The 1950s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

[bamwc2]

Uh, you submitted your list to me?

Oops. I thought that the comment came from therewillbeblus, like the one above it. My mistake.

[swo17]

You are forgiven, my son

[therewillbeblus]

My number one fits the religious bill as well to a

Pickpocket or Baby Doll?

[mizo]

:-k

[domino harvey]

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.

#trusttheplan

[Rayon Vert]

Summer Clouds (Naruse 1958). (1st viewing) Intertwining stories within an extended farming family community that is struck by modernity and the eventual disintegration it causes. The film gets into a lot of sociological, concrete details about this reality - revenue taxes, more modern farming equipment, sewing machines and so on. It’s got a somewhat light tone despite the seriousness of the circumstances (serious from the patriarch’s perspective in any case), although staying within the dramatic. It’s interesting despite not being completely dramatically successful; perhaps the diffusion of the stories being a reason for that, or the tone that’s maintained for most of it. Definitely not in the league of a Repast or a Floating Clouds. It’s shot in color and in Scope, though, and with all those exterior shots it’s definitely pleasing to the eye.


5 Fingers (Mankiewicz 1952). (1st viewing) A spy thriller that the director didn’t write and it feels initially like a minor genre piece but it ends up being an extremely entertaining affair. That plot twist with the Countess really surprises you and from there it just gets more and more exciting. Great fun.


Julius Caesar (Mankiewicz 1953). (1st viewing) Another extremely solid film, veering on the excellent. The casting was perfect here, although Calhern as JC does emphasize the unflattering view of the general as less than courageous and extremely astute. Great perfs by Brando and Mason, and wonderful staging of the play, giving it a strongly cinematic feel even though it’s largely limited to confined spaces.


The Long, Hot Summer (Ritt 1958). (1st viewing) Enjoyed this to bits as well. I’d say content-wise too this is definitely a lot more standard than No Down Payment – kind of your typical psychologizing family melodrama of the period, with neuroses all repaired at the end (that might be the one sour note, how quick and neatly everything gets wrapped up in those last scenes) -, but it’s just a wonderful story and script, and so terrifically played by all the actors (really strong cast). Woodward again wowed me here. And Welles is definitely playing something that’s tailor-fit for his persona.


The Barefoot Contessa (Mankiewicz 1954). (1st viewing) Strange beast this film. The first half has the Contessa functioning as a plot piece to stage another satirical show business comdram like All About Eve, before it suddenly leaves off for new settings and actors and becomes a Red Shoes-type fairy tale for adults. Leaving aside the incongruity, both parts aren’t up to the standards of those two films – there’s definitely clunkiness here and there. At the same time there are interesting enough bits and pieces throughout the script and the mise en scène, with the latter half of the film definitely a little more captivating for me.


Rear Window (1954). (revisit) Always impressive in terms of the excellence of the cinematic form and the tremendous invention throughout. Hitchcock films always have a romantic pairing as well as a crime story, and this one’s an especially successful twist of not only employing the couple as a collaborative detecting unit but also using danger and flirtation with death as a way of solving the relationship’s problems!

[bamwc2]

5 Fingers didn't make my list, but it really is a great film! With the possible exception of Bigger than Life, I don't think that Mason was ever any better than he was here.

[domino harvey]

I think three Mankiewicz films made my list, including 5 Fingers

[Rayon Vert]

5 Fingers didn't make my list, but it really is a great film! With the possible exception of Bigger than Life, I don't think that Mason was ever any better than he was here.

You do find yourself rooting for him even if he's collaborating with the Nazis!

[Lowry_Sam]

In Trying to finalize my list I am trying to decide whether or not to include a cartoon, as I have only ever included a few shorts on my decades list, but never cartoons. However, I am finding it difficult to not include What's Opera Doc?, probably my all time favorite. So I went back to see past votes to find that no one had voted for it in the past, but that The Rabbit Of Seville did make the list at one point, which I also love, but perhaps not quite as much. So I was just going to try to guage others' thoughts on including cartoon shorts on their lists.

