261. Pickup On South Street (1988)

Directed By Samuel Fuller

Synopsis

A woman gets her wallet stolen on the subway. What she didn't know was that she had a sensitive bit of microfilm that she was supposed to give to the commies. The Government is also after the microfilm, and the pickpocket sees himself caught between these two powerful forces. He is trying to sell the microfilm to the girl who he stole it from, but when she discovers that she has been working for commies she won't let him sell it to them. She steals the microfilm and gives it to the police, who then tell her to give it to the commies so they can see where it is going. She does, not knowing that the pickpocket has kept a frame for himself. When her contact finds this missing he shoots her and takes the film. The pickpocket is waiting for the Reds to come and get the remaining frame, and when they do he follows the woman's contact to the drop-off, after a violent fight he gets the whole film back and gives it to the police. The fully recovered woman and him go off into the figurative sunset.

Review

Rarely are propaganda films any good, and those made under the Red Paranoia of the fifties in the States are not any better. But this one does have something to it. Firstly it is directed by a great director, the cast is consistently good and there is an inordinate amount of violence, which probably passed the censors because the message was one that they approved of.

Still the film is not overly ideological, and that is what saves it, the characters have their own motivations to do what they are doing, and only rarely is that patriotism. Of course the whole thing is tainted with paranoia, but it doesn't ring impossible, particularly as we have seen even in these post-soviet days some of the tactics of the Russian regime, at least there is no Polonium-210 in this film.

So it stands up quite well, even if it is clearly propagandy, but it has some very well directed moments, particularly the moments of quite painful violence, it is the first time on this list that I have seen a guy hit his face on each of the subway steps while someone is pulling his legs.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In August 1952, the script was deemed unacceptable by the Production Code, by reasons of "excessive brutality and sadistic beatings, of both men and women." The committee also expressed disdain for the vicious beating of the character "Candy", on the part of "Joey." Although a revised script was accepted soon after, the studio was forced to shoot multiple takes of a particular scene in which the manner of Jean Peters and Richard Kiley frisk each other for loot, was too risqué.

The French release of the movie removed any reference to spies and microfilm in the translation. They called the movie Le Port de la Drogue (Port of Drugs). The managers of 20th Century Fox thought that the theme of communist spies was too controversial in a country where the Communist Party was still hugely influential.


Go to 1 minute 13 for particular violence:

260. The Naked Spur (1953)

Directed by Anthony Mann

Synopsis

A man goes after a bounty, on the way he meets two other guys. The capture the bounty and decide to split the prize into three shares. Well, there's a girl with the bounty, and the original hunter, Jimmy Stewart, falls in love with her. Eventually the bounty and the girl run away with the help of one of the three hunters, the gold prospector. The bounty kills the prospector and the girl realises what type of guy he is. The two remaining hunters come after him, and in the ensuing fight kill him and one of the hunters dies. Jimmy gets the corpse of the bounty and the girl, but the girl demands that if he wants to have her he has to bury the bounty instead of getting the reward. Jimmy does so.

Review

I do like Westerns but this one didn't really do it particularly for me. It does have it's plus points, Jimmy Stewart is always a good thing, the use of landscape in the beautiful Colorado Rockies together with the great Technicolor is another plus point.

The actors are all quite good, a special nod goes to the bounty played by Robert Ryan as the constantly scowling, smart, bad guy. But then, it doesn't quite work completely. The problem might be with the plot, which isn't the most original, the pacing is also somewhat too slow, too much lying about doing nothing without actually building up any kind of tension.

It is a perfectly serviceable Western, it is a good watch, but nothing amazing, I've seen plenty of better Westerns and plenty of better Jimmy Stewart films on this list already. But then, they can't all be High Noons.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The film was a box office hit when first released, ensuring three more Stewart-Mann collaborations, including two more westerns. Screenwriters Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom were nominated for the 1953 Best Screenplay Academy Award. In the years since its release, the film has achieved continued success, gaining more critical acclaim now than upon first release. In 1997, The Naked Spur was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Although the film generally receives credit for teaming James Stewart with Anthony Mann for several films, Robert Ryan also teamed with Mann in The Naked Spur, Men In War, and God's Little Acre. Leonard Maltin has lauded The Naked Spur as "one of the best westerns ever made."

No videos of this on-line, but here's Jimmy reading a poem about his dog Beau:

259. Le Salarie de la Peur (The Wages Of Fear) (1953)

Directed By Henri-Georges Clouzot

Synopsis

A group of four misfits is hired to drive two trucks to an explosion in a oil refinery. The roads are treacherous mountain things in South America... and oh the trucks are full of nitroglycerine.

