The Great Movies: 1949

The 10 Best Movies of 1949

1. The Third Man. Directed by Carol Reed. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Valli, Trevor Howard. Pretty darn close to perfection. Graham Greene’s superb script is literate and suspenseful. Reed’s direction is at its peak (the chase scenes in the sewers, the romantic moments, the flawless ferris wheel scene), the cinematography is at genius level with its fascinating framings and marvelous use of locales, the mesmerizing zither music is haunting and all of the on-screen performances are right on the mark. It all adds up to an unforgettable examination of loyalty and friendship.

2. All the King’s Men. Directed by Robert Rossen. Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, John Derek. This movie rescued Crawford from B-movie semi-oblivion, however he was never again able to equal this portrayal of a southern political demagogue, a thinly-disguised Huey P. Long of Louisiana. McCambridge is also superb in this, her film debut. One way to measure a director's contribution to a movie is to experience the impact of this move and then compare it to the dead-in-the-water remake with a Holywood A-list cast.

3. A Letter to Three Wives. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas. One of the best films about marriage ever made.and without question Darnell’s finest screen portrayal (“What I got don’t need beads.”) Studio chief Darrell Zanuck desperately wanted Ernst Lubitsch to direct this movie, but, much to Zanuck’s dismay, the job went to Mankiewicz who won an Oscar for his direction and another one for his acerbic script. This recognition further angered the grudge-holding Zanuck who got some measure of revenge 15 years later by blaming Mankiewicz for almost destroying the studio with Cleopatra.

4. On the Town. Directed by Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller. There have been better musicals to hit the screen, but I can’t recall a more energetic one, the first movie musical filmed on location (New York City) and not on a soundstage. MGM head Louis B. Mayer objected to the on-location shooting but compromised somewhat by allowing the crew to spend just one week in New York. I’m guessing the resulting rush to get as much as possible on film in that brief time gives the film its wonderful shot of adrenalin. That, and the pure energy of Ann Miller.

5. Twelve O’Clock High. Directed by Henry King. Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Dean Jagger. A movie that answers the question “What is the emotional toll on the human psyche for individuals who must perform at maximum efficiency every waking moment of every single day?”. One of the first films to portray American World War II fighting men as human beings and not superheroes. King and Peck teamed effectively again on The Bravados and The Gunfighter.

6. White Heat. Directed by Raoul Walsh. James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien, Margaret Wycherly. This film would not be on this list if anyone else but Cagney played the psychotic, mother-fixated gangster. The indelible moment when Cagney, after one of his fits, sits on his mother’s lap so she can soothe him, was not in the original script — it was Cagney’s idea. The scene in which Cagney learns of his mother’s death while he’s in prison is the finest moment of Cagney’s illustrious career. This is often referred to as the “last of the great 1930s gangster film” and I find it difficult to argue with that description.

7. The Heiress. Directed by William Wyler. Olivia de Havilland, Ralph Richardson, Montgomery Clift, Miriam Hopkins. Am I the only person in the world who tired of de Havilland’s tendency to smile in her films, even if a smile wasn’t needed? It drove me nuts. One of the reasons I like this film is Wyler broke her of that habit (although she resumed it in later appearances). But that’s not the only reason to applaud de Havilland here: Her trasnformation from a victimized youth to an iron-willed adult is simpy a tour de force piece of acting. In fact the only weak performance in this film comes suprisingly from Clift.

8. The Set-Up. Directed by Robert Wise. Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter. Five years before High Noon pulled off the same stunt, this 1 hour, 12 minute film is about 72 continuous minutes in the life of an aging boxer who thinks, if he can just win this fight tonight, he can finally collect a big purse, retire, and realize his dream of opening a bar. This is one of the most anti-boxing movies I’ve ever seen — the fight scenes are cruel, the fight fans are blood-thirsty maniacs, all those surrounding the boxers are uneducated opportunists of the lowest order. This was Ryan’s finest film performance.

9. Kind Hearts and Coronets. Directed by Robert Hamer. Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood. Although Price is the star and has the biggest part in this black comedy about mass murder — one of the funniest British comedies ever — it was Guinness who gained international fame by playing eight different members of a titled family. This is a film you can enjoy over and over and over again.

10. The Queen of Spades. Directed by Thorold Dickinson. Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans. This film is not as well known as many of the others on the list, but it’s a thriller that packs more of a jolt than most of them. Edith Evans had been absent from the screen after making only three largely forgotten silent films in 1914-16. Thus her grotesque characterization of the countess with the secret in this film, for all practical purposes, launched her career at the tender age of 62. Walbrook, as usual, is superb as the Russian army officer determined to get that secret, regardless of the cost.