1961 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1961.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

And the nominees on the entries from 1961 for every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Splendor in the Grass
Last Year at Marienbad
The Pier
One-Eyed-Jacks
Lola
Breakfast at Tiffany's
La Notte
Jules and Jim
Viridiana
The Ladies Man
Through a Glass Darkly
Chronicle of a Summer
The Hustler
West Side Story

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1961 is…The Hustler

The Hustler

Robert Rossen's The Hustler, based on Walter Tevis's book, is a  showcase for Paul Newman as a pool hustler trying to harness and exploit his talent for the game. The highlights of the film are Newman (as Fast Eddie) playing against the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). But there is much else to recommend this film. One is Eddie's relationship with a troubled woman played by Piper Laurie, an unconventional but believable girlfriend for Eddie. Also effective is George C. Scott as Bert the conniving gambler. It's a nice piece with the black and white photography enhancing the feel of the musty pool room. Newman revived his Fast Eddie role years later in The Color of Money in which he won the Oscar he probably should have won for The Hustler.

The Hustler

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1961 is...Through a Glass Darkly

Through a Glass Darkly

The first leg of Ingmar Bergman's thematic trilogy (Winter Light, The Silence) about love, death, religion, despair, mental illness, belief, God, truth, sexuality and depression. (Not necessarily in that order). Truly a great beginning of a master decade for one of cinema's giants...Warning! It's not the feel good hit of the summer!

Through a Glass Darkly

1960 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1960.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

And the nominees on the entries from 1960 for every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Eyes Without a Face
Le Trou
Rocco and His Brothers
La Dolce Vita
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Shoot the Piano Player
L'avventura
The Young One
The Cloud-Capped Star
The Housemaid
Psycho
Black Sunday
Peeping Tom
The Apartment
Spartacus

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1960 is…Psycho

                    

 Psycho

I've seen it a dozen times. Norman Bates in that hotel.Janet Leigh in the shower. Mamma in the cellar. It's with me forever. Can't not pick this one.

Psycho

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1960 is...uh...uh...
This year's category for Unique and Artistic Picture is the one I couldn't decide on. I'm going to have to think this one out.

Eyes Without a Face is a good B-Horror movie, but in a year with Psycho and Peeping Tom, it just isn't going to make it.

Le Trou, the prison escape movie that I found totally absorbing is a real possibility.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, good film about working class Brits may have won in other years, but not the winner in this unusually strong year.

Shoot the Piano Player is my favorite of the Francois Truffaut films that I've seen, though may be to stuck in the gangster genre to win the artistic award.

L'avventura and La Dolce Vita, two landmark art films and among their respective director's best!

The Young One, Different and worthwhile Luis Bunuel, but not going to win this time.

The Cloud-Capped Star, recommended film, though I like director Ghatak's Subarnarekha more.

The Housemaid, another horror film ahead of its time from this year! What is it about 1960?

Black Sunday, Italian horror film. Nice B-picture, but not really the one to win.

Psycho, Could have one the award in this category, but I chose to give it the other award. So gotta keep looking!

Peeping Tom, Killer film in some ways more ahead of its time than Psycho. Decisions! Decisions!

The Apartment and Spartacus, two favorite films of mine in their own right. What to do?

Rocco and His Brothers, epic tale of 1960 Italy and a families struggle to make it....Excellent film! Ugh!

And the winner for Unique and Artistic Picture is...Peeping Tom
Whereas Psycho was a stylish upgrade of B-movie horror, Peeping Tom was Michael Powell's "so far ahead of its time it isn't even funny" slasher film. Since I couldn't really make up my mind for award, I thought it would be right to have two horror films in a year of innovative and influential films in this genre.

Peeping Tom

Let's move on before I change my mind again!

1958 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1958.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

This year features the Sight and Sound polls most recent choice for Best Picture of all-time!

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die for 1958 are...
Man of the West
Touch of Evil
Cairo Station
Gigi
The Defiant Ones
Vertigo
Ashes and Diamonds
Horror of Dracula
My Uncle
The Music Room
Some Came Running
Dracula

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1958 is…Vertigo

Vertigo

I remember in the 1980’s The Screening Room in Atlanta showed several re-released Hitchcock movies, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Rope, The Trouble with Harry and Vertigo. I believe I went to see them all at the time. Four of these films star Jimmy Stewart and Vertigo may be the most critically acclaimed of the bunch today. (Though I need to see Rear Window again!).

