The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

An ongoing project to survey the best films of individual decades, genres, and filmmakers.
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Rayon Vert
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#76 Post by Rayon Vert » Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:23 pm

Sullivan's Travels (Sturges 1941). My liking of the film waxes and wanes each time out (a little more of the latter this time). To give it its credit, though, it’s such an original work – off the top of my head I can only think of Citizen Kane in terms of a Hollywood film in the same time period that feels so modern and self-aware that it feels out of place, i.e. ahead of its time. I like the way it addresses its larger contemporary context – death everywhere, not just the Depression but the war in Europe -, and how the slapstick road scene is made funnier because that type of old-fashioned movie-making was referenced by the film producers portrayed at the movie’s beginning. It also strikes out on its own in the way it changes tone completely when the surprisingly dark and violent turn of events occurs. Like Dark Imbecile in his write-up of the film in the Screwball Comedies list, I’m less fond of the too-obvious ending. Although you have to hand it to Sturges to attempt to make an anti-message message movie about comedies that, well, have messages, but in the end this one does too! (In that sense, then, perhaps it’s possible to read the ending as ironic rather than sincere?)


Cat People (Tourneur 1942). I didn’t love it as much as previously (my expectations were probably too high based on the last viewings), but it’s still a film I really admire. There’s not much evidence on the film itself of the smaller budget; the expressionistic cinematography and the art direction (that leopard in the opening credits that forms a tapestry in Irena’s apartment, for example) make a particularly strong impression. With its dense atmosphere and hypnotic pull, the film anticipates the deadly erotic mystery tone of Vertigo. The melancholy in Irena’s spirit creates a genuine feeling of queasiness.


All the King’s Men (Rossen 1949). So this viewing does double duty for this and the Best Picture projects. I like it well enough but feel it’s maybe a little overrated? It’s a fine exposé of populism and political corruption, but the narrative is a slight bit predictable and Crawford, despite his much-lauded performance, plays a character that’s sometimes not much more than a two-dimensional thug. (I’d fault the writing just a little when initially he seems like a sincere, likeable person, but is immediately shown as the opposite when he comes to power.) But the slightly documentary noir style, the photography and the settings give it a certain beauty and weight.

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domino harvey
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#77 Post by domino harvey » Sun Apr 14, 2019 12:55 pm

Crawford’s Best Actor win was definitely aided by weak competition that year
Kirk Douglas, Champion
Gregory Peck, Twelve O’Clock Noon
Richard Todd, the Hasty Heart — sympathy nod for the character, not the perf
John Wayne, Sands of Iwo Jima — only nominated for you-know-what-ing
I’ve seen all five nominees and he’s easily the best of the lot, even if it doesn’t call on him to do much more than be Broderick Crawford. But the wins for him and Mercedes McCambridge plus the nom for John Ireland are remarkable feats for character actors in B and poverty row films who found themselves unexpectedly let into the club here

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#78 Post by Rayon Vert » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:17 pm

I thought Ireland was pretty bland.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#79 Post by Rayon Vert » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:26 pm

Just going by what I've seen, it seems '49 wasn't the strongest year for American movies? Those on my to-watch-again list are mostly foreign. Yellow Ribbon isn't my favorite Ford, then I've got Criss Cross which I love, Border Incident which I like, White Heat, I Was a Male War Bride. I like The Heiress somewhat but not as much as others seem to on this board but will revisit it when the Criterion comes out. I won't talk about Whirlpool not to upset you, domino. :) I think The Reckless Moment is just OK.

But there's also a lot I haven't seen yet, including a lot of noirs for that year, and A Letter to Three Wives.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#80 Post by knives » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:38 pm

If you want suggestions then I'd say you have to see Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Shockproof, The Fan, Battleground, and On the Town.

