr 14, 2022 14:59:47 GMT -5
The Big Sleep - You can argue that Bogie wasn't really right for Marlowe. You can point out that the plot is at best labrynthine and at worst nonsense. And you might even be right. But I don't care. Bogie and Bacall absolutely sizzle together. The dialogue is as good as any ever put on film. I can, quite simply watch this movie and then turn around and re-watch it and enjoy it just as much. And that's really what matters. This is seriously a top ten to twenty film for me. Watching any Howard Hawks movie for the plot is a fruitless task anyway! Hawks was so far ahead of the curve in working within studio filmmaking to move away from slavishness toward narrative structure and instead focus on character interaction and a sense of place (even as early as the 30s with stuff like Dawn Patrol and Only Angels Have Wings). The bookshop scene in Big Sleep is incredible. How that got past the censors is a miracle. |
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