Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Jesse has gone back 80 years to 1945.

The Perpetual Three-Dot Column

Here's his top ten films:

1. I Know Where I'm Going!

2. Ivan The Terrible, Part One

3. Scarlet Street

4. Open City

5. Isle Of The Dead

6. Les Dames Du Bois De Boulogne

7. The Spiral Suitcase

8. The Picture Of Dorian Gray

9, Children Of Paradise

10. Detour

I think every one of these is a quality film (even the low budget ones).  My only difference is in what order I'd rank them.

Powell and Pressburger are often overrated, but I Know Where I'm Going!, a relatively small, black and white affair, is something special.

I don't love Ivan The Terrible, Part One--it may be my least favorite in the top ten--but it is fun in how it's overdone.

Scarlet Street, The Spiral Staircase and Detour are the three films noir on the list.  Bound to have a few in the 40s.  All pretty good.

Open City (or Rome, Open City) is one of the top neorealist films.  While I question some of the theory behind neorealism, the movement did manage to turn out some decent films.

Isle Of The Dead is part of quite a run of Val Lewton-produced B horror films.

I haven't gotten around to Les Dames Du Bois De Boulogne.  I like Bresson's later films, so I suspect I'd like this one.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray is a well-done adaptation of Wilde. (It's more "adapted" than his other work since the source is a novel, not a play.) It helps that Wilde gave them a great visual gimmick to work with.

Children Of Paradise, shot in the middle of the war, may be my favorite film of 1945.

Honorable mentions:

11. Fallen Angel

12. The Body Snatcher

13. My Name Is Julia Ross

14. Draftee Daffy

15. Mildred Pierce

16. Le Vampire

17. Swing Shift Cinderella

18. Wonder Man

19. The Screwy Truant

20. The Wicked Lady

We get yet more noir with Fallen Angel, My Name Is Julia Ross and Mildred Pierce (the last sort of forced into the noir category--the novel had no murder but the film sure does). They hold up about as well as the three in the top ten.

The Body Snatcher is more Val Lewton, and I think I prefer it to Isle Of The Dead.

The Wicked Lady was a big hit in Britain.  It's okay, I guess.

Wonder Man is a solid Danny Kaye film for those who like Danny Kaye.

The rest are shorts.

 

Here are some other films that might make my top ten:

 

Anchor’s Aweigh

 

Dead Of Night

 

The Lost Weekend

 

Other films I like

Along Came Jones, And Then There Were None, Brief Encounter, The Clock, Dillinger, Here Come The Co-Eds, It’s In The Bag, Mom And Dad (for historical reasons), The Naughty Nineties, Rhapsody In Blue, A Royal Scandal, The Southerner, State Fair, Yolanda And The Thief (even weak Astaire is decent), Ziegfeld Follies

 

Other films of note:

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, Back to Bataan, A Bell For Adano, The Bells of St. Mary's, Blithe Spirit, Blood On The Sun, Brewster's Millions, Caesar and Cleopatra, Captain Kidd, Christmas in Connecticut, Confidential Agent, Conflict, The Corn Is Green, Cornered, Dakota, Dick Tracy, Docks of New York, The Enchanted Cottage, Flame of Barbary Coast, The Great Flamarion, Guest Wife, Hangover Square, Hotel Berlin, House of Dracula, Johnny Angel, Lady on a Train, Leave Her to Heaven, Love Letters, The Man in Half Moon Street, Murder He Says, Objective, Burma!, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, Pride of the Marines, The Rake's Progress, San Antonio, Saratoga Trunk, Sherlock Holmes And The House Of Fear, Son of Lassie, A Song to Remember, The Spanish Main, Spellbound, The Stork Club, The Story Of G.I. Joe, They Were Expendable, The Thin Man Goes Home, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, Tonight and Every Night, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Waterloo Road, Without Love, The Woman in Green