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

[bamwc2]

We go by IMDB year regardless of release dates listed, so not eligible

Darn. I usually go by US release dates.

[Red Screamer]

Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955): Rick Todd (Dean Martin) is an unemployed artist who can't keep a job thanks to the goofball antics of his friend and roommate Eugene Fullstack (Jerry Lewis). Eugene's obsession with comic book hero Bat Lady is so extreme that he has nighttime psychic channeling of stories that involve real life military secrets. Meanwhile, Abby Parker (Dorothy Malone), the artist of Bat Lady, is fired from her job at the same time that she comes into their lives. It turns out that she and her model Bessie Sparrowbrush (Shirley MacLaine) live across the way from Rick and Eugene, and the four of them quickly form a couple of romantic pairings. But when the secret of Eugene's real life superpower comes to light, a group of spies wreak havoc on their lives. With lots of singing, and gags, this is your typical Lewis-Martin team up with some parapsychology thrown in for good measure. The songs were entertaining, and the jokes worked pretty well. It's no masterpiece, but was a lot of fun.

For me it's absolutely a masterpiece. I rewatched it again since my writeup earlier in the thread and found even more things about it to love. I haven't laughed so much at a film through repeat viewings since I was a kid (well, maybe The Ladies Man). The masterful construction of the film and the sheer variety of its modes makes it unusually sturdy for a light comedy and, as I put it earlier, its "cat-and-mouse undercurrent of who's the artist, who's the model, and what it all means proves to be surprisingly malleable and elegant." Every single actor who appears onscreen is a delight, with Eddie Mayehoff (Mr. Murdock) deserving a special shoutout as the funniest bit part in any film, as far I can remember. If he were working a few decades later, he'd be an immortal cast member on Seinfeld. Fans of Celine and Julie Go Boating especially should prioritize this one. It'll place high on my list, but was orphaned(!) last round so some of y'all must be missing out.

[domino harvey]

Sorry, my Lewis vote is going to Hollywood or Bust!

[bamwc2]

Sorry, my Lewis vote is going to Hollywood or Bust!

That wasn't on my radar, but I'll check it out.

[Red Screamer]

Sorry, my Lewis vote is going to Hollywood or Bust!

Vote against Shirley MacLaine and Dorothy Malone at your own risk! Lewis' performance is really great in that one though. If I have room for a second Tashlin, it's probably going to be Son of Paleface, but that's a post for another day...

[swo17]

We go by IMDB year regardless of release dates listed, so not eligible

Darn. I usually go by US release dates.

I do too for my dynamic top 10s, but that would be an administrative nightmare for our decade lists

[domino harvey]

Sorry, my Lewis vote is going to Hollywood or Bust!

Vote against Shirley MacLaine and Dorothy Malone at your own risk! Lewis' performance is really great in that one though. If I have room for a second Tashlin, it's probably going to be Son of Paleface, but that's a post for another day...

Dorothy Malone is about the lowest tier Hollywood player I can think of, so I’m okay with it. Susan Slept Here will be on my list, but I think that will be max Tashlin exposure. I’m sure Rock Hunter will do fine without us

[therewillbeblus]

As for me I currently have all three, Susan Slept Here, Artists and Models, and Hollywood or Bust!, on my list with Rock Hunter still trying to edge its way into the end. Tashlin's getting spoiled.

[therewillbeblus]

I decided to finally watch Red Garters earlier today as a palette cleanser of stress before a job interview, and it sure did the trick in completely removing me from reality. The jabs at gender dynamics exaggerate masculine and feminine projections just as they turn the western tropes of respectability inside out- so while everything is so absurd, the source is a clear logic that stems from our own, transformed countless times over. Strange to watch this and Idiocracy a few hours apart, since they essentially have the same outrageous formula for exposing satirical insights.

[bamwc2]

Damn. I just started Hollywood or Bust. Thirty seconds in, Jerry Lewis is in yellowface pretending to be an "Oriental movie fan" eating popcorn with chopsticks while making stereotypical grunting noises. I know that the 50s were a different time, but yikes!

[swo17]

Just pretend he's Sacha Baron Cohen

[domino harvey]

As a French movie fan, I haven’t actually seen a film in years

[bamwc2]

Viewing Log:

The African Lion (James Algar, 1955): Disney writer Winston Hibler narrates this groundbreaking documentary about Kenyan wildlife that was shot over the course of three years and features some of the most beautiful and jaw dropping footage captured up to that point. Despite the title, the film goes through a panoply of animals, including baboons, giraffes, hippos, and, yes, lions. What makes this stand out from traditional 50s Disney fare is the lack of cloying sentimentality and anthropomorphism in it. Yes, we get cute shots of babies acting silly, but the documentary does not shy away from showing the dark side of the savanna. Animals die here. Of course, such documentaries have become commonplace in the years since its release, but I can't overstate how new and fresh this must have felt for the average viewer at the time of its release.

