REVEALED-THE ILX TOP 75 FILMS OF THE 1950s

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53. Un Chant D’Amour
Jean Genet, 1950
POINTS: 72
VOTES: 2
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“Tosses the bouquet and swings the dick with the best of them.”

― Dr Morbius

“Are any even as satisfying as gay movies of porny qualities? I mean, sure, there's Un Chant d'amour and Pink Narcissus, but what else?”

― Eric H.

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52. Some Like It Hot
Billy Wilder, 1959
POINTS: 72
VOTES: 5
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

Some Like It Hot: Classic, Dud or Something Inbetween?

BONUS FEATURE

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51. The African Queen
John Huston, 1951
POINTS: 73
VOTES: 3
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

"Romancing the Stone was an acknowledgement of what Raiders of the Lost Ark was missing: a credible or compelling romantic relationship at its center. Compared to Raiders, this adventure of whites in Africa pitting missionary and entrepreneur against Nazis seems mild as action and questionable as history, but somehow far more richly entertaining just by being a love story that gets Katherine Hepburn in wet clothes."

― Pete Scholtes

BONUS FEATURE

I kinda thought Some Like It Hot wd be the only pure comedy on the list, just bcz of disposable comedy-adventures like The African Queen.

and see Eric, you are not the anti-barometer re Genet erotica or Rossellini.

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50. Shane
George Stevens, 1953
POINTS: 75
VOTES: 3
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“Jack Palance is so fucking awesome in Shane.”

― Alex in SF

“I was just now explaining Shane to someone who only knew him for City Slickers.”

― Ned Raggett

“Yeah, "Pick up the gun" is my favourite Palance quote too (anyone see Bill Hicks' "Revelations" when he compares that moment in Shane to the U.S. arming little nations, then attacking them because "See! He had a gun!"?)”

― shorty

BONUS FEATURE

a western for ppl who don't like westerns.

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49. Plan 9 From Outer Space
Edward D. Wood Jr., 1959
POINTS: 78
VOTES: 3
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

ALL OF YOU ON EARTH ARE IDIOTS!

BONUS FEATURE

xpost OK, this list is starting to get really bad.

How is Imitation of Life THAT low?!

+ I think Un Chant D’Amour was something like #2 on my list.

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48. Rebel Without A Cause
Nicholas Ray, 1955
POINTS: 78
VOTES: 5
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“belle and sebastien are sal mineo in rebel w/o a cause”

― Fritz Wollner From If bands were characters from movies

BONUS FEATURE

luv me some Diabolique (damn I shoulda voted in this thing)

Plan 9 < Glen or Glenda?

I was going to vote but never got around to ordering my list, but I specifically excluded Plan 9 because I felt it didn't belogn on the list. Certainly not above Some like it Hot

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47. La Strada
Federico Fellini, 1954
POINTS: 80
VOTES: 3
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

“There are films that quietly tell a story (La Strada, for instance) without feeling the need to 'show us what were really are,' or to lampoon the hypocrisy of modern life. Those are the ones I prefer.”

― andy --

“La Strada - I want to go back in time and impregnate Giulietta Masina.”

― Jeff-PTTL

There's a strain of Right Directors/Wrong Films goin on...

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46. Night and The City
Jules Dassin, 1950
POINTS: 81
VOTES: 3
#1s: 0

COMMENTS:

RIP Jules Dassin

RIP Richard Widmark

BONUS FEATURE

...and that's it for today. Stay tuned for 45-31 tomorrow.

Thank God there are still 45 slots left!

yeah, where will Bridge on the River Kwai turn up?

You'd be surprised...

oh I hope so.

#1. Seven Samurai

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"Madness!"

My takes:

I hated La Strada, but that was 18 years ago. I felt trapped in the movie, and couldn't figure out why anyone (the characters, the audience) wouldn't want to get out. Anyone want to rhapsodize?

Shane felt a little canned, its vision of the kid a little cute ("Shane! Shane!"), but I know Western fans love it, and it has some exciting fights and romantic tension. I'd probably watch it again.

Rebel Without a Cause is Beautiful, and I'll keep going back to it (Invasion didn't make my Top 20 either), but its overt sociology is silly. I don't know when the first realistic depiction of American parents and teens hit a screen (maybe the American Family doc on PBS in the '70s?), but this one is laughable enough to throw me out of the film, no matter how good Dead is.

Imitation of Life is great, but it's all sacrifice, tragedy, and pain, where All That Heaven Allows involves a rebellion, which is so much more poignant. I think that's why the combination in Far from Heaven.

I loved Night and the City, but didn't remember it well enough. The first wrestling noir?

I also loved Ed Wood, but couldn't sit through Plan 9.

Ha, I meant Dean, not Dead.

Shane ... I know Western fans love it

hmmm, not cineaste western fans. It's by GEORGE STEVENS, for God's sake. Big fans of it should get an enforced Boetticher/ Mann oater marathon.

(not only are those 2 not gonna show up on this list, we're gonna get High Noon too, right?)

Rebel Without a Cause is a melodrama; what's silly about it is just as silly in Imitation of Life.

Sal Mineo in Rebel is rather proto-Emo. Its kind of odd that Emo kids never picked up on the mismatched socks.

I think that's why the combination in Far from Heaven.

The rest of this unfinished sentence sure as hell better not be something along the lines of "works better than either."

(x-post)

On the same tip, was there ever a confirmation that Natalie Wood lost her virginity to Nick Ray?

if i had voted i likely would have gone with 'on dangerous ground' for #1, but i didn't

I saw that recently. I liked it, but felt it came off like two halves of better movies that got glued together.

I heard rumor that Ray had Dean, Wood, Mineo.

I watched Ray's Bitter Victory again last night. Like a lot, but Curt Jurgens' character is too transparently craven, and Burton baldly enunciates the theme several times.

without the divide it would never have worked

It's pretty packed for 80 minutes. No waste at all.

"I think that's why the combination in Far from Heaven." = I think that's why you find the combination in Far from Heaven.

I LOVE melodrama, but do you really think teens in the '50s were suffering from too LITTLE parental authority? The whole weak-father trope in Rebel Without a Cause is the thing I find laughable. Maybe that's just one part of the film, but the structure truly feels like a cautionary tale, where Imitation of Life isn't quite so neat. I didn't vote for either film, though...

Gawd what a depressing run of films!

Plan 9 < Glen or Glenda?

OTM. And Morbs waaaaaaaaaaay OTM about Shane. You just KNOW High Noon and Seven Samurai are coming up. But please spare us Kwai.

P.S. For the record, I placed Imitation of Life at number one.

P.P.S. James Dead. Ouch.

It's pretty packed for 80 minutes.

The UK version of Bitter Victory, which finally got put out on disc, is 103 minutes. So there is some waste, and like in Strangers on a Train much of it is named Ruth Roman.

Have to admit I found Imitation Of Life irritating, despite its many charms. Just couldn't feel for the main characters like I did in All That Heaven Allows

Shane eased me into Westerns, and not just because of that wonderfully ambiguous ending. There are themes in that film that are actually in a lot of westerns, but when I was younger, I had never noticed them before in other ones. I know it's about as cliché as "hey let us compare John Ford/John Wayne westerns through three decades", but it's still a good stepping stone into what is now one of my favourite genres. I seem to remember Ebert's Great Movies entry being pretty good: Shane

As hokey as Rebel is, there is something about James Dean that is so captivating that I can forgive it. I much prefer his performance in Giant, however, so that should be where the James Dean recognition should go.

Roman Holiday is still great, but I love Audrey and Gregory.

Wish Smiles of a Summer Night was higher. The moment where the statue lever is hit and the bed moves into the other room is simply perfection.

Also, Elevator the Gallows is overrated.

everything in Giant except Dean is pretty mediocre to terrible!

"I think that's why the combination in Far from Heaven." = I think that's why you find the combination in Far from Heaven.

OK, I can accept that (even though I'm pretty sure I actually hate Far From Heaven in retrospect).

ha - Liz is actually in character for once!

I never understood Lola Montes and Johnny Guitar's reputations. And wtf High Society?!

Which is why it is the real testament to Dean's abilities! Watching Rebel, you can understand why his early death meant the loss of an icon. Watching Giant, you can see that the real tragedy is the loss of a really good actor. Dude made a 3-hour slog really quite enjoyable to watch.

xpost, btw

I always felt Johnny Guitar's reputation had more to do with the crowing on of the Cahiers set than anything. Only saw the movie once, years ago, and don't really remember it though.