Review

Talk about stressful and suspenseful films... The French are not known primarily for their tension filled action films, but you would say otherwise if you were basing your opinion on this single film. This is one of those that must be seen to be believed, so well directed and edited that you are on the edge of your seat for the whole 2 hours and 30 minutes. But it starts off slowly with an great introduction of the characters for about an hour, which makes the action filled rest of the film all the more effective, because you care.

This is a master-work of action films, using ideas and tropes that have been used repeatedly since, from the idea of not being able to slow down the truck or it will explode (Speed anyone?) to just the sheer tension of the thing.

The acting is generally excellent with secondary characters kind of not being that good, American actors are particularly bad here. So it is a film about Americans killing people for Oil... where have I seen that before? A great film.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Due to the negative portrayal of the American oil company SOC, the film was accused of anti-Americanism and several scenes were cut for the U.S. release

Trailer:

258. Roman Holiday (1953)

Synopsis

A princess escapes her sheltered life and falls into the arms of a journalist, who doesn't know who she is. Next morning he realises the prize he has in his hands and tries to make a report on her, she doesn't reveal that she is the princess and he doesn't reveal that he is a journalist. After a great day on the town they fall in love and he drops her off at the palace. Next morning he goes to a press conference at the palace, they exchange meaningful looks and each go their way.

Review

This film has been imitated to death, be it in Notting Hill or The Princess Diaries, this has all been done so many times that it seems more than a little familiar. On the other hand, it was never bettered.

This is also Audrey Hepburn's first starring role, we saw her briefly here at the beginning of the Lavender Hill Mob, but now she has a starring role, and what an amazing role it is. Hepburn creates a whole new kind of leading lady in a single film, the innocent, quirky and fragile leading lady, the one that looks like you would break her from looking attentively at her, but is also a lovely and cute character, and her acting is superbly natural.

There is a lightness of touch to the whole film that makes it a delight to watch, but then it has the guts that all the repeated versions of this film did not have, the guts to let it end badly or at least inconclusively, as would be likely to happen in real life. It is a fairy tale, but one where you are not told that they lived happily ever-after, strange for a rom-com, but supremely effective.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

One of the most famous scenes in the movie is when Peck puts his hand into the "Mouth of Truth" (La Bocca della Verità), a stone face in Rome that legend says will bite your hand off if you tell a lie. In the film, when he pulls his hand out it is missing, causing Anya/Hepburn to scream. He then pops his hand out of his sleeve and laughs. Hepburn's shriek was not acting — Peck decided to pull a gag he had once seen Red Skelton do, and did not tell his co-star beforehand

She's so cute:

257. Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story) (1953)

Directed By Yasujiro Ozu

Synopsis

An old couple goes to Tokyo to visit their son, daughter and the widow of their other son. All except for the widow are a bit to busy to take care of them and show them around. Eventually, feeling a bit of a burden, they go back to their town. The mother feels ill on the trip and a telegram is sent for the children, who arrive in time to see their mother die, they go back to their lives.

Review

First Portugal gets kicked out of the Euro, so to take my mind off it I go and watch Tokyo Story. Brilliant, what a great idea, I cried like a baby, really made my day. This is a great film, Ozu shows us all that normal life, when told with sensitivity and an eye for realism is just as interesting as the weirdest plot.

Look at the synopsis, nothing much happens for the 2 hours 15 minutes, still you are riveted, in an almost voyeuristic way, throughout. It is a little peek into normal lives, the fact that the camera is immobile and at tatami-level for most of the times helps the illusion of being a fly on the wall.

You learn about these people, you like some of them, dislike others, but none of them is a cardboard cut-out. Then, even if it is a very Japanese film, its themes are totally universal, we recognise the human reactions in the characters as our one or those of people we know well. Not a very hopeful film, but a calm, slow, beautifully written poignant and particularly brilliant film. All I have to do is put on Kurosawa's Ikiru and then I'll slit my wrists... what a day.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In Sight and Sound magazine's regular polls of directors and critics, Tokyo Story is regularly listed as one of the ten greatest films ever made. John Walker, editor of the Halliwell's Film Guides, places Tokyo Story at the top of his published list of the best 1000 films ever made. Tokyo Story is also included in film critic Derek Malcolm's The Century of Films, a list of films that Malcolm deems artistically or culturally important, and Time Magazine lists it among their All-Time 100 Movies. Roger Ebert includes it in his series of great movies.

