Classic cinema - thoughts and questions

A Double Life (1947)
director: George Cukor

A film noir by George Cukor (a director mostly known for comedies and dramas)??? In cinema everything is possible. :-P
This film is about a veteran stage actor who gets quite obsessive with his role (Othello). This resuls in dangerous situations on and off the stage. Ronald Colman won an Oscar for his performance. Compelling film with strong music by Miklós Rózsa (also an Oscar).


The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
director: Lewis Gilbert

As most other Bond films, this one is full of action but this one is especially notable for its fantastic and large(!) stage sets designed by Ken Adam. Very impressive. At times, it reminds us of sci-fi sets, such as in Star Wars. This film marks the debut of “Jaws”.


Coogan’s Bluff (1968)
director: Don Siegel

A nice bridge for Eastwood between the Western and the crime film. Eastwood plays a deputy from Tex.. uhh Arizona, who goes to New York to pick up a convict. When you look at all the trouble he has to go through, this really is a good introduction to his role in Dirty Harry, also directed by Siegel.
 
Recently I saw two films which have to do with Maiden:

Children of the Damned (1963)

Children_of_the_Damned.jpg


British sci-fi, inspired 'Arry to write a song about it. Sequel to Village of the Damned (1960). This film is not as good as Village but still very well made. I love the shots of London town, and til the end it's still not clear what the outcome will be.


Creepers (original title: Phenomena) (1985)
An Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento.

Jennifer Connelly stars as a young girl who arrives at an eerie Swiss boarding school where the students are being butchered by a serial killer. With the help of a wheelchair user entomologist (Donald Pleasence), she discovers she can communicate telepathically with insects, and uses them to pursue the killer.

The film's soundtrack features original music by Goblin and Simon Boswell, providing some of his earliest film scoring work. Songs by Iron Maiden (Flash of the Blade!), Motörhead, Bill Wyman and Andi Sexgang are also featured. The solo soprano voice in the theme song Phenomena and also in Jennifer's Friend and The Wind is Pina Magri.

The film is quite scary and gory(!) but well made.
 
I really liked Spy Who Loved Me, I think it is the best of the Moore Bond films, it had a good combo of humor, action, gadgets, good bad guys, and hot chicks ..... plus the theme song is quite good.
 
Interesting movies Forostar. When I have more time I hope to watch a few of them. Children of the Damned has always been on the must-see list thanks to Maiden. Did not know it was a sequel.

I watched Hitchcock s classic Psycho this week, one of my favorites.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Interesting movies Forostar. When I have more time I hope to watch a few of them. Children of the Damned has always been on the must-see list thanks to Maiden. Did not know it was a sequel.
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Yes, try to see Village of the Damned first, to find out the origins of the Children.

SixesAlltheway said:
I watched Hitchcock s classic Psycho this week, one of my favorites.
Click to expand...

Cool. Perhaps my favourite film. :)
 
That's quite sad. He was a true expert, and his influence is felt through so many films.
 
That is too bad. I think it is safe to say he is much more well known because of Star Wars .... but it seems that he had a very deep resume.
 
Filmfreaks and other people who wish to join this: let's see what our favourite films are, per decade! Let's do 10 films per decade. You can also mention less (or more) films if you like. Also skipping a decade is logical, especially when you care less for a certain period. To be honest I can't even think of 10 films from the 1910s (anyone?), so shall we start with the 1920s? First round: 1920-1929. I'll go for:

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens - 1922
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler - 1922
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - 1923
Battleship Potemkin - 1925
The Phantom of the Opera - 1925
Faust - 1926
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog - 1927
Metropolis – 1927
The Unknown - 1927
Laugh, Clown, Laugh - 1928

Thanks for taking part, I'm curious about your selections!
 
I know only very few films from the 1920s, so I can't really participate yet. I'll get back to you on this one asap, I don't think I can join in before the fifties start, though :(
 
I'll take a stab at this:
Metropolis -- alla round spectacular film.
The Lodger (wish there were better prints of this around, the part with the glass floor was spectacular)
Der Letzte Mann -- very creative.
The General --- Excellent Chaplin film
Way Down East -- Underatted DW Griffith film.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- Interesting WWI film, an odd role for Valentino
Jazz Singer -- beyond the first commercial film with sound, it was a good movie
Wings -- Great WWI film about the US Air Corps
The Last Command -- Good film set in the Russian revolution
Blackmail -- another fine Hitchcock film, not his best, but very good.


If I had to pick pre-1920 ... these are the only 2 I have seen (and both were good)
Intolerance -- a great early epic film
Birth of a Nation -- obviously controversial now, but a key movie in film history.
 
