Quai des orfevres (Jenny Lamour) 1947 - A great comeback for Clouzot

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IMDB rating: 7,6

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Main Cast: Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier, Suzy Delair

"Following a three-year suspension from filmmaking after his Le Corbeau (1943) was judged too critical of his native France, director Henri-Georges Clouzot returned with this thriller that's equal parts crime drama and character study.
Suzy Delair stars as Jenny Lamour, an ambitious music hall singer who wants to be a star and is willing to befriend the lecherous old men who ogle her act, inspiring the jealousy of Jenny's husband Maurice Martineau (Bernard Blier). One particular fan of Jenny's is a wealthy financial backer who extends repeated invitations to the entertainer to join him at fine restaurants and his expansive mansion. Armed with a gun, Maurice goes to the estate to confront his rival one night but discovers that the master of the house is already dead, his wife having smashed a bottle of champagne over his head to stave off a sexual advance. Soon, a gruff but dedicated detective, Inspector Antoine (Louis Jouvet) is on the case, with Maurice taking the heat for Jenny." - www.allmovie.com

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The lady from Shanghai 1947 - The quintessential film noir with stunning visuals

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IMDB rating: 7,7

Director: Orson Welles
Main Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia, Carl Frank

"The Lady From Shanghai, a complex, involving puzzle-within-a-puzzle mystery story, is a showcase for Orson Welles, showing his singular talents and sensibilities as few other films have. The story is superficially simple: a seaman Michael O'Hara (Welles) is hired as a crew member on the yacht of the wealthy Banister (Everett Sloane). His beautiful but mysterious wife Elsa (Rita Hayworth) has met O'Hara earlier, when he saved her from a mugging. What ensues is a complicated and bizarre pattern of deception, fraud and murder, with O'Hara finding himself implicated in a murder, despite his innocence. The film is best remembered for its final sequence when the plot comes to a literally smashing climax in the famous 'hall of mirrors' sequence, with Elsa and Banister shooting it out amidst shards of shattering glass. Orson Welles, who produced, directed, wrote and starred in the film, is sometimes self-indulgent in his use of visual tricks and techniques, which at times sacrifice plot for visual brilliance, but he pulls it together in the end to produce a stunning, difficult film. Rita Hayworth gives one of her best performances as the deceptive, seductive temptress, hard-edged and cynical. The film confounds, unsettles and disorients the viewer, very much as Welles intended to do. While not an easy film, it is well worth the attention required to follow it, and Welles offers no easy solutions or any false happy endings to his tour-de-force mystery." - www.allmovie.com

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Monsieur Verdoux 1947 - Brilliant black comedy with a serious message

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IMDB rating: 8,0

Director: Charles Chaplin
Main Cast: Charles Chaplin, Mady Correll, Marthy Raye

"With his controversial 'comedy of murders' Monsieur Verdoux, Charles Chaplin makes his final, definitive break with the Little Tramp character that had brought him fame and fortune. The story is a darkly disturbing allegory that contrasts the horrific acts of an individual with the horrific acts of society at large. In his own mind, the title character feels that his acts of murder are justified: they are simply a matter of business. As Chaplin's story challenges the conventional view of war as valiant and necessary, there was little chance that American audiences of 1947, still celebrating U.S. victories in World War II, would flock to see the movie. Similarly, Chaplin's visual style here is reminiscent of his fixed location work in the silent era, a style that seemed outmoded and dull to 1947 audiences. The original idea of Monsieur Verdoux originated with Orson Welles, who'd wanted to make a picture about notorious modern 'Bluebeard' Landru. Welles wanted to cast Chaplin in the lead; Chaplin liked the idea, but preferred to direct himself, as he'd been doing since 1914. It is possible that Chaplin might have gotten away with the audacious notion of presenting a cold-blood murderer as a sympathetic, almost lovable figure. Alas, Monsieur Verdoux was released at a time when Chaplin was under a political cloud for his allegedly Communistic philosophy; too, it came out shortly after a well-publicized paternity suit involving Chaplin and Joan Barry. Picketed in several communities, banned outright in others, Monsieur Verdoux was Chaplin's first financial flop. Today, it can be seen to be years ahead of its time in terms of concept, even though the execution is old-fashioned and occasionally wearisome. Monsieur Verdoux doesn't always hit the bull's-eye, but it remains one of Charles Chaplin's most fascinating projects." - www.allmovie.com

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Body and soul 1947 - One of the greatest boxing movies of all time

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IMDB rating: 7,8

Director: Robert Rossen
Main Cast: John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere, William Conrad

"This riveting 1947 drama, regarded by many as the greatest boxing movie of all time, centers on a former pugilist who looks back on his life in and out of the ring and realizes that self-respect is a more important prize than winning. John Garfield is Charlie Davis, a former boxing champion who began fighting in order to save himself and his mother from poverty after his father was killed in a mob-related bombing. William Conrad plays Quinn, a veteran boxer-turned-trainer who discovers that Davis has the potential to be a professional fighter. Eager to take on all contenders, Davis eventually defeats the world champion, but winning has cost him more than he bargained for. He falls in with the mob and takes to a life of easy women and plentiful booze, winning easy bouts with second-rate opponents. In the end, Davis realizes the error of his ways - but is it too late? With all the odds against him, and knowing that the fight has already been fixed, Davis is forced to make the choice between what's expected of him and what he expects of himself.
 Body and Soul benefits from a riveting screenplay by Abraham Polonsky, intense editing from Francis D. Lyon and Robert Parrish, and innovative cinematography by the legendary James Wong Howe. Tying all of these elements together is director Robert Rossen, who coaxes a superb performance from John Garfield as the troubled boxer Charlie Davis. Rossen would explore similar themes of redemption in sports and gambling in 1961's The Hustler. Howe's tight shot composition would influence similar classics over the years, most notably Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull." - www.allmovie.com

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Miracle on 34th Street 1947 - Modern story of Jesus Christ with a happy ending

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IMDB rating: 7,9

Director: George Seaton
Main Cast: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood

"Miracle on 34th Street has been a favorite holiday movie since its release in 1947, that retells the New Testament's story of the life of Jesus Christ. It was done so subtly - as opposed to, say, Frank Capra's more obvious retelling in Meet John Doe - that it was scarcely noticed by most viewers. The movie was set in New York City in 1947 and utilized a large amount of location shooting (courtesy of Fox's Movietone News Studios, located in Manhattan) to give it a realistic texture; while screenwriter Valentine Davies' original story seems, superficially, to be the height of whimsy, about Santa Claus's appearance in the midst of that realistic setting, it becomes clear on closer examination that Davies borrowed liberally from the New Testament. Edmund Gwenn's Kris Kringle is almost more a substitute for Jesus than a screen-bound Santa. He enters a big city with his message of generosity and foresaking commercialism; he meets some doubters and some interested onlookers, and soon they're listening to him and starting to believe in him. Then he's betrayed and put on trial, not for his life but for his identity: he must prove he is who he says he is, or be imprisoned and labeled a madman and a pretender. However, the film adds a happy ending, reflecting a postwar feeling of confidence and helping to ensure its endurance across the decades. 72-year-old Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his portrayal of the 'jolly old elf' Kringle; the rest of the cast is populated by such never-fail pros as Gene Lockhart (as the beleaguered sanity-hearing judge), William Frawley (as a crafty political boss), and an unbilled Thelma Ritter and Jack Albertson. Based on the novel by Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street was remade twice: once for TV in 1973, and a second time for a 1994 theatrical release, with Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle. " - www.allmovie.com

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Out of the past 1947 - The definitive example of the noir genre

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IMDB rating: 8,1

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Main Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming

"With its doomed anti-hero, conniving villain, sardonic script, moody black-and-white photography, and icy femme fatale, Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past is essential film noir. Opening in an idyllic small town, the movie literalizes down-and-out detective Jeff Bailey's confrontation with his past through an extended flashback depicting his moral downfall. Jeff's past exists in cities and exotic hideouts swathed in expressionistic shadows; Kathie (Jane Greer) may first appear as a beautiful vision in white, but, as she steps through a darkened doorway, momentarily blacking out her face, Jeff knows she's bad news. The past becomes the present as Jeff is inexorably drawn into a violent series of double-crossings that exemplify the noir universe's tangled amorality. The bad may be punished, but Out of the Past's downbeat ending draws the ultra-pessimistic conclusion that past mistakes are impossible to overcome, and redemption is not available even to those who want it. Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas were praised for their early starring turns as Jeff and Whit, as was Jane Greer for her lethal femme fatale. The film was remade in 1984 as Against All Odds." - www.allmovie.com

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