Scene:

256. From Here To Eternity (1953)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Synopsis

A bugler gets transferred to a place in Hawaii, not long before Pear Harbor, he was once a quite good middleweight boxer and his commanding officer wants him to box for the team, he refuses, they make his life miserable. He has a buddy in Frank Sinatra, and develops a friendship with Burt Lancaster, his Sergeant, who is dating the Captain's wife. The boxer (Montgomery Clift) falls in love with a prozzie at the local prozzie bar. Frank Sinatra dies in the stockades being abused by Ernest Borgnine, Clift kills Borgnine in a knife fight. Pearl Harbor happens, Clift gets killed trying to sneak back into the army camp, Burt Lancaster doesn't get the girl as well...

Review

This was a good film, it wasn't rushed, it took its sweet time to come to the big event, and in the process did a great job in developing a rapport between the audience and the characters.

This is a star-studded cast indeed, and they all act to the best of their abilities, with the possible exception of Deborah Kerr, who could have been better here, but presents us with one of the most iconic scenes in the history of cinema, so she is forgiven.

If you watch this film out of historical context it is hard to see how significantly modern it is for its time, the boozing, the prostitutes, the violence, the sex, it is all a little notch up from previous films, one of the good things about watching these films in chronological order is the opportunity of seeing these little differences in mores. A great film.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Legend has it that Frank Sinatra got the role in the movie because of his alleged Mafia connections, and that this was the basis for a similar subplot in The Godfather, although, this has been dismissed on several occasions by the cast and crew of the film. Director Fred Zinneman commented that "The legend about a horse's head having been cut off is pure invention, a poetic license on the part of Mario Puzo who wrote The Godfather." More plausible is the notion that Sinatra's then-wife Ava Gardner persuaded studio head Harry Cohn's wife to use her influence with him; this version is related by Kitty Kelley in her Sinatra biography. Sinatra himself had been bombarding Cohn with letters and telegrams asking to play the ill-fated Maggio, even signing some of the letters "Maggio". Sinatra benefited when Eli Wallach, who was originally cast as Maggio, dropped out to appear on Broadway instead. However, he was paid only $8,000, a huge drop from his $130,000 salary for Anchors Aweigh.

Most famous scene from the film:

255. Madame de... (1953)

Directed By Max Ophuls

Synopsis

Madame de... has some gambling debts so she sells the earrings her husband gave her when they were married to pay them off. She reports them stolen, the jeweller sells them back to her husband after he hears of the theft, her husband aware of her deception gives them to his lover that is going to Constantinople. His lover gets into some more gambling debts and sells the earrings which are bought in Constantinople by a diplomat making his way to Paris. He falls in love with the Madame and gives her the earrings, she is so in love with him that she now wants to wear them and tells her dumbfounded husband that she found them. He confronts the diplomat about the earrings and the diplomat is ordered to sell them back to the jeweller who sells them again to the husband, who decides to offer them to his poor niece. The poor niece sells them to the jeweller AGAIN and they are bought by the Madame this time. Her husband and the diplomat have a duel and the Madame leaves the earrings in an altar as an offering for the protection of the diplomat. Her husband shoots first, there is no second shot and she, hearing this, faints... maybe forever.

Review

As you can see from that synopsis this isn't an easy plot line, but the merit of the film is that it makes it seem easy, and exciting. All the cast are superb actors, the direction is amazing, Max Ophuls camera moves like there are no obstacles anywhere.

The plot is brilliant, full of twists and turns but always easy to follow, the dialogue is impressive, smart and interesting. This film really is near perfect, there is very little fault to point at. In fact I can think of no faults in it. It even has Vittorio de Sica in the part of the Diplomat/Lover.

It is refreshing to see a good French film with that lightness of touch so reminiscent of Renoir and Carne, with an interesting social subtext of the high-classes behaving badly and if anything comparable to La Regle Du Jeu, which is high praise indeed. Highly Recommended.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In 1954, Georges Annenkov and Rosine Delamare were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design (black and white) but lost to Edith Head for Sabrina.

Nothing on the film on Youtube so here's Bernardo Bertolucci talking about Max Ophuls, in italian:

254. The Band Wagon (1953)

Directed By Vincente Minnelli

Synopsis

Astaire is this washed up musical film actor who goes to New York to get back on the stage. The production starts going where no one wants it to go, no one except the actor/director/producer who is trying to make it an updating of Faust. When that doesn't work Astaire takes over and does pure entertainment.

Review

Well, this was a strange film. On the one hand it is one of those typical Technicolor musicals that we are used to (American In Paris, Singing In The Rain etc.) but there is a layer of weirdness pervading the whole thing that gives it a different sheen.

In a way the film is quite retro, going back to the plots of the early 30's Busby Berkley's films where people are trying to put on a show. But then there are some strange elements, like the bloodthirsty Triplets song with three characters dresses as babies mainly motivated by hatred considering "how fun" it would be to shoot the other two brothers. Or the extended Film Noir tribute scene which is more than a little surreal.

The plot isn't bad and there is plenty of Cyd Charisse's leg ogling to enjoy here, Astaire remains a great dancer and there are some genuinely funny moments here. In the end it does what it is meant to do, simply entertain, and that it does, it does not, however do much more than that.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Color, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (for Comden and Green). In 1995, The Band Wagon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2006, this film ranked #17 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.

Triplets:

253. The Bigamist (1953)

Directed By Ida Lupino

Synopsis

A travelling salesman spends his life half in San Francisco and the other half in LA. He is married to a wife that he loves but who is quite aloof and they are in the process of adopting a child, while his background is being investigated, it is discovered that he has another wife in LA, who after a brief affair became pregnant with his child and trying to do the right thing he married her as well. In the end he gives himself up to the authorities.

Review

This is a very interesting film for the time in which it was made. When you think of films with this type of subjects you always think of deeply moralising ones like Reefer Madness for example. This, however, is a case of a film that even if it has some moralistic content coming from the mouth of the judge at the end, manages to avoid being a lecture on the evils of bigamy.

In fact watching the film you get the sensation that the bigamist did the best he could not to hurt or damage any of the two women. And you also get the sense they they actually appreciated his actions, in fact at the end they both smile at him and then at each other raising the possibility of a big happy family in the future...

In fact I think that that is the end they were going for here, the chances of adopting a child with the first wife are completely ruined after this but not the chances of bringing up his son with his second wife. His first wife states earlier in the film that she would have no problem raising another's child. Maybe I am seeing too much in to the open ending, but then that is the point of open endings. This is a weird one for a time when the Production Code was in full force.

That said, while the film has plenty of food for thought and an interesting presentation of human drama, it doesn't really blow you away technically, the soundtrack is quite good and the acting competent, but the storytelling could be better, more than simply raising interesting moral mazes.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From IMDB:

This would be the last feature film directed by Ida Lupino for more than 12 years until The Trouble with Angels (1966).

During the tour of the Hollywood stars, the driver points out the home of Edmund Gwenn, the star of Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Gwenn is in fact also in the film, playing Mr Jordan.

Meeting his second wife:

252. La Carrosse D'Or (The Golden Coach) (1952)

Directed By Jean Renoir

Synopsis

A troupe of Italian Comedia Dell'Arte actors arrives in Peru attempting to make their fortune. Their Columbine is soon the love interest of three people, a fellow troupe member, the viceroy and a bullfighter. She gets given the amazing Golden Coach by the Viceroy, but eventually ends up with none of the three, dedicating her life to the theatre instead.

Review

This film is one of those that is more interesting in theory than it actually ends up being in practice. It's a Jean Renoir film, it's in Technicolour and about Comedia Dell'Arte, it is very well written with some genuinely funny moments in it. So in the end why does it not quite work?

I think Anna Magnani explains it best in the film itself when she states that she can't act in a foreign language. She does a good enough job, but half the cast seem to be struggling and not only the Italian ones (I watched the English version of the film which was reputedly Renoir's favourite). Even some of the English speaking actors seem to find it difficult to act, an example of this is the love interest who is also a troupe member, a terrible actor.

Then it is hard to believe that Magnani would have so many men after her, she really isn't the prettiest actress around, and although her character is definitely more interesting than that of the ladies at court it still doesn't explain such interest, particularly at a time when women were supposed to be seen and not heard. Still, a not so good Renoir film is an excellent film.


Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The film was shot at Cinecittà in Rome. A French-Italian co-production, it was filmed in three different versions: English, Italian and French. Renoir reputedly preferred the English version.

Truffaut and a very young Polanski talk about Renoir's correspondence from his years in America (Yes, no clip of the film on youtube)Quite interesting but it's in French only:

251. Umberto D. (1952)

Directed By Vittorio de Sica

Synopsis

A retired man is too poor to pay his rent which is already in arrears, either he manages to get 15.000 lira (the equivalent of 20p/10c) or he and his little doggy get kicked out. After a while suicide seems to be a pretty good idea, but he needs to find a safe place to leave his dog. But he can't and even though he tries to kill himself with the dog, the dog escapes and he has to go after it. The film ends with the two playing in the park, the future uncertain.

