REVEALED-THE ILX TOP 75 FILMS OF THE 1950s

(its formal qualities are open to the question of intention)

for Hollywood, I think I prefer the '40s to the 50s!

xpost -- but it has formal qualities, which Leo McCarey movies do not

Comedy in the thirties >> comedy in the forties.

Buñuel was one of the few good directors making comedies in the fifties (no one saw'em, though).

xp: grooooannn, that's madness whether you like his formal qualities or not ... you've seen Duck Soup, yes?

also about 80 of McCarey's films are comedy shorts starring the likes of Laurel & Hardy, which would populate my '20s ballot.

xp: grooooannn, that's madness whether you like his formal qualities or not ... you've seen Duck Soup, yes?

I even like some of his movies. Make Way for Tomorrow is a masterpiece without any particular formal qualities.

“McCarey understands people better perhaps than anyone else in Hollywood.” - Jean Renoir

Sure, but how does that defend his lack of mise-en-scene?

(OK, maybe mise-en-scene isn't the word I'm looking for here.)

yeah, "lack" is a bit strong. His films have an aura (as do Lubitsch's, perhaps moreso) that isn't engineered in ways familiar to us from subsequent filmmakers. But they work, so they must've done it right.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that my love for Make Way for Tomorrow challenges everything I thought I loved about cinema, and I'm grateful for that, but do not find anything remotely approaching Tomomrrow's great whatsit in any of McCarey's other films, and won't stress about it.

(Unfortunatly, I haven't seen a Lubitsch film that works for me in that way yet.)

I have never understood exactly what mise en scène is anyway; it changes from critic to critic. So I say fuck it, give me the arithmetical beauty of a streetful of ppl tearing each other's pants off.

So I say fuck it, give me the arithmetical beauty of a roomful of tap dancers reenacting the Sierpinski triangle.

Thank you for spurring me to rent All About Eve, which has many laughs out loud...

Yes, I laugh or at least exhale through my nose about 40 percent of the time during All About Eve.

it's obv a great, kickass script. But what are Mankiewicz's formal qualities?

also, pony up the individual ballots.

My sources tell me it's Picnic.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, November 18, 2008 5:33 PM

ha ha!

I was sad Picnic didn't make it. I love the DVD artifacts on this scene. The image compression reveals the Holden-in-blackface:

my #1 was El: This Strange Passion, oh well

it's obv a great, kickass script. But what are Mankiewicz's formal qualities?

You know my point is that, in the absence of formal qualities, it all boils down to "I like this/I don't like this" for me. And screwballs almost always fall under the latter.

it's obv a great, kickass script. But what are Mankiewicz's formal qualities?

The ones he learned from Billy Wilder?

well, I think Sunset Blvd has more memorable visual perks than Eve, but prefer the latter (cuz that cast would eat Nancy Olsen like sherbet).

Nancy Olsen, graduate of the Betty Crocker School of Dramatic Arts.

Yeah, what an unnecessary Oscar nomination hers was.

knowing that she got one, wow!

I used to be jaymc.

Olson didn't win.

anyone read Sam Stagg's All About All About Eve? Lots of dishy anecdotes. When told years later that Anne Baxter regretted promoting herself as Best Actress instead of Supporting Actress, Davis says, "Yeah, she should have."

C. Grisso, I applaud you for organising this and making such an effort of it!

Time to come clean, my top ten:

1. Sunset Boulevard
2. The Seventh Seal
3. Bonjour Tristesse
4. La Strada
5. On The Beach
6. Ascenseur Pour l'Echafaud
7. Rear Window
8. 12 Angry Men
9. Roman Holiday
10. Le Amiche/The Girlfriends

Only thing that really fascinates and surprises me is the inclusion of all the Looney Tunes cartoons. Is this purely an American (cultural) phenomenom? I mean, I like cartoons as much as the next guy, but seeing Duck Amuck in the top ten really raised my eyebrows. I think I've got a lot of catching up to do :)

did Bette say anything nice about a female peer, ever?

I thought "Duck Amuck" was one of those flicks the French had to discover before we did.

so E, did you really not vote for any Tashlin films?

(btw, Road to Utopia with Hope/Crosby is at least as funny as any Looney Tunes, and is sorta structured like one; might be in my '40s Top 20)

did Bette say anything nice about a female peer, ever?

