1944: Movies Sorted By Tier

Submitted by stooky on Sat, 07/17/2004 - 02:51
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  • Great

  • Arsenic And Old Lace
  • Double Indemnity
  • Hail The Conquering Hero
  • **Sturges rhetorical film statement about heroism is both an amazing comedy and a brilliant biting satire. The opening scene introduces us to our anti-hero, a dorky little guy ordered out of the war for chronic hay fever and the event that changes his meek life. He meets a group of real war heroes in a bar and lays out the sad story of his embarrassment and how it led him to hide from his mother and hometown. An understanding sergeant takes it upon himself to take the young boy back home, quietly of course and with the help of his 5 new buddies, impress his mother. When they arrive home however the station is seething with people come out to see their conquering hero. The following scenes are absolutely brilliant, you see the fear in Woodrow’s face as they pull into the station, and although the scene is played for laughs Sturges manages to underpin this with a feeling that a lie is being told. Which of course it is, but how he manages to inject pathos into the riotous comedy I’ll never know. Once home he finds his girlfriend has moved on and his fellow citizens trying to push him into office much in vain of Capra. Yet where Capra laces everything with starry eyes, Sturges adds madcap comedy and lacerating satire. Making his brilliant film a great mixture of mindless comedy and serious patriotism, something all to rare in cinema that should be savoured and enjoyed.
  • Laura
  • Meet Me In St. Louis
  • The Miracle Of Morgan’s Creek
  • Murder, My Sweet
  • **A slyly fun chunk of Chandler noir. The story is probably so well known I shouldn't have to go over it. The voice-over is excellent choice and helps the film quite a bit. Dick Powell is a grand "Philip Marlowe", snarky and tough while the rest of the cast give admirably cheesy performances. In fact everything is well done, no ragged spots in sight. Yet the defining part remains the witty, smart script, but then again it's a great story, probably Chandler's best. It's a gem, definately worth watching, even if I like Farewell, My Lovely (75) better.
  • Sherlock Holmes And The Scarlet Claw
  • To Have And Have Not
  • The Uninvited

  • Very Good

  • Battle Of Russia
  • Jane Eyre
  • Lifeboat
  • The Lodger

  • Good

  • The Canterville Ghost
  • Gaslight
  • Since You Went Away
  • **Overly long and overly melodramatic blubberfest of a kind that brings men to the point of regurgitation and women to the point of tears. A family of ladies stay home, fall in love, grow up, blah blah blah while their man goes off to fight that Hitler fellah in the process learning that rich women are bitches, the poor are the salt of the earth, the only good man is an army man and the good die young. The mammoth ammount of flag waving could give anyone a severe case of fabric burn. The cast, a group of talented and handsome women including Claudette Colbert & Jennie Jones with the help of an excellent script keep this from being utter drivel and invest a kind of sweet patriotism. All mounting into a rather excellent ending where Colbert flexes her acting chops with great effect.
  • The Way Ahead
  • The Woman In The Window

  • Guilty Pleasures

  • Average

  • A Guy Named Joe
  • Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

  • Dreck

  • The Big Stink

  • Unfortunately Haven’t Seen

  • A Canterbury Tale
  • Cover Girl
  • The Curse of The Cat People
  • The Fighting Sullivans
  • Hollywood Canteen
  • The Seventh Cross
  • The Suspect
  • Wilson
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1945: Movies Sorted By Tier
AJDaGreat12/31/2004

Yay! Stooky thought Hail the Conquering Hero was great!