Defend Your Darlings, You Sad Pandas! (Lists Project v 3.0)

[colinr0380]

Thanks swo, my only excuse is that unfortunately blind panic kicked in close to the list submission date (as it usually does!)

Here are my orphans:

24. A Generation

I love this film, agit-prop speeches by the boss and all. I still haven't totally connected with Ashes and Diamonds yet, admiring more that being truly in love with it, but have no such problem with Kanal (which I think I placed the highest in the voting, at my number 9) and this film. The film has that sense of a living and breathing world within it, making the repressions under Nazism smart all the more, and I love the move from childish naivete to the more jaded welcome of the next batch of willing 'recruits' to the cause.

30. Split Second

Trailer
A favourite film noir that takes all the themes of atomic disaster running underneath Kiss Me Deadly and bluntly literalises them by having the hoodlums and their hostages take shelter in a bomb testing range. Its a great film about clashing character archetypes in limited surroundings, with lots of allegiences made and broken in an attempt to survive, escape or kill. Who, if anyone, will survive the literally explosive climax?

33. Rio Grande

A favourite John Ford. The Searchers might be the more complex and significant film (I toyed with putting it in this spot but assumed that it wouldn't need the votes!), but the achievement of Rio Grande is that the story seems to flow with an effortless grace.

37. Brink of Life (So Close To Life)

Again, not the most complex or significant Bergman, but its simplicity and confinement of the cast to a limited location where they have little to do but reveal themselves to each other feels like it prefigures so much of Bergman that I love from the 60s and 70s (Confession: I have not yet watched The Seventh Seal )

48. The Smallest Show On Earth

Perhaps the best non-Kubrick Peter Sellers performance. I also put Room at the Top on my list but this also tackles in a gentler fashion the clashing of old and new with the nostalgia of both an older way of life coming up against the need to modernise a flea-pit cinema. Think Whisky Galore with film instead of bottles of booze as the contraband! (This is also a fascinating film to contrast against another Sellers role in The Optimist of Nine Elms, where then new modernist concrete tower blocks are seen, a little problematically, as the answer to all of the squalor of London's tenements!)

49. The White Sheik

I'm not a huge fan of Fellini-style excesses (with the exception of the appropriate use of the same in La Dolce Vita), so I like his early films the best. The White Sheik I think best balances the mad flights of fancy with an undercurrent of shattered dreams and painful awakening to the idea that the other person in a marriage has needs too.

50. Mother India

Perhaps the most melodramatically beautiful film ever made. A Lars von Trier heroine crossed with the mother from We Need To Talk About Kevin wouldn't go through half of the trials and tribulations that occur here! And yet the characters somehow still have time to sing!

Also rans: Eaux d’Artifice, Them!, The Man In The White Suit, Rabbit’s Moon, Yield To The Night, Summertime, Fiend Without a Face, The Idiot, Room At The Top, Gun Crazy

[matrixschmatrix]

Summertime

Hey, let's start a club

[colinr0380]

Just don't let me fall into any canals!

[swo17]

My orphans:

16. Aguaespejo granadino (José Val del Omar, 1955)
32. Schwechater (Peter Kubelka, 1958)
35. The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956) - Am I the only one here with an intact sense of wonder? I can't be very objective about this film--it's one of the few parts of my cinephilia that I've been able to share with my young daughter.
40. Silver Lode (Allan Dwan, 1954)
43. Odds & Ends (Jane Conger Belson Shimané, 1959)
48. Portrait of Madame Yuki (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1950)
50. Robot Monster (Phil Tucker, 1953) - I can only assume that its poor showing is a result of the Ro-men actually having annihilated the majority of the Earth's population, just like they did in the movie. But even then, wouldn't it have gotten six votes?

Full list here, with occasionally on-topic write-ups for each of my 50 picks.

[sinemadelisikiz]

A Midsummer Night's Dream (d. Trinka) - wow, this polled at #2 in my list. It's a stunningly animated version of Shakespeare from the director most widely known for the anti-Communist satire 'The Hand'. I saw it at a BFI retrospective, it's hard to get hold of, I'm not surprised it never got more votes, I guess.

I didn't really get involved in the discussion this time around as I didn't really have the time and I felt like most things I was going to include were already touched upon elsewhere, but I feel pretty bad that I didn't push hard for this one to be seen. This was also in my top 10. As far as I know it's not commercially available, but I saw it by chance on youtube with passable English subtitles here. Normally I hate watching films this way, but it's too wonderful to diminish to experience completely. My fault for not bringing this up before, but at least now I'll be more determined to push for it on the upcoming Animation list. Some seriously wonderful visuals there. If anyone's curious at all please take a look.

Don't really have the energy to mount any full orphan defending, but I'm curious who else voted for the UPA short The Tell-Tale Heart? I've got to push that for the animation list. Hell, I should push it for the Horror list too!

[knives]

35. The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956) - Am I the only one here with an intact sense of wonder? I can't be very objective about this film--it's one of the few parts of my cinephilia that I've been able to share with my young daughter.

It's the last film I seriously watched for the list and I must admit to having no wonder over it. Maybe I am just heartless, but it seemed to be an okay fun little film and not much more. Better than HHH's film though.

[swo17]

A fun little film wherein

Spoiler

a kid's balloon is ruthlessly murdered right in front of him.

[knives]

That is the best part of the film. A total Bambi's mother moment.

[Dansu Dansu Dansu]

Full list here, with occasionally on-topic write-ups for each of my 50 picks.

I thought your comments were hilarious, especially the "one meaty dream sequence" bit for Los Olvidados. Still laughing at that one, actually.

[Mike_S]

My orphans:

The Picture from Three Cases of Murder
Bad Day at Black Rock
Quatermass 2
The Big Combo
The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell
This Island Earth
The Cruel Sea
Angel Face

[domino harvey]

Angel Face

Sorry, this and Picnic were literally last minute subtractions for my list once I realized I'd somehow left off Sweet Smell of Success and Kiss Me Deadly!

[Mr Sheldrake]

My orphans.........

Funny Face - Hepburn and Astaire are two definitions of movie magic for me.

Limelight - I understand and probably agree with much of the negative reaction to this Chaplin movie. I just find him endlessly fascinating, and this is such a personal film, I couldn't leave it off.

Slightly Scarlet - John Alton's noirish technicolor experiment is outstanding, likewise Arlene Dahl and Rhonda Fleming in 50s short shorts. I almost substituted another Dwan, The River's Edge, so I'll plug that one too, with Anthony Quinn giving one of his most subdued and nuanced performances.

Track of the Cat - One of the weirdest westerns ever, more a dysfuntional family story (the cat a metaphysical manifestion of its viciousness!), it's creepiness can get under the skin.

[Yojimbo]

My orphans.........



Slightly Scarlet - John Alton's noirish technicolor experiment is outstanding, likewise Arlene Dahl and Rhonda Fleming in 50s short shorts. I almost substituted another Dwan, The River's Edge, so I'll plug that one too, with Anthony Quinn giving one of his most subdued and nuanced performances.

Dwan had been around a long time but if he'd had a better decade than the 50s, I'd like to see the proof

[zedz]

Okay, here come my scruffy bunch of dateless darlings and sad pandas: more than half my list this time around, quite possibly because I had a high proportion of shorts in my list, because that’s the way I was feeling at the time.

Top 20, with orphans and also-rans in bold:

1. Early Summer (Ozu, 1951) – I’m glad some late voters came to the party on this one. If it had remained an orphan, the forum would have had to wither away from shame.
2. A Man Escaped (Bresson, 1956)
3. Rhythm (Lye, 1957)
4. Free Radicals (Lye, 1958) – I couldn’t easily decide between these two masterpieces, and it’s not as if they’re particularly similar, so I couldn’t rationalize having one of them stand in for both. Basically, Rhythm is one of the best edited films ever made and Free Radicals is one of the best animated. In a world where it takes massive computing resources to create complex 3D effects, it’s sobering to realise that you can also use a paperclip. Great music, too.
5. Man of the West (Mann, 1958)
6. The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)
7. Eaux d’Artifice (Anger, 1953)
8. The Woman in the Rumour (Mizoguchi, 1954)
9. There’s Always Tomorrow (Sirk, 1956)
10. The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
11. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
12. The Band Wagon (Minnelli, 1953)
13. The Tall T (Boetticher, 1957) – Don’t worry, after the Westerns list I’m resigned to the fact that a lot of the forum’s opinions on Boetticher are irredeemably screwy! But did this canonical masterpiece really fail to make the cut?
14. Cineforms (Pawlowski, 1957)
15. Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
16. Flowing (Naruse, 1956)
17. Touchez pas au Grisbi (Becker, 1954) – It looks like recent Criterion releases trump older ones this time around, but I guess these things sort themselves out over time.
18. The Lusty Men (Ray, 1952) – And films that haven’t been released at all might as well stay in bed.
19. Crime Wave (De Toth, 1954) – My highest ranking New Wave film.
20. Ugetsu Monogatari (Mizoguchi, 1953)

The Remaining Wallflowers:

22. The Man from Laramie (Mann, 1955) – This is a prank isn’t it? You guys are all hiding your Anthony Mann votes behind a curtain or something, aren’t you?