Hollywood or Bust (Frank Tashlin, 1956): The third Tashlin/Lewis film I've watched for the project, and the final pairing with Marin and Lewis finds the two driving cross country on their way from New York to Los Angeles. When the film begins, Steve Wiley (Dean Martin) informs the bookie that he owes money to that he's created fake tickets to guarantee that he wins a drawing for a free automobile. Unfortunately for him, Malcolm Smith (Jerry Lewis), a goofball movie buff, holds the actual winning ticket and won't back down. The two end up splitting the car and drive off to L.A. (where Steve claims to live next door to Anita Ekberg) to sell the car. The typical Martin/Lewis hijinks happen along the way as they pick up Terry Roberts (Pat Crowley), a song and dance girl on her way to Las Vegas. Aside from glaring bit of racism that I've already complained about, this was a fun little movie. Judging by the merits of the gags, it's probably my least favorite of the three I've recently seen, but it's by no means a bad film.

Ice Cold in Alex (J. Lee Thompson, 1958): Having enjoyed J. Lee Thompson's Tiger Bay, I decided to give another film of his a chance, and holy cow, I'm glad I did, because this was nothing short of a masterpiece. A pair of British medics led by Captain Anson (John Mills) drive an ambulance through the Sahara in a desperate effort to make it to a base named Alex. With M.S.M. Pugh (Harry Andrews) and Sister Diana Murdoch (Sylvia Syms) in tow, the crew pick up a man claiming to be South African Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle) who may not be what he seems. The four of them desperately claw their way through the treacherous environment in a seemingly futile attempt at survival. Ultimately it plays out like a Wages of Fear set in the desert. I can't over emphasize how much I loved this one.

The Tin Star (Anthony Mann, 1957): Anthony Perkins stars as Ben Owens, a young and naive sheriff in a small western town who doesn't have the respect of his citizenry. He's barely keeping the peace, and the local ne're-do-wells constantly test him. Things change one day when bounty hunter Morg Hickman (Henry Fonda) enters the scene to collect a $500 reward. While waiting on the bounty to pay, Morg takes Ben under his wing and does his best to make a sheriff out of him. His teachings are soon put to the test when a pair of outlaw brothers murder the city's doctor and it's up to Ben to bring them in alive. I've watched a number of 50s westerns lately, and this one stands out as a particularly good exemplar of the genre. This is due, no doubt to the strong performances from its leads, an excellent script from Dudley Nichols, and the usual steadfast direction from Anthony Mann.

Union Station (Rudolph Maté, 1950): The film begins when Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson) calls the cops after noticing a train passenger carrying a concealed pistol. The police, led by Lt. William Calhoun (William Holden), begin trailing him through the train depot and about town. Eventually Lt. Calhoun learns that the men he's trailing are involved in the kidnapping of Lorna Murchison (Allene Roberts), a blind daughter of a rich industrialist. The noir unfolds from there as a race against time. The kidnapper plans to kill Lorna once he gets her ransom, but can Calhoun and his allies on the force get to her before time runs out? Holden does a fine job in the lead role, and is buttressed by equally good supporting players. As an advocate of stricter gun laws (including the repeal of concealed carry laws), it felt like a breath of fresh air to see police give a damn about someone carrying in public. I'm usually not wistful for bygone eras, but here we are.

The White Reindeer (Erik Blomberg, 1952): Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen, who also co-wrote the film) was recently married to Aslak (Kalervo Nissilä) a Sami hunter who spends most of his time away from his wife. Feeling neglected, Pirita visits a shaman in hope of gaining the power to make herself irresistible to men. He performs his sacred rights, and orders her to sacrifice the first living being she sees after leaving his hut. Pirita kills a young reindeer, and bring a horrible curse upon herself whereby she transforms into a vampiric white reindeer that proves irresistible to the village's hunters. When they get close she transforms into a fanged version of her human form and drains them of their blood. Unable to break her curse, Pirita is put on a collision course that brings her and her husband together in a deadly encounter. With dialogue as sparse and austere as the northern Finnish landscape, the film is a hauntingly beautiful tale. I really loved this one, and hope to find a spot for it on my list.

