Curious about the “accident” that claimed Rebecca’s life, the second Mrs. de Winter begins looking into the incident and the frightening events that let up to Rebecca’s death, patterns of which seem to be reemerging around her. Will she survive or will she uncover the truth behind Rebecca’s death. That tension elevates the film into a pinnacle of its era, winning Best Picture at the Oscars along with an award for its cinematography, though the film’s art direction, Hitch’s direction, Robert E Sherwood and Joan Harrison’s adaptation, and Anderson should also have claimed their nominated prizes. Hitchcock may have spent years elevating a pulp medium in various films in his oeuvre, but this, his first American film, is easily his best and he made so many that it’s impossible to say he didn’t have a major impact on cinema for the better.

My Original Review

Citizen Kane (1941)

While directors like Sergei Eisenstein, D.W. Griffith, Georges Méliès, Fritz Lang, F.W. Murnau, and myriad others helped define the language of cinema, Citizen Kane puts their works to shame. Director Orson Welles, who got his start on radio, elevated the medium not just to one of supreme storytelling, but one of supreme art. His use of shot composition, camera angles, narrative framing, and more took everything that had come before and worked into one of the greatest films of all-time.

The film had a rough go in its initial release. It was loosely based on the life of renowned newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and he was none too pleased about that, doing everything in his power to ensure the film was diminished and forgotten. Yet, it’s easily remembered more than 80 years later as a seminal picture about a young journalist who rises to fame and power, but seems to lack a fundamental form of compassion and appreciation for those around him. The captivating film earned Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles himself (though his contribution to the script is debated to this day) the only Oscars it would receive for their screenplay. It managed to score several nominations, which is surprising considering the effort Hearst and his gossip maven Hedda Hopper made to stymy its success.

My Original Review

Casablanca (1943)

One common important characteristic of all of my selections this week is their screenplay. While Citizen Kane is one of the best overall films, Casablanca is one of the best written films, even better than Welles’ masterpieces. Written by the Epstein brothers (Julius and Philip) as well as Howard Koch, Casablanca put Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman into 1940s Casablanca in the midst of World War II. Bogart plays an expat running a popular night club in the Moroccan capital. Bergman plays his ex who returns one day and upends his carefully curated post-relationship life at a time when Nazi control of the city limits his ability to take sides.

Uncharacteristic for most war dramas in release at the time, Casablanca approaches its narrative with subtlety. The skill of its actors, Bergman especially, but Bogart, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre as well, help further elevate a tight and dialogue-rich screenplay while director Michael Curtiz lets the action play out, giving his performers room to breathe and interpret the material with finesse. It’s really one of the few perfect films from history.

My Original Review

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Another daring screenplay and this time with a film not enough people have seen and fewer still would bother putting on a list like this. Since this is a favorites list rather than a best of list, I feel justified including this brilliant British comedy starring Alec Guinness in eight different roles. As members of the D’Ascoyne, Guinness plays both male and female roles to great hilarity as the members of the family are murdered one-by-one by a bastard child (Dennis Price) of disowned mother. The film is told in retrospect as the Price’s Louis Mazzini awaits his execution.

Written by director Robert Hamer alongside John Dighton, this underrated gem is based on the novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman and gives Guinness decent material to work with, but he could act circles around any script, especially this juicy, and proved that he was more than equal, perhaps even better, than many of the actors of his generation. He was at least the most open to experimentation, which Kind Hearts most certainly is. Were the Academy more willing to recognize comedic performances, he would have easily been nominated and probably would have won, especially considering who was nominated in supporting actor that year.

My Original Short Review

The Third Man (1949)

You might be forgiven in thinking that Orson Welles, who had a supporting role in this film, was also its director. It was a masterful execution of tension and composition, but it was instead Carol Reed who directed the film off of a original Graham Greene screenplay. Film noir was at or near its pinnacle when Reed’s film came out and remains one of the greatest such features in cinema history. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an American author visiting Vienna seeking childhood friend Harry Lime (Welles) on promise of a job. When he discovers that his friend has been killed in a mysterious car accident, the clues present themselves as evidence suggesting that Lime has been killed.

The film is an intricately woven narrative asking the audience to follow seemingly ludicrous connections towards a shocking conclusion that’s every bit as exciting as one could hope for from the genre. The film is largely carried on Cotten’s strong shoulders as he questions the official story and ultimately uncovers an underlying conundrum that defies expectations with each new reveal confounding perception and reality with sinister intentions and resolutions. Guessing how the film will end is half the fun of getting there, but it’s unlikely that you’ll surmise everything that transpires and in that you have a brilliant tale well told and superbly acted. Although I have this noted as a 1949 film, that was its initial British release as it didn’t open the US until 1950.

No original review available.