IRVING PICHEL Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5. USA, 1950. Samuel H. Stiefel Productions. Screenplay by Robert Smith. Cinematography by Lionel Lindon. Produced by Mort Briskin. Music by Louis Gruenberg. Production Design by Boris Leven. Costume Design by Joan Joseff. Film Editing by Walter Thompson. Mickey Rooney plays an auto mechanic who is out drinking with the boys when he spots a dangerous blonde…
Category: 1950
Tea For Two (1950)
DAVID BUTLER Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB. USA, 1950. Warner Bros.. Screenplay by Harry Clork, based on the play by Frank Mandel, Otto A. Harbach, Vincent Youmans, Emil Nyitray and the play by Irving Caesar and William Jacobs. Cinematography by Wilfrid M. Cline. Produced by William Jacobs. Music by Howard Jackson. Production Design by Douglas Bacon. Costume Design by Leah Rhodes. Film Editing…
Woman On The Run
BBB.5 (out of 5) A man walking his dog late at night witnesses a murder and, before the cops can get a full testament from him, hits the road to hide out from the killer. With the killer still on the loose, the police are determined to find him and find out what he knows, their…
The Big Hangover
BB (out of 5) Van Johnson is a law student who has been selected to work at a prestigious law firm thanks to his being the top of his class. He barely sniffs a drink at a firm party and gets ragingly drunk, inspiring the curiosity of amateur psychologist Elizabeth Taylor, who is also the…
Daybreak In Udi
BBB (out of 5) Short but effective documentary about a Nigerian village at a crossroads between modernity and tradition. Two Nigerian doctors want to open a maternity clinic in order to get their people up to date with the times, which is approved by the local British officer but disapproved of by village elders who emphasize…
Broken Arrow (1950)
BBB.5 (out of 5) James Stewart is riding through barren plains, searching for precious metals when he comes across an Apache teenager who is badly injured. He heals the boy and is subsequently welcomed by his tribe, striking up a friendship with the famed warrior Cochise (Jeff Chandler) that he takes back to his own people…
The Beauty Of The Devil (Beauty And The Devil) (La Beaute du Diable)
BBBB (out of 5) Michel Simon plays a renowned scientist who is nationally celebrated in his old age, but frustrated in his attempts to achieve his greatest experiment of creating gold from sand. His name is Faust, so you won’t be in the least bit surprised to see a servant of old Scratch show up in…
Sunset Blvd.
BBBBB (out of 5) The mother of all backstage Hollywood movies that just never seems to age. One of the peaks of Billy Wilder’s abundantly successful career is this fantastic film about a struggling screenwriter (William Holden) who takes refuge in the decaying home of a has-been silent movie queen (Gloria Swanson, in a career-reviving…
Summer Stock
BBB (out of 5) The last film that Judy Garland completed before her contract was torn up by MGM was this so-so musical that has enough great numbers in it to make it worth watching. Garland plays a happy farmer whose peaceful, quiet life is interrupted when her actress sister descends upon her, needing a place…
The Toast Of New Orleans (1950)
NORMAN TAUROG Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5. USA, 1950. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Screenplay by Sy Gomberg, George Wells. Cinematography by William E. Snyder. Produced by Joe Pasternak. Music by Albert Sendrey, George Stoll. Production Design by Daniel B. Cathcart, Cedric Gibbons. Costume Design by Walter Plunkett, Helen Rose. Film Editing by Gene Ruggiero. Academy Awards 1950. Those who aren’t fans of opera will prefer to kill themselves than sit through two…
The Big Lift
BBB (out of 5) Following the second World War, Russia’s blockade of Berlin cuts off its access to the outside world, prompting the Allies to airlift food and medical supplies into the city despite the dangers involved. Two of the pilots who come on a convoy manage to get access to the city, one of…
The Flowers Of St. Francis
BBBB (out of 5) Roberto Rossellini followed a decade of hard-hitting, gritty dramas, in which he made himself the father of Italian post-war Neorealism, with this sweet and deceptively simple film about morality. The fact that it was released at the height of his controversial fame, for having begun an affair with Ingrid Bergman during…
