Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

James Dean stars as Jim Starks, a teenager who has just moved into town and is already getting into trouble. Jim is a rebellious young man, although he is really a good kid. He is just starved for discipline. His father, played by Jim Backus, is a bit of a wimp and doesn't stand up for himself or anyone else and this upsets Jim greatly. Jim is a man who stands for honor and believes you have to stand up for yourself no matter what, and is really quite ashamed of his dad. On his first day of school in this new town, Jim meets Judy (Natalie Wood), a very popular girl who hangs with the rough kids. Although Jim immediately seems taken by Judy, she as well as her friends sees him more as a "disease". It is not until after a fight with a boy named Buzz, and a run of "chiky" (where two cars speed towards a cliff and the drivers jump out), which goes awry and kills Buzz, that he gains her affection. There is also Plato (Sal Mineo), an effeminate yet seemingly mentally unstable boy, who quickly befriends Jim. Plato really sees Jim as a father figure, and becomes completely dependant on him for approval, and when he thinks Jim has deserted him it really sends him off the deep end. The entire film takes place in one day, from the first meeting, to the accident, to Jim, Judy and Plato running from Buzz's friends who want to severely beat Jim to keep him from going to the police. My only problem with the film is that it seems Judy, who was Buzz's best girl, gets over Buzz's death within a matter of hours and I found that to be quite unrealistic. James Dean and Natalie Wood give great performances, and the direction is really good in this classic story. You should definitely put Rebel Without a Cause on your list. Overall 3.5/4 Stars Grade = B+

The Nightcomers (1972)

I wasn't particularly impressed with Michael Winner's The Nightcomers, a prequel to The Turn of the Screw, although I can't say I was terribly surprised as I went in expecting a very mediocre film and I got a very mediocre film. The story is about a pair of very wealthy orphans named Flora and Miles who live in a large mansion somewhere in England. The children are cared for by the cook and maid Mrs. Grose (Thora Hird), their nanny Miss Jessel (Stephanie Beacham) as well as Peter Quint, the gardener (Marlon Brando). The children seem to be normal kids, they enjoy the normal things that eleven year olds do, and they are very fond of Quint. They spend much of their day hanging around Quint who tells them stories and teaches them the way of the world as he sees it, which is not always correct but the children believe anything he says. Quint and Miss Jessel in the meantime are having a sadomasochistic relationship, but all the children know is that they love each other. Miles is very curious about sex, but doesn't understand anything about it, and being that it is 1901 no one is willing to explain it to him, so he spies on Quint and Miss Jessel while they explore each other in very unconventional ways. Miles will then go and mimic these actions with his sister. Mrs. Grose is aware of this relationship between Quint and Miss Jessel, and does not approve. One day Miss Jessel and Mrs. Grose hear struggling and screaming from the children, and go to investigate and discover them mimicing in a very dangerous manner one of the encounters they had witnessed between Miss Jessel and Quint. This of course forces Mrs. Grose to fire Miss Jessel, which upsets the children greatly and that's when the story gets disturbing. I can't say I would recommend The Nightcomers, or anything else by Michael Winner for that matter as this is my second Winner film and I have come to discover he is a very sub-par director. The acting is also very poor, especially by Thora Hird and the children. Not worth your time. Overall 1.5/4 Stars Grade = C-

This Property Is Condemned (1966)

At first while I was watching This Property Is Condemned I kept thinking, "wow, this is a really underrated film", but once I saw the ending I understood why it isn't talked about anymore. Natalie Wood is at her best, both aesthetically and with her performance, portraying Alva Starr a young woman in a small Southern town during the depression. Alva lives with her mother and sister in a boarding house they run for all the railroad people that come and go. As Willy, Alva's sister portrayed by Mary Badham would put it "Alva is the main attraction". Because of her beauty, and seeming overall love of life, Alva is lusted after by each and every one of the railroad workers including her mother’s beau. Alva's mother also notices how then men lust after her and is constantly whoring her out to a rich man from Chicago so that she can further herself in life. Alva seems both aware of this and in denial at the same time. One day a man named Owen Legate (Robert Redford) comes to town. Owen is a man who works for the railroad and his job is to figure out who is to be laid off. Alva is immediately attracted to Owen, but he doesn't seem interested in her at all and his "smart alec" attitude seems to enrage her and at the same time multiply her attraction. Eventually, after a big argument about what it is he is doing in town with the layoffs, they end up sleeping with each other and falling in love. The characters are fantastic, and Natalie Wood and Robert Redford put in incredible performances. As I mentioned earlier, this film is great up until the end. They seem to just cut off the main story, and go back to the narrative taking place a few years in the future to tell you what happened. If they had taken the time to go a little further and actually show you, it would have been much more powerful and possibly even become a tear-jerker. If the ending had been done correctly this would have been a four star film. Overall 3.0/4 Stars Grade = B+

