Adventures Through Movies

1962

2011-09-10T04:46:00.130-04:00

Advise and Consent (1962)
All Fall Down (1962) B-
An Autumn Afternoon (1962) C+
Bachelor Flat (1962) C
Barabbas (1962) B-
Billy Budd (1962)
Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) B-
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Boccaccio '70 (1962)
Boys' Night Out (1962) B-
The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) C
Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) B-
The Cabinet of Caligari (1962) C-
Cape Fear (1962)
Carnival of Souls (1962) B
The Chapman Report (1962) B-
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) B-
Convicts 4 (1962) C+
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962) B
Damn the Defiant! (1962) B
David and Lisa (1962)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1962) C+
Diamond Head (1962) C-
Divorce Italian Style (1962) B+
Dr. No (1962) A
Electra (1962)
Experiment in Terror (1962) B
The Exterminating Angel (1962) B+
Follow That Dream (1962) C
The Four Days of Naples (1962) B
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962) B-
Freud (1962) B-
Gay Purr-ee (1962) B-
Gigot (1962) B-
A Girl Named Tamiko (1962) C
Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
Gypsy (1962)
Hatari! (1962)
Hell is for Heroes (1962) B-
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) C
Hitler (1962) C
The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) C+
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) B-
The Interns (1962) C
I Thank a Fool (1962) C-
It's Only Money (1962) C+
Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
Jules and Jim (1962) A
Kid Galahad (1962) C
La Jetée (1962) A-
Last Year at Marienbad (1962) B
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) A
L'Eclisse (1962)
Light in the Piazza (1962) B+
The Lion (1962) C
Lolita (1962)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Lonely are the Brave (1962)
Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) B
The Longest Day (1962) A-
Mafioso (1962)
Mamma Roma (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
The Manster (1962) C+
Merrill's Marauders (1962) B-
The Miracle Worker (1962)
Mothra (1962) C+
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)
Murder She Said (1962) B
The Music Man (1962)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
My Geisha (1962)
My Life to Live (Vivre Sa Vie) (1962)
My Name is Ivan (1962)
The Notorious Landlady (1962) B-
Only Two Can Play (1962) C+
Panic in Year Zero! (1962) B-
Period of Adjustment (1962) B-
Phaedra (1962)
The Phantom of the Opera (1962) C
The Pigeon that Took Rome (1962)
Premature Burial (1962)
Pressure Point (1962)
The Reluctant Saint (1962) C-
Reptilicus (1962) D
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) B
Ride the High Country (1962) B-
The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
Rome Adventure (1962)
Sanjuro (1962) B
Satan Never Sleeps (1962)
The Scarface Mob (1962) C+
Sergeants 3 (1962)
State Fair (1962) C-
Sundays and Cybele (1962) B+
Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Tales of Terror (1962) B-
Taras Bulba (1962)
Tender is the Night (1962) C-
That Touch of Mink (1962)
The 300 Spartans (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Tower of London (1962) C
The Trial (1962)
Trial and Error (1962) B-
Two for the Seesaw (1962)
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) C
Uncle Vanya (1962) B
A Very Private Affair (1962) C+
Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
Waltz of the Toreadors (1962) C
War Hunt (1962) B-
The War Lover (1962) C
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) A-
Who's Got the Action (1962)
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) B-

(118 Total; 76 Screened; 42 Remaining)

(September 2011 - Present)

Top Ten (so far) - Dr. No, Jules and Jim, Lawrence of Arabia, La Jetée, The Longest Day, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Divorce Italian Style, The Exterminating Angel, Light in the Piazza, Sundays and Cybele, Last Year at Marienbad

1961

2010-10-20T15:08:00.160-04:00

The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) B
Ada (1961) C
All in a Night's Work (1961) C+
Angel Baby (1961) C+
Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961) C-
Babes in Toyland (1961) C+
Bachelor in Paradise (1961) C+
Back Street (1961) C+
Ballad of a Soldier (1961) B+
The Big Show (1961) C-
Blast of Silence (1961) B-
Blue Hawaii (1961) C+
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) A-
Bridge to the Sun (1961) C
By Love Possessed (1961) C+
The Children's Hour (1961) B
Claudelle Inglish (1961) C-
The Colossus of Rhodes (1961) C-
The Comancheros (1961) B-
Come September (1961) C+
Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) D+
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) C-
Days of Thrills and Laughter (1961) B-
The Deadly Companions (1961) C
The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) C
Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961) C+
El Cid (1961) B
The Errand Boy (1961) C+
The Explosive Generation (1961) C
Fanny (1961) B
Flower Drum Song (1961) B-
Francis of Assisi (1961) C
General Della Rovere (1961) B
Go Naked in the World (1961) C
Goodbye Again (1961) B-
The Guns of Navarone (1961) A
Hey, Let's Twist (1961) D+
Homicidal (1961) B-
The Honeymoon Machine (1961) C+
The Hoodlum Priest (1961) C
The Hustler (1961) A-
The Innocents (1961) B+
Il Posto (1961) A-
Judgment at Nuremburg (1961) A
King of Kings (1961) B+
The Ladies Man (1961) C-
La Dolce Vita (1961) A-
La Notte (1961) A-
The Last Sunset (1961) C+
Loss of Innocence (1961) C-
Lover Come Back (1961) B
A Majority of One (1961) B-
The Mark (1961) B
The Mask (1961) D+
Master of the World (1961) C
Mein Kampf (1961) C+
The Millionairess (1961) C
The Misfits (1961) B
Mr. Sardonicus (1961) B-
Mysterious Island (1961) C+
The Naked Edge (1961) C
One-Eyed Jacks (1961) B-
101 Dalmatians (1961) B+
One, Two, Three (1961) B+
On the Double (1961) B-
The Outsider (1961) C
The Parent Trap (1961) B
Paris Blues (1961) B
Parrish (1961) C-
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) B-
The Pleasure of His Company (1961) B-
Pocketful of Miracles (1961) B
A Raisin in the Sun (1961) B
Return to Peyton Place (1961) C-
Romanoff and Juliet (1961) C
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) B-
Salvatore Giuliano (1961) C+
Sanctuary (1961) C-
Scream of Fear (1961) B
The Second Time Around (1961) C
The Sky Above, the Mud Below (1961) C
Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961) C-
Something Wild (1961) C
Splendor in the Grass (1961) B+
Summer and Smoke (1961) B
Susan Slade (1961) B-
Through a Glass Darkly (1961) B-
Too Late Blues (1961) C
Town Without Pity (1961) C
Twist Around the Clock (1961) C
Two Loves (1961) C-
Two Rode Together (1961) C+
Two Women (1961) B+
Underworld U.S.A. (1961) C+
Victim (1961) B-
Viridiana (1961) B-
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) C+
West Side Story (1961) A
Where the Boys Are (1961) B-
Whistle Down the Wind (1961) B-
Wild in the Country (1961) C+
A Woman is a Woman (1961) B
Yojimbo (1961) A-
The Young Doctors (1961) B-
The Young Savages (1961) C+

(October 2010 - August 2011) A healthy mix of foreign and domestic films in my Top 10 is a great indication of how the year played out. More quality films came out of this year, including the awesome trifecta of The Guns of Navarone, Judgment at Nuremberg, and West Side Story, all magnificent films. La Dolce Vita, La Notte, Il Posto, Two Women, and General Della Rovere proved that Italian films had a monopoly on international cinema. Breakfast at Tiffany's showcased the lovely Audrey Hepburn in one of her greatest roles, while The Hustler featured Paul Newman in a tough, real performance. Yojimbo is both familiar territory and a departure for Akira Kurosawa and it succeeds on a level of unique entertainment. One of the most pleasant surprises of the year is The Innocents, a spooky British chiller starring Deborah Kerr. Definitely worth checking out all of these films and several others.

Top 10 - Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Guns of Navarone, The Hustler, Il Posto, The Innocents, Judgment at Nuremberg, La Dolce Vita, La Notte, West Side Story, Yojimbo

1960

2009-10-30T15:58:00.147-04:00

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) C
The Alamo (1960) C+
All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) C-
The Angry Silence (1960) C
The Apartment (1960) A-
Atom Age Vampire (1960) C
The Bad Sleep Well (1960) C+
The Battle of Austerlitz (1960) D+
Because They’re Young (1960) C
The Bellboy (1960) C
Bells Are Ringing (1960) B
Black Sunday (1960) B-
The Bramble Bush (1960) C
Breathless (1960) A
A Breath of Scandal (1960) B-
The Brides of Dracula (1960) C+
Butterfield 8 (1960) C+
Can-Can (1960) C-
Cash McCall (1960) B-
Cimarron (1960) C+
Cinderfella (1960) C
Circus of Horrors (1960) C
Comanche Station (1960) C
Crack in the Mirror (1960) C
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) B-
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960) C+
The Devil’s Eye (1960) B
Elmer Gantry (1960) B+
The Entertainer (1960) C+
Esther and the King (1960) D+
Exodus (1960) C+
Eyes without a Face (1960) A-
The Facts of Life (1960) C+
The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) B-
Five Branded Women (1960) C
Flaming Star (1960) C+
From the Terrace (1960) B-
The Gallant Hours (1960) C
G.I. Blues (1960) C
The Grass is Greener (1960) B-
Heller in Pink Tights (1960) C-
Hell is a City (1960) C
High Time (1960) C+
Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1960) A
Home from the Hill (1960) C
Ice Cold in Alex (1960) C+
Ice Palace (1960) C
I’m All Right Jack (1960) C
Inherit the Wind (1960) B+
It Started in Naples (1960) C+
Kapo (1960) A-
Kidnapped (1960) C
The Last Voyage (1960) B-
L’Avventura (1960) A-
Late Autumn (1960) C+
The League of Gentlemen (1960) A-
The Leech Woman (1960) C+
Le Trou (1960) A-
Let’s Make Love (1960) C-
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) B
The Lost World (1960) C-
Macario (1960) C+
The Magnificent Seven (1960) A-
Make Mine Mink (1960) C
Man on a String (1960) C-
The Marriage-Go-Round (1960) C-
Midnight Lace (1960) B
Murder Inc. (1960) C
Never on Sunday (1960) A-
Night of the Ghouls (1960) D
North to Alaska (1960) C
Ocean’s 11 (1960) B-
Once More, With Feeling (1960) C+
Oscar Wilde (1960) B-
Our Man in Havana (1960) B-
Peeping Tom (1960) A-
Pepe (1960) D+
Peter Pan (TV) (1960) B+
Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960) C+
Pollyanna (1960) B-
Portrait in Black (1960)
Psycho (1960) A+
Purple Noon (1960) A-
The Rat Race (1960) C
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) C-
The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (1960) D
Rocco and His Brothers (1960) B-
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) B-
School for Scoundrels (1960) C-
Sergeant Rutledge (1960) C+
Seven Thieves (1960) C
Shoot the Piano Player (1960) B
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) C+
Song Without End (1960) C
Sons and Lovers (1960) B
Spartacus (1960) A
The Steamroller and the Violin (1960) B+
Stop! Look! And Laugh! (1960) C-
Strangers When We Meet (1960) C+
The Subterraneans (1960) C
The Sundowners (1960) B
Sunrise at Campobello (1960) C+
Swiss Family Robinson (1960) B+
Tall Story (1960) C+
The 3rd Voice (1960) C-
13 Ghosts (1960) C+
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) C
The Time Machine (1960) B-
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) C
Tunes of Glory (1960) B-
The Unforgiven (1960) B-
Village of the Damned (1960) B-
The Virgin Spring (1960) A-
Visit to a Small Planet (1960) C
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960) C-
Wake Me When It’s Over (1960) C-
The Wasp Woman (1960) D+
Who Was That Lady? (1960) C-
Wild River (1960) B-
The World of Suzie Wong (1960) C+

(October 2009 - October 2010) A very busy personal life made this year take an actual year to complete. This year offered a record number of titles for me and my overall perception is that everything was pretty average. Foreign films really stood out as the most impressive, while Hitchcock's Psycho is clearly the must-see classic. I did observe how films have advanced a bit in terms of daring subject matter, particularly Peeping Tom, Elmer Gantry, and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Similarly, major advancements in filmmaking are evident in Breathless, which ushered in the French New Wave to American audiences and helped increase the popularity of international cinema in the states. It's clear that movies are changing along with the times and I look forward to learning more as I progress through the 1960s.

Top 10 - Breathless, Hiroshima, Mon Amour, L'Avventura, The League of Gentlemen, Le Trou, Never on Sunday, Peeping Tom, Psycho, Spartacus, The Virgin Spring

1959

2009-07-19T12:15:00.000-04:00

Al Capone (1959)
Alias Jesse James (1959)
The Alligator People (1959)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Angry Hills (1959)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
The Bat (1959)
The Beat Generation (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Best of Everything (1959)
The Big Fisherman (1959)
The Black Orchid (1959)
Black Orpheus (1959)
Blue Denim (1959)
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Career (1959)
Compulsion (1959)
Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
The Devil’s Disciple (1959)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
A Doll’s House (TV) (1959)
Drunken Angel (1959)
The FBI Story (1959)
Fires on the Plain (1959)
The Five Pennies (1959)
Flame over India (1959)
Floating Weeds (1959)
The 400 Blows (1959)
The Fugitive Kind (1959)
The Gazebo (1959)
The Giant Gila Monster (1959)
Gidget (1959)
Good Morning (1959)
Green Mansions (1959)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
Hercules (1959)
A Hole in the Head (1959)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Imitation of Life (1959)
It Happened to Jane (1959)
It Started With a Kiss (1959)
John Paul Jones (1959)
The Journey (1959)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
The Killer Shrews (1959)
The Last Angry Man (1959)
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
Le Beau Serge (1959)
Libel (1959)
Li’l Abner (1959)
The Lovers (1959)
The Magician (1959)
The Man in the Net (1959)
The Mating Game (1959)
Middle of the Night (1959)
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
Never So Few (1959)
No Name on the Bullet (1959)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Nun’s Story (1959)
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
1001 Arabian Nights (1959)
On the Beach (1959)
Operation Petticoat (1959)
The Perfect Furlough (1959)
Pickpocket (1959)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
Porgy and Bess (1959)
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
The Rabbit Trap (1959)
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)
Return of the Fly (1959)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Room at the Top (1959)
Sapphire (1959)
The Savage Innocents (1959)
Say One for Me (1959)
The Scapegoat (1959)
Season of Passion (1959)
Shadows (1959)
The Shaggy Dog (1959)
Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1959)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Solomon and Sheba (1959)
Some Like it Hot (1959)
The Sound and the Fury (1959)
The Story on Page One (1959)
Stranger in My Arms (1959)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
A Summer Place (1959)
Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959)
Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
Tempest (1959)
Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
Terror is a Man (1959)
That Kind of Woman (1959)
These Thousand Hills (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959)
This Earth is Mine (1959)
The Tingler (1959)
A Touch of Larceny (1959)
Up Periscope (1959)
Verboten! (1959)
Warlock (1959)
Westbound (1959)
When Comedy Was King (1959)
Wild Strawberries (1959)
The World of Apu (1959)
The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Young Land (1959)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)

(July 2009 - October 2009) There are at least 20 solidly entertaining movies from this year. Again, foreign films stand out with The 400 Blows, Wild Strawberries, and The Lovers represented in my top 10 list. North by Northwest and Some Like it Hot are my two favorite movies of the year and they are equally wonderful. It's hard to pick which of the two is the best. I want to make a point to mention movies like The Best of Everything, A Bucket of Blood, and The Tingler, each of which I found to be a lot of fun to watch, but not exactly masterpieces. I find it hard to believe that the 1950s have come to an end. The number of movies that I watch keeps rising with each passing year. The French New Wave is just beginning to seep into mainstream America and the Hollywood studio system is declining. All of this makes my movie-watching experience/addiction so much more entertaining. Bring on the 1960s!

Top 10 - Anatomy of a Murder, Ben-Hur, The 400 Blows, The Lovers, North by Northwest, Rio Bravo, Sleeping Beauty, Some Like it Hot, Suddenly, Last Summer, Wild Strawberries

1958

2009-05-08T11:55:00.000-04:00

Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Attack of the Puppet People (1958)
Auntie Mame (1958)
The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)
Bell, Book, and Candle (1958)
The Big Country (1958)
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
Bitter Victory (1958)
The Blob (1958)
Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
The Bonnie Parker Story (1958)
The Bravados (1958)
Brink of Life (1958)
The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
The Buccaneer (1958)
Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
A Certain Smile (1958)
The Chaplin Revue (1958)
The Cool and the Crazy (1958)
Cop Hater (1958)
Cowboy (1958)
The Cranes are Flying (1958)
Cry Terror! (1958)
Damn Yankees (1958)
The Days of Wine and Roses (TV) (1958)
The Decks Ran Red (1958)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Desire Under the Elms (1958)
Doctor's Dilemma (1958)
Dracula (1958)
Dunkirk (1958)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
The Fly (1958)
Frankenstein – 1970 (1958)
From the Earth to the Moon (1958)
The Geisha Boy (1958)
Gigi (1958)
The Goddess (1958)
God's Little Acre (1958)
Go, Johnny, Go! (1958)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
High School Confidential (1958)
The Horse's Mouth (1958)
Hot Spell (1958)
Houseboat (1958)
House on Haunted Hill (1958)
I Accuse! (1958)
I Bury the Living (1958)
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
Indiscreet (1958)
In Love and War (1958)
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
I Want to Live! (1958)
Jalshagar (Music Room) (1958)
The Key (1958)
King Creole (1958)
Kings Go Forth (1958)
The Last Hurrah (1958)
The Left-Handed Gun (1958)
Lonelyhearts (1958)
The Long Hot Summer (1958)
Look Back in Anger (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
Mardi Gras (1958)
Marjorie Morningstar (1958)
The Matchmaker (1958)
Merry Andrew (1958)
Mon Oncle (1958)
Monster on the Campus (1958)
The Naked and the Dead (1958)
Night of the Demon (1958)
A Night to Remember (1958)
No Time for Sergeants (1958)
Nowhere to Go (1958)
The Old Man and the Sea (1958)
The Proud Rebel (1958)
Queen of Outer Space (1958)
The Quiet American (1958)
The Reluctant Debutante (1958)
The Restless Years (1958)
Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958)
Run Silent Run Deep (1958)
Saddle the Wind (1958)
Separate Tables (1958)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
The Sheepman (1958)
Some Came Running (1958)
South Pacific (1958)
The Tarnished Angels (1958)
Teacher's Pet (1958)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
This Happy Feeling (1958)
Thunder Road (1958)
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
Tom Thumb (1958)
Torpedo Run (1958)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Tunnel of Love (1958)
The Two-Headed Spy (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
The Vikings (1958)
White Wilderness (1958)
The Young Lions (1958)

(May 2009 - July 2009) - As I progress with my adventure, I become more and more fascinated by foreign films. Often, films of France, Italy, and Japan completely overshadow the majority of the American films that I watch. It's evident that I'm entering and era when foreign films and foreign directors began to gain popularity in America. My favorite American movies of 1958 are incredible examples of two genius filmmakers at the tops of their respective games. Hitchcock's Vertigo and Welles' Touch of Evil are hard to beat when you look at the rest of the releases this year. I'm not positive which I liked better. I shouldn't discount the rest of the year's offerings. Admittedly, it was hard to develop a top ten list, with so many fun movies to choose from.

Top Ten - Ashes and Diamonds, Big Deal on Madonna Street, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Cranes are Flying, The Defiant Ones, The Hidden Fortress, Mon Oncle, A Night to Remember, Touch of Evil, Vertigo

1957

2009-03-09T12:10:00.000-04:00

Abandon Ship (1957)
The Abominable Snowman (1957)
Across the Bridge (1957)
An Affair to Remember (1957)
All Mine to Give (1957)
And God Created Woman (1957)
Aparajito (1957)
April Love (1957)
The Bachelor Party (1957)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)
Beau James (1957)
Boy on a Dolphin (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
China Gate (1957)
The Colditz Story (1957)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Deadly Mantis (1957)
The Delicate Delinquent (1957)
Designing Woman (1957)
Desk Set (1957)
Edge of the City (1957)
The Enemy Below (1957)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Fear Strikes Out (1957)
Funny Face (1957)
The Girl Most Likely (1957)
The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
A Hatful of Rain (1957)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Invitation to the Dance (1957)
Island in the Sun (1957)
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Jamboree! (1957)
The James Dean Story (1957)
Jeanne Eagels (1957)
Jet Pilot (1957)
Johnny Tremain (1957)
The Joker is Wild (1957)
Kill Her Gently (1957)
A King in New York (1957)
Kiss Them for Me (1957)
Kronos (1957)
The Land Unknown (1957)
Legend of the Lost (1957)
Le Notti Bianche (White Nights) (1957)
Les Girls (1957)
Lizzie (1957)
The Lonely Man (1957)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Loving You (1957)
The Lower Depths (1957)
A Man Escaped (1957)
Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)
Man on Fire (1957)
The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957)
The Mark of the Hawk (1957)
The Midnight Story (1957)
The Monolith Monsters (1957)
Mother India (1957)
Mr. Rock and Roll (1957)
My Man Godfrey (1957)
Night Ambush (1957)
Night Passage (1957)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
No Down Payment (1957)
Oedipus Rex (1957)
Old Yeller (1957)
Omar Khayyam (1957)
The Pajama Game (1957)
Pal Joey (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Peyton Place (1957)
Plunder Road (1957)
Portland Expose (1957)
The Pride and the Passion (1957)
The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)
Pursuit of the Graf Spree (1957)
Raintree County (1957)
Reform School Girl (1957)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1957)
The Rising of the Moon (1957)
The River's Edge (1957)
Rodan (1957)
Run of the Arrow (1957)
Saint Joan (1957)
Sayonara (1957)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
The She-Creature (1957)
Silk Stockings (1957)
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957)
The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)
Something of Value (1957)
Sorority Girl (1957)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
The Story of Mankind (1957)
The Strange One (1957)
The Sun Also Rises (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
The Tall T (1957)
Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)
Teenage Monster (1957)
The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Time Limit (1957)
The Tin Star (1957)
Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957)
12 Angry Men (1957)
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
The Undead (1957)
Until They Sail (1957)
The Vampire (1957)
Wild is the Wind (1957)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
The Wings of Eagles (1957)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
The Wrong Man (1957)
The Young Stranger (1957)
Your Past is Showing (1957)
Zero Hour! (1957)

(February 2009 - May 2009) - Another very good year with foreign films really soaring. Ray's Aparajto, the second film in the Apu Trilogy is incredibly emotional. Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, a samurai version of Macbeth, is stunning to watch. Bergman's The Seventh Seal is a masterpiece of film that commands your viewing. American films were just as impressive with Witness for the Prosecution and 12 Angry Men competing for my favorite film of the year. I'd give the edge to 12 Angry Men for its dramatic excellence and social importance.

Top 10 -- Aparajito, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Nights of Cabiria, Paths of Glory, Peyton Place, The Seventh Seal, Throne of Blood, 12 Angry Men, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Witness for the Prosecution

1956

2009-01-27T12:50:00.000-05:00

Alexander the Great (1956)
The Ambassador's Daughter (1956)
Anastasia (1956)
Anything Goes (1956)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Attack (1956)
Autumn Leaves (1956)
Baby Doll (1956)
The Bad Seed (1956)
Bandido (1956)
Bang the Drum Slowly (TV)(1956)
The Best Things in Life are Free (1956)
Between Heaven and Hell (1956)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
Bhowani Junction (1956)
Bigger Than Life (1956)
The Boss (1956)
The Brave One (1956)
Bundle of Joy (1956)
Bus Stop (1956)
Carousel (1956)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Conqueror (1956)
The Court Jester (1956)
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
The Creeping Unknown (1956)
Dance with Me, Henry (1956)
D-Day, the Sizth of June (1956)
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
The Eddy Duchin Story (1956)
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Giant (1956)
The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
Godzilla – King of the Monsters (1956)
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)
The Harder They Fall (1956)
High Society (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
It Conquered the World (1956)
Jubal (1956)
Julie (1956)
The Killer is Loose (1956)
The Killing (1956)
The King and I (1956)
A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
The Ladykillers (1956)
La Strada (1956)
Love Me Tender (1956)
Lust for Life (1956)
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Man in the Vault (1956)
The Man Who Never Was (1956)
Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
Moby Dick (1956)
The Mole People (1956)
The Mountain (1956)
The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
Nightfall (1956)
The Opposite Sex (1956)
Our Miss Brooks (1956)
Patterns (1956)
The Power and the Prize (1956)
The Proud and the Profane (1956)
The Rack (1956)
The Rainmaker (1956)
Ransom! (1956)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (TV)(1956)
The Red Balloon (1956)
Richard III (1956)
Rock Around the Clock (1956)
Rock, Rock, Rock! (1956)
Run for the Sun (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
Seven Men from Now (1956)
Seven Samurai (1956)
Shake, Rattle, and Rock (1956)
The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956)
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
Stagecoach to Fury (1956)
The Swan (1956)
Tea and Sympathy (1956)
The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
Teenage Rebel (1956)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
These Wilder Years (1956)
Three Violent People (1956)
Time Without Pity (1956)
Trapeze (1956)
Umberto D. (1956)
War and Peace (1956)
While the City Sleeps (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956)
X the Unknown (1956)

(November 2008 - February 2009) - This year offered a lot of solid entertainment with the release of some pretty epic films. The sheer fun of Around the World in 80 Days makes it hard to dislike. Giant is a marvelously large-scale classic with James Dean's final performance at its center. Perhaps the biggest of all is The Ten Commandments with its awesome special effects. Smaller films also made quite an impact with Umberto D. being an excellent, moving Italian gem. The best of the year is the equally small heist thriller The Killing. It's very rare for me to want to rewatch a movie so quickly after seeing it and this early Stanley Kubrick film really made me consider doing so.

Top 10 - Around the World in 80 Days, The Court Jester, Friendly Persuasion, Giant, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Killing, The Searchers, Seven Samurai, The Ten Commandments, Umberto D.

1955

2008-12-17T10:44:00.000-05:00

Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) (C-)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) (B-)
All That Heaven Allows (1955) (B-)
Animal Farm (1955)
Artists and Models (1955)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) (B-)
Battle Cry (1955)
The Belles of St. Trinians (1955)
The Benny Goodman Story (1955)
The Big Combo (1955) (B)
The Big Knife (1955) (C+)
Blackboard Jungle (1955) (A-)
Blood Alley (1955)
Bride of the Monster (1955) (D-)
The Bridges of Toko-Ri (1955) (C)
Captain Lightfoot (1955)
Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) (B)
The Cobweb (1955) (C)
Conquest of Space (1955) (C-)
The Constant Husband (1955)
Court Martial (1955)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) (C)
Cult of the Cobra (1955) (C+)
Daddy Long Legs (1955) (C)
The Dam Busters (1955)
Davy Crockett – King of the Wild Frontier (1955)
The Desperate Hours (1955) (C+)
Diabolique (1955) (A)
Dreams (1955) (C+)
East of Eden (1955) (A-)
The End of the Affair (1955) (C)
Escapade (1955)
The Far Country (1955)
The Far Horizons (1955)
Female on the Beach (1955)
5 Against the House (1955)
Footsteps in the Fog (1955)
Foxfire (1955)
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) (C)
Guys and Dolls (1955) (B-)
Helen of Troy (1955) (C-)
Hit the Deck (1955)
House of Bamboo (1955) (C-)
I Am a Camera (1955) (B-)
I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) (B)
Illegal (1955) (B-)
Interrupted Melody (1955) (C+)
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) (C+)
It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
Jupiter's Darling (1955)
A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)
Killer's Kiss (1955) (C+)
The King's Thief (1955)
Kismet (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955) (B-)
Lady and the Tramp (1955) (B+)
Land of the Pharaohs (1955) (C-)
The Last Command (1955)
The Last Frontier (1955) (C)
The Left Hand of God (1955) (B-)
The Long Gray Line (1955)
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) (C+)
Love Me or Leave Me (1955) (C+)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
A Man Called Peter (1955) (C+)
The Man from Laramie (1955) (C+)
Man Without a Star (1955) (C+)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) (B-)
Marty (1955) (A-)
Mister Roberts (1955) (B)
Mr. Arkadin (1955) (B)
Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1955)
My Sister Eileen (1955) (B-)
The Night of the Hunter (1955) (B+)
Not as a Stranger (1955)
Oklahoma! (1955) (B+)
One Desire (1955)
Ordet (1955) (B+)
Pather Panchali (1955) (B-)
Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) (C)
The Phenix City Story (1955)
The Pickwick Papers (1955)
Picnic (1955) (A-)
Prince of Players (1955)
The Private War of Major Benson (1955) (C)
The Purple Plain (1955)
Queen Bee (1955) (C+)
Quentin Durward (1955)
The Rains of Ranchipur (1955) (C)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) (A+)
Revenge of the Creature (1955) (C+)
Rififi (1955) (B)
The Rose Tattoo (1955) (B-)
The Sea Chase (1955)
Seven Angry Men (1955)
The Seven Little Foys (1955) (B-)
The Seven Year Itch (1955) (C)
Shack Out on 101 (1955) (B-)
Simba (1955)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) (B)
Soldier of Fortune (1955)
Strategic Air Command (1955) (C)
Summertime (1955) (B+)
Swamp Women (1955) (D)
The Tall Men (1955) (C-)
Tarantula (1955) (C+)
Teen-Age Crime Wave (1955)
The Tender Trap (1955) (C+)
This Island Earth (1955) (C)
Tight Spot (1955) (B-)
To Catch a Thief (1955) (B)
To Hell and Back (1955) (C)
Trial (1955) (B-)
The Trouble with Harry (1955) (B)
Ugetsu (1955) (B-)
Ulysses (1955)
Unchained (1955)
The Violent Men (1955) (C-)
Violent Saturday (1955) (C+)
The Virgin Queen (1955) (C)
We're No Angels (1955) (B-)
Women's Prison (1955) (C)

(August - November 2008) A highly entertaining year for movies, highlighted by James Dean's one-two punch of East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, my personal favorite movie of the year. His short career was unspeakably impressive and his legend is inarguably deserved. Marty is an excellent choice for Best Picture and Blackboard Jungle is an underrated classic. Picnic is a special movie that really put a smile on my face. The powerhouse of the year is Diabolique, the French thriller. All of these movies are must-sees, but there are so many other good ones!

Top Ten - Blackboard Jungle, Diabolique, East of Eden, Marty, The Night of the Hunter, Oklahoma!, Pather Panchali, Picnic, Rebel Without a Cause, Summertime

1954

2008-10-08T11:04:00.000-04:00

About Mrs. Leslie (1954)
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Beat the Devil (1954)
Beau Brummell (1954)
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
Black Widow (1954)
The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)
Bread, Love, and Dreams (1954)
Brigadoon (1954)
Broken Lance (1954)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Carmen Jones (1954)
Casanova's Big Night (1954)
Casino Royale (TV) (1954)
Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
The Country Girl (1954)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Crime Wave (1954)
Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
Desiree (1954)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Dragnet (1954)
The Egyptian (1954)
Elephant Walk (1954)
Executive Suite (1954)
Forbidden Games (1954)
Forever Female (1954)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Gate of Hell (1954)
Genevieve (1954)
The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
The Gold of Naples (1954)
Go, Man, Go (1954)
Gorilla at Large (1954)
Hell and High Water (1954)
The High and the Mighty (1954)
Hobson's Choice (1954)
Indiscretion of an American Wife (1954)
It Should Happen to You (1954)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Knock on Wood (1954)
The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Living It Up (1954)
The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Lucky Me (1954)
The Mad Magician (1954)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
The Naked Jungle (1954)
New Faces (1954)
Night People (1954)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)
Phffft (1954)
Prince Valiant (1954)
The Raid (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
Red Garters (1954)
Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Ring of Fear (1954)
River of No Return (1954)
Rogue Cop (1954)
Rose Marie (1954)
Sabrina (1954)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
The Silver Chalice (1954)
The Sleeping Tiger (1954)
A Star is Born (1954)
The Stranger's Hand (1954)
The Student Prince (1954)
Suddenly (1954)
Susan Slept Here (1954)
Them! (1954)
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
Three Hours to Kill (1954)
Top Banana (1954)
Track of the Cat (1954)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
The Vanishing Prairie (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
Victory at Sea (1954)
White Christmas (1954)
The Wild One (1954)
Witness to Murder (1954)
Woman's World (1954)

(July - August 2008) Lots of great movies this year. Rear Window is one of my favorite movies and it just keeps getting better. On the Waterfront, The Caine Mutiny, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Sabrina round out my top 5. I'd also recommend Creature from the Black Lagoon - fun monster movie, Beat the Devil - absurdly hysterical, Executive Suite - great cast, and Carmen Jones - love the music.

Top Ten -- Beat the Devil. The Caine Mutiny, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Executive Suite, Forbidden Games, On the Waterfront, Rear Window, Sabrina, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, A Star is Born

1953

2008-10-07T11:03:00.001-04:00

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
Above and Beyond (1953)
The Actress (1953)
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953)
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)
Appointment in London (1953)
Appointment in Samarra (TV)(1953)
Arena (1953)
The Bandwagon (1953)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953)
The Bigamist (1953)
The Big Heat (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
The Caddy (1953)
Calamity Jane (1953)
Call Me Madam (1953)
The Captain's Paradise (1953)
Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)
City That Never Sleeps (1953)
The Conquest of Everest (1953)
The Cruel Sea (1953)
Dangerous When Wet (1953)
The Desert Rats (1953)
Donovan's Brain (1953)
Dream Wife (1953)
Easy to Love (1953)
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953)
Glen or Glenda? (1953)
His Majesty O'Keefe (1953)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Hondo (1953)
Houdini (1953)
House of Wax (1953)
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
I Confess (1953)
Innocents in Paris (1953)
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Island in the Sky (1953)
It Came from Outer Space (1953)
It Happens Every Thursday (1953)
I, the Jury (1953)
I Vitelloni (1953)
Jennifer (1953)
Jeopardy (1953)
The Joe Louis Story (1953)
Julius Caesar (1953)
Kiss Me, Kate (1953)
Knights of the Round Table (1953)
Let's Do It Again (1953)
Lili (1953)
Little Fugitive (1953)
The Living Desert (1953)
The Love Lottery (1953)
The Man Between (1953)
The Man from the Alamo (1953)
Man on a Tightrope (1953)
Martin Luther (1953)
Marty (TV)(1953)
The Mississippi Gambler (1953)
Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
Mogambo (1953)
The Moon is Blue (1953)
The Naked Spur (1953)
Niagara (1953)
99 River Street (1953)
Peter Pan (1953)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Plunder in the Sun (1953)
Pony Express (1953)
The President's Lady (1953)
A Queen is Crowned (1953)
The Robe (1953)
Robot Monster (1953)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Sailor of the King (1953)
Salome (1953)
Salt of the Earth (1953)
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
Scared Stiff (1953)
Second Chance (1953)
Shane (1953)
A Slight Case of Larceny (1953)
Small Town Girl (1953)
So Big (1953)
South Sea Woman (1953)
Split Second (1953)
Stalag 17 (1953)
The Story of Three Loves (1953)
Summer with Monika (1953)
The Sun Shines Bright (1953)
The Sword and the Rose (1953)
Take the High Ground! (1953)
Thunder Bay (1953)
Titanic (1953)
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Torch Song (1953)
Vice Squad (1953)
Vicki (1953)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Young Bess (1953)

(April - July 2008) The Cinemascope process began this year and soon just about every movie was shot in some form of letterboxing. 3-D continued to be very popular. TV movies began to gain popularity. Foreign films from France, Italy, Japan, and Sweden also had a surge of popularity in America. An impressive list of films. Some absolutely wonderful and some truly terrible. Glen of Glenda? was probably my least favorite movie-watching experience on this adventure. Just a terribly awful excuse for a movie. All was forgiven with the likes of From Here to Eternity, Julius Caesar, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Lili. The best film of the year was definitely Fellini's I Vitelloni! What a great movie!

