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Citizen Kane
Orson Welles - 1941



"When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane's (Orson Welles) dying words, his investigation gradually reveals the fascinating portrait of a complex man who rose from obscurity to staggering heights. Though Kane's friend and colleague Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten), and his mistress, Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore), shed fragments of light on Kane's life, the reporter fears he may never penetrate the mystery of the elusive man's final word, "Rosebud"." (from Fandango)

Polls of film critics often have this as the greatest film ever made. You have to forget about that and just enjoy it for what it is: a very good film. It's skilfully made and Unlike a lot of films loved by the cognoscenti it's easy to watch. The scene at the end where we discover the identity of Rosebud is stunning and poignant.

Meet Me in St. Louis
Vincente Minnelli - 1944



"Meet Me in St. Louis" is a classic MGM romantic musical comedy that focuses on four sisters (one of whom is the nonpareil Judy Garland) on the cusp of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The film spotlights the sisters' education in the ways of the world, which includes, but isn't limited to, learning about life and love, courtesy of the prototypical boy next door. In the end, love -- accompanied by song, dance and period costumes, all in glorious Technicolor -- conquers all." (from Google)

Light frothy family entertainment (apart from the Halloween sequence where the kiddies turn into fire raising psychos). Nice to look at and it's not a chore to have to listen to Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" but slightly puzzling as to why so many serious critics have it as one of their favourite films. Then again they probably can't understand why I rate "Sex Lives of the Potato Men" so highly.
The late Labour Government Minister and expenses cheat Gerald Kaufman wrote an entire book about this film. I bet it looked good on that eight grand telly bought by the taxpayer.

Nominated for four Oscars and ranked 242 in TSPDT's 1.000 greatest film list.

(This post was last modified: 03-06-2020 21:30 by Dan Volatile.)

Riot in Cell Block 11
Don Siegel - 1954



"As prison riots sweep across America, Cell Block 11 is where the hard-core felons are kept in isolation and treated like animals. When the inevitable violence breaks out, it's led by the psychopathic Dunn and the equally unhinged Carnie. Holding guards hostage, including the brutal Snader, they demand decent living conditions, better food, less brutal guards and educational opportunities." (from Google)

I don't know if it's down to the Hayes Code but the problem with this film is that we don't really see the reasons for the riot. Brutalisation and sadistic guards are not apparent and the only real violence is from the inmates. The Warden is portrayed as hard-nosed but humane and the conditions no worse than the Prestatyn Pontins although without the annual snooker tournament. Having said that it's a better than average B-movie, quite gritty and with an agreeably low key ending.

This was an early film of Don Siegel who is most famous for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Dirty Harry" but the driving force behind it was the producer, the improbably named Walter Wanger who had served time for shooting his wife's fancy man and wanted to draw the world's attention to the state of the nation's prisons.

Quentin Tarantino thinks that this is the greatest prison film ever made.