Wings! That one is on my wishlist. Big chance it could be in my list if I'd seen it. And I almost had Blackmail in it, but in the end I chose some flicks with Lon Chaney.
 
1930-1939:
I'll go for:
The Mummy – 1932
The Old Dark House – 1932
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse – 1933
The Black Room – 1935
Bride of Frankenstein – 1935
Fury – 1936
The Man Who Changed His Mind (aka The Man Who Lived Again) – 1936
The Man They Could Not Hang – 1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – 1939
Son of Frankenstein – 1939

Special mention:
The Invisible Ray (1936) featuring -besides Karloff- Bela Lugosi and a stunning Frances Drake.
Frankenstein (1931) which really is about as good as its sequel, but three Frankensteins would be a bit too much, wouldn't it? ;-)

I realize that my list leans heavily on the horror (read: Boris Karloff!) side and I left out some great comedies. But Karloff is one of my favourite actors, and certainly in the 1930s. The characters he portrayed, especially the "mad" scientist no one believes in, are imo some of the coolest to watch in the history of cinema.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931): the "changes" are magnificent -the secret of the transformation scenes was not revealed for decades- and it was the only genuine Horror performance to receive an Oscar.

Werewolf of London (1935): Has things in common with Jekyll and Hyde, but a great film on its own with more effective make-up than The Wolf-Man (1941).

(sorry I copied part of the text from another source and I can't get rid of the bold letters. :/ )
 
The 1930s are much tougher to pick than the 20s.

In no order

The Public Ememy -- really the foundation for the Cagney gangster movie and film noir (along with Little Caesar)
Little Caesar (see Public Enemy)
Jezebel -- Bette Davis at her finest
Gone with the Wind -- Classic film and deserves to be
All Quiet on the Western Front -- griping movie
M -- Peter Lorre at his creepiest, fine film all around
The Thin Man -- funny, good plot, graet acting ... all the films in the series were good, but the first was the best IMO
Bride of Frankenstein --- so many good horror movies in this decade, I think this is the best of the best
The 39 Steps -- excellent Hitchcock film, perhaps the best of his British career
Snow White -- first Disney full length film, a real groundbreaker


Honorable mentions to
Lady Vanishes -- another excellent Hitchcock film
Triumph of the Will -- probably acontroversial choice, but there is not doubt it was a well made and impactful film
Wizard of Oz -- a true classic
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -- excellent performance by Jimmy Stewart
Dracula, Frankenstein and really all the Universal monster films
A Day at the Races -- excellent Marx Brothers film, one of their better ones.



I almost think going forward it might be wise to break the decades in half, I could have picked 10 great 1930-1935 films and 10 great 1939-40. the 40s and 50s will be even harder.
 
Hehe dangerous shot that, Shadow!

Yes bearfan, it's terribly difficult and it will be more and more in the next to decades. :)
 
Let's continue with the favourite films of the 1940s. I have been brooding on this for days, couldn't make up my mind which 10 I liked the most (I had 20 left). I really need to see them all again to decide it well, but that'd take too much time. ;) Right now I picked 10 and perhaps I will elaborate more on the others, later on. Looking forward to your contributions, here goes:

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Woman in the Window (1944)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Dark Passage (1947)
Hollow Triumph (aka The Scar) (1948)
Rope (1948)
The Set-Up (1949)
Thieves’ Highway (1949)

By the way, a cool theme I like in a film is when there’s a change of identity and/or the fear to be discovered. E.g. in the 1930s this was present in “The Black Room” and in the list above this identity aspect is really dominant in “Dark Passage” and “Hollow Triumph”.
 
I'll give it a shot

The Great Dictator
Rebecca
Citizen Kane
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Shadow of a Doubt
Open City
The Big Sleep
Rope
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Third Man

Honorable Mention
Knute Rockne: All American
Foreign Correspondant
Pride of the Yankees
Sante Fe Trail
Notorious
White Heat
12 O'Clock High
Sands of Iwo Jima
Bataan
Back to Bataan
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
 
I see you mentioned a great deal of war flicks, bearfan. Did you see Objective Burma! (1945)?
One of my favourite WWII films from the 1940s. Strong acting by Errol Flynn (note: this is not a "typical" Flynn movie a la Robin Hood or any other of his adventure films) and Henry Hull.

A group of United States Army paratroopers led by Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn) are dropped into Burma to locate and destroy a camouflaged Japanese Army radar station that is detecting Allied aircraft flying into China. For their mission, they are assigned Gurkha guides, a Chinese Army Captain and an older war correspondent (Henry Hull) whose character is used to explain various procedures to the audience.....

Recommended!
 
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