Top Ten -- From Here to Eternity, House of Wax, How to Marry a Millionaire, I Vitelloni, Julius Caesar, Lili, Peter Pan, Roman Holiday, Shane, Stalag 17

1952

2008-10-06T10:02:00.000-04:00

Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952)
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
Affair in Trinidad (1952)
Against All Flags (1952)
April in Paris (1952)
The Atomic City (1952)
At Sword's Point (1952)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Because You're Mine (1952)
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)
The Belle of New York (1952)
Bend of the River (1952)
Big Jim McLain (1952)
The Big Sky (1952)
The Big Trees (1952)
Blackbeard, The Pirate (1952)
The Black Castle (1952)
Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952)
Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)
Bwana Devil (1952)
Carrie (1952)
Clash By Night (1952)
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
The Crimson Pirate (1952)
Deadline – U.S.A. (1952)
Don't Bother to Knock (1952)
Europa '51 (1952)
5 Fingers (1952)
Flat Top (1952)
A Girl in Every Port (1952)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
Here Come the Nelsons (1952)
High Noon (1952)
Ikiru (1952)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
Invasion USA (1952)
Ivanhoe (1952)
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952)
The Jazz Singer (1952)
Just For You (1952)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
The Las Vegas Story (1952)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
Les Miserables (1952)
Limelight (1952)
Lost in Alaska (1952)
Lovely to Look At (1952)
The Lusty Men (1952)
Macao (1952)
The Man in the White Suit (1952)
The Medium (1952)
The Member of the Wedding (1952)
The Merry Widow (1952)
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
Monkey Business (1952)
Moulin Rouge (1952)
My Cousin Rachel (1952)
The Narrow Margin (1952)
O. Henry's Full House (1952)
On Dangerous Ground (1952)
Othello (1952)
Pat and Mike (1952)
Plymouth Adventure (1952)
The Pride of St. Louis (1952)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
The Promoter (1952)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Rancho Notorious (1952)
Rashomon (1952)
The Ring (1952)
Road to Bali (1952)
The Rose Bowl Story (1952)
Scaramouche (1952)
The Sea Around Us (1952)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Sniper (1952)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
Son of Paleface (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
The Star (1952)
The Stooge (1952)
The Story of Robin Hood (1952)
Sudden Fear (1952)
The Thief (1952)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Wages of Fear (1952)
With a Song in My Heart (1952)

(January - April 2008) High Noon is a perfect movie and is my favorite of the year. I'm not really a John Wayne fan, but I really loved The Quiet Man! Singin' in the Rain is unforgettable. The Greatest Show on Earth is highly entertaining. Kansas City Confidential is a good example of a film noir thriller. The Lavender Hill Mob is a fun British comedy. A pretty good year overall. 3-D first appeared this year to combat the growing popularity of television.

Top Ten -- Come Back, Little Sheba, The Greatest Show on Earth, High Noon, Kansas City Confidential, The Lavender Hill Mob, Limelight, The Narrow Margin, The Quiet Man, Rashomon, Singin' in the Rain

1951

2008-10-05T10:01:00.000-04:00

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Ace in the Hole (The Big Carnival) (1951)
The African Queen (1951)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
An American in Paris (1951)
Angels in the Outfield (1951)
Appointment with Danger (1951)
Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
Behave Yourself! (1951)
The Blue Veil (1951)
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
Bright Victory (1951)
The Browning Version (1951)
Bullfighter and the Lady (1951)
Call Me Mister (1951)
Captain Horation Hornblower (1951)
Cause for Alarm! (1951)
A Christmas Carol (1951)
Come Fill the Cup (1951)
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
Cry Danger (1951)
Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
David and Bathsheba (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Death of a Salesman (1951)
Decision Before Dawn (1951)
The Desert Fox (1951)
Detective Story (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
The Enforcer (1951)
Father's Little Dividend (1951)
Fixed Bayonets (1951)
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Fourteen Hours (1951)
The Frogmen (1951)
Go for Broke! (1951)
Golden Girl (1951)
The Great Caruso (1951)
He Ran All the Way (1951)
Here Comes the Groom (1951)
His Kind of Woman (1951)
Hollywood Story (1951)
The House on Telegraph Hill (1951)
I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951)
I Want You (1951)
I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951)
Jim Thorpe – All American (1951)
Kind Lady (1951)
Kon-Tiki (1951)
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
Lost Continent (1951)
The Magic Box (1951)
The Man from Planet X (1951)
The Mating Season (1951)
The Mob (1951)
The Model and the Marriage-Broker (1951)
The Mudlark (1951)
My Favorite Spy (1951)
No Highway in the Sky (1951)
Only the Valiant (1951)
On the Riviera (1951)
Operation Pacific (1951)
Payment on Demand (1951)
People Will Talk (1951)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
Quo Vadis (1951)
The Racket (1951)
The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
Rich, Young, and Pretty (1951)
The River (1951)
Roadblock (1951)
Royal Wedding (1951)
Sailor Beware (1951)
Seven Days to Noon (1951)
Show Boat (1951)
Sirocco (1951)
Starlift (1951)
The Strange Door (1951)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
The Strip (1951)
Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
The Tales of Hoffman (1951)
The Tall Target (1951)
Teresa (1951)
The Thing From Another World (1951)
Too Young to Kiss (1951)
Two Tickets to Broadway (1951)
Vengeance Valley (1951)
The Well (1951)
Westward the Women (1951)
When Worlds Collide (1951)
The White Sheik (1951)

(August 2007 - January 2008) Alice in Wonderland has got to be my favorite film of the year. It's probably my favorite Disney film as well. It's just so unusual and fascinating. A Place in the Sun is also terrific. I enjoyed the incredible performances in A Streetcar Named Desire. The Thing from Another World is a great monster movie. Showboat is great thanks to Ava Gardner. I also really enjoyed The White Sheik, which is my first foray into the films of Fellini. I'm already a fan!

Top Ten -- The African Queen, Alice in Wonderland, An American in Paris, Detective Story, A Place in the Sun, Show Boat, Strangers on a Train, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Thing from Another World, The White Sheik

1950

2008-10-04T11:20:00.000-04:00

Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
Adam’s Rib (1950)
All About Eve (1950)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Armored Car Robbery (1950)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Bitter Rice (1950)
The Black Rose (1950)
Borderline (1950)
Born Yesterday (1950)
The Breaking Point (1950)
Broken Arrow (1950)
Caged (1950)
Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
Chain Lightning (1950)
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
Cinderella (1950)
Colt .45 (1950)
Crisis (1950)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)
Destination Moon (1950)
D.O.A. (1950)
Fancy Pants (1950)
Father of the Bride (1950)
The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
For Heaven’s Sake (1950)
Francis (1950)
The Furies (1950)
The Glass Menagerie (1950)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Harvey (1950)
Hunt the Man Down (1950)
I’ll Get By (1950)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
Kim (1950)
King Solomon’s Mines (1950)
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
La Ronde (1950)
Last Holiday (1950)
Los Olvidados (1950)
Louisa (1950)
The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
The Men (1950)
The Miniver Story (1950)
Mister 880 (1950)
My Friend Irma Goes West (1950)
Mystery Street (1950)
Night and the City (1950)
No Sad Songs for Me (1950)
No Way Out (1950)
Our Very Own (1950)
Panic in the Streets (1950)
Rio Grande (1950)
Samson and Delilah (1950)
The Secret Fury (1950)
Shadow on the Wall (1950)
Singing Guns (1950)
The Sleeping City (1950)
Stage Fright (1950)
Storm Warning (1950)
Stromboli (1950)
Summer Stock (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Tea for Two (1950)
That Forsyte Woman (1950)
The Third Man (1950)
Three Came Home (1950)
Three Little Words (1950)
The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
Treasure Island (1950)
Two Weeks with Love (1950)
Wabash Avenue (1950)
The West Point Story (1950)
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Winchester ’73 (1950)
The Yellow Cab Man (1950)
Young Man with a Horn (1950)

(May - August 2007) The 1950s kicks off with a lot of OK movies. The classics of the year are definitely All About Eve, The Third Man, and Sunset Boulevard. When you compare these films with the others, you can really see how advanced they were for their time. I was particularly impressed with Caged, as well. Father of the Bride is fun. Spencer Tracy makes the movie. Stage Fright is notable Hitchcock. It's not one of his more famous films, but certainly a memorable one.

Top Ten -- All About Eve, Annie Get Your Gun, Caged, Cinderella, Father of the Bride, The Gunfighter, Stage Fright, Storm Warning, Sunset Boulevard, The Third Man

1949

2008-10-03T11:53:00.000-04:00

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer (1949)
Adventures of Don Juan (1949)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Africa Screams (1949)
All the King’s Men (1949)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Battleground (1949)
Beyond the Forest (1949)
The Bicycle Thief (1949)
The Big Sombrero (1949)
The Big Steal (1949)
Border Incident (1949)
The Bribe (1949)
Champion (1949)
Come to the Stable (1949)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)
Criss Cross (1949)
Edward, My Son (1949)
The Fallen Idol (1949)
Flamingo Road (1949)
The Fountainhead (1949)
The Golden Stallion (1949)
Good Sam (1949)
The Great Gatsby (1949)
Gun Crazy (1949)
The Hasty Heart (1949)
The Heiress (1949)
House of Strangers (1949)
In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
It Happens Every Spring (1949)
It’s a Great Feeling (1949)
I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
Jolson Sings Again (1949)
Killer Bait (1949)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
Little Women (1949)
Look for the Silver Lining (1949)
Love Happy (1949)
Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)
Madame Bovary (1949)
The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949)
Mighty Joe Young (1949)
Mother is a Freshman (1949)
My Foolish Heart (1949)
My Friend Irma (1949)
Neptune’s Daughter (1949)
Once More, My Darling (1949)
On the Town (1949)
Paisan (1949)
Passport to Pimlico (1949)
Pinky (1949)
Prince of Foxes (1949)
The Red Danube (1949)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Saraband (1949)
The Secret Garden (1949)
The Set-Up (1949)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Side Street (1949)
So Dear to My Heart (1949)
Sorrowful Jones (1949)
The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
The Stratton Story (1949)
Stray Dog (1949)
Susanna Pass (1949)
Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Tension (1949)
They Live by Night (1949)
Thieves’ Highway (1949)
Tokyo Joe (1949)
Trapped (1949)
Tulsa (1949)
Twelve O’ Clock High (1949)
Under Capricorn (1949)
Whirlpool (1949)
White Heat (1949)
The Window (1949)
Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby (1949)

(January - May 2007) Kurosawa's Stray Dog is awesome. Thinking about it now, it's prob the best of the year. I really liked Gun Crazy! Having known little about it and then watching it I was quite pleased. All the King's Men, The Heiress, and A Letter to Three Wives were all Best Pic nominees and are all worthy. The Bicycle Thief is great too. A good way to end the '40s.

Top Ten -- All the Kings Men, Battleground, The Bicycle Thief, The Fallen Idol, Gun Crazy, The Heiress, A Letter to Three Wives, On the Town, Stray Dog, White Heat

1948

2008-10-02T12:48:00.000-04:00

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Accused (1948)
Act of Violence (1948)
All My Sons (1948)
Berlin Express (1948)
B.F.’s Daughter (1948)
The Big Clock (1948)
The Boy with Green Hair (1948)
Call Northside 777 (1948)
Command Decision (1948)
Deep Waters (1948)
Easter Parade (1948)
The Emperor Waltz (1948)
Force of Evil (1948)
A Foreign Affair (1948)
Fort Apache (1948)
Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)
Hamlet (1948)
He Walked by Night (1948)
I Remember Mama (1948)
Joan of Arc (1948)
Johnny Belinda (1948)
Julia Misbehaves (1948)
June Bride (1948)
Key Largo (1948)
The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
Louisiana Story (1948)
The Loves of Carmen (1948)
The Luck of the Irish (1948)
Macbeth (1948)
Melody Time (1948)
Mexican Hayride (1948)
The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
Monsieur Vincent (1948)
Moonrise (1948)
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)
The Naked City (1948)
The Noose Hangs High (1948)
Oliver Twist (1948)
One Touch of Venus (1948)
The Paleface (1948)
The Pirate (1948)
Portrait of Jennie (1948)
Raw Deal (1948)
Red River (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948)
Romance on the High Seas (1948)
Rope (1948)
The Search (1948)
Sitting Pretty (1948)
The Snake Pit (1948)
A Song is Born (1948)
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
State of the Union (1948)
The Street with No Name (1948)
That Lady in Ermine (1948)
3 Godfathers (1948)
The Three Musketeers (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948)
Words and Music (1948)

(July 2006 - January 2007) Rope is easily the best movie of all of these. Hitchcock is a genius. It's mostly done in one long take. Check it out. I also enjoyed Olivier's Hamlet because he's also a genius. Otherwise, I fondly remember some others but Rope and Hamlet far outweigh their competition.

