Tag: 1950s
-
‘Autumn Leaves’: Joan Crawford at the Peak of Her Powers
The 1956 melodrama was also something of a last hurrah for the star.
-
‘House of Bamboo’’s Style Can Only Take It So Far
Samuel Fuller’s Tokyo-set noir is a visual treat, but it’s thwarted by a thoroughly unengaging lead performance.
-
The Fascinating Parallels of ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’
Esther Williams plays, in this 1952 biopic, the only person who came close to her unusual type of stardom.
-
‘Strange Fascination’: An Auspicious Beginning to a Compelling Partnership
This noir-adjacent melodrama from 1952 marked the start of a six-film-long collaboration between director Hugo Haas and actress Cleo Moore.
-
Shadows and Light
Joseph H. Lewis’ lean and mean ‘The Big Combo’ is a low-key triumph of the film noir form.
-
‘Pal Joey’ Leaves a Bad Taste in Your Mouth
Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak are winning in this rosy adaptation of the pessimistic stage musical, but one might leave the film turned off by how strenuously it seems to want to deflate Rita Hayworth.
-
‘Summer with Monika’’s Haunted Honeymoon Phase
Being young and carefree eventually takes a toll in this early Ingmar Bergman drama.
-
Odds & Ends: April 2024
Notes from the last month.
-
The Goofy Alarmism of ‘High School Confidential!’
The infamous 1958 high-school drama epitomizes product-of-its-time silliness.
-
A Doomed, One-Sided Love in ‘Senso’
On Luchino Visconti’s sumptuous, devastating melodrama.
-
Odds & Ends: January 2024
Notes from the last month.
-
Favorite Discoveries of 2023
The best movies I watched this year not released in 2023.
Peterson Reviews 