1942

best film:  The Magnificent Ambersons from Welles

• a visual stunner filled with an immaculately designed mise-en-scene, depth of field deep focus mastery in all its glory and creative transitions and camera movements
• A continuation of Citizen Kane’s stylistic showpiece

The Magificent Ambersons is really just a continuation of Citizen Kane’s stylistic showpiece from the year before

• One big question on the film remains Tim Holt’s lead performance. He’s in almost every scene and it’s not an amazing performance.
• Of course it’s nearly equally famous (for being a masterpiece) as it is for being mutilated by RKO. Welles was always very dramatic (the rebel artist) about this and how this film isn’t nearly as good as what once was (and was destroyed)—that said- what’s left is a towering masterpiece still
• A meditation on nostalgia, unrequited love (for both sets of couples) and maturation
• The opening montage (Welles does voice over) is fine but that ball entrance with the doors flying open and the wind blowing is a stunner and when the film truly starts
• Depth of field—deep focus work on luxurious mansion— not shot by Gregg Toland so don’t give me that he’s the true master
• Score by Bernard Hermann
• Heavy Oedipal study
• Welles repeatedly frames, tracks, and then reframes within the same shot—just stunning
• Show-off miniatures like the reflection of a sleigh in the water puddle
• The mise en-scene is expressionism. Shadows and cluttered frames blocking and shaping- von Sternberg, Murnau
• Wipes and iris work in editing
• Another film on the collapse of a once great family – just as Kane was the fall of a once great man (and nostalgia for his beloved Rosebud)
• The narrative is superb- I particularly enjoy the Agnes Moorehead performance and character as it gives the film such depth. She’s a complex character
• The pans in the background of the kitchen scene between Moorehead and Holt (couldn’t find a nice enough pic to post) is an example of this. It’s just not two people talking at the kitchen table. It’s art.
• Twin long dolly tracking shots of Baxter and Holt moving. One in a carriage and the other walking
• Again, it’s a tough watch in some respects as the narrative hitches you to this loathsome and grating character (Holt)
• Impressive work with shadows. A triumph here.
• Great tracking shot through room and door of Moorehead as she cracks up with guilt
• tacked on optimistic ending
• Robert Wise the editor

Depth of field—deep focus work on luxurious mansion— not shot by Gregg Toland so don’t give me that he’s the true master

A meditation on nostalgia, unrequited love (for both sets of couples) and maturation

most underrated:   There Was a Father from Ozu. It isn’t one of the 11 Ozu films in the TSPDT consensus top 2000– vastly underrated

• It is Ozu’s best narrative to date and Ryu’s enduringly stoic father here is the best performance I’ve seen in an Ozu film to date in 1942 (and one of the better overall performances of the 40’s)
• Eloquently put by The New Yorker-  “the weight of tradition and duty that crushes the individual spirit”
• It is a lyrical work of grace
• I adore Ozu’s pillow shots of the empty corridors—there’s a melancholic undertone in the everyday moments here- a connection and life not fully realized. It’s a slow burn but it wallops you in the end- tragic
• Hallway row of umbrellas shot mirrors is hats at a funeral in Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family

Hallway row of umbrellas shot mirrors is hats at a funeral in Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family

• An even row of students
• Ozu shows the impending boat accident with a fantastically even shot of those boats sitting harmlessly on shore
• Multiple shots of the father and son fishing together and casting in union—it’s simple—elegant—we get Ryu (and his son’s) quiet pain in this tale of a hardworking father and his sacrifice
• Ozu’s cutaways are what I long for here even if this is his best narrative—the clothes on a laundry, the trains (Ozu adored them), the tea kettle
• These are two complex characters—he’s had multiple tragedies—death of student, death of wife (not shown or covered really)—he’s living through his son in some ways
• Gorgeous ending on a pillow shot of luggage and then on a train

Ryu here back turned- a brilliant shot from Ozu the great master here

most overrated:  To Be or Not to Be from Lubitsch

• Rated #102 on TSPDT by the consensus which is very overrated
• It’s both a socially and politically important movie and a great comedy- not hard to see how it’s rated so high by so many critics but it’s just not nearly one of the best directed movies of all-time
• There are a ton of hilarious scenes but my favorite might be Robert Stack leaving right in Benny’s Hamlet soliloquy and that ongoing joke
• Very detailed and intelligent narrative
• Blends drama horror of WW2/Hitler/Nazi’s and comedy with such grace
• The scenes with Ruman and Benny are great as well
• Certainly Benny took a lot from Groucho Marx
• I can see some influences here on Inglourious Basterds (Nazis in a theatre in the finale for one)
• Shakespeare is woven throughout with both Hamlet and Shylock in Merchant of Venice
• Wonderful screenplay
• Top 5-8 of 1942

gem I want to spotlight:  Gentleman Jim from Walsh. Ok, there’s a trend developing here with me enjoying the hell out of Errol Flynn films. There’s not a more likeable role for him and he’s supported here by great performances from Ward Bond, Alan Hale, and Jack Carson

trends and notables:

• Two really important debut films here into the archives. Billy Wilder and David Lean both have their first entry and would go on to bigger and better things and become two of the best directors of the next 25 years.
• Again, the war may have stymied the progression of color—outside of Bambi with Disney’s animation (what a rich period for Disney) nine of the top ten are in black and white
• Welles delivering in 1941 with Citizen Kane and then following it up here solidifying his genius (if there was any doubt) in 1942– back to back best films of the year
• You have to acknowledge the year of Curtiz with both Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy in the top 10. Once you’ve seen Casablanca 4-5 times it becomes easier to pay attention to Curtiz’s subtle camera movements, if you take those out it is a drastically different (and weaker) film

You have to acknowledge the year of Curtiz with both Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy in the top 10

• From 1942 to 1946 Val Lewton was a producer as artist and Cat People may be his finest achievement—Lewton’s RKO films are magnificent and important to study if you’re an admirer or student of cinema horror

From 1942 to 1946 Val Lewton was a producer as artist and Cat People may be his finest achievement—Lewton’s RKO films are magnificent and important to study if you’re an admirer or student of cinema horror

• I also have to pause here, in the year of Casablanca, and acknowledge the depth of acting talent in the supporting realm. I already mentioned Ward Bond when talking about Gentleman Jim but how about Casablancawithout Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Claude Rains? Agnes Moorehead and Jane Darwell are superb nearly every year in this era.
• The first of five archiveable films (and nine overall) for Katharine Hepburn pairing with Spencer Tracy- Woman of the Year here from George Stevens

best performance male:   It is Bogart’s category giving him back to back mentions with 1941’s The Maltese Falcon. It is an iconic film and performance for a reason. Don’t overthink this one. Chishū Ryū in Ozu’s There Was a Father is a runner-up as are Claude Rains in Casablanca, Joel McCrea probably sort of as a combined nomination here for his work in The Palm Beach Story in 1942 and Sullivan’s Travels in 1941. James Cagney proves he’s far more than just a ganger as he sings and high kicks his way to a mention here for Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I’d listen to arguments for either Bogart or Bergman giving the best performance of 1942

the final shot– the Curtiz’s camera lifts

best performance female:  Ingrid Bergman radiates the screen in Casablanca. Carole Lombard is absolutely stunning in her final role before her tragic plane crash death in To Be or Not to Be. Claudette Colbert deserves a mention in The Palm Beach Story as does Simone Simon in her eerie performance in Cat People. Lastly, Agnes Moorehead is my lone acting mention from The Magnificent Ambersons–  it is in support- but I think Moorehead deserves it.

Simone Simon is otherworldly in Cat People– perfect for what the role calls for

top 10

1. The Magnificent Ambersons
2. Casablanca
3. There Was a Father
4. The Palm Beach Story
5. To Be or Not to Be
6. Cat People
7. Yankee Doodle Dandy
8. Bambi
9. Gentleman Jim
10. Saboteur

Hitchcock sketching for North by Northwest here in Saboteur– another one of his big set piece finales– here, instead of Mount Rushmore- we have the Stature of Liberty

one of the best shots and sequences in the decade for Hitchcock- the factory all shadow shot in Saboteur

Archives, Directors, and Grades

*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film

MS is Must-See- top 5-6 quality of the year film

HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film

R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives