1951-1960

  • Jacques Tourneur – Great Day in the Morning (1956)

    1951-1960Jacques TourneurUSAWestern

    Film Society of Lincoln Center Writes:
    Tourneur’s moral and aesthetic complexity elevates this dark, anti-heroic western. Set on the brink of the Civil War, the deceptively titled Great Day in the Morning stars Robert Stack as a smooth-talking, opportunistic Southerner who drifts into Denver, his presence inflaming the already heated tensions between the Yankees and Confederates—and between two women he caddishly pursues, played by Virginia Mayo and Ruth Roman. As the film circles around themes of greed, jealousy, and violence, its increasingly sinister tone is mirrored by Tourneur’s intricate mise en scène, which begins in soft pastel hues and ends in noir shadows.Read More »

  • William Markus – Verta käsissämme AKA Blood on Our Hands (1958)

    1951-1960DramaFinlandThrillerWilliam Markus

    Quote:
    After returning home from being a prisoner of war, Captain Viktor Aaltona (Jussi Jurkka) get a job from his friend, Rolf Bergas (Tauno Palo) with whom he had served. The men trust each other until Viktor meets Rolf’s wife Astrid (Elina Pohjanpää).

    William Markus’s adaptation of a short novel by Mika Waltari, generally considered one of the weakest of the many films based on literary works and original screenplays by Waltari. Like Markus’s previous film, Mirjam (1957), Blood on Their Hands suffers from the near-constant use of overemphatic background, usually without much relation to what’s happening in the scene. Read More »

  • John Boulting – Lucky Jim (1957)

    1951-1960ClassicsComedyJohn BoultingUnited Kingdom

    Plot
    Jim Dixon (Ian Carmichael) feels anything but lucky. At the university he has to do the bidding of absent-minded and boring Professor Welch (Hugh Griffith) to have any hope of keeping his job. Worse, he has managed to get entangled with boring and neurotic Margaret Peel, a fellow teacher. All-in-all, the pub is the only friendly place to be. His misery is completed at a dreadful weekend gathering of the Welch clan by the arrival of son Bertrand (Terry-Thomas). Betrand is loud-mouthed and boorish, but has as companion the delightful Christine Callaghan, the sort of marvellous and unattainable woman Jim can only dream about.Read More »

  • Grigoris Grigoriou – I limni ton stenagmon AKA The Lake of Sighs AKA The Groaning Lake (1959)

    Drama1951-1960ClassicsGreeceGrigoris Grigoriou

    Ioannina, in the beginning of the 19th century. The whole Greece is under Turks. Ioannina is governed by the fierce and vulgar Ali Pasas. Ali’s eldest son, Muchtar, falls in love with a young Greek widow, Frosyni. The problem is, he’s married to the vindictive and cruel Chanife. And the muslim penalty for having an affair with a married man is death…Read More »

  • Kon Ichikawa – Kagi AKA Odd Obsession (1959)

    1951-1960ArthouseAsianJapanKon Ichikawa

    Winner of Cannes’ Special Jury Prize, Odd Obsession is one of acclaimed director Kon Ichikawa’s (Tokyo Olympiad, The Burmese Harp) greatest works. This captivating blend of comic satire and drama follows an elderly man’s attempts to satisfy his younger wife (Machiko Kyo, Rashomon, Gate of Hell). When “potency” injections fail, Mr. Kenmochi incites his own jealousy by orchestrating an affair between his wife and his doctor, who happens to be his daughter’s fiance. The wife and doctor are eager to oblige Kenmochi, his daughter is furious, and the scheme proves both a success and a deadly disaster. With dazzling imagery, rich irony, and superb acting, Odd Obsession illuminates the ongoing battle between personal desire and societal convention.Read More »

  • Yasuzô Masumura – Danryu AKA Warm Current [+Extra] (1957)

    1951-1960DramaJapanRomanceYasuzô Masumura

    Remake of Yoshimura Kozaburo’s 1939 film of the same title, originally adapted from a novel by Kishida Kunio. Together with scenarist Shirasaka Yoshio, Masumura re-imagines a traditional melodrama as a fast-paced comedy of manners. Includes a cameo appearance by the singer Miwa Akihiro.

    The story revolves around a young man appointed to rescue a troubled hospital, and who must choose between two women, a dedicated nurse or a spoiled rich girl.Read More »

  • Yorgos Tzavellas – I Agni tou limaniou AKA Agnes of the Port AKA Lily of the Harbor (1958)

    Drama1951-1960ClassicsGreeceYorgos Tzavellas

    Captain Giakoumis makes the big decision to forsake the sea and live peacefully close to his wife and his adopted son, Andreas, who is about to sit for examinations in order to become a lieutenant. However, a terrible secret burdens his soul. He has a daughter, Agni, whom he had years ago when he had an affair with Maria, a prostitute from Troumpa. Maria, before she died, expressed the wish that Giakoumis recognize their daughter as his child. He, however, refused, since Agni ended up becoming a prostitute. The girl, to take revenge on her father, starts an affair with her half-brother with the intention of dragging him down into the mud. In the end, however, she falls in love with him, and this love blesses everyone and everything.Read More »

  • Alessandro Blasetti – Altri tempi AKA Times Gone By (1952)

    1951-1960Alessandro BlasettiComedyDramaItaly

    The mood is set with the opening with excerpts from the Excelsior Ball, a famous ballet at the turn of the century that heralded the advances of the upcoming century, for a book-dealer to introduce the various stories in this compilation film. The first story chosen is (English titles) “Less Than a Day”, a comedy of would-be lovers meeting in a country-side rendezvous; “A Question of Property” is a story of two men who fight over the ownership of a load of manure; “The Idyll” is the story of a well-to-do young boy who has a crush on the girl next door, and he has been told by his mother that babies are born when two people kiss. Read More »

  • Carlo Lizzani – Achtung! Banditi! (1951)

    1951-1960Carlo LizzaniDramaItalyWar

    During the winter of 1944, near Genoa, a group of Italian partisans embark on a mission to recover weaponry from a factory controlled by the Nazis. This is a gritty and gripping war drama starring Andrea Checchi and Gina Lollobrigida.
    It is also the first feature film directed by Carlo Lizzani, who had spent the years up to this point making a series of short documentaries, as well as working as scriptwriter and assistant director to Roberto Rossellini, Alberto Lattuada and Giuseppe De Santis.Read More »

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