What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
With my local movie theater charging $12.50 per ticket, and with all of the expenses that come with planning my upcoming nuptials (as I commented below on C.J.'s post, I wish we had opted to elope), I’m determined to avoid the cinema this summer. Instead, I’m raiding the public library for every 1940s and 50s film I can get my hands on and plan to write a series over at Acculturated on the selections I watch. While plenty has changed in the sixty to seventy years since these films were produced, the basic human themes of love, truth, happiness, meaning, forgiveness, and mutual understanding are as relevant now as ever.
My first selection, which I write about here, was the 1947 film Gentleman's Agreement, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Gregory Peck. It's a great movie, if at times a bit on the preachy side, that treats the subject of anti-Semitism. Not the blatant, kill-the-Jews strain of anti-Semitism of Hitler's Germany or Ahmadinejad's Iran, but rather the passive and incredibly pernicious strain of anti-Semitism prevalent in postwar America.
My next selection will be on the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson. Member Adrian has already sold me on Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront, which I plan on reviewing as part of my series, but I welcome your recommendations for other outstanding films from the 1940s and 50s that stand the test of time and remain relevant for today's generation.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Maltese Falcon, and The Third Man.
Apr '11
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
I second the Falcon and toss in Casablanca and Rear Window, if only for Grace Kelly in something long and flowing.
May '12
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Don't forget: "The Best Years of Our Lives", "Shane", "Casablanca", "The African Queen", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "The Lost Weekend", "Marty", "Splendor in the Grass", "Rebel Without a Cause", --- and (my favorite) "It's a Wonderful Life".
Mar '11
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Gilda. Man, was Rita Hayworth hawt.
The Big Sleep. "You know how to whistle, don't cha Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."
We're No Angels. "Here we are...three desperate criminals who will stop at nothing to escape Devil's Island...and we have to fall in amongst nice people.
Dec '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Marty still gets me every time. I'm going to watch it again as a tribute to Ernest Borgnine.
Feb '11
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
You might want to visit Robert Avrech's blog for ideas. Robert is an Emmy-award-winning screenwriter as well as an excellent blogger, and he often comments on movies of various historical periods.
Aug '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Preston Sturges ouevre. Great comedy , smart people, staccato screenplays , amazing ensemble.
Oct '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Most of the films I've seen from that era were war films, but there were a couple others I liked that were musicals. "Singing In The Rain" and "Swing Time" come to mind. I saw a BBC remake of North by Northwest that makes me wanna see the original.
Stalag 17 - funny comedy about a WWII POW camp; interesting because it's a comedy war film-an interesting combo.
Anchors Aweigh and any other film with Sinatra and Gene Kelly.
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Speaking of good looks...Cary Grant. The fellows on the big screen these days pale by comparison.
Sep '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Meet John Doe is another Capra classic. I've always liked How Green Was My Valley, Citizen Kane (Rosebud), Stagecoach, Bridge on the River Kwai, A Streetcar Named Desire (STELLA!!! STELLA!!!) The Caine Mutiny, The Ten Commandments (Moses, Moses) to name just a few.
Jun '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Speaking of good looks...Cary Grant. The fellows on the big screen these days pale by comparison. · 1 minute ago
And he was a great comic actor. He was terrific in Arsenic and Old Lace. He has a great bug-eye look that's hilarious.
If you like epics, see any of the movies directed by David Lean.
Edited on July 11, 2012 at 2:30amJul '10
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Hitchcock put out a lot of great movies in that period, but Vertigo, for me, is still the best movie ever made by anyone.
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Let me suggest something from 1981 that I just watched -- the eleven-hour BBC series Brideshead Revisited.
While recuperating further, I will join my wife in watching Foreign Correspondent, North by Northwest, and The Third Man.
We recently watched To Have and Have Not (the movie where Lauren Bacall says to Bogart, "You know how to whistle, Steve, you just put your lips together and blow) and Key Large (the return of Bogart and Bacall).
Mar '12
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
A great Robert Mitchum movie is "Night of the Hunter". Was not very popular at the time of release, but it is a classic that has stood the test of time well.
A great courtroom drama is "Anatomy of a Murder" with Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick, ect.....
A very good western, with a non-typical storyline, is "The Ox-Bow Incident"
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
I do really love old Hitchcock films. I envy the person who still hasn't seen them all because of all the hours of awesomeness they have in store there. I watched Hitchcock's Mr. & Mrs. Smith this weekend, which was a cute one on the theme of marriage (one of his only non-suspense flicks). And one of my recent favorite Hitchcock discoveries is Foreign Correspondent.
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
After reading Brideshead Revisited the summer after graduating from college, I saw the recent remake in theaters. It was awful and I do not recommend that anyone see it. But I shall certainly watch the BBC series that you recommend here.
Apr '11
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
You Can't Take It With You is my favorite Jimmy Stewart movie, though I think it might actually be late 30's, and Woman of the Year is my favorite Hepburn/Tracy film.
Apr '11
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Double Indemnity, Rope, Dial M for Murder, Strangers on a Train.
A hearty second--or third--for The Third Man. I just got the soundtrack on iTunes the other day. Perfect. I really can't argue with any selections above.
Edited on July 11, 2012 at 2:53amJul '12
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Soooo many. Of westerns , My Darling Clementine, The Westerner, Destry Rides Again, Rio Grande. Of Cary Grant, Arsenic and Old Lace, People Will Talk, and Notorius. Of noir my three faves are The Big Sleep and Maltese Falcon, of course, but you should look for Murder My Sweet. ( Chandler's ' Farewell My Lovely )
Re: What are Your Favorite Films from the 1940s and 50s?
Definitely To Have and Have Not. Lauren Bacall is uh-mazing..