1001 Movies, Part 10. Siskel and Ebert edition.

Susan Sarandon inexplicably slathers herself with lemon juice while Burt Lancaster peeps through the window of another apartment. Rather than being creeped out, she is smitten. Isn’t that just typical. “Oooo I’m so flattered by your peeping tommery, let’s have dinner and sleep together!” Thumbs down for this lazy writing. And yet, the overall movie arc is a well-crafted tale that weaves together several seemingly independent stories, and it is worth a single thumbs up.

City Lights

Two thumbs up for this endearing love story of a street vagrant (Charlie Chaplin) who falls for a blind flower-seller. Upon learning her sight can be restored with a costly operation, the vagrant does whatever he can to secretly acquire the necessary funds. A sweet little romance with delightful Chaplin humour as icing on the cake – and a particularly hilarious boxing match as extra chocolate sprinkles.

Days of Heaven

In this 90 min movie that feels like it lasted twice that long, we meet a hot-tempered farm labourer played by Richard Gere (age 29, but looking not a day older than 19). Gere convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich, but dying, farm boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune. Ah, but inevitably, the boss fails to die in the expected timely fashion and the woman starts to love the rich life. She also still loves her farm-hand BF, though, which is a betrayal of sorts, and in 1970s Hollywood, no good can come of that. Punishment is sent in the form of a plague of locusts, fire, and, ultimately, the requisite tragedy.

Destry Rides Again

There’s a new sheriff in the corrupt town of Bottleneck, and he wisely appoints Tom Destry (James Stewart) as his deputy to help bring about order. Sexy bar singer and small time hustler Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich) can’t decide if she wants to be bad or good, and switches allegiances like the wind. Thumbs down for the inevitable punishment that befalls the unrighteous woman in Hollywood. Thumbs up for Dietrich’s portrayal of Frenchy, which brings to mind (and is likely the inspiration for) Madeline Kahn’s “Blazing Saddles” character, Lili Von Shtupp.

Gandhi

Despite it’s 3 hour length, this is a thoughtfully curated story of the life of Gandhi as he fights for Indian independence from Britain. Perhaps the one complaint would be the lack of attention paid to the … er … unfortunate method by which independence is ultimately granted – a tragic lack of understanding of, or perhaps concern with, the nuances of Indian culture and religion leading to violent clashes between Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslim. There are wonderful books about this, however, and if you are a fan of Gandhi’s story, I encourage you to read more about the dividing of Indian and Pakistan during the granting of independence.

High Sierra

Humphrey Bogart (thumbs up) is on the run after a botched robbery. In the midst of this, there is a love triangle which only has one resolution since it technically qualifies as *someone* cheating (thumbs down). Think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid without the Kid.

Magnolia

This one almost earned a thumbs down due to its ridiculous length – over 3 hours. But the intricate intersection of three related stories, and the magnificent acting, far make up for that broken rule. The second thumbs up is entirely due to the nine main characters singing Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up”. Beautiful and haunting.

The Postman Always Rings Twice

When Cora (Lana Turner) and Frank (John Garfield) plot to kill Lana’s husband, things do not go exactly as planned. It ends predictably enough for 1940s Hollywood, when bad guys always do finish last. Or dead.

Rebel Without a Cause

In this aptly named movie, James Dean is new in town and gets mixed up with the wrong crowd. A game of chicken turns tragic and things go downhill from there for Dean. I feel like most people would give this two thumbs up. It’s a great movie, well acted, and has a real-life tragic poignancy to it (James Dean died a month before the movie was released, when he crashed his Porsche Spyder into another car). But there was just too much whining to his parents and I HAD to give it one demerit for that.

Singing in the Rain

Perhaps you, like me, are old enough to remember when Video Killed The Radio Star ( in my mind and in my car ). The same thing happens here, except it’s Talking Pictures killing a Silent Movie star (Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont). Lina’s career is on the verge of ruin when it’s revealed she has a screechy, shrill, un-filmable voice for talkies. But sweet-voiced Debbie Reynolds steps in to save the day, dubbing Lina’s lines from just off camera. Fun movie trivia: in real life Jean Hagen had a beautiful, rich voice, and in one meta scene, she is actually dubbing Debbie Reynolds dubbing her. Rating this movie is easy – it’s a musical, so it gets an automatic two thumbs up! (Cats sets the low bar for musicals, and it still gets one thumbs up. It loses the other thumbs up after last year’s live-action monstrosity.)

Some Like It Hot

After two male musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) witness a mob hit, they decide to disguise themselves as members of an all-female band in order to flee the state. Jack Lemmon hilariously embraces his inner girl, including accepting a proposal of marriage from rich, older gentleman who he hopes to then divorce (I guess for misrepresentation?) and collect alimony. Meanwhile, complications set in when Tony Curtis falls for one of the real women in the band. She is played by Marilyn Monroe so the writing was pretty much on the wall there!

Stella Dallas

One automatic thumbs up for Barbara Stanwyck, who is my new favourite actress of all time. She plays Stella, a working-class woman who marries and has a daughter with upper-class Stephen Dallas (John Boles). Stella is unable to shake off her working class roots and eventually separates from her husband when she can’t live up to his high-society expectations. After being embarrassed while on a weekend holiday with her daughter, Stella decides to give her daughter a better chance at a promising future by ceding custody and fading into the background. The clincher for the second thumbs up is the final scene, when Stella secretly witnesses her daughter’s final crowning societal success and, instead of bursting in to reclaim her parental place, she walks off with a heartbreaking/heartwarming selfless expression of pure joy. I dare you not to cry.

The Manchurian Candidate

The original Manchurian Candidate is such a fantastic portrayal of the brainwashing of POW Major Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra). Especially impressive is the scene in which a group of soldiers are tested for the brainwashing effects and the scene toggles between the reality of Korean military observers and the brainwashed POV of the soldiers who believe they are attending a garden party hosted by elderly women. Add in Angela Lansbury as Marco’s mother and ultra-right anti-communist, and you have two thumbs wayyyyy up.

The Sweet Hereafter

A small community is torn apart by a tragic accident which kills most of the town’s children, which is not the best start to movie night. Soon after, a low-key ambulance chasing lawyer shows up and stirs up the grief and anger of the town parents whose children died. This should have been enough for an immediate thumbs down, but the movie very tenderly explores the relationships of the townspeople and the backstories of their grief, including that of our wayward lawyer. It ultimately redeems itself in the courage of one teenage girl, confined to a wheelchair after the accident, who takes a stand (so to speak) to move the town a step towards healing.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

I must be one of the only people who didn’t see this revolutionary movie when it was first released. All I’m going to say here is that it is a cinematographic masterpiece, rightfully winning the Oscar in this category (and not in the bad way that is implied by Rule 3). Oh! One other thing! I was delighted to find that Michelle Yeoh starring in this movie. She would later go on to have a leading role in Star Trek Discovery, which is, of course, how I know and love her.