1940s

2/2/24 "Remember the Night" 1940
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You don't have to be a horse to judge a horse show." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is probably my favorite screenplay written by Preston Sturges. It's funny as well as very sweet and heartfelt. It's about a district attorney (Fred MacMurray) who feels bad about putting a shoplifter (Barbara Stanwyck) in jail before her trial is over because he wanted to go to his house for Christmas, so he bails her out so she can go home for Christmas before the trail resumes. He even agrees to drive her to her parent's house for Christmas. The writing is fantastic, but the chemistry between MacMurray and Stanwyck is on another level. They bounce off of each other so well and really sell the relationship. Barbara Stanwyck is easily the best actress in the film though, she has the greatest dramatic moments. As a whole, this is a great romantic comedy that has such a sweet ending.

5/22/23 "The Shop Around The Corner" 1940
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "How much is that belt in the window, the one that says '2.95?'" "...2.95." "Oh No!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I thought there would be a lot more laughs. This definitely leans more toward romance than comedy. It's a shame because when there are jokes they're pretty funny, it's just that they were barely there. Jimmy Stewart is great though, because of course he is, he always is. Not a lot to say about this one. It definitely started the move away from screwball comedies and into the rom-com

1/16/22 "His Girl Friday" 1940
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Diabetes! I ought to know better than to hire anybody with a disease."
This shouldn't be classified as a Cary Grant movie. He gets top billing but he's barely in it. Top billing should've gone to Rosalind Russell who was the true star of this movie. To be honest, the plot was a little hard to follow since everybody spoke at 2x speed. The dialogue is just way too fast for me, while I'm chuckling at one joke I completely miss another joke. It's well written, just too quick

2/3/24 "Broadway Melody of 1940" 1940
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "When success goes to a dancer's feet, he's all right; but, when it goes to his head, he's top-heavy!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I wasn't expecting to like this film as much. It's underrated being a sequel to the horrible "Broadway Melody of 1929" (which won best picture). It's about a dance duo (Fred Astaire and George Murphy) who want to break the big time but are stuck in the little leagues. When an agent (Frank Morgan) sees the show, he wants Fred Astaire to be a part of his show, but Fred Astaire thinks he's a tax collector, so he gives his partner's name to trip him up. This accidentally causes his partner to be the big star instead of him. We see the friendship go down the drain when he starts to get a big head about his status and the fact that he's dating the famous, Clare Bennett (Eleanor Powell). The plot is pretty great and so's the writing. I also really liked the Cole Porter songs they used, like the opening song where they sing about how they can tear down most parts of New York, but they won't mess with Broadway. I would check this film out (especially if you're watching a Broadway Melody movie)

1/28/25 "The Thief Of Bagdad" 1940
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "For me, there can be no more pleasure in the world, than to please you." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
It stinks that many aspects didn't age well, because this was quite the adventure movie. Based on the story of the Arabian Nights, we follow Prince Ahmad (John Justin) and the thief, Abu (Sabu), who gets tricked by the evil Jaffar (Conrad Veidt). He casts a spell on them where the prince becomes blind and Abu gets turned into a dog. They get banished from the kingdom, so they must make their way back to save the kingdom and the princess. The acting was really well done, especially with Conrad Veidt as Jaffar, but the real draw is the effects. They can look a little dated by today's standards but for a movie from 1940, the effects are insanely well done. One drawback of the film however is the portrayal of Arabian culture in a very stereotypical way. They don't really try to make you immersed in that culture, rather they just slosh around the same tired tropes and cliches together. Which is a shame, because the production design and directing is great.

6/12/23 "The Grapes Of Wrath" 1940
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
The first John Ford movie I actually liked. This is a classic story by John Steinbeck where we follow the Joad family as they try to chase job opportunities all across America. They keep getting promised to find a job, but they never do. This film is really about the fight between capitalism and communism. The only times they get what they want is when the community helps each other out by giving them food discounts or shelter. Henry Fonda does a fantastic job in this film, this is one of his career-making roles (although he'll always be Juror 8 to me). It's well shot, well paced, and overall a great film

6/17/22 "Rebecca" 1940
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I am Mrs. De Winter."
You can sort of tell this was an early Hitchcock. It still has the Hitchcock classics with suspense and the "Hitchcockian Heart Beat" but doesn't really get the same amount of pacing as the others. The story is still really intriguing and the twist surprised me. The lighting in this movie is really powerful. I'm a sucker for chiaroscuro lighting and black-and-white visuals. I feel like black and white elevates certain stories (like Noir, Horror, and Crime) while technicolor elevates others (Musicals, Comedies, and Animation), they still work flipped but I feel like the color of a movie really helps with the tone and this film being in black and white helps with it's the darker subject matter. This movie was the first Thriller to win an Oscar. Only three other thriller films have won the Oscars (No Country for Old Men, Argo, and Parasite). This film is really good, but did it deserve the Oscar? I feel like it does deserve it, but I feel like "The Great Dictator" (which was a nominee that year) deserved it more. Besides that, this is still a great film that you should see at least once in your life.

4/22/23 "A Plumbing We Will Go" 1940
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Yeah, who said you need brains to be a plumber?", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: no
Their highest rated short, and I can see why. It follows the three men trying to escape the police so they drive a plumbing van to get away, but a wealthy house mistakes them for real plumbers and asks them to fix a leak. It's a fun short just seeing how they make things worse and worse as it goes on, especially the iconic Curly pipe gag. Though this lacks the normal witty humor, it more than makes up for it with the incredible slapstick and gaps in logic.

5/20/25 "The Mortal Storm" 1940
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I think peace is better than war. A man's right to think as he believes is as good for him as food and drink." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was such a brave film for the time. This film is extremely anti-nazi, which caused all MGM films to be banned in Germany during the war. This film follows a German town as it becomes more and more entangled in Fascism, as a family watches in horror. It's paced really well to where you see how little increments and how something like that could happen in a small town. It's really quite frightening to see how fascist ideals can start in small towns and slowly take over. Margret Sullivan, Jimmy Stewart, and Frank Morgan all give really great performances in this film and really sell the horror of the situation.

10/8/24 "The Great McGinty" 1940
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Never mind the applesauce. How do I get the bucks?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
For Preston Sturges' only Oscar-win (and the first "Best Original Screenplay" winner), I was sort of expecting more. It's not bad, it's just a little bland. We follow a homeless man named Dan McGinty who gets paid $2 by a political boss to use a fake name to vote. He does this 37 times because he needs money. The political boss, not favoring a side, decides to take McGinty and make him a new political candidate. The premise is alright, it just wasn't too funny. I felt like this was an odd choice for best Screenplay, especially against "The Great Dictator".

4/21/25 "Dance, Girl, Dance" 1940
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "The complaint states that you slapped her." "Oh no, Your Honor. I punched her, and then I jumped on her and tried to strangle her." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
The 40s audience wasn't ready for this movie. This film was really ahead of the curve when it comes to feminism. This film follows two dancers who are at odds with each other. Judy O’Brien (Maureen O’Hara) is into ballet and wants to become a serious dancer, while Bubbles (Lucille Ball) is a more brash dancer in the same troupe. Bubbles is okay going to burlesque and shady clubs while Judy isn't. Eventually, Bubbles leaves the studio and brings Judy with her to dance in the club. It's such a shame that Lucille Ball didn't get the credit she deserved for this role; she's incredible. She plays the character so sympathetically despite doing really horrible things. As a whole, I can see why this film has garnered more respect over the years.

10/9/24 "Christmas In July" 1940
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If you can't sleep, it's not the coffee! It's the bunk!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I wasn't expecting a lot out of this movie, especially after watching Preston Sturges' previous film, The Great McGinty, but this was surprisingly really good! There's a big contest in town for a brand new coffee slogan, where the winner gets 25,000 dollars (Roughly 500,000 dollars in today's money. A down-on-his-luck office clerk, Jimmy McDonald (Dick Powell), enters the contest hoping to use the money to marry his girlfriend. He makes the slogan (which is the favorite quote) around the idea that Coffee makes you sleep, which his girlfriend argues with him the whole time that it, in fact, keeps you up. As a joke, three of Jimmy's friends make a fake telegraph saying that he's won the contest, this leads to Jimmy believing that he is the winner. His life changes after this lie, because his boss notices how good his promotional ideas are, so he promotes him. One of my favorite aspects of the film is the contest boss played by Raymond Walburn. He's so perfect in this role and really adds to the comedy. Preston Sturges really got his great start as a director here, which led to one of the most impressive runs of comedies that I've seen.

8/7/24 "Arise, My Love" 1940
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "This is my first execution." "Don't worry, father, this is mine too" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This didn't really live up to the Billy Wilder charm. To be fair, he didn't direct this one, but it just wasn't as great as his other outings. This follows a war prisoner (Ray Milland) who's about to get executed when his wife (Claudette Colbert) comes in and pleads with the dictator that he wasn't even supposed to be here because he's married. The one problem with this though is that Milland was never married. It turns out, that when he gets home, his false wife is a reporter who wants to use his story as front-page news. They start to actually get into a relationship, but with Hitler invading Poland, they might be split apart. There were some pretty great performances that enhanced the writing, but this wasn't one of Wilder's stronger scripts.

9/15/25 "The Letter" 1940
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "With all my heart, I still love the man I killed." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Bette Davis does a great job in this role, but the film as a whole was okay. This is a pretty classic noir set-up where a woman kills a man out of what she claims is self-defense, but a letter comes in written by her, leading people to think that she did it intentionally. William Wyler does a good job directing, especially with the way he plays with the intense lighting of the film. The film's Singapore setting leads to some less-than-desirable portrayals, but as a whole, this film is just alright.

8/7/25 "Little Nellie Kelly" 1940
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "A clay pipe is a great blessing to a man. When you drop it you don't have pick it up." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's so funny because this rarely talked about musical is an important shift for Judy Garland's career. She plays two characters in this movie, an adult and a child. This is important because this movie started the shift from her playing kid roles to finally playing grown-ups. So the movie follows an Irish couple who want to move to America, despite her father's wishes, but once they get to America, the mom dies in childbirth, so that leaves the father and grandfather to raise the child (Judy Garland plays both). Nellie Kelly wants to be on Broadway, but her family doesn't agree with her passion (sort of like The Jazz Singer but 100% less racist). This film also contains the song "Singin' In The Rain," a full 12 years before Gene Kelly did the most iconic performance of the song.

3/17/23 "The Bank Dick" 1940
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'll teach you when you grow up. I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Oh yeah
Definitely a step up from "It's a Gift" but still not particularly amazing. W.C. Fields gives a lot better performance in this one, this time being a lot meaner which lends to the comedy a lot more. This one is about W.C. Fields accidentally being the man to stop a bank robbery, so he's now the security guard at the bank. He hears about an opportunity to buy stock in a mining company, so he takes money from the bank illegally and will give it back when the scheme is successful, the problem is, he does it the same week that the bank inspector comes. This feels very similar to "It's a Gift" with a similar ending as well, but this is far superior

1/31/22 "The Philadelphia Story" 1940
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I would sell my grandmother for a drink - and you know how I love my grandmother"
What a star-studded movie. It's so weird seeing Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant share the screen together. Especially how big both of them were during that time. Katherine Hepburn so did a wonderful job in the role, I really felt her charm and I was invested in her weird love situation. This movie had a few good lines, but overall it wasn't as in other movies these stars were in. Not a lot to say about this one.

5/1/23 "Go West" 1940
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Telephone? This is 1870. Don Ameche hasn't invented the telephone yet!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is the Marx Brother's first film of the 1940s, which would start their decline into mediocrity. This film just didn't have the same energy as some of the earlier ones. The songs were just unmemorable and went on far too long, the gags don't really stick in your head, and there are pretty bad depictions of Native Americans (which isn't really a Marx Brother thing more of just a Hollywood thing). Groucho does have some funny lines and Harpo does add some unexpected gags to the mix, but as a whole, this isn't really worth watching. Just by the title alone, you've guessed the film. It's the Marx Brothers... in the wild west.

1/18/25 "High Sierra" 1941
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Mister, what does it mean... when a man 'crashes out'?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is such a Humphrey Bogart picture, I can't imagine anybody else in the role. We follow a criminal (Humphrey Bogart) getting out of jail thanks to a pardon. That pardon was given by his old crime boss who wants to do one more heist with him. The movie hinges on the performance of Bogart, who does a great job in the role. It wasn't too memorable for me, but I understand why people like this so much.

1/3/25 "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" 1941
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I'd give five bucks to see that cat take a sip of that soup." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is such a bizarre film, not because of what is in the film, but rather who made it. This is a pretty paint-by-numbers screwball comedy that follows Mr. Smith (Robert Montgomery) finding out that he's not legally married to his wife (Carole Lombard) through some legal mistake. After a big fight, because Mr. Smith says he wants to stay unmarried, Mrs. Smith goes off and starts dating one of his colleagues, causing Mr. Smith to desperately try to get her back. This is a standard affair for a screwball comedy, but what's weird is that Alfred Hitchcock directed this movie. The master of suspense himself made a light-hearted, screwball comedy that doesn't fit in with anything that he's made before (or after). This isn't the best screwball comedy, but it's pretty enjoyable thanks to the great performances of Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard.

8/04/23 "The Lady Eve" 1941
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You don't know the difference between ale and beer! Well, beer ferments at the top while ale ferments at the bottom! Or is the other way around... I'm not sure" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
Another Preston Sturges film, and honestly I'm not too impressed. It's a funny concept of a con artist (Barbara Stanwyck) meeting an airheaded Aire of an Ale company (Henry Fonda) and she tries to swindle him out of his money. They obviously fall in love which complicates things quite a bit. The two give pretty good performances, but none of the jokes are that incredible to hold up for me. I'm most likely going to forget this film

7/6/25 "Ziegfeld Girl" 1941
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Mr. Ziegfeld says, if I don't watch my figure, no one else will." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
MGM had such a huge obsession with Ziegfeld, this being the second of three Ziegfeld films, but it just seems all over the place. This seems more like a way to shove as many of their stars into this musical, but it just didn't pay off. Like, why is Jimmy Stewart here? He doesn't sing or dance, he's just there. Judy Garland is the strongest part of this film, but she has to fight for attention with Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner, who don't have the same appeal. As a whole, this film is just a way to show off MGM's wealth without much substance.