Top Ten -- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Hamlet, I Remember Mama, Johnny Belinda, Key Largo, Red River, The Red Shoes, Rope, 3 Godfathers, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1947

2008-10-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

Angel and the Badman (1947)
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
Black Narcissus (1947)
Body and Soul (1947)
Boomerang! (1947)
Born to Kill (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
Buck Privates Come Home (1947)
Captain from Castile (1947)
Cass Timberlane (1947)
Crossfire (1947)
Dark Passage (1947)
Dead Reckoning (1947)
Dear Ruth (1947)
A Double Life (1947)
The Egg and I (1947)
The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)
The Farmer’s Daughter (1947)
Fiesta (1947)
Forever Amber (1947)
The Foxes of Harrow (1947)
The Fugitive (1947)
Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
Golden Earrings (1947)
Good News (1947)
Great Expectations (1947)
Green Dolphin Street (1947)
The Hucksters (1947)
It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)
Ivan the Terrible: Part 1 (1947)
Ivan the Terrible: Part 2 (1947)
Kiss of Death (1947)
Life with Father (1947)
Magic Town (1947)
Merton of the Movies (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Mother Wore Tights (1947)
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
My Favorite Brunette (1947)
My Wild Irish Rose (1947)
New Orleans (1947)
Nicholas Nickleby (1947)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Odd Man Out (1947)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Paradine Case (1947)
The Perils of Pauline (1947)
Possessed (1947)
Railroaded (1947)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
Riffraff (1947)
Road to Rio (1947)
The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
The Sea of Grass (1947)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Shoe-Shine (1947)
Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
Smash Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)
Song of the South (1947)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
That Hagen Girl (1947)
The Time, the Place, and the Girl (1947)
T-Men (1947)
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Unconquered (1947)
The Web (1947)
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

(May - July 2006) I don't even think they were made in 1947 but, I watched the Ivan the Terrible movies this year. I think one of them was released in '47 and the other was released in the '50s, but I was like whatev and watched them together. They are incredible! They're Russian and crazy lol Visual feasts haha I also enjoyed Gentleman's Agreement, The Bishop's Wife, and Miracle on 34th Street. The latter two being perfect movies for Christmas-time.

Top Ten -- The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, The Bishop's Wife, Crossfire, Dark Passage, Gentleman's Agreement, Great Expectations, Ivan the Terrible: Part I, Ivan the Terrible: Part II, Miracle on 34th Street, Shoe-Shine

1946

2008-09-30T12:41:00.000-04:00

Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Bedlam (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Blithe Spirit (1946)
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Blue Skies (1946)
Brief Encounter (1946)
Caesar and Cleopatra (1946)
Canyon Passage (1946)
Centennial Summer (1946)
The Chase (1946)
Children of Paradise (1946)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Cluny Brown (1946)
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
Dead of Night (1946)
Deception (1946)
The Dolly Sisters (1946)
Dragonwyck (1946)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Gilda (1946)
The Green Years (1946)
The Harvey Girls (1946)
Henry V (1946)
House of Horrors (1946)
Humoresque (1946)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Jolson Story (1946)
The Killers (1946)
Kitty (1946)
Lady in the Lake (1946)
Little Giant (1946)
The Time of Their Lives (1946)
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
Make Mine Music (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
My Pal Trigger (1946)
Night and Day (1946)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Notorious (1946)
Open City (1946)
O.S.S. (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Razor’s Edge (1946)
Road to Utopia (1946)
Saratoga Trunk (1946)
Sentimental Journey (1946)
The Seventh Veil (1946)
She-Wolf of London (1946)
Sister Kenny (1946)
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
A Stolen Life (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Stranger (1946)
Terror by Night (1946)
13 Rue Madeleine (1946)
Three Strangers (1946)
Till the End of Time (1946)
To Each His Own (1946)
Tomorrow is Forever (1946)
Two Years before the Mast (1946)
Vacation from Marriage (1946)
Without Reservations (1946)
The Yearling (1946)
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

(September 2005 - May 2006) Lots of good stuff here. I'd recommend watching The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Sleep, and Notorious. It's a Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies EVER and is probably the only movie I can think of that can make me cry my eyes out every time. Watch that immediately. The real treasure of this year is Children of Paradise. It's a French movie about the theatre and various relationships in and around it. I was amazed by this movie and it's also one of my all-time faves.

Top Ten -- The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Sleep, Brief Encounter, Children of Paradise, It's a Wonderful Life, My Darling Clementine, Notorious, Open City, The Spiral Staircase, The Time of Their Lives

1945

2008-09-29T12:33:00.000-04:00

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945)
Adventure (1945)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
And Then There Were None (1945)
Back to Bataan (1945)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
Blood on the Sun (1945)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
The Clock (1945)
The Corn is Green (1945)
Dillinger (1945)
Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)
The Naughty Nineties (1945)
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)
House of Dracula (1945)
The House on 92nd Street (1945)
The Keys to the Kingdom (1945)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Love Letters (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Music for Millions (1945)
National Velvet (1945)
Objective, Burma (1945)
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Pride of the Marines (1945)
Salty O’Rourke (1945)
San Antonio (1945)
A Song to Remember (1945)
The Southerner (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
State Fair (1945)
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
They Were Expendable (1945)
The Three Caballeros (1945)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
The Valley of Decision (1945)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Weekend at the Waldorf (1945)
Without Love (1945)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Woman in the Window (1945)
Wonder Man (1945)
Yolanda and the Thief (1945)

(June - September 2005) An ok mix. I think The Lost Weekend is my pick for the best of these. I also really enjoyed Leave Her to Heaven, Mildred Pierce The Picture of Dorian Gray, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I remember watching all of these movies during the summer before I moved to State College. Good times.

Top Ten -- And Then There Were None, Leave Her to Heaven, The Lost Weekend, Mildred Pierce, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Spellbound, State Fair, The Three Caballeros, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Walk in the Sun

1944

2008-09-28T12:29:00.000-04:00

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
The Climax (1944)
Cover Girl (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Dragon Seed (1944)
The Fighting Seabees (1944)
The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Going My Way (1944)
A Guy Named Joe (1944)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
In Society (1944)
The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)
It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
Jane Eyre (1944)
Kismet (1944)
Laura (1944)
Lifeboat (1944)
Lost in a Harem (1944)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
Mrs. Parkington (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
None Shall Escape (1944)
Passage to Marseille (1944)
Phantom Lady (1944)
The Seventh Cross (1944)
Since You Went Away (1944)
Step Lively (1944)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
The Uninvited (1944)
Weird Woman (1944)
The Whistler (1944)
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
Wilson (1944)
Wing and a Prayer (1944)

(March - June 2005) I wish I could decorate Meet Me in St. Louis with hearts. It's such a great movie! Other faves are Going My Way, Double Indemnity, Laura, Lifeboat, and To Have and Have Not. By the mid-forties, film noir became very popular A good number of them came out this year.

Top Ten -- Arsenic and Old Lace, Cover Girl, Double Indemnity, Going My Way, Laura, Lifeboat, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Seventh Cross, Since You Went Away, To Have and Have Not

1943

2008-09-27T12:27:00.000-04:00

Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Air Force (1943)
Bataan (1943)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Captive Wild Woman (1943)
DuBarry Was a Lady (1943)
Casablanca (1943)
Destination Tokyo (1943)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)
Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
The Human Comedy (1943)
In Which We Serve (1943)
It Ain’t Hay (1943)
Hit the Ice (1943)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Lassie Come Home (1943)
Madame Curie (1943)
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
The More the Merrier (1943)
The Outlaw (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Princess O’Rourke (1943)
Sahara (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Son of Dracula (1943)
So Proudly We Hail (1943)
Stormy Weather (1943)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
They Got Me Covered (1943)
This is the Army (1943)
Watch on the Rhine (1943)

(December 2004 - March 2005) Casablanca is perfect and needs to be seen at least once by everyone. For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Ox-Bow Incident are also great.

Top Ten -- Cabin in the Sky, Casablanca, Destination Tokyo, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Lassie Come Home,The Outlaw, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Phantom of the Opera, Shadow of a Doubt, The Song of Bernadette

1942

2008-09-26T12:24:00.000-04:00

Across the Pacific (1942)
All Through the Night (1942)
Andy Hardy’s Double Life (1942)
Arabian Nights (1942)
Bambi (1942)
The Black Swan (1942)
Cat People (1942)
For Me and My Gal (1942)
49th Parallel (1942)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The Glass Key (1942)
Holday Inn (1942)
I Married a Witch (1942)
In This Our Life (1942)
Invisible Agent (1942)
Johnny Eager (1942)
The Jungle Book (1942)
Woman of the Year (1942)
Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Kings Row (1942)
Larceny Inc. (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
My Favorite Blonde (1942)
Night Monster (1942)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Orchestra Wives (1942)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Ride ‘Em Cowboy (1942)
Rio Rita (1942)
Pardon My Sarong (1942)
Who Done It? (1942)
The Pied Piper (1942)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Wake Island (1942)
Random Harvest (1942)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Road to Morocco (1942)
Roxie Hart (1942)
Saboteur (1942)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
This Gun for Hire (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Tortilla Flat (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

(August - December 2004) Yankee Doodle Dandy is my favorite of the year, followed closely by Mrs. Miniver. Both were inspired greatly by the patriotism that was sweeping the nation in 1942. I also enjoyed The Pride of the Yankees, Saboteur, and To Be or Not to Be.

Top Ten -- Bambi, 49th Parallel, Johnny Eager, Mrs. Miniver, Now, Voyager, The Pride of the Yankees, Saboteur, To Be or Not to Be, Who Done It?, Yankee Doodle Dandy

1941

2008-09-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941)
Back Street (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Big Store (1941)
The Black Cat (1941)
Blood and Sand (1941)
Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Buck Privates (1941)
Caught in the Draft (1941)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Dumbo (1941)
The Great Lie (1941)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
High Sierra (1941)
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
In the Navy (1941)
Hold That Ghost (1941)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
The Invisible Woman (1941)
Kathleen (1941)
Keep ‘Em Flying (1941)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Little Foxes (1941)
Louisiana Purchase (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Man Made Monster (1941)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)
Meet John Doe (1941)
The Monster and the Girl (1941)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
One Foot in Heaven (1941)
Penny Serenade (1941)
Road to Zanzibar (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
Suspicion (1941)
They Died with Their Boots on (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941)

(June - August 2004) Even with Citizen Kane in this list, I have to say that The Maltese Falcon is the best movie here. Kane is fantastic though. How Green Was My Valley managed to win best picture and I'd say it was pretty deserving. I also enjoyed High Sierra (Bogart) and Dumbo because I'm a sucker. Hold That Ghost is probably my favorite Abbott and Costello - they made four movies this year! War was raging in Europe and hit America this year. The effects on movies would really start to show in the next few years.

Top Ten -- Ball of Fire, Citizen Kane, Dumbo, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, High Sierra, Hold That Ghost, How Green Was My Valley, The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York, The Wolf Man

1940

2008-09-24T12:18:00.001-04:00

Abe Lincoln of Illinois (1940)
All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Black Friday (1940)
Boom Town (1940)
Brother Orchid (1940)
Christmas in July (1940)
Down Argentine Way (1940)
Dr. Cyclops (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Go West (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Great McGinty (1940)
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Kitty Foyle (1940)
Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
The Letter (1940)
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
My Favorite Wife (1940)
My Little Chickadee (1940)
Northwest Passage (1940)
One Night in the Tropics (1940)
Our Town (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
The Return of Frank James (1940)
Road to Singapore (1940)
Santa Fe Trail (1940)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Seven Sinners (1940)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
They Drive By Night (1940)
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Torrid Zone (1940)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
The Westerner (1940)

(June 2004) I remember it being a huge deal when I got into the 40s. The list of movies started to grow to about 50 movies a year and I started to see more popular titles and the beginnings of early franchises. WWII was right around the corner. Rebecca is my choice for best movie. Great Hitchcock thriller. Other faves are The Great Dictator (Chaplin), Pride and Prejudice (Olivier), and The Letter (Bette Davis).

Top Ten -- Fantasia, The Ghost Breakers, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, His Girl Friday, The Letter, The Philadelphia Story, Pinocchio, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca

1939

2008-09-23T14:35:00.003-04:00

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
Another Thin Man (1939) B-
At the Circus (1939) C+
Babes in Arms (1939) B-
Beau Geste (1939) B+
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Dark Victory (1939) B
Destry Rides Again (1939) C+
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
The Flying Deuces (1939)
The Four Feathers (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939) A+
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) C+
Gulliver's Travels (1939)
Gunga Din (1939) B-
Honolulu (1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) C+
Intermezzo (1939)
It's a Wonderful World (1939)
Jamaica Inn (1939) C-
Jesse James (1939)
Juarez (1939)
Love Affair (1939) B-
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
Mexican Spitfire (1939)
Midnight (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) A-
Ninotchka (1939) C+
Of Mice and Men (1939) B+
The Old Maid (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) A-
The Roaring Twenties (1939) B-
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Stagecoach (1939) A-
Tower of London (1939)
Union Pacific (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) A+
The Women (1939) B+
Wuthering Heights (1939) B+
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) B-

(December 2003 - June 2004) And the lists get looonger from here on out. 1939 is fondly known as 'Hollywood's Golden Year' because of the breadth of classics that were produced. My personal faves are Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. See. them. now. Additionally, I'd suggest viewing Beau Geste, The Cat and the Canary, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, Only Angels Have Wings, Stagecoach, The Women, and Wuthering Heights.

Top Ten -- Beau Geste, The Cat and the Canary, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, Only Angels Have Wings, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, The Women, Wuthering Heights

Also Seen - The Rules of the Game B-

1938

2008-09-22T14:33:00.002-04:00

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) B
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) C+
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) B
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) C
Blondie (1938) C+
Boys Town (1938) B-
Bringing Up Baby (1938) B
A Christmas Carol (1938) A-
The Citadel (1938) B-
The Dawn Patrol (1938) B-
Four Daughters (1938) B-
Grand Illusion (1938) A
Holiday (1938) B-
Jezebel (1938) C+
Kentucky (1938) C+
The Lady Vanishes (1938) B
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) B-
Marie-Antoinette (1938) B-
Of Human Hearts (1938) C+
Pygmalion (1938) B-
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) C+
Room Service (1938) C+
Suez (1938) C
Test Pilot (1938) C+

(August - December 2003) Grand Illusion was incredible and definitely made me fall in love with French cinema. Everything else is fondly remembered. Bringing Up Baby, A Christmas Carol, and The Lady Vanishes are fun.

Top Ten -- The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Bringing Up Baby, A Christmas Carol, The Citadel, Four Daughters, Grand Illusion, Holiday, The Lady Vanishes, Pygmalion

Also Seen - You Can't Take it With You C+

1937

2008-09-21T14:31:00.003-04:00

The Awful Truth (1937) A-
Camille (1937) B-
Captains Courageous (1937) B-
A Day at the Races (1937) B
Dead End (1937) B
The Good Earth (1937) B+
In Old Chicago (1937) C+
Lost Horizon (1937) B
Night Must Fall (1937) B-
Nothing Sacred (1937) B
100 Men and a Girl (1937) C+
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) A-
Shall We Dance? (1937) C+
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) A
Stage Door (1937) B-
A Star is Born (1937) B-
Stella Dallas (1937) C+
They Won't Forget (1937) B-
Topper (1937) B-

(August 2003) Best movie of the year goes to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs just because I love those Disney movies. I also really enjoyed The Prisoner of Zenda and The Awful Truth. All in all a pretty good year.

Top Ten -- The Awful Truth, Camille, A Day at the Races, Dead End, The Good Earth, Lost Horizon, Night Must Fall, The Prisoner of Zenda, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Topper

Also Seen - The Life of Emile Zola C+

1936

2008-09-20T13:27:00.002-04:00

After the Thin Man (1936) B
Anthony Adverse (1936) B-
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) B
Come and Get It (1936) B-
Dimples (1936) C+
Dodsworth (1936) B-
Libeled Lady (1936) B
Modern Times (1936) A
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) B-
My Man Godfrey (1936) A
The Petrified Forest (1936) B-
Romeo and Juliet (1936) B-
San Francisco (1936) B-
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) B-
Swing Time (1936) B-
A Tale of Two Cities (1936) C+
Theodora Goes Wild (1936) B-
Three Smart Girls (1936) C+
Wife vs. Secretary (1936) B

(July - August 2003) My Man Godfrey is definitely my fave of the year. Modern Times is also a classic to the max. Wife vs. Secretary is good. Otherwise, no real fireworks. It is interesting to note that I was watching these movies during the summer before I started college.

Top Ten -- After the Thin Man, Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, Modern Times, My Man Godfrey, The Petrified Forest, Sabotage, Swing Time, Theodora Goes Wild, Wife vs. Secretary

Also Seen -The Great Ziegfeld B-, Sabotage B, Secret Agent B-

1935

2008-09-18T14:23:00.003-04:00

Alice Adams (1935) C+
Anna Karenina (1935) B-
Becky Sharp (1935) C+
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) A-
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) C+
Captain Blood (1935) B-
Dangerous (1935) C+
David Copperfield (1935) B
The Informer (1935) B
Les Miserables (1935) B
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) B+
Mark of the Vampire (1935) B
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) B
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) B+
Naughty Marietta (1935) C+
A Night at the Opera (1935) A
The Raven (1935) B
Roberta (1935) C+
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) B-
Top Hat (1935) B
Werewolf of London (1935) B

(June 2003) A Night at the Opera is great Marx Brothers. The Bride of Frankenstein, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and Mutiny on the Bounty are also good times. Becky Sharp was the first total color movie.

Top 10 -- The Bride of Frankenstein, David Copperfield, The Informer, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Mark of the Vampire, Mutiny on the Bounty, A Night at the Opera, The Raven, The 39 Steps, Werewolf of London

Also Seen - The 39 Steps B+

1934

2008-09-16T15:20:00.004-04:00

The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) B-
The Black Cat (1934) B+
Bright Eyes (1934) B-
Charlie Chan in London (1934) C+
Cleopatra (1934) B-
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) B
Death Takes a Holiday (1934) C+
Flirtation Walk (1934) C+
Flying Down to Rio (1934) B-
The Gay Divorcee (1934) B
Imitation of Life (1934) B-
It Happened One Night (1934) A+
It's a Gift (1934) C+
Manhattan Melodrama (1934) B-
March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934) B
Of Human Bondage (1934) C+
One Night of Love (1934) D+
The Thin Man (1934) A-
Viva Villa! (1934) C+

(February - June 2003) It Happened One Night and The Thin Man are both fantastic.

Top 5 -- The Black Cat, The Gay Divorcee, It Happened One Night, March of the Wooden Soldiers, The Thin Man

Also Seen - The Man Who Knew Too Much B-

1933

2008-09-14T15:18:00.004-04:00

Dinner at Eight (1933) B+
Duck Soup (1933) A+
Footlight Parade (1933) B+
42nd Street (1933) B
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) B-
The Invisible Man (1933) B
Island of Lost Souls (1933) C+
The Kennel Murder Case (1933) C+
King Kong (1933) A+
Lady for a Day (1933) B
Little Women (1933) B-
Morning Glory (1933) C+
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) B
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) B
Queen Christina (1933) B
She Done Him Wrong (1933) C
Smilin’ Through (1933) C
Sons of the Desert (1933) B-

(January - February 2003) Duck Soup rules! The Marx Brothers were great and this movie is gold. King Kong is also incredible. Dinner at Eight and Footlight Parade are also sweet.

Top 5 -- Dinner at Eight, Duck Soup, Footlight Parade, The Invisible Man, King Kong

Also Seen - Cavalcade B-

1932

2008-09-12T18:16:00.003-04:00

The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) B-
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) B+
A Farewell to Arms (1932) B-
Freaks (1932) A
Grand Hotel (1932) A+
Horse Feathers (1932) B
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) B
Mata Hari (1932) B
The Mummy (1932) B
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) C
The Old Dark House (1932) B
One Hour with You (1932) C+
Rasputin and the Empress (1932) B
Red Dust (1932) B
Scarface (1932) B-
Shanghai Express (1932) B-
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) B-
Trouble in Paradise (1932) B-

(August 2002 - January 2003) I loved Freaks, but I'd probably say Grand Hotel, with Greta Garbo, is my fave of the year. Both are so intriguing. I wish I'd watched more Garbo movies.

Top 5 -- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Freaks, Grand Hotel, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Mata Hari

1931

2008-09-10T20:11:00.005-04:00

Arrowsmith (1931) C+
The Champ (1931) B-
City Lights (1931) A+
Dracula (1931) B+
Five Star Final (1931) B
Frankenstein (1931) B+
The Front Page (1931) B-
M (1931) C+
The Miracle Woman (1931) B-
Monkey Business (1931) B-
The Public Enemy (1931) B
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) C+
Skippy (1931) C+
Trader Horn (1931) C

(July - August 2002) City Lights is definitely my favorite Charlie Chaplin movie. Dracula and Frankenstein are fun. I enjoyed Five Star Final a lot (it's about morals and ethics in the newspaper business).

Also Seen - Cimarron B-

My Top 5 films of the year -- City Lights, Dracula, Five Star Final, Frankenstein, The Public Enemy

1930

2008-09-08T20:09:00.002-04:00

The 1930s weren't as rushed for me as the first 30 years of the 20th century. The number of movies per year began to increase. Silent films were pretty much a thing of the past at this point. The Academy Awards were in its third year and history books have given exposure to so many of the nominees. In July 2002, I chose to watch the following nine titles...

Animal Crackers (1930) B-
Anna Christie (1930) B-
The Big House (1930) B
The Big Trail (1930) C
The Blue Angel (1930) B+
The Divorcee (1930) C+
Little Caesar (1930) B+
Min and Bill (1930) B-
Morocco (1930) B-

The Academy's choice for Best Picture that year was All Quiet on the Western Front. I had just seen it a year earlier during my attempt to watch every Best Picture winner. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it since, but I am anxious to revisit. While trying to see as many early Hitchcock's as possible, I had recently seen Murder and chose not to watch it again so soon.

My favorite of the year is the German film The Blue Angel starring Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich. It's heartbreaking and the music is so wonderful. Marlene Dietrich also appeared in Morocco that year and got her only Oscar nomination. She was luminous. Another foreign beauty, Greta Garbo, appeared in her first talking film, Anna Christie. It's interesting to imagine how a German and a Swede became two of the greatest stars of the 30s.

Some other great movie stars made early breakthroughs this year, including John Wayne in the western The Big Trail, which is notable as the first movie to be shown in a letterbox format. Wayne wouldn't reach prominence until later in the decade, but Edward G. Robinson became a legendary tough guy thanks to the success of Little Caesar. Marie Dressler became an unlikely household name with her Oscar-winning role in Min and Bill.

My Top 5 films of the year - All Quiet on the Western Front, Anna Christie, The Big House, The Blue Angel, Little Caesar

Also Seen -
All Quiet on the Western Front B+
Murder B-

1929

2008-07-29T14:14:00.009-04:00

Alibi (1929) C
The Cocoanuts (1929) B-
Disraeli (1929) B

Films I've Also Seen -
Blackmail (1929) B-
The Broadway Melody (1929) C+
Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Films I Haven't Seen -Arsenal (1929) Russian
Asphalt (1929) - Germany
Big Business (1929) - Laurel and Hardy
The Big Pond (1929) - Chevalier/Colbert
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) - Oscar winner
Bulldog Drummond (1929) - Ronald Colman
Captain Fracasse (1929) - French film
Condemned! (1929) - Ronald Colman
Coquette (1929) - Pickford
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - Pabst
The Divine Lady (1929) - oscar winner
Drag (1929) - Oscar nominee/Barthelmess
Dynamite (1929) - Cecil B. DeMille
Erotikon (1929)
Eternal Love (1929) Ernst Lubitsch
The Great Gabbo (1929) - von Stroheim
Hallelujah (1929) - King Vidor
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) - best pic nominee
In Old Arizona (1929) - best pic nominee
The Iron Mask (1929) - Fairbanks Sr.
The Kiss (1929)
Laila (1929) - Norwegian film
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) - Norma Shearer
The Leatherneck (1929) - classic Western
Liberty (1929) Leo McCarey
The Love Parade (1929) - best pic nominee
Madame X (1929) - oscar nominee
The Man with the Movie Camera (1929) - documentary
The Manxman (1929) - Hitchcock
Monkey's Moon (1929) - British nature short
The New Babylon (1929) - Russian film
The New Gentleman (1929) - French film
Our Daily Bread [City Girl] (1929) F.W. Murnau
Pandora's Box (1929) - Brooks/Pabst
People on Sunday (1929)
Piccadilly (1929)
Queen Kelly (1929) - Stroheim/Swanson
Regen (Rain) (1929)
The River (1929) - Borzage
Sally (1929) - Oscar nominee
Seduction (1929) - Czech film
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)
Spite Marriage (1929) - Keaton
The Taming of the Shrew (1929) - Pickford/Fairbanks
Their Own Desire (1929) - Norma Shearer
Thunderbolt (1929) - von Sternberg
The Trespasser (1929) - Swanson
Untamed (1929) - first Joan Crawford talkie
The Valiant (1929) - Oscar nominee/Paul Muni
The Virginian (1929) - Gary Cooper
Weary River (1929) - Barthelmess
Wild Orchids (1929)
Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond) (1929) - Fritz Lang
The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (1929)
Wonder of Women (1929) - lost Oscar nom
Applause (1929) - Rouben Mamoulian

