LISTS

[CineMaven]

Cinemaven, I love your staccato,to the point,wonderfully descriptive phraseology. Am I being pedantic? No one could call you that! Your words for When Worlds Collide are a classic.
More,please.

Thanxx Vienna. More will come.

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I don't know ANNE OF THE INDIES. As a Jacques Tourneur fan, I should! Or as my brother says, "Jack Turner. We're not in ****ing France!"

LOL! Tell your brother I said, "Le Big Mac."

[ChiO]

Quite different list-making experience than for 1951. Very few movies demanded to be in the Top 10, and if non-English language films were mixed in, they'd hold seven of the positions.

1952

1. OTHELLO (Orson Welles) - Each time I see it, I like it Moor.

2. THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT (Alexander Mackendrick) - Sly, witty and pointed. Obviously warming up for his next movie.

3. KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (Phil Karlson) - Violence, moral outrage, redemption. Karlson.

4. CHICAGO CALLING! (John Reinhardt) - A Duryea tour de force.

5. ANGEL FACE (Otto Preminger) - Not the way to drive down a hill.

6. THE LUSTY MEN (Nicholas Ray) - Ray. Just another Domestic Melodrama.

7. CLASH BY NIGHT (Fritz Lang) - One of those movies that generates the silly "But is it Noir?" argument. Stanwyck. Ryan. Lang. Noir.

8. THE NARROW MARGIN (Richard Fleischer) - All it takes is a train ride to change, or take, a life.

9. MONKEY BUSINESS (Howard Hawks) - I keep asking myself why I like this silly late-Screwball Comedy and I keep getting the same answer: it's a silly late-Screwball Comedy.

10. THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (Vincente Minnelli) - My favorite movie about Hollywood not directed by anyone named Aldrich.

The seven non-English language films that would be on a combined list:

IKIRU (Akira Kurosawa)
EUROPA '51 (Roberto Rossellini)
THE LIFE OF OHARU (Kenji Mizoguchi)
UMBERTO D (Vittorio de Sica)
LE PLAISIR (Max Ophuls)
CASQUE D'OR (Jacques Becker)
THE GOLDEN COACH (Jean Renoir)

[RedRiver]

THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT

I guess grey flannel was taken!

[RedRiver]

Steven Spielberg aptly called THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, "The best movie about movies." Want melodrama? Look no farther!

I'm glad to see mention of COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA; a sensitive filming of a downright heartbreaking play. Both the lead players are simply tremendous.

Tell your brother I said, "Le Big Mac."

He'd probably see that as a liberal agenda. Or a French agenda. Or a hamburger agenda. Who knows?

[ChiO]

Good grief, I had Angel Face on the 1953 list, so 1952 must be re-jiggered.

One of those tough ones - released Dec. 11, 1952. Half the time I feel like moving any movie released in December to the following year.

[CineMaven]

1952

I came into existence in this year; and probably stopped my parents' movie-going for a while. Here are my favorites for this year as thin a year as it is for me:

ANGEL FACE - Otto Preminger


Jean Simmons & Robert Mitchum

Boy Meets Girl. A very disturbed girl. I like how this plays out. Jean Simmons is the disturbed girl with a serious Electra Complex. And Robert Mitchum is, well...he's the man who once again, gets led down the garden path by his...by a woman. I’d say Brian DePalma took this movie’s last shot, and used it in his last shot of “Sisters.” Jean Simmons is beautiful...and has edge.

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THE BAD & THE BEAUTIFUL - Vincente Minnelli


Kirk Douglas & Lana Turner

There was “What Price Hollywood” and “A Star Is Born” but my favorite Hollwyood on Hollywood movie is this one. It’s big, splashy and melodramatic. It’s Kirk like you love to hate him. It's Lana as blonde as blonde can be. And Hollywood? Well, it’s as backstabbing and phony and cut-throat and glamorous as you imagine it to be. What more can you want from Peyton Place-West?

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HIGH NOON - Fred Zinnemann


Gary Cooper

A deceptively simple Western. Bad guys previously sent to the hoosegow are back in town for revenge. But the sheriff that sent them up the river is now ready to start a new life with his new bride. Somebody’s got to face those guys but the town’s too scared to do so. So Coop decides to face them alone. AND in real time. No frills, no Monument Valley. Just One...Lone..Man.

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THE MARRYING KIND - George Cukor


Aldo Ray & Judy Holliday

This movie just totally won me over. It wasn’t what I expected and I don’t even know what I expected. It’s the 50’s but the movie wasn’t all sugar and spice and everything nice. Marriage is more than the wedding day. We see two people joining their lives together and the roller coaster ride that it is. Aldo Ray and Judy Holliday were perfectly matched. And Cukor...an old pro does a story with a cutting edge.