Seeing it again now in a restored version it is a meticulously plotted, suspenseful film, built nicely to a dramatic climax. If you think about the plot too much, the setting up of the acrophobic Scottie Ferguson through the death (?) of the woman he loves might be a little far-fetched, but it hardly ruins the movie.

When Scottie finds someone who resembles his lost love, he tries to recreate her to look or be like her. Is he being a bully? Obsessive? Or is it actually his lost love? Scottie’s recreation of Judy is one of the best parts of the film.

William Goldman mentions in one of his books that he finds Vertigo an overrated film, but doesn’t say why. My guess is that he’s not buying into the plot.“1001 Movies” also mentions that the plot contrivances caused the film to not be a critical success at the time of release.

Overall, I got caught up in the film this time as much as I have during previous viewings. Few films show off a city better than this film shows off San Francisco. And few directors utilize music better than Hitchcock (through Bernard Herrmann’s score).

Interesting supporting performance from a young Barbara Bel Geddes as Stewart’s frustrated gal pal Midge. 

Note: The most recent edition of the ten year Sight and Sound poll lists Vertigo as the greatest film of all time, supplanting Citizen Kane in the number one spot for the first time in fifty years, so I'm guessing any Vertigo plot holes didn't bother the Sight and Sound panel.

Vertigo

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1958 is...Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil

A Touch of Evil is Orson Welles's later film noir set on the U. S. Mexico boarder. There may be some plot points of this film that are a little sketchy, but the overall impact of the film is so strong and involving, I didn't care. And the long shot opening scene is classic. 

The movie stars Charlton Heston as a Mexican lawman and Janet Leigh as his American wife. But it is Welles himself as Police Captain Hank Quinlan that really steals the show. Quinlan is overweight, drunk, unprincipled and thinks himself above the law when he's on a case. As impressed as we might be with Welles the director, Welles the actor is pretty good too. He's got great roles for his supporting players here too, including: Dennis Weaver, Marlene Dietrich and Akim Tamiroff.

Touch of Evil

1957 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1957.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

I really had to bypass some great movies for this year (Throne of Blood, 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory, The Cranes Are Flying). 1957 seems like a most underrated movie year!

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
12 Angry Men
The Seventh Seal
An Affair to Remember
Wild Strawberries
The Nights of Cabiria
Throne of Blood
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Gunfight at the O. K. Corral
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Mother India
The Cranes Are Flying
Paths of Glory
Sweet Smell of Success

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1939 is…The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge on the River Kwai is...The Bridge on the River Kwai has got to be ranked as one of the greatest films ever made! At least that’s my initial reaction after seeing it for the first time last night. The question is why did I put off seeing it for over forty years?

I could try to list reasons why you should see it, but I really don’t want others to make the same mistake that I made and procrastinate for years and say “I just don’t feel like watching a three-hour 1950’s war film."

So, instead I will now implement hypnosis techniques I learned from Marshall Sylver’s home hypnosis kit to persuade you in a little stronger way to watch this film if you are for some reason still reluctant.

We begin:

I want you to listen carefully to my voice
as you close your eyes and picture yourself
in a clearing outside a Japanese jungle in 1943.
Do not be concerned, for you are not a prisoner of war,
You are free and just there relaxing, relaxing.

Deeper…deeper…

You hear whistling in the background,
The World War I Colonel Bogey March, I think.
But if that’s too jaunty for our purposes,
just imagine the more tranquil “Fishin’ Hole” theme
from The Andy Griffith Show.

Deeper…Deeper…

If you are a male, four female Thai water carriers
are bringing you fresh sustenance,
If you are a female, you are being brought an extremely dry martini
from a shirtless William Holden.

Deeper…Deeper

You are totally in control
just like Alec Guiness.
But the force is not with you,
because that’s a different movie.

Deeper..Deeper

You are now totally susceptible to the power of suggestion.
And I am suggesting that you watch The Bridge Over the River Kwai,
Now available on DVD and Blue-Ray from Columbia.

Deeper…Deeper.

When I count to three I will give my men the order to fire.
Scratch that.
What I meant to say is when I count to three you will awaken.

One…Two…Three…awake!

I hope you will now enjoy this film as much as I did.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1939 is...The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal is Ingmar Bergman at his most Bergmanesque. Since he is certainly on the short list of my favorite directors, I really I had to include this film about war, love, religion and, of course, death. Some also may not realize that Bergman films always have a dark sense of humor to them as well. So break out your chess board, form a conga line and let's have some fun!

The Seventh Seal

1956 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1956.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

And the nominees on the entries from 1956 for every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Forbidden Planet
The Burmese Harp
The Searchers
A Man Escaped
Written on the Wind
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Giant
All That Heaven Allows
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Wrong Man
Bigger Than Life
High Society
Aparjito

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1956 is…The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Very entertaining Alfred Hitchcock thriller about a doctor (Jimmy Stewart) and his ex-perfomer wife (Doris Day) whose son is kidnapped while they are on vacation in Marakesh. They embark on an odyssey that sends them across continents, up a few blind alleys and finally to the Royal Albert Hall in London.

One of my favorite scenes is when Stewart goes to meet Ambrose Hall to get information about his boy, only to find out the Ambrose Hall he goes to is the wrong one! Just one of Hitchcock's misdirections, but a interesting bit of comic relief at a tense time in the movie.

Jimmy Stewart does his usually fine job as the everyman caught up in a situation over his head (Assuming you can call a successful doctor with a beautiful and talented wife an everyman.) And Doris Day is also very good. It makes you wonder how she would have done if she had veered off into more dramatic parts instead of Please Don't Eat the Daisies type roles.

There are also lot of clever touches in the John Michael Hayes script, including much of the banter between Stewart and Day.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1956 is...Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet

Here are the top ten reasons Forbidden Planet is one of the most fondly remembered films all 50’s sci-fi films.

Number 10 Anne Francis’s uber-short mini-skirt!

Number 9 Despite the quality of the production, it can still be a bit cheesy at times.: Examples include the flying saucer shots which aren’t really that much better than the ones from Fire Maidens From Outer Space and the supposedly nude Alatara clearly wearing a body suit.

Number 8 Special appeal for Trekies. This film was clearly a clearly a blueprint for much of the original Star Trek universe: Dashing commander who goes to an unknown planet and makes out with the only girl there! Dashing commander hangs out with the ships doctor, who really is closer to Spock than Mccoy. Blasters-which are called phasers in Star Trek, and more space jargon (you know, like the explanations from Star Trek why a worm hole will be closing up because of an exploding Super Nova in the next galaxy that is really hard to understand, but you just have to except it as a given plot point) is used here than you can shake a blaster at.

Number 7 High brow appeal in that Forbidden Planet is often compared to Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Number 6 Special appeal for Freudians as the Id plays such an important part in this story

Number 5 The fine supporting cast including the guy who later was on Police Woman, the guy who was later on Maverick and the guy who was later on The Six Million Dollar Man.

Number 4 Walter Pidgeon as Morbius is indeed a tragic character out of Shakespeare, though it might take a minute to realize that the pre-Airplane! Leslie Nielsen actually says his lines straight!

Number 3 The fact that the creatures are more of the mind than anything avoids the film from having any bad monster makeup that would seem dated now.

Number 2 The look of the film, the color, and the fact that it is in Cinemascope makes this production great to look at. Dr. Morbius’s lab is also pretty impressive.

But the Number 1 reason that Forbidden Planet is one of the most fondly remembered films all 50’s sci-fi films is: Robby the Robot!

Forbidden Planet

1955 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1955.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928).

Twenty! 1001 movie to choose from for this year. Tough choices 

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Artists and Models
Guys and Dolls
Peter Panchali
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Mad Masters
Hill 24 Doesn't Answer
The Ladykillers
Marty
Ordet
Bob the Gambler
Kiss Me Deadly
The Man From Laramie
Rebel Without a Cause
The Phenix City Story
Smiles of a Summer Night
Night and Fog
The Night of the Hunter
Lola Montes
The Man with the Golden Arm
Oklahoma!

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1955 is…Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause

Nicholas Ray's mid-50's drama about alienated youth still packs a punch if you can look past the fact that a lot of what might have been needed in the picture would have never made it past the 1955 censors. But it's still a gripping film and the themes ring true. 

Of course, it is also noted as the defining role of the too brief career of James Dean. James plays Jim Stark, a student who seems more like someone trying to find himself than a rebel. But he's a complex character, aided by Dean's charisma and somewhat surprising empathy he shows for those around him. 

But equally strong is Sal Mineo, whose Plato is clearly meant to be homosexual as much as a 50's movie could portray one. How did the scene when Plato is lovingly hugging Jim's jacket get past the censors? I'm glad it did, it's a great moment! 

The third youth is the girl, Natalie Wood, who has also has a father that can't relate to her and only seems to begin to find herself when she is around Jim. I didn't think her story is as well developed as the other two, but I certainly still have an affection for this trio who all died too soon in real life.

Ray wanted the ending to resemble a Greek tragedy and Plato's demise achieves that in my book.