Wife (Mikio Naruse, 1953): Playing on some of the same themes of Naruse's Repast, the film tells the story of a Tokyo set marriage in decline. Mihoko (Mieko Takamine) and Toichi Nakagawa (Ken Uehara) have been married for ten years, but they spend most of their time fighting. Mihoko is upset with her husband's inability to move ahead at his job. Toichi finds his wife's domestic aptitude lacking. Old fashioned and unwilling to divorce, each partner in the marriage is miserable. Things get even worse when a widowed colleague begins to seduce Toichi in an effort to lure him away from his wife. Unwilling to give up on her marriage without a fight, Mihoko undertakes a campaign to save their relationship from the interloper. This was my third Naruse, and I hate to say it, but his appeal escapes me. Then again, Japanese family dramas from the mid-20th century have never been of particular interest to me. I'm willing to give more of his work a try, but so far its not my cup of tea.

[Rayon Vert]

Orphée (Cocteau 1950). Red Screamer made some interesting points. I don’t get the same sense that the original twist of Orphée as “careerist” gets eventually dropped in the film, but his ambitions definitely merge with his enchantment with death/immortality and its representation in the love for the Princess. Lots of memorable images, but I’m especially charmed with the transposition of the myth to a contemporary world, with the poet as popular star, the use of the radio frequencies, and the forces of the underworld donning fascist garb and behavior.


The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock 1956). I used to rate this nearer the bottom of the director’s output this decade (though it’s a measure of how strong the latter is that it’s still a very good film), but I like it more and more each time. I felt more this time the seriousness of what’s at stake; it’s quite a jarring moment when Dr. McKenna has to trick his wife into getting drugged to protect her from her shock and grief – and Polanski’s Frantic is really an update on this theme of the American middle-class couple/family in a foreign country who by mistake get their worlds turned upside down through kidnapping. That whole Moroccan half is very good, and the restaurant scene is very quirky in that it goes on for much longer than it needs to for the story’s sake, but the director seems to delight in the staging of it. The British half isn’t always as successful in terms of pacing, but it’s still good fun and has many memorable moments, including the long Royal Albert Hall section with only music as soundtrack that is really a bravura “pure cinema” piece.


The Racket (Cromwell 1951). Honest lieutenant Robert Mitchum going head to head with gangster head Robert Ryan in a story of police and political corruption. Unoriginal despite the edgy material, and not stylish in the least. But the story becomes riveting any way, with some punch-to-the-gut moments and strong performances, especially Ryan’s over-the-top turn as a human being as mean as they come.



Mogambo (Ford 1953). Now this is my kind of movie.

I wrote this up already for the Ford list. Another rewatch for rating purposes cements its many strengths further in my mind. Surprisingly deep for a safari picture, and there isn’t a single bad note through all of it. Def on my list.

Mogambo. A good, enjoyable film that tends to get forgotten. Great location shooting in Africa, and Ford’s lyrical framing and editing meets a romantic drama that’s full of complex adult emotions. Note also the absence of a musical score and reliance instead on (mostly diegetic) African drumming and singing. Deception and self-deception are confronted as the individuals struggle on their journey and confront dangers and wild animals. Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly are a terrific pair of actresses here, as their romantic entanglements with Clark Gable act as a catalyst for painful self-knowledge. In need of a restoration and an upgrade to blu. (Very good close-analysis video piece by Tag Gallagher here.)

Decision at Sundown (Boetticher 1957). By general consent the weakest of the Ranowns. It’s definitely small in its ambition, with its closed-in, town-bound drama and none of the scope and visuals of its predecessors. I still think it has its strengths, though, with a lot of intensity coming from Bart Allison’s unrelenting rage, and all of the bit players are quite good. There’s a novel and deep dimension to the hero’s noble quest built on such faulty knowledge, and how the film ends for him is surprisingly and movingly downbeat and sorrowful.


Les Diaboliques (Clouzot 1955). I gave this another chance, but despite its status it really doesn’t succeed for me as much as some of the director’s other classics. Some potent scenes and images, of course, but it gets a little slow and stiff at times. Typical of Clouzot’s universe is the miserableness of the characters, but it’s so excessive this time that it affects the sympathy for any protagonist, while Vera Clouzot’s performance as the physically and psychologically feeble Christina creates a character who’s at the limit of becoming tiresome. The photography is also unremarkable on the whole, although perhaps its completely unglamorous realism mirrors the world of the characters.

[therewillbeblus]

Mogambo (Ford 1953).Deception and self-deception are confronted as the individuals struggle on their journey and confront dangers and wild animals.

The “self-deception“ of our animal instincts (and the perverse hypothesis that disharmony could be the essence of our social existence) is wonderful, but I think that Ford’s “deception” goes hand in hand with the plotting, imbuing a romantic form that seals the deal in normalizing this for us while validating its discomfort. We may disagree on Hatari! but I’m with you all the way here. This is one of my favorite Fords and one of three that’ll be making my list.

[Rayon Vert]

Most likely 5 for me!

EDIT: I noted in the original write-up how this was in dire need of a blu release. But it would first need a restoration. I mean some of those shots look like they have vaseline smeared all over them. The original DVDBeaver review screenshots give a taste of the problem. Such a shame for a beautiful movie like this.

DVDSavant though explains that some of those shots may be from the source (the out-of-focus ones are the worst offenders and hardest to explain).

Mogambo's print was by Technicolor but technically it's all over the map, even though this copy is by far the best I've seen on video. Some scenes were shot in barely-adequate 16mm, including the key gorilla sequence where 16mm footage is used very unconvincingly in rear projection. Other shots have shutter problems or look out of focus. Even a few first-unit shots are disturbingly out of focus, either owing to a rushed schedule, a cranky director or technical problems on the remote location.

[Rayon Vert]

Communicated with Tag G. through personal message over the Mogambo technical issues - he said I shouldn't despair because he saw an "incredibly gorgeous" Technicolor print of the film about a decade ago. Good news I thought I'd spread.

[Toland's Mitchell]

The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (1952) Yasujirō Ozu's examination of prearranged marriages in post-war Japan was wonderful and full of nuance. The story revolved around a middle-aged couple (Mokichi and Taeko) stuck in a loveless marriage while their rebellious niece (Setsuko) rejected her own upcoming marital arrangement. It was understandable. She saw how apathetic her aunt and uncle were towards each other. She heard her aunt openly insult her husband behind his back. We learn Mokichi was in the army during the war, which may explain his quiet, somewhat numb behavior. On the other hand, Taeko did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted without telling her husband, whether it be going to a spa or a baseball game with her friends and her niece, which may have stemmed from her familiarity of her husband's wartime absence. We don't know for sure. Nevertheless I got the impression they spent several years apart after their arranged marriage while he was off fighting the war. And only after he returned did they realize their unsuitability. Or perhaps not? By the end, Ozu's message was unclear.

Spoiler

When Setsuko ditched the meeting with her marital suitor, she hung out with her uncle and his friend (Noboru). They all went to a bicycle race, then the arcade managed by Mokichi's buddy in the army. Both men disapproved of her leaving the meeting. Even Taeko disapproved, which is interesting because she was in a loveless prearranged marriage, so why would she want her niece to be in a possibly similar situation? Nevertheless, Setsuko and Noboru eventually became friends, and it was implied they became a couple in the final scene. Thus by leaving the meeting with her arranged husband, Setsuko met somebody who she may someday love, and have a much happier marriage with, and certainly that of her aunt and uncle. However, the fate of her aunt and uncle had an opposite message. Mokichi was being sent away on a business trip. Taeko was out of town when this news came. Still, she ignored Mokichi's telegram and didn't come home in time to say farewell before his plane left, much to the disgust of her friends and niece. She was two hours late. But then came divine intervention (or a coincidence) that brought about the dramatic climax between them. His plane had a engine problem two hours into the flight and had to turn around back to Japan. This means the moment Taeko came home was about the same exact moment Mokichi's plane had to make its turnaround. I really appreciated that detail. Anyway, the couple reconciled that evening while enjoying some green tea over rice. She later said 'I now love the things I used to hate about him.' So perhaps love can follow marriage, exemplified through these characters? Hard to say because we never find out if their reconciliation lasted, but it seemed to leave off on an optimistic note.

Regardless, The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice ultimately succeeded because it didn't take a hard stance on the tradition, and instead focused on how the tradition affected these three ordinary characters. Their emotional journeys were naturalistic and finely-acted. And as dramatic as Ozu could be at times, this had a pleasantly surprising amount of humor, which made it more engaging. I can't say for sure if this will make my Top 50, but it may be one of my top three personal favorites from Ozu.

[therewillbeblus]

It’s definitely making my list (all three of my favorite Ozus are this decade but I’ll only have room for two). I don’t think the explanations you’re looking for, in terms of deep-rooted relationship dynamics, can be reduced to single clear reasons; just like the aunt’s reinforcement of the marital expectation doesn’t reflect kneejerk empathy from her own dissatisfaction, but a complex hybrid of cultural norms and suppressed anger from those norms displaced onto her niece. What I love most about this film is how even in a sea of debilitating societal constraints on behavior, there still exists some playful opportunities for liberation between the cracks, (like a great film about youth where the youth are adults!) The aunt has a very authentic response: if I had to do it and I’m miserable, why shouldn’t she be held to the same standards? Her struggle to initially see beyond herself is validated for someone in her position who acts selfishly and childlike because it combats the claustrophobia she experiences in the home.

I personally believe that what caused a rift in the marriage is a broader lack of that transparency and trust, which reinforced a pattern of harboring resentments and bottling up dysphoria with no place to put it. The growth is in acknowledging that the defense mechanisms and spite aren’t actually repairing her ennui beyond a band-aid model of daily reprieve, so change comes from the couple facing each other honestly; through screwball engagement maybe, but still direct communication, and the former exposes that even the coldest marriages still contain potential for excitement and surprise too.

[Michael Kerpan]

It is very interesting to watch Green Tea and What Did the Lady Forget side by side. Lots of overlap - even though part of Green Tea was based on a different (unproduced due to censorship) 30s script. These two films have Ozu's two "sexiest" scenes.

[bamwc2]

Viewing Log:

Cowboy (Delmer Daves, 1958): Cowboy Tom Reese (Glenn Ford) comes to town and attracts the attention of meek hotel clerk Frank Harris (Jack Lemmon). Harris dreams of life on the range, and a drunk Tom agrees to take him out on a cattle drive. The next day a sobered up Tom wants nothing to do with the city slicker, but Frank refuses to give up. Tom takes it upon himself to harden up the neophyte, but when their roles reverse, he doesn't like his creation. I never thought that I'd see Lemmon in a western, but he does a good job as the wannabe cowboy who initially tries to bring a sense of morality to the trail. Daves was a master of the oater genre, and turns in another strong entry here.

The Defiant Ones (Stanley Kramer, 1958): I know that Stanley Kramer is considered something of a hack on this message board, but I consider his Inherit the Wind to be one of the all time great movies. Aside from that...the less said the better. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to find that his liberal sensibilities don't overcome the story of The Defiant Ones too much. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier play Joker Jackson and Noah Cullen, a pair of escaped convicts chained together. They must learn to cooperate to avoid the law, and overcome their prejudices against one another. Rather than being a preachy race movie (there is some of that), it's more of a tale about two desperate men trying to win their freedom against overwhelming odds. I'd recommend it.

The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, Robert Parrish, 1952): A litany of injuries force rodeo rider Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum) to retire from his chosen profession and seek work on at a cattle ranch owned by Wes Merritt (Arthur Kennedy). Inspired by Jeff's tales of glory on the rodeo circuit, Wes decides to enter competitions himself to earn a little extra money for the ranch. Wes's wife, Louise (Susan Hayward), is against her husband's newfound interest, and fights to keep him safe. Ultimately, Jeff and Wes enter a competition together, but will fate allow both men to survive? Normally I find rodeos to be alternatively boring and cruel. However, Nicholas Ray was a master of the studio era, and could make just about any subject matter interesting. It's far from Ray's best, but kept me entertained throughout.

Operation Petticoat (Blake Edwards, 1959): I can't, however, say the same about Blake Edwards's Operation Petticoat. Ostensibly a comedy, it commits the unforgivable sin of forgetting to include funny jokes. Cary Grant stars as Lt. Commander Matt T. Sherman, a by-the-books career Navy man who is put in charge of a submarine that's falling apart at the seems. Lt. JG Nicholas Holden (Tony Curtis) joins him as second in command, and brings a much looser, more relaxed and self-centered philosophy to their mission against the Japanese during WWII. Matters are further complicated when a group of female nurses board the sub leading to all kinds of corny jokes about the battle of the sexes. Unfortunately, the film thinks that it can skate by with jokes like a pig being mistaken for an ensign or the indignity that straitlaced seamen have to endure after the submarine is painted pink. None of its funny, and none of it works. I'm not usually a fan of Blake Edwards, but this has to rank as one of his worst.

Riot in Cell Block 11 (Don Siegel, 1954): Hollywood producer Walter Wanger wanted to make a picture based on the subhuman conditions he encountered during a jail sentence. To this end, he and director Don Siegel co-wrote a screenplay about prisoners who take matters into their own hands. Beginning with pseudo-documentary footage of experts opining on the prevalence and cause of prison riots, the film quickly moves to a group of inmates led by James V. Dunn (Neville Brand) who take out the guards in their cell block and free all the prisoners there. They carry through the titular riot while holding the guards as hostages in exchange for a set of demands. Brutal and hard boiled, Wanger and Siegel's script must have felt like a gut punch in 1954. It's quite a good film too, and left the ultimate morality of the prisoners' actions up to the viewer to decide.

The Saga of Anatahan (Josef von Sternberg, 1953): Josef von Sternberg's final film is also his strangest. Told with Japanese speaking characters, the film translates none of their dialogue, instead telling its story through English language narration supplied by the director himself. The ethereal film tells the story of a group of soldiers stranded on the island Anatahan in 1944 at the height of the war versus the Americans. Believing that an attack will happen at any moment, they fortify the island with what little resources they have, but an attack never comes. Instead, they deal with the two native inhabitants of the island, Kusakabe (Tadashi Suganuma), and his wife Keiko (Akemi Negishi). With a dozen men on the island and one woman, there's a lot of energy put into pursuing the oft nude Keiko as the passion they have for her leads to acts of violence against one another. The men spend years on the island, believing that American attempts to contact them after the war is over to be enemy propaganda designed to trick them into surrendering. I've never had a viewing experience quite like this one. It's quite good, but at the same time unique and uncategorizable.

The Witch (Roland af Hällström, 1953): I had such a good experience watching the Finnish horror film The White Reindeer, that I decided to track down another supernatural thriller discussed in the MoC commentary track. Released the same year as the Erik Blomberg film, The Witch deals with the same fear of unbridled female sexuality as The White Reindeer. A team of archeologists digging through a Finish bog uncover the remains of a witch who was slayed 300 years prior. They remove the wooden stake through the corpse's heart and soon enough, a naked girl (she's naked an awful lot in this film) named Birgit (Mirja Mane). At first Birgit seems to be a cursed innocent. Bad things happen when she's around, but she seems just as shocked by them as everyone else. Eventually the community turns on her and she embraces her role as a supernatural trickster. The film is good atmospheric fun until Birgit begins with her magic. After that it just gets silly. I'd give it a marginal recommendation for an excellent first half. Just don't expect it to keep up its intensity.

[mizo]

The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray, Robert Parrish, 1952): A litany of injuries force rodeo rider Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum) to retire from his chosen profession and seek work on at a cattle ranch owned by Wes Merritt (Arthur Kennedy). Inspired by Jeff's tales of glory on the rodeo circuit, Wes decides to enter competitions himself to earn a little extra money for the ranch. Wes's wife, Louise (Susan Hayward), is against her husband's newfound interest, and fights to keep him safe. Ultimately, Jeff and Wes enter a competition together, but will fate allow both men to survive? Normally I find rodeos to be alternatively boring and cruel. However, Nicholas Ray was a master of the studio era, and could make just about any subject matter interesting. It's far from Ray's best, but kept me entertained throughout.

Conversely, I think it is Ray's best, and also one of the very best films of the era (and sure to place in my top five). A genuinely adult story about a collision between irreconcilably different ideas of how best to live one's life, with each character allowed to be selfish and generous in turn, without losing your sympathy. To correct your summary slightly, Wes isn't inspired by Jeff to try his hand at rodeoing. From the moment they meet, Wes, who isn't a particularly smart man, begins plotting to use Jeff's expertise to his benefit. Everyone strategizes in this film, and everyone uses the people they love.

In moments of confrontation when little is said but a great deal broods beneath the surface, the characters try on different masks. Particularly Louise, who is able to play the role of a steadfast, long-suffering spouse, placing all her faith in her husband's abilities, until the opportunity arises to shed her saintly aspect and become the frivolous, fun-loving wife of a hotshot rodeo star, crudely fending off competitors for her husband's affections. She tries this new persona on for size, finds it unsatisfactory, and discards it.

It's also got some of the best dialogue I've ever heard, taking the stylized Western speech any fan of old Hollywood films knows well and transforming it into a demotic, free-ranging lexicon of allusive, poetic imagery and laconic maxims.

Old man: You a thinking man?
Jeff: I can get in out of the rain. That's all.

The rare exchange whose tone and dimensions change completely depending on slight variations in my mood. Sometimes it makes me laugh, others I find it sublimely beautiful, in the manner of a Zen koan.

[nitin]

I agree re The Lusty Men, one of the great films I have seen for the first time this year. Will post my thoughts on that and a few others over the next day or so.

[Rayon Vert]

I’ll start to mix it up after having exclusively done rewatches up to now, using my 2-week staycation to try to ratchet up the viewing rate!

Early Spring (Ozu 1956). (revisit) Is it sacrilegious to prefer this relatively unsung film to Tokyo Story? It feels refreshing for Ozu to shift gears and focus on younger people and themes less centered on family and intergenerational conflict. The adulterous liaison is sensitively written and played, and even more impactful due to the fact that it’s easy to interpret it as a result of Sugiyama’s reaction to the uncertainty and disappointments of life as a salaried worker, the film’s other theme. There’s a moving subtext throughout of these men still only in their early 30s, ten years after their participation in the war, rewarded with a life as limited in its horizon as this is.


No Down Payment (Ritt 1957). (1st viewing) This has been well commented on earlier by HDT and TWBB. I just happened to watch this next but it’s like a mirroring image on the other side of the Pacific – harsh disillusionment confronting the hopes and ambitions of a post-war generation (with the war frequently referenced again) -, and it made an apt double bill. Social problem (“message”) films can be an iffy artistic proposition because of their pedagogical slant, but this goes way beyond any “issues” as it indicts the entire society itself. The intensity and broadness of its attack really make it stand out – the film takes no time into plunging us into this problematic world with Jerry’s alcohol abuse and the behavior that comes out of it, but then surprises us further in the no-holds-barred places it goes to. It’s also hard to disentangle the toxic social forces, whether it’s institutionalized injustice or capitalism and its individualistic ideology, from the characters’ psychological problems (a lot of them having to do with neurotic ambition – the fact that the viewer is eventually confronted to Patricia, who seems one of the few more balanced at the outset, manifesting that ugly side into pressuring David to change his line of work for that same purpose, is destabilizing), and that is also a strength of the film. Some great performances, especially Woodward, and a really shocking film.


Repast (Naruse 1951). (1st viewing) The couple at the end of Early Spring has to relocate for work reasons from Tokyo to a provincial town, for a potential three years. This film starts where that one ends. Naruse explores similar themes as Ozu, with an analogous sensibility, but it’s nice to get out of that stricter formalism. It’s lovely how the strains in the marriage come out of the simple facts of their reality together, with the suspicions of adultery more of a pretext or anything. I was very impressed by the charm of this film, the sureness of the tone that’s at once serious and lightly comic, the delightful way the settings are filmed. Every character and scene is written and played consummately. I’d easily rate this as equivalent to the best of Ozu.


The Blue Lamp (Dearden 1950). (1st viewing) A semi documentary-style procedural noir from Ealing featuring at one end a rookie bobby and at the other a young, daredevil thug. The effect of the “social realism” is hampered by the limitations in the characterizations and the lack of originality in the story. Mildly entertaining and a bit of charm still, with a young Dirk Bogarde standing out as the hoodlum.


Pickup on South Street (Fuller 1953). (revisit) Not necessarily my favorite Fuller but I’d have no problem rating it objectively as his most accomplished. Story, acting and photography are all without reproach – and by now his swooping camera style is in full swing (the way the camera choreographs that scene near the end where Joey beats up Candy is a good example of what Scorsese has described as what he took from him in the use of the camera movement to amplify the emotion). Gritty but a very polished look at the same time. Fuller’s trademark humanity is here on display too. Interesting that the film focuses on a criminal as a quasi anti-hero, although Candy is the heart and real heroine in the film.

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Viewing Log:

Calamity Jane (David Butler, 1953): This completely ahistorical take on the life of Martha "Calamity" Jane Cannary (Doris Day) focuses on her time in Deadwood with Wild Bill Hickock (Howard Keel), changing just about every fact of their biographies. Here Jane is a sanitized and feminized version of the real figure, playing her as initially gruff, but still willing to put on a dress and sing songs about womanly charms. Jane recruits actress Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) from Chicago to perform skits in the local saloon, but soon gets mad at her for some reason when she falls for military officer Danny Gilmartin (Philip Carey). Songs are sung, Jane is revealed to be a beautiful flower under her masculine exterior once they pamper her up, and ultimately there's a double wedding. Avoid this one. It's revisionist, sexist tripe.

