REVEALED-THE ILX TOP 75 FILMS OF THE 1950s

if GORT had starred in Shane instead of Alan Ladd...

Pete, as a disliker of On The Waterfront, I was moved by your powerful piece of writing. Maybe I'd be 100% convinced if Abe Polonsky had won a lifetime achievement Oscar. And Wanda hadn't cast even more doubt on Kazan.

And in the "ouch" category:

On the Beach
Capsule by Dave Kehr
From the Chicago Reader

Stanley Kramer issues the final warning to Mankind, in a tiresome, talky 1959 film set in the shrunken aftermath of World War III. Nineteen fifty-nine was also the year of North by Northwest, Imitation of Life, Rio Bravo, Some Came Running, Anatomy of a Murder, and The Horse Soldiers--so guess which picture topped all the ten-best lists? You'd have to see it to believe it, but I'm not sure I'd put anybody through that.

How'd Horse Soldiers slide in there? (Full disclosure: haven seen said Ford film.)

Some Ford freaks swear by it; others (e.g., myself) do not.

I saw it recently; it's good, esp the interplay of Wayne and Holden.

Speaking of Some Came Running, there better be a Minnelli or two coming up on this list.

Oh shit! I totally forgot to vote for The Cobweb! But I voted for another Minnelli.

none of the melos, but one musical & one comedy here.

Me-One musical, one weeper.

“ Bresson does his usual thing and 'something else' just as well here, which is what makes a masterpiece.”

― Dr Morbius

I'm not sure I want to know what this means.

What it means is I haven't seen the film in about 6 years.

ie, it isn't as dull as Pickpocket.

Just don't go kicking the ass and I'll refrain from bringing up the Dardennes.

Tabulator ocupado?

I was going to say ...

so did The Big Knife get any votes?

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29. Sweet Smell of Success
Alexander Mackendrick, 1957
POINTS: 113
VOTES: 4
#1s: 1

COMMENTS:

“"Sweet Smell of Success" is indeed magnificent; abrasive Scot (Mackendrick) meets abrasive New Yorker and the partnership is incendiary. Best role I know of for Tony Curtis, and one amongst many for the great Burt Lancaster.”

― Tom May

“because more than probably ANY other variety of "journalism," celeb gossip depends on maintaining a relationship with publicists, watch one sweet smell of success”

― say it with blood diamonds (a_p)

“Sweet Smell of Success (gritty bleak film noir about a Winchell-esque columnist, but the real star is the late-50s NYC night life of shady jazz clubs and criminal underworlds. unusual for the time, this was filmed on-location in NYC and not in a Hollywood soundstage)”

― Gator Magoon (Chris Barrus)

Been busy.

I'd hate to take a bite out of you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.

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28. In A Lonely Place
Nicholas Ray, 1950
POINTS: 113
VOTES: 7
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“My friend said: "Like Bogart always is, only a real person."”

--Dr. Morbius

BONUS FEATURE

I saw In a Lonely Place again recently. Bogart and Grahame still great, but I noticed how cheap it looked and how mangy some of the writing was; it's an excellent B movie.

so, no On the Beach

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27. 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet, 1957
POINTS: 115
VOTES: 4
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“haha i can still remember watching 12 angry men in 8th grade social studies and hearing a bunch of girls yell "it's piglet!!" at the screen.”

― J.D.

“And, as far as the latest Armond kerfuffle goes, I have to say that Lumet's 12 Angry Men feels a lot more like great television than great film. But I don't really want to examine that empirically, either.”

― Eric H.

BONUS FEATURE

Gotta go fish for comments. Be back soon.

Rex Reed is hacking way too much of this poll

lol, I guess I stand by my 12AM comment.

?

He means he's telling Armond to shove his criticism of 12 AM.

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26. Pickpocket
Robert Bresson, 1959
POINTS: 117
VOTES: 5
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“I just rescreened Pickpocket and came close to weeping.”

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn

xpost True ... though at the same time, I didn't exactly mean it as the most glowing of endorsements.

oh, you didn't have to do that.

(xpost)

I stopped using "rescreened" when I got bored of seeing my name in the "Posts Very Much In Character" thread.

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25. Strangers On A Train
Alfred Hitchcock, 1951
POINTS: 117
VOTES: 6
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“"Strangers on a Train" is fantastic. So many great images: Bruno at the Jefferson Memorial, in the audience at the tennis match, the glasses' reflection scene...”