23. Blinkity Blank (McLaren, 1955)

24. The Hitch-Hiker (Lupino, 1953)

25. Yantra (Whitney, 1957)

26. Deputy Droopy (Avery / Lah, 1955) – While you’re rummaging around behind that curtain looking for missing western votes, you might want to keep an eye out for your sense of humour!

28. The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice (Ozu, 1952) – Speaking of which, this might be Ozu’s finest sound comedy (though it’s probably funnier if you’ve been married a while).

29. Les Enfants Terribles (Melville, 1950) – Okay, now I know I submitted my list to the Bizarro World Criterion Forum.

36. Dom (Borowczyk / Lenica, 1958)

37. Men in War (Mann, 1957) – I’m sure you’ll be hearing much more about this film when we get around to doing the War Movie genre list.

38. A Kiss Before Dying (Oswald, 1956)

39. Seven Men from Now (Boetticher, 1956)

40. Un Chant d’amour (Genet, 1950)

41. Park Row (Fuller, 1952)

42. Le Chant de styrene (Resnais, 1958)

45. El (Bunuel, 1953)

46. Daybreak Express (Pennebaker, 1953) – Every list needs a train film. . .

47. The Wonder Ring (Brakhage, 1955) – . . . or two.

48. Rentree des Classes (Rozier, 1955) – The first half of this film offers an absolutely magical evocation of place. Second half is a bit more conventional, but can’t really put a dent in the front end.

49. The Singing Street (Norton Park Group, 1952)

50. Stunde X (fragment) (Bernhard Dorries, 1959) – I don’t know if this fragment is all that remains of the film, but I love it all the same. A last minute discovery from Edition Filmmuseum’s great Oberhausener set.

[Tommaso]

A few of my orphans (only those I haven't talked about during the listmaking period):

31. I live in fear (Kurosawa, 1955): I find this a stunning performance by Mifune as an old man suffering from fear of a nuclear disaster, misunderstood by his friends and family. Very intense and gripping, and the final sequence is just sublime (in the original sense of the word, beautiful and terrifying at the same time). A much underrated film. Kurosawa should have done much better in the final list, anyhow.

35. The Very Eye of Night (Deren, 1954): Abstract beauty from America's greatest experimental filmmaker poet. Great use of Stravinsky's music for his "Agon" ballet.

41. Gone to Earth (Powell/Pressburger, 1950): all right, all right, this is not as good as IKWIG, but a fine script and the P&P magic is very obviously there all the time. Beautiful British technicolor landscapes, and some true nature mysticism moments. "Harps in heaven" alone should make this a must entry on the list.

44.It came from outer space (Arnold, 1954): I really can't believe that noone else voted for this. Probably it's not historically fully correct but somehow I always regarded this as the true mother of all the 50s Sci-Fi B-movies, and it's still so wonderfully effective and suspenseful and has a humanitarian message that is rare in the films of that genre. Simple special fx, but very well executed. And on top of it it's really great fun. I absolutely love it even after I don't know how many viewings.

[Mike_S]

Some fascinating stuff here. I've got a lot of recommendations from it.

[knives]

Limelight - I understand and probably agree with much of the negative reaction to this Chaplin movie. I just find him endlessly fascinating, and this is such a personal film, I couldn't leave it off.

This one's actually my favorite Chaplin and if it had been made a decade or two sooner it would have probably made my list. The closest thing he made to a talking masterpiece.

[tarpilot]

Top ten, orphans/also-rans highlighted:

1 The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952)
2 Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955): Aw, I was hoping the funniest movie ever made might have won a few permanent fans after the Musicals project. Oh, well.
3 Monkey Business (Howard Hawks, 1952)
4 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (Albert Lewin, 1951)
5 The Sun Shines Bright (John Ford, 1953)
6 The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (Orson Welles, 1952)
7 The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
8 Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
9 Tomorrow is Another Day (Felix E. Feist, 1951): I can’t thank domino enough for introducing me to this in the Noir project (even if I registered too late to actually participate!)
10 The Raid (Hugo Fregonese, 1954): Saw this at quite literally the last minute, so I didn’t have much of a chance to make a case. An “Eastern” centered on a group of Confederate soldiers who plan to pillage a small Vermont town, in part an act of retribution for Sherman’s atrocities, it’s at once an elegy for a dying culture, an implicit critique of Shane, and an atypical action film in which every character’s motivations are redeemed without a hint of the maudlin. Fregonese’s mastery doesn’t call attention to itself, but the final set-piece, bereft of any musical accompaniment, is as perfect a stretch of action filmmaking as I’ve ever seen, pulsing with rage while still anchored by a profound sense of loss.

And, the rest of the lonely soldiers...

11 M (Joseph Losey, 1951): A masterpiece equal to Lang’s. At least!

16 The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955)

17 God's Little Acre (Anthony Mann, 1958)

19 Susan Slept Here (Frank Tashlin, 1954)

20 The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956)

21 Fixed Bayonets! (Sam Fuller, 1951)

23 Rock-A-Bye Baby (Frank Tashlin, 1958)

27 The Man from Planet X (Edgar Ulmer, 1951): See my thoughts here.

28 Traviata '53 (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1953)

29 The Tall Target (Anthony Mann, 1951)

30 People of No Importance (Henri Verneuil, 1956): Maybe my meaningless speculation will prove fruitful and more people will see this wonderful melodrama. Essential for lovers of Jean Gabin, which is to say lovers of movies.

31 Day of the Outlaw (André De Toth, 1959): If only zedz and I had co-ordinated our voting, perhaps overlooked masterpieces of genre would have fared a bit better!

32 The Browning Version (Anthony Asquith, 1951)

34 House of Bamboo (Samuel Fuller, 1955): Classic Hollywood’s finest tale of bromance?

36 The Prowler (Joseph Losey, 1951): Losey took quite a drubbing this round!

38 The Outcasts of Poker Flat (Joseph Newman, 1952): This was an orphan of mine in the Western project, so I’m not surprised it didn’t fare any better here, but I feel I have to again highlight what is perhaps the most gorgeously-shot B&W western I have ever seen. The film’s evocative embrace of silence is instilled immediately, the first word of dialogue not spoken until five minutes in (with maybe five lines in the first quarter-hour), after a sumptuous tracking shot that lasts well over a minute-and-a-half, following a trio of marauders as they skulk into town in the name of robbery, the fabulous Anne Baxter of Yellow Sky their accomplice. For my money, Joseph LaShelle’s finest work.

39 Bitter Victory (Nicholas Ray, 1957)

40 The Mating Season (Mitchell Leisen, 1951): My favourite Thelma Ritter performance (and one of my favourites, period) in one of the ludicrously underrated Leisen’s best films.

43 Wichita (Jacques Tourneur, 1955)

46 Cat's Cradle (Stan Brakhage, 1959)

47 Orders to Kill (Anthony Asquith, 1958): Credit goes to Mike_S’s last-minute plea to convince me to find room for Asquith’s remarkable war picture.

48 Sudden Fear (David Miller, 1952): Thanks to whoever else voted for this one! If it had managed to swing a Best Picture nom on top of its other major category hits, I think we’d have a leading candidate for the most insane film to ever contend for Oscar’s big prize.

50 My Son John (Leo McCarey, 1952)

[Yojimbo]

Top ten, orphans/also-rans highlighted:

1 The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, 1952)
2 Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955): Aw, I was hoping the funniest movie ever made might have won a few permanent fans after the Musicals project. Oh, well.
3 Monkey Business (Howard Hawks, 1952)
4 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (Albert Lewin, 1951)
5 The Sun Shines Bright (John Ford, 1953)
6 The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (Orson Welles, 1952)
7 The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
8 Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
9 Tomorrow is Another Day (Felix E. Feist, 1951): I can’t thank domino enough for introducing me to this in the Noir project (even if I registered too late to actually participate!)
10 The Raid (Hugo Fregonese, 1954): Saw this at quite literally the last minute, so I didn’t have much of a chance to make a case. An “Eastern” centered on a group of Confederate soldiers who plan to pillage a small Vermont town, in part an act of retribution for Sherman’s atrocities, it’s at once an elegy for a dying culture, an implicit critique of Shane, and an atypical action film in which every character’s motivations are redeemed without a hint of the maudlin. Fregonese’s mastery doesn’t call attention to itself, but the final set-piece, bereft of any musical accompaniment, is as perfect a stretch of action filmmaking as I’ve ever seen, pulsing with rage while still anchored by a profound sense of loss.