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domino harvey
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#81 Post by domino harvey » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:39 pm

Nah. I mean, just looking at Oscar nominees alone from this year, there’s plenty of worthwhile movies in 1949:

All the King’s Men
Battleground
Champion
the Hasty Heart
Madame Bovary
Neptune’s Daughter
On the Town
Once More, My Darling
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
the Stratton Story
White Heat
the Window

...and Bicycle Thieves/the Fallen Idol/Paisan in their American releases. And while they were not quite my tempo, I look forward to revisiting the Heiress, Pinky,and A Letter to Three Wives to reassess

(And among the big nominee gatherers, I haven’t seen Come to the Stable, Jolson Sings Again, this year’s Little Women, or Edward, My Son, but they’re in the queue)

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#82 Post by domino harvey » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:47 pm

And looking at my Letterboxd, you can add and/or I second knives on:

Adventure in Baltimore
Alias Nick Beal
the Big Steal
City Across the River
the Fan
Holiday Affair
House of Strangers
Impact
Scene of the Crime
the Set Up
Shockproof
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
the Threat
We Were Strangers

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#83 Post by Rayon Vert » Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:55 pm

Shockproof and The Fan I've seen - the latter I like a little.

WWII war movies are one of my blind spots (except when made by "auteurs" I've seen, e.g. Hawks and Ford), and more significantly perhaps, all of the MGM Freed Unit musicals (!) - never seen a single one in my entire, half-century life. (I'm pretty up to date on 30s and early 40s musicals though). Minnelli and Mankiewicz are two Hollywood film directors I've purposefully avoided until was I ready to properly do them, i.e. film by film chronologically. I should have time to start both (their 40s output anyway) in the summer.

I'm also up to mid-48 or so in my great noirs watching, so will have time to finish up the decade.

Edward, My Son I've seen. Here was my personal write-up: Spencer Tracy plays an almost pathologically selfish and ambitious millionaire whose own ideals for the success of his son creates misery and death around him. The subject is mature and grim, but the script is overall weak and sometimes disjointed, and the whole thing pretty flat throughout, never succeeding in really engaging the viewer.

Not a big fan of Adam's Rib either.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#84 Post by knives » Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:02 pm

I'm understating the matter, but Mank is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and as essential to be seen as the bigger names like Hawks and Ford. Since it's his first film as director anyway you might as well as run out to see Dragonwyck which is the best of his films I've seen this decade. Minnelli is a lot more uneven, but The Pirate is possibly the best musical of the '40s.

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#85 Post by Rayon Vert » Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:05 pm

I 100% promise to watch all Mank films of the 40s for this project, or what's available on DVD (unless life happens and takes me out for some reason). I purchased Dragonwyck when it came out on TT so no worries there!

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#86 Post by Rayon Vert » Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:12 pm

Another question for potential film viewing for this project: who's better in the 40s - Mizoguchi or Kurosawa?

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#87 Post by domino harvey » Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:15 pm

Rayon Vert wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:55 pm
WWII war movies are one of my blind spots (except when made by "auteurs" I've seen, e.g. Hawks and Ford), and more significantly perhaps, all of the MGM Freed Unit musicals (!) - never seen a single one in my entire, half-century life. (I'm pretty up to date on 30s and early 40s musicals though). Minnelli and Mankiewicz are two Hollywood film directors I've purposefully avoided until was I ready to properly do them, i.e. film by film chronologically. I should have time to start both (their 40s output anyway) in the summer.
All of this stuns me... Congrats on depriving yourself of an embarrassment of riches? Hopefully you rectify these intentional blind spots soon, for your own sake. I honestly can’t figure out how it’s possible for a viewer as well-versed in this era as you clearly are to even pull this off

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#88 Post by Rayon Vert » Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:31 pm

Well my cinephilia started about 11 years ago, and before that time I had watched extremely few Golden Age Hollwood films, not even Citizen Kane for example, although I did take a crash course in art & foreign cinema in my early 20s (50s, 60 era + silent, Weimar cinema, etc.) because I lived in a city and there was an extremely gloriously complete arty VHS rental place nearby. Since 11 years ago, I've gone very systematically, doing either a director at a time (trying to watch pretty much everything he or she has done or close to it), or a genre/sub-genre (e.g. literary classics adaptations in Hollywood 30s, screwball comedies, etc.) So yeah there are huge gaping holes. Walsh and DeMille are another two still ahead of me, although I've cheated a bit with Walsh and seen a few, including White Heat. Kazan is another one. Happily (or sadly?), I've now got a lot less big names to discover/explore than ones I have.

