Thanx for the answer ChiO.
1947
[u][color=#FF0000]KING RAT[/color][/u] wrote:Because everyone seems to enjoy making lists of favorites, why don't we devote a thread just to that...
Looking at the past seven years of my favorites for this thread...I see I have a dark streak; that, in general, I like dark noirish things. And this year is no different. I’ve seen forty films this year, the most of any year I’ve listed. Many of the films I love are classics held in high esteem nearly seventy years later and I see some of my favorites on King Rat’s list and on ChiO’s. It was tough to pick just ten. Well now that the menfolk have answered, I'll weigh in with my ten favorite films of 1947 with a couple of actors who make repeat performances on my list:
“CROSSFIRE”
Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum and Robert Young
An anti-Semitic soldier kills a man and the police and fellow soldiers are after him. Ryan is chilling, Mitchum is cool and Young is understated as the men linked by this crime. We watch the dragnet close in around Ryan. There’s gloriously gloria Gloria Grahame as a dance hall girl who actually longs to be the Girl a soldier would come home to. Also Jacqueline White gives a good showing as the wife of that soldier. Dark and grim. Just like I like it. Oh Bobby Bobby Bobby ( Ryan ) you don't make it easy for a girl to love ya. There's nothing noble and patriotic about his soldier. He's a killer in uniform. I'm not sure we've seen Johnny come marching home like this. Funny thing is, I think he went IN like that.
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“DARK PASSAGE”
Humphrey Bogart and Agnes Moorehead
Why am I rooting for an escaped convict from San Quentin. Because it’s Bogart that’s why. He’s got an angel on his side in Lauren Bacall, who believes he’s innocent of killing his wife. She helps him get a new face and a new life. The only thing he can’t get around is his wife’s friend, Madge ( played venomously by Agnes Moorehead. ) She’s the fly in the ointment and I love the trouble she stirs. Bogie and Bacall are also at it again. Just a good drama.
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“GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT”
Gregory Peck
It’s one of those “IMPORTANT” pictures that were made in the 40’s that tackles an American injustice: this time, anti-Semitism. Gregory Peck’s sincerity is on display which I always find appealing. ( His duel-in-the-sun-bad-boy portrayal touches a different nerve. ) Here he fights the good fight from the Inside; he’ll say he’s Jewish and write an article about this insidious “-ism.” He has two women to contend with who are in love him. One’s a career girl, in favor of his way to fight this. The other, a Society girl, who may not even recognize her own tacit prejudices. Very well done. And not preachy.
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“THE HUCKSTERS”
Clark Gable and Sydney Greenstreet
I can’t explain why I like this movie so much. It’s so easy to watch ( like "A Letter to Three Wives" ) and feels a little modern in its concept of advertising and selling “soap” to the American public. You know very well we can be sold anything. Do you compromise your principles for the Almighty Buck. There’s a new girl in town, the lovely classy Deborah Kerr. ( You can read a new thread dedicated to her
here. ) And then there’s Ava, who loses out again in the love department. The movie’s just put together so well. I love Keenan Wynn and Edward Arnold in this as well.
FAVORITE MOMENTS:
* Bungalow scene with Keenan Wynn & his bad jokes
* Gable apologizing to Edward Arnold
We have Gable as only Gable can Gable and I wouldn't have Gable any other way.
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“KISS OF DEATH”
Brian Donlevy, Richard Widmark and Victor Mature
One of my favorite times liking Brian Donlevy - an on the level cop. This is a great noir drama. Richard Widmark makes an auspicious debut. I don't know if his 'dese' 'dems' and 'dose' are authentic, but he is
definitely a new kinda crazy. ( Old ladies in wheel chairs are not safe around him. ) But my boy is tried and true hunk: Victor Mature. I liked him last year as the cowboy Doc Holiday. Here, I love him with his girlfriend and two adorable daughters. And I love him in the dark night thick of things. In his fedora and wide lapelled suits. He's not all testosteroned bravery. He's tender and loving, but can be tough. ( Isn't that the perfect combo in a man we want girls? ) He wants to go straight and has to help catch a psychopath. Love how it all plays out. Love watching Victor Mature.
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“THE MACOMBER AFFAIR”
Robert Preston, Joan Bennett and Gregory Peck
My history with Joan Bennett had been sketchy at best until I saw this at TCM’s film festival. Then she soared through the roof in the rank of actresses I like. What an interesting movie about a marriage. It’s one thing to fall out of love with your spouse; but when you lose respect for him...well, he might as well get mauled by a lion; better that than face the contempt of Joan Bennett. It’s so nice to have a great white hunter to turn to, and that’s Gregory Peck who walks a fine line between checking out Bennett, and helping Robert Preston regain his self esteem. And let me give a shout-out to Jean Gillie who gives a great performance in a very small role. The above photo spells it all out. And as usual, the woman pays. The movie just amazed me.
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“NIGHTMARE ALLEY”
Tyrone Power
Black. Dark. Cynical. The worst of what humanity has to offer. Taking advantage of people. We see the rise and fall of Tyrone Power in what’s considered the best performance of his career. He’s no nice guy here. He’s manipulative and does what he has to to get what he wants. He’s hard as steel. And tripped up by his own grab for power.
There’s three women in his life represented by the blowsy maturity of Joan Blondell, the youthful innocence of the very pretty Coleen Gray and the blonde ice of Helen Walker. It’s Power’s scenes opposite Walker that make the movie for me. And Taylor Holmes’ break down. The movie is dark and compelling. I can't look away.
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“NORA PRENTISS”
Kent Smith and Ann Sheridan
I like Ann Sheridan. I see a maturity in her as Nora Prentiss. She’s not a smart alec or brassy, makin’ with the wisecracks. She’s fallen for a nice guy; doctor ( Kent Smith ) who’s too weak to make a clean break with his wife, and steals a dead man’s identity. Here’s an affair gone wrong and spirals into something not so good. I like the drama and the turn it takes. But mostly...I like Ann Sheridan.
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“OUT OF THE PAST”
Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum
The best film noir ever made. ( Hey...it’s
my list. ) Mitchum has to find the woman who’s shot and stolen from Kirk Douglas. He runs into her in the form of femme fatale Jane Greer, who builds his gallows high. Mitchum follows her deep into noir because, baby, he don’t care. So there’s double crosses, fist fights, broken hearts, the pitter patter of Rhonda Fleming's heavy breathing, and murder. Did I mention it is the best film noir ever made? Yeah.
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So many others could have filled the tenth spot for 1947. “Brute Force” “The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer” “The Paradine Case” “T-Men” “Woman On the Beach.” But I can really sit down with my last film a lot easier and more often.
“THE UNFAITHFUL”
Lew Ayres, Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott
There's nothing compelling or heart-stopping. And I know I know...it’s sort of a re-make of “The Letter” played out differently. But that’s okay. Ann Sheridan’s in a jam, being blackmailed for an affair she's had while her husband ( Zachary Scott ) served in the war. It gets lonely under that apple tree and I like that that is addressed. It’s a mature drama that’s not tied up in a neat little bow. Besides, I like Ann Sheridan. That's not enough reason to make it a favorite?
