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Post by commond on Apr 26, 2022 17:44:18 GMT -5
Out of the Past is probably the best film of 1947, but I'd like to draw attention to Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Monsieur Verdoux was a disaster for Chaplin's career at the time, but fascinating for us modern viewers. If you're familiar with The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, then I'd point you in the direction of Quai des Orfèvres, which is one of Henri-Georges Clouzot's best films. A couple of noirs that haven't been mentioned yet are Body and Soul and Brute Force. I'm a fan of both Robert Rossen and Jules Dassin. When I first came to Japan, the only films I could watch were English language cinema due to the lack of English subtitles. I pretty much went through every major Hollywood director's filmography during those years, and Rossen and Dassin were among the many gems.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2022 17:50:25 GMT -5
Out of the Past is probably the best film of 1947, but I'd like to draw attention to Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Monsieur Verdoux was a disaster for Chaplin's career at the time, but fascinating for us modern viewers. If you're familiar with The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, then I'd point you in the direction of Quai des Orfèvres, which is one of Henri-Georges Clouzot's best films. A couple of noirs that haven't been mentioned yet are Body and Soul and Brute Force. I'm a fan of both Robert Rossen and Jules Dassin. When I first came to Japan, the only films I could watch were English language cinema due to the lack of English subtitles. I pretty much went through every major Hollywood director's filmography during those years, and Rossen and Dassin were among the many gems. I need to re-watch Monsieur Verdoux. It's been decades and I have only the most marginal memories of it. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2022 19:45:55 GMT -5
I just watched My Favorite Brunette a few nights ago and it was hilarious. I love Bob Hope's entire schtick and this is probably one of the best I've seen him do.
I like a lot of Bob Hope’s movies. One of my favorite lesser-known Bob Hope movies is Here Come the Girls. I had it on VHS for a while and I used to watch it pretty frequently. But at this point, I haven’t seen it for 15 years. I'll put that on my list, should get to it soon as I return to the 1950s film-watching that I interrupted for a bit in order to do some of the 1940s, inspired by this thread. The other Bob Hope movies I watched recently were Paleface and Road to Rio, both very funny - although of course the cowboys and Indians stuff in Paleface doesn't feel right from the perspective of today's greater awareness. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2022 19:47:45 GMT -5
Out of the Past is probably the best film of 1947, but I'd like to draw attention to Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Monsieur Verdoux was a disaster for Chaplin's career at the time, but fascinating for us modern viewers. If you're familiar with The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, then I'd point you in the direction of Quai des Orfèvres, which is one of Henri-Georges Clouzot's best films. A couple of noirs that haven't been mentioned yet are Body and Soul and Brute Force. I'm a fan of both Robert Rossen and Jules Dassin. When I first came to Japan, the only films I could watch were English language cinema due to the lack of English subtitles. I pretty much went through every major Hollywood director's filmography during those years, and Rossen and Dassin were among the many gems.
Prince Hal did mention Brute Force above. Good call on Body and Soul and Quai des Orfèvres.
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Post by commond on Apr 26, 2022 20:34:25 GMT -5
Oops, sorry. Didn’t catch that.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2022 20:38:42 GMT -5
Out of the Past is probably the best film of 1947, but I'd like to draw attention to Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Monsieur Verdoux was a disaster for Chaplin's career at the time, but fascinating for us modern viewers. If you're familiar with The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, then I'd point you in the direction of Quai des Orfèvres, which is one of Henri-Georges Clouzot's best films. A couple of noirs that haven't been mentioned yet are Body and Soul and Brute Force. I'm a fan of both Robert Rossen and Jules Dassin. When I first came to Japan, the only films I could watch were English language cinema due to the lack of English subtitles. I pretty much went through every major Hollywood director's filmography during those years, and Rossen and Dassin were among the many gems. I don't know how I missed Body and Soul. Fabulous film noir and still one of the best boxing films of all time. Garfield is absolutely incredible. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2022 23:56:15 GMT -5
Out of the Past is probably the best film of 1947, but I'd like to draw attention to Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Monsieur Verdoux was a disaster for Chaplin's career at the time, but fascinating for us modern viewers. If you're familiar with The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, then I'd point you in the direction of Quai des Orfèvres, which is one of Henri-Georges Clouzot's best films. A couple of noirs that haven't been mentioned yet are Body and Soul and Brute Force. I'm a fan of both Robert Rossen and Jules Dassin. When I first came to Japan, the only films I could watch were English language cinema due to the lack of English subtitles. I pretty much went through every major Hollywood director's filmography during those years, and Rossen and Dassin were among the many gems. I don't know how I missed Body and Soul. Fabulous film noir and still one of the best boxing films of all time. Garfield is absolutely incredible.
I just re-watched this one not long ago and yeah, it is great. There were several really good boxing films around this time - I also saw Kirk Douglas in Champion and Robert Ryan in The Set-Up. All three focus on the corruption of the game, fixed fights, etc, so the plots might feel a little similar at times, but each one has its own individual flavour. Even seeing them within the space of a week or two I didn't find them too close to one another. Probably the leads had something to do with that: Garfield, Douglas, and Ryan are such strong, individual screen-presences, they lend their character to their roles.
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Post by commond on Apr 29, 2022 7:51:23 GMT -5
I watched Nightmare Alley tonight, which really kicked into gear for me in the third act, where I started realizing how clever the script was in terms of the set-up and pay-off. Quick question, has anyone seen the recent remake by Guillermo del Toro?
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 29, 2022 10:38:05 GMT -5
I watched Nightmare Alley tonight, which really kicked into gear for me in the third act, where I started realizing how clever the script was in terms of the set-up and pay-off. Quick question, has anyone seen the recent remake by Guillermo del Toro? Only the first 15-20 minutes. Don't want to judge it too quickly, but the atmosphere is more artificial than organic and already is so obvious that it distracts from the story and the acting. Feels like you're watching a video game. It didn't make me want to go back to see the rest. I will at some point, though, if only out of curiosity. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 29, 2022 10:42:09 GMT -5
I watched Nightmare Alley tonight, which really kicked into gear for me in the third act, where I started realizing how clever the script was in terms of the set-up and pay-off. Quick question, has anyone seen the recent remake by Guillermo del Toro? I haven't seen it yet. I would prefer to re-watch the 1947 film and, honestly, to re-read the novel. But we'll see how that all shakes out. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 29, 2022 14:40:26 GMT -5
Out of the Past is my favorite film of the crime noir genre, hands down.
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Post by commond on May 1, 2022 16:58:57 GMT -5
Yesterday, I watched Leave Her to Heaven. Didn't really buy into it, but Gene Tierney was outstanding.
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Post by Hoosier X on May 1, 2022 19:30:45 GMT -5
Yesterday, I watched Leave Her to Heaven. Didn't really buy into it, but Gene Tierney was outstanding. It certainly has its moments! I kept thinking ... it’s like a Bette Davis movie ... where the Bette Davis character is as beautiful as everybody says she is. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 10, 2022 13:27:41 GMT -5
It's been the drizzling sh!#s at work. So we've had a significant delay, but now... 1948. Did anyone in films have a better year in '48 than Humphrey Bogart? Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Is it film noir (I say no)? Is it a western (I balked at this for years)? Whatever it is, it's one of the best films not just of 1948, but of all time. Bogart is absolutely brilliant as Fred C. Dobbs (I'd argue it's his best ever), a down on his luck American in Mexico. But he's nearly equalled by Walter Huston as Howard and, sometimes forgotten, Tim Holt as Curtin. The other star is the brilliant photography by Ted McCord and John Huston's direction. Just a brilliant character study of the effect of greed on individuals. And this scene... Key Largo - I think it's become pretty clear how I feel about Bogie and Bacall. In fact Ms. Bacall remains one of my major actress crushes and was well into her 70s. This is, by my measure, the clearest and best film noir of the year. Beyond Bogie and Bacall you get great supporting performances by Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor. Robinson, in particular is great at Johnny Rocco, channeling the gangster tropes that made him famous. One of those movies I'll watch any chance I get. I guess maybe John Wayne had as good or better '48. Red River - You can make a very good argument that his portrayal Thomas Dunson is John Wayne's greatest acting feat. As John Ford would say after seeing Wayne in the film, "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!." For my money the best western since 1939's Stagecoach it is also largely devoid of the residual B-western feel that had continued to permeate the genre through the war years. This film, along with the next one on the list, began a renaissance for westerns that would continue through the 50s. Probably my favorite performance by Montgomery Clift as Matt and just a great ensemble cast. Fort Apache - The first of what became known as John Ford's "cavalry trilogy." This was the other film, along with Red River, that was a turning point in presaging what could be considered the golden age of the western film. John Wayne and Henry Fonda star in one of the earliest films to show at least a modicum of sympathy for the Native American point of view. I think Fonda is great as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday. For those who are used to Fonda as a hero or an everyman it's a bit jarring, but that's all to the good. And you always have to love Ward Bond. 3 Godfathers - Another John Ford/John Wayne collaboration, this one isn't on the level or Fort Apache or a number of others, but it's a solid western and a great Christmas movie. Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carey, Jr. play three three rustlers who end up becoming godfathers to a newborn chld and must try to save him and get him to safety. The film is a remake of a 1916 western also directed by Ford and staring Harry Carey, Sr. Maybe not great, but very well done and heart-warming. Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein - And now for something completely different. I LOVE this movie. To the point that in a lot of years it would be an easy winner. Part of it is probably memories, because I first watched this with my Mom as a late show offering. But partly because it's just a genuinely funny film. And part of the funniness is that the monsters are played completely straight. The juxtaposition of Abbott and Costello's silliness with pretty straight-up Universal horror monsters is a brilliant choice. This movie just makes me 10 every time I watch it. There obviously some big movies from this year that I either haven't seen (The Bicycle Thief, The Red Shoes) or haven't seen in eons (Call Northside 777, The Naked City). So what's my favorite? For all my love of and nostalgia for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Treasure of the Sierra Madre is just too good for it not to squeak in to the top spot. But it's super close. 1948 in film for those as want a look. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 10, 2022 15:16:37 GMT -5
I've fallen way behind on following this thread, but Key Largo remains one of my favorite films of all time. Great choices all around!
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