1928

2008-07-29T12:54:00.008-04:00

The Last Command (1928) B

The Circus (1928) B-
The Crowd (1928) B-
Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) B-

Films I Haven't Seen -
Abwege (1928) - Pabst
Across to Singapore (1928)
Arsenal (1928) - Russian epic
The Awakening (1928) - lost Oscar nominee
The Barker (1928) - Oscar nominee
The Battle of the Sexes (1928) - D. W. Griffith
Beggars of Life (1928) - Louise Brooks
The Cameraman (1928) - Keaton
Champagne (1928) - Hitchcock
The Cop (1928) - Oscar nom
Crossroads (1928)
The Divine Woman (1928) - Garbo
The Docks of New York (1928) - Josef von Sternberg
The Drag Net (1928) - von Sternberg
Easy Virtue (1928) - Hitchcock
Eliso (1928)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
The Farmer's Wife (1928) - Hitchcock
The Finishing Touch (1928)
4 Devils (1928) - lost Oscar nom
Four Sons (1928) - John Ford
A Girl in Every Port (1928) - Louise Brooks
Glorious Betsy (1928) - lost Oscar nominee
Hangman's House (1928) - John Ford
The Italian Straw Hat (1928) - Rene Clair
L'Argent (1928) - French film
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) - Chaney
Leave 'Em Laughing (1928) - Laurel and Hardy
Lights of New York (1928) - first complete talkie
The Little Match Girl (1928) - Jean Renoir
Lonesome (1928) - romantic drama
The Man Who Laughs (1928) - classic horror
The Matinee Idol (1928) - Frank Capra
The Mysterious Lady (1928) - Garbo
Noah's Ark (1928) - classic epic
The Noose (1928) - Barthelmess
October (1928) - Eisenstein
Our Dancing Daughters (1928) - Joan Crawford
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - Dreyer
The Patriot (1928) - best pic nominee/lost film
The Patsy (1928) - King Vidor
The Racket (1928) - best pic nominee
Riley the Cop (1928) - John Ford
Sadie Thompson (1928) - Swanson
Sal of Singapore (1928) - lost Oscar nom
Sex in Chains (1928) - William Dieterle
A Ship Comes In (1928) - Louise Dresser
Show Life (1928)
Show People (1928) - King Vidor
Skyscraper (1928) - Oscar nom
Speedy (1928) - Lloyd
Spione (Spies) (1928) - Fritz Lang
Steamboat Willie (1928) - Mickey Mouse
Storm Over Asia (1928) - Russian film
Street Angel (1928) - Janet Gaynor
Tempest (1928) - Barrymore
The Trail of '98 (1928)
Two Tars (1928) - Laurel and Hardy
Underground (1928) - Anthony Asquith
West of Zanzibar (1928) - Chaney
The Wedding March (1928) - von Stroheim
Westpoint (1928)
While the City Sleeps (1928)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928) - Oscar winner
The Wind (1928) - Gish
A Woman of Affairs (1928) - Garbo

1927

2008-07-28T15:31:00.011-04:00

Metropolis (1927) A (changed from B-)
The Cat and the Canary (1927) B-
The General (1927) B-
It (1927) C+
Sunrise (1927) B-
The Jazz Singer (1927) B+
Seventh Heaven (1927) C+

Films I've Also Seen -
The Lodger (1927) B
Wings (1927) B

Films I Haven't Seen -
Annie Laurie - Lillian Gish
Bed and Sofa (1927)
Berlin: The Symphony of a Great City (1927)
Casanova (1926)
Chang (1927) - documentary
The Chess Player (1927)
College (1927) - Buster Keaton
The Devil Dancer (1927) - lost Oscar nominee
Dirnentragodie (1927)
The Dove (1927) - lost Oscar winner
Downhill (1927) - Hitchcock
Easy Virtue (1927) - Hitchcock
The End of St. Petersburg (1927)
The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927) - Russian documentary
Fantasia en Surdato (1927)
The Gaucho (1927) - Fairbanks Sr.
Hindle Wakes (1927)
Hotel Imperial (1927) - Pola Negri
Hula (1927)
The Kid Brother (1927) - Harold Lloyd
The King of Kings (1927) - Cecil B. DeMille
La p'tite lilie (1927)
London After Midnight (1927) - Lon Chaney
Long Pants (1927) - Capra/Langdon
Love (1927) - Greta Garbo
The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927) - Pabst
The Love of Sunya (1927) - Swanson
The Magic Flame (1927) - lost Oscar nominee
Mr. Wu (1927)
My Best Girl (1927)
Napoleon (1927) - Abel Gance
The Ring (1927) - Hitchcock
The Patent Leather Kid (1927) - Barthelmess
Sorrell and Son (1927) - lost Oscar nominee
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) - Novarro/Shearer
Tell It to the Marines (1927)
The Three-Sided Mirror (1927) - French film
Twelve Miles Out (1927) - John Gilbert
Two Arabian Knights (1927) - Lewis Milestone
Underworld (1927) - Josef von Sternberg
The Unknown (1927) - Tod Browning
The Way of All Flesh (1927) - best pic nominee

1926

2008-07-28T14:51:00.004-04:00

I haven't seen anything from 1926!

Films I Haven't Seen -
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) - first animated feature
Battling Butler (1926) - Buster Keaton
Beau Geste (1926) - Ronald Colman
The Black Pirate (1926) - Fairbanks Sr.
Brown of Harvard (1926)
By the Law (1926)
Camille (1926) - Norma Talmadge
Don Juan (1926) - John Barrymore
Dura Lex (1926) - Russian film
Ella Cinders (1926)
Faust (1926) - F.W. Murnau
Flesh and the Devil (1926) - Greta Garbo
For Heaven's Sake (1926) - Harold Lloyd
The Great K&A Train Robbery (1926)
Hands Up! (1926)
The Holy Mountain (1926)
La Boheme (1926) - Gish/Gilbert
The Magician (1926)
Mantrap (1926) - Clara Bow
Mare Nostrum (1926)
Menilmontant (1926)
Mighty Like a Moose (1926)
Moana (1926) - Robert J. Flaherty
Mother (1926) - Russian film
The Mountain Eagle (1926)- Hitchcock
Nana (1926)
Old Ironsides (1926)
A Page of Madness (1926) - Japanese film
The Scarlet Letter (1926) - Lillian Gish
The Son of the Sheik (1926) - Valentino
Sparrows (1926) - Mary Pickford
The Strong Man (1926) - Capra/Langdon
The Student of Prague (1926)
The Temptress (1926) - Greta Garbo
Three Bad Men (1926) - John Ford
Torrent (1926) - Greta Garbo
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp - Langdon/Crawford
What Price Glory? (1926) - Ford/Walsh

1925

2008-07-26T17:49:00.005-04:00

Battleship Potemkin (1925) C+

Ben-Hur (1925) B-

The Big Parade (1925) B-
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) B+

Films I've Also Seen - The Gold Rush (1925) A-

Films I Haven't Seen -
Body and Soul - Micheaux/Robeson

Chess Fever - Russian film
Clash of the Wolves (1925) - Rin Tin Tin
Cobra (1925)
Don Q Son of Zorro (1925) - Fairbanks Sr.
The Eagle (1925) - Valentino
The Freshman (1925) - Lloyd
Go West (1925) - Keaton
Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925) - documentary
Joyless Street (1925) - Garbo
Lady of the Night (1925)
Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)
The Lost World (1925) - classic sci-fi
Master of the House (1925) - Dreyer
The Merry Widow (1925) - Stroheim/Gilbert
Paris Qui Dort (The Crazy Ray) (1925) - Rene Clair
Paths to Paradise (1925)
The Plastic Age (1925) - Clara Bow
The Pleasure Garden (1925) - Hitchcock
Riders of the Purple Sage (1925)
Seven Chances (1925) - Keaton
Strike (1925) - Eisenstein
Tartuffe (1925) - Murnau
Tumbleweeds (1925)
The Unholy Three (1925) - silent Chaney
Variety (1925) - Germany

1924

2008-07-26T14:40:00.007-04:00

Greed (1924) B
The Thief of Bagdad (1924) A
The Navigator (1924) B
Sherlock Jr. (1924) B

Films I Haven't Seen -
Aelita (1924) - Russia
America (1924) - D.W. Griffith feature
Ballet Mecanique - French video art
The Chechahcos - National Film Registry selection
Die Nibelungen (including [Kriemhild’s Revenge] (1924) - Fritz Lang
Entr'acte (1924) - Rene Clair
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924) - Russia
Forbidden Paradise (1924) - Pola Negri
Girl Shy (1924) - Harold Lloyd
He Who Gets Slapped (1924) - Lon Chaney
Hot Water (1924) - Harold Lloyd
The Iron Horse (1924) - John Ford
Isn't Life Wonderful? (1924) - D.W. Griffith
The Joyless Street (1924) G.W. Pabst
The Last Laugh (1924) - F.W. Murnau
Le Ballet Mechanique (1924) - French
The Marriage Circle (1924) - Ernst Lubitsch
Michael (1924) - Dreyer
The Open Road (1924)
Peter Pan (1924) - classic silent
The Saga of Gosta Berling (1924) - Greta Garbo
The Sea Hawk (1924) - Frank Lloyd
Siegfried's Death (1924) - Fritz Lang
Strike (1924) - Eisenstein
Waxworks (1924) - Paul Leni

1923

2008-07-25T16:46:00.004-04:00

Safety Last (1923) B+
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) B
The Ten Commandments (1923) C

Films I've Also Seen - The Pilgrim (1923)

Films I Haven't Seen -
The Balloonatic (1923) - Buster Keaton
The Burning Brasier (1923) - French
The Covered Wagon (1923) - classic western
The Love Nest (1923) - Buster Keaton
Our Hospitality (1923) - Buster Keaton
Salome (1923)
Scaramouche (1923) - Lewis Stone/Ramon Novarro
The Smiling Madame Beudet (1923) - French feminist film
Sylvester (1923) - German
Three Ages (1923) - Buster Keaton
Why Worry? (1923) - Harold Lloyd
A Woman of Paris (1923) - Charlie Chaplin

1922

2008-07-25T13:55:00.002-04:00

Nosferatu (1922) B+

Films I Haven't Seen -
The Blacksmith (1922) - Keaton
Blood and Sand (1922) - Valentino
The Burning Soil (1922) - Murnau
Cops (1922) - Keaton
Daydreams (1922) - Keaton
Dr. Jack (1922) - Lloyd
Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler (1922) - Fritz Lang
The Electric House (1922) - Keaton
Foolish Wives (1922) - Erich von Stroheim
The Frozen North (1922) - Keaton
Grandma's Boy (1922) - Lloyd
Haxan (1922) - famous witchcraft movie/Criterion
La Roue (1922) - Abel Gance
My Wife's Relations (1922) - Keaton
Nanook of the North (1922) - classic documentary
The Paleface (1922) - Keaton
Phantom (1922) - Murnau
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) - Lewis Stone/Ramon Novarro
Robin Hood (1922) - Fairbanks Sr.
A Santanotte (1922) - Italian
Shadows (1922)
Sherlock Holmes (1922) - John Barrymore
Tess of the Storm Country (1922) - Pickford
The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922) - Max Linder
The Toll of the Sea (1922)

1921

2008-07-24T14:27:00.006-04:00

The Sheik (1921) A+

Films I've Also Seen -
The Kid (1921)
The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Films I Haven't Seen -
The Ace of Hearts (1921) - Lon Chaney
The Affairs of Anatol (1921) - DeMille/Swanson
Among Those Present (1921) - Harold Lloyd
Between Two Worlds (1921) - Fritz Lang
The Boat (1921) - Buster Keaton
Brewster's Millions (1921) - Fatty Arbuckle comedy
Camille (1921) - Valentino
Destiny (1921) Fritz Lang
The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (1921) - Valentino
The Goat (1921) - Keaton
Hard Luck (1921) - Keaton
The Haunted House (1921) - Keaton
The 'High Sign' (1921) - Keaton
I Do (1921) - Lloyd
The Indian Tomb (1921) - German
Little Lord Faunteroy (1921) - Mary Pickford
Never Weaken (1921) - Lloyd
Now or Never (1921) - Lloyd
Orphans of the Storm (1921) - Griffith/Gish
The Play House (1921) - Keaton
A Sailor-Made Man (1921) - Lloyd
Seven Years' Bad Luck (1921) - Max Linder
The Three Musketeers (1921) - Fairbanks Sr.
Tol'able David (1921) - Richard Barthelmess

1920

2008-07-24T12:42:00.008-04:00

Way Down East (1920) B

Films I Haven't Seen -
Convict 13 (1920) - Buster Keaton
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) - John Barrymore
An Eastern Westerner (1920) - Harold Lloyd
Get Out and Get Under (1920) - Harold Lloyd
The Golem (1920) - classic German horror
Haunted Spooks (1920) - Harold Lloyd
High and Dizzy (1920) - Harold Lloyd
The Jack-Knife Man (1920) - King Vidor
The Last of the Mohicans (1920) - Wallace Beery
The Mark of Zorro (1920) - Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Neighbors (1920) - Buster Keaton
Number Please? (1920) - Harold Lloyd
One Week (1920) - Buster Keaton
The Parson's Wife (1920) - Dreyer
The Penalty (1920)
Pollyanna - Mary Pickford
The Saphead (1920) - Buster Keaton
The Scarecrow (1920) - Buster Keaton
The Toll Gate (1920) - William S. Hart western
Why Change Your Wife? (1920) - DeMille
Within Our Gates (1920) - controversial classic

Films I Haven't Seen - 1900-1919

2008-07-23T16:27:00.031-04:00

The following is a tentative list of shorts and feature films that I haven't seen during the 1900-1919 era. So many are now available on DVD or YouTube, so I should be able to catch up on what I missed from these 20 years.

What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City (1901)
The Man With the Rubber Head (1901)
Excelsior! Prince of Magicians (1901)
The Dwarf and the Giant (1901)
Bluebeard (1901)

Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants (1902)

Life of an American Fireman (1903)
The Infernal Cauldron (1903)

Westinghouse Works (1904)
The Untamable Whiskers (1904)
The Suburbanite (1904)

The Living Playing Cards (1905) - Georges Melies
The Black Devil (1905)

The Birth, The Life and Death of Christ (1906)
The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) - Edwin S. Porter
The Hilarious Posters (1906)

That Fatal Sneeze (1907)
The Policemen's Little Run (1907)
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon (1907)

The Tempest (1908)
Fantasmagorie (1908)

The Country Doctor (1909) - Griffith
The Devilish Tenant (1909)
Lady Helen's Escapade (1909) - Griffith

The Abyss (1910)
The Hasher's Delirium (1910)
The Usurer (1910) - Griffith
Enoch Arden (1911) - Griffith
The Last Drop of Water (1911) - Griffith
The Miser's Heart (1911) - Griffith

The Burglar's Dilemma (1912) - Griffith
The Female of the Species (1912) - Griffith
For His Son (1912) - Griffith
Friends (1912) - Griffith
From the Manger to the Cross (1912) - early religious film
The Girl and Her Trust (1912) - Griffith
The Lesser Evil (1912) - Griffith
The New York Hat (1912) - Griffith
One is Business, The Other Crime (1912) - Griffith
The Painted Lady (1912) - Griffith
Richard III (1912) - oldest surviving full-length film
The Sunbeam (1912) - Griffith

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) - Griffith
Death's Marathon (1913) - Griffith
Fantômas (1913) - French crime/detective film
The House of Darkness (1913) - Griffith
The Last Days of Pompeii (1913) - Italian epic
The Mothering Heart (1913) - Griffith
The Student of Prague (1913)
Traffic in Souls (1913)

The Avenging Conscience, or 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' (1914) - Griffith
Cabiria (1914) - early Italian film
Daisy Doodad’s Dial (1914)
Gertie the Trained Dinosaur (1914)
Judith of Bethulia (1914) - Griffith epic available on YouTube
The Massacre (1914) - Griffith
The Perils of Pauline (1914) - unavailable Pearl White serial
The Squaw Man (1914) - first DeMille film

Carmen (1915) Cecil B. DeMille
The Cheat (1915)
Les Vampires (1915) - famed horror serial
Regeneration (1915) - early Raoul Walsh film
The Tramp (1915) - Chaplin

Behind the Screen (1916) - Chaplin
Civilization (1916) - early epic from Thomas Ince
The Curse of Quon Gwon - early Chinese film
The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916)
Hell's Hinges (1916) - William S. Hart western
Judex (1916) - Louis Feuillade serial
The Pawnshop (1916) - Chaplin
The Rink (1916) - Chaplin
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)

The Adventurer (1917) - Chaplin
Cleopatra (1917) - lost Theda Bara film
The Cure (1917) - Chaplin
Easy Street (1917) - Chaplin
Fear (1917)
The Immigrant (1917) - Chaplin
Joan the Woman (1917) - Cecil B. DeMille
A Little Princess (1917) - Pickford
The Outlaw and His Wife (1917) - Swedish
The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917) - Pickford
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) - Pickford
The Silent Man (1917) - William S. Hart western

The Blue Bird (1918) - National Film Registry selection
Hearts of the World (1918) - Griffith
The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918)
Mickey (1918)
The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)
The Song of the Scarlet Flower (1918)
Stella Maris (1918) - Pickford
Tarzan of the Apes (1918) - Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan
The Whispering Chorus (1918) - Cecil B. DeMille

Ask Father (1919) - Harold Lloyd
Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919) - Harold Lloyd
Blind Husbands (1919) - von Stroheim
Broken Blossoms (1919) - Griffith/Gish
Bumping into Broadway (1919) - Harold Lloyd
The Busher (1919) - John Gilbert
Daddy-Long-Legs (1919)
The Doll (1919) - Ernst Lubitsch
Don’t Change Your Husband (1919) Cecil B. DeMille
J'accuse! (1919) - Abel Gance war film
Madame DuBarry (1919) - Negri/Jannings/Lubitsch
Male and Female (1919) - Gloria Swanson
The Oyster Princess (1919) - Ernst Lubitsch
Sir Arne's Treasure (1919)
True Heart Susie (1919) - D.W. Griffith

There are many films from this era that are considered lost. Amazing to think that it's been 100+ years. Also there are lots of shorts from D.W. Griffith, as well as Charlie Chaplin, and some early shorts from Harold Lloyd that I haven't had a chance to see.

One day...

1900-1919

2008-07-23T14:00:00.018-04:00

The 20th century begins! And with it, so did my adventure.
I began in June 2002 with four movies from the silent era...

The Great Train Robbery (1903) B
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) C+
Intolerance (1916) B+
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) B+

As you can see, I missed out on quite a number of classic titles from the era. This was mainly due to availability issues at the time. I hadn't yet heard of Netflix so I had to work with what I could get a hold of the old fashioned way. I was about to be a Senior in high school and didn't know as much about film as I do now. I had just seen The Birth of a Nation (1915) when I was trying to watch all 100 of AFI's top 100 list from 1998. I felt I had seen it too recently to include on the adventure.

Of the four I chose to watch, I'd say that each has some form of merit for a movie fan. The Great Train Robbery is an exciting little short. Tillie's Punctured Romance is notable for being Charlie Chaplin's first feature. Intolerance is the most ambitious, and it's very impressive. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is certainly the most intriguing with it's German expressionist sets and cinematography.

Over the years, I've managed to see a few films from this era that had escaped me back in '02. Thanks to the wonder of YouTube, I was able to check out some early D.W. Griffith, as well as the famous A Trip to the Moon (1902).

There are still a lot of films that I'd like to see. The early days of silent film offer more gems from film pioneers like D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Lillian Gish, etc. I will go into more detail in future posts.

Also Seen From This Era-
A Trip to the Moon (1902) A
Alice in Wonderland (1903)
The Impossible Voyage (1904)
The Night Before Christmas (1905)
The Adventures of Dollie (1908)
A Corner in Wheat (1909)
The Lonely Villa (1909)
Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy (1909)
The Red Man's View (1909)
The Sealed Room (1909)
Those Awful Hats (1909)
Frankenstein (1910)
In the Border States (1910)
The Unchanging Sea (1910)
His Trust (1911)
What Shall We Do with Our Old? (1911)
An Unseen Enemy (1912)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
The Birth of a Nation (1915) A-
One A.M. (1916)
A Dog's Life (1918)
Shoulder Arms (1918)
From Hand to Mouth (1919)

The Kiss (1896)

2008-07-22T14:35:00.001-04:00

Perhaps the most famous of the short, experimental moving pictures of the late 1890s, The Kiss depicts an older, seemingly aristocratic (and let's face it, unattractive) couple kissing. It lasts a mere 20 seconds and was produced by Thomas Edison in 1896.

May Irwin and John C. Rice play the famous couple. This film is actually a reenactment of the final scene of the stage musical, The Widow Jones, in which the actors appeared.

History maintains that this brief image caused an outrage for its 'indecency', prompting an early demand for film censorship. What an impact for what, when compared to 21st century standards, appears to be a slight achievement.

Early Cinema

2008-07-22T11:29:00.006-04:00

The whole of my adventure consists of feature-length films (with one notable exception) released after 1900. It is worth noting, however, that there are a number of great short films released before the 20th century that I'd still like to discuss, having seen them since I began 'adventuring'.

Mavericks of technology like Thomas Edison, The Lumiere Brothers, and Louis Le Prince are credited as the most famous early filmmakers. Known for inventing the art of motion pictures, Edison developed the Kinetoscope, which was an early film projector. Edison went on to produce a number of experimental short films in the late 1890s, including The Kiss (1896). His film Blacksmith Scene (1893) is said to be the first Edison company film made for commercial distribution. It is currently the oldest film on the National Film Registry and is given credit as the starting point in the American motion picture industry. Edison followed it with an experimental film called Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), also known as Fred Ott's Sneeze. It is said to be the first film with a close-up.

The Lumiere Brothers (Auguste and Louis) did a lot with the advancement camera processes, later abandoning motion pictures for photography. One of their major contributions to film is Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896). This film features a train coming towards the camera, which is said to have frightened moviegoers in its day due to its realistic cinematography.

Le Prince (who is said to have mysteriously vanished!) actually preceded them all in filmmaking by using a single-lens camera and paper film to make Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888) and Roundhay Garden Scene (1888). The latter (pictured below) is considered to be the earliest surviving film!

These films, each clocking in at less than a minute, can be seen on YouTube and are fascinating examples of the early days of cinema.

The Adventure Begins

2008-07-21T20:09:00.009-04:00

Welcome,

I thought I would open with an explanation of my self-proclaimed 'Adventure Through Movies'. This blog will detail my chronological journey through film that began in June 2002.

I was about to turn 17 and was bursting with a love for the cinema. My movie-watching habits were pretty haphazard. I would watch an assortment of old movies and new movies, while trying to watch as many Oscar-winning Best Pictures as I could. I also tried my best to see as many movies that were considered to be among "the greatest of all time". Eventually, I decided that I needed structure. An idea struck! I could experience movies chronologically. I decided to go all the way back to the dawn of film and work my way to the present.

I wanted to attempt to put myself in the context of the era when film was created and I hoped to experience the passage of time along with the progression of film-making. In effect, I'd experience a history lesson through the cinema. The films that I chose to watch were typically those that I could imagine myself opting to see if I lived in that time period. As my adventure progressed, I began to watch movies based on who made them, who appeared in them, and their critical reception. A big thanks must be extended to my dad's massive film collection, as well as Netflix, and the Penn State libraries for allowing so many renowned and obscure films to be within my grasp.

In this blog, I will detail my experiment by listing each film that I've watched. I'd like to offer insight based on my perspective of the progression of cinema, as well as general thoughts on filmdom, and maybe some reviews. I hope that you will learn a little bit more about film and discover some of these movies that make up my adventure.

This is my life's work. Why not share it?

CinemaAdventurer