The MoFo Top 100 of the Forties: The Countdown

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

10-21-17

WOW, seen ALL FOUR this time - that's better!!

And it looks like I spoke out of turn when it came to the highest ranking 40s HoF nom regarding Days of Wrath, now that three show up in this lil block; Shadow of a Doubt, nominated by @seanc

Originally Posted by edarsenal

Shadow of a Doubt

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It held this - just below the surface; something murky stirs and awakes - that keeps a solid grip on you while everyone else went about simple, happy lives. I think that would be the best way to describe the ambience of this film. Something is wrong, very wrong. You see it in the cold stare of Charlie in the opening, laying in bed; plotting. It is a pin prick that begins to itch and fester and causing you to dread and worry as Charlie arrives at his sister's house and is welcomed and beloved by her family.

Hitchcock is excellent at applying tension and bringing it to a true climax. A confident maestro knowing when to hit the highs to their best effects and when to ease up without truly slowing down. There are no cinematic bumps or rough adjustments. It all gels very very well.

It's very easy to get caught up in the very intimate and dangerous relationship between uncle and niece that is portrayed in this movie. The two major pieces at the heart of the maelstrom that goes unnoticed by the rest of the family. Because it is so beautifully held within an eye of a needle held tightly by both of them. Even at the most volatile moments that are quickly shrouded over before others see what is really transpiring.
In another movie that would be the sole focus and the rest of the family would be nothing more than mere back curtains filled with shadow and bits of light.
But not here. They are complete and whole on their own. The youngest, the son, gets little time but it is used very well. The youngest daughter, Ann the bookworm has an intricate part in this well orchestrated movie. She is forever pulling on that delicate shroud without realizing it and the turmoil beneath it. Along with her, there is Hitchcock's humorous side: The father and the neighbor who are forever talking about murder and what's the best way to go about it. Finally, the mother who lives a very happy life. One that is even more happier with her brother now with them. A character that can easily be dull and two-dimensional and in here, she is not.

Hitchcock is a true master at bringing very dark subject matter into the light of day and Shadow of a Doubt highlights that skill brilliantly.

Arsenic and Old Lace was at #4. Great, fun, funny film! Loved it since childhood. Which @gbgoodies had nominated,

Originally Posted by edarsenal

Arsenic & Old Lace This movie has always been a huge favorite of mine since I was a kid, so my review will be on the rather bias side

I have always enjoyed Capra, he has a very endearing love for the eccentric and what we now call "feel good" movies. He pampers his lunatics with safe places and understanding people so that they may pursue their craziness in complete happiness. It is the sane and rational that suffer in his world and this is an excellent example of that.
From the utterly sweet aunts who poison lonely old men with arsenic-tinged elderberry wine to their nephew "Teddy" who fully believes he's former president Theodore Roosevelt, they are given a kind haven to thrive in. Even the psychotic nephew Jonathan who's inept doctor - played wonderfully by Peter Lorre - who has given him a face that looks like Boris Karloff, has a place in Capra's zany world.
The one individual who has it the hardest is the one who WILL NOT abide his family's lunacy; Cary Grant. The poor fool.
This movie is charming, delightful, amusing and always brings a smile to my face and my heart. Reminding me of the sagely observation by Willy Wonka. "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
Amen.

Fantasia which was nominated by @Clazor:

Originally Posted by edarsenal

Disney's Fantasia

Having horrible luck with several dailymotion links for Thief of Bagdad with sticking video, having gotten nearly half way through, I gave up and moved on to Netflix where I was surprised to find this. YAY

I think my initial irritation caused me to have little patience and so the majority of the beginning episodes were a bit trying for me.
The gentleman who introduced them only jabbed and poked that lack of patience. Though from the opening and every time he appeared I kept getting THIS in my head:

Making me want to see Warner Bros spoof instead.

Which was a damn shame because, for its part, this is a rather beautiful animation. The pixies were quite spectacular to watch, for example.
Still, even a childhood memory of Mickey vainly fighting back bucket toting brooms fell a little short for me.

It was the final two episodes that I waited for, remembering them as well from my youth.
They, I truly did enjoy.
Appreciating the full amusing irony of using hippos and elephants for ballerinas was effin delightful. And much like GB I kept hearing "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" play in my head which further added to my enjoyment.
I'm pretty sure it had to do with how playful this particular episode is as opposed to some of the more serious ones before. Including the one proceeding it with the centaurs and "centaur-ettes"??? Really?! I'm still rolling my eyes from him saying that.

Then finally, the demon. LOVE that.

and I could of swore, Shop Around the Corner was in one of them, but no idea where. There was definitely a great lil discussion about it. But it is a very wonderful film and one that WAS on my list initially.

Seen: 55/84

My List:
#4 Arsenic and Old Lace (18)
#6 The Big Sleep (22)
#9 The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (33)
#11 Odd Man Out (55)
#14 Pinocchio (23)
#15 Kind Hearts and Coronets (26)
#16 Now, Voyager (78)
#17 The Suspect (70)
#18 Waterloo Bridge (93)
#21 The Pride of the Yankees (59)
#22 Little Foxes (43)
#24 Gilda (72)
#25 Arch of Triumph (1 Pointer)

Camo

BANNED

10-21-17

Originally Posted by HashtagBrownies

Talky Tina's eyes are creepy as fk.

The Twilight Zone dummy ep has the most horrifying scream i've ever heard.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

10-21-17

Fantasia was my #9 (#8 in the Animation Countdown post below.) The other three movies were all considered for my 25 but didn't make it.

Originally Posted by mark f

I had Fantasia at #8. The whole concept is still pretty "out there". Abstract images of music segue into Mickey Mouse and an army of walking broomsticks which later turn into hippos in tutus dancing with alligators and finish up with a scary devil overcome by a calm, avant-garde "Ave Maria" processional. There are lots of other visual wonders and plenty of awesome classical music. Here are a couple of highlights.

Originally Posted by mark f

The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)

Lubitsch strikes again with one of his subtlest romantic comedy-dramas where the incandescent Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart hate each other in "real life" but fall in love through their love letters, not knowing who they actually are. Just before Christmas, the stylish Budapest gift shop of Frank Morgan is very busy, but the owner is worried that his wife is cheating on him with one of his employees. Most of the evidence points to the Stewart character. There are several other employees who make lasting impressions during the film, but this is just one of those dreamy pictures you should watch without knowing too much. True, it was later remade as In the Good Old Summertime and You've Got Mail, but who could have guessed that back in the day.

Originally Posted by mark f

Arsenic and Old Lace (Frank Capra, 1944)

A Capra film with almost none of his themes apparent, but that's reasonable since it's basically a straight adaptation of the play, albeit by the Epstein Brothers, who co-wrote Casablanca. This film has a strange production history. Capra shot it in late 1941 and enlisted while filming it. He got an extension to enter the Armed Forces until after he finished editing it. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. made a deal that it would not release the film until after the play completed its run on Broadway, which it did in June 1944, so the film was released in September of that year. As far as the film itself goes, Boris Karloff wanted to be in it, but the Broadway producers wouldn't release him, so Raymond Massey plays his part in what may be his greatest (straight-faced) comedic performance ever. The plot, about two little old ladies (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) who poison lonely men and have their whacko nephew (John Alexander), who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, bury them in the "Panama Canal" down in the cellar, is pretty well-known and full of twists and turns and plenty of dark humor. My two fave performances though are probably Peter Lorre as plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein and Jack Carson as the new cop on the beat who just happens to have written a murder mystery play he wants to show the famous theatre critic Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant).

Originally Posted by mark f

Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)

Hitchcock paints a beautiful picture of Americana in the town of Santa Rosa. Everybody seems happy and everything is in its right place. What's even more perfect is that young Charlie (Teresa Wright) has just learned that her favorite person in the world, her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) is coming to visit the family. Young Charlie's world is wonderful when her uncle shows up, but soon it seems that Uncle Charlie is acting secretively and two detectives show up asking questions about him. Could Uncle Charlie really be the Merry Widow Murderer or is it that other suspect back east? Young Charlie's world is thrown into turmoil as she has to investigate for herself whether her uncle is still her favorite person or a vicious killer who needs to be turned in. I personally think that what Hitch does here is something similar to what David Lynch was trying to do in Blue Velvet; he shows the dark underbelly of the American Dream. Hitch is quite successful at probing the dichotomy cinematically while I believe that Lynch goes off the deep end using cartoonish grotesquerie. Sorry about that, but that's the way I see the two films.