[domino harvey]

I don’t personally care about or value cartoons much, but coincidentally enough I actually gave my typically wacky 50 slot to one this decade. Everyone will figure it out once swo17 announces the orphans, but it ain’t Bugs Bunny!

[Red Screamer]

My favorite cartoons are mostly from the previous two decades. Duck Amuck is surely the most popular from the 50s but others I've also liked, from recommendations here and elsewhere, include: Three Little Bops, Deputy Droopy and Drip-Along Daffy (two western parodies), Feed the Kitty and Crazy Mixed Up Pup (two about pets), Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, Symphony in Slang, and Mouse-Warming, but none of them came anywhere near my list. I've heard high praise for From A to Z-Z-Z-Z as well but I'm still waiting on the library DVD for that one. As for experimental cartoons, Robert Breer's A Man and his Dog Out for Air is essential, especially if you like Fischinger's Spiritual Constructions. And who doesn't?

[swo17]

I have a Jerry Lewis movie on my list that's basically the same thing. Also a Norman McLaren animated short. In the '30s and '40s I voted for Porky Pig and Tex Avery, respectively.

domino's #50 slot is a great cartoon, and classic domino

[domino harvey]

domino's #50 slot is a great cartoon, and classic domino

I was going to say, even if there are like 20 orphaned cartoons, you will immediately be able to tell which one is mine even though I do not believe I have ever said anything about it on the forum

[therewillbeblus]

The Blue Gardenia

I decided to revisit this yet again and everything finally clicked, thanks to knives and domino offering the lens of sociological gender study. As a result the back half functions so much better teetering on the level of masterpiece, with the drawn out details of Baxter's hypervigilance post-trauma carrying anxious weight regardless of what she specifically did or not. This bridge allows the transition to move from acute subjectivization towards broader revelations of how America's gender imbalance oozes into every crevice of life. The important point isn't even whether Baxter did or did not commit a crime, it's that she's a woman in a man's world, and as a member of a marginalized group the deck is stacked against her. The most critical scene for me is when her roommates make the conscious choice to idolize the would-be rapist post mortem after admitting his immorality during life (literally referring to men as "romantic" when murdered in this same breath as declaring this guy as awful). This is said following a prolonged gossipy roast of judgement against whatever woman could possibly drink as much as Baxter did, predicting the shade of dress she was wearing to indicate promiscuity, and nonchalantly apologizing for all men who make unwanted advances on women, as if it's their job to take it and men's job to give it.

Lang makes it clear, by turning the attention towards a wider macro focus in media to juxtapose the micro-isolation and fears of Baxter, that she would not be apologized for, revered, or moralized even as a compassionate, record-free good citizen, which drives the self-preservation into a completely different realm of desperation and resilience. The noir fatalism, disillusionment, and displacement are on fire, to the point where Conte's ally feels like magical realism in this atmosphere, as the sole man who will empathize with her. Though even this can be argued to be sourced in selfishness to get content for his career, which perpetuates the cyclical pattern of men using women as if it's (in this case literally) their job. Baxter's perf is so full of empathy, and the diffusion of identity also becomes actualized as she must pretend to be a different person to have any opportunity to initiate contact with a potential vehicle of support.

Conte's subsequent motivation to be partner comes from romantic notions, so even if innocent Baxter's sex is what saves her, not her wit nor actions nor actual responsibility in the crime. One could argue it's not even her personality, since Conte only sees her smile once and demands she continue smiling after being woken to her beauty in that moment and making the choice to help. The following day, when he comes face to face with the truth, his morality contends with his heterosexuality and attraction, and his ability to give rope and entertain her side directly contrasts with the roommates' quickness in pathologizing, which would surely be his position if there wasn't a direct sexual energy (like the bartender's kneejerk phone call). Baxter says she trusts him in that moment, but in this case "trust" comes from trusting that he's sexually attracted to her, not that she knows him well enough to sacrifice her security for naked morality. Sex is another story.