Rebel Without a Cause

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1955 is...Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock

The basic plot: An outsider named Macready takes a train into a Western town called Black Rock, circa 1945 to find a Japanese man named Komoko, but everyone he meets in the town is hostile and seems to be harboring a dark secret.

Bad Day at Black Rock is a very difficult film to pigeonhole. It looks like a Western. The few Black Rock residents we see are mostly dressed like cowboys. The chief power in the town is a man called Reno Smith, a Western name if I ever heard one. But its 1945, Not 1885! The town seems so slight that it reminded me of the fake town the townspeople built in Blazing Saddles to fool Slim Pickens. And Macready (played by Spencer Tracy) is wearing a suit, sort of like he jumped out of an episode of Mad Men. It also has a film noir flavor, with the mysterious town harboring a great secret But since it’s in glaring Technicolor it can’t be film noir! It’s also a talky film with a lot of action or is it an action film with a lot talk? The cast is top notch. Tracy as the one-armed hero, Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine as the heavies determined to do what is necessary to take care of Macready. Also look for character actor extraordinaire Walter Brennan as the good hearted doctor/mortician. Another example of the ying and yang of this movie. It can also be viewed as an existential theatrical piece (as someone else pointed out, it's sort of like Sartre’s No Exit). I mean twelve people live in this town and there’s only one girl! Overall, I like the fact that I can’t easily place this movie. It’s bugging me. But it’s well acted and well done. It's existential nature makes me put in the artistic category, but it could easily fit into the other Best Picture category as well.

Bad Day at Black Rock

1954 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1954.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

This year is often noted as being the best year of the Classic Movie era. There are a lot of potential choices here, but my two winners seem pretty clear.

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Johnny Guitar
On the Waterfront
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Les Diaboliques
Animal Farm
Rear Window
A Star is Born
The Barefoot Contessa
La Strada
Senso
Silver Lode
Carmen Jones
Sansho the Baliff
Salt of the Earth

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1954 is…Rear Window

Rear Window

In Rear Window, Stewart plays Jeff Jeffries, a photographer with a broken leg and an impossibly beautiful society girlfriend (Grace Kelly) who likes to bitch at him about his lifestyle and talk about eating at Twenty-One. Jeffries has little to do but sit around his apartment and spy on his neighbors, who seem to, luckily for the movie audience, not believe in curtains. We, the viewer, get to put ourselves in the postion of Jeffries, also the viewer, and live vicariously through him. Of course, he witnesses foul play from one of these neighbors and putting together the puzzle pieces as to what is going on is most of the fun in one of my favorite Hitchcock movies.

Rear Window

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1954 is...The Seven Samurai

The Seven Samurai

I had never seen an Akira Kurosawa movie until about fifteen years ago when I decided to finally pick up a copy of The Seven Samurai from the Criterion Collection. And after my viewing, I have to admit I was blown away. It's definitely on the short list of greatest films of all-time by any definition. 

It's the story of seven samurai warriors hired by villagers to save their village from the onslaught of oncoming bandits. It's great as an adventure film, a philosophical treatise of good vs. evil, right and wrong and there are so many stories within the film's many characters, that one can watch it many times and always get something new out of it. I liked it watching it for the third or fourth time this time out and hope not to wait so long before watching it again.

The Seven Samurai was remade in America as The Magnificent Seven, but that film pales when put up against the original in my opinion.

The Seven Samurai

1953 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1953  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

Seventeen count 'em seventeen movie to choose from for this year!

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
The Bigamist
The Bandwagon
The Earrings of Madame De...
From Here to Eternity
Tokyo Story
Roman Holiday
Wages of Fear
The Naked Spur
Pickup on South Street
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The Big Heat
Mr. Hulot's Holiday
Voyage in Italy
Tales of Ugetsu
Shane
Beat the Devil
Summer with Monika

                    

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1953 is…Wages of Fear

Wages of Fear

Henri Georgies-Clouzot's Wages of Fear could have won in either of these categories. The story of four men hired to transport nitroglycerin over rough terrain works a a great adventure film and is also an artistic triumph. I really do need to watch this one again...and maybe William Friedkin's remake Sorcerer as well? Two more for my viewing queue!

Wages of Fear

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1953 is...Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story

I had a friend who was a big Ozu fan and lent me all his Ozu DVD's and watching them in succession was quite interesting. The plots involving family life are mostly the same throughout each picture, yet with slight variations. Tokyo Story is the most famous of the bunch and the story of a daughter dealing with her aging parents is quite moving. Isn't life disappointing? Yes, but Tokyo Story doesn't disappoint.

Tokyo Story