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

John Huston's The Maltese Falcon is one of the greatest film noirs of all time. The legendary Humphrey Bogart stars as Sam Spade, a private detective who has just been hired by Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor), under the false name Wonderly, to tail a man named Floyd Thursby who she claims is running away with her sister. Spade's partner Miles Archer goes on the job, and is murdered, presumably by Thursby. Spade is informed of his partner’s death, and goes down to see the body and shortly afterwards Thursby turns up dead. Spade is obviously the top suspect in the case, so he has detectives showing up at his place at all hours throughout the film. Not long after this, a man named Joel Cairo (played by Peter Lorre) comes into the picture. Cairo is willing to pay Spade $5,000 if he is to come up with an enamel falcon which Cairo claims Miss O'Shaughnessy is in possession of. The film continues on with a lot of great twists and turns in one of the most classic stories of all time. Huston's direction is superb, and I don't think I need to tell you how great Bogart and Lorre are as that is a given, but the rest of the cast is quite good as well. The script is absolutely fantastic and has given us such classic lines as "When you're slapped you'll take it and like it", and "The stuff dreams are made of". Definitely one of the best film noirs, a must see for any film fan. Overall 4.0/4 Stars Grade = A

The Red Desert (1964)

Michelangelo Antonioni's The Red Desert is a very good, yet very deep and complicated film. Monica Vitti plays Giuliana, a severely depressed and co-dependant wife of a factory owner whose plant pollutes the air and rapes the land. Giuliana tries her best to keep her mental illness secret from her husband Ugo, played by Carlo Chionetti, and does so by leading him to believe it is just side effects from an automobile accident in which she suffered severe shock. One day while visiting her husband at the plant with their son she meets Corrado (Richard Harris), one of Ugo's business partners. Corrado is immediately taken by the lovely Giuliana, and sets his mind to wooing her. Throughout the film Giuliana's mental condition seems to deteriorate more and more, and when Ugo leaves for South America and her son fakes Polio to get out of going to Kindergarten it pushes her over the edge which sends her running into the arms of Corrado who is just dying to take advantage of her. Antonioni's direction is outstanding and some of the cinematography is just mind-blowing. Vitti gives an outstanding performance; Harris and Chionetti are also quite good. Worth watching, but pay close attention or you will be lost faster than you can say Antonioni. Overall 3.0/4 Stars Grade = B

Father of the Bride (1950)

Father of the Bride is a good film, however it is certainly not Spencer Tracy nor Elizabeth Taylor's best. Tracy plays Stanley Banks, a middle class lawyer with three children. Elizabeth Taylor is his twenty-year-old daughter Kay. Upon arriving home from work one evening, Stanley notices that his daughter seems to be glowing from the inside with happiness. At the dinner table Kay reveals to her father that she is to be married to a gentleman named Buckley Dunston (portrayed by Don Taylor). At first Stanley and his wife (Joan Bennett) are extremely worried about this marriage, with the standard concerns of parents who's daughter is about to be wed, such as finances and whether or not the gentleman is a louse. Upon meeting and getting to know Buckley these fears are alleviated, but new problems are soon to arise. Although both Kay and her father want a small ceremony, it soon comes to fruition that this is not possible. With all the extended family and important business associates the guest list soon reaches nearly 600 people. Throw on top of that all the dresses, tuxedos, rentals, caterers and Stanley has himself a very expensive situation. There ends up being many other problems that arise, and much more drama ensues but as they show you at the beginning everything works out just fine. The script is pretty good, with a lot of great one-liners and there are some good bits of physical comedy from Tracy. All in all it is a good film, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way to see it unless you're a huge Spencer Tracy or Elizabeth Taylor fan. Overall 3.0/4 Stars Grade = B

Notorious (1946)

Notorious is yet another clinic on how to direct a movie by the master Alfred Hitchcock. Although I don't consider Notorious to be one of Hitchcock’s masterpieces, even his lesser films are still extraordinary. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, whose beauty I believe is overrated but acting ability most certainly is not. Ms. Bergman plays Alicia Huberman, the daughter of a German-American found guilty for treason and working with the Nazi government. Alicia does not agree with her father's politics, and the American government is aware of this and sends in T.R. Devlin, played by the masterful Cary Grant, to try and persuade her to come and work for them down in Rio de Janeiro to take down some prominent Nazi leaders who have taken refuge in Brazil. Devlin succeeds in convincing her and they are soon aboard a flight to Brazil. The mission that they will be working on together is still in the developmental stages so the two of them have some free time to get to know each other, and end up falling in love. This, of course, becomes a problem when the mission is revealed to them and involves Alicia's convincing of her father's old friend Alex Sebastian (who has been in love with her for a long time) that she is in love with him. In order for Devlin to deal with this he becomes very brash towards Alicia, which causes her to become very deeply involved in this undercover mission. Notorious is a fantastic film, definitely worth seeing. However it gets off to a rather slow start, but don't be disheartened. Overall 3.5/4 Stars Grade = B+