The MoFo Top 100 of the Forties: The Countdown

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Very coincidental that two animated classics are back to back, and a sin that I haven't seen 'em yet!
They were back to back in the Animation Countdown, too. I guess MoFos love them about equally.

What's next? Pinocchio or Fantasia. For the record Fantasia isn't this good,
Fantasia was higher in the Animation Countdown, if that's any indication. I think it's a good film overall, but only has spots of brilliance.

Bambi is definitely the best of the 40s Disneys. Actually it's pretty much the only reason I bothered sending a ballot.



Never seen Bambi or Dumbo. I was never a kid

The Red Shoes
is a very stylish, serious movie and quite different than the average Hollywood film at the time. I really liked it, but no room on my list

The Philadelphia Story...I know I've seen this, but can't quite remember it, so I guess I liked it.



Dumbo and Bambi aren't my favorite 40's Disney film, I hope the one I voted for will appear.

I'd say Bambi is quite better then Dumbo so I'm glad it's higher.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Dumbo was my #1. My wife Brenda and I watched Bambi for the first time at a B&B on a vacation. We loved it. It takes the viewer through many emotions as it shows the passage of the seasons and the realities of life from the perspective of the film's characters. Thumper was our favorite but Flower was close behind. However, it didn't make my Top 25.
Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941)




It was a major mistake that I left this one off my list initially, but you know me. I have to try to rile up people. I want to talk about Dumbo, the movie. I don't really want to talk about ignorant people's perceptions of racism, so I'm saving that for later. See what I said about me being the "Rile-Up King"?

The first time I watched Dumbo, I thought it was cute. It didn't really register on my psyche as anything very significant; it was just some kids' movie which was over in about an hour and was sorta painless and inconsequential. Boy, was I completely dense! In 64 minutes, Dumbo tells a story of tolerance and belief in doing what you are capable of doing. It teaches you to overcome prejudices while trying to stay tight with family. It also teaches you to sometimes trust strangers because they might turn out to be your best friends, especially if your own kind reject you. At least, that's all there in the film, if you can appreciate it in between crying, laughing and smiling so much.



This is one of the more memorable tearjerker scenes in film history. Several of the elephants made fun of Dumbo's big ears, causing his mother to rip up the joint and try to put them in their place. Subsequently, she was labeled as a "mad elephnat" and imprisoned. It's still often true that the individual who rebels against tyranny and prejudice is often identified as the trouble maker and forced to pay for others' sins.



Dumbo was part of the heyday of Disney's animated output. In the span of three years (1940-1942), Disney's animators produced four films which were released, and all four are classics. The lone financial bomb was Fantasia. The public ate up Pinocchio, Dumbo and Bambi. I personally love Pinocchio at least as much as Dumbo, especially for the simplicity of how the former film explains the spiritual concepts of free will and resurrection, but I'll save that for a later post. Dumbo should be a must-see and a Hall-of-Fame flick even if it only contained the Pink Elephants sequence. Timothy the Mouse and Dumbo both drink water spiked with champagne which the clowns tossed into a tub. After they "wake up", they see this... perhaps the five best minutes of any Disney movie.

The next scene is often considered the most racist in the film. The crows are spoken by African Americans, and they sing and jive just like you might expect from a 1940s jive-era movie. At the end of the "Pink Elephants" scene, both Dumbo and Timothy are up in the trees, but these "streetwise" crows don't buy it. It's sorta funny they can accept an elephant in a tree but cannot consider that maybe he got up there on his own power. It's too bad they don't have the continuation scene where the crows don't make fun of Dumbo but actually encourage him to try to be "all that he can be". The crows are true heroes in the movie, and they're certainly not treated like second-class citizens. I'll also verify that Dumbo and his mom love the honest crows at the end much more than the sycophantic "white" elephants, at least if you HAVE to play the race card to watch this lovely film. The final scenes of Dumbo are actually my fave, which is saying a lot. It may have the Happiest Ending Ever.


Seen - 66/66
My List
1. Dumbo (35)
6. Heaven Can Wait (63)
7. The Red Shoes (38)
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)
20. Sullivan's Travels (68)
23. Miracle on 34th Street (53)
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Cat People is another great horror of Val Newton's production. Really polished stylistically and with a great performance by Simone Simon.

Leave Her To Heaven is one of the darkest films of the 40s and Gene Tierney at her best. She really had a knack for playing sociopathic possessive young socialites which was showcased in The Razor's Edge as well. The lake scene is a work of art and definitely the highlight of the film. My NO.20.

The Devil and Daniel Webster is very imaginative and entertaining. Once again I have to mention Simone Simon who is instrumental as a symbol of Jabez's moral degradation. For some reason I was reminded of an old myth about blues musician, Robert Johnson while watching this.

I emphatically dislike Mildred Pearce.

The Lady From Shanghai is even worse. Truly an atrocious film. Poorly edited, poorly acted and with a terribly incomprehensible plot. Easily the worst film on the list so far.

The Little Foxes is an impressive period drama with a terrific all-around performances. Well deserved placement !

White Heat made the list, mah ! James Cagney is an entertainment personified.

Gaslight was my NO.17. Superb script, engrossing atmosphere and a slow-burning pace is what makes the film so special.
One of the rare 40's thrillers that managed to really spark my interest and keep me at the edge of my seat. The entire plotline can be figured out in the first 20 minutes, but the film does an extremely good job of maximizing the suspense and building the momentum for the final act. I really enjoy the performances by Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten, but this was primarily a Charles Boyer show, who did an exceptional job playing one of the most despicable villains on screen ever.
How Green Was My Valley is a sentimental and bittersweet drama that almost ended up on my list. Similar films like " A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and " I Remember Mama " may look outdated to today's viewers but I really enjoy them. They have heart and soul and I'd take them over technically accomplished films like Citizen Kane any day of the week. Only reason I'm mentioning Citizen Kane is because majority considers HGWMV winning a Best Picture over CK as a blasphemy. I couldn't disagree more.

The Ox-Bow Incident WAS my NO.18.

The Ox-Bow Incident embodied perfectly what I like in a film. It was short, simple but nonetheless powerful and very much relavant with an important message . It served as a fascinating study of a mob-lynch mentality, told through a devastating story of men seeking for a vigilante justice. The film was written and directed perfectly and featured some really talented cast, like Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn and Dana Andrews. I was especially touched by Dana Andrew's strong and emotional performance. It is really amazing, how much raw emotion such short film managed to convey. Very underrated moraility tale that deserves much more acknowledgment.
The Red Shoes is arguably the best film of the 40s. Way ahead of its time aesthetically, extremely lascive and theatrical , it can only be rivaled by Carne's Children of Paradise. I cannot even emphasize the brilliance of this cathartic mastepiece and beauty of its poetic images. The Red Shoes is both stylistically and thematically rich in a way that it wonderfully depicts human relationships and conflicts through leitmotives such as ambition, success and possession. I also have to credit this film for introducing me to a great actor that is Anton Walbrook who had another appearance on my list though I doubt it will make it. Ultimately this was only NO.12 on my list, but I stand by my aforomentioned claim.

The Philadelphia Story is antiquated, dragged and mostly unfunny comedy. I don't like it at all.

Dumbo and Bambi are animated films highly accesible to viewers of various ages. They are both classics for a reason. Somewhat random but I really enjoy the scene when Dumbo and little Mouse are tripping and imagining Pink Elephants dancing. There is something fascinating about it.

My current list :

2. Portrait of Jennie
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray
8. Le Corbeau
10. The Body Snatcher
12. The Red Shoes
17. Gaslight
18. The Ox-Bow Incident
20. Leave Her To Heaven
21. Rome, Open City
23. Dead of Night
24. Magnificent Ambersons
25. Night Train To Munich

Viewing percentage : 76%



I could have sworn I posted just a few minutes ago, but, oh well! Thanks again to Vamp. Please relate our prayers and well wishes to your Mom.

I love both Dumbo and Bambi and they never fail to move me. But I saved a Disney movie for my favorite and I'm sure it will appear.

#6. Yankee Doodle Dandy
#8. Sergeant York
#9. The Pride of the Yankees
#13. The Philadelphia Story
#14. Red River
#19. Great Expectations (1946)
#22. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
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Cary Grant is probably my second favorite actor of all time but I wasn't going to include all his comedies from the 40s on my list, so The Philadelphia Story fills in for all of them. I had it at #11.

My List:

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)
25. Five Graves to Cairo (1-pointer)
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Well I've seen all of the last 4 but none were on my list.

To be fair to them, I haven't seen The Red Shoes, Dumbo or Bambi since I was a child. I didn't much care for The Red Shoes at the time but would undoubtedly have a different perspective watching it now so I should probably give it a try. I was also always deeply wary of films that made me cry when I was a kid so Bambi and Dumbo were never favourites!

The Philadelphia Story I liked, but (and this may be blasphemy to some!) I prefer the musical remake High Society, which I saw first.



gonna take a guess at the top 36:

casablanca
citizen kane
it's a wonderful life
double indemnity
the maltese falcon
his girl friday
the third man
rope
the big sleep
bicycle thieves
rebecca
laura
the grapes of wrath
the great dictator
pinocchio
shadow of a doubt
fantasia
the treasure of the sierra madre
a matter of life and death
the shop around the corner
out of the past
notorious
brief encounter
dumbo
the lost weekend
red river
arsenic and old lace
late spring
bambi
the lady eve
the best years of our lives
letter from an unknown woman
the magnificent ambersons
monsieur verdoux
children of paradise

they're basically in order of how confident i am that they're on the list. i could be off on a couple.
The Magnificent Ambersons and Red River already showed up, they were #85 and #56, respectively.



Very coincidental that two animated classics are back to back, and a sin that I haven't seen 'em yet!
Three Disney films also showed up back-to-back in the 1950s countdown (Cinderella at #60, Peter Pan at #59, Sleeping Beauty at #58).



I haven't commented in a while...

To be or not to be was my 20th. And I was sort of surprised to see it this low on the list, since I've always assumed it was one of the top of this decade's canon. Guess I was wrong.

I liked Black narcissus quite a lot, but never once thought of putting it in my top. Nothing bad, just lacks memorability to me.

Key Largo missed my list but it was a very good contender and I was planning on putting it there till the last moment. What I particularly like about this is its atmosphere; Huston seems quite prone to these oppressive environments where climate conditions have a crucial role. A very tense noir with great acting.

I always thought that Lifeboat was the eternal underrated Hitchcock. I was mildly surprised to see it here, though it didn't make my list it's surely worth it.

I don't particularly like the war trilogy of Rossellini, but out of them I would easily pick Rome, open city. It has a quite good emotional package and it is legitimately tense and makes you worry about the characters, and it has Anna Magnani who makes everything better. I've sort of found out that I'm more into the austere and ascetic Rossellini than the neo-realist so this didn't make my list, but I can see its appeal.

Scarlet Street was quite close to being in my list. Just like Key Largo, another great noir, just like Key Largo, Edward Robinson is in there. And damn, he can deliver two diammetrically opposite roles like it's nothing.

I love Meshes of the afternoon and its surreal imagery a lot. But as said, I didn't list shorts. If I did, it would definitely be up there.

Beauty and the beast is gorgeous. Its visual effects are amazing and haven't aged a bit, making its fairytale atmosphere remain intact and fully immersive. That's enough for me to enjoy it, but there was a distracting element: the story. In this sense I miss the Disney version taking into account modern sensibilities and changing things to not let the terrible morals of this story apparent for children. Cocteau doesn't have that care and the result is a film that romanticizes abuse and intends to portray the Beast as the ultimate good guy but fails at this level because nobody nearly comes close to him as a major jerk. I know it was 1946 but the thing is, I'm sure this wasn't even acceptable in 1946. It feels inherently dated.

My darling Clementine (24th) and Red River (25th) are the two great westerns at the bottom of my list. Nice coincidence to see them this close.

I'm a huge fan of I walked with a zombie, it was 6th in my list. Short and to the point like other Tourneurs, but this one is specially impressive and genuinely disturbing in its exploration of voodoo culture. One of the all-time greatest horrors. I am also fond of Cat people, but didn't find it as mesmerizing as a lot of people claim it to be.

I'm not very fond of The lady from Shanghai to be honest. Functional as a noir and entertaining, but I don't find anything worth the hype beyond the brilliant mirror sequence.

How green was my valley was my 14th. Such an amazing and moving movie, one of my favorites by Ford. And at no less than the 3rd spot I had The Ox-Bow incident, a billiant moral tale that managed to generate very strong feelings in me in a little more than an hour.

I need to rewatch The red shoes. I remember seeing a lot of potential and it seems like my kind of film, but for some reason it didn't permeate.

The Philadelphia story is a very nice movie with a lot of charm in its story and characters, and a good pace. Everything works except I didn't laugh once. And this is its purpose after all. Forgettable, despite being cute and enjoyable.

On the two Disneys that came in a row I have very different opinions. Dumbo was in my list (22nd) and I admire so many things about it, from the way it plays with color in the circus to the visual strength of its most violent scenes. From the reunion with the mother thar never fails to burst me in tears to the iconic and endlessly rewatchable drunk hallucinations. One of my favorite Disney classics.

Bambi, on the other hand... I always found it dull. This didn't change when I rewatched it as an adult.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
There were several wonderful Disney movies that I wanted to include on my list, but I didn't have room for all of them. Unfortunately Dumbo didn't make my list, but Bambi is one of my favorites and it was #15 on my list.


My list:
2) Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
3) Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
11) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
15) Bambi (1942)
16) The Philadelphia Story (1940)
21) The Uninvited (1944)



The Magnificent Ambersons and Red River already showed up, they were #85 and #56, respectively.
oh yeah, i knew that but still had them written down for some reason. i guess i'll replace them with spellbound and foreign correspondent? seems high for them but i dunno. maybe the killers or dark passage or the mortal storm if i'm being optimistic.
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Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
So... Was there a Letterboxd list with all these films added to it, or did I dream it up?

EDIT:: Found it!

https://letterboxd.com/camarel/list/...-of-the-1940s/
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oh yeah, i knew that but still had them written down for some reason. i guess i'll replace them with spellbound and foreign correspondent? seems high for them but i dunno. maybe the killers or dark passage or the mortal storm if i'm being optimistic.
There are at least three other films you didn't guess which I think have a decent chance of making it, but if I said what they were, I'd be revealing part of my list.