1940s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 3)

An ongoing project to survey the best films of individual decades, genres, and filmmakers.
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YnEoS
Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2010 10:30 am

Re: 1940s List Discussion and Suggestions

#726 Post by YnEoS » Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:55 pm

the preacher wrote: Film of the decade: The Other One (Roberto Gavaldón, 1946)
This twisted film noir stars Dolores del Río in a dual role as rival twins. Maria is a poor manicurist while Magdalena is the recently widowed wife of a millionaire. Always the “bad girl,” Maria hatches a murderous plan to take her sister’s place,only to discover—upon assuming her sister’s identity—that Magdalena wasn’t quite the “good girl” she made herself out to be. As a woman tormented by inner demons and grappling with the unimaginable truth of her sister’s secrets, del Río turns in a riveting performance on par with Joan Crawford at her melodramatic finest. Assisted by cinematographer Alex Phillips and production designer Gunther Gerszo, Gavaldón transforms the sophisticated spaces of Mexico City’s upper classes into a world of baroque shadows and foreboding. La otra was remade by Hollywood in 1964 as the Bette Davis vehicle Dead Ringers. -UCLA Film Archive
Both Fernández and Gavaldón signed even better films later (Víctimas del pecado / Macario), but these two are great examples of their talent.
I've been working my way through some of the bigger available titles from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, and this one was definitely the stand out from all the films I sampled from the 40s. Assuming I'm still around for the next iteration of the 1940s list, I'll definitely find a place for it on my list.

Really excited to see more of Roberto Gavaldón's films, as I've heard nothing but praise for some of his later work.

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the preacher
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:07 pm
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Re: 1940s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol

#727 Post by the preacher » Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:44 pm

En la palma de tu mano / In the Palm of Your Hand (1951) is another highly recommended noir-related Gavaldón. :wink:

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Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
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Re: 1940s List Discussion and Suggestions

#728 Post by Rayon Vert » Tue May 01, 2018 9:42 pm

domino harvey wrote:Arsenic and Old Lace is one of those terrible films inexplicably beloved even by those who don't watch older films.
Just wanted to reply to this in the Newsletter thread to say I'm completely with you... and knives apparently.
knives wrote:Arsenic and Old Lace
Ugg, I usually love Massey, but he's absolutely awful here. Every frame of the movie makes it clear that the play was superior and if not for a wonderful performance by Lorre I'd say this was entirely worthless. It's easily the worst feature that Capra ever did. I won't even bother talking about the other lackluster performances. Just watch The Boogie Man Will Get You instead.
Grant does his best with the material and goes completely hysterical but this is an extremely old fashioned, goofy picture where there isn't a single laugh and it seems to drag on forever. I rated this a D.

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