The Honeymooners

Title: The Honeymooners
Year: 1955-1956
Network: CBS
Director: Frank Satenstein
Writers: Marvin Marx, Walter Stone, Herbert Finn, A.J. Russell, Leonard Stern, Sydney Zelinka
Starring: Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Joyce Randolph
Music: Jackie Gleason (theme song), Sammy Spear
Distinctions: Emmy for best supporting actor (Carney)
Episodes: 39
Synopsis: a scheming bus driver and his wife in a run-down New York apartment
How I saw it: on video (rented partly on VHS from the library, partly from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music)

I don’t like 1950’s sitcoms, but this show is great. Not “funny for the 50’s” or “funny for a sitcom” – just plain hilarious.

The Night of the Hunter

As of this post, we’re caught up on The List.  That is, I’ve made a post for all of the movies watched so far as part of my project of watching all of the IMDb’s Top 250.

Title: The Night of the Hunter
Year: 1955
Director: Charles Laughton
Writer: James Agee, based on the novel by Davis Grubb
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce
Music: Walter Schumann
Distinctions: currently #159 on IMDb’s Top 250
Length: 92 minutes
Synopsis: a mad “preacher” is after money that two kids have hidden
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), March 2009
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design)

A very strange film for the time – in a good way. It’s interesting how it plays with expectations and repeatedly defies its genre, without ever being unsatisfying.

The Devils

Title: Les diaboliques
Year: 1955
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Writer: Jérôme Géronimi, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Frédéric Grendel & René Masson, based on a novel by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac
Starring: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Music: Georges Van Parys
Distinctions: currently #146 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a woman’s husband’s mistress helps her kill her husband
Length: 116 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 4/10
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, story and dialog)

Very little actual suspense.  It had almost no visual interest, bad sound quality, and no music except over the credits (which normally I’m okay with, but this movie badly needed something to create suspense). And the “twist” ending is predictable. If there had been suspense throughout the film as there should have been, it might not have been so obvious that there would be a twist. Or if the movie wasn’t agonizingly slow, you might not have to sit there with nothing better to do than figure out how it’s going to end.

Rififi

Title: Du rififi chez les hommes
Year: 1955
Director: Jules Dassin
Writers: Jules Dassin, René Wheeler & Auguste Le Breton, based on Breton’s novel
Starring: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel
Music: Georges Auric
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: the planning and execution of a jewelery store robbery
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), May 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography)

The first classic French film I actually enjoyed. 30+ minutes of silence in the middle of the movie created a lot of suspense. Not something I’m aching to watch a second time, but it worked.