MovieChat Forums > Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Discussion > Your Favorites: 1950-1959

Your Favorites: 1950-1959

posted 14 years ago by ZachFrances1990
6 replies | jump to latest

1. Alexander Mackendrick's 'Sweet Smell Of Success' (1957)

2. Jules Dassin's 'Night And The City' (1950)

3. Charles Laughton's 'The Night Of The Hunter' (1955)

4. Francois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows' (1959)

5. Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal' (1957)

6. Billy Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950)

7. Jules Dassin's 'Rififi' (1955)

8. Orson Welles' 'Touch Of Evil' (1958)

9. Otto Preminger's 'Anatomy Of A Murder' (1959)

10. Akira Kurosawa's 'Ikiru' (1952)

Honorable Mentions: Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' (1958), Alfred Hitchock's 'Strangers on A Train' (1951), Billy Wilder's 'Ace In The Hole' (1951), Jean-Pierre Melville's 'Bob Le Flambeur', Sam Fuller's 'Pickup On South Street' (1953), Joseph H. Lewis' 'Gun Crazy' (1950), Robert Aldrich's 'Kiss Me Deadly' (1955), Nicholas Ray's 'In A Lonely Place' (1950), Stanley Kubrick's 'The Killing' (1956), Fritz Lang's 'The Big Heat' (1953), Stanley Kubrick's 'Paths Of Glory' (1957), Stanley Donen and Gene Kelley's 'Singin' In The Rain' (1952), Juan Antonio Bardem's 'Death Of a Cyclist' (1955)., Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' (1954).

I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.

[–] carlsez_1 14 years ago

Good list. Never heard of "Night of the Hunter", it looks interesting; I'm putting it on my 'to watch' list.

The ones that stuck with me:

Giant - personal triumphs and downfalls, on the grandest of scale and sometimes with the smallest of gestures.

Witness for the Prosecution - Laughton's confident curmudgeon and Dietrich's exotic uber-female carry this engaging 'dramedy'.

12 Angry Men - character studies en mas and one man's fight for principals - all in one room.

North by Northwest - there's a parallel world existing right along with our own, and we're just one mistaken identity away from falling into it.

War of the Worlds - suspenseful, creepy, and sometimes surreal, the implacable martians destroy with singular purpose; there's no talking your way out of this one.

And taking one from your 'honorable mention' list:

Paths of Glory - great acting, directing and incredibly visceral battle scenes illustrate a story about the horrors of war both on and off the battlefield.

Many more, but these just strike me at the moment.

Auto-Tune is not a genre, please stop treating it as such.

[–] ZachFrances1990 14 years ago

Gotta love 12 Angry Men, that's a great one. Witness for the Prosecution is a great one too, and I can't believe I missed it!

And you should really check out the Night Of The Hunter. Its truly impressive. A visual tour de force, and Mitchum is at his terrifying best!

I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.

[–] pturman-929-979676 14 years ago

I take it you're an "auteurist" since you mention the director of each movie. Ever read what William Goldman had to say about the auteur theory?

My favorite's from the 50's that you mentioned:

Sweet Smell of Success
Vertigo
Touch of Evil
Anatomy of a Murder

My favorites you didn't mention:

Giant
East of Eden
Streetcar Named Desire
A Place in the Sun
On the Waterfront
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

SSOS reminded me, strangely enough, of Touch of Evil. After watching both of them for the first time, I felt like I needed to take a bath!

[–] alexhall187 13 years ago

1. The 400 Blows (1959) - Francois Truffaut
2. 12 Angry Men (1957) - Sidney Lumet
3. Seven Samurai (1954) - Akira Kurosawa
4. The Night of the Hunter (1955) - Charles Laughton
5. On the Waterfront (1954) - Elia Kazan
6. Paths of Glory (1957) - Stanley Kubrick
7. The Seventh Seal (1957) - Ingmar Bergman
8. Rashomon (1950) - Akira Kurosawa
9. Wild Strawberries (1957) - Ingmar Bergman
10. Ikiru (1952) - Akira Kurosawa

Honorable Mentions:

Shadows (1959) - John Cassavetes
The Music Room (1958) - Satyajit Ray
The Killing (1956) - Stanley Kubrick
Tokyo Story (1953) - Yasujiro Ozu
Umberto D. (1952) - Vittorio De Sica

I have to return some videotapes.

[–] TheLamplightersSerenade 13 years ago

My favorites:

10. Rear Window
9. In A Lonely Place
8. The Ladykillers
7. Sunset Boulevard
6. Stalag 17
5. All About Eve
4. Vertigo
3. 12 Angry Men
2. The Bridge on the River Kwai
1. Sweet Smell of Success

[–] twm-2 13 years ago

In approximate order:

1) Vertigo
2) The Searchers
3) Ben-Hur
4) North by Northwest
5) Some Like It Hot
6) Paths of Glory
7) Ikiru
8) On the Waterfront
9)The Day the Earth Stood Still
10)East of Eden
11)Bridge over the River Kwi
12)Scrooge (AKA, A Christmas Carol--1951)
13)Sweet Smell of Success
14)The Court Jester
15)Giant
16)All About Eve
17)The Quiet Man
18)Roman Holiday
19)Singing in the Rain
20)The African Queen
21)Rashomon
22)The Caine Mutiny
23)Shane
24)High Noon
25)A Star Is Born

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