I've committed to getting through the 1950s for my Top Ten project. However, this has easily been my most difficult phase of the project so far, and there's no way that I would have gotten this far if it weren't for the COVID pandemic and if it weren't for suddenly having all this free time (that isn't going to last much longer). Over the past eighteen months, I've seen nearly two hundred films from the 1950s, and I have more than fifty to go. Frankly, it's starting to wear on me, and I'm looking forward to taking a long break from this era once I'm finished.
I've tried to keep my viewing choices balanced between the popular films of the era, the prestige films, and the artsier fare that has been elevated over time. Major genres of the '50s are very different from the present day, so there's been almost no science-fiction or fantasy, and far fewer musicals than I was expecting - and I've already seen most of the major ones. Instead, there are more melodramas, more film noir, more romances, more biopics, more Bible epics, and more westerns. I understand why westerns were so popular, because they're one of the only genres that regularly offer a lot of action and excitement. I was also happy to stumble across the long-forgotten swashbuckler adventure genre, with films like "Scaramouche," "Fan-Fan the Tulip," and "The Crimson Pirate."
Conversely, I've really been struggling with the film noir titles I've seen so far. The wildly outdated gender politics and the crude morality applied to depictions of law and order are often difficult for me to take. So many of the protagonists in these films are thoroughly despicable, and I don't feel remotely sympathetic towards them. Marilyn Monroe starred in a couple of them early in her career, films like "Niagara," and "Don't Bother to Knock," where she plays emotionally disturbed, doomed women. I appreciate that these films are able to spotlight some social ills not otherwise seen onscreen, but the handling of these themes is so heavy-handed and sensationalistic, it's always a little cringeworthy. It has been fun, however, digging up the occasional standout like "Scandal Sheet" or "The Bigamist."
Stars of the era I've been glad to get better acquainted with include Anna Magnani, Gloria Graeme, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel, Arthur Kennedy, and Jose Ferrer. I'm starting to suspect that Burt Lancaster is my favorite Hollywood actor, because he's both a larger than life action star and able to pull off dramas like "The Rose Tattoo" and "Come Back Little Sheba" with ease, though Jimmy Stewart is still in the lead. Also, after watching so many of the lesser known Mikio Naruse and Yasujiro Ozu films from this time period, Setsuo Hara's filmography is far more expansive than I realized - and I've barely started. She started working steadily in the '30s. I've now seen my first Roy Rogers film, and my first Toto film. The best surprise so far as been seeing a young, sinister Jack Palance in "Sudden Fear."
I do feel that my goal of acquiring more context for the classics I've already seen has been the best served by this latest stretch of viewing. Looking at my Letterboxd stats, the 1950s had previously had my highest concentration of highly scored films, because I had only seen the most famous and highly regarded films. But now, after seeing so many of the mediocre and second-string titles, the scores have evened out considerably. My admiration for some directors, like Otto Preminger, has been tempered a bit after seeing their less successful films. Others, however, have proven to be far more consistent. Early Frederico Fellini has been a thorough delight, and somehow there are still more Alfred Hitchcock and Ingmar Bergman films I haven't seen.
It's been especially sobering to realize that even though I feel like I've been watching these '50s films for ages, I'm really just scraping the surface. There are so many, many '50s films that I wasn't even aware existed, and every time I watch one, a dozen more seem to pop up in my line of sight. I don't feel like I've watched enough comedies. I don't feel like I've watched enough family films. There are directors and actors who I know were active during this era, but who I haven't managed to watch much of anything from.
So, I'm glad I did this, and I can see where having had this experience is going to pay off for me in the long run. However, it's going to be a long time before I venture into the '40s, if I decide to continue this project at all. Seventy years of top ten lists feels like plenty.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment