Watching Tom Dirks 300 Greatest Films

Goal: to learn more about the history of film and watch the greatest films.
Mission: Watch every film on Tom Dirk's list of 300 greatest films (filmsite.org/300films.html) in chronological order.

Thoughts so far? Is this a good list to follow? Anyone else done something similar? How did it go?

At the time I thought I would get through the list quicker — I started approx 2 years ago and am only in the '40s! Now I'm happy that I'm going to have years worth of great films to keep me entertained.

Even on the list I've run into some stinkers. The Jazz Singer clearly only gets credit for being the first movie with speech, not for being at all well crafted or enjoyable. King Kong might have been innovative for it's special effects, but it's almost unwatchable today.

Mostly though, it's been an absolute pleasure to experience the classics. It Happened One Night, Pygmalion, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Only Angles Have Wings, Rebecca, The General, The Big Parade, Sunrise, these have been some of my favourites and have all touched me.

Just watched: The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Rating: 4/5 (maybe 5/5)
Notes: Diverse and entertaining unscrupulous personalities you have to love. Script: gritty yet witty: “We didn't exactly believe your story, Miss O'Shaughnessy. We believed your 200 dollars. I mean, you paid us more than if you had been telling us the truth, and enough more to make it all right." Great camera angles and impeccable acting. Doesn’t hit me on the same easy emotional level that a good screwball will (wit and romance), very different tone, a little trickier, harder to follow and to get invested in because characters not as sympathetic or nice, less obvious, but incredible in it’s own way.

Most of my reviews are just non-specific notes, a vague reminder to myself how I felt about the movie, but occasionally it will develop into something more substantial.

I'll have to leave this here for now though there is more I want to say, as I have to rush out to work, but when I get back I'll post ratings of the movies I've watched so far.

Anything which gets people to watch more older movies is valuable to them, so I applaud what you're doing. Although the original King Kong is very primitive in many ways and takes about a half hour to get going, the last hour is anything but unwatchable.

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

Awww come on, King Kong is a great movie. Glad to see you liked The Maltese Falcon though. You should read the book too.

re: King Kong, I really did find it a bore and the acting and editing so bad I was sick of it after less than an hour (Frankenstein was even worse in this regard, though the franchise is somewhat redeemed by Bride of Frankenstein). But, I did watch Gojira (Godzilla) recently, which I thought was similarly terrible (except harder to tell how bad the acting was because in Japanese) yet I found myself appreciating it a lot more than I ever did the American monster movies. Not sure why, maybe it is just a better movie, or maybe my movie eye has developed, and maybe if I watched King Kong again I would see something I like about it.

Till then, pile of **** if you ask me.

Okay, pasting directly from my Movie Reviews doc. It's in parts, so let's start with the silent era:


Silent Movies

***** (Strong Positive Reaction/Enticing)
The General
Sunrise
The Big Parade
The Kid
Sherlock Jr.

**** (Significant Positive Reaction/Entertaining)
The Gold Rush
The Birth of a Nation
Intolerance
The Thief of Bagdad
Faust

*** (Little Reaction/Satisfactory)
Greed
The Wind
The Crowd
Broken Blossoms
City Lights
City Girl
Modern Times

** (Significant Negative Reaction/Boring)
Metropolis
The Freshman
Battleship Potemkin
Nosferatu

* (Strong Negative Reaction/Repulsive)
The Jazz Singer
The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari


Looking back on this, I can see some of these choices will feel off to others — and if so, please, tell me, I'm dying to hear other opinions of these movies and learn more about them — but remember I'm not trying to credit movies for their influence on the industry or what have you, but what I thought of them having seen them for myself ie. The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari is a boring pile of **** and I'll fight anyone who tries to tell me differently.

Okay, let's see if I've got some interesting notes that might explain these ratings (some spoilers)...


Metropolis:

Interest died progressively, was barely watching by the end. A feast of special effects throughout, though in particular at the beginning. I don’t doubt a spectacle at the time. The grand and impressive sets are unfortunately populated with hordes of non-characters portrayed with utterly batty acting, so you can hardly take a thing that happens seriously, especially after the farcical dancing scene.


Sunrise:

Delightful to watch. Believable and beautiful. The first thing I noticed were the interesting angles and moving shots around picturesque sets. The piqued my interest. Then the drama, then, perhaps most importantly, the flow. This film flows impeccably, with a few exceptions. It seems every aspect is meaningful (even the frivolities in the film’s middle manage to happily and charmingly lower your guard after the dramatic first third). The intimacies of the couple were consistently effecting, in part due to attractive, believable actors, and contrast between drama and romance, with the right flow between the two.


City Lights:

Wasn’t thrilled by this one. Some good ideas revolving around the play between rich and poor. The gag where Chaplin kicks over another tramp to win a discarded cigarette, then struts back to the Rolls-Royce he had just been gifted, a gentleman with beggar's instincts, leaving the second tramp astonished, was funny, perhaps the funniest moment in the film, and the ending where the newly sighted flower girl kindly but condescendingly offers charity to the tramp without knowing he is the gentleman love who saved her was sad then tender. There were a few funny moments but they were unfortunately the exception. There seemed a good forty minutes of filler.

Just watched: Now, Voyager (1942)
Rating: 4/5
Notes: Bette Davis incomparable theatrical acting sells a script that is just a little overdone. The other actors aren't as successful. Nonetheless, this sentimental drama of motherhood, repression and healing is a well constructed tale: early scenes of nervous breakdown are recalled when our protagonist most aid in the treatment of a unbalanced young girl, and early scenes of youthful adventure make the later theme of lost lost all the more potent. Thus it successfully latched onto my heartstrings and had a go on them.

About to watch: To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
Notes: "The film was released two months after actress Carole Lombard was killed in an airplane crash." Man, I hate to be reminded all the people from these films I love are dead. Weird feeling. Also, I just realised this was directed by the same chap who did Trouble in Paradise, Ernst Lubitsch, which one of the first films from this period that I fell in love with, and which made me realise their value.

PS: To the site staff, whilst I'm here, I really wish you would reconsider the 25 post limit for posting links. I understand the reason, but it makes it harder for people who just want to contribute quality posts with images and interesting, useful information from other sites to do so.

Other watched recently:

Bambi (1941)
Rating: 3/5
Notes: There is a great use of motion in the animation to create visual gags, character personalities and emotions. Colours, character designs, even figurative camera angles are used to create beautiful scenes. It is a visual treat, but in a slightly cloying, childish way. The same is true of the music, which takes principles demonstrated in Fantasia and applies them more subtly to an hour long story… yet is too simplistic, too obvious, or too saccharine to really excite me. The famous scene of Bambi’s mother death left me unfazed. The story is a little aimless. I was never interested in what would happen next.


Casablanca (1942)
Rating: 4/5 (so close to 5, it pained me to decide this score)
Notes: An atmospheric and sophisticated film.


The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Rating: 3/5
Notes: “Did not flow well” seems an obvious criticism — this thing was butchered from a two-and-a-half hour epic to an hour and a half abridgment. Very natural scenes and interactions, loved the early family scenes with several people talking at once and different couples coming in and out of shot in long takes. Elevation used very nicely, the stairs especially, such as the scene with the aunt following George down the winding staircase. Incredible sets and costumes. High contrast pictures, seem to have a lot of detail as a result, and always arranged beautifully. Camera positioning interesting, often low, lingering, moving, natural. A work of excellence, technical and aesthetic. But, you know, eh. First half is cohesively really good stuff, genuine cinematic artistry, but it get progressively less coherent from there. Some good scenes later eg. Fanny and the boiler, the Morgan’s Indian tree names talk, but really falls down at the end.

Almost upsetting to me. Can only imagine how Welles’ himself felt.


Cat People (1942)
Rating: 3/5


The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Rating: 4/5


King’s Row (1942)
Rating: 5/5
Notes: An amazing story which demanded my attention. Nice, brisk pacing. Plenty of mystery and the plot is constantly developing in significant ways. Events that happen half way in have the punch of a climax, and linger with you long after. Many characters are developed and have significance, keeping things broad and interesting and varied, yet every plot and character fits together into a story smoothly and naturally, perhaps only a tiny bit conveniently, yet no less effectively. Some beautiful shots, and some mundane ones too. Dialogue occasionally veering towards hamfisted (the philosophical chat, the poetry recital), but perhaps saved in delivery or just easy enough to ignore. Light and dark. Deals with madness, amputation, murder, suicide, yet never gets bogged down in melodrama or dwells pessimistically.

Not a bad list, but it's too heavy on English-spoken cinema.

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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.

Goal: to learn more about the history of film and watch the greatest films.
Mission: Watch every film on Tom Dirk's list of 300 greatest films (filmsite.org/300films.html) in chronological order.

Sam250, You'll learn a lot and see some great movies too with that list. And a good thread idea too, thanks for posting.


My comments on some of what you wrote:

The Maltese Falcon (1941) "
very different tone, a little trickier, harder to follow and to get invested in because characters not as sympathetic or nice,"
I found it hard to follow too. But still a great film.

King Kong (1933)
"King Kong, I really did find it a bore and the acting and editing so bad"
As much as I liked the movie...yup, some of the acting is flat. Same for the original Frankenstein. That's somewhat common in early 1930s films,(also some amazing acting back in the day too.)

I'm glad to see someone appreciate King's Row. Ronald Regan was in many B movies but King's Row is an A movie. He's very natural and likable on screen.

I was looking forward to seeing Cat People (1942) but ended up very disappointed with it. It's a B budget, matinee movie, fun but that's all.

The Palm Beach Story (1942) and To Be Or Not To Be (1942), both favorites of mine.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Almost upsetting to me. Can only imagine how Welles’ himself felt. (about having his film cut up)

I gather from what I know about Orson is that having his films cut up, deeply hurt him and frustrated him. Thanks to money grubbing producers and studio heads, many of his films were hacked up in the editing room. We will never know just how great some of these movies might have been.

It is a list of the 300 greatest English-language films. On the "selection criteria" page where Tom Dirks explains this, he links to a top 100 foreign films by Movieline magazine, as a complementary list. You've reminded me to have another look at it.

Many thanks for the comments, Citizen Rules, it's great to hear other people's views on these movies. You don't run into people everyday that have even heard of them.

Okay, better start To Be Or Not To Be or it'll get too late

Just watched: To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
Rating: 5/5
Notes: No one will claim a barrage of jokes will heighten the tension of a film, but keeping that significant Nazi threat plot front and centre keeps things moving, keeps the jokes from being aimless, pointless, or a drag (as I've found in most Marx brother's film). This film is masterfully balanced, incredibly witty with a sprinkling of dread, that even gets a little intense at points in the middle (specifically the professor's escape attempt in the darkened theatre), yet is utterly hilarious throughout, with conversations littered with witticisms and gags developed over several scenes (such as the title joke), sometimes obviously (one or two jokes are repeated) yet utterly joyfully. I was grinning madly for most of the viewing. Costumes and sets looks nice too, and I noticed a few times when music was used to transition from comic exchanges when danger developed. This one works on all fronts.

Watching next: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Notes: The last musical starring James Cagney on this list was Footlight Parade (1933), which I've got down as an easy 5/5: a very attractive film with ultra-likeable characters. But it was also the first musical on the list. How will things have changed in those ten years? Will it live up to my memories of its predecessor?

To Be Or Not To Be (1942)....Glad to hear you appreciated Lubitsch style of humor. What did you think of Carol Lombard as a comedian? Or Jack Benny? (some older folks might remember seeing Jack Benny on TV)

Carol Lombard did a good job acting an acting actress, showing what she intended for the other characters whilst still conveying her true emotions underneath. Mostly she played it pretty straight and the humour came from the script. Benny was a riot, animated but believable and of course had all the best lines. Great as a likeable egoist constantly aggravated by his wife and her admirers and the Nazi's and everyone.

Just Watched: Yankee Doodle Dandy
Rating: 3/5
Notes: Interesting to see another glimpse at the musical world before film, but this film only went musical when depicting on stage performances ie. side stories within the film, fun enough within themselves, but not really connected. In between, Cohan has some nice moments with his love interest and his father, and his cockiness makes some amusing quips. Plenty of patriotism I didn't connect with; Cagney could have been a better vessel for this. Supposedly a powerful (Oscar-winning) performance by Cangey. It was okay.

Watching Next: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Notes: All I know is I haven't yet seen an old western I liked and I'm waiting for something to change that.