7/21/23 "The Big Store" 1941
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "This is a bright red dress, but Technicolor is sooo expensive." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
The Marx brothers just feel tired of the whole ordeal in this film. This is Groucho's least favorite Marx Brothers film since around this time it was plain to see that they were running out of ideas. The whole film feels sort of forced. There were three musical numbers and only one of them was good musically. The one good musical number is ruined however by some pretty racist depictions of various groups. The racist depictions don't stop at the musical numbers, they are all over the film. There are some good gags here and there, but this just wasn't that good

3/20/25 "Sergeant York" 1941
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I done forgot the Lord! I ain't never gonna forget him again!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was a pretty endearing war movie. It took a while to get to the point, but when it got there it was a really interesting study of Sergeant York (Gary Cooper). The turmoil of his character is that he used to be a very aggressive man, but he converted to Christianity and became a pacifist. When he gets drafted to fight in the First World War, he has an internal conflict on whether he wants to fight for his country or continue his pacifist way. Gary Cooper won best actor for this role, and I have to agree, he's the heart of the film.

3/27/24 "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" 1941
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "So long, champ." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a pretty alright screwball comedy. It follows Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery), a boxer who also enjoys playing the saxophone from time to time. He's off on a flight to his next match when the plane suddenly crashes An angel (Edward Everett Horton) brings him to heaven to meet with his superior, Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains). The problem is, that the angel was wrong. He wasn't supposed to die in that crash, so they sent him back to Earth. The only issue is that his manager, Max (James Gleason) cremated him, so he has to find a newly dead body to inhabit. It's a really interesting setup that unfortunately doesn't lead to many jokes. It isn't really a funny movie, there are some funny moments, but as a whole, it just sort of misses the mark.

7/7/25 "Lady Be Good" 1941
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Park Avenue was clustered around Eddie like flies around honey. Every phony in the phony 400." Do they say the title fot he movie within the movie: Yes
This musical just felt so empty to me. This musical follows a fictitious songwriting husband and wife who write the song "Lady Be Good" (originally written by the Gershwins in real life), and the song becomes a super-hit. The problem comes when they divorce after creative differences. The characters really don't play well off each other, and it's a pretty miserable watching experience. This movie has some really talented people like Eleanor Powell and Virginia O'Brien, but they sideline them for this boring couple. Heck, I even wanted more Red Skelton. I don't even like his material, but at least it's something. As a whole, I can understand why only 800 people have seen this film on the app, it's pretty bad.

12/6/22 "How Green Was My Valley" 1941
2/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "How Green Was My Valley"
This movie nowadays is known for one thing, beating Citizen Kane for best picture. I feel like, though I'm not a big fan of Citizen Kane, that should've won the Oscar. This was horrible. This won best directing, which I think was just because the academy liked John Ford. If this wasn't directed by him I guarantee you this wouldn't have won. The plot is slow, and for some reason every five minutes the town sings a big song together, but it's not a musical. Really bad.

3/23/25 "Suspicion" 1941
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Hello Monkeyface!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is an interesting Hitchcock film, but I can't exactly say what's interesting about it without spoiling the movie. The film follows a heiress (Joan Fontaine) who falls in love with a very charming man (Cary Grant). The two end up getting married, but the heiress starts to get suspicious of her husband after she learns about his habit of lying and being a gold digger. This starts her suspicion that her husband is trying to kill her for her inheritance. There are some really interesting shots in this film (like the milk shot), but the story can be a little slow. Besides a pretty interesting ending, this film could be a little forgettable.

5/31/23 "Sullivan's Travels" 1941
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I was sort of expecting more out of this film. I mean, it made AFI's top 100 movies of all time, but it was just fine. It's all about a Hollywood comedy director who wants to make a drama about the homeless crisis facing America called "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?". The problem is, he feels that he hasn't suffered enough, so he puts on a disguise and pretends to be homeless. Many of the jokes from the film come from just how bad he is at being homeless. He keeps trying to escape Hollywood but accidentally finds his way back. The film crew from the studio follow him everywhere he goes, so they can pick him up the second things get dangerous. My problem with the film is the writing. I didn't really laugh a lot during this comedy. It honestly felt more like a drama than a comedy at some points. I can see the appeal, but I feel like there were funnier films at the time

6/1/23 "Ball Of Fire" 1941
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Oh, "Greek philosophy!" I got a set like this with a radio inside." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was written by Billy Wilder and it really shows. Billy Wilder has such a distinct voice when it comes to screenwriting that you simply can't miss. This is all about a group of professors who have devoted the last 20 years of their lives to writing the next issue of the encyclopedia. The whole operation gets turned on their head when a garbage man comes in and starts speaking slang to them and they have no idea what it means. The language professor (Gary Cooper) is frustrated because he spent years studying an outdated book of slang, so he hires people to teach him slang. One of these people is Katherine "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) the fiancee of a famous mobster, but unfortunately, Gary Cooper doesn't know so the gangster gets the wrong idea. It's a very fun movie with some really sweet moments and great writing

2/4/23 "Meet John Doe" 1941
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "If it's worth dying for then it's worth living for" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is a film by Frank Capra, it has that Capra sense to it. It's about a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who just got laid off from work writing a letter from a fictitious man named John Doe threatening to kill himself if the working conditions don't get better. John Doe becomes a major deal throughout the country with people speculating that he is fake while others wanting to help John Doe fight the good fight. Stanwyck needs to find someone to step into the John Doe role, so she makes a deal with a down-on-his-luck baseball player (Gary Cooper) who's now homeless due to his poor arm. The writing is really sharp and has a really interesting premise. This wouldn't worked out as well though if it wasn't for Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck's fantastic acting that really elevated this film to the next level. The cinematography is really fantastic, there's a scene towards the end that's fantastic. Another Capra classic.

9/7/22 "The Wolf Man" 1941
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote, "Go now - and heaven help you!"
Yet another universal monster, the wolf man is a pretty interesting movie. Whereas Dracula and The Mummy are evil because they are, the wolf man is very sympathetic like the Monster in Frankenstein. I relate more to the wolf man since he's just a regular man with bad luck. You sympathize with him because he's not in control. It's funny how much of an asset Lon Chaney jr would prove to be. First of all, his dad Lon Chaney Sr. was the Phantom of the Opera in the silent picture and was actually going to be Dracula until he died of lung cancer right before the movie started filming (the role of course went to the Broadway actor Bela Lugosi). The studio wanted to make B-movies for the public but Boris Karloff would deny them making Lon Chaney Jr now the replacement for Frankenstein, the same thing happened with Karloff's mummy and Lugosi's Dracula making him the only man who's played all four (although Bela Lugosi also had a swing at playing Frankenstein for a film... nobody liked it). This is one of the last original Universal Monster movies (the next one would be The Creature from the Black Lagoon). Which means I'm one movie away.

1/4/25 "The Man Who Came To Dinner" 1941
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "My great aunt Jennifer ate a whole box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she'd been dead three days she looked better than you do now" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is one of those classics that I've been meaning to see. It follows a famous writer (Monty Woolley) and his secretary (Bette Davis) coming to a small town in Ohio so they can have dinner with the Stanley family for publicity. While there, the writer slips and breaks his hip, so he has to stay with them. While there, he makes unbelievable requests and turns their house upside down. When he starts feeling better, his secretary starts falling in love with someone in the town. To keep her working for him, he decides to pretend like he's still hurt so he can break them up. Monty Woolley is really great in this role, he originated it on Broadway, so it was a great decision to cast him again. I'm surprised how little they use Jimmy Durante in this movie, he's really funny in this role. As a whole, while not my favorite Screwball comedy, it's still a very funny and well-paced film.

11/25/23 "Hellzapoppin'" 1941
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "That's the quickest a taxi driver went where we told him to go" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
This feels like the perfect blend of 1940s Screwball comedy with absurdist jokes like Tim and Eric or Monty Python. This movie was adapted from the very popular musical of the same name, and this film uses this to its advantage. The film is about the actors Chic and Ollie trying to adapt their musical into a motion picture, so they listen to a young screenwriter's script to hopefully get their musical as a film. The music in this film was also surprisingly great and added to the comedy. For instance, the cheery opening number takes place in hell. As people are singing that cheery melody, people are getting stabbed and tortured. The film also uses a lot of camera gags. Shemp Howard (of the three stooges) is the projectionist and he isn't the best at it. Throughout the film, there are various technical difficulties that Chic and Ollie comment on. During one scene, Shemp accidentally turns on the wrong movie, so Chic and Ollie leave the mansion where the film takes place and end up in a Western film. This might be too zany for some people, but that's sort of the point. It feels like a live-action cartoon (specifically Duck Amuck). Very underrated.

6/22/22 "Holiday Inn" 1942
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"
This is such an odd movie since it's culturally important but at the same time not at all. This film stars Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire which seems like such a cool paring except they only do very little together. It feels like they got a Bing Crosby movie and smooshed it together with a Fred Astaire movie and called it a day. It's also odd because this film puts Fred Astaire as the villain which doesn't really work. Fred Astaire is trying to take Bing Crosby's fiancée, like during Valentine's day scene while Bing Crosby is performing his song that he wrote for his fiancée, Fred Astaire comes out of nowhere and dances with his fiancée TO BING CROSBY'S SONG FOR HER. Also, this movie is labeled as a Christmas movie despite being about multiple holidays. The "Holiday Inn" is a hotel that's only open on the holidays and there's a number for each holiday. On Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the whole cast decided to sing a song about him and how he freed the slaves... in blackface. It was a really awful sequence that made me cringe the entire time. It's interesting since this movie was an Irving Berlin musical, so many of these songs get repurposed for future projects. "Lazy" would be used in "There's No Business like Show Business", "Easter Parade" would be used in... "Easter Parade", and "Abraham" (the blackface number) would be used in the instrumental during "White Christmas". It's funny because this movie was the introduction of White Christmas along with Happy Holidays. I feel like White Christmas is just a better movie in which way but it's interesting because of all the similarities between the two. This movie walked so White Christmas could run.

4/13/24 "Kings Row" 1942
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I only know that you have to judge people by what you find them to be and not by what other people say they are." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It was such a shame this film ended so horribly, it started off really interesting. It's about four kids (two boys and two girls) growing up in a small town together. Everything was going great until one of the girl's father confines her and removes her from school. Years later, one of the boys who had a crush on her is all grown up (and played by Robert Cummings) and is looking to her father (Claude Rains) to help mentor him in the way of medicine. This leads to an encounter between the two former friends. He notices how reserved and odd she is now and wonders how she could've ended up like this. Meanwhile, his friend has grown up to be the ladykiller, played by Ronald Reagan (yes, that Ronald Reagan) marrying a girl whose father, get this, is also a doctor. It starts off really strong, but as it goes on it just gets weaker and weaker. The original book was a lot edgier and more cohesive, but the Hays code said "no way". It really shows because it ends on a strangely happy note despite the film not warranting it. As a whole, it's not that great and loses the theme of "small towns have big trouble too" pretty quickly.

3/20/23 "Woman Of The Year" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "No, they're all attending their grandmother's funeral.", do they say the title of the movie within the movie: yes sir!
This is a huge film for two reasons. One, it won the best original screenplay at the academy awards and I feel like it deserves it. This was a very well-written movie that portrays a pretty realistic (especially for the 40s) the problem with this film is the fact that was made in the forties. It didn't really age too well with the portrayal of Spencer Tracy's character. He gets mad that Katharine Hepburn has a job and can't spend time with him, but she's working for the UN and actively saving the world and we're supposed to be on his side. Speaking of Tracy and Hepburn, they work great in this film together, in fact, they had a great relationship together, although it was sort of a tragic one. Spencer Tracy fell in love with Katharine Hepburn, but couldn't pursue her, since he already got married and couldn't get a divorce due to his relationship. Overall, this was a pretty solid movie with some great writing and cinematography

6/9/23 "To Be or Not to Be" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "If you poke us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? And if you poison us, do we not die?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yeah!
I've heard a lot of good things about this movie. It's a part of the 1001 movies to see before you die and both IMDB and Letterboxd placed it in their top 250 films. I watched it and it was pretty good! The movie focuses on Polish actors who join the fight against WW2 by acting like high-up figures in the Nazi organization to try to escape Poland. Jack Benny does an incredible job as his character. This is my first time seeing him in a film and he's really funny. I love the running joke of his asking the Nazis if they've heard of him and all of them saying "no". Carole Lombard also does a great job, it was sad watching this film though, because this was her last film that she made while still alive. I feel like the film's comedy is really great, but the drama just doesn't really add up. This sort of feels like a lesser "Great Dictator", which balanced comedy and drama perfectly. I can see why this is praised, but it's not as good as some of the other films that came out around this time.

2/5/24 "Saboteur" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "There are good people and there are bad people, we both know which side we are on, and there are a lot more people on my side", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was the first American Hitchcock film, starting on a high note. It's about a factory worker (Robert Cummings) experiencing a fire at the manufacturing plant. While the fire is going on, he notices that his coworker, Fry, isn't doing anything to stop it. He believes that it's an act of sabotage to try to find Fry to confront him, but he finds no one with that name works at the factory. After he finds this out, he also finds out that the police are after him because they think he caused the fire. It's an engaging film with a lot of twists and turns that I wouldn't want to spoil. Robert Cummings does such a great job as the leading man and Hitchcock directs the heck out of this film. He had to show the American public how great he is, and I feel like this is a great introduction. The story can drag in a few places, but as a whole, it's a great step towards his nearly perfect 50s filmography.

5/13/24 "Yankee Doodle Dandy" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I've always heard about this iconic film and now I've finally seen it. It was alright! It focused on the life of George M. Cohan (played here by James Cagney), the songwriter of "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "She's a Grand Old Flag", and "Give My Regards to Broadway". I didn't expect anything out of James Cagney but he did a pretty good job as Cohen. It's a nice story to see him from his young vaudeville age and growing into a mature adult. As a kid, he was a part of a family act, but he was costing them roles because of his ego, so has some pretty nice character development. However, this is one of those unfortunate early 40s musicals with blackface. It was on screen for maybe 25 seconds, but it's still not okay. As a whole, I can see how this film inspired people during WW2 with patriotism, but it's an alright musical.

