The MoFo Top 100 of the Forties: The Countdown

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SilentVamp's Avatar
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Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
09-23-17
~74~


Rome, Open City
1945

Director: Roberto Rossellini
Producer: Giuseppe Amato, Ferruccio De Martino, Roberto Rossellini & Rod E. Geiger
Distributor: Minerva Film SPA




60 Points - 7 Lists
(10th-2x; 15th; 20th; 21st; 22nd; 24th)
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Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
09-23-17
~73~


1945

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Walter Wanger & Fritz Lang
Distributor: Universal Pictures




62 Points - 5 Lists
(3rd; 11th; 15th; 16th; 23rd)



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09-23-17
I've never seen Rome, Open City and hoped Scarlet Street would be quite a bit higher. Can't complain though as neither made it onto my list

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72. A Royal Scandal
71. Pimpernel Smith



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09-23-17
I liked Rome, Open City but didn't think it was that great after how much i loved Paisan. This is what i posted about it, sorry it's worse than usual because i really wasn't feeling the film at times and was struggling to put into words my problems with it:

Rome, Open City



Same as Paisan i really like seeing depictions of Italy in World War II. Clearly they were one of the big seven (maybe eight if you include Poland but for whatever reason it has always been these seven to me) of the war along with; Britain, America, Russia, France, Germany and Japan, for me though they have largely been neglected compared to those others. Haven't really spent the time learning about their role and what it was like to live in the country during the war so this sort of thing always feels somewhat fresh compared to the others, plus it's made by an actual Italian who lived through the war which is always appreciated. I think Paisan was the significantly better film as well as the one i preferred but i liked this too.

The film took a bit to get going for me, mostly due to a number of different characters being introduced in a short time and me finding it hard to get into any of them. The one exception was Pina who i took to instantly, felt Magnani was giving a very good performance and that she was intriguing. Very little of interest was happening as well, there was a generic underground group working against the Nazi's story going on and some meh relationship drama. Don't think that it got interesting until Francesco got introduced which was over a half an hour in. Completely agree with Sean that the second half was better except i still don't think it was ever consistent, plenty of flailing about think this could have been much better if it was about an hour long. Anyway no point in dragging this out as i don't have much more to say. I don't think this film was structured particularly well. Kinda felt like it wasn't edited properly or that it was made in a rush, was kind of a mess at times. I also feel some of its attempts at emotion were awkward, like unearned and they just used the cloying music anyway. Loved the ending and Anna Magnani's performance. I wouldn't call this a great film but i liked enough about it that overall i enjoyed it.

+
Haven't seen Scarlett Street.



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09-23-17
Me and @seanc did Rosellini for the first Director of the Month Project along with Powell & Pressburger, was fun even though it was just the two of us so there wasn't that many posts. We did Paisan, L'Amore, Rome, Open City and Germany Year Zero. My ranking was:

01. Paisan
02. L'Amore
03. Rome, Open City
04. Germany Year Zero

I enjoyed them all though and i think Anna Magnani and Joan Fontaine are my joint favourite actresses from the 40's from what i've seen.



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
09-23-17
Originally Posted by SilentVamp
It is exceptionally hot here today (91 - and feeling like 95 at the moment - I believe that is 32 degrees for all of you celsius people out there ). And I am not a lover of hot weather. So I am going to post the films early today and just spend the rest of the day watching TV.


So I will get those posted within the next few minutes.
and it feels WORSE because a week ago it was in the 60's. Frickin miserable



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Noir Time
09-23-17
I freakin love Scarlett Street....This is what I wrote about it:

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang, 1945)

At the heart of this film is one idea: 'everyone screws someone else over, and pays for it in the end.'

What a great cast: Edward G. Robinson (Chris Cross), plays a vastly different role than the one that made him an iconic tough guy in Little Caesar (1931). He fits perfectly into his role as the meek, little man, who's brow beaten by his wife and escapes his misery by dreaming of becoming a painter.

I felt bad for him, especially when his wife threatened to throw away his paintings, that he loved so dearly. Those paintings play a much bigger part in the film, than might first meet the eye.



Dan Duryea (Johnny) made a successful career out of playing slimy, tauntingly snotty, bad guys. He became the guy everyone loved to hate and he's so good at. He's great here as a sociopathic hustler and two-bit con man, who likes to slap his girlfriend around.

Joan Bennett (Kitty, 'lazy legs') likes to get slapped around! It's bizarre how her and Johnny go together like a black & blue bruise. I thought Joan Bennett was a stand out in this. She's a knock out for sure but she has a certain careless, self-destructive attitude that just works wonders for the film.


Forced Perspective is used to great effect by the cinematographer. Notice how tiny and weak Edward G. Robinson looks in this scene.

I loved the way Fritz Lang defines the characters by their actions. Lazy legs, is too lazy to work so she has to engage in questionable actives by using men. We see her laziness in the record that plays over and over, and in the way she throws her cigarette into a pile of dishes, and when she gets a stick of gum she careless dumps the wrapper on the floor.

And besides the interwoven story line, there is thiswhole commentary on art, hype and value, and how the truth of it was skewed. Amazing.





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09-23-17
Rome, Open City is an essential piece of Italian Neorealism and the best film in Rosselini's war triology. The second part of the film is a nihilistic masterpiece and extremely powerful. It was NO.21 on my list.

I dislike Scarlet Street . I think it's rather outdated and poorly written. Only thing that sort of redeems it is an effective ending.



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Lone Wolf
09-23-17
Originally Posted by Camo
Me and @seanc did Rosellini for the first Director of the Month Project along with Powell & Pressburger, was fun even though it was just the two of us so there wasn't that many posts. We did Paisan, L'Amore, Rome, Open City and Germany Year Zero. My ranking was:

01. Paisan
02. L'Amore
03. Rome, Open City
04. Germany Year Zero

I enjoyed them all though and i think Anna Magnani and Joan Fontaine are my joint favourite actresses from the 40's from what i've seen.
and Rome Open City was by far my favorite of those we watched. I had it at #15. I am supposed to love Scarlet Street. Noir, Lang, and Robinson. Just didn't click with me.
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
09-23-17
great little write up, Camo; have never seen Rome, Open City but have seen Scarlet Street. Felt SO BAD for Robinson's character. I kept cheering in head, "C'mon, dig deep into that psyche and let your gangster have a go!"
Great movie that did not make the list.

EDIT: and just saw @Citizen Rules' excellent review on Scarlet Street -- BRAVO


Seen: 16/28

My List:
#16 Now, Voyager (78)
#18 Waterloo Bridge (93)
#25 Arch of Time (1 Pointer)

not very happy on the seen list percentage, should try to watch some of these that caught my attention or ones I meant to and haven't.
Last edited by edarsenal; 09-23-17 at 11:53 PM.



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09-23-17
I watched Scarlet Street with my wife via CR's recommendation and we were both very entertained. It's the movie that convinced my wife to watch a bunch of other old Noirs with me. I had it at #15.

I wanted to like Rome, Open City but I just didn't get into it. I would like to try it again some time.



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09-23-17
Originally Posted by seanc
and Rome Open City was by far my favorite of those we watched. I had it at #15. I am supposed to love Scarlet Street. Noir, Lang, and Robinson. Just didn't click with me.
Yeah we didn't really see eye to eye on much. That's what i liked about it though and i wish we could get more people to participate in one.



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Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
09-23-17
Many films I haven't seen on this list. Not enough foreign language films.
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



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09-23-17
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules
What's outdated about it?

I'm not trying to present my opinion as a fact , but I believe Scarlet Street just doesn't hold up really well . The story is slow and dull, characters are poorly written and unbelievable and hallucination scene is straight up laughable by today's standards. Not to mention how far-fetched the entire story is. I'm also not a fan of " Woman in the Window " though I actually have one noir by Fritz Lang on my list.



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09-23-17
Originally Posted by Mr Minio
Many films I haven't seen on this list. Not enough foreign language films.
Didn't realize Rome, Open City was only the second unless i counted wrong. I think the 40's is the last decade without any major foreign movements most famous era's like the Japanese Golden age for the 50's or the French New Wave for the 60's for enough members to have been exposed to. Obviously there's just as many great Foreign Language movies in the 40's as any other decade but i don't think they get quite the same exposure as every decade after. I definitely need to see tonnes more myself, i had a few Foreign Language films on my list though.



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09-23-17
Here's how the list looks by Average Letterboxd Rating so far if anyone cares (ours out of 28 in parenthesis):

01. To Be Or Not To Be (11)
02. Black Narcissus (07)
03. Rome, Open City (02)
04. Scarlett Street (01)
05. The Magnificent Ambersons (13)
06. Le Corbeau (17)
07. Now Voyager (06)
08. Nightmare Alley (08)
09. Great Expectations (14)
10. Key Largo (05)
11. Detour (22)
12. Lifeboat (03)
13. A Letter To Three Wives (04)
14. The Letter (26)
15. Ride The Pink Horse (19)
16. Naked City (12)
17. Waterloo Bridge (21)
18. The Postman Always Rings Twice (10)
19. Easter Parade (16)
20. The Spiral Staircase (20)
21. Kiss of Death (09)
22. The Body Snatcher (28)
23. King-Size Canary (25)
24. Education For Death (23)
25. The Uninvited (24)
26. Blithe Spirit (18)
27. Sands of Iwo Jima (15)
28. Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde (27)
https://letterboxd.com/camarel/list/...40s/by/rating/



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09-23-17
My list so far :

#8 Le Corbeau
#10 The Body Snatcher
#21 Rome, Open City
#24 Magnificent Ambersons
#25 Night Train To Munich



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
09-23-17
Originally Posted by Camo
Didn't realize Rome, Open City was only the second unless i counted wrong. I think the 40's is the last decade without any major foreign movements most famous era's like the Japanese Golden age for the 50's or the French New Wave for the 60's for enough members to have been exposed to. Obviously there's just as many great Foreign Language movies in the 40's as any other decade but i don't think they get quite the same exposure as every decade after. I definitely need to see tonnes more myself, i had a few Foreign Language films on my list though.
I admit I have seen very few foreign-language films of the 40s and only had 3 on my list which is a lot fewer than previous decade lists.

Rome Open City was one I meant to watch and just didn't get round to before the deadline.

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