#1 — A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957) I would like to think that a satire of mass media — of television, in particular — wouldn’t still be pertinent some fifty years later, that five decades of intellectual evolution … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number One
#2 — Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) Some Like It Hot, a film routinely cited as one of the greatest straight comedies Hollywood ever produced, begins with an act of mass murder. And it’s not some gently softened version … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Two
#3 — Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) At the time Sunset Boulevard was released, Gloria Swanson hadn’t appeared in a film for nearly ten years. Between 1933 and 1950, she had roles in only two releases. In that respect, she was … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Three
#4 — Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) The films of Alfred Hitchcock are ideally suited for clip reels, which can skew perception of them a bit. Moreso than Billy Wilder, John Ford, or any of his other rough … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Four
#5 — Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) A story about the making of Rashomon insists that the actors were regularly asking director Akira Kurosawa to divulge the “official” version of the story they were telling in the film. That likely … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Five
#6 — Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952) A few years back, when the American Film Institute followed their surprisingly successful AFI’S 100 Years 100 Movies special with annual companion lists of increasing insignificance (anybody really care … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Six
#7 — North By Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959) It’s probably impossible to pinpoint the first Alfred Hitchcock-designed image I was exposed to, but I know the single shot that stands as the first I really saw. It’s arguably his most … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Seven
#8 — Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953) There are few films in the canon of necessary classics as quiet, tender, and elegiac as Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story. Accurate as that description may be, emphasizing the fulsome quiet of the film … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Eight
#9 — All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950) Margo Channing, played by Bette Davis, is responding to a direct question. The tension in the room is stirred and the temperature is rising. She’s asked if the darts she’s already been hurling represent the end or the beginning of her charged activity for the evening. She throws back her cocktail, strides purposefully away from her group, pausing one step up the stairwell to turn back and advise, curdled smile on her lips, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” It is the sort of perfect line … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Nine
#10 — The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957) David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of the films that I remember as being a fairly constant presence when I was much younger, always helping a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Ten
Coffee for Two 