This month we pay tribute to the films of 1950...
Originally, I intended this to coincide with the 2021 film year, since it would allow discussion of the many interpretations of Cinderella, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Macbeth. The timing still manages to work: Disney+ dropped a new version of Cheaper by the Dozen (the original was #4 at the 1950 box office); there's a second Father of the Bride remake due this year; this year marks the 50th anniversary of the passing of Jackie Robinson, who starred in his own biopic in 1950; the podcast The One-Inch Barrier just did an episode on The Walls of Malapaga; the continuing pandemic led some classic film fans to draw comparisons to Panic in the Streets. It's a good time to return to 1950.
Besides, it's a year of Legendary cinema! Hollywood picked its own scabs in showbiz-related dramas like All About Eve, In a Lonely Place, and Sunset Blvd. Disney released its first full-length live-action film, Treasure Island, and the Marx Brothers released their last film together, Love Happy. Jean Renoir's 1939 The Rules of the Game finally saw an American release. And so on.
I watched 72 films, including 41 Academy Award nominees and one Honorary Oscar winner, to complete this project. Those films are:
Adam's Rib
All About Eve
Annie Get Your Gun
The Asphalt Jungle
The Baron of Arizona
Bitter Rice
The Black Rose
Borderline
Born Yesterday
Broken Arrow
Caged
Captain Carey, USA
Catskill Honeymoon
Champagne for Caesar
Cheaper by the Dozen
Cinderella
Convicted
Cyrano de Bergerac
Destination Moon
Fancy Pants
Father of the Bride
The Flame and the Arrow
The Furies
Gun Crazy
The Gunfighter
Harvey
House by the River
I'll Get By
In a Lonely Place
The Jackie Robinson Story
Key to the City
Kind Hearts and Coronets
King Solomon's Mines
Last Holiday
Louisa
Love Happy
Macbeth
The Magnificent Yankee
The Men
Mister 880
Mystery at the Burlesque
Mystery Street
Never Fear
The Next Voice You Hear...
Night and the City
No Sad Songs for Me
No Way Out
Our Very Own
Panic in the Streets
The Red Danube
Rio Grande
The Rules of the Game
Samson and Delilah
Singing Guns
Stage Fright
Summer Stock
Sunset Blvd.
That Forsyte Woman
The Third Man
Three Came Home
Three Little Words
A Ticket to Tomahawk
The Toast of New Orleans
Treasure Island
Trio
Wabash Avenue
The Walls of Malapaga
The West Point Story
When Willie Comes Marching Home
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Winchester '73
Young Man with a Horn
We start tomorrow with some thoughts on the Honorary Oscar winner, as well as some of the "craft" categories - Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Sound, and Special Effects.
1 comment:
Wow! What a year!
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