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FFA Movie Poll: 1955 - 1959 Countdown Monday is here! (1 Viewer)

wikkidpissah said:
Seeing it as one's first Ealing comedy would be unfortunate, even to complete a contest as existentially important as this. It only really works as the payoff to having watched Kind Hearts & Coronets and Lavendar Hill Mob and for the inevitability of Peter Sellers joining the Ealing tradition. It's better than the Coen Bros version but has a similar "i wish this worked better" feel.
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I have seen neither - and will definitely be putting them on my list.  

 
Eephus said:
Tough act to follow.

One of my all-time guilty pleasure movies is "The FBI Story" a 1959 authorized biography of the agency.  It was a pet project of J. Edgar Hoover who approved the script, helped with casting, ordered reshoots and made a cameo appearance.  It stars Jimmy Stewart as an agent who joined as a young man and managed to get involved in a surprisingly high number of high-profile cases.  It mixes in about a half dozen mini movies about those cases with a framing melodrama involving Stewart's All-American family.

It's unabashed propaganda of course but it's also ridiculously entertaining.  Director Mervyn LeRoy uses every film making cliche in the book to keep the story moving from set piece to set piece. Stewart is excellent as he usually is.  The film clocks in at 2 hours 30 minutes but the episodic structure keeps it from being bloated.  The concluding commie spy story has some fat to trim but has enough mid-century NYC location footage to keep it interesting.

It's one of those movies that I can't help myself from watching when I stumble on it.  There's a good quality stream available.  Try watching the 4 minute pre-credits sequence and see if it hooks you.

The FBI Story

Part 1: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e2uos
Part 2: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e2qm0
Part 3: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e2oq6
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just finished. strange flick, didn't connect. beautifully shot, though, so much so that i imdbed the DP who turns out to have been an old pro who shot movies for 60 yrs, from It's a Wonderful Life to Blazing Saddles to eps of the ol Superman TV show.

 
Andy Dufresne said:
I strangely did not really care for Sweet Smell of Success. It seemed mean through and through.
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I watched it last night and didn't care for it either. :shrug:   I think part of the issue is that I just don't find Tony Curtis appealing as an actor.  I didn't find it clever - just too mean and nasty for me.  And all the action takes places in the last 15-20 minutes of the movie - pretty draggy before that.

 
wikkidpissah said:
just finished. strange flick, didn't connect. beautifully shot, though, so much so that i imdbed the DP who turns out to have been an old pro who shot movies for 60 yrs, from It's a Wonderful Life to Blazing Saddles to eps of the ol Superman TV show.
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I'm glad somebody indulged me on this one.  The FBI Story isn't great art but I've always loved how it jumps between domesticity and paranoia.

 
krista4 said:
I watched it last night and didn't care for it either. :shrug:   I think part of the issue is that I just don't find Tony Curtis appealing as an actor.  I didn't find it clever - just too mean and nasty for me.  And all the action takes places in the last 15-20 minutes of the movie - pretty draggy before that.
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same here. it is to noir or whatever what Searchers is to westerns - arch storytelling wasted in nasty exercise

 
A very preliminary list:

Rififi, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Night and Fog, East of Eden, Vertigo, To Catch A Thief, and North By Northwest start out on any list I'd make.
 
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krista4 said:
I think part of the issue is that I just don't find Tony Curtis appealing as an actor. 
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You're not the only one, sister. I've never seen a performance of his that I thought "this dude's bringing it". The best I can say about Curtis is: he didn't ruin some really good movies.

And.......always this: "YONDAH! lies dah TENT! of my FADDAH!"

 
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Curtis was best in comedic roles.  He was handsome enough to play romantic leads but had a light touch and never seemed to take himself too seriously. 

He wasn't well suited to play Vikings, Cossacks or Romans but he tried.

 
I likes Curtis. He was in some good movies in these years. Trapeze with Burt Lancaster, The Defiant Ones with Sidney Poitier, Sweet Smell of Success, Some Like It Hot, Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant, and I liked The Perfect Furlough too.

