1940s films that hold up well today
Ben_Fisher1
Posts: 2,973 Forum Member
✭✭✭
The 1940s was a classic decade for cinema. For one thing technical innovations were made, and sophisticated camera techniques were being developed. For another thing the screen acting styles were slowly changing, and becoming more naturalistic, just before the likes of Brando perfected the style of acting we know today. But what films do you feel still hold up well today from the 40s in terms of both a plot and acting perspective?
Here's my list, do you agree?
The Grapes Of Wrath- 1940
Citizen Kane- 1941
Woman of the Year- 1942
The Third Man-1949
Notorious- 1946
The Philadelphia Story- 1940
Here's my list, do you agree?
The Grapes Of Wrath- 1940
Citizen Kane- 1941
Woman of the Year- 1942
The Third Man-1949
Notorious- 1946
The Philadelphia Story- 1940
0
Comments
Another film moving on to the beginning of the 1950s Sunset Boulevard (1950) holds up well too. An aging, forgotten actress desperate to be young and famous again works well today. So many people cling on to their youth. Plus Sunset Boulevard is my all time favourite film. Need to watch it again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAoNDihnfbc
I agree with you on both counts
Yeah sorry for going off topic!
Bogart and Bacall films hold up pretty well.
Two of my favourite movies and, as a keen photographer very visually inspiring movies both photographed by the legendary Gregg Toland.
Hmm you think? I always find both of them kind of stagey and artificial. Never liked The Big Sleep, or To Have and Have Not. I prefer Tracey and Hepburn, they are much more contemporary in their acting styles I think. I also love Powell and Loy for the same reason, they were effortlessly charming and charismatic. Henry Fonda is another actor of the period who has a very natural style, and Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier is sooo good, she's like the Goldie Hawn of her day only better:p
It is my belief that Toland single handedly changed the look of Hollywood movies. His deep focus and quirky angles really changed the stagey studio look of the previous decade. TGOW is a great example. Do you recall that shot when the Joads enter the camp, and the camera is from their perspective, and everyone is getting out of the way of their truck? well, that scene is years ahead of its time I think. Simply marvelous.
"The Maltese Falcon"
"Casablanca"
Creatively and visually stunning for its time, enchanting, charming. One to see imo.
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Hue and Cry
Passport to Pimlico
Whisky Galore
Also the underrated Cornered with Dick Powell. He plays a Bogart style lead (ex forces turned PI) but with a bit more subtlety. Directed by Edward Dymtryck I believe. It's quite dark and has some interesting location shooting in areas of Europe that were genuinely destroyed in the war.
Charles Bickford was an interesting actor, I like his roles in Fallen Angel and the Woman on the Beach.
What about This Gun for Hire? Alan Ladd has some subtle but cool moments in that like the scene with the cat.
Probably my favourite decade for Hollywood films. So many iconic actors and directors.
Oh I love 'Out of the Past' haven't seen it in ages. Mitchum is great in that, and so is Jane Greer, who is underrated as an actress. I think she was better than Lauren Bacall. There is a lot of location filming in that movie too. Which shows that this was the decade when Hollywood started loosening up a bit from its strict confines.
And another Powell and Pressburger one from the 40s:
The Red Shoes (1948)
'The Strawberry Blonde' - I was never a big Jimmy Cagney fan but I do like this film and loved his performance. The humour is timeless and I would imagine that it was quite risqué for the time. Olivia De Havilland was delightful.
It's hard to believe that these movies are nearly 75 years old. The world has changed so much but the people haven't changed that much at all.
The Best Years of Our Lives - Excellent film about soldiers returning home from war.
Citizen Kane - Great.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - One of my favourite films.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Another favourite.
White Heat and Yankee Doodle Dandy - Contrasting Cagney classics.
When he worked on TGOW Toland studied the work of photographer Dorothea Lange who had documented the plight of the migrant workers and gave the movie a similar feel to her images.
It's really tragic that he died relatively young, who knows what he might have achieved.
Woman in the window (1944) is such a fascinating movie, it's like a twilight zone episode. Edward G is great in that.
Gilda (1946) is also a fave of mine. Even though I'm gay i always find Rita Hayworth captivating. She was sexy and vulnerable, and was a fairly decent actress, as well as a good dancer. She was far more interesting than Marilyn Monroe imo. Do you agree?
What other movies did he do? I know he also did The Little Foxes.
Oh god yes The Best Years of our Lives, is great. The music is fantastic too, very contemporary sounding. I think the reason it's not better known today is that no major movie legend is in it. Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy and Frederic March are all fairly overlooked today sadly, or not known.
I used to watch those old Sherlock Holmes films on BBC2 as a small kid in the mid 80s when they were shown often. Do you remember that? and the Charlie Chan movies too.:)
Edit in above post.
Yeah, Out of the Past is one of the true greats. The dialogue is fantastic and Mitch's delivery is just so iconic. I watch it at least once or twice a year with a pack of lucky strikes and bottle of whisky late at night and it always totally captivates me. Real movie magic.
Jane Greer was very beautiful. There's a series of videos on YouTube called legendary Robert Mitchum or something like that and Jane Greer is in them as an older lady, probably well into her 60's but she's still very beautiful with great bone structure and a warm smile.
Why do you think someone like Dana Andrews doesn't have a bigger profile now or then? He's great imo - he's got the looks and wears a fedora as well as anyone. He worked with Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang, Jacques Tourneur, Elia Kazan, Lewis Milestone etc. Great performer imo with a strong body of work including more than a few genuine classics. Deserves a better rep these days I feel.
He's really watchable even in lower budget RKO fair like Sealed Cargo (which is incidentally a great little film in itself).
Casablanca
Black Narcissus
The Maltese Falcon
The Treasure Of Sierra Madre
Double Indemnity
Notorious
His Girl Friday
The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Dictator