MC Yearly Consensus - 1945

[Spinal]

Submit your five favorite films from this year and in a week I will give you a top ten. IMDb dates will be used.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-5 points
2nd Place-4 points
3rd Place-3.5 points
4th Place-3 points
5th Place-2.5 points

There will be no restrictions on short films. A minimum of three films must be listed. You may edit your post freely up until the time that the voting is closed, which will be in about a week. I will give at least 24 hours warning before tallying votes.

You may begin now.

IMDB Power Search (http://www.imdb.com/list)

[Spinal]

1. Children of Paradise
2. Brief Encounter
3. Fresh Airedale

[Raiders]

1. Brief Encounter (Lean)
2. Rome, Open City (Rossellini)
3. Detour (Ulmer)
4. And Then There Were None (Clair)
5. I Know Where I'm Going! (Powell & Pressburger)

------------------------------------------

6. Children of Paradise (Carne)
7. Dead of Night (bunch of guys)
8. The Body Snatcher (Wise)

[Mysterious Dude]

1. Scarlet Street
2. San Pietro
3. Rome, Open City
4. The House on 92nd Street
5. Brief Encounter

I should probably watch Children of Paradise again some day.

[Yxklyx]

1. Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
2. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné)
3. I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
4. The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise)
5. And Then There Were None (René Clair)

6. Brief Encounter (David Lean)
7. Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson)
8. Objective, Burma! (Raoul Walsh)
9. Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger)
10. Open City (Roberto Rossellini)

[Russ]

1. And Then There Were None
2. Dead of Night
3. Christmas in Connecticut
4. The Spiral Staircase
5. Spellbound

[Philosophe_rouge]

1. I Know Where I'm Going!
2. The Body Snatcher
3. Isle of the Dead
4. Scarlet Street
5. Mildred Pierce

[MadMan]

Heh all I've seen from this year is two films produced by Val Lewton. I should really see more from the 1940s.

[Weeping_Guitar]

1. Rome: Open City
2. Brief Encounter
3. Children of Paradise
4. Mildred Pierce
5. Spellbound

[Boner M]

1. Children of Paradise
2. Leave Her to Heaven
3. Detour
4. Scarlet Street
5. Brief Encounter

6. Dead of Night
7. Rome, Open City
8. 'I Know Where I'm Going!'
9. The Body Snatcher
10. Spellbound

[Boner M]

Where be the Leave Her to Heaven love at? :(

[soitgoes...]

1. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné)
2. I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
3. Brief Encounter (David Lean)
4. The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder)
5. Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini)
--------------------------------------------
6. Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
7. Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz)
8. Herr Meets Hare (Friz Freleng)

[Yxklyx]

I see no mention here of Objective, Burma!. This is a very modern war movie which lacks the propaganda prevalent in war movies from the 40s. Don't be put off by iconic Errol Flynn - he is perfect in a serious role. Easily the best war film from the 40s.

[ledfloyd]

i've only seen two i would put on a list. Mildred Pierce and Children of Paradise. Brief Encounter is the only other one i've seen and it's awful.

[monolith94]

1. Children of Paradise
2. Spellbound
3. And Then There Were None
4. I Know Where I'm Going!

[balmakboor]

1. I Know Where I'm Going!
2. Brief Encounter
3. Rome, Open City
4. Spellbound

[origami_mustache]

Children of Paradise
Rome, Open City
The Lost Weekend
Mildred Pierce
Brief Encounter

[ledfloyd]

d'oh, i've seen more than i thought.

1. Childen of Paradise
2. Detour
3. Mildred Pierce
4. The Lost Weekend

[Ezee E]

1. Rome, Open City
2. Detour
3. The Lost Weekend
4. Scarlet Street
5. Brief Encounter

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

1. I Know Where I'm Going!
2. Detour
3. Lapdance
4. Mildred Pierce
5. Leave Her to Heaven

[Grouchy]

1. Rome, Open City
2. Isle of the Dead
3. Detour
4. Spellbound

I'm eager to see The Body Snatcher.

[Qrazy]

1. Children of Paradise
2. The Lost Weekend
3. Mildred Pierce
4. Rome, Open City
5. Brief Encounter

Scarlet Street and I Know Where I'm Going somewhere down the line.

[MadMan]

1. Rome, Open City
2. Isle of the Dead
3. Detour
4. Spellbound

I'm eager to see The Body Snatcher.If you liked Isle of the Dead you'll really dig The Body Snatcher, which is the better of the two. Borris Karloff gives an awesome and extremely creepy scene stealing performance in that film.

[dreamdead]

1. Children of Paradise
2. Rome, Open City
3. Brief Encounter
4. The Lost Weekend

[Kurosawa Fan]

1. Brief Encounter
2. Children of Paradise
3. The Body Snatcher
4. The Lost Weekend
5. And Then There Were None

[Spinal]

More?

[koji]

Detour (Ulmer)
Brief Encounter (Lean)
Rome, Open City (Rossellini)
Children of Paradise (Carne)
Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
***********************
Mildred Pierce (Curtiz)
The Lost Weekend (Wilder)

[Spinal]

One more day for this one.

[Spinal]

#10

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/Spellboundpic4.jpg

Spellbound

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Country: USA

The head of the Green Manors mental asylum is retiring to be replaced by Dr. Edwardes. However, it soon becomes apparent that Dr. Edwardes is in fact a paranoid amnesiac impostor. He goes on the run to try to solve the mystery of what happened to the real Dr. Edwardes.

Earned an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography (BW) and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Chekhov). Ingrid Bergman was named Best Actress by the New York Film Critics Circle. The dream sequence was designed by Salvador DalÃ*. David O. Selznick was opposed to using DalÃ* from an expense point of view, until he realized the marketing mileage that could be gained from such a hiring.

"It may be best to look at Spellbound as individual parts rather than as a whole, because the parts themselves are really quite good. The film is positively loaded with evocative imagery and creative tricks of the camera, even beyond the rightly famous DalÃ* dream sequences." - Eric San Juan

[Spinal]

#9

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/sjff_03_img1150.jpg

And Then There Were None

Director: René Clair

Country: USA

Ten people are invited for a weekend on an island. Suddenly one of them is dead, then the next ... One of the group must be the murderer, but the person suspected is always the person who is murdered next.

Based on a novel by Agatha Christie, originally published in the UK with the title Ten Little Niggers. The novel has also been published under the title Ten Little Indians. The film's ending is radically different than the novel, using the conclusion Christie herself wrote for the 1943 stage version.

"Clair’s camera seems as interested as we are in getting to the bottom of this mystery, and can be seen peeking through keyholes and around corners as it spies on the guests, who are usually found to be spying on yet another guest. The director is ceaselessly inventive visually, and the games that he continuously plays with the audience never hamper the thrills: they only leave us wanting more." - Jeremy Heilman

[Spinal]

#8

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/sjff_01_img0324.jpg

Mildred Pierce

Director: Michael Curtiz

Country: USA

Divorced, Mildred raises her girls on her own. Her elder daughter goads her about their lack of money and in response Mildred proposes opening a small restaurant. She meets Monte, whose property becomes the first of a chain of restaurants. They have an affair, but eventually, her relationships with both Monte and her daughter become strained.

Won an Oscar for Best Actress (Joan Crawford). Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography (BW), Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (Eve Arden, Ann Blyth). William Faulkner contributed to the script, but his additions were not used. Crawford had been under contract with Warner Brothers for two years before starring in this movie. To get the role, she had to submit to a screen test after years of flops at MGM.

"Ann Blyth's daughter is so obnoxiously perky-cute while damaging the lives of the innocent ... we eagerly anticipate the moment when animalistic Crawford will lose her patience. And we all know Joan can slap someone in the face like nobody's business." - Jeremiah Kipp

[Spinal]

#7

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/4scarletstreetfritzlangdvdrevi ew.jpg

Scarlet Street

Director: Fritz Lang

Country: USA

A cashier rescues a beautiful woman from her abusive boyfriend. Smitten, the cashier lets her think he's a wealthy artist. She lets him establish her in an apartment with his shrewish wife's money. There, the cashier paints 'masterpieces' which the boyfriend attempts to sell under the woman's name.

The first of two remakes Lang made of Jean Renoir's films. La Chienne inspired this film while La Bête Humaine inspired Human Desire. Renoir disliked both. The principal actors (Edward G. Robinson, Dan Duryea, and Joan Bennett) had earlier appeared together in The Woman in the Window also directed by Lang.

"Lang keeps teasing out the flirtation between Chris and Kitty until it's clear Chris is desperate for her and refuses to believe she’s in it for anything but love. The way the relationship is drawn is devastating ... Lang fills the film with little touches that lesser movies might not bother with. " - Nathan Gelgud

[Spinal]

#6

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/The_Lost_Weekend_1945.jpg

The Lost Weekend

Director: Billy Wilder

Country: USA

A long-time alcoholic has been 'on the wagon' for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has actually become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend , he begins a four-day bender.

Won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Ray Milland) and Best Screenplay. Also nominated for Best Editing, Best Cinematography (BW) and Best Original Score. Milland also won Best Actor at Cannes, the Golden Globes, from the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. It is the first film to feature a theremin on the soundtrack. As well as the alcohol industry urging Paramount not to release the film, the studio was also besieged by temperance groups lobbying that the film shouldn't be released, as it would only encourage drinking.

"We would not recommend this picture for a gay evening on the town. But it is certainly an overwhelming drama which every adult movie-goer should see." - Bosley Crowther (1945)

[Spinal]

#5

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/aDETOUR-1.jpg

Detour

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Country: USA

A nightclub pianist decides to hitchhike to Hollywood to join his girl. On a rainy night, a mysterious event forces him to assume a new identity. Afraid of the police, every move he makes plunges him deeper into trouble.

Shot in six days in mostly two locations: the hotel room and the car in front of a rear projection screen. The budget was so small that the convertible driven by Charles Haskell was actually Ulmer's personal car.

"With its overcooked dialogue, makeshift sets, jagged performances (including Anne Savage's crazy-eyed femme fatale) and endless rear-projection car scenes, this coincidence-laden suspense yarn has no business being as irresistibly moody as it is. Like great garage rock, however, Ulmer's landmark film ultimately derives its raw, jittery vitality from its very crudeness." - Nick Schager

[Spinal]

#4

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/iknow.jpg

I Know Where I'm Going!

Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Country: UK

An ambitious and stubborn middle-class English woman plans to marry a wealthy middle-aged industrial. She travels from Manchester to the island of Mull, where she stays trapped due to the windy weather. While on the island, she meets a young naval officer and begins to fall in love with him.

Cinematographer Erwin Hillier never used a light meter during the shooting of this movie. Roger Livesey was starring in a West End play at the time, so he could never go on location to Scotland. All his scenes were shot in the studio.

"[I Know Where I'm Going!] resists easy classification: it opens as a screwball comedy, grows into a mystical, Flaherty-like study of man against the elements, and concludes as a warm romance ... Funny and stirring, in quite unpredictable ways, with the usual Powellian flair for drawing the universal out of the screamingly eccentric." - Dave Kehr

[soitgoes...]

#10

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/Spellboundpic4.jpg

Spellbound


I gotta say that this is one of my least favorite Hitchcock films.

[Spinal]

#3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/open-city-3.jpg

Rome, Open City

Director: Roberto Rossellini

Country: Italy

In Rome, 1944, a Resistance leader is tracked down by the Nazis. He asks his friend's fiancée, for help. She must warn a priest that he needs to leave the town as soon as possible.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay. At Cannes, won the Grand Prize of the Festival. Named Best Foreign Film by the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. Real Nazi prisoners of war were used as extras.

"Anger, grim and determined, against the Germans and collaborationists throbs in every sequence and every shot in which the evil ones are shown. Yet the anger is not shrill or hysterical; it is the clarified anger of those who have known and dreaded the cruelty and depravity of men who are their foes. It is anger long since drained of astonishment or outrage." - Bosley Crowther (1946)

[Spinal]

#2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/sjff_01_img0078.jpg

Brief Encounter

Director: David Lean

Country: UK

In a cafe at a railway station, a housewife meets a doctor. Although they are already married, they gradually fall in love with each other. They continue to meet every Thursday although they know that their love is impossible.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Celia Johnson). Won the Grand Prize of the Festival at Cannes. On initial release, the film was banned by the censorship board in Ireland on the grounds that it portrayed an adulterer in a sympathetic light. The screenplay was adapted from Noel Coward's 1935 one-act play Still Life.

"[Brief] Encounter remains the definition of timeless, a beautifully shot, heartbreakingly acted, minutely detailed illustration of thoroughly recognizable human frailty." - Keith Phipps

[Spinal]

#1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/enfants460.jpg

Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise)

Director: Marcel Carné

Country: France

A stage actress is loved by a mime, a pretentious actor, a conniving thief and the Count of Monteray. She is forced to enter the protection of the Count when she is implicated in a crime committed by the thief. Separated from each other, the actress and the mime enter loveless relationships but ultimately have an opportunity to meet again.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Many members of the French Resistance worked on the crew, as Nazi power was at its peak in France and they needed a cover. Production designer Alexandre Trauner and composer Joseph Kosma - both Jews - had to work in hiding and submit their ideas via intermediaries.

"In the larger picture, Children Of Paradise is the ultimate theater-as-life movie, rich in historical allusions past and present, a landmark production that overcame constant harassment by the Germans and stands as a key testament to the spirit of the French Resistance. But apart from mere dissertation fodder, the film remains an exemplary piece of popular entertainment, full of vibrancy and wit, with unforgettable characters and a delicate, bittersweet tone that considers their emotions in balance." - Scott Tobias

[Spinal]

1. Children of Paradise (54.5)
2. Brief Encounter (45.5)
3. Rome, Open City (43)
4. I Know Where I’m Going! (28)
5. Detour (27.5)
6. The Lost Weekend (22.5)
7. Scarlet Street (21.5)
8. Mildred Pierce (18.5)
9. And Then There Were None (16.5)
10. Spellbound (15)

Not quite:
The Body Snatcher (10.5)