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THE NARROW MARGIN - Richard Fleischer


Charles McGraw

Taut, suspenseful, sparse, twists. What a train ride. I was in it all the way. Yes, I'd want Charles McGraw to protect me especially when he's on the right side of the law. The fight scene on the train rivals the fight in "From Russia With Love." But 'Rosa Klebb' is no Marie Windsor.

[Rita Hayworth]

I like Narrow Margin - CineMaven too!

[RedRiver]

ANGEL FACE - Otto Preminger

You do like 'em dark!

A deceptively simple Western

I love that! Most of my favorite movies are less than complicated. Focus!

THE NARROW MARGIN - Richard Fleischer

Again, less is more. The ultimate low budget crime film.

The fight scene on the train rivals the fight in "From Russia With Love."

NOTHING rivals the fight in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE!

'Rosa Klebb' is no Marie Windsor.

"She's had her kicks."

[CineMaven]

ANGEL FACE - Otto Preminger

You do like 'em dark!

Brother, I live there.

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A deceptively simple Western

I love that! Most of my favorite movies are less than complicated. Focus!

Focus. Sit up straight. And don't call me Shirley.

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THE NARROW MARGIN - Richard Fleischer

Again, less is more. The ultimate low budget crime film.

Yes, it's so straight-forward. And it works!

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The fight scene on the train rivals the fight in "From Russia With Love."

NOTHING rivals the fight in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE!

Would I lie to you?

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'Rosa Klebb' is no Marie Windsor.

"She's had her kicks."

D'0H! You stole a mouthful, Bub.

[Vienna]

Cinemaven, my favorite this time is on High Noon - NO FRILLS, NO MONUMENT VALLEY..
Love it.

[ChiO]

I agree with you, Masha. Plenty of wonderful movies, especially in the genre, B-movie and non-English language categories.

1953

1. DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24-1/2 CENTURY (Chuck Jones) - My favorite piece of animation ever, starring my favorite animated character ever. And now this planet is hereby claimed for the Earth in the name of DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24 1/2TH CENTURY! Yea!

2. PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (Samuel Fuller) - Fuller at his finest. Widmark at his toughest. Ritter at her most incredible. I have to go on making a living so I can die.

3. THE NAKED SPUR (Anthony Mann) - My favorite Western from my favorite director of Westerns. Stewart, Ryan & Meeker. Choosin' a way to die, what's the difference? Choosin' a way to live - that's the hard part.

4. THE HITCH-HIKER (Ida Lupino) - A threesome in the desert. And one has his eye on the other two. I had a watch like this once when I was 17. Nobody gave it to me. I just took it.

5. 99 RIVER STREET (Phil Karlson) - When you're desperate, artifice is real. There are worse things than murder. You can kill someone an inch at a time.

6. THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang) - Asking for a cup of coffee has never been the same. And revenge is never as sweet as expected. Hey, I like this. Early nothing!

7. THE BAND WAGON (Vincente Minnelli) - Is this the beginning of the end of the Arthur Freed-MGM-(giant)Musical? I will go "Dancing in the Dark" with Fred & Cyd, thanks to Michael Kidd, anytime. We're not fighting! We're in complete agreement! We hate each other!

8. THE LITTLE FUGITIVE (Ray Ashley/Morris Engel/Ruth Orkin) - The American link between Italian Neo-Realism and the French New Wave. Coney Island, anyone?

9. GLEN OR GLENDA (Edward D. Wood, Jr.) - The start of an auteur's film career. With the finest cast he was ever able to assemble. Only the infinity of the depths of a man's mind can really tell the story.

10. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (Howard Hawks) - Dazzling - the colors, the music, the wit. Oh, and Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. I can be smart when it's important.

What an incredible year for non-English language films. My favorites: TOKYO STORY (Ozu), UGETSU MONOGATARI (Mizoguchi), THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (Ophuls), WAGES OF FEAR (Clouzot), GATE OF HELL (Kinugasa), M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY (Tati), I VITELLONI (Fellini), and EL BRUTO (Bunuel).

A couple of other noteworthy items:

There were at least two TV drama presentations that were outstanding - Marty (Delbert Mann), a presentation of the Philco Television Playhouse with a teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky and starring Rod Steiger; and, King Lear (Andrew McCullough), a presentation on Omnibus with a teleplay by Peter Brook and starring Orson Welles.

A Chicago studio, Filmack Studios, and animator Dave Fleischer teamed to make one of the most beloved and enduring films for my generation: "Let's Go Out to the Lobby". Ummmm...just typing it brings the smell of popcorn!