LISTS

[Mr. Arkadin]

KingRat wrote:
1958 looks like one of classic Hollywood's better years, doesn't it?

That's a game I've liked to play ever since Michael Wilmington, former film critic for the Chicago Tribune, made a case for 1962 as "the single greatest year in movies. Ever." in a 2002 article.

Although I've never taken the time to go year-by-year, lately I've become partial to 1955. Here are 30 of my favorites:

All That Heaven Allows
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Big Combo
The Big Knife
Blackboard Jungle
East of Eden
The Female Jungle
Fingerman
Hold Back Tomorrow
House of Bamboo
Killer's Kiss
Kiss Me Deadly
The Ladykillers
Lola Montes
The Man from Laramie
The Man with the Golden Arm
Mr. Arkadin
New York Confidential
Night and Fog
The Night of the Hunter
Ordet
Pather Panchali
The Phenix City Story
Rebel Without a Cause
The Seven Year Itch
Shack Out on 101
Umberto D.
Violent Saturday
Wages of Fear
Wichita

Mr. ChiO neglects Chicago Syndicate?! Someone needs to sit in the corner and feel shame.

[ChiO]

Mr. ChiO neglects Chicago Syndicate?! Someone needs to sit in the corner and feel shame.

I felt compelled to limit myself to 30.

CHICAGO SYNDICATE, directed by the inimitable Fred Sears, is #31.

P.S. Would it help if I said that MR. ARKADIN is #1?

[JackFavell]

A year that includes

Mr. Arkadin
The Ladykillers
Pather Panchali and

Night of the Hunter

is a great year indeed. My gosh, each is a masterpiece.

And don't forget Diabolique.

[RedRiver]

Like others, I have no idea what year brought the most movies I liked. I suspect it would be one in the 1940's. The style suits my taste more than any other era. Still, every year contains some great ones. I'd need to run a spread sheet to answer this question!

RING OF FIRE...Does this movie begin with a forest scene? Delinquents raising hell, taking Janssen hostage? He's a ranger or something? This is something I watched half of, but had to leave. No VCR at that time! Simple and cheesy? Yes. But I liked it. Like DETOUR and other no-budget classics, I found the lack of pretense refreshing. This might be a different movie, though.

[JackFavell]

Yup, that's it. There is certainly no pretention, and no budget either. It's fun to watch the same 10 people run in front of the camera over and over, playing different townspeople. And I like David Janssen's wince.

[Mr. Arkadin]

P.S. Would it help if I said that MR. ARKADIN is #1?

I'd be second guessing anyone's logic on that score, but it's an honor just to be nominated.

Like my namesake, Cry Terror! (1958), or Lang's While the City Sleeps (1956), Chicago Syndicate will never win any awards and is not great critical viewing, but it's enjoyable to see some of my favorite character actors strut their stuff and they seem to be having a great time doing it.

[JackFavell]

In 1962, everything got so dramatic, probably due to upheaval in the world, and even worse, has a tinge of unpleasantness about it. This is what prevents me from picking 1962 as a favorite year. I would add some movies to my list of favorites from that year (I know you didn't include foreign films, kr, but I will, mainly because some of my favorites are foreign).

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - one of the most thought provoking films I've ever seen, and entertaining to boot
The Trial (Welles) - also one of the most thought provoking films I've ever seen and entertaining to boot!
Jules et Jim - ditto
Long Days Journey into Night - less unpleasant than I was expecting, tour de force acting
Ride the High Country - the dying out of the old school, incredible acting from Scott and McCrea
Sanjuro - it's Kurosawa, what do you expect?
Lawrence of Arabia - it's great, even though it's popular
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Waltz of the Toreadors
Hatari
The Miracle Worker
Phaedra
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Knife in the Water - I never ever want to watch this one again, but it really is a great film
Carnival of Souls
Birdman of Alcatraz
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Loneliness of the Long Dsitance Runner

I don't like Lonely re the Brave and Lolita, but do believe they belong on any 'best of' list of that year

[ChiO]

You listed several that Wilmington had on his list of 62 from '62 (Note: for non-English language films, inclusion was based on release in the US.). The others:

The Manchurian Candidate
Yojimbo
Through a Glass Darkly
Viridiana
To Kill a Mockingbird
L'eclipse
Days of Wine and Roses
Advise and Consent
Sweet Bird of Youth
How the West Was Won
Peeping Tom
The Longest Day
The Music Man
Merrill's Marauders
Cape Fear
Two for the Seesaw
Dr. No
Billy Budd
Hell Is for Heroes
Mutiny on the Bounty
Barabbas
Gypsy
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Freud
Two Weeks in Another Town
The Children's Hour
A Taste of Honey
Too Late Blues
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
All Fall Down
Pressure Point
La Notte
Last Year in Marienbad
Divorce, Italian Style
Shoot the Piano Player
Devi
The Hidden Fortress
Boccacio '70
Lola
Cleo from 5 to 7
The Lower Depths
Testament of Orpheus
Mother Joan of the Angels
Sundays and Cybele
Paris Belongs to Us
Electra

A little something for everyone.

[RedRiver]

It's nice to see a few "lighter" films on the list. My precious CAPE FEAR is one of the most perfectly executed thrillers I've seen. DR. NO is...well, the same thing! The most grounded of the Bond films makes it the best.

[ChiO]

Right you are. 1947 was a fine year for film and, especially, film noir.

Of the one's you haven't seen, I consider Monsieur Verdoux (who says comedy and noir are incompatible?), Pursued (my favorite Western noir), Ride the Pink Horse (my favorite Robert Montgomery movie) and T-Men (where Mann and Alton forge their alliance of showing men in agony in the shadows) "musts".

Other '47 noirs for which I have great affection:

Brute Force
Desperate
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
Fear in the Night
Framed
The Gangster
The Guilty
Lured
The Pretender
Railroaded
The Red House

For non-noir, I'd add:

Shoeshine

[RedRiver]

RIDE THE PINK HORSE is so under appreciated. Not in the sense that people don't like it. But most have never heard of it! It's a dark, thoughtful crime story.