And, the rest of the lonely soldiers...

11 M (Joseph Losey, 1951): A masterpiece equal to Lang’s. At least!

16 The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955)

17 God's Little Acre (Anthony Mann, 1958)

19 Susan Slept Here (Frank Tashlin, 1954)

20 The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956)

21 Fixed Bayonets! (Sam Fuller, 1951)

23 Rock-A-Bye Baby (Frank Tashlin, 1958)

27 The Man from Planet X (Edgar Ulmer, 1951): See my thoughts here.

28 Traviata '53 (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1953)

29 The Tall Target (Anthony Mann, 1951)

30 People of No Importance (Henri Verneuil, 1956): Maybe my meaningless speculation will prove fruitful and more people will see this wonderful melodrama. Essential for lovers of Jean Gabin, which is to say lovers of movies.

31 Day of the Outlaw (André De Toth, 1959): If only zedz and I had co-ordinated our voting, perhaps overlooked masterpieces of genre would have fared a bit better!

32 The Browning Version (Anthony Asquith, 1951)

34 House of Bamboo (Samuel Fuller, 1955): Classic Hollywood’s finest tale of bromance?

36 The Prowler (Joseph Losey, 1951): Losey took quite a drubbing this round!

38 The Outcasts of Poker Flat (Joseph Newman, 1952): This was an orphan of mine in the Western project, so I’m not surprised it didn’t fare any better here, but I feel I have to again highlight what is perhaps the most gorgeously-shot B&W western I have ever seen. The film’s evocative embrace of silence is instilled immediately, the first word of dialogue not spoken until five minutes in (with maybe five lines in the first quarter-hour), after a sumptuous tracking shot that lasts well over a minute-and-a-half, following a trio of marauders as they skulk into town in the name of robbery, the fabulous Anne Baxter of Yellow Sky their accomplice. For my money, Joseph LaShelle’s finest work.

39 Bitter Victory (Nicholas Ray, 1957)

40 The Mating Season (Mitchell Leisen, 1951): My favourite Thelma Ritter performance (and one of my favourites, period) in one of the ludicrously underrated Leisen’s best films.

43 Wichita (Jacques Tourneur, 1955)

46 Cat's Cradle (Stan Brakhage, 1959)

47 Orders to Kill (Anthony Asquith, 1958): Credit goes to Mike_S’s last-minute plea to convince me to find room for Asquith’s remarkable war picture.

48 Sudden Fear (David Miller, 1952): Thanks to whoever else voted for this one! If it had managed to swing a Best Picture nom on top of its other major category hits, I think we’d have a leading candidate for the most insane film to ever contend for Oscar’s big prize.

50 My Son John (Leo McCarey, 1952)

I like the look of your Top 10, and many of your orphans, and The Outcasts of Poker Flat certainly sounds something worth tracking down but, while there's much to admire in Losey's 'M' remake, - which I've only just got to see, - I would never dare to suggest its in Lang's class; nor, I suspect, would Losey.
Even more I much prefer 'The Prowler' to it, although thats nothing to be ashamed of: the latter is top-rank noir, not to mention being wonderfully weird.

And I really need to, -finally,- watch my DVD of God's Little Acre , which probably must itself feel like an orphan among my DVD collection

[tarpilot]

Heh, Losey himself said as much, but I'm obviously not above hyperbole-as-encouragement

Let us know your thoughts on God's Little Acre! If you wanna talk "wonderfully weird"...

[Yojimbo]

Heh, Losey himself said as much, but I'm obviously not above hyperbole-as-encouragement

Let us know your thoughts on God's Little Acre! If you wanna talk "wonderfully weird"...

It might be my ideal opportunity for giving 'Tobacco Road' another watch; as part of a double bill with God's Little Acre.
I had been getting seriously pissed off with the former and my attention wandered a lot but it came together so well in the end that maybe if I give it a more concentrated viewing next time, I might better appreciate it.

Which in turn might put me in the mood to better appreciate the Mann, from the get-go.
(I could make it a triple bill with 'Baby Doll', but I already know that I love that one)

[Michael Kerpan]

My also-rans and orphans (lots and lots of them)

2. Meshi / Repast (Naruse 1951) - O (my number 2 favorite film of all time)
4. Nazarín (Bunuel 1959) - AR (mystifying omission)
5. Nigorie / Troubled Waters (Imai 1953) - O -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/05/watc ... -2007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and also http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/05/watc ... -2007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
6. Chiyari Fuji / Bloody Spear on Mount Fuji (Uchida 1955) - AR -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2006/11/watc ... -2006.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
9. Biruma no tategoto / The Burmese Harp (Ichikawa 1956) - AR -- see": http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/04/watc ... -2007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
10. Ukigumo / Floating Clouds (Naruse 1955) - AR
11. Hakuchi / The Idiot (Kurosawa 1951) - AR
15. Ensayo de un crimen / The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Bunuel 1955) - AR
17. Les raquetteurs / The Snowshoers (Michel Brault & Gilles Groulx 1958) - O
18. Don Kikhot / Don Quixote (Kozintsev 1957) - O -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/05/watc ... -2007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
19. Entotsu no mieru basho / Where Chimneys Are Seen (Gosho 1953) - AR
20. Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s'appellent Patrick / All the Boys Are Called Patrick (Godard 1959) - O
26. Higanbana / Equinox Flower (Ozu 1958) - AR
27. Inazuma / Lightning (Naruse 1952) - O
28. Mata au hi made / Till We Meet Again (Imai 1950) - O -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/07/watc ... -imai.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
29. El (Bunuel 1953) - AR
31. Anatahan (Sternberg 1953) - O
32. Takekurabe / Comparing Heights (Gosho 1955) - O -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/05/watc ... -2007.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
34. Ohayô / Good Morning (Ozu 1959) - AR
35. Bangiku / Late Chrysanthemums (Naruse 1954) - AR
36. Gion bayashi / Gion Festival Music (Mizoguchi 1953) - O
40. La ilusión viaja en tranvía / Illusion Travels by Streetcar (Bunuel 1954) - O
41. Manin densha / The Crowded Streetcar (Ichikawa 1957) - O
42. Saikaku ichidai onna / The Life of Oharu (Mizoguchi 1952) - AR
43. Ukikusa / Floating Weeds (Ozu 1959) - AR
44. Shû'u / Sudden Rain (Naruse 1956) - O
45. Banka / Elegy (Gosho 1957) - O
46. Donzoko / The Lower Depths (Kurosawa 1957) - AR
47. Ballada o soldate / Ballad of a Soldier (Chukhrai 1959) - O
48. Jirô monogatari (Shimizu 1955) - O -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/08/watc ... imizu.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
49. Himeyuri no Tô / Tower of Lilies (Imai 1953) - O -- see: http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/06/watc ... -imai.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
50. Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske 1951) - O

[the preacher]

My orphans:
40. Silver Lode (Allan Dwan, 1954)

My orphans.........
Slightly Scarlet - John Alton's noirish technicolor experiment is outstanding, likewise Arlene Dahl and Rhonda Fleming in 50s short shorts. I almost substituted another Dwan, The River's Edge, so I'll plug that one too, with Anthony Quinn giving one of his most subdued and nuanced performances.

Excellent choices! And "The River's Edge" too.

Dwan had been around a long time but if he'd had a better decade than the 50s, I'd like to see the proof

I just discovered some truly amazing films around 1947-48 (Driftwood, The Inside Story, Angel in Exile). Too bad nobody cares...

[swo17]

My '60s orphans:

07. Breakaway (Bruce Conner, 1966)
29. As Long as You've Got Your Health (Pierre Étaix, 1966)
39. Little Dog for Roger (Malcolm Le Grice, 1967)
43. Oedipus Rex (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1967)
45. Oh (Stan Vanderbeek, 1968)
46. Goto, Island of Love (Walerian Borowczyk, 1969) - Guess I'm the only one here who likes this movie, wah wah wah.
47. The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 1969)

You can read defenses of these films along with my entire top 50 here.

[bamwc2]

46. Goto, Island of Love (Walerian Borowczyk, 1969) - Guess I'm the only one here who likes this movie, wah wah wah.

I watched this for the project after once quitting it after the first thirty minutes about five years ago. I enjoyed it this time around, though it came nowhere close to making my list. Prior to viewing this, my only other experience with Borowczyk was 1975's The Beast, which turned me off to him for awhile. Since then I've watched Private Collections and Behind Convent Walls, the latter specifically for the 1970s list (I'll do a write up on my first few viewings when the thread opens) and he's certainly grown on me. Actually, I'd love to watch as much of his 70s output as possible before voting, but a lot of it is OOP and goes for too much money on Amazon.