The MoFo Top 100 of the Forties: The Countdown

→ in
Tools    





John Garfield was excellent in this as his personality of the roguish but self destructive rebel worked perfect for the film.

I liked Lana Turner better than I would have expected. She sure looked great in the all white ensembles that she wore, and her looks is probably her biggest appeal.
Totally agree. I've only see The Postman Always Rings Twice once and years ago at that, but I loved it. John Garfield was kind of a big deal in our family as he was one of my Dad's favorites and my sister's too. He's not a favorite of mine exactly but I've really liked him in several movies. This is my favorite of his. And this is the first movie I ever saw Lana in and I fell madly in lust with her. She looked so sexy in this, I don't blame Garfield for all he did. I didn't include it though. Just too many movies to consider.

Haven't seen Kiss of Death despite family and friends recommending it to me. I want to someday. Not on my list either.

Seen 13/20
__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I had The Postman Always Rings Twice at #14. Good film. It was a lot higher on my list to start with but I saw a lot of films which I put higher and it slid down my list a bit.



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
~80~


1947

Director: Edmund Goulding
Producer: George Jessel
Distributor: 20th Century Fox





51 Points - 5 Lists
(6th; 10th; 20th-2x; 23rd)
__________________
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe



Save the Texas Prairie Chicken
~79~


1947

Director: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Producer: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Distributor: General Film Distributors





51 Points - 5 Lists
(6th; 9th; 17th; 22nd; 25th)



Sorry in advance for the really long post.

I thought Nightmare Alley was excellent, big surprise as i hadn't heard of it until the 13th HOF. I had it at #20, this is what i posted about it:

Nightmare Alley




This was great. I've always (with the exception of Never Let Me Go) enjoyed your noms Citizen but i haven't found anything that could become a favourite until now. First of all Tyrone Power: dude has the best name of all time and yet i'm not really familiar with him, i've seen Witness For The Prosecution but that's it from him i think. Thought he was really good in this. I really liked his character, how he was so arrogant and money driven, always scheming, some of it was a little silly like him only getting enthusiastic about his marriage when he remembers that she knows the code but it worked. Oddly i felt like him during the film, well not like him he was paranoid i wasn't obviously but i did feel like people were scheming against him from pretty much the first minute. That's obviously due to this being a Noir which often has twists and it being a film about magic or "tricks". How it all works out is great, i kind of saw it coming but it was still pretty haunting how he completed the cycle, repeated what he had watched transpire. The others were good too but it was clearly his film, all of the others had their parts of the film with him but they drifted away at times too. The only person i didn't really like was Helen Walker; she sounded like K-Hep, really unnecessarily snappy at all times. Personally i love the way K-Hep talks but i've always understood people not liking her because of this and here it was a little jarring, probably only because it wasn't K-Hep. Think the only time that sort of thing has worked for me when it wasn't K-Hep is Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday and that's because the film is all about snappy dialogue, a more "normal" film like this made it stand out. She was generally fine tho, i accept that this is a personal hang up and not a fault of hers. Good visuals and dialogue too.

Sorry for talking so much about what isn't that important of a scene but it may very well end up my favourite in the full hall of fame. Completely adored the cold reading scene with the Marshall, that's something i know quite a bit about so i was so into that. I completely understand what cold reading is, he was supposed to be prodding at random things then following up when he got a hit, it largely does go that way and can be very effective to the point that people understandably can't comprehend it being anything other than someone reading their mind/talking to spirits. It works so well because if done well it makes you forget about the misses that passed and of course on tv shows, youtube videos, etc it's edited to make it look like there were no misses which is why it looks alot different in an event the "psychic" doesn't control. Similar to how a great salesman will convince you that you're haggling with him when really he has a goal in mind from the start that he'll probably get. Stan had to make this up on the fly and he had to trick a guy who was fully expecting him to try and trick him which made it alot more difficult, so he used his goofy tricks to gauge him, figure out a few things about him and try a few things on him without letting him know that he was trying a few things on him. You see, this was done so absurdly well because Stan starts off by demonstrating that he's got quick hands; the ability to descretely take something from you basically, so when he turned his attention to the Marshalls pocketwatch (was it a pocketwatch? i don't even remember, whatever it's not important) his mind instantly went to him taking it from him, you see this when Stan points then moves towards the pocketwatch as if he's going to touch it and the Marshall quickly snaps back. This has all completely took the Marshalls mind off the questions Stan is asking him, there's a few subtle misses there; not really because he's not really asking him questions but he's gauging what direction is the best to go in and when he gets a hit he follows up on it. Brilliant. The best thing about it is as i said Stan starts off by demonstrating that he has quick hands, if Stan really had any intention of stealing something from the Marshall the Marshall would never have known about Stans quick hands, Stan needs him to know about this for it all to work because it makes the victim i'll call it because i really hate this sort of stuff think they're in control, it makes them think they have it all figured out. Sorry i'm kind of a dork about these sort of things so this scene was perfect for me, i know noone else will care nearly as much as me haha.

Thanks for nominating this Citizen, i hadn't heard of this so i doubt i would have watched it and it's now a strong contender for my 40's list. Forbidden Games next for me, either tonight or tomorrow.
Again i thought Black Narcissus was excellent. It would have made my list if i had seen it on time, this is what i posted about it:

Black Narcissus



My god this was stunning. All of the Powell & Pressburger films i've seen have been, the only problem is i have not been that into anything else. Well finally this was an exception. This film was ridiculously (nearly) passionate and erotic and it was basically perfect as it mirrored the life of a nun. It felt like it was supressing its urge to become an erotic film due to the time it was made and the moral attitudes that would prevent something like that to be made, just like a nun surpresses urges that go against the church. Personally i'm of the opinion that restricting sex for priests and nuns is silly, it's an outdated practice that can't be healthy. For people whose faith is a powerful thing to them they don't just believe they can't have sex but that sexual thoughts are a bad thing. This has to be dangerous as it's a part of our (or most not discounting the experiece of Asexuals or whatever else) biological makeup. This is just my personal opinion of course hope it doesn't offend anyone of faith and if it does all you have to remember is that: i'm an idiot haha. I realize that i don't have a say when i don't even subscribe to this faith anymore, regardless i did somewhat relate to this through some of the things i was told growing up.

This was like a thriller, the tension and suspense was incredible haha. Deborah Kerr set this in motion early on by looking annoyed at herself everytime she was caught off guard with a joke by Dean, she played her role really well. The only thing i wasn't completely on board with with her was her flashbacks, they were a little heavy-handed and on the nose. Think i would have implied a past similar life through a conversation with Dean or Ruth rather than outright show one, it would have kept her character and thoughts more mysterious. I mean i loved the focus on her face and mannerisms during alot of this where i could have been wondering what she was thinking and what she was really like except the film flat out showed me making her character a little less intriguing. David Farrar was perfect as the charming and seductive guy, that's a difficult thing to pull off for me; not sure whether it's because i'm a straight guy or what but alot of attempts at being charming make me roll my eyes, the only person it works for every single time is Cary Grant. Him wearing shorts constantly with his hairy chest and legs exposed was exactly right, he was completely foreign to them something that has to be enticing to people living such a repressed existence. Weirdly even though he represented something i support: sexual freedom for the repressed nuns he managed to come across like a villain at times, probably because he was pretty smug and you always knew he knew exactly what he was doing. Ruth was my favourite character, i loved her and would have liked to see more of her. Throughout she seemed like someone who wasn't quite locked into this life yet, she wasn't as composed and as on guard as Clodagh. Also OMG, i'd seen the picture i used loads and i was always convinced it was from The Devils which i haven't seen, was such a great moment when that appeared and i loved that scene, was so intense and Ruth seemed delightfully insane. She was pretty over the top but in a good way i thought as she was supposed to be sleep deprived and psychologically damaged from heavy guilt due to her thoughts and urges, her acting irrational was completely in character. Plus she sounded like a petulant teenager when she rose her voice which went really well with this side of her. Seeing her out of her nun garb was incredible, so effective it reminded me of seeing Ida's hair in Ida. I liked the ending and i disagree with Sean about the dread it was building, not because i disagree with him about it being strong he is right. Thing is though i don't think it was attempting to build a sense of dread throughout, i think the first hour and the last 40 minutes are delibarately like two different films; there's a clear dramatic shift when Ruth starts going insane. And again deliberately i think it feels like they've stuffed a short amount of time with all of this out of nowhere to make it seem tense and unpredictable rarther than them trying to build it throughout the film. That was just what i felt anyway.

Damn the nuns where sexy Kathleen Byron especially, i've never had a thing for nuns but this film gave me crippling catholic guilt despite being a lapsed catholic . The cinematography really was amazing. One of the most beautiful films i've ever seen, after seeing 49th Parallel i said i've never liked a film alot on visuals alone but this would have came close; truly wonderful to look at. Thankfully i liked other parts anyway. Great film. My only real problem was some over the top characters (in a bad way not like Ruth), like Angu (that was that old woman right? not sure if i've mixed her name up) who was awful as well as Sabu's subplot which i couldn't care less about.

+
Seen - 8/22
My List:

20. Nightmare Alley



Black Narcissus is a technicolor masterwork. I mean just look at that stunning cinematography.




Nightmare Alley is an above-average noir, but I think it fades away pretty quicky.



Yes! Nightmare Alley made it...it was #23 on my list. Glad to see some folks enjoyed it, I always thought it was a cool film. It's one of Tyrone Powers best movies.

I really liked Black Narcissus the one and only time I watched it which was years ago. If I had rewatched it it might have made my list, so I'm glad to see it here.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
never got around to seeing Black Narcissus but really enjoyed Nightmare Alley, though it did not make my list.


Seen: 11/22

My List:
#18 Waterloo Bridge
#25 Arch of Time 1 Pointer



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I didn't have much to say about yesterday's movies although they were OK, and I'm not sure anybody cares about my thoughts today but here they are. Still none from my list.
Nightmare Alley (Edmund Goulding, 1947)


Very good Jules Furthman-scripted flick which transitions from cheap carnivals to nightclubs to female psychologist's offices to rich men's cemeteries, has one of Tyrone Power's greatest performances and some superb B&W photography which out-noirs almost every other film noir in its "black" qualities. Besides a terrific performance from Power, little-known Ian Keith gives a solid performance as the husband and partner of Joan Blondell. This film is incredibly complex and touches on elements of God and faith which most films just don't have the guts to delve into. Although the flick could have been better, it's still powerful and any film which discusses what a real geek is deserves some respect.
Black Narcissus (Archers, 1947)


Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus is a fine example of taking a simple story and embellishing it with as many visual flourishes and emotional crescendoes as it can handle, all photographed in spectacular Technicolor by Jack Cardiff. Although it shows Powell's love of weird angles and suspenseful staging and comes very close to being the Archers' lone horror film, I sometimes wonder if the story is strong enough to bear up to all the elegance bestowed upon it. Then I think about something like David Lean's Summertime, another gorgeous and involving film with a thin story, and I remember to be thankful for all the cinematic pleasures we have in this world.

The plot concerns a small group of five Anglican nuns, led by young Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), sent to the Himalayas to help the poor, uneducated people by opening a school and a hospital. They find the palace which is to house their convent to have been a former residence of a local ruler's harem and there are many pieces of art throughout which emphasize the carnal nature of humanity. Then the nuns meet the current ruler's agent Mr. Dean (David Farrar) and he arrives in short shorts and immediately seems to turn everything with the sisters into some kind of sexual battle. One of the nuns, Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) is obviously taken with Mr. Dean. There are other characters introduced, including a local teenage girl (Jean Simmons) who attracts men like flies to honey, the ruler's son (Sabu) who wants a proper education, the local Holy Man, a servant woman who thinks she's the Boss, and a young boy who comes and lives there.

The film has dozens of memorable images, from the cross shaped table the nuns eat at in their original order to the sparking Irish lake Sister Clodagh fishes upon in flashbacks where she remembers her past life. But most of what makes it spectacular are the scenes in the mountains where incredible models, matte paintings and sets make one feel they are actually there. Most all the nuns start to lose their composure due to the thin atmosphere, the remoteness and the sensuality which seems to surround them, and Powell can film a blackout from sexual hysteria as well as anyone, but sometimes things get so hot and heavy that it almost seems risable to me. Now, trust me, I know this film is considered one of their best and I like it a lot, but when you're supposed to be feeling for all the characters, sometimes it just seems too pat and easy a setup. At times I also feel the acting isn't quite as controlled as it should be, especially David Farrar and Kathleen Byron, but I'm coming around to them a little bit more now that I've watched this about eight times. Besides, one of the Archers' fave actors, Esmond Knight, is a hoot in his one scene as the local ruler ("The General") who sets the whole thing in motion by offering his palace to the nuns for free. Then there's also the stunning finale which foreshadows Vertigo, so maybe I should just shut up and raise my rating. I'm not going to do that though because I don't think it's any better than I Know Where I'm Going!, another one of the Archers' "modest" stories turned into something special through bravura filmmaking and creative intensity. Even so, if you can't tell or don't know me that well, this is a definite thumbs up.
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I watched Nightmare Alley when it was nominated in a recent HoF, but I thought it was only okay, so it didn't make my list.

I haven't seen Black Narcissus.
__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



Another two I'd have needed to rewatch for the countdown in order to rank films fairly but didn't - obviously neither made my list

Faildictions:
78. House Of Strangers
77. Portrait Of Jennie



Black Narcissus was like my #26 or 27, fantastic film I'm glad it made it without my help.
__________________
I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages



Black Narcissus was like my #26 or 27, fantastic film I'm glad it made it without my help.
Fantastic Stuff dude glad you like it hell yeah
__________________
''Haters are my favourite. I've built an empire with the bricks they've thrown at me... Keep On Hating''
- CM Punk
http://threemanbooth.files.wordpress...unkshrug02.gif