1950

Best Movies of 1950
The Usual Choices
All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston)
Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis)
In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)


But how about...
The Wooden Horse (Jack Lee)
An exciting British WWII-POW-Escape film with the usual brevity-is-cheaper UK storytelling style, a minimum of cliches and just enough music-less suspense to keep you riveted. The Great Escape it is not, and all the better for it - this seems real. Admittedly though, most of the acting could be charitably called underplaying, and the stiff-upper-lip / tallyho personas are a bit wince-inducing at times. At one point, when something resembling anger and frustration boils over, you just know that a grinned apology is not too far away. There will always be an England...

...and what about...
The Breaking Point (Michael Curtiz)
Terrific little Hemingway-originated movie full of people smugglers, bankrobbers and fishing. John Garfield's best performance is ably supported by Patricia Neal (her ice-queen / my face has only two muscles routine), an out-on-the-ocean authenticity and obvious film craftsmanship. In some ways better than To Have and To Have Not, its celluloid predecessor, only Bogie & Bacall's sexed-up conversations are truly missed. And Walter Brennan isn't missed at all.

...not to mention...
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Otto Preminger)
An inappropriately overlooked film noir, WtSE has many virtues: it moves along at a heady pace; features a was-he-ever-that-young appearance by Karl Malden; typical snappy dialogue; beautiful B&W cinematography; and jokes of the sarcastic / funny-as-a-crutch variety. I think what holds it back from greatness is three bloodless (but not fatal) performances: Gary Merrill (he was similarly awkward in All About Eve); Gene Tierney (always beautiful but never a strong actress); and Dana Andrews (alcoholism was clearly taking its toll on the man). Still, certainly deserving of a higher profile.

...and one personal unmentionable...
Harvey (Henry Koster)
Never could stand this movie. While Josephine Hull is the dementia-relative that we all hope to be drunk with over Christmas, all the rest of the character actors are corny / a radio discovery / who-did-you-sleep-with-to-land-this-job? And the worst, it must be said, is the immortal James Stewart. Okay, a nice guy he can do, but a delusional mental patient with worldly wisdom who is just simply adorable...the stretch well-and-truly twanged and snapped. Now, imagine what Sam Raimi or George Romero or John Carpenter could've done with this...

My Top 10 Films of 1950

"You're right! When you pull your breasts up,
your arse does get smaller!"

#01  A+ All About Eve (Mankiewicz)

#02  A   Sunset Boulevard (Wilder)

#03  A   The Breaking Point (Curtiz)
#04  A   Gun Crazy (Lewis)
#05  A    Last Holiday (Cass)
#06  A-  The Wooden Horse (Lee)
#07  A-  State Secret (Gilliat)
#08  A-  The Asphalt Jungle (Huston)
#09  A-  In a Lonely Place (Ray)
#10  A-  Dark City (Dieterle)

Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11  A-  Where the Sidewalk Ends (Preminger)
#12  A-  Winchester '73 (Mann)
#13  A-  The Clouded Yellow (Thomas)
#14  B+ Treasure Island (Haskin)
#15  B+ The Man Who Cheated Himself (Feist)
#16  B+ King Solomon's Mines (Bennett; Marton)
#17  B+ The Blue Lamp (Dearden)
#18  B+ Kim (Saville)
#19  B+ The Gunfighter (King)
#20  B+ Night and the City (Dassin)   
#21  B+ Panic in the Streets (Kazan)
#22  B+ Woman on the Run (Foster)
#23  B+ Broken Arrow (Daves)
#24  B+ Armored Car Robbery (Fleischer)
#25  B+ House by the River (Lang)

Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
>  B   Born Yesterday [Judy, Judy, Judy...and some other people]
>  B   Side Street [crime mellow-drama] 
>  B   Union Station [comes across as a pilot to a Dragnet rip-off, with added police brutality]
>  B   The Happiest Days of Your Life [too many snickers, not enough guffaws]
>  B   Father of the Bride [pleasant fluff] 
>  B   Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye [James Cagney, looking for another White Heat and not finding it]
>  B   711 Ocean Drive [nearly-good crime tale that is more quaint than gripping]
>  B   No Way Out [good message, told well, but unengagingly]

>  B   The Woman in Question [British whodunnit which can't escape the stage]
>  B   The Fuller Brush Girl [aka The Secret Origin of Lucy Ricardo]
>  B-  Summer Stock [Judy & Gene are gold together...but geez, it's a bog-standard musical, isn't it?]
>  B-  Room to Let [old British murder-mystery that needs its joints oiled]
>  B-  Young Man With a Horn [I titter every time I read the title]
>  B-  Three Came Home [trust me: watch A Town Like Alice instead...or Tenko]
>  B-  The Big Lift [the Yanks patting themselves on the back]
>  B-  Bitter Springs [rather staid made-in-Australia story of white settlers vs those-who-were-here-first]
>  B-  Cheaper By the Dozen [miscasting of Clifton kills it stone dead]
>  C   Harvey [A Personal Unmentionable]
>  C   Three Husbands [aka A Letter to Three Wives Does a Gender-Switch Which Turns Out to Be a Bad Idea]
>  C   Madeleine [read Rick Geary's The Case of Madeleine Smith graphic novel instead]
>  C   Francis [Talking Mule #1...Mr. Ed was better...but not by much]
>  C   Gone to Earth [its charm eludes me...and isn't Jennifer Jones rather mannered?]

"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1950 Films I Apparently Still Need to See

Annie Get Your Gun (Sidney); Black Hand (Thorpe); Blackout (Gilling); Branded (Mate); The Capture (Sturges); Champagne for Caesar (Whorf); Chance of a Lifetime (Miles); Dial 1119 (Mayer); Double Confession (Annakin); Fancy Pants (Marshall); The Glass Menagerie (Rapper); The Jackpot (Lang); Love That Brute (Hall); Mister 880 (Goulding); Morning Departure (Baker); The Mudlark (Negulesco); Mystery Street (Sturges); No Man of Her Own (Leisen); No Sad Songs For Me (Mate); Odette (Wilcox); Perfect Strangers (Windust); Rio Grande (Ford); Rocketship X-M (Nuemann); The Secret Fury (Ferrer); Seven Days to Noon (Boulting); The Sleeping City (Sherman); So Long at the Fair (Fisher); The Sound of Fury (Endfield); Stars in My Crown (Tourneur); They Were Not Divided (Young); Three Secrets (Wise); A Ticket to Tomahawk (Sale); The Underworld Story (Endfield); Wagon Master (Ford); A Woman of Distinction (Buzzell); Your Witness (Montgomery)

Best Performances of 1950

Oft-Mentioned Choices
Bette Davis - All About Eve
Jose Ferrer - Cyrano De Bergerac
Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
Josephine Hull - Harvey
George Sanders - All About Eve
James Stewart - Harvey
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard
Spencer Tracy - Father of the Bride

But how about...
Alastair Sim in Stage Fright
Stage Fright is definitely one of Hitch's lesser films (despite repeated attempts by trendsetters to elevate it to Vertigo-levels) but really, the only highlight is Sim. But let's face it...Alastair Sim, like Joan Greenwood, Una O'Connor, Ernest Thesiger and countless other British character actors steal a scene and often a whole movie just by existing. Sim in Stage Fright carries out his little bits of business, says the lines his way with his timing and his stresses, and fidgets with his costume that you just know is what he normally wears at home anyway. The man is a hoot.

...and what about...
Robert Newton in Treasure Island
Once this performance was laid down, ALL interpretations of Long John Silver began by referencing Newton. He taught the world how to talk like a pirate, how to squint and smile at the same time, how to treat parrots and how to be a bastard Disney villain and still get the kids to like you. An absolutely flawless display of larger-than-life character creation. It would've been nice if he had been given some sort of positive recognition from his peers for this achievement...maybe an intervention to deal with his alcoholism?

...not to mention...
Louis Calhern in The Asphalt Jungle

Now, this is a neat trick. The guy that Calhern plays is a sleazebag. You know that behind those closed doors he gets just-barely-an-adult Marilyn to carry out his pedophilic fantasies and mummy/daddy issues, all the while probably doing not much more than sitting, watching, telling and trembling. To shake his hand would be to immediately crave a shower. And yet, and I don't know how he does it, I feel nothing but pity for the poor old bugger. I especially like how he tries to avoid looking into eyes to emphasise his self-disgust. A masterpiece of empathy from muck.

...and one personal unmentionable...
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard

Look, I know, I know. I LOVE the movie too, I dig its black goth humour and have watched it many, many times. I am a fan, okay, I really am. But I have always thought that Gloria was just too OTT - to me, she is an animated caricature, bug-eyes, snooty profile and all. I can't believe that she was EVER a movie star, even in an era of Theda Bara and Valentino. All I feel for her is amusement or revulsion (like I do with the Hulk or tele-evangelists). I needed to feel sympathy for the old gal, but instead, all of that poured into the gigolo. An instant theme float for any Gay Mardi Gras parade, Norma Desmond seems to me to be all show and no obvious substance. I wonder what Lillian Gish would have done with the role?

My 10 Favourite Performances of 1950

"Lassie? That slut? I can give you better lovin' than her!"

#01  Bette Davis - All About Eve
#02  Marlon Brando - The Men
#03  William Holden - Sunset Boulevard
#04  John Garfield - The Breaking Point
#05  Robert Newton - Treasure Island
#06  George Sanders - All About Eve
#07  Peggy Cummins & John Dall - Gun Crazy
#08  Josephine Hull - Harvey
#09  Louis Calhern - The Asphalt Jungle
#10  Humphrey Bogart - In a Lonely Place
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11  Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
#12  Googie Withers - Night and the City
#13  Judy Garland & Gene Kelly - Summer Stock
#14  Jean Simmons - The Clouded Yellow
#15  Ann Sheridan - Woman on the Run
#16  Dan Duryea - Winchester '73
#17  Spencer Tracy - Father of the Bride
#18  Douglas Fairbanks Jr. - State Secret
#19  Alec Guinness - Last Holiday
#20  James Stewart - Winchester '73

Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac [trying too hard to be classic]
> Anne Baxter in All About Eve [Anne Baxter as a viable rival to Bette Davis?]

And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1950 are:

FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
SILVER: Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
BRONZE: The Breaking Point (Michael Curtiz)

LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Marlon Brando (The Men)
SILVER: William Holden (Sunset Boulevard)
BRONZE: Robert Newton (Treasure Island)

LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Bette Davis (All About Eve)
SILVER: Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday)
BRONZE: Jean Simmons (The Clouded Yellow)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: George Sanders (All About Eve)
SILVER: Louis Calhern (The Asphalt Jungle)
BRONZE: Alastair Sim (Stage Fright)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Josephine Hull (Harvey)
SILVER: Googie Withers (Night and the City)
BRONZE: Joyce Grenfell (The Happiest Days of Your Life)

ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Peggy Cummins & John Dall (Gun Crazy)
SILVER: Judy Garland & Gene Kelly (Summer Stock)
BRONZE: Alastair Sim & Margaret Rutherford (The Happiest Days of Your Life)

JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Bobby Driscoll (Treasure Island)
SILVER: Dean Stockwell (Kim)
BRONZE: Elizabeth Taylor (Father of the Bride)

The Alternate Razzies for 1950 are:

CRAP FILM of the YEAR
Francis (Arthur Lubin)

CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Clifton Webb (Cheaper By the Dozen)

CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Jennifer Jones (Gone to Earth)