Post by Salzmank on Jan 13, 2021 2:45:08 GMT
If we’re doing directorial works only (I’m afraid my list may be a bit unconventional)…
’40s: The Major and the Minor, Five Graves to Cairo
’50s: Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot
’60s: One, Two, Three, The Fortune Cookie
’70s: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Front Page
I was tempted to go all unconventional and choose Love in the Afternoon and Stalag 17 as my ’50s favorites, but the consensus choices really my favorite Wilders from that decade. It was hard to leave off Double Indemnity from my ’40s list, but I wanted to shine some light on some lesser-known gems. The Major and the Minor was one of the funniest scripts Wilder-Brackett ever did, and excellently directed to boot, and Five Graves to Cairo one of the most ingenious, with that fantastic Erich von Stroheim performance.
As for conspicuous exceptions: Ace in the Hole is great but a little too sour to be a favorite; Witness for the Prosecution is almost ruined, despite Charles Laughton, by that pointless flashback; and The Apartment I like but only like, for whatever reason.
As for the ’70s, Sherlock Holmes is getting less neglected every year, which is nice to see. (It’s so good, possibly the best Sherlock Holmes movie ever made.) And, no, Wilder’s The Front Page isn’t Hawks’ His Girl Friday, but I think it’s a hilarious, well-played, fast-paced version of the source material. As usual, Lemmon and Matthau play off each other with ease, familiarity, and skill. I still haven’t seen Fedora.
’40s: The Major and the Minor, Five Graves to Cairo
’50s: Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot
’60s: One, Two, Three, The Fortune Cookie
’70s: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Front Page
I was tempted to go all unconventional and choose Love in the Afternoon and Stalag 17 as my ’50s favorites, but the consensus choices really my favorite Wilders from that decade. It was hard to leave off Double Indemnity from my ’40s list, but I wanted to shine some light on some lesser-known gems. The Major and the Minor was one of the funniest scripts Wilder-Brackett ever did, and excellently directed to boot, and Five Graves to Cairo one of the most ingenious, with that fantastic Erich von Stroheim performance.
As for conspicuous exceptions: Ace in the Hole is great but a little too sour to be a favorite; Witness for the Prosecution is almost ruined, despite Charles Laughton, by that pointless flashback; and The Apartment I like but only like, for whatever reason.
As for the ’70s, Sherlock Holmes is getting less neglected every year, which is nice to see. (It’s so good, possibly the best Sherlock Holmes movie ever made.) And, no, Wilder’s The Front Page isn’t Hawks’ His Girl Friday, but I think it’s a hilarious, well-played, fast-paced version of the source material. As usual, Lemmon and Matthau play off each other with ease, familiarity, and skill. I still haven’t seen Fedora.