I like the reading I think knives made in the Lang thread that we have enough compassion for being aligned with a woman put in the circumstance of that trapped sexual assult that we can extend empathy to whoever committed the crime in self-defense, though watching this makes me wonder what audiences of the times felt. It's important to recontextualize the commentary today (and we could extend the experience to a few different oppressed populations who don't have equitable odds on the other side of the law..) and I imagine that Lang was pushing this progressive lens for his agenda. Still, the ending can be read a few different ways:

Spoiler

In a sense, Lang disengages from his own patriarchal indictment, letting the rapist-victim off the hook by showing a his demise to be a deliberate decision to murder out of jealousy, separate from his own crimes. This move reinforces the gender divide passively and neatly, as an 'emotionally-imbalanced woman' is the culprit- which also affirms the roommates' chatter to an extent, leaving a bit of space for outliers like Baxter to exist on occasion.

The other reading is that this alleviation of pressure on the innocent Baxter, and flexibility to return to the normative lightness of romantic fluff and gender roles ("playing hard to get" as we leave the girls), is itself tragic masked as a clean, comic ending. The dramatic catharsis Lang quickly buries actually lingers invisibly in the background through the alarmingly simple ease by which he tidies it up. The magnetic pull to default everyone back to normal is so strong that all the heavy themes and exploited problems can't contest with the cosmos' drive to return to complacency. For a film that balances so many tones so perfectly, this is the real kicker that combats our desire for a happy relieving ending with the unsettling derailment of all the information we've just been presented with and can't unsee.

As Conte hands his little book off to a single man, not only does he continue the pattern of toxic masculinity in America, but he gives this lowly man the opportunity to become the subject of the film for its final moments. The elated look on his face as he worships his treasure chest of women, accessible through simple numerical digits for the taking, disgustingly portrays our celebration of objectification. This man gets the happiest ending in the film, and we know as the screen fades to black that he is off to star in his own movie, which will be a comedy in spirit, but a horror story for those supporting players whose dignity and worth survive concealed out of sight from the male gaze.

[dustybooks]

In Trying to finalize my list I am trying to decide whether or not to include a cartoon, as I have only ever included a few shorts on my decades list, but never cartoons. However, I am finding it difficult to not include What's Opera Doc?, probably my all time favorite. So I went back to see past votes to find that no one had voted for it in the past, but that The Rabbit Of Seville did make the list at one point, which I also love, but perhaps not quite as much. So I was just going to try to guage others' thoughts on including cartoon shorts on their lists.

For what it's worth, UPA and Warner cartoons from this decade mean a lot to me and both have a number of very prominent places on my list. (There's one Disney short I also probably should have included given my oversized affection for it but I just couldn't stand to leave another feature off.)

[Lowry_Sam]

With one week left & little time to go through everything I wanted (still haven't touched my Apu Trilogy or Bergman box, not to mention dived into all the Japanese titles from the 50s on my Criterion Channel watch list) I'm just realizing how much harder compiling this list is, particularly in looking at my 2nd 50 & seeing that it could easily comprise someone else's top 50. Finer tuning the list is really tough without watching each back to back for comparison's sake, rather than relying on memory. Seeing that people are dropping hints already & I'm not likely to do much reworking In the 2nd phase, I'll just go Full Monty & throw out my 2nd 50 (at the moment) to see if anyone wants to make any compelling argument for perhaps bumping something to the top 50, as I'm noticing many could have just as easily made it into the top 50 as #25-50. I would rank the Bugs titles higher, but it doesn't look like they'll get on anyone else's list, so I'll probably keep those as also rans

51 What's Opera Doc? (Jones, )
52 Rabbit Of Seville (Jones, )
53 Touch Of Evil
54 Kiss Me Deadly
55 In A Lonely Place
56 On Dangerous Ground
57 Ikiru
58 Night In The City
59 Music Room
60 Un chant d'amour (Genet, 1950)
61 The Big Heat
62 Wild Strawberries
63 Giant (Stevens, 1956)
64 The Killing
65 Forty Guns
66 The Incredible Shrinking Man
67 Suddenly, Last Summer (Mankiewicz, 1959)
68 Ace In The Hole
69 Night Of The Hunter
70 Pickup On South Street
71 Singin' In The Rain
72 Mon Oncle
73 Diabolique
74 Paths Of Glory
75 Rebel Without A Cause
76 The Violent Men
77 Bienvenido Mr. Marshall
78 All That Heaven Allows
79 The Asphalt Jungle
80 Seventh Seal
81 Orpheus
82 The Rose Tattoo
83 Another Man's Poison
84 A Place In The Sun
85 Le Amiche
86 East Of Eden
87 Night Train
88 Stars In My Crown
89 Woman On The Run
90 Story Of A Love Affair
91 Human Desire
92 Ashes and Diamonds
93 Seventh Seal
94 Lola Montes
95 Rififi
96 Umberto D.
97 House By The River (Lang, 1950
98 A Generation
99 Murder by Contract
100 Angel Face

