The 1950s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

[barryconvex]

Some things have to be experienced at a certain point in one's life. I can't say that applies universally but it definitely did for me and Naked Lunch; when I attempted a reread a few years ago I didn't make it past the first few pages. Junky on the other hand is one I've returned to numerous times over the years. Not too long ago I found Speed and Kentucky Ham by Burroughs Jr. at a thrift store and was surprised by how much I liked them.

[barryconvex]

Mister Roberts (John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy 1955)

Henry Fonda can't deliver a comedic line reading to save his life, Jack Lemmon overdoes it at all the wrong moments and Cagney...actually, I got a kick out of Cagney's Captain Bligh impression. Although I'm not sure If that's what he was going for. Similar in tone to Stalag 17, it's a formulaic if enjoyable enough movie with a bunch of likable mugs doing likable sailor-type things and even if not much else is, the scene of the crew's shore leave to Elysium (the film's turning point) is really very funny. Instead of joining the sailors on shore Ford and LeRoy decide to let an increasingly irritated line of MPs and naval higher-ups as well as drunken members of the ship's crew explain to Fonda what's transpired. Hearing about things second hand rather than witnessing the mischief the crew got involved in on the island is probably the movie's lone unconventional decision. It also allows Fonda to play to his more natural strengths as a straight man as well as introducing a series of comedic supporting roles that are actually funny. Its worst idea? The horribly bungled ending where the movie needlessly makes a sharp left turn into pathos. That moment has barely had time to register before it jarringly cuts to Lemmon marching into Cagney's office and attempts to return to the mood it had been treading water in previously.

[nitin]

Not a fan of The Lady Eve then?

[therewillbeblus]

Moonfleet: I sought this out because it was one of the only films on a Cahiers top 100 list I hadn’t seen, and while I have no idea what they saw in it to praise so highly, I thought this was an inconsistently engaging adventure film that channeled fairy tale in a straightforward fashion. Unexpectedly, the film’s greatest strength is its artificiality and standard filmmaking choices. Medium shots that frame all from a safe distance, lots of shot-reverse-shot exchanges, and clearly-constructed sets all pigeonhole this as a spectacle and cements our role as omniscient viewer, granting us perspective to enjoy all on display without ulterior motives in ambitious thematic or technical interests. Unfortunately this offering isn’t as welcomed as Lang may think as the movie wears out its welcome when the point of view shifts away from the boy and into the backroom dealings of the adult characters (despite George Sanders sporting a nice wig), which happens quite early on. The film never fully recovers from these breaks even if it regains its balance intermittently to continue on the adventure with some moments of slight investment. I liked the first section of this film and was ready for that potential to be realised, but ultimately this was an uneven exercise that dwindled its energy too many times to be memorable, and I realized all too quickly that the only character I was interested in was a mediocre child actor, which is never a good sign.

A Bucket of Blood: I liked this quite a bit, even if I didn’t love it enough to make either this or the horror list. The satirical riffs all land pretty well, from those on the social art world itself as well as the psychology of the blinding ego-drive of fitting a square peg into a round hole to insert oneself into an identity that one wants but doesn’t actually possess. The jokes about what constitutes art are reminiscent of other works that play with this subjectivity, and by making the initial “art” happenstance and a product of literal force, the figuratively ‘forced’ relationship of Walter to this identity is revealed to be just as meaninglessness, shining a mirror on his own self and the culture he wants to penetrate. The stakes are raised through ridiculous situations with nonsensical motives but they don’t feel out of place in this story. Overall this is a movie I appreciate but can see barryconvex’s qualms. Walter is desperate, pathetic, and representative of a very human impulse to be seen, validated, and form a secure identity, but that doesn’t mean we have to like him. The pokes at the beatnik subculture are well-placed and Walter’s inability to fit into either this laughable group or the larger culture of socially normative society is enough to make this a light version of the ‘existential horror movie’ in its own right, ignoring the actual killing, which is of course the attribute that defines it categorically, even if those deaths are mostly played for laughs too!

The Tall Target: Anthony Mann made many great noirish films before those great westerns this decade, and this is one of the better. Mann uses his flair for intelligence in style and crafted suspense to take a short runtime and infuse it with enough moving parts to fill a more spacious epic, in this brief claustrophobic mystery-thriller, yet keeping the tone calm and restrained enough to appear calculated rather than wild. Mann doesn’t want or need fat on the bones, and his pacing and detailed historical fiction only amplifies the desired effects of his creative vision. Twists and turns, strategic planning around general mistrust, and multiple characters fleshing out different perspectives all add layers of fun and detail that expand this tight setting into something greater.

Roman Holiday: Another old favorite that holds up years later thanks to an unerasable joy of Hepburn’s early performance. The gift to watch her breathe life into her character and become a movie star across two hours is enough to call this a great film but it also has a witty script, a smart offbeat-pairing sparring partner turned perfect-match in Peck, and the direction turns another shade of an unoriginal screwbally plot structure into a fresh design, making any ties to other stories barely noticeable. The film’s length plays to its strengths, with Wyler allowing plenty of space for the chemistry between the leads or solitary moments with each actor to carry on in patient wordless scenes through time (Hepburn’s body language as she soaks up various “common” opportunities with grateful and excited eyes given her newfound freedom is perhaps the film’s most generous treat). Wyler’s willingness and curiosity to resist the dialogue-packing in every moment helps define the mystical romantic vibe floating invisibly in the air, and makes itself as tangible as it ever will be in those many quiet scenes, especially around the middle of the film. Of course this also plays into coded gags between Peck and his photographer friend, and the actual dialogue is wonderful as well. It’s fitting that Wyler, who takes filmmaking very seriously and cannot help but see the drama in even the lightest of moments, takes a movie that could have been screwball and turns it into a straighter romantic comedy with a different kind of human respect and attention to detail in the two leads; bringing his eclecticism of style to the comedy and pulling it off in spades. That feeling of connection breaking through all the superficial social norms at the end is one of my favorite cinematic depictions of the effects of mutual experience expressed as reciprocal gratitude.

[knives]

Which cut of South Pacific is the better to go with?

[nitin]

twbb, I mentioned it a few pages ago but since you were on a 50s melodrama kick, have you seen Violent Saturday (which I think is best described as a heist film happening in a Sirk melodrama)?

[therewillbeblus]

I haven't but I took your suggestion and added it to my list when you first sang its praises! Sounds like a hidden gem, I'll try to prioritize it this week

[domino harvey]

I found it pretty dreadful myself, hopefully you get more out of it

[therewillbeblus]

I prefer my violence on weekdays so I'm a bit iffy

[domino harvey]

I think I’ve accidentally referred to it by the wrong day more than once on the board (and different days each time at that!)

[barryconvex]

Not a fan of The Lady Eve then?

Sorry, I should've clarified-I was referring solely to Fonda's performance in Roberts. I love The Lady Eve, it made my 40s list.

[barryconvex]

Stakeout (Yoshitarô Nomura 1958)

Mizoguchi could've made this movie which dresses up as a detective story but at its heart is really a tale of Japan's oppressive attitudes towards women. In the oppressive summer heat two detectives stake out the home of the former girlfriend (Sadako Yokokawa played by Hideko Takamine) to a suspected murderer (who disappeared after eluding these same two officers in Tokyo) In the hopes he will eventually show up there. As the two detectives hole up in an Inn across the street from Sadako's house they observe her monotonous daily routine and sometimes tail her as she runs inconsequential errands. Sadako has gotten married to a divorced banker and has inherited the thankless task of caring for the household and raising his three sons by his former wife. She lives on a paltry allowance of 100 yen per day and as they continue observing, the detectives begin to sympathize with her plight while wondering how this seemingly mild mannered housewife could've ever been involved with a dangerous criminal. Director Yoshitarô Nomura mixes in the occasional flashback to the original search after the crime in Tokyo as well as exploring the detectives' own domestic situations as they begin to examine their own feelings towards the women in their lives.

Being on a stakeout is dull, repetitive work and juxtaposes nicely with how Sadako spends her days. The film's pace is deliberately glacial and Nomura makes a point of showing how dull this work is throughout nearly all of the film's first two acts. There are no shootouts, breathless car chases, femme fatales or anything else one might expect in a story like this. Just these two men sitting in a room watching day after day. I won't give away the film's brilliant third act and shattering dénouement (which totally blindsided me) as I suspect many here have not seen this yet.

I hadn't seen any of Nomura's work before watching this and Zero Focus on the Criterion Channel. With a career spanning four decades and dozens of credits he would appear to be another Japanese director sorely under represented on home video, at least in the west. This is a good one that has an outside chance at making my list.

[Michael Kerpan]

Stakeout is, perhaps, my favorite Nomura film. I've never seen it subbed, but even unsubbed its excellent. I definitely recommend checking out Matsumoto's books and stories (the handful that have been translated) -- reading these can make some more of the unsubbed film adaptations accessible. Another great Matsumoto adaptation is Yoji Yamada's Flag in the MIst (no subbed version -- but the English translation called "Pro Bono" will let you get by). (Yamada was initially a protege of Nomura at Shochiku).

This may even edge out Kurosawa's Stray Dogs in conveying the oppressiveness of Japan's summer heat.

How did you find a subbed version?

[Roger Ryan]

Mister Roberts (John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy 1955)
...Hearing about things second hand rather than witnessing the mischief the crew got involved in on the island is probably the movie's lone unconventional decision...

I'm pretty sure this "unconventional decision" was made because the stage play (which the film is based on) handled this sequence in the same way (a conventional choice in that stage productions normally have to limit the scope of the action).

[therewillbeblus]

A plug for Violent Saturday which IMHO is surely one of the unsung great films of all time.

Its Sirk meets Siegel approach probably makes it difficult to classify (and I am guessing advertise) but this is extremely high quality filmmaking IMHO even if that approach is probably not going to be for everyone’s taste.

The first thing that makes you sit up and notice is the expert use of the frame, Fleischer and his cinematographer put on a real show throughout with their blocking and movement. The script has beautifully layered character work and the hard boiled noirish dialogue is lapped up by all of the cast (my favourite performances were Virginia Leith and Lee Marvin).

I didn’t like this very much unfortunately but I do appreciate its duality in light of your comments. Even though melodrama is an inherent ingredient in noir, this movie really goes for broke by hitting heavily dark crime beats and infusing them with as much exaggerated drama as the actual side plots

SpoilerShow

(the brutal casualties in the late robbery would be the bleak crime element, but the lingering close-ups and faint-like cries as they fall hit the same notes of artificial melodrama that Sirk does!)

The balance isn’t always as well-struck as that incredible moment, and most of the movie tows the line across a less intimate or specific fusion, with characters spewing noirish bite while engaging in deep melodramatic conversations, but those idiosyncratic details - as you said - really do evoke something interesting when they work. I think that people who like Sirk more might also find more substance of interest to hold onto here, but even though I didn’t personally find a lot to love, you’re right about the smart technical choices in blocking and spatial awareness, as well as the wildness in the blending of genres that shouldn’t seem like such distant cousins as they do here, and I admire your love for the film.

[barryconvex]

Stakeout is, perhaps, my favorite Nomura film. I've never seen it subbed, but even unsubbed its excellent. I definitely recommend checking out Matsumoto's books and stories (the handful that have been translated) -- reading these can make some more of the unsubbed film adaptations accessible. Another great Matsumoto adaptation is Yoji Yamada's Flag in the MIst (no subbed version -- but the English translation called "Pro Bono" will let you get by). (Yamada was initially a protege of Nomura at Shochiku).

This may even edge out Kurosawa's Stray Dogs in conveying the oppressiveness of Japan's summer heat.

How did you find a subbed version?

Stakeout, Zero Focus, Castle Of Sand, The Demon, The Shadow Within and A Colt Is My Passport (from the Eclipse set) are all on the Criterion channel with subs. I'm not sure which master was used for Stakeout but It doesn't appear that Zero had been upgraded at all and Criterion was using the old HMV dvd master but I thought both looked fine and was just happy to see them regardless. I haven't watched Castle, Demon or Shadow yet so I can't comment. I have to say, and I consider myself a physical media purist, that Criterion's streaming service is a fantastic resource.

[Michael Kerpan]

I liked the book for Castle of Sand (Inspector Imanishi Investigates -- Japanese name is really more like "bowls of sand") a lot better than Nomura's adaptation. Demon is pretty devastating. Shadow Within didn't leave as strong an impression as some of the others.

[barryconvex]

Razzia Sur La Chnouf (Henri Decoin 1955)

One of the many highlights of this excellent French crime drama is the time director Henri Decoin takes to explore the subtleties of the drug trade in Paris. We meet the bottom rungs of Parisian street life and the places they live and work which in itself is not something often portrayed, but in a brilliant touch he also shows us things like where the dealers hide their dope; between the covers of the yellow pages and inside phone receivers. That Decoin would add these bits of realism speaks to how confidently he moves through this world and his film is on par with Touchez Pas Au Grisbi, Rififi and all the other venerable French crime classics because of how well he knows this terrain.

As a high ranking enforcer assigned by the top man himself- Liski -it's Gabin's job to whip the organization into shape top to bottom. He uses a local restaurant as a cover and one night when the place gets raided the cops question one of his underlings:
Cop-Occupation?
Thug-My parent's shame.
Decoin follows this up with a sight gag of the restaurant staff sweeping up a small mountain of guns that were kicked under banquettes and stashed inside pianos by the club's clientele prior to the raid. I'm a sucker for this stuff, I admit it, and I love seeing the black and white Paris of the 50s, perpetually bathed in deep shadows regardless but after wading through this territory and familiarizing us with the world these people inhabit Decoin plays an unlikely trump card and introduces one of the great portraits of addiction- the low level dealer Lea. Played by Lila Kedrova (another great touch-usually these parts are played by men) she has a moment towards the end of the film that speaks deep truisms about the existence of a junkie. In that moment Kedrova expresses the highs and lows and the unyielding weariness of a life spent forever searching and not thought out more than 24 hours in advance in just a brief closeup. All of her scenes with Gabin are magic and she single handedly elevates the film from very good to great. Highly recommended.

[barryconvex]

I liked the book for Castle of Sand (Inspector Imanishi Investigates -- Japanese name is really more like "bowls of sand") a lot better than Nomura's adaptation. Demon is pretty devastating. Shadow Within didn't leave as strong an impression as some of the others.

Thank you for the recs Michael. I'm going to try and track down some of the books you mentioned for xmas break reading as well.

[nitin]

A plug for Violent Saturday which IMHO is surely one of the unsung great films of all time.

Its Sirk meets Siegel approach probably makes it difficult to classify (and I am guessing advertise) but this is extremely high quality filmmaking IMHO even if that approach is probably not going to be for everyone’s taste.

The first thing that makes you sit up and notice is the expert use of the frame, Fleischer and his cinematographer put on a real show throughout with their blocking and movement. The script has beautifully layered character work and the hard boiled noirish dialogue is lapped up by all of the cast (my favourite performances were Virginia Leith and Lee Marvin).

I didn’t like this very much unfortunately but I do appreciate its duality in light of your comments. Even though melodrama is an inherent ingredient in noir, this movie really goes for broke by hitting heavily dark crime beats and infusing them with as much exaggerated drama as the actual side plots

SpoilerShow

(the brutal casualties in the late robbery would be the bleak crime element, but the lingering close-ups and faint-like cries as they fall hit the same notes of artificial melodrama that Sirk does!)

The balance isn’t always as well-struck as that incredible moment, and most of the movie tows the line across a less intimate or specific fusion, with characters spewing noirish bite while engaging in deep melodramatic conversations, but those idiosyncratic details - as you said - really do evoke something interesting when they work. I think that people who like Sirk more might also find more substance of interest to hold onto here, but even though I didn’t personally find a lot to love, you’re right about the smart technical choices in blocking and spatial awareness, as well as the wildness in the blending of genres that shouldn’t seem like such distant cousins as they do here, and I admire your love for the film.

Thanks for sharing your take. It definitely will not be to everyone’s tastes but I like both my noir and Sirk so this worked y well for me.

[Lowry_Sam]

Just wanted to remind people that Ida Lupino's films will be leaving the channel at the end of the month. Despite not caring much for The Hitchhiker (perhaps the reviews I read gave me higher expectations), I caught The Bigamist, which I found a bit more compelling, though more as a melodrama than as a noir. The film is notable for the lack of sensationalism in its approach to the subject. Edmond O'brien plays a man who ends up married to two women. An investigator played by Edmund Gwenn (Miracle On 34th Street follows him after he & Joan Bennet apply to adopt a child, but the film presents his pursuit of the truth as a matter-of-fact investigation, and so the element of mystery & suspense in the story unfolding is rather subdued. There are some noir elements (voiceover & dramatic score), but other noir elements are notably absent (darkly lit scenes). Both Ida Lupino & Joan Bennet play their parts admirably, but Edmond's character is clearly the one the audience is meant to sympathisize with. I did find the attempt at a more realistic approach to the topic admirable (in contrast to its more sensational tagline), but felt it could have actually been much more engaging as either a noir or a Sirk-like melodrama.

[senseabove]

I was similarly underwhelmed by The Hitch-Hiker, also possibly due to its high praise. The Lupino I'd really like to revisit as a list contender is 1950's Outrage, a story about a young woman who flees her family and fiancé after being raped and tries to start over far away from home. But it isn't available anywhere legal or otherwise that I can find. If anybody knows anywhere to track that one down...

[therewillbeblus]

I was similarly underwhelmed by The Hitch-Hiker, also possibly due to its high praise. The Lupino I'd really like to revisit as a list contender is 1950's Outrage, a story about a young woman who flees her family and fiancé after being raped and tries to start over far away from home. But it isn't available anywhere legal or otherwise that I can find. If anybody knows anywhere to track that one down...

From a quick google search, it's up on YT (and doesn't look half bad at that)!

I've only seen The Hitch-Hiker and The Bigamist and thought both were fine, but nothing special. Lupino definitely has talent behind the camera though, even if neither of those stuck with me much, so I'll give this one a go

[domino harvey]

I thought it was included in the KL Lupino box but I guess not. I didn't like it any more than I like the other Lupino movies, though. Here's my director guide from the last go-around

IDA LUPINO

Outrage (1950) No commercial release
Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) R1 Warner Archives
the Hitch-Hiker (1953) R1 Kino
the Bigamist (1953) R1 PD / R2 Wild Side (best quality)

Ida Lupino is held in high regard, here and elsewhere, so I'd like to be clear that I'm not trying to pick a fight or be a contrarian with this thumbnail response to her work this decade. I understand why people want Ida Lupino's films to fit the narrative of being the first significant female director of the studio system, but her films just do not justify their lofty reputations. Of the four films she directed this decade, only one seems to be offering something of novel import (and whether what it brings to the table is a good thing is debatable), with the rest of her work clocking in varying degrees of regressive sexual politics that are unbelievably repackaged and sold by modern critics as progressive or even, vom, feminist. If only!

Outrage (1950) is a film that would be far more offensive were it not so melodramatic and misguided. A young city girl gets raped, regresses, and runs away to the country where she eventually encounters another scenario not unlike that which drove her away in the first place. The film ludicrously places the brunt of this problem picture on a society that's loosened its grip on the criminally deranged (no, really) and not on the horrifying reality of rape as an everyday threat from possibly any man. The film works for about two minutes near the end of the first act as the girl tries to return to a "normal" life, only to have everyone stare at her and treat her with kid gloves. More honesty and less hindrance of studio-mandated niceties might have made this the important landmark it can never be. Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951), Lupino's least-interesting film of this period, is a standard issue stage mom (court mom?) tale about an overbearing tennis starlet's mother's plans for her happiness and her own, which of course revolve around domesticity. Yet more of the regressive sexual politics that Lupino will take even further with the Bigamist. As for the Hitch-Hiker (1953), Lupino's harsh tale of two innocents held hostage by a third, I will consent that it is a well-made and handsome film, and I understand the appeal-- the same way I understand the appeal of the most debased stalk-and-slash films that this played no small part in inspiring (I believe I invoked Wolf Creek in discussing the film earlier on the board, which I'd consider a fair and true barometer). So I will admit that I don't like this movie simply because I think it's sadistic and cruel and it just plain makes me feel bad. Obviously some people enjoy or can intellectually appreciate an unnerving feeling of this sort, but I don't like films like this now and I don't like them from the Golden Era either.

Liking the Hitch-Hiker comes down more to personal tastes and endurance, and so it's not a film I'd exhaust much effort arguing against. But Lupino's final directed film of the decade, the Bigamist (1953), is. Here's a movie that is so smitten with its utter shit of a protagonist that it goes out of the way to show how Edmond O'Brien is both a dutiful husband and a loving boyfriend, what Christlike attributes he maintains while making his mistress Ida Lupino "legitimate" in the eyes of the community (which, given that she interacts with exactly two people in her day-to-day life, is definitely worth destroying one's life for) by marrying her while remaining married to Joan Fontaine. C'mon, it's not his fault-- he was lonely! The adulterer apologia would be bad enough, but it's how the film paints these two women that makes it all so objectionable. There's nothing wrong with Fontaine's character other than that she exhibits traditionally masculine attributes-- she can't be a mother, she's focused on business, and worst of all, she's better at the job than her husband-- and there's nothing appealing about Lupino outside of her tradionally negative female attributes-- neediness, a desire to be cared for, unwavering forgiveness of a husband's indiscretions. But the film gives more sympathy to Lupino than Fontaine due to its regressive sexual politics, as one is more "right" than the other-- and then the film has the gall to end with both giving those I Still Love Ya lingering glances at O'Brien. Because there's nothing so irresistible as a man who does the wrong thing and calls it the right thing. Fucking infuriating.

[senseabove]

From a quick google search, it's up on YT (and doesn't look half bad at that)!

Oh hey, look at that. Other search terms were burying that result. I always forget about YouTube...

I thought it was included in the KL Lupino box but I guess not. I didn't like it any more than I like the other Lupino movies, though. Here's my director guide from the last go-around...

Wow, that is... not how I read Outrage. It's been about two years since I saw it so too long to argue in much detail to the contrary, but what was memorable to me was its focus on the subjective experience of life after being raped, not any finger-pointing about the cause of it that you fault.