1941
There were so many more great movies made that year than I realized. I could have looked like a smart movie buff if I picked ten classic high brow movies. But I searched my heart, soul and guts and picked movies that I really really really like; they are easy like old friends. That’ll probably be the criteria for all my lists - ease, repeated viewings, most often in the mood for watching them:
“KEEP ‘EM FLYING”
Abbott and Costello - instead of them riding the range, they’re fly boys now contending with Martha Raye as twins. A fun silly movie with a touch of the serious when a pilot has issues with flying. We're not in the war yet, but it's unfortunately only a matter of time.
* * * * *
“FACE BEHIND THE MASK”
Peter Lorre, so poignant and damaged. Happy to make a new life here in America there's an accident leaving him horribly burned. He can't get a good job so he wears a mask, goes gangster, finds love with a pretty blind girl (
Evelyn Keyes ) and wreaks justified vengeance on the bad guys. I liked Don Beddoe in this as Lorre's only true friend.
* * * * *
“I WAKE UP SCREAMING”
Isn’t this the film considered the first film noir? ( Let the debate begin. ) This movie makes me think of “Fallen Angel.” A good-looking hunk ( Victor Mature ) is menaced by a hulking cop (
Raymond Burr Laird Cregar ) for the murder of a beautiful aspiring actress ( Carole Landis ) who was sought after by every stagedoor Johnny. With Betty Grable by his side, what guy can lose and get himself out of a jam like this?
* * * * *
“THE MALTESE FALCON”
Bogie is detective Sam Spade and he’s got his hands full with two guys, a girl, and an ebony statuette of a bird. It’s a perfect movie. What detective doesn’t fall for a damsel-in-distress. What damsel-in-distress is not a pathological liar. The movie is filled with nice touches that will become standard m.o. for this genre.
* * * * *
“HOLD THAT GHOST”
Oh I wanted to pick some other movies like “Ball of Fire” “Blood and Sand” “High Sierra” “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” “Lady Eve.” But in good conscience, I had to go with “my heart's desire” with young love, comic foibles and it all being in the Moose's head. And topped off with
Patty, Laverne and Maxine, you've got a cute romp in this old dark house.
* * * * *
“CITIZEN KANE”
Blah blah, best film of all time for many many years on many many lists. I saw it in college. Meh. I saw it in bits and pieces over the years. It was alright. The last time I saw it in its entirety, must have been maaybe two years ago. And something clicked inside my obtuse skull. I didn’t want the movie to end. I was totally engrossed in the tale of this man. We're watching a man's life and all the mistakes he makes. A lightbulb went off in my head. Finally.
* * * * *
“HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY”
I was totally captivated following this one family. And young Roddy McDowall was fantastic. This wasn't a movie I watched over and over again in the past. Corny, hokey. But when I saw it on TCM a couple of months ago, I really got into it. And seeing it on the roster for 1941, I just had to list it. My apologies to other giants like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” “H. M. Pulham, Esq.” “Hold Back the Dawn” and “The Little Foxes” ( even though Bette is the Queen ‘B.’ ) The movie has a dark tinge to it with tragedy in the coal mine and unrequited love in the midst of the story of Life.
* * * * *
“SHANGHAI GESTURE”
Von Sternberg pumps pure opium into celluloid. This movie is like a drug for me. I love the command of Ona Munson playing Mother Gin Sling. ( Great name, great make up & hair a la Patti LaBelle, for 'Belle Watling.' ) I'm crushing on my boy Walter Huston who is just about the most natural actors in movies. Ahhhh Victor Mature, so sedentary. So...so... But the movie is all Gene Tierney’s. Usually coiffed and glammed within an inch of her life ( other than her very composed unhinging in “Leave Her to Heaven” ) I love watching her transform from a spoiled little rich girl, to a strung out mess. It’s the last time I think I saw Gene all loosey/goosey in a movie. Gene as a mess is a glorious sight.
* * * * *
“THE GREAT LIE”
I hate to call it a “Woman’s Picture” but it's a “Woman’s Picture.” And I love it. Bette Davis retracts her claws and is the ‘nice girl’ this time around. Mary Astor is the...the...piano player; the pregnant unmarried concert pianist. George Brent and Mary marry one drunken night. They divorce, but Mary is pregnant. Davis now married to Brent, schemes to pass off Mary's baby off as her own. Maybe this is a movie about women who stay at home vs have a career. I just love Davis and Astor squaring off. ( Astor won an Oscar for this movie. ) Astor was up to the challenge. She did good, and thanks Bette Davis for it.
* * * * *
“THE WOLFMAN”
Lon Chaney Jr., steps out from behind his father’s shadow with this monster of his own. It has a great cast: Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Warren William, Patric Knowles and Maria Ouspenskaya and the tragedy that is lycanthropy. He can never walk a girl in the moonlight again. Lon's poignancy as this trapped man is heartbreaking. I love monster movies. Saw it on the big screen at TCM's Film Festival, and it really pops. Poor poor Larry Talbot.