50's HoF - Part Two

I've seen all of them except for Detective Story and I Vitelloni. The ones I need to see again, I was planning on watching again for the 50's countdown anyway.

I thought Strangers on a Train would've been gbgs nomination.

Noms look great! I have seen Strangers on a Train and 12 Angry Men before, but many of the others have been on my watch list for a long time!

You've seen The Hitch-Hiker, aw man, I thought I picked something no one had seen

I just watched it last week! I picked it off the top 100 noirs list. I liked it; it's a short movie that's very easy to watch. There's no wasted time as the movie gets right down to business. Everything about the movie is solid, and the villain has just the right amount of menace about him. I couldn't help but think about The Hitcher while I was watching, which is a big favorite of mine. The Hitch-Hiker didn't blow me away at all, but it's worth watching. It's also good to see a noir nominated with so many great ones from the decade.

I watched The Steel Helmet a couple months back, another short and easy to watch movie. Samuel Fuller is a pretty interesting director. I never seem to like his movies as much as I hope to, but I always go into them with very high expectations, and I've still gotten something out of all of them. This is a good movie that's sure to be a new favorite for someone.

I watched The Band Wagon 4 or 5 months ago. I rarely like musicals, but this wasn't bad for me. It's a very lively movie that's beautiful to look at, and Fred Astaire is always fun to watch. It is not my type of movie, but it's a classic for a reason.

Tokyo Story was the first movie I watched from director Ozu. I feel like I may like his Late Spring and An Autumn Afternoon slightly better, but this is most certainly up there. It's a moving film that I think will surprise whoever hasn't seen it.

I've seen 12 Angry Men several times, and I've also seen the excellent made for TV remake. For whatever reason, I don't usually think of it as a personal favorite. However, I do love it, and I think it is virtually flawless. I'd say it has a good chance of topping the 50's countdown, and it won't bother me if it does.

It's been 15-18 years since I've last seen All About Eve, Dial M for Murder, and Strangers on a Train. I remember loving all of them, but I hardly remember the content. I was already planning on seeing them all again for the 50's countdown.

I Vitelloni was also already on my 50's watchlist, and I'm looking forward to it.

I recently came across Detective Story when I was looking through the great William Wyler's filmography. I didn't add it to my 50's watchlist since it's already huge, and I hadn't heard anything about it. I'm sure I'm going to enjoy this.

William Wyler also directed my nomination, The Big Country. Great cast here with Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons (I love her), Charlton Heston, Burl Ives, and Carroll Baker. It's a little bit longer than what I normally like to nominate, but I think people need to see this; I'm guessing none of the other HoF members have. It's a multi-layered film, and a new favorite of mine. It's a rare movie I picked out that my wife enjoyed, so you pricks should like it too. The other movies I considered nominating were From Here to Eternity (many members have already seen it), Written on the Wind (Sean saw it last week and didn't love it), and Shane (some of you have seen it).

For anyone looking for The Hitch-Hiker it is on Prime Video, but if you don't have the service, you can watch it slightly worse quality for free on YouTube since it is Public Domain:

I was really curious to see what you guys were going to come up with.

I've seen all of these but "I Vitelloni" and "Tokyo Story". "Tokyo Story" has been on my To-Watch list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I just said in the 9th that I was hoping more people would watch William Wyler's films and there are two nominated in this HoF. I was very pleased to see that.

Speaking of Wyler, I was very happy, cricket, that you nominated "The Big Country". I don't know why, but it was unexpected. So that was a nice surprise.

neiba, I honestly have been considering nominating "Strangers On a Train" for a long time now. I almost did with the 9th, but when this second 50's was coming up, I wanted to see if anyone would nominate it. I thought that somebody had to. It is a great movie.

And, sean, you know I fully approve of your nomination. Another great one.

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Vamp, you should join! You wouldn't even have to rewatch all of them.

This should be a solid one!

This is a great list of movies. I've seen most of them already, and several of these movies were already locks for my 50's list.

The movies that I haven't seen yet are The Steel Helmet, I Vitelloni, and The Big Country.

I wanted to nominate 12 Angry Men for the previous 50s HoF, but we were asked not to nominate an "essential" movie, so I chose a lesser known movie that I consider to be a hidden gem. So there was never any doubt that I would nominate 12 Angry Men for this HoF.

But I would have strongly considered both Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murder if I couldn't nominate my first choice for some reason, so I'm thrilled to see both of those movies were nominated.

Hot Damn! That is one fine list of film nominations! I'm very excited about this!

My initial thoughts:
All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
nominated by Godoggo....I love! that film. It's the film that got me interested in watching old films.

Detective Story (1951, William Wyler)
nominated by Citizen Rules....Mine and I have a very specific reason for choosing this which I will tell you guys shortly.

The Steel Helmet (1951, Samuel Fuller)
nominated by the samoan lawyer....I seen this years ago and liked it. I look forward to a rewatch.

Strangers on a Train (1951, Alfred Hitchcock)
nominated by neiba...I've seen this one many times. It's an awesome Noir and Robert Walker was made for this role!

The Band Wagon (1953, Vincente Minnelli)
nominated by Friendly Mushroom!....You're my new favorite Mofo This was in my Top 10 Favorites.

The Hitch-Hiker (1953, Ida Lupino)
nominated by Nope1172...Way cool! I don't think I seen this one. I knew Ida Lupino did some directing so this one will be a treat.

Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujirô Ozu)
nominated by rauldc14....No idea about this one, but I have heard it mentioned many times and I like movies about post war Japan.

I Vitelloni (1953, Federico Fellini)
nominated by Gatsby....Good news for Gatsby, I really liked the last Fellini film, La Strada. I'm glad to see another Fellini.

Dial M for Murder (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
nominated by seanc...Also cool, I've seen this but not for a long time. I like Ray Milland and I'll see if Grace Kelly can win me over on this one.

12 Angry Men (1957, Sidney Lumet)
nominated by gbgoodies...What can I say, it's one of the greats!

The Big Country (1958, William Wyler)
nominated by cricket...I've seen a lot of William Wyler films, but this one doesn't ring a bell. Looking forward to it.

I saw this before many years ago and hardly remembered anything about it. I've been rewatching a lot of Hitchcock movies, and while I've been enjoying all of them, I'm finding that I don't love them the way I used to do. This was a big exception for about half the movie. I loved the set-up, but as everything became unraveled I started to think less of it. I loved how it started and the scene at the carnival was brilliant, but I thought most of the rest was average. I liked all the performances, especially that of the villain.

I found Detective Story on iTunes, but if anyone has a good link, please pm.

In the HoF tradition, here are a few of my initial thoughts:

All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Lovely film, been a while since I last saw it. I see that it's on Gdog's Top 10.
Detective Story (1951, William Wyler)
My first impressions are positive, looks like a nice thriller with Kirk Douglas in it, who is an actor I admire
The Steel Helmet (1951, Samuel Fuller)
Interesting, this movie is about the Korean War. I've never seen a non-Korean film about that war that ever worked for me, so who knows, this one might do the trick.
Strangers on a Train (1951, Alfred Hitchcock)
I just saw this film recently (but didn't have time to post my thoughts). For me its tier 3 Hitchcock, which actually means it's overall decent.
The Band Wagon (1953, Vincente Minnelli)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953, Ida Lupino)
Haven't seen these two.
Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujir� Ozu)
Ah, I see Raul is trying to win this HoF with this masterpiece. Good plan, because my God is this a wonderful film. Ozu shows that simple plots, simple characters can be the best.
I Vitelloni (1953, Federico Fellini)
Every little thing Fellini does is magic. Enjoy MoFos.
Dial M for Murder (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
Tier 1 Hitchcock!
12 Angry Men (1957, Sidney Lumet)
Yes, I get to watch this film again. Thank you Mrs. GBG for nominating it.
The Big Country (1958, William Wyler)
Sounds interesting.

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I know of a high quality link, I will PM you.

Could you add me on that PM too. Thanks!

No problem Nope, check your PM in 1 minute.

BTW, word of warning, on any streaming site don't download the site's media player and don't sign up, it's not necessary.

I spent a while looking for how to get Dial M for Murder until I remembered that I bought it in a TCM 4-Pack. Probably will watch that tonight.