FDR Wins Unprecedented Fourth Term

Jesse Walker is now back to 1944.  Funny, it doesn't seem like eighty years.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-year-they-took-beach-i-have-listed.html

Here are his top ten films of the year:

1. Double Indemnity

2. To Have And Have Not

3. Laura

4. The Curse Of The Cat People

5. Hail The Conquering Hero

6. The Chronicle History Of King Henry The Fift With His Battell Fought At Agincourt In France [Jesse swears this is how it's spelled onscreen]

7. The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek

8. A Canterbury Tale

9. It Happened Tomorrow

10. Arsenic And Old Lace

A fine list, and mostly Hollywood--they were pretty busy overseas at the time.

Double Indemnity is a Billy Wilder classic. Working with Raymond Chandler (his regular partner Charles Brackett wasn't interested and James M. Cain was busy), the script has some of the greatest noir dialogue ever.  Maybe not #1, but certainly top ten.

Hawks could do no wrong from the late 30s to the late 40s.  In To Have And Have Not he adapted Hemingway's worst novel (mostly by ignoring it) and came up with something special.  The amazing thing is very little seems to happen (as opposed to the film he's reacting against, Casablanca) yet it's mesmerizing. He also created a sexy new star in the process, Lauren Bacall (and instead of getting her--certainly his plan--threw her into the arms of her leading man).

Laura looks good and has some nice performances, but I'm less than enchanted with its story.

The Curse Of The Cat People is quite something, especially for a B picture.

Hail The Conquering Hero is my favorite Preston Sturges film and would be my #1 for the year.

Henry V is Olivier's best Shakespeare movie.

I agree that Morgan's Creek is Sturges second-best film of the year, and also that it's top ten.

A Canterbury Tale is a pretty solid Powell and Pressburger film.  I should note that John Sweet, a real US Army sergeant, is not a professional actor, and you can tell.  It's hard to say if this is bad, or adds a note of realism to the film. (I watched this movie on TV with the CC on.  One of the characters says tea must be good "for the wind." I guess the CC typist hadn't heard of this phrase, so we read that tea is good "for the win." FTW,  baby!)

I like It Happened Tomorrow, though Clair's English films aren't quite a magical as his French ones.

Arsenic And Old Lace is Capra trying to make something quickly so he can get some quick cash before he devotes his time to the war effort. (The film was held back for years, ruining Capra's plan, because contractually it couldn't open until the play stopped running on Broadway.) Thus, unlike You Can't Take It With You, Capra pretty much leaves the original alone.  Which is fine with me.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. The Old Grey Hare

12. Murder, My Sweet

13. At Land

14. Lifeboat

15. Ministry Of Fear

16. The Suspect

17. Jammin' The Blues

18. Little Red Riding Rabbit

19. The Woman In The Window

20. The Tower Of The Seven Hunchbacks.

I doubt anything on this list would make my top ten.

A lot of shorts.  As such, 11, 17 and 18 are excellent.  Haven't seen 13.

12 is a good but not great film noir.  14 is another intriguing but not great Hitchcock experiment.  15 is decent Lang.

I like, but don't love, 16 and 19.  20 I haven't seen.

Other films that might make my top ten:

Cover Girl

Meet Me In St. Louis (Jesse likes parts of it, but I see it as a unified work of art)

Other films I like:

Higher And Higher

Meet The People

Phantom Lady

Other films of note:

El Abanico De Lady Windermere, The Adventures Of Mark Twain, Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves, Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble, The Battle Of China, Belle Of The Yukon, Blonde Fever, Bowery To Broadway, The Bridge Of San Luis Rey, Broadway Rhythm, Buffalo Bill, The Canterville Ghost, Casanova Brown, Dragon Seed, The Falcon In Hollywood, The Fighting Seabees, The Fighting Sullivans, Four Jills In A Jeep, Gaslight, Gildersleeve's Ghost, Going My Way, The Great Moment, Greenwich Village, The Hairy Ape, Here Come The Co-Eds, Hollywood Canteen, House Of Frankenstein, I'll Be Seeing You, Ivan The Terrible, Jungle Woman, Kismet, Lady In The Dark, Louisiana Hayride, The Mask Of Dimitrios, Memphis Belle, Million Dollar Kid, Mr. Skeffington, Mrs. Parkington, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Ghost, Music For Millions, National Velvet, The Negro Soldier, Nevada, None But The Lonely Heart, Nothing But Trouble, Once Upon A Time, Pardon My Rhythm, Pin Up Girl, The Return Of The Vampire, Rosie The Riveter, Shine On Harvest Moon, Since You Went Away, Something For The Boys, Song Of Russia, Step Lively, The Story Of Dr. Wassell, Swing In The Saddle, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Two Girls And A Sailor, The Uninvited, The Very Thought Of You, The Whistler, The White Cliffs Of Dover, Wilson, Winged Victory