Obviously this list project is not along enough for me to cover all the missing bases, but I'll try to get some in, and fill in the other holes later. Same with the 50s hopefully.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#89 Post by dustybooks » Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:15 pm

Rayon Vert wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:12 pm
Another question for potential film viewing for this project: who's better in the 40s - Mizoguchi or Kurosawa?
Mizoguchi is more my speed generally (I disproportionately favor Kurosawa's non-period films, but I do like most of his major works), but it's actually more of a wash in this period -- I don't think the '40s were the best decade for either (perhaps for obvious reasons). Still: Women of the Night is an outstanding nod to Italian neorealism (which I actually like more than most of the major neo-realist titles, Rossellini's aside); and while I think it's a minority opinion, Stray Dog is one of my favorite movies Kurosawa ever made and, I feel, one of the best police dramas of all.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#90 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:59 am

Our current film club topic happens to coincide with this project. Please come on over and tell us what you think of Rebecca, even if it's only a quick observation or a couple of sentences about your viewing.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#91 Post by schellenbergk » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:37 pm

So - as a newbie I decided to take a plunge and look into the lists of 1940s with the idea of building my own. I'm blown away by a) how many great movies came out in that decade and b) how many I've seen. I've started compiling a list and I find I'm quite happy to add films I really enjoyed regardless of whether they great "cinema." Heck, I'm old enough to remember when W.C. Fields & Marx Brothers double features used to play regularly alongside Truffaut and Bergman at the "art house" cinema in my hometown (the Biograph on Grace Street in Richmond, VA). So my tastes run to enjoyment as mush as to art for art's sake.

So my initial list has a lot of oddball films I just find full of "joy." And yes, that even includes noir - what's more enjoyable than watching a great femme fatale.

Here are a few oddball films for your consideration:

Here Comes Mr. Jordan - one of the great 'heaven' comedies - it just edged out Lubitsch's Heaven Can Wait on the first draft of my list.
Hangover Square - I only recently learned about this film, but it's got a great central performance
The Rocking Horse Winner - this seems to have fallen off the radar a bit - used to be very highly regarded
The Uninvited - my favorite 'haunted house' film of all time
The Bank Dick - W.C.'s funniest film
Kind Hearts and Coronets - just a pleasure to watch

Oh and one other note - I'm still 'on probation' (I tend to read rather than write) - so I'm shamelessly trying to post enough to be able to IM and send in my list!! Please approve me, pretty please?

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#92 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:47 pm

Welcome to the lists project! Just a couple more substantive posts and you'll be a full-fledged forum member.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#93 Post by domino harvey » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:52 pm

I think even new members can PM moderators, including swo17, the member running this list. But obviously it's even better if you post more instead!

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#94 Post by schellenbergk » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:58 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:52 pm
I think even new members can PM moderators, including swo17, the member running this list. But obviously it's even better if you post more instead!
Sadly, computer says 'no.' When I click P{rivate Message I get:
We are sorry, but you are not authorised to use this feature. You may have just registered here and may need to participate more in discussions to be able to use this feature.

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#95 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:59 pm

Well, congratulations, you now have 5 posts anyway!

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#96 Post by schellenbergk » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:59 pm

swo17 wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:59 pm
Well, congratulations, you now have 5 posts anyway!
: >

Thanks - you'll be getting my 1940s list shortly!!

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#97 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:06 pm

Rayon Vert wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:26 pm
Just going by what I've seen, it seems '49 wasn't the strongest year for American movies? Those on my to-watch-again list are mostly foreign.
I linked my prior list earlier, but I was surprised to check and see that 12(!) of my top 50 were from 1949. Only 3 American films though:

Bad Luck Blackie
The Black Book/Reign of Terror
The Window

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#98 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:10 pm

schellenbergk wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:59 pm
Thanks - you'll be getting my 1940s list shortly!!
Well, I wouldn’t rush; you still have until November to keep adding to it!

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swo17
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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#99 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:16 pm

He's not the first person to have sent me a list already, and I will accept them (as well as any subsequent revisions to them) but I might share this reminder from the first post:
Please PM me your list of what you believe are the top 50 films from this decade toward the end of the project. You may feel that you could compile a list of 50 favorite films from this decade much earlier than the deadline, but it's still highly recommended that you engage in the discussions here. Don't keep your favorites a secret, and always be open to suggestions from others!

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Re: The 1940s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#100 Post by knives » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:19 pm

Especially with posts like that one. The Rocking Horse Winner does sound interesting.

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