[swo17]

I keep thinking about Another Man's Poison though it's not on my list at the moment either

[therewillbeblus]

It's nice to see the love for The Incredible Shrinking Man, which won't make mine either, but is by far my favorite 50s Sci-Fi-gone-awry B-movie, and a surefire contender for that list.

[Rayon Vert]

Lowry_Sam, you've got room for one more in your top 100 because you've got Seventh Seal ranked twice.

[the preacher]

Ballot sent. Country breakdown:
USA 15
ITA 8
ESP 4
FRA 3
JPN 3
MEX 3
ARG 2
GBR 2
GRC 2
SUN 2
BRA 1
DEU 1
EGY 1
NLD 1
PHL 1
POL 1

[TMDaines]

New member Would love to participate, but apparently I need to work up some discussion points before I'm granted pming capabilities.

Love seeing Kanal mentioned. It will most likely be high on my list, perhaps even top three. I haven't seen Ballad of a Soldier (dir. Grigoriy Chukhray), The Noose (dir. Wojciech Has), Merry-Go-Round (dir. Zoltán Fábri), or Araya (dir. Margot Benacerraf) discussed in the thread yet, but I'm hoping people have seen them/give them a chance. Definitely some gems of the decade.

Watched Körhinta [Merry-Go-Round] (1956) this morning before work. An absolute masterpiece. A great typical story of a feud between two men over the hand-in-marriage of a neighbour's daughter. The film depicts the usual struggle of conservative values, pride and honour, but it is the sound direction and some of the cinematography that makes it really stand out. Two scenes in particular at a wedding dance and then a later one with the cutting of saw demonstrate how music and sound can be used to ramp up the tension.

This will likely be top 10 on my list. Fabri has been a real discovery.

[the preacher]

I like a lot several Fabris, in the 50s (Körhinta), the 60s (Dúvad, Két félidö a pokolban) and the 70s (Magyarok), but I'm afraid none of them will make my list.

[swo17]

Reminder that lists are due by the end of the day Sunday. I'm a little behind and haven't tabulated some of the lists submitted earlier this week, and am going camping tomorrow to get even further behind, but I plan to get to everything after that. If you've submitted a list and haven't heard back from me by Sunday morning, let me know.

[ellipsis7]

I enjoyed these three Antonio Pietrangeli comedies currently on Prime. The liveliness in their depiction of the mysteries of human behavior fit the bill in distracting from the dismal news.

In March’s Child(1958) Jacqueline Sassard is top-billed with Gabriele Ferzetti in an emotional study of a mis-matched (by age and temperament) married couple. You might recall Sassard from Chabrol’s Le Biches and Losey’s Accident where she is used more or less as a mannequin. Here she is a non-stop chatterbox playing a spoiled brat who can’t seem to figure out how to be happy. The poignancy is that the much older Ferzetti can’t seem to stop loving her despite all.

Notable that Gabriele Ferzetti plays a middle class architect in this, precursor of a similar role as a middle class architect in L'AVVENTURA two years later...

NATA DI MARZO/MARCH'S CHILD (1958) can be also be found Youtube in 1080p here with English subs...

Pietrangeli's IL MAGNIFICO CORNUTO/THE MAGNIFICENT CUCKOLD can also be found on Prime...

This excellent bilingual book on Pietrangeli is worth looking out for...



His directing career lasted little more than a dozen years, nevertheless he made quite a number of exceptional films in that time, before his life was tragically curtailed at age 49 in a drowning accident in July 1968...