Not only is
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir my
NO.1 for this decade , but it is also one of my favourite films of all time.
I simply adore every aspect of this film ! To be perfectly honest, fantasy romance is not at the top of the genres I usually enjoy, but I found this story to be so incredibly captivating and charming.
The heart and soul of this film is Gene Tierney and her portrayal of Lucy Moir, a freshly widowed young woman, who's desperate to finally claim her own independence. Ultimately she ends up starting a new life in a cottage by the sea with her young daughter and a faithful housekeeper, only to discover that the cottage is haunted by the ghost of a seemingly harsh and frightening sea captain Daniel Gregg. The way Mrs. Muir and Captain Gregg, learn to co-exist and how their relationships evolves over the months spent together is a simply joy to watch. And in my opinion, Gene Tierney was masterful in her performance. It's fascinating to me, how with only 27-years of age, she possessed such dose of elegance and maturity to pull of such demanding role. She truly is one of the most underrated actresses of her generation.
Joining Gene as her leading partner was Rex Harrison, who was pretty great himself. I thought that chemistry between him and Gene was amazing. I liked how his character was so reluctant to let Mrs. Muir stay in the cottage, but ultimately decided to do so after he realized how strong-willed and visibly lost Mrs. Muir really is. I guess it was a combination of pity and sympathy that Captain Gregg initially felt towards her, however as the two started to live together he sort of became Mrs. Muir's guardian angel (ghost) who deeply cared and watched out for her. It was like their loneliness blended together and created a love story larger than life. But despite how touching and heartfelt their relationship was their interactions provided some great comedy as well, mainly manifested through contast of Captain Gregg's rough seamen (not sailor, haha) vocabulary and Mrs. Muir's dignified manners. I found it funny how Mrs. Muir was eventually so consumed by Gregg's vocabulary that she started to use some of it herself.
Lastly regarding performances, I'll mention George Sanders, who was effective as a sweet-talking and scoundrel child author and a love interest for Mrs. Muir. Edna Best was also great as Martha. I especially liked how direct her character was with her dislike for Uncle Neddy (child author).
One of the aspects, I hold high in regard with this film is its exquisitely delicate musical score by a famed composer Bernard Herrmann. It really set the mood for this fantasy romance and perfectly captured the enchanting atmosphere of the cottage by the sea. Even Herrmann himself stated, he considers his score for "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" his finest work. Another instrumental segment was the location, which perfectly embodied the sense of isolation and romantic atmosphere, which film was trying to create. Despite being set in England, the film was actually shot in California and along the central Pacific coastline.
Also I need to mention the film's ending. It was so beautifully orchestrated and fitting, even though I didn't expect it the first time I saw it, for some reason. Nonetheless it was still very powerful on a rewatch and I even thought it may have served as an inspiration for the ending of Titanic (1997). If I were to nitpick, I'd say that the only thing I didn't really like was that the last exchange between Mrs. Muir and Martha was unpleasant one. I felt bad for Martha, who was visibly upset because of their altercation.
But still I consider this film to be virtually flawless and one of my definite favourites.
Out Of the Past is a wondefully scripted noir which also features my favourite femme fatale performance.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is simply spectacular depiction of friendship and a death of chivalry. Churchill hated it though, because he believed the film was ridiculing British army, particularly officers by portraying them as narrow-minded, ancient Blimpish types. If anything
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp was very appreciative of the army and even critically constuctive by showing them they need to change and adapt in order to fight the WW2.
The colour is admirable; the script, and its delivery by the actors, brilliant; and the English atmosphere of understatement well maintained throughout. Each individual part is carefully built up and the film as a whole ... repays the evident care which has been lavished upon it.
Children of Paradise was my
NO.16. Undoubtedly one of the greatest products of French cinema and a monumental symbol of their resistance and ultimate liberation from a Nazi occupation.
Masterpiece which left me crave for more. And that's saying a lot considering the film lasted for 190 minutes ! I lost myself in this dashingly beautiful world of dreamers and courtesans. Spectacular in every imaginable aspect and absolutely worthy of its reputation !
The Killers is an entertaing noir which excells in many aspects. However it isn't really that memorable.
Letter From An Unknown Woman is a tiresome contrived histrionic snoozefest. Rather dull and forgettable film which can be somewhat appreciated for its cinematography.
Day of Wrath was one of my favourite nominations from a 40s Hall of Fame I participated in.
Thematically, this was one of the more interesting films I've seen in a while. Set in 17th century, Day of Wrath explored one of the darkest periods of Christianity and humanity in general. And that was witch hunting... With the establishment of inquisition in 13th century for the purpose of eradicating heresy, the persecution of innocent women soon began. At the time, literally any woman could of been accused of being a witch, without any evidence presented as well. Usually those were poor, old and seedy women who didn't have anyone to intercede for them. They were accused of ridiculous things like "killing with their look" or being guilty of elementary disaster. In order to extort confession out of them some of the most brutal torture devices were used, as well as the cruel methods of interrogation. It's actually scary to think that this praxis remained all the way to late 18th century.
Judging from the literature I've read about it, the film seemed very much realistic. It was just fascinating to see how genuinely consumed people were in their intolerance, ignorance, narrow- mindedness and hypocrisy. That's why I think that Martha's plotline was by far the most powerful aspect of the film. Slow-paced interrogation scene combined with torture was a horrifying watch, despite many of it not being shown on screen. And when the actual "burning scene" appeared, I was immediately reminded of the similar scene in Bergman's "Seventh Seal". Similarly to Bergman, Dreyer deliberately used glacial pace to faithfully demonstrate the agony of an old woman and to create a certain uneasiness for the viewer. Black and white cinematography also helped in creating film's gloomy ambient. Because most of the characters were dressed in black, they often looked like dark silhouettes, which helped to establish themes of death and evil. Admittedly ,I didn't care much for the romance between Anna and Martin. I thought it was a bit of a letdown after an impressionable first half. It just dragged on for too long and I thought that both actors were overly theatrical in their scenes together. On the other hand I thought Thorkild Roose ( Absalon) was brilliant as an old pastor who is forced to face with his own mortality and the fact that his young wife doesn't love him. It was little details that made his performance special like his shaky voice, remorseful look or how his left hand started to furiously shake when Anna confessed her romance with Martin to him. Sigrid Neiiendam (Merete) was also very good, as an overly possessive mother who is constantly frigid towards her daughter in law. Big fan of the ending sequence ! Haunting sounds of the child choir combined with an act of humiliation Anna is objected to and ultimately her resignation as she realizes the pointlessness of her existence and the pain she'll have to deal with if she continued to live. Brilliant !
Overall I think this was an impressive film, despite being uneven at times. Great nomination !
Kind Hearts And Coronets is a brilliant sardonic black comedy with an extremely versatile perormances by the always entertaining Alec Guiness. My
NO.9.
Late Spring is neck to neck with
The Lady From Shanghai in contention for the worst film on this list. Embarrassingly bad film.
The Lost Weekend was my
NO.19.
Brief Sinopsis: This Oscar winning drama follows a life of an desperate alcoholic writer Don who goes on a 4-day drinking bout.
I have to say this was one of my favourites, I've seen this year so far. Alcoholism is a topic that's still very much relavant today and Wilder handled it expertly. The film was very accurate and realistic in illustrating the devastating effects of alcohol and its destructive force.
The man that made this film, was masterful Ray Milland who practically lived his character. His drunken wobbling and despair was on point, and his entire mannerism in general was particularly great. His interactions with his girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman) were probably one of my favourite scenes, but were at the same time very saddening, as we later learn Don pushed her away because of his own insecurities and inability to escape the jaws of alcoholism, I like how we've got to see retrospective insight in Don's past and the roots of his addiction. This was very vital in understanding Don's actions and him as a character.
I also liked the music in it and the concerto orchestra, which progressively got more aggresive, as Don slipped through madness more and more, adding a great intensity to the film.
The Lost Weekend featured couple of scenes, which made a great impression on me. First one was ,when Don was caught stealing woman's purse in a restaurant. I could almost sense the humiliation, he was objected to, especially when the people mockingly starting to sing "Who Stole the Purse". The second one was the night Don spent in an alcoholic ward. The nightmarish, psychodelic atmosphere set there was like I said very impressionable and jawing.
I also noticed the reccuring theme of a judgmental society, which was very quick to berate Don, but very little of them except Helen and his brother was actually willing to help him. In the end I was glad the film ended on a positive note, because in all honesty it would be really too darn depressing. Instead we've gotten a nice uplifting ending with a positive message.
To conclude ,this is a very detailed study on consequences of alcoholism, with a brilliant performance from Ray Milland. I've read some comments that "The Lost Weekend" has aged badly, but I cannot disagree more. This film is still very much relavant, entertaining and insightful.
Pinocchio is my favourite animated Disney film. Really heart-warming childhood classic.
My current list :
1. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
2. Portrait of Jennie
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray
8. Le Corbeau
9. Kind Hearts and Coronets
10. The Body Snatcher
12. The Red Shoes
16. Children of Paradise
17. Gaslight
18. The Ox-Bow Incident
19. The Lost Weekend
20. Leave Her To Heaven
21. Rome, Open City
23. Dead of Night
24. Magnificent Ambersons
25. Night Train To Munich