Yearly Roundup – 1947
Posted by martinteller on August 7, 2012
The Cream of the Crop
1947 is a fantastic year for film noir (with a huge number that I want to see listed among the titles in the “Uncharted Territory” section of this post). They Made Me a Fugitive is still fresh in my mind from my revisit the other day… I loved it the first time and it impressed me even more on the second. Even more than that, I’m tremendously fond of Nightmare Alley, a film no one seems to love as much as I do. Great con noir with a carny twist. And for something completely different, La Poulette Grise was my favorite in the Norman McLaren set, lovely artwork and animation.
Slightly Less Creamy, But Still Tasty
I did say it was a fantastic year for noir, and one of the defining films of the genre is Out of the Past. Other favorites include Ride the Pink Horse, The Gangster, High Wall, The Red House, T-Men, Dead Reckoning, and The Lady from Shanghai. All highly recommended. And for a taste of Euro-noir, you could do much worse than Clouzot’s Quai des Orfevres.
It’s not all deep shadows and femmes fatale in 1947, however. Dreams That Money Can Buy is a really fun surrealist omnibus film with some fine wit. Another one for the “I really should watch this again” pile: Powell & Pressburger’s gorgeous Black Narcissus. And a Yasujiro Ozu film that Criterion somehow hasn’t gotten around to releasing yet, the charming Record of a Tenement Gentleman.
Varying Degrees of Like
Body and Soul
Boomerang!
Born to Kill
Brute Force
Bury Me Dead
Crossfire
Dark Passage
Fear in the Night
Framed
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Johnny O’Clock
Kiss of Death
Lured
Odd Man Out
One Wonderful Sunday
Possessed
Pursued
A Ship to India
They Won’t Believe Me
The Unsuspected
The Web
Varying Degrees of Hate
Lady in the Lake
Monsieur Verdoux
Shoot to Kill
Some Notable Films In The Middle
The Brasher Doubloon
Desert Fury
Desperate
Devil in the Flesh
A Double Life
Fireworks
Gran Casino
The Long Night
The Love of Sumako the Actress
Nora Prentiss
The Paradine Case
Railroaded!
The Woman on the Beach
Uncharted Territory
Angel and the Badman, Antoine et Antoinette, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Backlash, The Bishop’s Wife, Blind Spot, Brighton Rock, Calcutta, Cry Wolf, Daisy Kenyon, Deep Valley, The Devil Thumbs a Ride, Fall Guy, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Guilty, High Tide, The Invisible Wall, Ivy, Life With Father, Lighthouse, The Man I Love, Miracle on 34th Street, Moss Rose, The October Man, Philo Vance’s Gamble, The Pretender, Riffraff, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Singapore, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Uncle Silas, The Unfaithful, The Village Teacher, Woman Without a Face
Bondo said
Wow, I’ve not even seen anything from here, except Miracle on 34th Street.
martinteller said
Step to it! You may like BLACK NARCISSUS and/or RECORD OF A TENEMENT GENTLEMAN.
I actually think I have seen MIRACLE OF 34TH STREET, but it was as a child and just a very faint memory.
JamDenTel said
Among the “Uncharted Territory” I’m only strongly acquainted with GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT, a solid but somewhat heavy-handed film.
And definitely, BLACK NARCISSUS is gorgeous. Not just my favorite P&P, but also one of my all-time favorites.
martinteller said
I don’t see anything replacing A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH as my favorite P&P, but I did really like BC and definitely owe it a second look.
JamDenTel said
That’s fair. Having just seen AMOLAD, I’d say what keeps it below BN (at least at the moment) are my partial agreement with you that the trial scene feels rather meandering, and, I suppose, my feeling that BN is just a little purer and more intense. Idiosyncrasy, you know.
Chuck said
Miracle on 34th Street is in my Top 100 and therefore highly recommended. Even if you saw it as a child, it takes on a different perspective as an adult.
martinteller said
Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind!