Fifties Favourites - A Small, Random Selection!!

What follows are a few of my many favourites, 'A' and 'B'.
"AUNTIE MAME" - WB - 1958
Rosliland Russell recreates her triumphant broadway tour-de-force as the madcap Mame Dennis, with strong support from Coral Browne, Fred Clarke and Peggy Cass. The film's ultimate strength is in its deft mixture of ribald comedy with touching poignancy. May now be out of print.
"A STAR IS BORN" - WB - 1954
Thankfully this near masterpiece was almost totally pasted back together after Harry Warner had bludgeoned 27 minutes out of its original running time. Judy Garland gives the performance of a lifetime as the young talent who makes good, with James Mason every bit her equal as the aging actor whose fall from grace can only end in one way. Occasionally marred by screenplay illogics and the 'Born in a Trunk' sequence that was added after director George Cukor had wrapped, it's eighteen and a half minutes of Garland brilliance also unfortunately literally stops-the-show - right in its tracks. Still available on dvd.
"THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS" - WB - 1957
Probably the most un-Billy Wilder Billy Wilder film ever made. As a 17 year old who had never heard of Charles Lindbergh, when I first saw this one I was totally mesmerized. I flew that plane! My desert island movie, it combines fine acting, cinematography, screenplay and music (still Franz Waxman's best as far as I'm concerned.) And if stranded on that desert island I am sure that loner me would take enormous inspiration from how loner Lindbergh inserted himself into so much of his ultimate accomplishment. May now be out of print.
"A HATFUL OF RAIN" - Fox - 1957
Otto Preminger may have broken the code when it came to drug addiction as a subject for a motion picture, but for me it was director Fred Zinnemann who made the most satisfying film. With coldly stark black and white cinematography of Joe MacDonald complimented by Bernard Herrmann's highly unsettling score, the film is (for 1957) an unflinching look at drug addiction and its disturbing consequences for a young Korean War vet and his family. With Eva Marie Saint, Don Murray (who should have copped an Oscar nom), Anthony Franciosa (who did) and Lloyd Nolan. Franciosa was the only carryover of original broadway cast leads, and it's a pity that Vincent Gardenia wasn't also included instead of being replaced by journeyman Nolan as the patriarch. Happily now finally available on dvd, "Rain" is also sadly only out in an inferior pan-and-scan format instead of the vastly superior, letterboxed widescreen.
"FROM HELL TO TEXAS" - Fox - 1958
A bust in its initial release, this excellent western is now very highly regarded in many circles. Directed by Henry Hathaway, the story centres on the pursuit of cowpoke Todd Logan (Don Murray) by a powerful rancher (R.G. Armstrong) who refuses to accept that Logan killed one of his sons in self defence. With Diane Varsi, Chill Wills, J.C. Flippen and a young Dennis Hopper, "Texas" is one of those character driven films (like "High Noon") where the plot is secondary to what is really going on. Happily, Fox did letterbox this morality play's release.
"NIGHTFALL" - Columbia - 1957
Virtually unknown, this neat little film noir stars Aldo Ray as a troubled but innocent man being pursued by a cop (James Gregory) for allegedly killing a friend. Getting mixed up with an equally troubled girl he picks up in a bar (Anne Bancroft), Ray is also being hunted down by the real killers. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, this neat little 'b' also features Brian Keith, Jocelyn Brando and Frank Albertson. Now out on dvd as part of a Columbia noir package, this buried black and white treasure is much more than just another throwaway programmer.
"ARMORED CAR ROBBERY" - RKO - 1950
Before he got into directing 'A' level pictures like "The Boston Strangler" and "Tora! Tora! Tora!", Richard Fleischer cut his teeth on little programmers like this one. And before crossing courtroom swords with Raymond Burr's Perry Mason as DA Hamilton Burger, William Talman often played the villainous heavy in slight crime films like this little jewel. The mastermind behind a daring, daylight robbery, fugitive Talman winds up in a battle of wits with bulldog cop pursuer Charles McGraw, with 'b' badgirl Adele Jergens as one beautiful, cold, deadly moll. It's on dvd as part of the Film Noir Classic Collection, Volume 5.
And that's it for now. But PLEASE DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET!