So yeah, it's been awhile.
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| Me feeling bad for being a jerk. |
Anna and I were soooo busy in October and November, for reals. At least I was able to keep reading everyone else's posts and see all the wonderful content that you all have been drawing up. I wanted to write up a list with little mini-reviews of all the books I've read recently, which is actually quite a few, but I think I'll postpone that to December, so we get a more complete list. For now, I'm going to share a few underrated fifties movies that have come to my attention recently or semi-recently, but are surprisingly unknown. Or maybe they're actually super famous, but no one writes about them because there's just this understanding of admiration without words that everyone is aware of except me. I cast aside these unspoken and antiquated conventions and boldy forge a new path. Onward!
1. North West Frontier ( aka Flame Over India) (1959)
This film is absolutely delightful. Set after the turn of the 20th century, this movie takes place in British-occupied India, where an epic British captain (Kenneth More) and an American governess (Lauren Bacall) are tasked with smuggling the young son of a Hindu maharajah safely out of the territory. The local Muslims wish to kill the little prince and would thereby destabilize the whole country (although it's already pretty destabilized). The only way to escape from a surrounded British settlement is by way of an old, almost broken-down train, and with the company of several highly interesting fellow passengers. It's an exciting, just all-round fun movie, with some surpringly intelligent and multi-faceted debates about difficult and fascinating subjects. Like, really, you'll be surprised by how interesting some of the arguments in this movie are. I also love each character (except for the guy you're not supposed to love), especially Lauren Bacall's very American governess and Kenneth More's very British officer. Another plus to this movie is that Lauren Bacall's dresses and cloak are absolutely divine to look at.
Miracle in the Rain, 1956
I don't even know why I'm sharing this movie, but I am. It's almost a run of the mill, unremarkable romance/drama, but it's not quite. It has a magic about it that keeps you around till the end, and I did cry when I watched it, so I can't ridicule it too much. Basically there's a young lady, played excellently by Jane Wyman, who's lonely and alone in New York City with no one to love except her depressed and ailing mother. One day, when the tears of heaven are coming down in an exceptionally profuse manner, she runs into a man, a young soldier from Tennesee (Van Johnson). They fall in love (*gasp*) and delightful and sad things happen.Will you like it? I don't know. I just know I did, and it's so very cozy.
Her idea pays off, and voila, she's suddenly famous. This, as you can guess, causes a plethora of problems. Judy Holliday as Gladys Glover is probably my favorite performance from an actress in history, and Jack Lemmon does a splendid job as her well-meaning but slightly cynical (with good reason) boyfriend.
It's the Korean War and a division of soldiers is widdled smaller and smaller until only a few men are left holding their ground from within a cave on the side of a snowy mountain. This film is in the best tradition of small war films. Each man has his own story, some more in depth than others, and they all have to work together to not die. This story is well made and told well, and all the actors are top notch. My favorite character is Corporal Denno, played by Richard Basehart. You'll see why if you watch the movie (my sad attempt at a review when I don't want to write a review: just watch the movie).
This movie deserves its own post, so I won't say too much. It's fabulous, one of my favorite films of all time. The story follows "Happy" (it's a code name), a young German man who turns traitor to his own country to help the allies. This one's a slow-boiler, taking time to get rolling. It's wonderfully crafted, a real work of art. Both Oskar Werner and Richard Basehart shine in their parts. I honestly will write an entire post for it.
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| And isn't this poster cool??? ↑ |
