38. Brief Encounter (1945)

Cut glass accents and stiff upper lips abound in this quintessential romance classic from the pen of Noel Coward. Two strangers meet in a refreshment lounge of a train station and begin a platonic love affair. Alas they are both married with children and being of it's day, nothing shall come of it but some furtive glances and the odd stolen kiss.

Many things make this film a true great. The direction of David Lean; Noel Coward's gripping screenplay from what is such a simple story; the charming sub plot in the station between the ticket officer and the cafe manageress; Above all these factors is the performance of Celia Johnson. Such an expressive face that would be as informative on a silent film. Many a time she is acting into a window or mirror whilst her character narrates.You really feel for poor Laura's hopelessness of the situation. There is one scene where she lies to her husband for the first time, when he asks her bout her day. You see the regret and disgrace with herself wash over her face.

The story is told as a confessional in Laura's mind to her husband. That last scene is truly heartbreaking as her husband comforts her as she's been having an awful day. It's like he heard every word of her confession and thanks her for coming back to him. *sigh* It's like he not only woke her from a bad dream, but also from the 'dream' of the affair and she can finally get back to her life.

A most expressive face.



37. Amadeus (1984)

Lavish and opulent, yet quite contemporary, Milos Foreman directs Peter Shaffer's fictional account of the life and death of Mozart.

Mozart is portrayed here as a vulgar, brattish young man. Tom Hulce's performance in a brash American accent and plenty of the US slang all the more emphasises this. I'm pretty sure Mozart never said "kiss my ass!" The giggle Hule adopts is beyond annoying, but I assume that it's meant to be as nothing about the portrayal of Mozart is endearing.

F Murray Abraham's Oscar winning performance as court composer Antonio Salieri, is magnificent. The story is basically him confessing his role in Mozart's death to a priest visiting his in an asylum. There isn't an ounce of regret and he's just telling a story.

I watched the director's cut of the film. It's considerably longer and does explain Mozart's wife's dislike of Salieri, but it does dag on a bit and I prefer the pace of the original release.

The film is an enjoyable romp, but  can't help but think that it would be better if Mozart was played/written a little more sympathetically. This story is told from Salieri's viewpoint and his jealousy is reflected in the Mozart portrayal, I suppose.

36. American graffiti (1973)

In his second feature, George Lucas carves up a slice of 50s nostalgia in a partially autobiographical piece he co-wrote with Gloria Katz and Willard Hwyck.

It tells the story of one night in small town America following the antics of four friends. Curt and Steve are college bound the next day(though Curt is still unsure whether he wants to go) and they are having a last night on the town. Toad is a young geek who is put in charge of Steve's classic car and decides to use it to cruise about looking for female attention. John is a tough, drag racing grease monkey who, when cruising about town looking for some of that girlie action, gets landed with a young girl for the night.

A great deal of the film focuses on cruising the strip and the relationship between a man and his car. The scenes are mostly played around in car scenarios; In the cars, in parking lots, at garages, at the drive in etc. music is also a key player in the feel of the film. There is a continuous soundtrack of the radio station in the background. The only time it converges from it is when the band at the high school hop are providing the aural nostalgia. The DJ on the radio, Wolfman Jack, is a common link through the four stories as he is providing the music and everyone in the town listens to his programme.

Dreyfuss's character has the most substance and the greater arc. You can tell that this is the character that Lucas identifies with. Ron (Ronny!) Howard is basically auditioning for Happy Days. The whole film is obviously the inspiration for the show as it could easily be the pilot, minus the canned laughter. Even Paul Le Mat's John is just a Fonz prototype.

It's an enjoyable enough film. It might have set a bar for 50s nostalgia films, but I don't see how it would belong in this list. Many have out shined it since, though perhaps they are in the marathon somewhere too!

35.Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (A Man Escaped) (1956)

After my first dip into the oeuvre of Robert Bresson in Diary of a Country Priest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to more. This film was a pleasant surprise, I am pleased to say.

I wont compare it to other prison escape movies as it seems bad to lump it into that genre. Bresson created his own genre of 'Cinematographe': A stripped back look at film with an over emphasis on sound and featuring nonprofessional actors. In Diary of a Country Priest, I found the form tedious and quite boring. Here it is used to full effect. The main difference is that this film builds tension and the stakes are evident. The characters are also sympathetic.

It is basically what it says on the tin. It's the story of one man's plan, execution and, finally, act of escape from a POW prison in Lyon. It is based on true events, but that is of no matter. What does matter is the starkness of the telling. It's taken from his viewpoint, narrated in his mind. The over emphasis on sound is of particular importance during his escape, the stop/start scraping away of the mortar from his door, the clang of the guard's key against railings, the effort to not make any noise on the gravel and the mysterious squeaking revealed to be a rusty bike ridden by the lone perimeter guard.

Simplistic looking, but far from it. A great accomplishment in film-making and certainly stands up today.

34. All The President's Men (1976)

Conspiracy thriller penned by William Goldman and directed by Alan J. Pakula about the outbreak of the Watergate scandal. Covering a break in at the Democratic headquarters, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover an election scandal that leads all the way to the President.

It's a famous enough story. Pretty much the scoop of the century, but I am a bit clueless about US politics and required spoon feeding, something this film doesn't do (quite rightly). It focuses on the uncovering of the story by the 2 journalists as they canvas the employees of CREEP(the campaign to re-elect the president: no I don't get where the 2nd E fits in either!) and scavenge a paper trail for clues with the help of the mysterious Deep Throat.

This film has been parodied a dozen plus times and it's hard not to laugh at the hokum and the dated look. It is steeped in the 70s.

To be truthful, it kind of bored me. I didn't find it all that exciting, I didn't really sense any threat and I found the 2 protagonists rather annoying.
It's very well filmed and dressed. The claustrophobia of the newsroom is emphasised by low angles and close-ups. I found the end well shot too, as the camera focuses on President Nixon being sworn in for his second term and promising to uphold the constitution whilst, in the background Woodward and Bernstein are beavering away at a story utilising their right to freedom of speech.

 It's very clever, but I think modern directors have brought this genre to a new level of excellence to judge by. David Fincher's Zodiac, for example.

So, of it's day, it is a genre defining classic. Not sure how well it holds up today though.

NB. Due to finances and inability to find films online, the running order will now go a bit willy-nilly whilst I watch the films I can get hold of, or already own. #buyingtoomanydvds

33. All That Heaven Allows (1956)

Danish born Douglas Sirk adds some European sensibilities and outlook into the mid 20th century genre of the technicolour melodrama. A brand that predates and eventually degenerated into the television soap opera.

Jane Wyman plays Cary, a middle class widow whose life is taken up by pleasing her needy children and the local country club set. She becomes involved with a younger gardener and nurseryman Ron, but the affair seems doomed from the objections of her children and friends. After ending the engagement she becomes miserable and the brats answer is to buy her the TV set she has always objected to owning. Is it too late for Ron and Cary? Hope not!

This is a delicious slice of afternoon matinee melodrama. The Technicolour looks good enough to eat and the gorgeous cast are great. Jacqueline DeWitt as the acerbic town gossip is very good.

Then there is Rock. Lovely dishy manly Rock Hudson. It does seem that every film I see him in, he is given some wink in the script to his secret sexuality. Never overblown, but then I am most probably just looking for it. I do love to seek out the queen in everyone!

So perfect for curling with on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon. Grab a brew and a biscuit and enjoy the romance.

32. All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

A heart wrenching anti war film from director Lewis Milestone that has stood the test of time.

I have yet to see the 'jaw dropping' battle scene in Saving Private Ryan, but it will have to go a long way to beat the one here.

The film follows a German, yes German, infantry unit from recruitment through to training and finally to combat. Not an ounce of glamour is used in the depiction of war. No slow mo, no stunningly lit trenches, just drab and dire. Soldiers being driven mad by the noise, or scavenging for anything to eat or just dying needlessly in battle.
It's not complete doom and gloom. There are  couple of light comedic points, but they only set to ingratiate you with the different soldiers and make the death more poignant.

It's an excellent film. The cast is a great band of brothers and the battle sequences truly are astonishingly realistic. Considering when this was made, on the cusp of talkie pics, the sound effects stand proud today. The final scene is beyond poignant and the whole shabbang is rather upsetting, but excellent all the same. Few films have captured the pain and pointlessness of war than this.