Review

Vittorio de Sica presents us with another Italian neo-realist film, very much in the tradition of his own Bicycle Thief, instead of a man and his son looking for a bicycle there is a man and his dog, first looking for money and later looking for death for the man and a safe home for the dog. There is even a moment where the dog is lost and there is a desperate search for him, much like the bicycle in de Sica's previous film.

Italian neo-relism can sometimes come across as overly sentimental, even as manipulative of audience's feelings, and it certainly is. This is not to say however that that makes it a worse film. The use of non-professional actors always gives these films, if they are well used, a veneer of verisimilitude that is really engaging to the viewer.

Carlo Battisti who plays the title-character here is an example of an excellent non-professional actor, you do feel for him and you feel desperate with him, but overall you pity him. The political subtext is obvious, of course, the film starts with a march of pensioners demanding better pensions, Umberto is terribly oppressed by his landlady and the only other human being he can relate to is the maid who faces a situation similar to his, seeing as when she is discovered as being pregnant she will be kicked out of the house.

You do feel a bit irritated at the film at times due to the cheap tricks that it uses to make you relate, like the incineration of dogs in the pound, the pathetic figure of the old man and his little dog etc. But it is effective.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:


* (1957) Cesare Zavattini Nominated for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story Academy Award

* (1957) Vittorio De Sica Nominated for the Grand Prix - Cannes film festival


Scene:

250. High Noon (1952)

Directed By Fred Zinnemann

Synopsis

Kane just got married and is about to retire from his Marshall job at a small town in the West. But Frank Miller is coming to town on the noon train, and Kane has to stop him. He goes around town searching for help to form a posse. His former deputy (Lloyd Bridges) quits out of jealousy in what was a bad week for him to stop sniffing glue. And in the end it is one man against four, he kills them and leaves the town with his new wife disgusted at the cowardly and passive nature of the inhabitants.

Review

This was something completely new in terms of Westerns a film with no great landscapes, with no dialogue for the first 4 minutes, with no action until the last 10, played nearly in real-time as an allegory to the witch hunts going on in the states of McCarthy.

And then even beyond all that it stands up even outside its historical context as the great film that it is. Gary Cooper plays one of the best Western heros, a hero that is also flawed, breaks down crying and admits he is afraid, but a man that no one will help.

The allegory is not heavy handed, the film is excellent even if you are not aware of it, the soundtrack is amazing in its contribution to the film's sense of impending doom, the editing is masterful, the cinematography ditto. If I had to choose a weak link here it would be Grace Kelly who although beautiful really is not the best actress in the world. Other than that it is a perfectly paced, superbly written, scored, edited and directed film, filmed in 28 days on a tiny budget.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Upon its release, the film was criticized by many filmgoers, as it did not contain such expected western archetypes as chases, violence, action, and picture postcard scenery. Rather, it presented emotional and moralistic dialogue throughout most of the film. Only in the last few minutes were there action scenes.

John Wayne strongly disliked the film because he felt it was an allegory for blacklisting, which he and his best friend Ward Bond had actively supported. In his Playboy interview from May 1971, Wayne stated he considered High Noon "the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life" and went on to say he would never regret having helped blacklist liberal screenwriter Carl Foreman from Hollywood. He later teamed up with director Howard Hawks to make Rio Bravo as a conservative response.

The great train arrival tension building scene, so many elements of future spaghetti westerns here, the faces, the music:

249. The Big Sky (1952)

Directed By Howard Hawks

Synopsis

A group of hunters want to go up the Missouri river to trade directly with the reclusive Blackfoot Indians. To do this they have to defy the fur company with the monopoly around that area and to gain the trust of the Blackfoot themselves. They have with her a Blackfoot princess that they are thinking of returning as a gesture of goodwill. Of course an amorous triangle is formed between Kirk Douglas, some other guy (Boone) and the Teal Eye, the Princess. Krik loses to the younger man who stays on with the princess in their final destination.

Review

This wasn't a bad film, but it wasn't that amazing as well. Frankly I have difficulty understanding why it is in the list, there are so much better Westerns around that this one seems quite redundant.

Still it does have some peculiarities, firstly it is set mainly around a river trip, which isn't very common at all for a Western, then even though it stereotypes Native Americans like all films of the time it also has a very positive outlook on their culture and on them as people. This is a step forward at least. And half the cast speaks in French, very uncommon for a Western.

The acting is quite adequate, although nothing amazing, there are a couple of quite good violent scenes, like when Douglas gets his finger chopped off or one of the crew members gets shot in the neck by an arrow. Still the plot is quite trite not really justifying a great mark for this film.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Though not considered amongst Hawks' major achievements by most critics, the film was chosen by Jonathan Rosenbaum for his alternative list of the Top 100 American Films.

Trailer: