This is part of a series of top ten lists from the years before I started this blog. Entries are listed below in no particular order. Enjoy.
I Remember Mama - George Stevens' first feature film after returning from WWII is a sentimental coming of age story, featuring a Norwegian immigrant family in 1910, led by a steady, inspiring matriarch. This was one of Irene Dunne's final screen roles, and marked Stevens' permanent shift from comedies to dramas. Dunne's Mama is an irresistible maternal figure, and it's easy to become involved in the lives of her hopeful brood.
Hamlet - Laurence Olivier's film version of "Hamlet" is terrifically entertaining, full of Gothic gloom and portents of death, with an exciting sword fight sequence for the climax. The play is condensed and removes several subplots, making it a more intimate drama that centers on Hamlet's psychological struggles. It was the first British film to win the Best Picture Oscar, and cemented the place of the Bard on motion picture screens.
Bicycle Thieves - Not just a Neorealist film, but really *the* Neorealist film. One of the great ironies of "Bicycle Thieves" is that it was initially better received outside of Italy, because it was viewed as a negative portrayal of Italians. However, Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini's bleak fable about a father and son in post-war Rome still holds an uncommon power. The struggle it depicts is universal, and the expression of it remains sublime.
Unfaithfully Yours - A rather nasty little black comedy from Prestorn Sturges, featuring Rex Harrison as a celebrated conductor who can't stop fantasizing about getting revenge on his wife for perceived unfaithfulness. There's a happy ending, of course, but the wild tonal shifts, the lofty misuse of classical music, and the unusually dark subject matter didn't do the film any favors at the box office. However, it did help the movie stand the test of time.
La Terra Trema - The second of three films on my list from Neorealist directors, who were making films to capture the plight of post-war Europe, fast and furious. This was only Luchino Visconti's second feature film, part documentary and part narrative feature, about the exploitation of Sicilian fisherman. It's a beautiful film, capturing the environment, the way of life, and the social bonds of the characters, but a difficult watch due to its length and themes.
Fallen Idol - A fantastic Carol Reed thriller, about a man suspected of murdering his wife, where the whole story is seen through the eyes of a little boy. It's a wonderfully tense film with some great cinematography that helps to create a child's eye view of the world. The mystery is fairly typical, and the real stakes of the story end up being the boy's faith in the continually untrustworthy adults around him, which is sorely tested by the whole ordeal.
Germany Year Zero - An incredibly nihilistic film about a boy living in occupied Berlin, who is alternately led astray and neglected by his authority figures. It's the last film of Roberto Rosselini's war trilogy, and by far the bleakest. Though not as strictly realistic as his previous features, the film features non-actors and some real locations amidst a destroyed Berlin - more than enough to help convey the state of Germany in the wake of its worst defeat.
Oliver Twist - This is the adaptation directed by David Lean, starring Alec Guinness as Fagin. It's still the definitive screen version of the story, inventing new incidents that would carry over into subsequent adaptations, and making the villains like Sykes and Fagin the real stars of the show. I prefer the musical version a bit more because of the songs, but I'm well aware that the musical would likely never have existed without the Lean version of the story.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein - Arguably the first "Avengers" style cinematic universe occurred when Universal decided to put some of their horror movie favorites together in the "Abbott and Costello" series for some humorous supernatural hijinks. I prefer Stan and Ollie to Bud and Lou, but it can't be denied that they can bring laughs aplenty with the right material. And this is the right material.
Easter Parade - A winning MGM musical that pairs Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, and features some Irving Berlin classics. The numbers are all consistently good and Astaire and Garland are at the peak of their stardom. Astaire's "Steppin' Out With My Baby" is a highlight, but Garland's best number, the sexy "Mr. Monotony," was left on the cutting room floor until "That's Entertainment III" in 1994.
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