Curt Loves Oldies – Twenty Of Curt's Favorite Films

Curt Loves Oldies – Twenty Of Curt's Favorite Films
 
Movie Reviews by Curt Solash
 
My natural modesty rarely permits me to brag, but I know that the thousands of fans I've already garnered on Gay Travelers Magazine eagerly await my next film review. However, I thought for a change of pace that I'd write an article on twenty of my all time favorite movies.

​Naturally, the choices are personal and the list includes some movies that would undoubtedly appear on many viewers' "All Time Worst" list, but that just adds to the fun. I think this list will probably make clear my sometimes unorthodox tastes and perverse sense of humor. I certainly hope so. Here they are, dear readers, in no particular order. 

1) CAMILLE (1936) - This was the first film I reviewed and it's on my list because I worship Garbo and this is her finest performance. Like a diamond in a perfect setting, all facets of her talent and mystique are on display, as is her sublime beauty. You'll have to excuse my rhapsodizing, but to me, Garbo is radiance personified. George Cukor's direction is careful and sensitive and top cameraman William Daniels (Garbo's favorite) outdoes  himself photographing the star.

2) MILDRED PIERCE (1945) - This is the film I could watch every week for the rest of my life and never tire of. Warners has made a splendid film noir about mother love taken to tragic excess. Joan Crawford is very effective and restrained as her vicious daughter wreaks havoc all around. The acting, cast, story, direction, music -everything- makes for first-rate entertainment. A great example of Golden Age Hollywood at its most golden.

3) CURSE OF THE DEMON (1958-aka NIGHT OF THE DEMON) - Probably the finest film ever made that deals with the supernatural. Dana Andrews plays a skeptical psychiatrist who doesn't believe that the powers of darkness could kill a colleague, but he quickly becomes convinced and so does the audience. A blend of blatant imagery and subtle suggestion, its pacing, script and intelligence always excel. As a lover of the supernatural, I only wish the made more like this one. Expensive special effects like we're used to today can't measure up to this little gem.

4) WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) - Bette Davis' performance is one of the most underrated of all time. In what might be considered a black comedy by some, and by others a cracking-good mystery story, two sisters who were once movie stars live in a decaying mansion full of shadows and secrets from the past. Joan Crawford plays a cripple cared for by sister Bette who has become a grotesque, alcoholic hag. Her performance, of course, startles us with its downright hideous picture of a woman with the brain of a child, consumed by madness, hatred, and past glory. It's also a brave, campy, audacious, utterly convincing achievement and each viewing shows something new. It's spellbinding and no one else could have done it so superbly. The story and supporting players are great, too. If like me, you like them perverse, it's also screamingly funny. 

5) BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) - This is easily one of the best films ever made. About three servicemen returning home after WWII to the same city, their attempts to adjust to civilian life, and the inter-connections between them, the film perfectly captures America as it was in the post-war period. My favorite director, William Wyler, has created what I believe to be his crowning achievement here. It's poignant, romantic, funny, horrifying, dramatic, and achingly realistic. Winning many Academy awards, it showcases Wyler's unparalleled gift for examining relationships on many levels and his demanding directorial style produced unforgettable performances from the entire cast, notably including Harold Russell, a non-professional, real-life paraplegic. There is a lump in my throat just thinking about it. A towering achievement.

6) METROPOLIS (1927, colorized version 1984) - The silent film Metropolis, a major masterpiece of science fiction, must be seen to be believed. The Germans sure knew how to make films back then. The legendary Fritz Lang made this gripping tale of the future pitting the workers against the management/ruling class. The sets are justly world-famous for their amazing Art Deco depictions of highways, skyscrapers, lighting, robots, and cities of the future. The crowd scenes are superbly staged and the cinematography is by another legend, Karl Freund. The story is well-told and the colorized version with a rock score (Queen, Pat Benatar, etc.) from the 1980's is even better. 

7) TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) - I am a big Orson Welles fan. Although later on, he became fat, self-indulgent and full of himself, when at his best, both as a director and actor, he exhibits authority, a willingness to experiment, and even his failures are interesting, if sometimes abstruse. Touch of Evil is NOT a failure. It's a dark, menacing tale of a Mexican policeman whose wife gets kidnapped by a drug gang. Charleton Heston, Janet Leigh, Welles himself, Marlene Dietrich, and even an unbilled Mercedes McCambridge as a bull-dyke gang member, are in it and Welles especially shines as a particularly disgusting, corrupt small-town sheriff, drooling, wheezing, completely over the top. Not a pleasant film, mostly nocturnal, misty and menacing, but you won't doze. A fascinating movie from a major talent. 

8) THE RAVEN (1934) - This film, about 65 minutes long, is here because its star, Bela Lugosi, has been my greatest idol since (my mother says) I was 2 or 3. My fondest wish is to meet Bela in heaven and honor him with my renditions of his movie quotes, of which I know dozens. This is his greatest role, as Dr. Vollin, an insane scientist who is obsessed with torture, pain, and Edgar Allan Poe. It is a typical baroque performance, every line done in his mellifluous accent, etched in glee and venom. It is tremendous fun. Mostly ridiculous, and with its emphasis on deformity and insanity , it is perhaps not for all tastes, but as a die-hard Lugosi fan, I treasure it dearly. This film makes me glad I shared part of the 20th century with Bela. I can not imagine my life without Lugosi, The Great One.  

9) WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (1962) - There are several great "trashy" movies on this list, since I can't get enough of them. This is one of the best. It takes place in New Orleans during the Depression, as drifter Laurence Harvey (one of the great non-actors of all time) looks for the bordello where his former flame, played by the equally somnnambulistic, Capucine, (who offers very stiff competition for non-emoting) is, so he can rescue her. Along the way, he gets involved with wonderful Jane Fonda and Anne Baxter (in a triumph of insane casting, as a Mexican cantina owner, about as convincing as you'd think!). The best of all is Barbara Stanwyck, as Jo, the lesbian bordello owner, who's in love with Capucine. She brings all of her considerable verve, authority and formidable to this "garbage". Immensely entertaining.  

10) BLACK SUNDAY (1960 - aka MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO) - Ah, the joys of Italo-horror of the 1960's! If you weren't brought up on TV late-night horror shows, you won't know what I mean but they are an indelible part of my love for film. Most of them reached this country in a very mangled state and the dubbing into English was usually so stilted and non-idiomatic, the musical scores so inappropriate, not to mention often with the actors speaking to each other in different languages in the original (no fooling!), that they remain in the memory as an utter delight. And then vainly try so hard to be scary, it's hard not to root for them.  
 
But Black Sunday is the supreme exception, one of the best horror films ever made. Its director, Mario Bava, is justly famous for his nightmarish visual effects, ghostly lighting, and terrifying atmospherics, and Black Sunday is his masterpiece, starring the queen of the genre, the sublime Barbara Steele (I am supremely proud to say I have spoken to her and have her autograph; a wonderfully gracious lady!). It concerns the one day each century that Satan walks the earth and the movie is full of witch burnings, curses, vampires, graveyards, ghosts, pitch black nights, eerie castles and tombs, an effective score, and is not a film to see alone! It's easily the opus magnus of the genre.  

11) WIZARD OF OZ (1939) - Deserves every bit of its popularity. It's a perennial favorite and always will be because everything works perfectly. Except for romance, it's got it all - a proven story, engaging and exciting, the perfect star, an extremely sensitive and nuanced actress who has all the brains, heart and courage that her superlative co-stars seek in Oz, dazzling sets, drama, laughter, pathos, music and lyrics nothing short of inspired, a masterful director who manages it all seamlessly and best of all, fabulous Margaret Hamilton, whose Wicked Witch makes the film for me.  Every time you see it, it's brand new.

12) PHANTOM LADY (1944) - For my money, the best film noir of them all. For this genre, you need a studio that can do dark, misty, barely seen, nocturnal, with characters who are unpleasant, have obsessions, impure thoughts, and unholy longings and Universal delivers. A movie like this could never have come from MGM, with its clear lighting and photography, family values, and gloss and that studio never really got the hang of noir. The genre is all about sex, money, greed, revenge. Directed by another German emigre, Robert Siodmak, it's about a secretary attempting to clear her innocent boss who's been accused of murdering his wife.  Several scenes of frank sexual innuendo and a murderer who's completely insane are part of this little gem. Anyone who wants to know about this wonderful genre should grab this one when they can.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5ZPIsI6-M

13) IMITATION OF LIFE (1959) - The Germans do it again and there's no one like director Douglas Sirk. It's gilded garbage at its most enjoyable, yet it's more. Sirk delighted in subtly showcasing serious topics (in this case, racism and "passing for white") hidden among glitzy, irresistibly campy and weepy potboilers, "women's pictures," if you will, possibly to get his opinions past the censors. Producer Ross Hunter believed the public (especially females) would come out in droves to see former big name actresses in the right vehicles and boy, was he right. The film grossed a fortune and put one of my favorites, Lana Turner, back on top with a vengeance. She's at her absolute best/worst, in a subplot about an actress trying to succeed and putting aside happiness and parental duties to get what she wants. Aside from the racial subplot, it's got all of what you'd want - furs, gowns, jewels, elegant parties and estates, tears, recriminations, failed romances, late realizations about wrong life choices, melodrama like nobody's business - and Lana! Part of what makes it so great is the extreme poor taste of having Lana star in a movie which partially mirrors her real-life headlines; she was found innocent of stabbing her mobster boyfriend to death (her daughter really did it) and all manner of sordid details emerged during the trial. You will absolutely love it!! In this, his final film, Sirk pulls out all the stops. A remake of a film first made in 1934, this one is infinitely better. 

14) E.T. (1982) - How fortunate we moviegoers are to be living in a time where we can experience the oeuvre of Steven Spielberg, a director of harrowing talent, sensitive, nuanced, theatrical, whose manipulations of actors and audience alike is masterful. And E.T. is his masterpiece. It's a film about childhood, friendship, love, sacrifice, and innocence and it appeals to anyone who is a member of our species. Spielberg's direction is magnificent as he interweaves drama, pathos, humor, and adventure and has every member of the audience in tears. He plays with our emotions shamelessly, but rather than feeling controlled, we love it and it is cathartic, liberating, elating. It's charm is timeless and limitless and I get chills just writing about it. No one can see it and remain unaffected.

15) THE HEIRESS (1949) - Once again, director William Wyler is responsible for his star, this time Olivia de Havilland, giving the best performance of her career and earning her second, well-deserved Oscar. A film based on Henry James' Washington Square, it's an engrossing study of a shy, ugly duckling, a fortune-hunter who wants to marry her for her money, her cruel father, and how life and people transform her from a kind girl to an embittered, cruel spinster, and ultimately, a resigned and satisfied woman. Wyler again excels at examining all the overt and hidden nuances of relationships. Olivia de Havilland is wonderfully detailed and subtle in all of the character's changes. It's yet another film where you see something new in the star's performance every time you view the film. It was my father's favorite movie and I must admit it is very difficult to find a single flaw.

16) KINGS ROW (1940) - A towering achievement in every department. A piercing look at the sordid realities underneath a typical, all-American small city around 1900, it features sterling performances from a stellar cast including Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, and others, a haunting music score by Korngold,  and, for its time, very controversial  plot twists involving madness, incest, murder, mutilation and revenge (the book, which is also great, also includes homosexuality). It follows three friends from childhood to adulthood and - amazingly! - includes a superb performance by Ronald Reagan. Moving and gripping from start to finish, it is unforgettable.

17) BLUE VELVET (1984) - Probably the most unusual film on the list, it is not always easy to understand, but just try and look away! Even people I've recommended it to who found it too bizarre and unpleasant for their tastes have admitted it's a film that's impossible to easily dismiss or ignore. It is another movie about what is taking place just beneath the surface of an average American town (one of my favorite movie leitmotifs). The film pulls you inexorably into its strange, surreal story of kidnapping, threats, drugs, murder, kinkiness, obsessions, and very odd and dangerous characters. Even the good guys have ulterior secrets and compulsive, equivocal intentions. It all pulls together beautifully if you hold on and its combination of suspense, daring, romance, and ultimate redemption make for a very challenging, utterly unique experience. One of my top five favorite films of all time. Very highly recommended.  
​

18) THE TINGLER (1959) - "Serious" critics often disparage the work of William Castle, but I think many of his films are first-rate horror efforts, fun to watch, convincing and often genuinely frightening. Some of them are House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts, Macabre, and Mr. Sardonicus, all very interesting and plenty scary,and worth seeing, but I think The Tingler is the best of them all. A perfect party film, it involves a scientist doing research into fear who finds that extreme fright actually leads to the growth of a centipede-like organism on the spine which can kill you if you don't release the tension by screaming. Some wonderful highlights include his experimenting on his unfaithful slut of a wife, the screen's first depiction of LSD trip, a subplot about a man trying to scare his wife to death (I remember well sitting alone in the theater seeing this as a 9 year old. I shouldn't have; I needed a lamp on when I went to bed for weeks afterward), and best of all, the Tingler getting loose in a movie theater and wreaking havoc. The wonderful pitch black, whites, and grays enhance the horror in a way that color never could. And star Vincent Price is everything we have come to expect from him - the ham par excellence, and yet the consummate pro, sinuously caressing every line with all of his expert, sissy sarcasm. All of Castle's films have "gimmicks"; for this one, several seats in each theater supposedly were wired to give some patrons a jolt when the Tingler gets loose on screen. Who knows? What is beyond doubt is that this is 100 percent enjoyment. 

19) THE GODDESS (1958) - A haunting performance by Kim Stanley, a highly gifted Method actress who disliked filming and hence, made few movies. We are lucky to have this one, about the rise and fall of a Marilyn Monroe-like actress, whose eventual fame and success cannot compensate for the love and security she never received as a child. Stanley evinces pathos, drive, vulnerability, doubt, pain, and desperation harrowingly, at the end drifting permanently into emotional disintegration. She very convincingly plays a woman who cannot love or be loved and gives a performance of aching loneliness that is a tour-de-force. 

20) JOHNNY GUITAR (1954) - It's been called the screen's first "Freudian Western" and that's putting it mildly. It's safe to say there's no other film like it in the genre or anywhere else in filmdom. It's a two- fisted adventure film featuring plenty of rugged he-men, but not one can remotely hold a candle to the movie's two female stars, Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge, at their absolute butchiest. The movie really concerns the hatred between these two, Crawford as Vienna, a saloon keeper, and the magnificent McCambridge in a ferocious performance as the repressed, righteous Emma. Every scene boils with kinky sexual innuendo, reversal of stereotyped gender roles, and oddities of every type. It's also a great story, superbly directed by the talented, colorful (to say the least) Nicholas Ray. What went on behind the camera is even better than the film itself and is the stuff of Hollywood legend. At this point, Crawford was almost impossible to deal with and at her most difficult.
 
Some quotes: from leading Sterling Hayden: "There is not enough money in Hollywood to lure me into making another film with Joan Crawford...and I like money!".
 
From director Ray: "As a human being, Miss Crawford is a very great actress." At one point, when the cast burst into spontaneous applause over some superlative  emoting from McCambridge, Crawford raided Mercedes' dressing room, took all her clothes and costumes and dumped them out on the road! Sounds like fun? You don't know the half of it till you experience the picture. 

Well, that's my list. It was most difficult to narrow my choices down to these twenty. I have so many other favorites : The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Ox-Box Incident, The Oscar, Magnificent Obsession, Sunset Boulevard, Mommy Dearest, Written On the Wind, Cat Women of the Moon, The Violent Men, M, Mystery Street, Angel Baby, The fabulous World of Jules Verne, History Is Made At Night, No Sad Songs For Me, and dozens more that could have been included. I hope, if you haven't yet done so, that you will see some of these. If you have, please share your thoughts and thank you for your LONG attention span.
 
Copyright 2019 Curt Solash
 
CURT LOVES OLDIES: Curt Solash dishes on the best and worst movies of all time
 
Curt Solash is a retired educator, an antique advertising collector and a lifelong cinemaphile from New York City who now lives in sunny Florida with his life partner.