11/23/22 "Mrs. Miniver" 1942
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I know how comfortable it is to curl up with a nice, fat book full of big words and think you're going to solve all the problems in the universe. But you're not, you know. A bit of action is required every now and then."
This is yet another Oscar-winning movie, and another forgotten one. I feel like this just has barely any plot. The whole thing is about a flower contest in a local town where there's a flower named after our main character, Mrs. Miniver. The thing is, world war 2 is also going on and that's basically the whole movie. It's mainly just the difference between domestic Britain to the second world war, but they only really show the war once. This was incredibly boring and the pacing was all over the place. There were a few really good scenes, but only two. Definitely shouldn't have won, especially against some highly regarded films like "The Magnificent Ambersons", "Pride of the Yankees", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

1/2/25 "The Magnificent Ambersons" 1942
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Old times, not a bit. There aren't any old times. When times are gone, they're not old, they're dead. There aren't any times but new times." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was Orson Welles' follow-up to Citizen Kane, and unfortunately, I wasn't a fan. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of Citizen Kane either. This film's plot seems a little too cliche, following a rich family where the son must choose between the family's fortune and the woman he loves. The plot is pretty slow, but the camera shots are pretty well done. Orson Welles is a great director, but the stories aren't that great. There are weird sequences where it would just cut to two people gossiping behind a white background that are just there for exposition. I wished I liked this more, but I just wasn't a fan.

6/3/23 "The Palm Beach Story" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You will care for me, though. I grow on people. Like moss.", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No!
Another Preston Sturges movie, definitely better than Sullivan's Travels. This has some of the quickest writing I've seen, when one joke ends another starts almost immediately. It makes it hard to care about the story though when everything is just a joke. It follows a wife wanting a divorce from her husband, so she takes a train from New York to Palm Beach, Florida. The husband still wants her back, so he takes a plane to beat her. I feel like any film with Claudette Colbert will be a great comedy, she's so natural and such a funny actress. It's sad though because originally Carole Lombard was supposed to play the role, but she died in a plane crash right after "To Be Or Not To Be". One of my favorite gags was Claudette Colbert is writing a goodbye note to her husband, but she runs out of ink so she tries to write the rest of the note on Joel McCrea while he sleeps, but he wakes up, so she just screams and throws the note at him and runs away. This is a pretty enjoyable screwball comedy with the screwiest ending of them all

3/24/25 "The Major and the Minor" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If your people are Swedish, suppose you say something in Swedish." "I vant to be alone." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is Billy Wilder's American debut as a director, and it's a pretty odd movie to start with. The premise is so silly, but works well. We follow a scalp massager, Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers), who quits her job in New York after all the advances made by one of her clients. On the way back to her hometown, she finds that the price of the train ticket has recently increased, so she doesn't have enough money to go home. The only way she can get on the train is by pretending that she's 12 so she can get a child's ticket (for half the price). Things get complicated when she hides from the railway officers in the room of a Major (Ray Milland), who sees that she doesn't have parents and decides to take her under his wing. Things get even more complicated when she starts to fall in love with him, despite him not sharing the same interests (he thinks she's 12). The film could've easily been very offputting and creepy, but they fix this with Susan being the one with the crush and not the other way around. Ginger Rogers does a great job in the role, playing the child character really well and Milland is really charming as the major. This film seems almost like a prototype version of Some Like It Hot with the train setting and the disguising, but Billy Wilder would only get better with his scripts and directing.

2/7/24 "For Me And My Gal" 1942
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You'll never be big time because you're small time in your heart." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is a very important stepping stone for movie musicals, but unfortunately, that's it. This marked a turning point in Judy Garland's career because it was her first role playing a grown-up. Before this film she was type-cast as a young girl or teenager, so this was a big shift. Judy Garland was at a musical "Pal Joey", when she found a young actor named Gene Kelly who she put in this film based on his incredible dancing. This started the career of Gene Kelly, who does a pretty decent job in this film for his debut. These two important events changed the movie musical, but the film itself is only alright. It's about two vaudeville performers (Garland and Kelly) falling in love and fighting to make the big time. This all changes when WW1 comes along and Gene Kelly gets drafted. This film quickly becomes semi-propaganda with how the characters talk and act. This film is aggressively pro-war and made clearly for soldiers. It's not subtle whatsoever. The dances are great and some of the shots are interesting (thanks to Busby Berkeley) but the songs are forgettable and the plot loses itself quickly

5/17/23 "Now, Voyager" 1942
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I thought you came up here to have a nervous breakdown." "Well, I've decided not to have one... if it's all the same to you." Did they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
This film aged really well. It's all about Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis), a young girl in a very toxic relationship with her clinging mother, finally getting the help she needs from Dr. Jaquith (Claude Rains) and getting three months away. When he comes back, she's an entirely different woman. It's sad seeing how everyone in her life wants to control her, all except Jerry Durance (Paul Henried), a man she falls in love with on the cruise who's unfortunately already married. I don't want to spoil a lot, but this film handles trauma in such a natural way and it's so satisfying seeing her become more and more confident, much to the dismay of her family. There's a reason it's 23 on AFI's top 100 Passions

5/29/24 "Road To Morocco" 1942
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You had to open your big mouth and ruin the only good scene I got in the picture. I might have won the Academy Award!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I've always heard of the "Road To..." movies, but I've never seen one before. I think I might watch some more of these, because of how fun this film is. My favorite part of this movie has to be the relationship between the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope characters. They both get off a shipwreck after being stowaways to try to return home, but they end up in Morocco. It's clear that they're friends, but they're willing to screw each other over at any point in time. For instance, in the first 10 minutes of the film, Bing Crosby sells Bob Hope to become a slave just so he can pay for food. This ultimately backfires, because Bob Hope gets taken to the palace to get engaged with the beautiful princess (Dorothy Lamour). This film has a lot of fun 4th wall breaks, and the title track is really catchy and funny. I can understand why this is of the AFI 100 best comedy movies.

12/10/25 "You Were Never Lovelier" 1942
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "No, you do the dancing, I'll do the thinking." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I feel like the Astaire/Hayworth pairing just doesn't really work too well. The film feels like an attempt to give Astaire a new partner after the iconic Rogers and Astaire pairing, but this film feels clumsy at best. Ginger Rogers was a perfect dancing partner, being at the same level as Astaire, while here it feels like Hayworth was just placed into the dancing role. Plus, Rogers is perfect at the screwball lead type role, where Hayworth is a little more relaxed. This film has a score by Jerome Kern (who also wrote for "Swing Time"), but none of the songs in this movie feel very memorable. There were a few okay jokes, but as a whole, this felt like a misfire.

9/28/22 "Cat People" 1942

4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "She never lied"
The characters just aren't interesting and there's no horror in this film. This is one of the first low-budget horror films though, so I respect it for that and that's it. Don't have a lot to say, just not that great. It's just confusing and ultimately a waste of time

10/23/25 "Random Harvest" 1942
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Oh Smithy, You're ruining my makeup." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I went into this film expecting a mid-melodrama, but it turned out to be a really engaging film. We follow a man (Ronald Colman) who gets amnesia after WW1 and falls in love with a music hall star (Greer Garson) after he escapes from an asylum. The two of them form a really special bond as she tries to help him get on his feet again. Where the film gets interesting, however, is when a car hits him out of nowhere. He starts to remember his life during the war and before that, but forgets all about the girl. The two main actors give the film their all, but Greer Garson really goes all in on the role. She's really convincing in this part and really makes an impression. As a whole, this romance film has an interesting plot that keeps you engaged.

2/8/24 "Shadow of a Doubt" 1943
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You think you know something, don't you? You think you're the clever little girl who knows something. There's so much you don't know, so much." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No This is definitely now in my top 5 Hitchcock films. It has such an aura of dread to it that's there the whole film. It's about a young girl named Charlotte "Charlie" who lives a quiet, boring life in Santa Rosa, California. Luckily, one day her charismatic uncle Charlie comes to town to visit her family, but soon she finds out that he's not the man she thinks he is. This film really builds up the mystery and suspense around Uncle Charlie and Hitchcock does a great job of turning Uncle Charlie from a character you want to see more of to a truly chilling figure. I would highly suggest any Hitchcock fan to check this out.

9/29/24 "The Ox-Bow Incident" 1943
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "What is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This felt a lot like "12 Angry Cowboys". It follows a town becoming a violent mob after finding out that one of their ranchers has been murdered. Their sheriff is out of town, so the men might leave the country by that time. They find the three men, but they plead that they're innocent, so they have a trial of their own to decide if the men deserve to live or die. The most interesting part of the film was the middle where we see the men debate with each other on what's right or wrong. While Henry Fonda is the main character, Dana Andrews gives the best performance of the movie. His somber tone really adds to the drama of the film and makes this film as tragic as it is. The beginning was a little bit slow, but Henry Fonda's character makes it better. There's a weird subplot with a girlfriend that goes nowhere. Overall, while not perfect, still has a great plot and a really memorable finale.

7/7/25 "Cabin In The Sky" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Sometimes when you fight the Devil you've got to jab him with his own pitchfork!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was a pretty high-concept musical for the 1940s. We follow a gambler named "Little Joe" (Eddie Anderson) who dies and goes to purgatory. While he's originally supposed to go to hell, his wife, Petunia (Ethel Waters), prays that the lord takes his soul, so instead they send him back to earth for 6 months in order to prove that he should go to heaven. While back on Earth, he's forced to forget everything that's happened to him as an angel and a devil fight over his soul. The effects in this film are really well done, and so are the musical numbers. Ethel Waters and Lena Horne do such an incredible job with the numbers they sing, but unfortunately, Anderson doesn't quite make it. There are some notes he clearly can't hit, but they just keep them in the movie. The original Broadway musical had Dooley Wilson as little Joe, who I think would've done better. All they had to do was switch Wilson's role in Stormy Weather (he doesn't sing at all) with Anderson's in this movie, and it would've been perfect. I wasn't as big of a fan of the ending, but as a whole, this was a really inventive musical, as well as a great debut for Vincent Minnelli.

8/22/24 "I Walked With A Zombie" 1943
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "She makes a beautiful zombie doesn't she?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
I'm getting a head start on my 31 days of horror, since in years past I've always come close to not finishing the movies I have selected, so I'm starting now! This wasn't exactly the best one to start with. It's shot pretty well, but the story was a little dull and some aspects didn't exactly age too well. It follows a nurse Betsey Connell (Frances Dee) moving to a plantation to help a man named Paul Holland (Tom Conway), whose wife is going through an odd illness. While there, Betsey falls for Paul and discovers a strange voodoo that takes place on the island. The use of lightning and the overall atmosphere make this movie better than it's plot and characters do.

8/7/25 "Presenting Lily Mars" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I don't feel bad, I just feel mad. Hopping mad!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Lily Mars might be one of my favorite Judy Garland characters. She's a determined and headstrong woman who wants to make it in the acting industry, so she spends her days trying to convince the local theater producer, John Thornway (Van Heflin), but he's adamant that she's not ready. While the score of this can be a bit forgettable, the characters really make this film shine. I love the dynamic between Lily and the older woman in the theater, and how they bond through acting.

7/26/24 "The More The Merrier" 1943
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You've been shushing me for 22 months now. You've shushed your last shush!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Though this has some great commentary, it just lacks a lot of great jokes. This follows a mid-WW2 Washington D.C. as a major housing crisis strikes. Connie Milligan (Jean Arthur) decides to lend her apartment out to retiree Benjamin Dingle (Charles Coburn) and soldier Joe Carter (Joel McCrea). They aren't the best houseguests, however, and it starts to drive her crazy. This starts to change when Connie starts falling in love with Joe over her fiancee Charles Pendergast (Richard Gaines). I liked what they had to say about how horrible the living situation was during the war, but I just didn't really gel with the humor.

1/2/25 "Du Barry Was a Lady" 1943
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "That's OK, he's snapping back to abnormal now." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was hard to rank because there are some things I really like and some things that really bother me about this film. This film has a really goated cast with Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, Zero Mostel, and Virginia O'Brien (who's a very underrated actress of the era). For those who don't know who she is, she's a singer who has an interesting performing style, and she would be very deadpan while singing. It's really funny to watch how low-energy her numbers are, she barely moves while she hits every note perfectly. This brings me to my least favorite part about the film, someone who was the exact opposite, the leading man. I've always heard of Red Skelton, but I've never seen him in a movie before, watching him here, he's not my type of humor. When he's just delivering dialogue, he's pretty alright, but the music numbers are excruciating. He tries so hard to be funny with his wacky faces, that it ruins the numbers. His character is also the epitome of the "nice guy" where he's so clearly malicious throughout the film. We follow a hat check boy (Skelton) who wins a ton of money, so he uses it to buy the love of a showgirl (Ball) who is in love with the dancer (Kelly). Skelton decides to drug the dancers so he won't go after her, but he accidentally drugs himself, causing him to hallucinate being King Louis the 15th. Very weird plot. It has some good songs though, ending with Cole Porter's classic "Friendship" (which is sung pretty poorly). It's a very odd musical that has some charm, but doesn't entirely hold up.

6/26/25 "The Life and Death Of Colonel Blimp" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "My English is not very much but my friendship for you is very much." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
It's funny how this film aged better than its source material. The film's title is a reference to a 30s British comic, but that was completely lost on me while watching, so I was waiting for a Colonel Blimp the whole time, but the film is really well-made. It's done by Powell and Pressburger, and they bring their usual incredible cinematography and color. The film cuts between a man named General Candy during three different wars, the Boer War, WW1, and WW2. We see how not only the wars affected him, but also the three women in his life. It's a really interesting premise, but the film's pacing can be a little off with it's nearly three-hour runtime. As a whole, I can see how this film often gets praised.

7/2/25 "Stormy Weather" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I was born ballin', and I'm gonna ball the rest of my life." Do they say the title of the movie within: Yes
This might be up there as one of the most underrated musicals of the golden age. This film wasn't that popular at the time due to its mainly black cast, but this film has one of the most talented casts with Lena Horne, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, The Nicholas Brothers, Dooley Wilson, and Mr. Bojangles himself. Bill Robinson is good in the movie, but he's not the best actor, especially compared to everyone else. This film is really funny and has a lot of great numbers. Sometimes it feels like too many musical numbers, but all of them are really great. I would highly recommend musical fans check this film out.