Daddy Long Legs (Jean Negulesco, 1955): Fred Astaire stars as Jervis Pendleton III, the scion to a long line of American industrialists who rebels against all of the pleasantries of the upper crust. On a diplomatic trade mission to France, he spies 18-year-old orphan Julie Andre (Leslie Caron) teaching a group of young children, and decides that he wants to adopt her. His advisors talk him out of it, so instead he becomes her anonymous benefactor and sends her to a women's college in Boston. As it so happens, his niece, who he hasn't seen since she was an infant also goes there, and after several years of study, uses that fact as a pretense to visit Julie. Without revealing his true identity to her, Jervis charms the much younger Julie, and the two fall madly in love. This has got great dancing, and a few memorable songs, but I couldn't get past the deceit and grooming that Jervis goes through to mold her into his ideal lover.

Decision Before Dawn (Anatole Litvak, 1951): Sgt. Rudolf "Tiger" Barth (Hans Christian Blech) and Cpl. Karl "Happy" Maurer (Oskar Werner) are German prisoners of war, controlled by Americans in WWII. Tiger, motivated by greed, and Happy, motivated by his conscience, are given the opportunity to go back behind German lines to spy for the allies. Along with American radioman Lt. Dick Rennick (Richard Basehart), the three of them cross the Rhine to gain intelligence on troop locations. It doesn't take long for things to turn south on them, and the three find themselves in a mad dash for survival. Suspenseful and tragic, this was one hell of a war film.

Last Train from Gun Hill (John Sturges, 1959): Catherine Morgan (Ziva Rodann), the Native American wife of Marshal Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas) is raped and murdered on her way back to town. Their son flees the scene to retrieves his father, who returns to find her dead body and a unique saddle that he instantly recognizes as belonging to the ranch of his old friend Craig Belden (Anthony Quinn). Craig is initially willing to help find the killers, but when he realizes that one of them is his son Rick (Earl Holliman), he turns on Matt. Soon Matt is trapped in a hotel room with Rick handcuffed to the bed, as they wait for the 9:00 PM train back to the old west town where Rick will stand trial. Unwilling to let his boy hang, Craig surrounds the hotel with gunmen, leading to a tense standoff for the lawman. The film does a beautiful job of ratcheting up the tension as Matt and his prisoner as they await their destiny. My only gripe is that it's hard to watch a movie with Douglas seeking justice for rape given the rumors (and I know they're just that--unsubstantiated rumors) surrounding him.

The Love of a Woman (Jean Grémillon, 1953): Jean Grémillon's final feature stars Micheline Presle as Dr. Marie Prieur, a recent medical school graduate who takes up residence in the island community of Ushant in Northern Brittany. The local population is initially reticent to accept a woman doctor, but she gradually earns their trust by providing for the community's well being. While at a factory, Marie meets Italian engineer André Lorenzi (Massimo Girotti), and the two quickly fall in love. Unfortunately, when planning their married life together, André insists that she give up her practice and become a housewife. Not wanting to do it, Marie must choose between her profession and the man she loves. While the dilemma may seem antiquated now, it was a real one faced by women in the workforce in 1953. Presle brings a real pathos to her role as the love struck physician, and it's easy to empathize with her plight. I do not know if Grémillon wanted us to agree with her decision, but its a journey that's well worth taking either way.

Picnic on the Grass (Jean Renoir, 1959): Opening with a black and white faux news report on the film's protagonist, we quickly switch to the technicolor world of Etienne Alexis (Paul Meurisse) the scion of a wealthy French family of industrialists who own a chemical engineering company. At the same time that Etienne is about to marry his cousin Claire (Régine Blaess), he also is running for president of a unified Europe under the platform of eliminating sex and passion in favor of artificial insemination. In celebration of their impending nuptials, the family plans the titular picnic which is interrupted by strong winds that may or may not have supernatural origins. Soon Etienne comes across a skinny dipping lass that draws his attention away from his fiance. This wonderful film stands out as a unique entry into Renoir's oeuvre. I don't remember ever seeing the director more playful than he is here. At times is feels much more like a Luis Buñuel film than a Jean Renoir.

The Violent Men (Rudolph Maté, 1955): Glenn Ford stars as Civil War vet John Parrish in this western from Rudolph Maté. Parrish wants to sell his plot of land out west and move back to New England with his fiancee. However, the bullying tactics (including murder) coming out of Lew Wilkison's (Edward G. Robinson) ranch give John cold feet. It turns out that Lew's brother and wife Martha (Barbara Stanwyck) are behind the violence, as they turn non Lew. Unwilling to let the wrongdoers get away with their actions, it's up to John to take a stand. Blending elements of noir into the western genre, Maté creates a unique hybrid. It's a fascinating experiment that works pretty well to boot.