decades best - 1940's

"of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she had to walk into mine." what a perfect movie. i just saw this for the fourth time and it was the best viewing yet. this film is cluttered with wonderful qoutes, great diologue, and an incredible plot. bogey and bergman are larger than life in this film and the rest of the actors really shine. i have read many critics reviews of this film and some try to think of something critical to say for the sake of being objective, in reality criticizing this film is futile. many consider this to be one of the top five films and unlike others in the top five, i can raise no objections here. this is easily one of the greatest films ever made without exception. as ebert once said, this is probably the most well recieved and reviewed film ever made and it deserves its aclaim. "heres lookin at you kid."

a flawlessly conceived, expertly crafted film that ranks as possibly the greatest film noir that i have ever seen. the cinematography is especially notable, and every member of the cast was perfectly chosen. the script is also one of the greatest in film history, and every scene was shot purposefully and effectively. the entire chase sequence at the end of the film is marvelous. easily one of the greatest films ever made.

another of the many astounding films featuring humphrey bogart. hawks directing job was great as he handled the difficult and involved script as well as anyone could have. the story was great, reminding me a lot of the maltese falcon but maybe even slightly better. i was intrigued the whole way through, and this is one of those rare films that leaves you completely satisfied without a criticism. amazing movie.

definitely one of the best films of all time. classic noir with great performances and a perfect plot. the twists and turns were intriguing and the payoff at the end following all of the mystery was incredible. there were no holes in this one and the characters were consistent and well developed despite their simple purposes. a truly great piece of film history.

snow white and the seven musical genius hermits. not only one of the best musicals ever made, but one of my favorite films of all time. virginia mayo shows us again why she was one of the most beautiful women of her time, and dany kaye puts in a stellar performance. the appearances and music of two of the greatest musicians of all time, benny goodman and sachmo, were excellent. each piece of music in this musical about the making of jazz was perfect, and the love story hit the mark. the opening sequence was fuzed with clever writing and great humor, and the film never slows down. one of the top five films of its decade which features some of the greatest films ever made.

siodmaks version of the killers is mesmerizing. one of the best film noirs ever made, lancaster was great in his debut, ava gardner was stunning as always, and obrien turns in a typically solid performance in a noir investigative role. the first few minutes of the film basically lays out hemingways 8 page short story with perfection, and the rest of the story created for the film was true to the spirit of hemingways work. as the plot thickens so does the intrigue, finalizing in a twisted and dark tale that satisfies completely.

a near perfect western and one of the best films of the 1940's. clift was perfect in his debut, wayne gives one of the best performances of his career, and the characters developed for the film were engaging and well suited for the story. as westerns go, this film is far more epic than most as we expirience a well crafted cattle drive over the course of 1,000 miles. great action, high emotion, and an excellent story place this film up there as yet another great film from the masterful howard hawks. the only thing holding this film back from really being my favorite western of all time is the late infusion of tess's character into the story. she felt forced, which might have been a script issue but was more than likely the weakness of joanne dru's performance. aside from this one misstep red river is one of the greatest westerns ever made.

i hadnt seen this film in 20 years, and on this viewing i was reminded why this is possibly the most magical, characterisitc, and influential disney film ever made. the first great childrens morality tale to hit film, there are so many epic moments. one of the great animated films in history.

this is a genuine musical masterpiece. one of the best films i have ever seen and certainly near the top of the great musicals, this film is a deep tale of patriotism and achievement. the film follows cohans life with perfect pace and a high level of engagement. we see the character grow as a person and develop powerfully. there are striking similarities with citizen kane released a year earlier, but i actually enjoyed this film more than that one. cagney recieved a best actor oscar for his role and he deserved it in one of his many great performances. the music was perfect and well placed, striking out against the idea that a musical has to be mostly music. a great classic. "my mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and i thank you."

widely considered one of the best gangster films of all time, this one really delivers. cagney is menacing and brilliant as the lead gangster, putting in a performance that is believable. he comes across smart and calculated while at the same time being completely psychotic. the tale is also a good one and the story is told with fluidity and passion. one of the best films ive ever seen.

the most well known and powerful christmas story ever made, a must watch for all

widely considered the greatest film in history. the american film institute calls it the greatest film of all time as do a huge percentage of the most respected film critics in the world. it was a brilliant film without a doubt. wells acting and directing were both brilliant and the story was interesting start to finish. this film was well ahead of its time, especially in the aging transformations. greg tolands cinematography is so far ahead of its time that we are still catching up and the story telling in this film is astounding. doesnt have the likeability of many other films of its era so it drops a notch on my personal list, but it was better for me after the second viewing and its easy to understand why this is the most important film ever made.

this film is very loosely based on the hemingway novel of the same name. the film is phenomenal, the deviations from hemingways novel were mostly for the better as the novel is my least favorite of the 6 hemingway novels i have read, and even hemigway admitted that without the story changes the novel would have never made a good movie. this was a good movie, hawks direction was great and bogart was casual but commanding. bogarts performance was effortless, like he walked in off the street and threw down some attitude for two hours and called it a day, while at the same time he was incredible. he brings films to a new level they couldnt reach without him. great flick.

this is a phenomenal film. a tale of greed and paranoia, this film creatively chronicles the journey of three gold prospectors who begin as friends. greed grips one of the men and everything falls apart as you see him drop into insanity. huston won an acting oscar for his role, and he deserved it, but bogart really pulled of a great performance in this film. he started off as the focus of the film as an incredibly likeable character and by the end he becomes brash, unreasonable, and hated. a great film that accomplishes its task of showing greed for what it is. a timeless film.

a beautifully crafted love story, and one of my favorite kurosawa films. there are three scenes that catapult this film into greatness, the baseball scene with the little kids, the scene where the two main characters dream about their future coffee shop, and the climactic closing scene that is one of my favorite scenes in film history where the two characters imagine taking part in a symphony in an empty ampitheatre. the weather plays a character, helping to change the disposition of the male lead, and the short speech the female lead gives to the empty ampitheatre (more specifically to us at home) sums up the purpose of the film beautifully. a wonderful sunday indeed, creating a wonderfully delightful film.