a person doesn't change just because you find out more

Average rating: 7. Good choices!

The Third Man (1949) - "Set in postwar Vienna, Austria, this film stars Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, who arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime (Orson Welles), only to find him dead. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a 'third man' present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Maj. Calloway (Trevor Howard) and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna (Alida Valli)."
length: 1 hour, 33 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: I'm strongly in the throes of Orson Welles
IMDB: 8.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 99% Audience: 93%
my IMDB: 7/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Movies (original list 1998) #57

    100 Years…100 Thrills (2001) #75

    100 Years … 100 Heroes and Villains (2003) Villain #37

    10 Top 10 (2008) Mystery #5

MPAA rating: Approved (TV-14)

notable quote: "Don't be so gloomy. After all, it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love—they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

directed by: Carol Reed

my notes: SO frustrating when a movie, especially a classic, doesn't have subtitles. I'm starting to take up against the Criterion Collection for this, which I read as discrimination.

    Whew, I feel better now that that's out. 

    This is creepy, strange, and incredibly filmed. The soundtrack (a zither?!) is menacing. There's a little kid character (Hansel, played by Herbert Halbik) who will give me nightmares. The story is pretty twisty, the acting is hit or miss (Cotton and of course Welles are marvelous, Alida Valli is not). The movie is definitely worth seeing (and I will see it again) for the way it was crafted and lit, full of Dutch angles and contrasts.

Academy Award winner: Best Cinematography, Black and White—Robert Krasker
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Director—Reed

• Best Film Editing—Oswald Hafenrichter
overall:  recommended

The Steel Helmet (1951) - "In the early days of the Korean War, gruff U.S. Sgt. Zack (Gene Evans) is retreating to safety after an enemy attack wipes out his unit. Rescued and guided through the jungle by a friendly Korean orphan (William Chun), Zack runs into an African-American medic (James Edwards) and a platoon led by Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie), a by-the-book officer. Together, this unlikely band of brothers make their way to an abandoned Buddhist temple, where they stage a desperate attempt to fend off the enemy."

length: 1 hour, 25 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it came highly recommended
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 85%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "'Well, Sergeant, I told you it was a waste of time.'

    'If I was right all the time I'd be an officer, Lieutenant.'"

MPAA rating: Approved

directed by: Samuel Fuller (also written and produced by)

my notes: this is an aggressive, violent, bleak movie. I was shocked and appalled. I liked it a lot, thought it was well filmed and directed, and liked that it was loaded with symbolism, such as Sgt. Zack cradled in the giant Buddha statue while fighting off invaders. However, I didn't like the characters, even the nice ones. It's too brutal and bleak for me. Still, on the basis of its place in history...

overall:  recommended

Eine Liebe für den Frieden {A Love for Peace—Bertha von Suttner and Alfred Nobel} (2014) - "An unusual woman, a dramatic life: Bertha von Suttner never had it easy. Although she was born as Countess Kinsky and was highly educated, she and her family do not enjoy a good reputation. At the age of 30 she worked as a teacher in the house of Baron von Suttner. When Bertha and Arthur, the seven years younger son, fall in love, it is a scandal for the family. The relationship is torn apart and in 1876 Bertha hastily placed as a private secretary to the eccentric chemist Alfred Nobel in Paris. An encounter that will not only change both lives, but the world. Bertha gets along with the solitary inventor straight away, both are fascinated by each other. They have endless conversations, including about his groundbreaking invention: dynamite. But before Nobel proposes to the headstrong Bertha, Arthur bursts into her life again, disinherited and rejected, but Bertha runs off with him and marries him. Despite her decision, she maintains intensive correspondence with Alfred Nobel and thus her unique friendship. She moves to the Caucasus with Arthur and experiences the Russo-Turkish War in 1877. Bertha and Arthur see horrible pictures that they can no longer get rid of. Bertha begins to write, with success. But after years of wasteland she wants to 'go back to life', misses the intellectual exchange, is keen on new literature. After ten years, she met Alfred Nobel again in Paris and made first contacts with peace associations. Her next novel brought her world fame: Lay Down Your Arms, the war from a woman's point of view, describes the suffering that is associated with it. An unfulfilled love remains between the great peace fighter Bertha von Suttner and Alfred Nobel, but it ultimately inspires Alfred Nobel to write a unique will: he donates the Nobel Prize with his fortune. 1905 celebrated the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize: Bertha von Suttner."
length: 1 hour, 28 minutes

source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: it's been on my watchlist for a while—and I adore Sebastian Koch
IMDB: 6.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'What have you against monkeys?'

    'Nothing. I've got something against stupidity.'"

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Urs Egger

my notes: melodramatic, thought-provoking, romantic...and a very good cast

overall:  recommended

The Night of the Hunter (1955) - "The Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is a religious fanatic and serial killer who targets women who use their sexuality to attract men. Serving time in prison for car theft, he meets condemned murderer Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who confesses to hiding $10,000 in stolen loot. Released from jail, Powell is obsessed with finding the money, and he tracks down Harper's widow, Willa (Shelley Winters), and her two children, John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce)."
length: 1 hour, 32 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it was recommended on an alternate best-list
IMDB: 8.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 93% Audience: 90%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years … 100 Heroes and Villains (2003) #29

MPAA rating:  Approved

notable quote: "A woman's a fool to marry for that. That's somethin' for a man. The Good Lord never meant for a decent woman to want that. Not really want it. It's all just a fake and a pipe dream."

directed by: Charles Laughton

my notes: one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, I cannot believe more people don't know about this. The tension is almost unbearable. It's got all the ingredients, like menacing background music and disturbing kids and water and drunks and shadows and oh my God the huge creepiness of the hymn singing, yikes! Some parts of it don't work (anymore? or ever?), and Mitchum reminds me of his Cape Fear character at times, and some bits of the script were better done than others. Overall, though, I found it very entertaining—and repulsive and I never need to see it again!

overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from The Third Man]