Actually, she became great friends with Thelma Ritter (a huge Dickens fan, apparently) and Baxter. Celeste Holm she detested.

My imaginary ballot:

El
All About Eve
Anatomy of a Murder
The Earrings of Madame De...
Imitation of Life
Rear Window
Early Spring
Touch of Evil
Smiles of a Summer Night
I Vitelloni

hay gays i think i forgot to submit my ballot, although i found it on my hard drive:

Vertigo
Night and the City
A Man Escaped
Sunset Blvd
Singin' in the Rain
In a Lonely Place
Rear Window
Orpheus
Nights of Cabiria
Pickpocket

Kiss Me Deadly
Gun Crazy
The Wrong Man
Strangers on a Train
Sansho the Bailiff
Ivan the Terrible, Part 2
Bob le flambeur
Imitation of Life
Night of the Hunter
Touch of Evil

Umberto D.
Some like it Hot
The Man in the White Suit
The 400 Blows
The Killing
12 Angry Men
Diabolique
Wages of Fear
The River
The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Lavender Hill Mob
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Night and Fog

(i'm happy with the results, obv)

I thought "Duck Amuck" was one of those flicks the French had to discover before we did.

― Eric H., Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:42 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

Maybe, but I ain't French, you see.

I'm just saying it wasn't an American thing first.

Well, aside from being made and appreciated by people in general in America.

(Jerry Lewis onstage interview w/ Bogdanovich here this weekend)

1. Rear Window
2. Vertigo
3. Seven Samurai
4. North by Northwest
5. The Night of the Hunter
6. What's Opera, Doc?
7. Singin' in the Rain
8. The African Queen
9. All That Heaven Allows
10. On the Waterfront
11. Anatomy of a Murder
12. Born Yesterday
13. The Red Balloon
14. The 400 Blows
15. Sweet Smell of Success
16. The Men
17. A Night to Remember
18. A Face in the Crowd
19. War of the Worlds
20. Tokyo Story

Leftover blurbs:

A Face in the Crowd
Why are there so few good movies about TV? A Face in the Crowd might
be the best that isn't about the news (though My Favorite Year has a
place in my heart). As a warning, it can be hard to take: The movie's
fear of homespun Southern charisma turning Trojan horse for business
fascism is easily dispelled recalling the awkward handshake between
Elvis and Nixon. But this rise-and-fall story is more compelling and
sensual than any biopic that followed its blueprint, because director
Elia Kazan isn't afraid to get inside the carnality and fun of being
dark, hysterical Andy Griffith--the baton-twirling scene remains the
kind of classic that shows just how tame the imitators are.

The Red Balloon
It seems like a dream to me now, or something that actually happened.
Also a great children's book using photos from the film.

War of the Worlds
I actually love the Spielberg remake, which adds evocations of 9/11
and plausible pessimism about crowd panic and strangers. But the '50s
sci-fi classic has its own distinctly creepy look, sound, and logic,
especially the arcs of sparks shot out by the alien ships, who
represent everything you don't know--the bomb, the Russians, the
future--coming to destroy everything you do.

Anatomy of a Murder
One difference between the early '40s and late '50s is the span of
American history between Dooley Wilson and Humphrey Bogart in
Casablanca and Duke Ellington and James Stewart in Anatomy of a
Murder. Where Bogart grumpily tolerates the black help until he needs
the music like a drink, Jimmy Stewart sits in with genius, and no hint
of white authority (though notice none of the black musicians object).
Hepness has become an entryway into the real world where African
Americans live--and the fact that they live there makes it more real
onscreen. It also brings us to a fresh sexual suggestiveness and
frankness, a nonjudgmental view of alcoholism, and the recognition
that courts of law are a lot like courts of tennis or basketball, and
that this is their beauty. The Upper Peninsula locations,
lake-vacation atmosphere, wall-to-wall Ellington, crackling dialogue,
easy structure, and ironic looks of George C. Scott make this my
all-time favorite courtroom drama.

Born Yesterday
It took a long time for me to like William Holden in this or any other
movie, but I appreciate him more now, maybe because I see how
personalities like his are needed in the real world: The teacher, with
his condescending smile and false humility, can sometimes straighten
us out. And while I wish it were clearer that Judy Holliday had
something to teach him in return, I love how lispy and casually dreamy
she gets when acknowledging her ignorance, as if noticing the world
and giving a shit held appeal for her as some new card game to master.

The Men
I remember nothing except Brando being powerfully sensual even in a
wheelchair, and his rebellion among men in an institution being as
exciting as the one in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

A Night to Remember
The Titanic is earth now, and we're all going down. But none of the
more recent environmental disaster movies are a better metaphor than
this founding horror film about community, which is far more surreal
and convincing than the James Cameron epic weeper if only because
Titanic's FX gloss, length, and suspenseful romantic subplot get in
the way of its basic situation, with all its dread and injustice.

Having just re-watched The Red Balloon for the first time since childhood, I'd yank that outta there for Body Snatchers. Obv there are tons of movies in the Top 75 I haven't seen...

I also have a big soft spot for Creature from the Black Lagoon, which I saw in 3-D. The music is awesome. The sequels are hilariously bad though.

forgot to vote on this one! my top two would've been vertigo and duck amuck, so i'm reasonably happy.

I want to thank the law offices of Farner, Grisso, & McCain for a fantastic poll! Seriously, great work!

My ballot:

1. Imitation of Life – As perfect a capitalist product as has ever been created in the USA, delivering contradictory pleasures sometimes within a single shot. Classical Hollywood never topped it.

2. Angel Face – Preminger’s unblinking eyes make sure we’ll want to scratch out our own.

3. Night of The Hunter – The terrible, horrible capacity for evil in us all.

4. Duck Amuck – The most terrifying film ever made.

5. The Long Gray Line - The greatest of Ford’s living, breathing organisms. More movingly than anything in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, the Christmas scene demonstrates community formation through history making. If you can make it through these five minutes without bawling, then you need to take a break from ILX.

6. The End – I felt so incredibly alone at the end (get it?) of this.

7. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Rosenbaum called this a “capitalist Potemkin” and he’s right! Where Eisenstein’s editing offered a filmic correlation to dialectical materialism, the remarkable final track in to the Dorothy-Lorelei coalition exemplifies capitalism’s repetition compulsion. And give it up for George Winslow who should have won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as lecherous piggy in the making Henry Spofford III.

8. Singin’ In The Rain – Postmodernism avant la lettre (or après if you believe Lawrence Grossberg).

9. Female on the Beach – The cost of nothing. Joan Crawford’s greatest film.

10. All About Eve – 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).

11. Track of the Cat – William H. Clothier’s colorless color photography makes this the one classical Hollywood film you could say you’ve seen without actually seeing. But that’s to ignore one of the most miserable family melodramas pinned to celluloid and Robert Mitchum’s quintessential inhabitation of the surly breadwinning male.

12. Harriet Craig – A prequel of sorts to Female on the Beach which means the ending is a happy one.

13. Wagon Master – Another Ford organism, his favorite among his westerns and mine too. In just 86 minutes, the film feels as if it always has been and always will be.

14. Rio Bravo – Thank you, Fred Zinnemann!

15. Torch Song - A fine documentary about Joan Crawford which just so happens to feature the greatest line in motion picture history: “Lobster Newburg and coffee.”

16. Bonjour Tristesse – 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.

17. Bend of the River – During the winter of 2000, all three of our immediate surrounding neighbors bitched at us for shoveling snow near their property. And then suddenly I couldn’t get this western out of my head. There is still Manifest Destiny in America even if the space to conquer is just a six-foot stretch of alleyway.

18. All That Heaven Allows – Gawd let Sirk have one unironic masterpiece!

19. Queen Bee – Joan Crawford’s Eva is not the villain here (well, not the only villain).

20. Shadows – And thus began a life of sin – Hollywood’s not Cassavetes’.

21. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman – A world where God himself is chaos. Eurotrash dance amongst the ruins of their civilization as pianos sink into the sand and headless statues pay witness to cars dropping in the ocean. Love, the mad, underappreciated Albert Lewin.

22. The Other Woman – Hugo Haas gets reflexive which is sort of like saying a mirror gets reflexive.

23. Hiroshima Mon Amour – To paraphrase Barthes “what’s terrible about narrative is that it makes the monstrous viable.”

24. Awaara – Charlie Chaplin – the Raj Kapoor of Hollywood.

25. Beat The Devil – As with Minnelli’s The Pirate (1948), I’m not sure we’ve caught up with this film yet.

26. Eaux d'artifice – The fire in water.

27. Edge of Hell – Just when you thought Hugo Haas couldn’t get any more bathetic, in walks Flip The Dog.

28. Kiss Me Kate – Cock lust in 3-D! And a proscenium so screechingly camp that not even the preposterous Howard Keel can shout it down.

29. A Movie – If the USA had a movie trailer.

30. Susan Slept Here – Frank Tashlin’s most sustained bit of lunacy. And narrated by an Oscar!

31. Johnny Guitar – Starring Joan Crawford in Red, Mercedes McCambridge in White (with a voice scarier than the one she provided for The Devil in The Exorcist), and, oh yeah, Sterling Hayden as the title character.

32. Strange Fascination – Hugo Haas at his most self-lacerating, quite literally at one point.

33. Father of The Bride – Along with Minnelli’s even more frightening The Long, Long Trailer (which I forgot to nominate), this film is the reason why we cannot determine genre by audience reaction alone.

34. Glen or Glenda? – The ultimate in ineptness as avant-garde serendipity.

35. Murder by Contract – Alternate title: Death by Life (at least if you live in a capitalist economy). Also, I love films you can snap along to.

36. Nightcats – Out of focus shots of kitties fuck with our concepts of figure and ground.

37. It Should Happen To You – I watched this immediately after Stalker. Where Tarkovsky’s film seemed like a command from on high, Cukor punches his film full of holes so we can worm our own way in and out of it, a perfect model of democracy in the belly of the Hollywood beast.

38. Pickup – Hugo Haas at his sleaziest which took some doing. Keep a Wet Nap nearby.

39. Mother India – India, where they manage to make a film in which characters spontaneously burst into songs about despair and poverty. And then it becomes one of the most popular things in the universe.

40. Ruby Gentry – Marvel as Jennifer Jones takes out her revenge on the earth…like actual dirt. From King Vidor in his high delirious period.

Singin' in the Rain is a little mean toward its villainess (though it helps that Jean Hagen actually dubbed Debbie Reynolds in most scenes rather than the other way around)

This isn't true. Hagen only dubbed the lines (actually, I think it's only one line) that Kathy was rerecording for Lina. Betty Noyes dubbed Reynolds' singing.

Fun fact: Kim Fowley's dad, Douglas, plays the harried director.

Right you are about Jean Hagen, though I think you'll forgive my confusion:

'If the subject of movie dubbing is confusing to some trying to connect who is who, then what about the strange set-up connected with the classic MGM musical Singin’ in the Rain (1952)? This merry mix-up of real life dubbing was addressed in Ray Hagen’s article on Jean Hagen in Film Fan Monthly (December 1968): "In the film, Debbie Reynolds has been hired to re-dub Hagen’s dialogue and songs in the latter’s first talking picture. We see the process being done in a shot of Reynolds ... matching her dialogue to Hagen’s and synchronizing it while watching a scene from the film. But the voice that is used to replace Hagen’s shrill, piercing one is not Reynolds’ but Hagen’s own quite lovely natural voice—meaning that Jean Hagen dubs Debbie Reynolds’ dubbing Jean Hagen! To further confuse matters, the voice we hear as Hagen mimes "Would You?", supposedly supplied by Reynolds, is that of yet a third girl ... [Betty Royce]". Confusing? Well, there’s more. Although Debbie sang in the movie, notably the title tune (dubbing Hagen!), Debbie herself is dubbed again by Betty Royce in her duet with Gene Kelly "You Are My Lucky Star."

'Like Debbie Reynolds, other actresses or singers who were quite able to sing their own songs were still dubbed. One reason was money; if a studio had a music track but the vocalist who recorded it was unable to film, they just got someone else to lip sync the song on the screen.'

http://www.classicimages.com/past_issues/view/?x=/1998/november98/idibthee.html

So that is Reynolds singing "Singin' in the Rain"...

.. or Gene!

Yes, that's Reynolds on the title tune. And I've heard both Betty Noyes and Betty Royce but I believe the former is the correct name.

Yes, Betty Noyes!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637529/

I'm sorry to perpetrate two errors in one thread!

I mean perpetuate. I'll go soak my head.

I mean, I'm an auteurist too and all, but even I recognize Carrie and Dressed to Kill as among De Palma's best films.

I don't think I'm an auteurist, and Femme Fatale is head and shoulders above those two. (The second half of DtK is kind of appalling.)