His wife and daughter weren't bad either.

 
Eephus said:
Curtis was best in comedic roles.  He was handsome enough to play romantic leads but had a light touch and never seemed to take himself too seriously. 

He wasn't well suited to play Vikings, Cossacks or Romans but he tried.
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I thought before I typed that, "Well, I liked him in Some Like It Hot," but realized that actually I was so transfixed by Jack Lemmon in that that "I liked him" really was "he didn't bug me like he usually does."

 
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krista4 said:
I thought before I typed that, "Well, I liked him in Some Like It Hot," but realized that actually I was so transfixed by Jack Lemmon in that that "I liked him" really was "he didn't bug me like he usually does."
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They were both pretty

 
I thought Curtis did well in Some Like It Hot- he basically had 3 roles. His Cary Grant impression was hilarious. 

 
I was out on vacation and fell a bit behind. Recorded these 3 on TCM while I was out. How should I prioritize?

Forbidden Planet (I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leslie Nielsen earlier than Airplane/Police Squad/Naked Gun type stuff).

Rebel Without a Cause

East of Eden

 
Don Quixote said:
I was out on vacation and fell a bit behind. Recorded these 3 on TCM while I was out. How should I prioritize?

Forbidden Planet (I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leslie Nielsen earlier than Airplane/Police Squad/Naked Gun type stuff).

Rebel Without a Cause

East of Eden
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All you see is the TV squarehead type Zucker/Abrahams knew could be a perfect foil in their comedies. One of comedy's great lucky accidents is that there was also a perfect goon in there.

As i've already said, James Dean movies are no more than practice in punch-patience for me. One can't take their eyes off him when he's on the screen modeling dickish behavior for gens to come, but the twitches in my right shoulder as i watch disrupt any story i might want to care about

 
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I think East of Eden has aged the best of Dean's three films.  Dean hams it up at times but he's at his best here alongside some other good performances from Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives and Oscar winner Jo Van Fleet. 

Rebel was probably revolutionary for its time but misunderstood teens have been portrayed in lots of better movies since.  Giant has its moments but too much slack melodrama between them.

 
Don Quixote said:
I was out on vacation and fell a bit behind. Recorded these 3 on TCM while I was out. How should I prioritize?

Forbidden Planet (I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leslie Nielsen earlier than Airplane/Police Squad/Naked Gun type stuff).

Rebel Without a Cause

East of Eden
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I agree East of Eden holds up best of Dean films although Rebel is the more iconic movie and role. Forbidden Planet isn't my thing. 

 
Eephus said:
I wonder if contemporary audiences viewed Wayne's character in The Searchers as an anti-hero like most modern viewers do.  It's obviously the same film but changing audience attitudes over the past 60 years may have contributed to how it's perceived today. 

Liberty Valence is more modern in its setting and narrative structure but still has a classical Western plot.  At the core, Wayne's character is the hero saving the citizens of Shinbone.  The story disguises this a bit by placing him in a coffin as the story unfolds.
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I think viewers in the 50s were more likely to cling to Wayne’s character being a hero up until

he’s wanting to kill his own niece. That was a pretty strong signal that this man isn’t a good man.  
 
krista4 said:
OK, The Searchers was fan-freaking-tastic.

@KarmaPolice, I doubt anyone's going to convince you to watch it, but I'm not a fan of Westerns either (the only other one I can say off the top of my head that I loved was Unforgiven), and this was special.
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I am glad you liked it as I spent so much time pushing it. I do think it's one of those movies that transcends genres. It is only recently that I got more into westerns- for much of my life the only westerns I liked (excluding my love as a kid for Young Guns) were The Searchers and Unforgiven. 

 
krista4 said:
OK, The Searchers was fan-freaking-tastic.

@KarmaPolice, I doubt anyone's going to convince you to watch it, but I'm not a fan of Westerns either (the only other one I can say off the top of my head that I loved was Unforgiven), and this was special.
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I'm about halfway through The Searchers.  I forgot that I DVR'd this one while I was out on vacation too, and ended up making this the first one.  I don't think it's going to knock High Noon from its perch as my favorite western (the racism is a bit too uncomfortable to watch at times), but it's a pretty good watch.

 
Don Quixote said:
I'm about halfway through The Searchers.  I forgot that I DVR'd this one while I was out on vacation too, and ended up making this the first one.  I don't think it's going to knock High Noon from its perch as my favorite western (the racism is a bit too uncomfortable to watch at times), but it's a pretty good watch.
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A lot of old westerns are pretty bad with the treatment of Natives. John Wayne’s character is certainly a racist ####### in this but I think it’s intentional. This wasn’t just casual sign of the times racism but being used to say something about his character. The real hero/good guy is part Native. I wonder if your opinions on it change once it’s over. I think there’s a very  strong turn later in the film that makes it clear Wayne and his racism aren’t good.

 
Ilov80s said:
A lot of old westerns are pretty bad with the treatment of Natives. John Wayne’s character is certainly a racist ####### in this but I think it’s intentional. This wasn’t just casual sign of the times racism but being used to say something about his character. The real hero/good guy is part Native. I wonder if your opinions on it change once it’s over. I think there’s a very  strong turn later in the film that makes it clear Wayne and his racism aren’t good.
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me ol' Da is a registered Native American  - they didn't have to, my uncle registered all his brothers & sisters so their kids could go to Dartmouth free (only 1 out of 37 got in) and he puts "White" on all his forms - and i will not say the name of the D.C. football team. maybe that's why i can't get past the Seachers' mise-en-misere

ETA: got no prob with any logos, other team names, cowboys & injuns in general

 
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Ilov80s said:
It is only recently that I got more into westerns- for much of my life the only westerns I liked (excluding my love as a kid for Young Guns) were The Searchers and Unforgiven. 
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Do you like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

 
The misogyny in The Searchers and other films of this era is often as prevalent and troublesome as the racism.  I don't know if enjoy is the best word but I can still watch old movies and tolerate the attitudes of the time.  My relativism may be morally wrong but I love old movies.

 
Eephus said:
The misogyny in The Searchers and other films of this era is often as prevalent and troublesome as the racism.  I don't know if enjoy is the best word but I can still watch old movies and tolerate the attitudes of the time.  My relativism may be morally wrong but I love old movies.
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As a history student, I view older movies as art and history. Attitudes and behaviors that are abhorrent I see as a slice into the people of the time.

 
Ilov80s said:
Also friendly reminder that The Night of the Hunter is on TMC tonight at 10
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Anyone else watch it?  I am a big Robert Mitchum fan and parts of this were great ...but, wow, some seriously bad acting.  

 
Heist movies are one of my favorite genres.  At their core, they're about as formulaic as you can get:  assemble the gang, plan the job, pull off the heist, getaway or die trying.  But the simple structure lends itself to endless variations on the theme.

The late 50s have at least two classic heist movies.  "The Killing" is famous in large part because it's early Kubrick and scripted by Jim Thompson.  I haven't watched it recently and maybe I'm dead wrong but I'd rate it as good but not great.  On the other hand, "Rififi" is a contender for the GOAT of the genre.  "Rififi" excels in all segments of the classical heist plot structure.  The pre-caper phase assembles an interesting set of characters.  The robbery sequence is a masterful 20-30 minutes of suspense without dialog or music.  This occurs relatively early in the film which gives plenty of time for things to unravel for the gang, which may be the best part of the film.  

My pick for an underrated 1955-59 heist film is "Odds Against Tomorrow", a 1959 movie starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley.  The film's central gimmick is that the robbery forces Belafonte to work with an loathsome racist character played by Ryan.  Belafonte was one of the few African American actors of the era who could carry a commercial Hollywood movie but it's still a pretty low budget affair.  That works in its favor though with a gritty black and white location footage helping to define the desperate characters.  Where "Rififi" places the robbery sequence near the middle of the film, "Odds Against Tomorrow" spends most of its running time on character development.  The heist and post-heist action happens right at the end.  The robbery itself is nothing special but there's still a lot to like.  Ryan is terrific, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame get a few scenes each to help establish Ryan's character, there's a nice jazz score by John Lewis of the MJQ and director Robert Wise does a good job of establishing tone and space.  The script was co-written under a front by blacklisted writer/director Abraham Polonsky.  It's telling to contrast the Communist Polonsky's acerbic take on the state of late 50s race relations with the more uplifting message for White liberal Stanley Kramer in "The Defiant Ones".

There's a decent three part print of "Odds Against Tomorrow" on YouTube.  It's certainly not in the same class as "Rififi" and probably not as good as "The Killing" either but it's an interesting hybrid of heist movie, late-era film noir and social commentary.

 
Eephus said:
Heist movies are one of my favorite genres.  At their core, they're about as formulaic as you can get:  assemble the gang, plan the job, pull off the heist, getaway or die trying.  But the simple structure lends itself to endless variations on the theme.

The late 50s have at least two classic heist movies.  "The Killing" is famous in large part because it's early Kubrick and scripted by Jim Thompson.  I haven't watched it recently and maybe I'm dead wrong but I'd rate it as good but not great.  On the other hand, "Rififi" is a contender for the GOAT of the genre.  "Rififi" excels in all segments of the classical heist plot structure.  The pre-caper phase assembles an interesting set of characters.  The robbery sequence is a masterful 20-30 minutes of suspense without dialog or music.  This occurs relatively early in the film which gives plenty of time for things to unravel for the gang, which may be the best part of the film.  

My pick for an underrated 1955-59 heist film is "Odds Against Tomorrow", a 1959 movie starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley.  The film's central gimmick is that the robbery forces Belafonte to work with an loathsome racist character played by Ryan.  Belafonte was one of the few African American actors of the era who could carry a commercial Hollywood movie but it's still a pretty low budget affair.  That works in its favor though with a gritty black and white location footage helping to define the desperate characters.  Where "Rififi" places the robbery sequence near the middle of the film, "Odds Against Tomorrow" spends most of its running time on character development.  The heist and post-heist action happens right at the end.  The robbery itself is nothing special but there's still a lot to like.  Ryan is terrific, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame get a few scenes each to help establish Ryan's character, there's a nice jazz score by John Lewis of the MJQ and director Robert Wise does a good job of establishing tone and space.  The script was co-written under a front by blacklisted writer/director Abraham Polonsky.  It's telling to contrast the Communist Polonsky's acerbic take on the state of late 50s race relations with the more uplifting message for White liberal Stanley Kramer in "The Defiant Ones".

There's a decent three part print of "Odds Against Tomorrow" on YouTube.  It's certainly not in the same class as "Rififi" and probably not as good as "The Killing" either but it's an interesting hybrid of heist movie, late-era film noir and social commentary.
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Good film and the jazz score is $$$$. Bill Evans, Connie Kay, etc. 

 
List has been sent

All Time Classic (20)

The Searchers

The 400 Blows

North by Northwest

Great (15)

Some Like It Hot

The Night of the Hunter 

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Very Good (12)

Throne of Blood

Rififi

Elevator to the Gallows

Vertigo

Touch of Evil

Good (7)

The Killing

Anatomy of a Murder

Sweet Smell of Success

Some Came Running

Rio Bravo 

It was tough leaving off Paths of Glory, Ben-Hur, 12 Angry Men and a few others but I think this is my final list. 
 
Ilov80s said:
List has been sent

All Time Classic (20)

The Searchers

The 400 Blows

North by Northwest

Great (15)

Some Like It Hot

The Night of the Hunter 

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Very Good (12)

Throne of Blood

Rififi

Elevator to the Gallows

Vertigo

Touch of Evil

Good (7)

The Killing

Anatomy of a Murder

Sweet Smell of Success

Some Came Running

Rio Bravo 

It was tough leaving off Paths of Glory, Ben-Hur, 12 Angry Men and a few others but I think this is my final list. 
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This is going to be interesting judging by what you commented about having to leave off.   Besides the top 4-5, I am really having trouble narrowing my list down.  

 
KarmaPolice said:
This is going to be interesting judging by what you commented about having to leave off.   Besides the top 4-5, I am really having trouble narrowing my list down.  
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Also realized A Face in the Crowd didn't make the cut either...very tough calls IMO

 
Eephus said:
Heist movies are one of my favorite genres.  At their core, they're about as formulaic as you can get:  assemble the gang, plan the job, pull off the heist, getaway or die trying.  But the simple structure lends itself to endless variations on the theme.

The late 50s have at least two classic heist movies.  "The Killing" is famous in large part because it's early Kubrick and scripted by Jim Thompson.  I haven't watched it recently and maybe I'm dead wrong but I'd rate it as good but not great.  On the other hand, "Rififi" is a contender for the GOAT of the genre.  "Rififi" excels in all segments of the classical heist plot structure.  The pre-caper phase assembles an interesting set of characters.  The robbery sequence is a masterful 20-30 minutes of suspense without dialog or music.  This occurs relatively early in the film which gives plenty of time for things to unravel for the gang, which may be the best part of the film.  

My pick for an underrated 1955-59 heist film is "Odds Against Tomorrow", a 1959 movie starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley.  The film's central gimmick is that the robbery forces Belafonte to work with an loathsome racist character played by Ryan.  Belafonte was one of the few African American actors of the era who could carry a commercial Hollywood movie but it's still a pretty low budget affair.  That works in its favor though with a gritty black and white location footage helping to define the desperate characters.  Where "Rififi" places the robbery sequence near the middle of the film, "Odds Against Tomorrow" spends most of its running time on character development.  The heist and post-heist action happens right at the end.  The robbery itself is nothing special but there's still a lot to like.  Ryan is terrific, Shelley Winters and Gloria Grahame get a few scenes each to help establish Ryan's character, there's a nice jazz score by John Lewis of the MJQ and director Robert Wise does a good job of establishing tone and space.  The script was co-written under a front by blacklisted writer/director Abraham Polonsky.  It's telling to contrast the Communist Polonsky's acerbic take on the state of late 50s race relations with the more uplifting message for White liberal Stanley Kramer in "The Defiant Ones".

There's a decent three part print of "Odds Against Tomorrow" on YouTube.  It's certainly not in the same class as "Rififi" and probably not as good as "The Killing" either but it's an interesting hybrid of heist movie, late-era film noir and social commentary.
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Completely agree with the bolded.

As for the rest, stop giving me more movies to watch! :rant:  

 
Some classic Sci Fi during this period.

Examples:

The Blob

From Hell It Came (a walking tree monster - no I'm not kidding)

It! The Terror From Beyond Space (classic that was the inspiration for Alien)

I was A Teenage Werewolf

20 Million Miles To Earth

Beginning Of The End

Several of these made my list.

 
Mr. Mojo said:
Some classic Sci Fi during this period.

Examples:

The Blob

From Hell It Came (a walking tree monster - no I'm not kidding)

It! The Terror From Beyond Space (classic that was the inspiration for Alien)

I was A Teenage Werewolf

20 Million Miles To Earth

Beginning Of The End

Several of these made my list.
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a big one from that era. I liked it as a kid but I was disappointed when I watched it last Autumn.

 
Yikes ...had to leave some epics on the floor.  

12 Angry Men   17

North By Northwest   17

Vertigo   17

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof   17

The Bridge Over River Kwai   17

Mister Roberts   17

Some Like It Hot   17

The Mouse That Roared   10

A Face In The Crowd   10

The Ladykillers   10

Anatomy of A Murder   6

The Defiant Ones   6

Thunder Road   6

The Searchers   6

Bad Day at Black Rock   6

The Rainmaker   6

The Man with the Golden Arm   6

Rebel Without a Cause   3

East of Eden   3

The Seventh Seal   3

 
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