― Joe

“i like strangers on a train but the way hitch films that murder scene creeps me the fuck out.”

― J.D.

“Robert Walker is the best evil homosexual EVER. One of my favorite movie villains.”

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan)

BONUS FEATURE

made too soon to do Highsmith's plot. That hurt it.

(ie, it's groovy til Guy DOESN'T do his murder)

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24. Ugetsu/ Ugetsu monogatari
Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953
POINTS: 118
VOTES: 5
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

It seems that Mizoguchi has for some reason been forgotten from the list of great directors, which is a real pity, so I gotta go for the 62 or 72 list for still including Ugetsu.

― Tuomas

“I'm as upset as anyone that Ugetsu has been phased out of the top 10 out of the past few decades since it is, to my tastes, far greater than anything Kurosawa has done; perhaps my favorite film as of now”

― Vichitravirya_XI

BONUS FEATURE

This is definitely the "we now return to our regularly scheduled program" kicking in now. About time.

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23. Bonjour Tristesse
Otto Preminger, 1958
POINTS: 126
VOTES: 5
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“Jean Seberg's perfect summer starts to slip away from her as Preminger's ever-gliding camera picks up every shard culminating in the devastating final shot.”

― Kevin John Bozelka

“Preminger's (and Seberg's... and Kerr's?) peak.”

--Dr. Morbius

“/Jean Seberg. //OMG. Jean Seberg. OMG.Jean Seberg. OMG. Jean Seberg. OMG. Jean Seberg. OMG. Jean Seberg. OMG. Jean Seberg. OMG. Jean Seberg. //OMG./

“Jean Seberg, does one need anymore reasons to love this movie to death? She turns a crap novel and a mediocre movie into a diamond sight for sore eyes.

“Jean Seberg, my sweet Angel of Death. “

--Le Bateau Ivre

BONUS FEATURE

yes, good streak. I bet almost time for another stinker!

Seberg wd've been 70 yesterday, I think.

God, what a movie! Not Preminger's best but damn close.

Here's a comment I missed on Sweet Smell from Pete:

Sweet Smell of Success
The Wire begins here: This is the first non-noir I can think of to
relish in its street knowledge of a hidden urban world. It's wiseass,
streetwise, but maybe too wised up--I don't quite get the racial
cracks about the cop, for starters. But Sweet Smell obviously loves
its real New York locations and musical nightlife, and I love the
idea, whether true or made-up, that a right-wing tabloid entertainment
columnist could be powerful enough to hold court in his own section of
a restaurant, and that he could tar a jazz musician with the shocking,
shocking slander of Communist association and reefer smoking. But
mostly I love Tony Curtis, who would have given a little heart and
jolt to La Dolce Vita.

time for a cartoon break methinks.

I'm still sort of stuck on Advise and Consent as the best of the Premingers I've seen, but the man made as many movies as Hitchcock nearly, so that will probably never be a definitive statement.

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22. The Searchers
John Ford, 1956
POINTS: 127
VOTES: 5
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“I have, in fact, used the first 20-25 minutes of The Searchers (up to the funeral) to teach the art and science of visual storytelling to would-be critics. I'm not a Fordophile in the sense that I've seen all of his work, but I watch The Searchers over and over again--corny, un p.c. bits and all--and get something new out of it every time. “

― Lee G

BONUS FEATURE

I'm guessing the two Fords I voted for aint finishing above this.

holy crap, that's low!

xp

some folx have no use at all for Wayne/Ford.

That IS low!

for a film w/ all the slapstick with Jeffrey Hunter? (tho God, he's beautiful)

jeez, i assumed it would make top ten no sweat.

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21. All About Eve
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950
POINTS: 129
VOTES: 6
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“Patricia White in Uninvited: “It is one thing to love and emulate Bette Davis; it is another thing entirely to succumb to the charms of Barbara Bates” (213).”

--klb

“All About Eve is a strange one, because by rights it should be too literary, too stagey, too much of its period, too in-jokey and not cinematic enough for me. But I've sat through it twice in the last few months and been totally engrossed each time, even though I've seen it often enough to hear the dialogue before the actors say it.”

― frankiemachine

“I give Eve the edge for its gallery of performances (no one's praised Celeste Holm much; she plays the tricky part of the goody-goody backstabbing best friend with vinegary wit)”

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn

BONUS FEATURE