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