Rank: 40
Release Year: 1949
Genre: Mystery
Plot
Summary: In the wake of an old friend’s (the black-market opportunist
Harry Lime) death, pulp novelist Holly Martins comes to post-WWII Vienna to
investigate the mysterious circumstances, only to discover things are not quite
as they appear to be.
What
Makes It Special: Postwar Vienna seems like the perfect setting for a
film-noir. The city (like Berlin) was split among the allies, each managing and
patrolling a different section of the city, leaving it ripe to be exploited by
black-market dealers. Holly Martins makes a great fish-out-of-water character
who is seemingly unwillingly pulled into the investigation of his friend’s
mysterious death. Carol Reed’s direction and style is spot on, but one cannot help
but feeling like Orson Welles also had a hand in the film’s creative process
(and I personally think it is the best project Welles was involved with after Citizen Kane). It
is a fantastic mystery film and a must for hardboiled detective fans.
Rank: 39
Release Year: 1959
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Plot
Summary: New York advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistaken for
a government agent by a group of foreign spies, leading to a misadventure in
which Thornhill desperately tries to survive (and even finds himself playing
spy).
What
Makes It Special: North by Northwest is in many ways a remake (a much
more ambitious one at that) of The 39 Steps,
but then again Alfred Hitchcock liked to reuse the same basic premises over and
over. Here we have the premise of ‘the wrong man’ who by some cruel twist of
fate finds himself unwillingly immersed in an international conspiracy. The
film not only succeeds as a great mystery, as Thornhill tries to uncover the
conspiracy, but also as a very entertaining action adventure film (one might
even call it an early precursor to popcorn blockbusters) with fun action set
pieces and very memorable and iconic locations and scenes.
Rank: 38
Release Year: 1942
Genre: Romance Drama
Plot
Summary: In the early days of WWII, Rick Blaine operates a small club in
still unoccupied North Africa, but his life becomes very complicated when an
old flame, Ilsa Lund, comes into town.
What
Makes It Special: Casablanca is maybe cinema’s most iconic romance drama
(along with Gone
with the Wind). (And too like Gone with the Wind) it is often quoted (and
misquoted) and much loved. But behind all the hype, Michael Curtiz has created
a film about missed opportunities and heartbreak, something that speaks to
audiences universally. The performances from Bogart and Bergman are also phenomenal;
tapping into a brooding longing that is powerfully resonating. There is real
chemistry between them; it is palpable.
Rank: 37
Release Year: 1974
Genre: Mystery
Plot
Summary: Private detective J.J. Gittes is hired to expose an adulterer,
but finds himself caught right in the middle of a larger conspiracy – one that
involves deceit, corruption, and murder.
What
Makes It Special: With Chinatown, Roman Polanski directs a hardboiled,
film-noir style mystery that feels both classic and modern. Polanski (much like
he did with Rosemary’s Baby) is also unafraid to give his film a very real
edge. Gittes may be the protagonist, but he is not a hero and the Los Angeles
he inhabits is certainly not a place of happy endings nor is it one where
dreams come true. It is an ugly, messy world ruled by corruption, disorder, and
power. It’s Chinatown.
Rank: 36
Release Year: 1926
Genre: Action Comedy
Cast: Buster Keaton
Plot
Summary: After Union spies steal a Confederate locomotive, engineer
Johnnie Gray pursues them singlehandedly, straight through enemy lines.
What
Makes It Special: Buster Keaton is silent cinema’s other great comedian
(at least in the Hollywood Studio system), and The General is his great film. The
set pieces are incredible and impressive even today. Keaton has such a talent
for stunts, pratfalls, and physical comedy. This production seems almost
unbelievably ambitious in the gags and comedy bits it employs. To say the
least, The General is a silent era masterpiece.
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