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1949

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THE SMALL BACK ROOM (dir: Michael Powell / Emeric Pressburger, Not Rated) - Bart says, "The Forties were a very productive time for the directorial team known collectively as The Archers. All of their most renowned films were from this decade: 49TH PARALLEL, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP, A CANTERBURY TALE, I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, BLACK NARCISSUS, and THE RED SHOES. The latter is considered by most to be their final masterpiece of the era, but thanks to the fine folks at The Criterion Collection, the world outside of Great Britain now has evidence to the contrary. THE SMALL BACK ROOM is certainly not as lavish as their previous three films, but is surprisingly ambitious for an intimate portrait of a one-footed alcoholic weaponries scientist during WWII. From surreal hallucination sequences to suspenseful bomb diffusings to intense moral crises, this film can definitely stand toe-to-toe with all the directors' previous glories."
THE HEIRESS (dir: William Wyler, Not Rated) – Bart says, "There are lots of good Henry James adaptations, like THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY with Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich and THE BOSTONIANS with Vanessa Redgrave and Christopher Reeve, and one or two not so good (WASHINGTON SQUARE with Jennifer Jason Leigh, for example). But there are a couple so superb that after watching them you'll immediately have to run out and read everything James ever wrote. One is 1961's THE INNOCENTS, based on "The Turn of the Screw," and the other is this version of Washington Square with Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift which is just about as perfectly acted and constructed and emotionally affecting as any movie ever. Trust me."
THE FOUNTAINHEAD (dir: King Vidor, Not Rated) – Bart says, "Are you a man or woman of genius? Then surely you will appreciate this adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel about a brilliant architect who’s hated by the world because he’s a trailblazing maverick who refuses to compromise. Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal shoot off sparks like two giant slabs of marble grinding up against each other, but luckily Coop’s got a great big rock drill and knows how to use it."
ADAM'S RIB (dir: George Cukor, Not Rated)
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (dir: Robert Hamer, Not Rated)
LATE SPRING (dir: Yasujiro Ozu, Not Rated)
A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Not Rated)
THE SET-UP (dir: Robert Wise, Not Rated)
STRAY DOG (dir: Akira Kurosawa, Not Rated)
THE THIRD MAN (dir: Carol Reed, Not Rated)
WHITE HEAT (dir: Raoul Walsh, Not Rated)
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