3/29/24 "Heaven Can Wait" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Don't misunderstand me. I love Kansas. It's just that I don't feel like living there. Besides that, I didn't want to be an old maid. Not in Kansas!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I'm referring to Heaven Can Wait 1943, not Heaven Can Wait 1978 which doesn't share the plot with Heaven Can Wait 1943 but rather has the plot of Here Comes Mr. Jordan 1941 (oh no, I've gone cross-eyed). This is about Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche), who recently died and is trying to persuade the devil that he belongs in hell because he is a bad person. The film goes over his life and how he hasn't been faithful to his wife and was a spoiled playboy. The film has really funny writing and it's shot beautifully. I feel like it could've been funnier, but it's still a great premise.

8/29/24 "The 7th Victim" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "My dear, we were intimate. The times we used to have together! I bet she never told you about that - you're too young." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This film was very ahead of its time. A woman loses her sister and has to track her down. On her journey, she discovers a hidden satanic cult in New York's Greenwich Village. It's crazy to think that they were allowed to make a film about the cult, especially about a satanic cult. This film has a very foreboding energy to it and really strives in a "less is more" sort of way.

1/21/25 "Princess O'Rourke" 1943
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Boy, are you lucky I was raised right. Or was I? Yeah, I guess I was." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I really wasn't expecting much from this film, because it's basically been forgotten. This won the Best Original Screenplay in 1943, but nobody really talks about this film, which is a shame, because I thought it was pretty good! We follow Princess Maria (Olivia de Havilland), who's being forced into marriage. On the plane ride over, she takes too many sleeping pills, making her drowsy. The pilot, Eddie O'Rouke (Robert Cummings), takes care of her while when she can't wake up. The kicker is, he doesn't know that she's a princess. The film has some really clever writing and great performances by the leading two. There were some aspects that haven't aged particularly well about this film, but as a whole, it was a pretty charming comedy that's unfairly forgotten.

7/8/25 "Girl Crazy" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I mean you just don't come up to a girl and say 'The humidity is very high for this time of year, will you marry me?'" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Out of all the Garland/Rooney musicals, this is probably the best one. This is most likely due to the addition of Gershwin's songs from the original Broadway "Girl Crazy" (which this movie changes some of the plot). We follow a bratty ladies man, Danny Churchill (Mickey Rooney), whose father is very rich. His father is tired of his antics, so he sends him out west to an all-male college to set him straight. While on his way there, he meets Ginger Gray (Judy Garland), the granddaughter of the dean of the university. It still has a "we've got to do a show to save the (insert building in need of saving)" plot, but it does it in a more clever way with some more character added. A lot of people give Mickey Rooney flack on his performance, and it's not the best, but he's supposed to be that annoying and uppity, that's where his character goes. Judy Garland, however, clearly steals the show in this film. It's nice that they finally portray her as a beautiful woman and not the "ugly duckling" they were portraying her as in years prior. The soundtrack is amazing, with highlights like "Bidin' My Time" and "But Not For Me" sung perfectly by Garland. Nothing compares, however, to Busby Berkeley's insane rendition of "I Got Rhythm". It was so big and over the top that they fired him from the movie because it went over budget, but the sequence is the clear highlight.

11/20/23 "The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote " I practice the law. I'm not only willing but anxious, to sue anyone, anytime, for anything." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Yet another Preston Sturges film and this is one of his better. Eddie Bracken is in this and he's wonderful as always. He's such an underrated comedic actor that needs more recognition. It's about a small-town girl taking her awkward boyfriend's car to a going away party with a ton of army boys. She wakes up the next morning married, but she has no idea who she's married to. The dialogue is very funny and the plot has that classic screwball set up.

8/12/25 "Madame Curie" 1943
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Leave, then, the dreams of yesterday. Youth, take the torch of knowledge and build the palace of the future." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Before "oscar-bait" was a term, I feel like this was the textbook example of it. This film brought back the trio of the previous year's winner of Best Picture, Ms. Miniver. This time, the film recounts the life of Marie Curie, but leaves out a very iconic aspect of her. She infamously died by her radiation poisoning, which this film neglects. This film feels like a wikipedia skim more than it's an entertaining film.

8/19/25 "The Song Of Bernadette" 1943
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I'm stupid, Sister. I have a poor head for study." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This film is a slow burn, but I liked it. We follow a young French girl (Jennifer Jones) who has visions of a beautiful woman near a heap of trash, and everyone loses their mind over it. Religious groups think it's the Mother Mary, and they're split on whether they believe her or not. The government tries to suppress her and call her crazy, while religious groups start forming to make her a new prophet. The tragedy of this film comes from the main character. Jones does a great job of showing the desperation and how everyone's more focused on the event than her, and she just gets tossed to the wayside. Overall, I can totally see why she won an oscar for this role, the film is really well done.

2/11/24 "Lifeboat" 1944
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Dying together's even more personal than living together." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is such a disappointing Hitchcock film. I expected a lot more from this film because it really has an interesting premise. It's about a group of lifeboat passengers in the 40s after their boat is destroyed deciding whether or not they should kill a passenger on board because he's a German Nazi. It sounds like a very interesting plot that can have great themes and ideas but this never feels like it follows through with the amazing premise. The characters are all alright, but again they don't seem that fleshed out. As a whole, it feels like an odd film for Hitchcock to direct, it just doesn't seem like a film he would make.

5/1/23 "The Uninvited" 1944
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Oh, I'm not afraid!... *Screams*" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a movie that I had been trying to see for such a long time. My library didn't have it, no streaming services had it, and it wasn't old enough to be on Youtube (public domain). So, I went to a different library and they had it! I was very excited to see this film finally! Too bad it was bad. This is a SPOOKY ghost story, and by spooky I mean slow and boring. The film wants to be a Hitchcock film so badly, the tagline of the film on Letterboxd is literally "from the most popular mystery romance since 'Rebecca'". The thing is the suspense is barely there. It's like the Hitchcock heartbeat pacing-wise, but instead of reaching a high point, it reaches a middle point. The payoff is never worth it, and the ending is laughably bad. (Spoiler Alert) they get rid of the ghost by laughing. Laughing. That's how they get rid of the main threat. Besides admittedly great ghost effects, this film is a complete waste of time

8/14/22 "Cover Girl" 1944
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Ain't they repulsive?"
This was kind of a forgettable musical. I feel like in a week I'll forget most of this musical. There were some memorable parts, like how the three main characters go to the same bar every Friday and order Oysters. Not to eat them, but to see if they'll have a pearl in them. I also liked the number where Gene Kelly dances with his reflection. Phil Silvers was a stand-out in this movie, and he even has a cursed number where he sings about how food shortages during WW2 (which was going on at the time) are okay because there are more women around (didn't age well). This was a pretty alright movie musical, just pretty predictable at times. It's funny how Gene Kelly wouldn't hit his stride until the next films Anchors Aweigh which leads to "On the Town", "Take Me Out to The Ball Game", "American in Paris", and "Singin in The Rain"

6/21/22 "Going My Way" 1944
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "A golf course is nothing but a poolroom moved outdoors.."
I didn't think that I would like this film as much as I did. This was always ranked very low when it came to Oscar Winning movies (this won by the way) but I feel like it's because of how different this feels from many of the Oscar-winning movies from the time. Not only is this a comedy, but it's also a musical which were two things that the Oscars hated in the 40s. It's a really sweet movie with some nice music and great characters. I like Bing Crosby's character Father O'Malley because he's just trying his hardest but always seems to come up a little short, he tries to join a church but he has a very different style to his preaching. Instead of being judgmental he "goes his own way" and uses positive tactics to solve problems. An example of this is taking the troublesome boys outside of the church and instead of punishing them for their work in the gang, he has them make a choir to get them off of the street. This probably shouldn't have won the Oscar (it should've gone to "Double Indemnity") but I'm glad I watched this

5/19/23 "Gaslight" 1944
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "The gas comes in pipes, ma'am. And I expect they get more gas in the pipes at some times than they do at others." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Oh Yeah
I'm going, to be honest, I expected a lot more out of this film. For being the film that created gaslighting, I expect more gaslighting. It feels like this film was trying so hard to be a Hitchcock film, but it just doesn't really have a lot of tension. Ingrid Bergman does a great job in her role and so do the other actors. It's weird seeing Angela Lansbury so young, this being her first film role. I can see how this was huge in the day, so huge they burned all copies of the previous adaptation of Gaslight so no one would get confused. They basically gaslight the public into thinking that this was the original film, which is really funny to me

7/16/22 "Double Indemnity" 1944
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I wonder if you wonder"
I was really sad watching this because it was the first Billy Wilder movie that I thought was just okay. I loved Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and Sunset Boulevard so I was excited to see this one. You know you've made it as a director/screenwriter when your audience is sad that they liked a movie. The plot feels very Hitchcockian with an insurance man secretly giving a man accident insurance so his wife can kill him for money and end up with him. I feel like it was executed pretty well but it just felt like it was paced weirdly. Something I love about Billy Wilder movies is how well they handle pacing and dialogue, while this one seems to drag at some points and speed up at other points. I also found that Barbara Stanwyck wasn't really giving a lot when it came to this performance. I felt like she was too much like the noir blonde to really stand out from the role. I was kind of expecting a Gloria Swanson level of acting or an Anne Baxter. I love how most of the dialogue is them talking about California locations like "We went to the In N Out in Redondo Beach, CA, on 3801 Inglewood Ave, not the one on Crenshaw because it was too far" Overall, it was a pretty neat movie that followed the genre pretty well but didn't really add anything to it.

1/21/25 "Marie-Louise" 1944
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Pity." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I don't really have too much to say about this film. It's a pretty forgotten Oscar winner (best original screenplay), and watching it, I wasn't really that big of a fan of the writing. I thought the cinematography was great, but not really the writing itself. We follow a young girl during WW2 when her country was taken over. Luckily, she gets brought to Switzerland to live with a rich family. I wasn't as big of a fan of this one. I sort of understand why this was forgotten.

12/17/24 "Wilson" 1944
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "The President has nothing further to communicate. Good day, sir." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I have no idea how this won best original screenplay. This seems more like a school project than an actual film. The film starts with the text saying how this story is "about a man, it's about America, it's about the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson", which is such a clunky way to start the film. The rest of the film is just stating the same point over and over again, which is "Wasn't Wilson great?!". Which, he was, but the problem is that shouldn't be what a biopic is. We need the bad with the good. Wilson seemed like an indestructible force of nature more than a man, which isn't realistic. I can't believe this won in the same year Preston Sturges was in the running for "Hail the Conquering Hero" and "The Miracle of Morgan Creek".

11/6/23 "Hail The Conquering Hero" 1944
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Let's get down to business. The trouble with our party is everybody talks too long all the time." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
This is such a classic story but it is done in a very refreshing way. This movie was written by Preston Sturges and it's pretty obvious because it has his exact writing. The film is about Woodrow Layfette (Eddie Bracken), the son of a famous marine, who has to come home from war after being discharged because he had hay fever. He writes fake letters to his mom to sound like he's a great war hero like his dad. He has to go home, but before he does he tells his troubles to six soldiers after buying them drinks. The soldiers decide to go along with his lie and give him one of their uniforms. So Woodrow returns to his hometown to greet his mother, only to find that the whole town is waiting. His mother told the whole town about what a great hero he is and they all honor his bravery in war. This film is hilarious because of how quickly the lie spreads and gets bigger and bigger. Eddie Bracken is such an incredible actor. This is my first film with him in it and he really steals the show. He has such an honesty about him and how you can tell he just wants to do the right thing. This is the best Preston Sturges film by a mile. If you want to start to watch some of Sturges' work, I'd start here

4/3/23 "Arsenic and Old Lace" 1944
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Look I probably should have told you this before but you see... well... insanity runs in my family... It practically gallops.", do they say the title of the movie within the movie: no
Easily one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. This film is bonkers in the best way. It goes so many different directions and is all over the place but in such a controlled matter. It's hard to explain, but this film is perfectly controlled. I don't want to give too much away, since watching it almost blind is crazy fun. I'll say the bare minimum. Cary Grant gets married and runs to his aunt's house to say a final goodbye, the only problem is he finds a dead body in the house, leading to everything being turned on its head. Cary Grant gives the best performance of his career in this film. Most of the funniest moments in this film are his facial expressions and how he goes from being very confident to just being a mess (much like in Bringing Up Baby). Every other actor does an amazing job as well. Peter Lorre, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, and several other amazing actors. One problem though is how they missed an opportunity to bring in Boris Karloff to reprise his role. This film is directed by Frank Capra, which is another great addition to the film, he knows exactly how a scene should look and be paced.

12/9/23 "Laura" 1944
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I don't know a lot about anything, but I know a little about practically everything." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's crazy how well this film held up. This is a classic Noir film about a detective learning about the recent murder of a woman named Laura. As the investigation goes on, the detective finds himself becoming more and more obsessed with Laura and starts falling in love with her. This film's writing is filled with a lot of wit and amazing characters. Vincent Price does an incredible job in this film, it's weird seeing him acting so normal. I'm so used to very campy/over-the-top Vincent Price. I would highly suggest this film to people, it's filled with twists and turns that'll leave you shocked.

12/31/22 "To Have and Have Not" 1944
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow."
I've got to say, this wasn't as good as I thought it would've been. This is the first appearance of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together (after this movie they would start dating and would eventually get married and spend the rest of Bogart's life). I feel like this is a lot like Casablanca but without the tight screenplay and amazing characters. Even though this is only an hour and forty minutes, it still feels like there's barely any story. I understand why this is an iconic film with the breakout duo, but it wasn't that amazing in my opinion

1/6/26 "Ivan The Terrible Part 1" 1944
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "The knife will slice through those who raise the hand over Moscow." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Sort of
This is the last project of the famed director, Sergei Eisenstein, but unfortunately, this wouldn't come into full fruition. This was meant to be a trilogy funded by Stalin. After this first part, the USSR shelved the second and refused to make the third one due to the experimental nature of this film. While the film could drag a fair bit, the filmmaking and lighting really make this film engaging. There are a lot of daring shots in this film that we won't really see again.

4/13/23 "Meet Me In St. Louis" 1944
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Personally, I think I have too much bloom. Maybe that's the trouble with me." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Another iconic Judy Garland performance. This leans more on the humor and songs than the actual story, but the songs are great and it's surprisingly funny. I loved all the characters, but shout out to the dad character, Tootie, and Katie. Those three were the best, especially how dark Tootie is for a 3 year. The story doesn't have the highest stakes, but it gets the job done, and it leads to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" which is one of the most bittersweet performances. Seriously, if you haven't checked it out, watch this movie for Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" alone

8/1/25 "Henry V" 1944
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Tell the Dauphin his jest will savor but of shallow wit, when thousands weep more than did laugh at it." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I feel like the presentation of this film is better than the story itself. The film is based on the Shakespearean play, so it starts as a performance in the Globe Theater in the 1600s. As the play goes on, however, it becomes more and more realistic and starts losing its theatrical look. The film really dazzles in Technicolor, but I wasn't as big a fan of the story. We follow Henry V (played by the director and acting legend Laurence Olivier) as he tries to conquer France during the Hundred Years' War. As a whole, I feel like the spectacle of the film is better than the film itself.

8/6/24 "National Velvet" 1944
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "That'll be a dispute to the end of time, Mr. Brown: whether it's better to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty alright sports movie. The sport in question? Horseracing. We follow a young girl named Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor) who loves horses. A big change happens in her small town in Sussex, she becomes the owner of a difficult horse. Luckily, a former jockey Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney) comes to town and helps her train the horse. The technicolor was shot beautifully and the characters were well-written, it was just too much of a cookie-cutter story. It was also odd because they say that they're in England, but everyone has a drastically different accent. It was an alright film, that certainly lives up to the genre it's portraying.

1/5/24 "Murder, My Sweet" 1944
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "She was a gal who'd take a drink, if she had to knock you down to get the bottle." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Is it an unpopular opinion to say that this is the best Phillip Marlowe story? Murder, My Sweet is such an interesting noir story because of the amazing effects and great portrayal by Dick Powell. The effects in this film are really well done. Marlowe gets drugged in the film, so we see an incredible dream sequence where he's running through doors that lead to nowhere and sees reflections of his problems. Dick Powell is such an underrated actor. He can really do it all from Musicals to Screwball Comedy to Noir. He adds a lot of humanity to the Marlowe character. Overall, this is a really great noir film that's a classic for a reason.

8/22/24 "The Body Snatcher" 1945
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You can't get rid of me" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I almost didn't include this in my 31 days of horror, but man am I glad I did. This is pure gothic horror that's done really well. It starts with the casting of Boris Karloff who does an incredible job portraying the sinister John Gray. This was originally a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, the same author as Treasure Island and Jekyll and Hyde, this film picks up a lot of the same energy as the latter. We follow a doctor who has to make side deals with a cabby named John Gray, who, by night, robs graves. John gives the bodies to the doctor for medical experiments. The problem comes when the doctor's young assistant recognizes one of the bodies as a beautiful street singer who was still alive before Gray left for the cemetery, meaning he's committed murder. It's a really well-paced story that gets heightened with its 1800s British setting. I would consider this movie vastly underrated.

10/3/25 "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" 1945
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I like persons better than principles and persons with no principles better than anything at all." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Seeing this classic story on the screen is so funny to me, because I feel like they don't really touch upon the most interesting aspect. The classic story of the man who sells his soul for the painting made of him to grow old instead of him. It's interesting because in this black and white movie, there are some shots where they show the painting, and it's in color. I also thought that the later iterations of the painting were so surreal and odd. As a whole, this was mainly a vibes horror movie.

5/26/25 "Children Of Paradise" 1945
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I'm dying of silence, like others die of hunger and thirst." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I don't really see the hype for this film. This often gets listed as one of the best movies of all time, but I personally see it as the emperor's clothing. We follow a Mime who's in love with an actress, but she already has three other men in love with her. We see how this affects the mime, who's talents gets undercut any time it can. While it has an interesting story, I feel like this film gets too big for its own good. It has to have these lavish sets and long run time and seem to distract more than it adds.

6/28/25 "The Clock" 1945
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I thought I'd lost you. I didn't know where to look." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I feel like this film gives heavy indie movie vibes. We follow a soldier who has only 48 hours in New York, but he accidentally falls in love during that time. This film lives and dies on the chemistry between the two main characters, and luckily, they are consistently great together. Judy Garland and Robert Walker are perfect together; they really make this film as memorable as it is. Although the story could be a little bland, the two really bring life to it. I would've loved to see some more dramatic Judy Garland performances.

2/15/24 "Anchors Aweigh" 1945
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I fall in love too easily, I fall in love too fast." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This might be the most unhinged Gene Kelly performance I've seen. I don't know why he was so animated and kooky in this film, but he might give my favorite comic performance of his in this movie. We follow two men from the Navy getting four days of vacation before their next mission. Joseph Brady (Gene Kelly) goes to look for his date, Lola, so he can see her that weekend while Clarence Doolittle (Frank Sinatra) follows Joseph around to get some trips on his romance. These two play off of each other really well and are, as a whole, really funny. The songs in the movie are pretty good (especially "I Fall In Love Too Easily), but I have to commend the directing by George Sidney. There are some really inventive shots and sequences, including the iconic Jerry The Mouse dance scene. It's a tussle on whether this film is better than On The Town, but this is a pretty classic MGM musical. The one thing holding it back from being great is the slow pace and long runtime for what little plot there is.

7/23/25 "Christmas In Connecticut" 1945
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Everything is hunky-dunky!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was a really fun screwball comedy that took a while to get going, but once it did, it was great. We follow a war hero as he recovers in the hospital. While there, he starts to grow a liking for a columnist he reads about named Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck). Lane is a traditional chef who lives on a farm with her husband and child in Connecticut. The doctors at the hospital agree with her publisher that it would be good to have the war hero over for Christmas. The problem is, Lane actually was lying the whole time. She's actually unmarried and doesn't know how to cook for the life of her, but if the war hero finds out, she could lose her job. Stanwyck is really what keeps this movie alive. She really brings that screwball energy to the role.

5/3/25 "Ziegfeld Follies" 1945
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I can dream, can't I?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was quite the odd duck of a movie. This was an attempt to bring back the Ziegfeld Follies with the stars of MGM. The film opens with William Powell, reprising his role as Ziegfeld, in heaven talking about how much he misses his Follies. They had this stop-motion introduction, which was cool, until they whipped out the Eddie Cantor doll in full blackface. Then, after the opening, the film follows various segments with various acts. There's singing, dancing, short sketches, swimming, etc. With all these various acts, the quality of each varies. I really enjoyed most of the sketches, for instance, the ones with Keenan Wynn, Victor Moore, and Fanny Brice were all really funny, but then Red Skelton had to ruin it doing his over-the-top schtick. The dance numbers were alright, but they got a little forgettable as the film went on (except for the yellowface number with Fred Astaire, which didn't age well). The pinnacle of this movie, though, was the on-screen duo of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. It really is a shame the two never starred in any more films together, they really have great chemistry. As a whole, this can be really fun or a disjointed mess, depending on how good the current act is.

4/1/23 "Mildred Pierce" 1945
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I don't like women anymore."
Everyone is an awful person (except Mildred Pierce) in this movie and it's great. Mildred Pierce is such an interesting murder mystery with such great acting. Mildred's daughter is one of the most unlikable characters I have seen. The thing is, this is supposed to be a very unlikable character, so they did a wonderful job. This is supposed to be seen as a feminist film, but many of the things in this movie aren't very feminist. It was a huge step for the time, but nowadays it seems a little creepy (IE the men making creepy comments and it getting laughed off). It's one of those movies where you're invested from the first scene. I highly suggest this one.

12/1/24 "The Seventh Veil" 1945
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Five minutes under narcosis and down comes the seventh veil. Then we can see what is actually going on behind it. Then we can really help." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Honestly, this wasn't horrible, but it wasn't memorable either. The ending of the movie really sucked, I felt like it diminished the whole film. We follow a concert pianist as she tries to regain her memory after getting amnesia. The performances are alright, and James Mason never lets me down, however, this won for best original screenplay, so that's what I'm going to be focusing on. I thought the story was a little flat at times, though it had a really interesting premise. The dialogue was serviceable, not Oscar-winning by any means, though. Overall, not the worst, but far from the best.

1/9/25 "Spellbound" 1945
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Good night and happy dreams, which we'll analyze at breakfast." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I would say this is one of Hitchcock's better films. It's so interesting, because it focuses on the subconscious more than a crime. We follow a psychologist, Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), who meets a new psychologist on the job, Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck). It's revealed however, that he is actually an imposter and he confesses to killing the real Dr. Edwardes, but can't recall how or when. Dr. Peterson doesn't believe him, so she stays with him to try to use psychology to get to the bottom of this situation. There are many dream sequences that are extremely well done, thanks to the collaboration between Hitchcock and Salvador Dali. You can see the clear influence of Dali when making these surreal images. This film is very thrilling as you wonder if Gregory Peck did the crime. I would highly suggest this film for any Hitchcock fans out there.

12/15/25 "Brief Encounter" 1945
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Nothing lasts really. Neither happiness nor despair. Not even life lasts very long." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is such a beautifully done movie. I can understand why so many people list it as one of the best movies. While I don't think it's the best, I can definitely appreciate it. We follow a brief encounter between a wife and a doctor. These two instantly have amazing chemistry as we see their affection towards each other grow over time. This film uses voice-over in a very smart way and has some amazing shots throughout. I would say this is a must-see if you're a cinephile

7/1/25 "Detour" 1945
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "That's life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
My goodness, this was well shot. This might be one of the most stylized noir films from the era. This small, B-movie really gave us the most defining images in noir. The movie starts with Al Roberts (Tom Neal) in a diner, who's clearly troubled, as he starts to tell his story, the camera moves forward as the lights around him turn off. Suddenly, a sharp light lines his face and illuminates only his eyes. It's such a perfect way to start the film. The film has a thrilling plot where Roberts goes from New York to California to see his girlfriend, but along the way, while hitchhiking, the driver of the car dies in a storm. Roberts knows that he'll be blamed for his murder, so he assumes the identity of the dead driver. The film has really high stakes and great performances. As a whole, this is one of my favorite Noir films.

6/29/25 "I Know Where I'm Going!" 1945
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Not poor, they just haven't got money." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is probably my least favorite Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film. This film is one of their lesser plots with it seeming very cliche. It has the plot of a hallmark movie. It also doesn't help that one of their only black and white films. While it's still shot well, and the characters are charming enough, but they would go on to do better things.

6/25/25 "Yolanda and The Thief" 1945
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I can't quite make out what his angle is. But, he's the most dangerous of all. He's got an honest face." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty rough watch. This is a Fred Astaire musical that just feels like it's going by the numbers. There isn't a single memorable song in the movie. While the dream sequence was a nice addition visually, story-wise it just seemed to waste time. Vincent Minnelli would make a more cohesive one in "An American In Paris" just six years later and win an Academy Award for it. I just couldn't really get behind this one. The chemistry was just not there.

7/28/22 "The Lost Weekend" 1945
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Out there in that great big concrete jungle, I wonder how many others there are like me? Poor bedeviled guys on fire with thirst. Such comical figures, to the rest of the world, as they stagger blindly towards another binge, another bender, another spree."
Incredible, I wouldn't expect anything less from Billy Wilder. Billy Wilder has a talent for writing tragic characters, that's why I believe his films are so critically acclaimed. This film is no different. This film is all about addiction and what it can do to a person. Don Birnam is willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get his next fix and we can see how he gets increasingly desperate. This movie has some really artistic shots that set it apart from other films. One sequence I love is the Opera sequence where the camera is focused on the action of the singers at first, but as the opera goes on the camera shifts towards following where the alcohol is going on stage. This is to show how Don Birnam is more focused on his lust for the alcohol than the actual play to the point where at the end we don't see who's singing since he's more focused on the champagne. After that the singers turn into his trenchcoat and zooms into his pocket to show that he has some rye in there, after remembering this he leaves the opera to get to the coat check in order to get a hit. There's one transition that's really subtle but really gets the job done. When he's at a bar and it pans down to the counter and it slowly cuts to seeing more rings on the table showing how he's had several drinks. This was one of the first films to ever portray alcohol this way since this was the era of noir and selling alcohol as something cool. This won the Oscar and I feel like it deserves it, although this was the same year as Mildred Pierce which I feel is on the same level as this film. I debate with myself on which one deserved it more, but both are great movies.

9/2/24 "Leave Her To Heaven" 1945
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "When I looked at you, exotic words drifted across the mirror of my mind like clouds across the summer sky." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty alright Noir that gets set apart from the others due to its beautiful colors. The cinematography in this film is really, especially in the obvious best scene of the movie, the boat one (if you know, you know). This film follows Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde), a writer who falls in love with a beautiful woman named Ellen (Gene Tierney). Soon, they get married and we follow them to a lakehouse in Maine. While there, we start to see Ellen become unhinged. She becomes jealous of anyone who talks to Richard, believing they'll replace her. We see her start to do some drastic, and purely evil things to keep her husband. Her character is the best part of the film, and we still don't reach the full potential for her. It drags a little bit, which is a shame because it could've been incredible.

2/11/24 "The Harvey Girls" 1946
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I sent my picture into one of those Lonely Hearts Clubs and they sent it back, saying 'We're not that lonely!'" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is a pretty alright MGM musical. It's about a young girl named Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) moving to a new town because she's been writing a man who agreed to marry her. When she gets there though, she finds out that the whole situation was a big prank pulled on her by the saloon owner (John Hodiak) and one of his showgirls (Angela Lansbury). He offers her money to move back to her hometown, but instead, she starts working at the rival business and becomes a Harvey Girl. The plot is really fun and has some pretty funny moments. The songs are also pretty great, this is the musical that has the Oscar-award-winning song "On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe" and the opening song "In the Valley" and "It's a Great Big World" were really beautiful. Judy Garland does a fantastic job and really sells her role. It was odd seeing Angela Lansbury because she has an American accent and someone dubbed her singing. Not the best MGM musicals was still really quite great

1/6/26 "Ivan The Terrible, Part 2: The Boyar's Plot."
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "From now on I will become the one you call me. I will become terrible." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is pretty much the same movie as part 1. It's a real shame that part three was never made, because this one has such an interesting artistic decision. At one point in the film, it randomly goes to color, and it's filled with lush reds and blues. It's a really cool sequence and really caught me off guard. There's still that classic Eisenstein lighting and framing. As a whole, Ivan the Terrible is a pretty good duology that has great film making but only a so-so story.

1/18/25 "Gilda" 1946
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Hate is a very exciting emotion. Haven't you noticed? Very exciting. I hate you too, Johnny. I hate you so much I think I'm going to die from it." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is such a classic Noir tale. We follow Johnny (Glenn Ford), a gambler who gets a job at a Casino after being found out for cheating. While working there, he finds out that the boss' wife is Gilda (Rita Hayworth), a former lover of his. The film is full of twists and turns and betrayals, it's really well done. When you watch this movie, you're basically watching it for Rita Hayworth. She gives this role her all and really makes Gilda such an iconic character.

12/20/24 "Make Mine Music" 1946
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Stop it." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I finally saw the film Disney didn't want me to see. This film always intrigued me, because it's the one mainline Disney animated film that's not on Disney+. Why? I really don't know. It's not that offensive, so I really don't know why they wouldn't allow this film on its platform but would let some other stinkers on. I felt like this movie was sort of a mess. The segments were very varied on both subject matter and quality. It's a bit of a mess. You have serene scenes like Blue Bayou and Without You, but then, immediately after, you have Casey at The Bat, which is one of the most hyper Disney animations they've ever made. There's a lot of death in this one strangely enough, like such an odd amount. This was a part of the WW2 package film era and fits right in, because it's not that good.

9/16/24 "The Postman Always Rings Twice" 1946
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Deader than a doornail" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is such an iconic noir film. The original book was written by the same guy who wrote "Double Indemnity" and "Mildred Pierce". We follow a drifter (John Garfield) who comes to a diner looking for work. While there, he starts hitting on a woman in a towel (Lana Turner), only to find that she's the boss's wife. The two start to fall in love as the wife tries to leave her husband, but then she realizes that she'll lose everything in the divorce. So the two formulate a plan to kill her husband. The movie started out really interesting but sort of slowed down as time went on. It's a pretty good Noir movie, but it's no "Double Indemnity" or "Mildred Pierce".

6/7/24 "A Night In Casablanca" 1946
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Sir, this lady is my wife. You should be ashamed." "If this lady is your wife, YOU should be ashamed." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I was a little nervous about seeing this film since it was going to be the latest Marx Brothers film for me. The quality of their films had been going down steadily with every new movie they would release, but this honestly feels like it could be in the classic era. This film follows Ronald Kornblow (Groucho) taking over a hotel in Casablanca after WW2, the problem is, previous Nazis are trying to kill him for the secret treasure hidden in the hotel. The gags are really on point and funny. I especially loved one of the last scenes in the movie where they're just messing with a Nazi officer and gaslighting him into thinking he's going crazy. This has a young couple (much like most Marx Brothers films) that are pretty useless to the plot, but are sort of needed to ground the world. Over all, it's a pretty funny film and a good end to the Marx Brothers binge.

8/18/25 "Cluny Brown" 1946
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If it makes you happy to feed squirrels to the nuts, who am I to say, 'nuts to the squirrels?'" Do they say the title fo the movie within the movie: Yes
This is such a classic Ernst Lubitsch film. We follow an amateur plumber, Cluny Brown (Jennifer Jones), who gets sent by her uncle to work as a servant in an upper-class house. It's a classic set-up that's really well done. Jennifer Jones does a great job in the part and really shows off her screwball abilities. The script is really smart and it's shot pretty well. As a whole, while not one of my favorite Lubitsch films, it's still done really well!

10/20/25 "The Stanger" 1946
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "They searched the woods. I watched them, here, like God looking at little ants." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was a pretty timely film for the 40s. This film was directed by Orson Welles, which was interesting because it seemed like his least innovative film. That is, in no way, a knock to this movie, it just seems like with his movies you go in for great camera work and a not so great story. The camera work was solid, and I really enjoyed the natural lighting, but I feel like the story is stonger. We follow a Nazi war-criminal (Orson Welles) who moves to America and marries a Court Justice's daughter (Loretta Young). While settling down in this small town, he soon finds out that there's an investigator from the War Crimes Commission (Edward G. Robinson) looking for him. It's a really great cat and mouse chase as the investigator gets closer and closer. It was a thrilling chase, and I can see how film fans really enjoyed this film.

9/13/22 "Notorious" 1946
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "There's nothing like a love song to give you a good laugh."
This film has a weird Hitchcockian heartbeat. Normally it starts off really slow and gets faster and faster until the end of the movie. This film started really slow, got really fast, and then dipped back into being really slow. This is a Hitchcock film that honestly didn't really feel like the rest of his work. Just okay.

3/21/23 "The Big Sleep" 1946
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote, "She tried to sit on my lap while I was standing up.", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I'm gonna be honest, the mystery confused me a lot. There were a lot of characters and moving pieces that were hard to keep up with. I thought I was the only one, but after reading the other reviews for this film, I realized this is a common problem. Why is it so high then? There's just such an amazing atmosphere to this film and the suspense throughout it. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are great in this one, already a huge step up from "To Have and Have Not". This film is probably the most Noir film since it has all the things you would expect (except there's no narration). A really solid film by Howard Hawks

3/5/24 "The Killers" 1946
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Did you ever hear of Brentwood?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
A classic noir film that unfortunately didn't live up to the hype. By looking at the promotional art and posters, you'd think this film was focused around Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster, but you'd be wrong. They are barely in this film. The real star is Edmund O'Brien who plays a detective trying to solve the murder of "Suede" (Lancaster) when he was killed. The strangest about the case is he didn't put up a fight. The story isn't too engaging and neither are the characters. There are fantastic shots and performances in this movie, but they don't save the poor screenplay.

3/6/24 "A Day In The Country" 1946
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I wonder if those little creatures feel joy and sorrow like us." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No.
This is a short film by the legendary director Jean Renoir, but it wasn't supposed to be this short. This was supposed to be a feature-length film, but the weather conditions were so bad that it was never finished. Renoir shot this in 1936, but it was released in 1946 by his producer. It feels very unfinished because the character chemistry was pretty nonexistent. It's about a family who goes on vacation where one of the girls, who's engaged, falls in love with a local. This film has some charm, but not enough to make this an enjoyable viewing experience.

12/10/23 "My Darling Clementine" 1946
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Mac, you ever been in love?" "No, I've been a bartender all me life." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: yes
This is one of John Ford's weaker westerns. From what I've seen though, this is the best adaptation of the Doc Holliday story because he's prevalent in the story. It focuses on the three Earp brothers going to a town called Tombstone, where one of the brothers gets killed and their cattle get stolen. With nowhere to go, they stay in the town and become prevalent parts of their community. It's nice to see the friendship developed between Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp throughout the story. It's interesting to see them go from enemies to friends. As a whole I'm sure I'll forget this film soon, it had some good elements, but they could carry through with many of them.

3/30/24 "A Matter Of Life and Death" 1946
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "One is starved for Technicolor up there." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is such a beautiful film. It's about a WW2 British Soldier (David Niven) nearly missing his death after his plane was shot down. This raises problems in the afterlife because he was supposed to die there, so they send down a representative to take him back. The problem with this is he's fallen in love with an American radio operator (Kim Hunter), so he argues that he has more life to live. So the man gets surgery and nearly dies, so he goes to the afterlife court and argues that he deserves to live. What's funny is, the prosecution is an American from the 18th century who hates Niven just because he's British. The story and writing is really strong, but the production design is even stronger. Earth is always shot in beautiful technicolor whereas the other life is filmed in black and white, showing how life is more beautiful than death. The sets are also fantastic (especially the stairway to heaven). The afterlife is designed so incredibly and really stands the test of time

1/5/22 "The Best Years Of Our Lives" 1946
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'm just going to sum the whole thing up in one word." *Wife shakes her head "no"* "My wife doesn't think I'd better sum it up in that one word."
This movie is an endearing look at soldiers' lives after the second world war. It focuses on three men in different parts of their lives. Al, (an older man who has a wife and a child), Fred (a newlywed), and Homer (a soldier who lost his arms in battle and's seeing his girlfriend again) all meet on the plane ride home and all keep meeting each other. It's sort of like "Modern Family" in the way that the story is divided between three families that keep intertwining and meeting. The best part of this movie has to be Homer, the army man who lost his hands. They show so much humanity in this character and the actor, Harold Russell, shines through even though he's never acted before. He actually lost his arms in war, so he wears metal hooks in the movie. Overall, this movie is a really good story about how difficult it is to adjust back to the world after the war. The cinematography in this film is spectacular. They got the same guy who framed "Citizen Kane" to do this movie. They use a wide array of interesting shots and inspired framing. My only problem with this movie is the balancing of the three stories. I feel like they spent a lot of time on Al and Fred's story, while Homer's scenes are few and far between. It's a long movie, not too long of a story. It feels like some scenes were just filler. Besides that, this is a great film. This feels really modern while retaining the charm of classic 1940s cinema. If you have 3 hours to spare, I would definitely watch this movie

9/16/25 "Till The Clouds Roll By" 1946
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "A heart full of joy and gladness will always banish sadness and strife." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is another entry into the songwriting movie musical, but this time we're focusing on Joseph Kern. I find it so funny that they did the two previous partners of Rodgers and Hammerstein, but I feel like this was just to capitalize on his success. It was a shame, because he would die during the production of this movie, but the whole movie was just about reminding the audience of his songs. The entire first 20 minutes of this movie are just Show Boat. They legitimately just straight up do a mini-version of the musical just to remind the audience of how great it was. The movie is stuffed with cameos, and many of them don't feel as justified. Did I just watch this because Gene Kelly and Judy Garland both have a scene of their own? Yes. I'm not even going to hide it. I watched this entire movie just to see two musical numbers, but I am a fan of Joseph Kern's work. The way the end of the movie was just "Hey! This song... okay, onto the next one" was kind of lazy. They barely discussed his Hollywood years (where he had some of his most successful). They bring up "A Fine Romance" from Swing Time, but not "The Way You Look Tonight" from the same movie? That song won an Oscar for Best Original Song, but doesn't get a mention? As a whole, this film doesn't seem as concerned for Joseph Kern and more wants to show off its stars and music

3/19/25 "Odd Man Out" 1947
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "In my profession, there is neither good nor bad. There is innocence and guilt. That's all." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was quite an interesting noir film, it's very British though. We follow a robbery that goes horribly wrong when Johnny McQueen (James Mason) falls out of the getaway car and has to seek refuge in the street of London as the police try to find him. This film has a great sense of dread, which is aided by a great performance by James Mason. The film could be a little slow but has a slow-burn aspect to it. They cut a lot back to his gang, which takes away from the film, in my opinion.

6/22/22 "Monsieur Verdoux" 1947
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I have made my peace with God, my conflict is with man."
When you think of Chaplin the first thing that pops into your mind is probably "the Little Tramp" who was his most prominent character in his films. It was interesting seeing this one because it's not a Tramp movie and it's a talkie. The reason why he retired the tramp was because of "The Great Dictator" and how people's perceptions of the character changed when he started speaking. This film has a shockingly different tone from his other movies, being about a con man who gets married to several women at once for money. He plans on killing them so that way he can run away with the money. The concept is great and the humor makes this a lot less weird of a shift. Chaplin still does a little bit of slapstick but most of the humor comes from his writing and the situation Monsieur Verdoux gets in. I'm not going to spoil anything, but the end gets really philosophical, which isn't a shock for Chaplin. This is a underrated Chaplin film that I think deserves more attention

4/11/25 "Black Narcissus" 1947
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You are objectionable when sober, and abominable when drunk!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
The filming style of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is some of the greatest in cinema. Their movies are known for looking absolutely stunning, and this film is no exception. On looks alone, this is a masterpiece, but the story weighs it down a bit. We follow a community of nuns who all move to the Himalayas to help the locals. While there, one of the sisters starts to fall in love with a government worker. The relationship can't work because of her vow of celibacy, but the sister is thinking of going around that, much to the dismay of her fellow sisters. There's an almost horror aspect to this movie, because of how the obsession takes over the sister. We see these close-up shots of her face that show her insanity. They don't really focus on this as much, though, and focus on the locals, which hasn't particularly aged well. As a whole, this is a pretty good movie, while not reaching the heights of "A Matter Of Life and Death" or "The Red Shoes".

3/31/24 "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" 1947
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "My dear, never let anyone tell you to be ashamed of your figure!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a pretty alright melodrama with a great premise. It's about a widow named Mrs. Muir moving into an old mansion and finding that the ghost of its previous owner still haunts the house. At first, she's afraid of him, but she slowly starts growing a relationship with him. It's a great premise, but it's very "paint by number". The characters aren't really that interesting and it was hard to get invested. The ending was really sweet though and Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney do a pretty good job, but this seems more on the forgettable side.

12/12/25 "Miracle On 34th Street" 1947
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Susan, I speak French, but that doesn't make me Joan of Arc." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I'm honestly so shocked that I haven't seen this film yet. This film is such a whimsical and wholesome film. We follow a mother (Maureen O'Hara) who's the head of the Macy's parade, who finds a new Santa for the parade after the old one gets too drunk. Little does she know, however, that she's picked up the real Santa (Edmund Gwenn). Gwenn might be one of the best Santa actors I've seen. He plays him so sweetly and tenderly, it's inspired many other performances.

5/25/23 "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" 1947
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You remind me of the man!" "What man?" "The man with the power" "What power?" "The power of voodoo" "Who do?" "You do!" "Do what?" "Remind me of the man" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
A really odd film all around. Shirley Temple is a teenager in this film which is interesting since you only really see the "From Baby Take a Bow, to Curly Top, and Heidi. America’s favorite little darling Shirley Temple has been entertaining us for generations and now," era of Shirley Temple. It's about Shirley Temple falling in love with Cary Grant, a man accused of starting a fight at a nightclub. Myrna Loy is the judge on Cary Grant's case as well as Shirley Temple's sister (despite being old enough to be her mother), so she tells Cary Grant that she'll drop the case if he dates Shirley Temple long enough for her to get over him. Kind of a weird plot for the main plot of your movie to be the relationship between a 17-year-old girl and a 43-year-old man but it works because of how Cary Grant doesn't want any part of it. Speaking of Cary Grant, he gives 100% like always. You can always count on Cary Grant to treat every film like it's the performance of his lifetime. It won best screenplay which doesn't really feel right. There were some good gags but overall this doesn't really deserve it. Shout out to this film for inspiring the opening of "Magic Dance" by David Bowie

1/19/25 "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" 1947
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Your small minds are musclebound with suspicion. That's because the only exercise you ever get is jumping to conclusions." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I was really surprised at how great this film was. Growing up, I watched Ben Stiller for a decent amount of time, and I never knew it was a remake. While the Stiller one goes more of an Existential route, this is more lighthearted and sometimes thrilling. The premise is, that a pulp magazine writer, Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye), feels stuck in his life with everyone seeming to boss him around, especially with his wedding coming up. His only escape is these elaborate fantasies he thinks up. Things get complicated when the lines between fantasy and reality blur when he meets the beautiful Rosalind (Virginia Mayo) and gets caught up in an espionage plot. Danny Kaye gives such a great performance in this film, this is my second Kaye film after White Christmas. He perfectly tows the line between being energetic, but not too much. The whole film is interesting because it essentially becomes a Hitchcock film at a certain point. The dream sequences are really well done, too, each one feeling so grand in scale. As a whole, I would suggest this film! It's a lot of fun.

1/5/24 "Nightmare Alley" 1947
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Mister, I was made for it." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Such an interesting Noir film that's very original. It's the story of Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power), a carnie who wants to get out of his current situation, so he pretends to love Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell), a mind reader, so he can know he she does the trick so he can steal it for himself. I love how as time goes on in this film he does worse and worse things. Once you think he's hit a low he goes even lower to try to keep his act alive. It's a shame people don't really talk about this one due to the new one by Guillermo Del Toro. Tyrone Power does a fantastic job in this film. He's great at playing these scummy types of characters. I would highly suggest this film.

11/27/23 "Gentleman's Agreement" 1947
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I never realized pain could be so... sharp."
A best picture winner, and a good one at that. This film is about a reporter who's given a story on anti-Semitism and decides to tell people that he's Jewish for 6 months so he can see what it's like. Gregory Peck does such a great job in this role. This is definitely a precursor to his role as Atticus Finch in the way, he explains these difficult topics to a kid. It's a testament to both the writers and the acting of Gregory Peck. They really tackle the domestic anti-semitism (the Gentleman's Agreement) but they don't really tackle the issue as a whole. This movie was almost not going to get made since it was so ahead of its time. This feels like a step up from the best picture from the previous decade's "Life of Emile Zola" which was too afraid to say the word "Jew". This film deserves the Best Picture for that year

12/11/23 "Out Of The Past" 1947
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You can never help anything, can you? You're like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Such an interesting Noir film that has a lot of layers to it. It's about a quiet gas station owner (Robert Mitchum) getting a blast from the past when his old worker comes to town and asks him to return to his old boss' house for a new mission. He explains to his girlfriend how he lived a previous life and had a previous love interest. It's interesting seeing how he was a completely different person back then and lived a different life. I don't want to spoil too much, but I feel like this has an interesting premise and such great characters that this is just something you need to see yourself.

12/19/25 "The Bishop's Wife" 1947
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Sometimes angels rush in where fools fear to tread." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a really cozy christmas movie. We follow an angel named Dudley (Cary Grant) who comes to Bishop Brougham (David Niven)'s church because the Bishop has lost his way. The only problem is, everyone starts loving Dudley especially the Bishop's Wife (Loretta Young), which causes a score of jealousy. It works because no one believes he's an angel, despite how much he tries to prove himself. The chemistry works really well and so do many of the effects, the only problem is I would say the humor can fall a little flat at times.

10/11/24 "The Lady From Shanghai" 1947
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
It's hard to rate this film because I thought most of the film was just fine, but the last five minutes were brilliant. There's a reason why this film gets brought up, they show the last five minutes of this film. We follow an Irish man (played by Orson Welles, who's trying his hardest with the accent) who falls in love with Rita Hayworth (who's amazing in this film). Her husband, instead of getting mad at him, decides to bring him into a plot where Orson pretends to kill the husband, so the husband can fake his own death. The movie is a really well-shot film (directed by Orson Welles himself) and is a pretty good example of Noir. Some points of the film feel like they have the potential to be pretty forgettable, but as a whole, I can understand why this is so fondly remembered.

8/24/22 "The Treasure of The Sierra Madre" 1948
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges."
Meh. I feel like this is a little overrated. They explicitly say the theme of the movie which feels a little cheap. They literally say "Oh! You know gold changes a man?" and "Oh! You know gold is a curse!". I understand subtly talking about the theme, but this seems as subtle as getting hit by a truck. Imagine if, in Spirited Away, Lin tells Chihiro "You know! This whole adventure kind of mirrors your adventure of you growing up!". That would take you out of the movie entirely. Plus, that line leads to you knowing the movie's entire plot before it happens. You know that greed will corrupt the men as they work on the adventure and get the best of them... and I was right. This movie also has an awful pace. It's as slow as a snail and keeps that pace the entire time. This is an important film that you've got to see if you are a film fanatic, but it's only that. It's more of an artifact that an entertaining film.

12/31/25 "Johnny Belinda" 1948
7/10 Stars. Favorite Quote: "It's hard to be born, and it's hard to die." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
A pretty standard drama that seems like the Oscars' bread and butter. We follow a deaf and mute woman, Belinda (Jane Wyman), who tries to learn to speak with her teacher. One day, she gets raped and is forced to give birth to the child, and she has no way of telling. Jane Wyman gives a respectful performance, and there's a lot of heart in the doctor character. The relationship between the two of them is very engaging.

7/30/22 "Rope" 1948
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Did you think you were God, Brandon?"
Quite an interesting film. This is a Hitchcock film, but this one is famous within the film community because of how the whole movie was basically filmed in one shot. It got to a point in filming where mistakes would happen and they would just keep filming to cover it up. At one point in the movie, the camera dolly ran over and broke a cameraman's foot, but to keep filming, he was gagged and dragged off. Another time, a woman puts her glass down but misses the table. A stagehand had to rush up and catch it before the glass hit the ground. Both parts are used in the final cut. Another piece of trivia is how this film was banned in most cities because people thought the main two characters were gay... which they're not. This film is about two guys taking part in the "perfect murder" and throwing a party after it where they hide the body and the murder weapon at the party. They put the body in a trunk and put the food on top so no one will suspect it. This film had its fair of suspense but not as much as the previous Hitchcock films. I would say this isn't as good as his future work, and not really as good as some of his previous work (Rebecca).

11/11/23 "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" 1948
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "The next time you're going to do anything or say anything or buy anything, think it over very carefully. When you're sure you're right, forget the whole thing." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No!
This was the original version of the film "The Money Pit" and I have to say this is an improvement. It's funny because in a review I did last year for The Money Pit I said "Tom Hanks' performance in this movie seems like a mix between Cary Grant's sly and confident comments and Buster Keaton's stunt work" and Cary Grant was Mr. Blandings himself. It's about Mr. Blandings, a man who works in advertising, and his wife (Myrna Loy) who wants to leave the busy city life and get a nice quiet house. The problem is he keeps getting scammed. His lawyer friend tries his hardest to keep Mr. Blandings out of the scams but he keeps not listening. This is an improvement over the money pit because the humor is wittier and comes out of the characters more than the house. Seeing Mr. Blandings try to rationalize and gaslight himself into thinking he's right about everything is a really funny character trait. If you're a fan of the Money Pit, I highly suggest this one.

12/09/22 "Hamlet" 1948
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "To be... or not to be... that is the question"
This is my first time ever hearing the Hamlet story, and I've got to say it's pretty solid. This Oscar-winning movie was actually directed by Laurence Olivier and also stars him in the lead role. He does a great job, and though the dialogue was a little hard to understand, the emotion in their voice really pushes this film forward. This movie gets flack because Olivier cut about half the lines in the play, but I mean... I feel like that made it better. The movie itself is 2 hours and 33 minutes, if it were longer I don't think it wouldn't have felt the same. The pacing was surprisingly good and it has a great atmosphere which really adds to the story. Not the worst to win the best picture, but I feel like Rope deserved to win (but that's probably just the Hitchcock fan in me).

2/12/24 "The Pirate" 1948
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You're overdoing this! You're being vindictive!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This has to be one of the most over-the-top musicals I have seen. It's a parody of sorts of Douglas Fairbanks, but they don't really lean into that. It's about an actor (Gene Kelly) who falls in love with a woman (Judy Garland). The problem is, the woman is unhappily engaged with the mayor of the town (Walter Slezak) but she dreams of marrying the legendary pirate Macoco. Little does she know, the mayor of the town is Macoco who's tried to put his pirate days behind. Gene Kelly finds this out and he pretends to be the notorious Macoco to win the heart of Judy Garland. The songs are very catchy in this musical, they're all written by the legendary Cole Porter. It's interesting how one of the songs "Be a Clown" would later be ripped off into the much more famous "Make 'Em Laugh" from "Singin' In The Rain". The direction is also top-notch, being directed by Vincent Minelli. The musical numbers are very expressive and have a very theatrical nature to them. The script is also very clever, being written by the couple Hackett and Goodrich (the same writers of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Thin Man") it has some very funny scenes that get heightened by the great chemistry between Kelly and Garland. The problem with the film comes with the actual plot which is very barebones. It constantly feels like some scenes lead up to nothing and they need as much padding as possible to make this film. This film was a pretty sizable flop, which is sad because it has some fantastic moments with a lack luster story.

9/07/22 "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" 1948
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "CHIIIIIIIIIIICK!"
This was basically the most ambitious crossover of the 40s. The Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein are all in this one film and are mostly played by their original actor (except for Boris Karloff, who got replaced). Abbott and Costello are a great pairing and supply a lot of great comedy to this movie. I also feel like they were really well integrated with the monsters and vice versa. Bela Lugosi was funny which was a surprise because I always pictured him as this serious guy. Some great gags with some of Hollywood's most iconic actors

5/30/24 "Easter Parade" 1948
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I was trying to see this film for years. I even had to sign up for a new library system just to get access to this film. All that work, just for the film to be mid. The best part of this film is easily the Irving Berlin numbers, the highlight obviously being "Steppin' Out With My Baby", the dance number along with the great song leads to an extremely memorable sequence. Unfortunately, the rest aren't as great. Fred Astaire has some great dancing moments, like the drum dance and the tramp number with Judy Garland, but these are exceptions rather than the norm. The plot is also a little all over the place, it's about Fred Astaire needing to make his dance partner (Ann Miller) who just left him for a solo career, to be jealous, so he picks the clumsy Judy Garland as his new partner so he can prove he can make anyone into a star. The opening is just three songs strung together which don't really go together in my opinion. They feel like they're happening more to have a soundtrack than a good plot.

5/27/23 "Key Largo" 1948
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "One Rocco more or less isn't worth dying for!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
I feel like, this might be an unpopular opinion, but this might be the best Bogart and Bacall film. I was so sad to learn that this was the last one both chronologically and that I've seen. It's crazy to think they only did four films together. Everyone absolutely brings it to this film. Bogart, Bacall, Robinson, and Barrymore all do an amazing job, but the Oscar-winning performance from Claire Trevor takes the cake. The film is about Humphrey Bogart coming back from world war II to see the family of his dead war friend (Lauren Bacall and Lionel Barrymore) at their hotel the Key Largo. The problem is, Humphrey Bogart soon finds out that the infamous Johnny Rocco is at that hotel (Edward G. Robinson) and all his gangsters are there too. They soon take over the hotel in order to wait to make a deal to get some money. Edward G. Robinson is at his cruelest in this film, his character is truly one of the most cold-hearted characters I've seen. His wife (Claire Trevor) is an alcoholic who desperately needs a drink and begs him for one throughout the film. Johnny Rocco then forces his wife to sing a song for the hostages and if she does that she'll get a drink. As she's singing she's shaking and when she's finished, Rocco just makes fun of her and doesn't give her a drink. This is a really thrilling film with some wonderful acting

11/4/25 "Louisiana Story" 1948
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "My father say, you crazy all you sailors." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was such a slog to witness. We follow a small Louisiana family as they deal with an oil well near their house, which is ruining their lives. It's alright for a premise, but the movie does nothing with this and just seems very primitive in its filmmaking. The director also made "Nanook of the North," and that makes a lot of sense. This was shot like it was a silent documentary, even when these camera shots have been outdated for years. It's crazy that this movie was made closer to the release of "Sunset Boulevard" and "Singin' In The Rain" than "Nanook of the North" or "Within Our Gates".

3/26/24 "Red River" 1948
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "There are three times in a man's life when he has a right to yell at the moon: when he marries, when his children come, and... and when he finishes a job he had to be crazy to start." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I can understand how people enjoy this one, but I wasn't a fan. I'm not really a Western guy, but I can appreciate how this is a different story. It's about two men who start a cattle drive to make money. The problem is, that they start butting heads on the journey and begin fighting. The two men are Montgomery Clift and John Wayne. They both do a pretty good job, although they play roles that I feel like they've played 25 times before. The plot feels a little stale and there's definitely some racism in it (which doesn't surprise me anymore, it's a 1940s western). There are some nice character elements and amazing shots, but that doesn't save the movie for me.

2/3/25 "The Three Musketeers" 1948
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "All for one and one for all!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
It's an odd thing watching this film because you're basically waiting for a musical number that'll never come. This was an MGM film with Gene Kelly and Angela Lansbury that was directed by George Sidney (who also directed Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, and Kiss Me, Kate). I don't mean to put these performers in a box like that, but the film looks so much like an old musical, so it felt weird when that didn't come. This movie could've used those musical numbers because this film was pretty slow and all over the place. There are some great action scenes (because of their choreography, adding to how this could've been a great musical). The characters just seem to fall flat for me (except for Gene Kelly, he's pretty in his element). The problem is, this film has so many stars that it's hard to keep all of them in line. You have Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, June Allyson, Angela Lansbury, Vincent Price, Frank Morgan, etc. They feel less like a cast and more like a battle for screentime. I understand why people don't talk about this film too much.

7/12/22 "Bicycle Thieves" 1948
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Then I'll arrest you"
This is one of the textbook movies when it comes to Italian Neorealism and it makes sense. This movie has little plot, but it's all about the characters. You see the poor Antonio Ricci who needs a bike to get a job in the broken country of Italy after the second world war. He gets his bicycle stolen and it's just a downward spiral for him. It is so sad seeing the class struggle in this movie, they have scenes where they compare the rich and the poor, but these are very few and far between since there were barely any rich people in Italy at the time. This is a slow movie, but that's all it needs to be

10/25/24 "The Red Shoes" 1948
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "It is much more disheartening to have to steal than to be stolen from, hmmm?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was such a beautiful movie. The visuals are insane with a wonderful grasp of color and composition. We follow Vicki Page (Moira Shearer), an aspiring dancer who must choose between her love for a man and her love for dancing itself. Her instructor, Boris (Anton Walbrook), is against the idea of love mixing with work because that's how he lost the last dancer. The character of Boris is so interesting because there are some moments where he's really kind, but he's strict with what he loves. The ballet scenes in this film are really well done, reminding me of the American In Paris ballet. I can see why people love this film.

12/12/23 "Unfaithfully Yours" 1948
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "That's Russian Bank. Russian Roulette's a very different amusement which I can only wish your father had played continuously before he had you!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I think this just might be my favorite Preston Sturges film. It's about a conductor finding out that his wife is cheating on him, so during one of his concerts, he devises a plan to commit the "perfect murder". The humor of this comes from how poorly thought out his plan is. When you watch the plan that comes from his head, it seems so perfect vs when he actually does it in real life and it turns out to be a horrible flop. There's a perfect combination between witty dialogue and incredible slapstick, it really makes this one of the most memorable comedies. Simply wonderful

6/7/24 "The Paleface" 1948
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I've been chased by women before, but never when I was awake!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is a pretty silly cowboy comedy that falls victim to the poor representations of its time. We follow the notorious Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) getting hired by the government to stop a transfer of dynamite to the native Americans to blow up towns across the state. On her way there, he partner dies, so she finds a dentist named Painless Potter (Bob Hope) and pretends she's in love with him to use him as a patsy. One day, the natives come to kill Potter and he passes out from fear and she kills them all, but she tells everyone that Potter did it. It's a pretty great plot, but the depictions of the native Americans haven't aged too well. Jane Russell's performance in this film is really great, as people point out, but I feel people fail to mention Bob Hope as Painless Potter. He's not only funny in the role, but also displays a wide range of emotions. This film's comedy is alright, but nothing crazy. The song "Buttons and Bows" was really pretty catchy, and that's probably what this film is most memorable part of the film.

1/10/25 "Words and Music" 1948
3/10 Stars, +Favorite Quote: "You want something to eat? How about some nuts? Apples? Oranges? How about a piece of coffee cake? Corned beef sandwich? I'll send out and get a corned beef sandwich." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I feel cheated by this movie. I watched it purely because Judy Garland and Gene Kelly were in it, yet they barely showed up at all. This is a very (and I mean VERY) loose biopic of the songwriting team Richard Rogers (played by Tom Drake) and Lorenz Hart (played by Mickey Rooney). This film is more of a "greatest hits album" of their songs than their actual story. Walking away, I feel like I still don't know that much about them, and I spent two hours watching them. Some of the info is just straight-up wrong as well. They claim that the pair met Gene Kelly in the musical revue "On Your Toes", but he never starred in that musical, Ray Bolger did. Gene Kelly was in "Pal Joey" four years later. Also, they invent a woman character for him, despite the fact he was gay in real life. The musical number were the best part, but as a whole, it just wasn't that great of a film and I felt like it was a disservice to the real Lorenz Hart.

12/13/23 "A Letter To Three Wives" 1949
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "There are men who say "those kind" who earn 100,000 dollars a year." "There are men who say "stick 'em up" who earn more. I don't expect to do either." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I went into this movie with zero expectations. This was nominated for Best Director, so I wanted to see it, but I had no idea how amazing this film would be. It's about three friends going on a river cruise, but before that, they get a letter from another friend that she ran off with one of their husbands. On the ship, we get three different flashbacks from the three women on how their husbands could be unfaithful. The characters are written realistically and have a real human aspect. None of their relationships are perfect, and some can be downright abusive, but that's what's realistic. It shows the ups and downs of a relationship and how it's not always the best of times. The two MVPS of this film have to be Linda Darnell and Kirk Douglas. Darnell gives such a fantastic performance, she's an underrated actress. Also, Kirk Douglas is fantastic in this film, no wonder he was such a huge actor. This should've won Best Picture as well, it's fantastic!

7/8/25 "Take Me Out To The Game" 1949
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "He's a girl!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was the odd middle child between "Anchors Aweigh" and "On The Town". The two previous films receive high praise and are always included in conversations about movie musicals, so I was interested to see where this one would land in that space. This was easily the worst of the Kelly/Sinatra musicals. I don't know why, but for this movie, Gene Kelly went in a very unhinged direction. I'm guessing he didn't like making this movie and moved to an "f it, we ballin'" mood, because he did everything so over the top and goofy. This film follows two baseball players who perform vaudeville during their off-season. They soon find that the new team owner, K.C. Higgins, is a woman (Esther Williams). The reveal scene is pretty funny, but the songs are very unmemorable, except for one where Sinatra and Kelly are joined by Jules Munshin (who would be the third sailor for On The Town). The chemistry between the three was obvious. This would also introduce Betty Garrett to the equation (who was one of the three girls in On The Town). As a whole, while this has some funny moments and good chemistry, the soundtrack and writing were extremely weak.

7/24/25 "My Dream Is Yours" 1949
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If there's 50 dollars left over from this deal, I'd like to have my head examined." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Yikes. I wanted this to be better for Doris Day. This was Doris Day's second movie in Hollywood, and she was already a natural with her charm and incredible singing voice, but the plot of the movie was pretty slow and all over the place. We follow a talent agent (Jack Carson) who needs to find a new star, and so he finds Doris Day, whom he tries to shop around, but no one really wants her. There are some forced musical numbers throughout (including a really trippy one where Bugs Bunny shows up, for some reason). As a whole, this is a pretty forgettable film that lacks a lot of the charm of other musicals of the era.

12/28/24 "The Barkleys of Broadway" 1949
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I've been sneezing and coughing like an old Model T!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
The last Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film, and it feels like such a great end to one of cinema's greatest pairings. This film follows the married couple John and Dinah Barkley, who perform various Broadway comedies. Behind the scenes, we see the two argue and bicker about their performances and their lives. Dinah believes that she can be a great dramatic actress while John wants her to continue doing comedies with him (sort of like real life with Rogers going on to more dramatic roles while Astaire stayed in the musical camp). Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the script, the same people who wrote "Singin' In The Rain", "On The Town", and "What a Way To Go!", meaning that this is very witty. The musical numbers are alright, but the clear winner is them singing "They Can't Take That Away From Me" 12 years after they popularized that song in "Shall We Dance". This time, however, they added a dance to it (something the original was missing). This was a very fitting end for the two and really cemented them as a musical force.

1/7/25 "In The Good Old Summertime" 1949
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "When I came here, I was a very enthusiastic girl. Now look at me." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes I really thought that I'd like this movie a lot more, but it just wasn't. It's a musical retelling of "The Shop Around the Corner" (before "She Loves Me"), but they don't take advantage of the songs. None of the songs add to the story or are sung in the musical style. All of the songs are sung as a performance in the film rather than emotions. The story itself falls pretty flat. I wasn't really that big of a fan of the original story, but this drags on. Judy Garland adds a little bit of joy to the film, but not enough to save it. Van Johnson, however, falls completely flat as a lead. He just doesn't have enough charisma. The only moment where he had any bit of charm was in the sequence that was carefully planned out by Buster Keaton. Keaton is in the movie, and he is easily the best part. It's a real shame that he was so underused because he still brings his A-game with the physical comedy. As a whole, this is a pretty underwhelming musical that doesn't have that memorable song to save it.

9/3/25 "I Was A Male Bride" 1949
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You'll think I'm a bride but actually I'm a husband. There'll be a moment or two of confusion but, if we all keep our heads, everything will be fine." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was kind of a disappointment when it comes to Cary Grant comedies. A majority of the press from this movie came from Cary Grant crossdressing for like 5 minutes, and it's not even that funny. This movie leans more on wacky than genuine. It feels like they tried to make a wartime "Bringing Up Baby", but just couldn't measure up to it. It's a shame that Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan had some great chemistry in this otherwise forgettable film.

11/24/23 "The Third Man" 1949
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "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." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
This might just have one of the worst scoring I have ever heard. In many scenes, this noir drama comes off more like a goofy comedy. Someone pointed out that the music sounds like it's straight out of Spongebob and I couldn't agree more. It's really well shot, but the plot left something to be desired. It's about a man going to Vienna to stay with his friend only to find he has been murdered by two men, but he believes there's a conspiracy and there are three men, so he must find the third man. It felt very slow and although there were some good scenes, as a whole this felt lacking.

5/22/25 "White Heat" 1949
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Made it, ma! Top of the world!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I was sort of expecting more out of this film, because of how famous certain aspects are. This gives us the iconic quote that I listed, but it just wasn't that great. This film follows a criminal who's obsessed with his mother, escaping from prison to do one last job with his prison gang. Things get complicated when one of the men in his gang turns out to be an undercover cop. The film drags a bit and doesn't have the best writing out there. I don't get why this film had such a following.

12/29/24 "The Heiress" 1949
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
For the first couple of minutes of this film, I was dreading the rest. The film sort of seemed like a rehash of William Wyler's previous film, Jezebel, but as the film went on, it became its own thing. We follow the daughter of a very wealthy doctor, Catherine (Olivia de Havilland) as she falls in love with a handsome, but poorer man (Montgomery Clift). The main question of the film comes from whether he actually cares for her or just her money. Olivia De Havilland won Best Actor for this, and it's clear why. She really gave a wonderful performance and put her all into this movie. I can see why so many people, including Martin Scorsese, enjoy this movie.

4/29/23 "Love Happy" 1949
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Faustino the Great. For 20 years he was an organ grinder with a monkey. Then one day the monkey went on strike. He wanted shorter hours and longer bananas." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
The last Marx Brothers film, and the worst one! This was originally supposed to be a Harpo solo adventure, but no one would buy the film unless the two other Marx Brothers were together. This film has too much Harpo and Chico. I feel like they're good in moderation, but too much of them can really drag a film down. There's especially too much Harpo, having him be the main character was a mistake. Meanwhile, Groucho gets 5 minutes of screen-time all together which is a crime. Groucho is the glue that holds the Marx Brothers together. The Marx Brothers' best moments are when the three (or four) of them are together, so it's a bad sign when there's no scene with the three. Marylin Monroe makes a brief appearance in this film for a single scene which is neat. This whole film is absolutely obsessed with women. It gets really creepy how much of this film is "A Woman... awooga!" Groucho commented saying how this film isn't even a Marx Brothers film

11/29/22 "All The King's Men" 1949
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Your words are good... but you're not."
This was a really good movie. It's about Willy Stark, a farmer wanting to be a governor. The problem comes when he finds out that the competition was using him to take votes away from the competitors, he gets mad and takes the election into his own hands. We see the slow descent of Willy Stark into being a corrupt governor. The whole story is told through the perspective of a reporter who's writing a paper on his. It's definitely a noir movie and a good one at that. It also won best picture, and out of all the options, this was the best one.

1/23/25 "Battleground" 1949
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "The organist is hitting those bass notes a little too loud for me to be heard. So let each of us pray in his own way, to his own God." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's nice to see a war movie that stands out. So many of them follow the same conventions, so it's nice to see that Battleground can stand out. It stands out because of how much time is dedicated to getting to know the soldiers. I feel like this is such a crucial part of any war movie, but often gets tossed aside to get to the next action scene. This movie is really well-written with some really great lines throughout. I'm glad that this won the Best Original Screenplay award.

5/15/23 "Adam's Rib" 1949
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called in-breeding; from this comes idiot children and more lawyers." Do they say the title of the movie within the movies: No!
Probably the go-to Tracy and Hepburn film. This film sees a married couple who are both lawyers getting different sides of the same case. This naturally causes some of the cases to come home with them and causes them to fight. It's a really funny movie that balances making fun of males and females. The actress who played Lina Lamont from Singin' In The Rain was in this which was quite a surprise. Tom Ewell and Judy Holiday are also in this movie. The most shocking member of this film however isn't in the cast, but rather the writer's room. Apparently, this film was written by Ruth Gordon from Harold and Maude and Rosemary's Baby. She wrote this movie with her husband which is a welcomed surprise! I didn't know she was a screenwriter too!

7/24/23 "On The Town" 1949
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Gesundheit" "That's the nicest thing anybody ever said to me!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
Such an iconic movie musical, and after watching it for the first time I can definitely see why. I mean, it's funny, sweet, corny, and the songs are catchy. "New York, New York" is the second most famous song with that title and will stay in your head for days. The story is pretty simple but done perfectly. It's about three men from the Navy finally getting off the ship for a single day to explore New York. These three men are Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin. It's fair to say who's the black sheep of the group. They meet three ladies and fall in love. One thing that I love about this movie is how they give the three ladies different personalities instead of their personalities purely being "Love-interest". One of them is a very confident taxi driver who knows exactly what she wants (Betty Garrett), an intelligent anthropologist who falls in love with one guy because he looks like a caveman (Ann Miller), and a regular woman who just happened to win a contest to get her photo on a poster (Vera-Ellen). The problem is that the sailors think that Vera-Ellen is a celebrity because of that photo, so she has to lie to the guys. The film has a "Before Sunrise" vibe since we know that the guys only can spend one day in New York, and they'll have to leave in the morning. It's so sweet seeing how the film ends with three new sailors running out of the ship singing "New York, New York" and how this just happens every day. This is the first film directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen and you can see certain styles popping up. We have a classic random dance section just for Gene Kelly to show off, a dream-like sequence where the background is just one color, and great camera movements to capture the choreography. It was cooling seeing that they shot on location (which was a big problem since that was during Sinatra-mania and many fans would ruin the shots). It's crazy how much and little New York changed in that time.

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