Seen - 84/84
My List
1. Dumbo (35)
5. A Matter of Life and Death (34)
6. Heaven Can Wait (63)
7. The Red Shoes (38)
8. Pinocchio (23)
9. Fantasia (20)
10. The Devil and Daniel Webster (46)
11. Red River (56)
13. Yankee Doodle Dandy (66)
14. The Little Foxes (43)
16. A Letter to Three Wives (76)
17. Meet Me in St. Louis (48)
18. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (31)
19. Kind Hearts and Coronets (26)
20. Sullivan's Travels (68)
23. Miracle on 34th Street (53)

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Last edited by mark f; 10-21-17 at 04:51 PM.

Kaplan

A genuine idiot!

10-21-17

I believe Hitchcock considered Shadow of a Doubt his favorite film of his, and it's always been one of my three favorite films of his, and so naturally I think it's way too low at 17. I had it at #2. I think the two things that elevate this even more than just the suspense/thriller story is the location shooting and the morbid humor. And speaking of morbid humor, I nearly put Arsenic and Old Lace on my list but then figured three Cary Grant movies was enough.

My List:

2. Shadow of a Doubt (#17)
10. Out of the Past (#32)
11. The Philadelphia Story (#37)
12. Stray Dog (#64)
17. Drunken Angel (#54)
18. The Ox-Bow Incident (#39)
19. Sullivan�s Travels (#68)
22. Gaslight (#41)
24. The Lost Weekend (#24)
25. Five Graves to Cairo (1-pointer)

EDIT: (Since I'd made comments about Shdadow of a Doubt during the film noir HoF, I might as well repost them, even if it's not a full review:

...so I started with Shadow of a Doubt, which has always been one of my three favorite Hitchcock movies. Only the last time I watched it, I just didn't feel any connection to it. I thought maybe I'd seen it too many times and become jaded. But my love for it returned with this viewing. So that's good!

It has things about it not usually typical for a film by Hitch and I love those things. I love the location work and I wish he'd been more keen to shoot on location. Usually he couldn't wait to get any location shooting done so he could do the rest in a studio. Santa Rosa is really another character in the film. I like how there's no glamorous blond at the center of the film (not that I don't love many of the glamorous blonds he cast in his movies) and I like how there's no central romance, though a romance does develop later in the film.

The characters in the film are lively and all are perfectly cast. My favorite secondary character is easily the brainy little girl, and some of the best moments in the film are the conversations between the father and Herbert. The input they got from Thornton Wilder, author of Our Town, I think really added to the script. The movie is dang near perfect. As for it being a noir, I think you could look at Uncle Charlie as being something of a noir character in his cynicism and desperation, and in the way he plays with the detectives and manipulates his own family. And of course the way he spits on society's conventions. The scene in the bank is the perfect example. The second of the two really cynical speeches from Charlie:

"You think you know something, don't you? You think you're the clever little girl who knows something. There's so much you don't know, so much. What do you know, really? You're just an ordinary little girl, living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there's nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day, and at night you sleep your untroubled ordinary little sleep, filled with peaceful stupid dreams. And I brought you nightmares. Or did I? Or was it a silly, inexpert little lie? You live in a dream. You're a sleepwalker, blind. How do you know what the world is like? Do you know the world is a foul sty? Do you know, if you rip off the fronts of houses, you'd find swine? The world's a hell. What does it matter what happens in it? Wake up, Charlie. Use your wits. Learn something."

__________________
I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

dadgumblah

Registered User

10-21-17

Ooh, nice pics this go-round!
20. Fantasia---I love this Disney movie with some segments more than others but then again I love the music also and it's just a supremely enjoyable "whole package" movie for me. So much so that in addition to the original, I purchased the follow-up, Fantasia 2000, which is good but less good because of the "gimmick" of having famous people introduce each segment, like Rosie O'Donnell. Blecch! Still, love the first one, like the second. Glad to see it made the list here.
19. The Shop Around the Corner---This made #10 on my list and I love it. Stewart is my favorite actor and this is one of my faves of his, and Margaret Sullavan was terrific in it. She and Stewart were friends in real life and therefore appeared in a few movies together and that friendship just lent itself to their chemistry onscreen. So much has been said about the movie that I'll move on but end with repeating how much I enjoy this classic.
18. Arsenic and Old Lace---Yes! The movie is #3 on my list and an all-time favorite. Unlike some folks, this is one of my favorite Cary Grant performances simply because he's so manic and about to lose his marbles due to circumstances beyond his control. One of my favorite scenes has the dear, murdering aunties about to serve their "special" wine to a gentleman caller and Mortimer (Grant) is heard on the phone in the background. We don't see him but we hear him loudly, wanting to reach the nuthouse to see about admitting his aunts and one relative who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt. You can hear him shouting to the operator, exasperated and monotone going, "Sanitarium! Sanitarium! Sanitarium!" This is where I lose it. Then he says, "Busy? Busy! They're busy and your dizzy!" Then we see him finally as he hangs up and see what's about to happen to the gentleman at the table and freaks out saying, "Do you want to die?," scaring the wits out of the man, running him off. And the poor aunts are simply disappointed that they didn't get to off the old man. Hilarious. And I agree with mark f about the supporting cast, especially Jack Carson as the beat cop who's written a play himself and wants advice from Mortimer, not seeing that Mortimer is in grave danger. This makes me want to watch it again very soon!
17. Shadow Of a Doubt---One Hitchcock that I've never seen all the way through, unfortunately only the ending, with what happens to the Uncle, which really spoils things. So I've put this one off but will without doubt catch one day.

So, for my list:
#3 Arsenic and Old Lace
#6 Yankee Doodle Dandy
#8 Sergeant York
#9 The Pride of the Yankees
#10 The Shop Around the Corner
#13 The Philadelphia Story
#14 Red River
#17 The Big Sleep
#19 Great Expectations
#22 The Ox-Bow Incident
#23 Pinocchio

__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

77topaz

Yellow Gemstone

10-21-17

One more film from my list in this set: Shadow of a Doubt was my #15. Now, unless I am much mistaken, 12 of the top 16 still to come will be from my list.

My list so far (with predictions!):
1. Top 3 (title contender)
2. Late Spring (#25)
3. Top 5
4. Top 10
5. Top 3 (title contender)
6. Top 16
7. Top 16
8. Meshes of the Afternoon (#69)
9. Top 16
10. The Big Sleep (#22)
11. Brief Encounter (#21)
12. Top 16
13. Won't make it
14. Stray Dog (#64)
15. Shadow of a Doubt (#17)
16. Top 16
17. White Heat (#42)
18. Won't make it
19. Cat People (#49)
20. Top 16
21. Top 5
22. Gaslight (#41)
23. Won't make it
24. Gilda (#72)
25. Top 10

Camo

BANNED

10-21-17

Looking at my list i think 10 of the remaining 13 will be on the list including all of my top ten. My #19, 21 and 25 won't. 25 was an attempted one pointer think Mark may have voted for it, 19 had a decent chance at the bottom twenty but i knew it was out when another film turned up. I'm the only member i've seen mention my #21 so i knew that wouldn't make it.

Kinda nervous about my #5 because no one ever talks about it, it's got to have made it though.

Camo

BANNED

10-21-17

Originally Posted by edarsenal

Rope, His Girl Friday and Laura still have to make it too.

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

10-22-17

Originally Posted by Camo

Rope, His Girl Friday and Laura still have to make it too.

VERY true!

and since we're winding down. . .

Seen: 55/84

My List:
#1 Top 3
#2 Top 3
#3 Top 5
#4 Arsenic and Old Lace (18)
#5 Top 5-10
#6 The Big Sleep (22)
#7 Top 10
#8 Shocked to see it make it
#9 The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (33)
#10 High probability of still mankig it
#11 Could go either way
#12 Odd Man Out (55)
#13 Shocked if it DOESN'T make the list
#14 Pinocchio (23)
#15 Kind Hearts and Coronets (26)
#16 Now, Voyager (78)
#17 The Suspect (70)
#18 Waterloo Bridge (93)
#19 A new favorite, don't see it making it
#20 highly doubted it was gonna make the list
#21 The Pride of the Yankees (59)
#22 Little Foxes (43)
#23 This REALLY should make it - hopefully
#24 Gilda (72)
#25 Arch of Triumph (1 Pointer)

Last edited by edarsenal; 10-22-17 at 01:47 AM.

Kaplan

A genuine idiot!

10-22-17

Looking over my list, I realize that besides my 1-pointer, three are apparently not going to make it, my #20, 21, and 23, unless I'm in for a big surprise this deep into the countdown. I had also forgotten I'd put a third Hitchcock film on my list. Thought I only had two. And I've got at least twelve more films showing up.

Camo

BANNED

10-22-17

These are the remaining 16 right?:

casablanca
citizen kane
it's a wonderful life
double indemnity
the maltese falcon
his girl friday
the third man
rope
bicycle thieves
rebecca
laura
the grapes of wrath
the great dictator
the treasure of the sierra madre
notorious
the best years of our lives

If so then i've seen them all except Bicycle Thieves which i own but haven't watched yet. Meaning i've seen 58/100.

Camo

BANNED

10-22-17

A no doubt wrong attempt at the order:

01.Casablanca
02.It's A Wonderful Life
03.Citizen Kane
04.Double Indemnity
05.The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
06.The Third Man
07.Laura
08.Rope
09.The Maltese Falcon
10.The Grapes of Wrath
11.Rebecca
12.The Best Years of Our Lives
13.His Girl Friday
14.The Great Dictator
15.Bicycle Thieves
16.Notorious

HashtagBrownies

Bach

10-22-17

Originally Posted by Camo

If Casablanca is higher than Citizen Kane, someone's gonna die.

Camo

BANNED

10-22-17

Originally Posted by HashtagBrownies

If Casablanca is higher than Citizen Kane, someone's gonna die.

I'm a much bigger fan of Kane too. It certainly could be higher, i dunno though i think Casablanca is more popular here.

Jeff Costello

Registered User

10-22-17

While working on the script, writers William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett couldn't figure out from the novel who murdered a particular character. So they phoned Raymond Chandler, who angrily told them the answer was right there in the book. They shrugged and returned to their work. Chandler soon phoned to say that he looked at the book himself and couldn't figure out who killed the character, so he left it up to them to decide. In the original cut, shown to the armed services, this question is resolved; in the film as released, it isn't.

Apparently the production of the film was even halted for a week because Bogart and rest of the cast wanted to know who the killer was. Either way, The Big Sleep was my NO.5.

I strongly dislike Brief Encounter .

The Shop Around The Corner is a charming romantic comedy. However simplicity and predictability of the story prevents it from reaching greater heights.

I'm stoked that Arsenic And Old Lace CHAAAAAARGED its way to top 20. Truly hilarious black comedy with a really talented cast. I only wish Boris Karloff was able to play Mortimer's brother. My NO.15.

Shadow of the Doubt is a forgettable unimpressive thriller just like majority of Hitchock's work.

My current list :

1. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
2. Portrait of Jennie
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray
5. The Big Sleep
8. Le Corbeau
9. Kind Hearts and Coronets
10. The Body Snatcher
12. The Red Shoes
15. Arsenic And Old Lace
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

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

10-22-17

going by camo's list, I should end this around 68 out of 100, which, actually, I thought I'd have at least broke the 70 mark in this.
Gonna need to watch a few more before this ends.

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

10-22-17

My list so far

1. Top 3
2. Top 10
3. Top 10
4. Will make it
5. The Killers
6. Will make it
7. Out of the Past
8. Late Spring
9. Ride the Pink Horse
10. Top 10
11. Day of Wrath
12. Shadow of a Doubt
13. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
14. Top 3
15. Leave Her to Heaven
16. Surprising miss
17. The Big Sleep
18. Wont make it
19. Won't make it
20. Won't make it
21. Won't make it
22. The Little Foxes
23. Pinocchio
24. Won't make it
25. Won't make it

SilentVamp

Save the Texas Prairie Chicken

10-22-17

~16~

1946

Director: William Wyler
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Distributor: RKO Pictures

276 Points - 19 Lists
(1st-2x; 3rd-2x; 6th-2x; 7th;
8th; 11th; 12th-2x; 13th; 14th; 15th; 17th; 19th; 23-2x;
24th)

__________________
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

SilentVamp

Save the Texas Prairie Chicken

10-22-17

~15~

1946

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Distributor: RKO Pictures

290 Points - 21 Lists
(2nd; 5th-2x; 8th-4x; 10th-2x;
11th-2x; 12th; 13th-2x; 15th-2x;
16th-2x; 22nd-2x; 24th)

GulfportDoc