The Lost Weekend (dir. Billy Wilder, 1945) 4.5/5
Billy Wilder’s brilliant noir, The Lost Weekend, subtly critiques the pressures capitalism places on society with its brutal study of addiction in which an alcoholic writer’s life spirals out of control over the course of a weekend binge.
The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder, 1960) *****
Billy Wilder’s excellent romantic comedy, The Apartment, takes a satirical look at office politics with it’s hilarious story of an office worker quickly working his way up through the company by lending his appartment to a series of philandering bosses.
Some Like It Hot (dir. Billy Wilder, 1959) *****
After accidentally witnessing a mob shooting in 1920s Chicago, musicians Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon go on the run disguised as women in an all girl jazz band in Billy Wilder’s hilariously funny farce.
Top 25 films from the 1950s
Here are numbers 11 to 25 of my favourite films from the 1950s:
11. Early Summer (dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1951)
12. Journey To Italy (dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1954)
13. Hiroshima Mon Amour (dir. Alain Resnais, 1959)
14. The 400 Blows (dir. Francois Truffaut, 1959)
15. Touch Of Evil (dir. Orson Welles, 1958)
16. The World Of Apu (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1959)
17. La Strada (dir. Federico Fellini, 1954)
18. Summer With Monika (dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1953)
19. Sunset Boulevard (dir. Billy Wilder, 1950)
20. Floating Clouds (dir. Mikio Naruse, 1955)
21. The Cranes Are Flying (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)
22. Ashes and Diamonds (dir. Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
23. Francesco Guillare Di Dio (dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1950)
24. Vertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
25. Sansho Dayu (dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
I have now finished watching all the films I own from 1950, so its time for my first end of year list. Here’s my top 3 films from 1950:
#1 Orphee (dir. Jean Cocteau)
#2 Rashomon (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
#3 Sunset Boulevard (dir. Billy Wilder)
Some notable films from 1950 which I want to see but haven’t yet:
All About Eve (dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz), The Asphalt Jungle (dir. John Huston), In A Lonely Place (dir. Nicholas Ray) and The Flowers Of St. Francis (dir. Roberto Rossellini)
Sunset Boulevard (dir. Billy Wilder, 1950) *****
This splendid masterpiece from Billy Wilder looks at Hollywood’s rejection of its silent past, the film follows Norma Desmond, an ageing film star from the silent era, who has descended into madness after her career ended with the start of the talkies, and her relationship with William Holden, a struggling writer who is sucked into her life as a kept man, with horrific results.