A true classic.

The final scene as Paul sees a moment of beauty and home in a butterfly and he reaches out to it. Oops!

31. All About My Mother (1999)

Almodovar time and time again creates powerful female roles in his films, but here is his love letter to the female sex.

On his seventeenth birthday, Manuela witnesses her son run down and killed by a car while he is pursuing his idol, Huma Roja, for her autograph.
For his birthday Manuella promised to tell Esteban about his father whose identity she had kept from him all his life. Overcome with guilt and grief she moves to Barcelona to tell his father about the son he never knew he had. The reason she was keeping him a secret is that the father is a transvestite prostitute called Lola. During her quest she forms friendships with her old friend and Lola's transsexual roommate Agrado; Sister Rosa a church social worker who Lola has not only impregnated, but has infected with HIV; and Huma when her play comes to town and she becomes her assistant.
This motley crew of women form a deep bond as thy share each others heartbreak and emotions.

It's a beautifully filmed work. Almodovar and cinematographer Affonso Beato cast a luxuriant glow over everything, be it a theatre to a circle of cars picking up prostitute. All roles of life are given equal respect.

I think that is what I love about Almodovar's films. Everything is luxuriant and everyone is shown with respect, in particular his roles for women. Hollywood should really take a few leafs from his book.
Look at the central roles. A successful single mother, a transsexual prostitute, a nun, a lesbian actress. All female. All played magnificently by the outstanding cast, all written with the greatest love and respect. the film also takes a bow to A Streetcar Named Desire and All About Eve. Manuella's life is highlighted in both of them and these films are also have strong central female characters.

At the end of the film is a dedication:-

"To all the women who have played actresses... who can act... to men who act and become women... to all the people who want to be mothers... to my mother."

I ♥ Pedro

30. All About Eve (1950)

A classic tale of ambition and treachery. As Margo remarks at the start of the party scene; "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

After being invited backstage to meet her idol Margo Channing, Eve Harringdon worms her way into Margo's life and turns it into her own, becoming a successful stage actress.

I adore this film on so many levels, but above all else, it's the acting ensemble.
5 of the cast were nominated for Oscars, 4 of whom were women, giving it the record for female acting nominations in a single film. Sanders was the only one of the five to take home the statue. The film itself held the nomination haul record for some time at 14, finally taking home 6.

Bette Davis has never been better as the deliciously bitter Margo. She delivers the witty cutting lines like poison arrows, but also showing a ensitive emotional side when the cracks show in her hard exterior.

Celeste Holm plays the downtrodden best friend to a tee. It is her viewpoint, along with the critic Addison DeWitt, that we take. Their dual narration is perfectly timed never overbearing with exposition, just enough to keep the story moving along.

George Sanders(who will always be Shere Khan to me!) plays DeWitt and is mesmerising. It is DeWitt who never falls for Eve's deception and ends up using her for his own benefits.

Marilyn Monroe, in one of her early roles, turns up playing Miss Caswell, a starlet on the arm of a rich producer. It's a very brief, but perfectly pitched performance.

I wasn't so illuminated by Ann Baxter's Eve. from the get go you have no sympathy for her, just deep suspicion and it's Birdie(Thelma Ritter on witty form) who you are cheering for when she makes a jarring remark after Eve's sob story confessional. "What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end."
 Eve is played so bi-polar. It's either the innocent down trodden Eve or the steely cold successful Eve. There is no in between. I suppose this is as we see her through Karen or DeWitt's eyes. It's either a very clever performance or a glitch in the writing.

This is a classic film about showbusiness too in particular the snobbery involved. 'Selling out' to go to Hollywood instead of being on or writing for the stage; DeWitt's comments about television:-
Miss Claudia Caswell: Tell me this, do they have auditions for television?
Addison DeWitt: That's, uh, all television is, my dear, nothing but auditions.
In Margo and Eve's world, it's the stage that is the purest art form.

You can't fault the story. I just find that Eve has no arc to her character, though you have to love the ending.
What goes around, comes around!

Fabulous costume design by Edith Head winning one of her numerous Oscars.