by Chris Marshall:
But what about the movies themselves? There were pros and cons to the 1940s. On one hand, there wasn’t a Great Ziegfeld moment where I absolutely hated the movie and couldn’t wait for it to be over. On the other hand, only two of the films seemed truly great. Granted, Casablanca is one of the greatest movies ever made, regardless of decade, so I should be grateful that was one of them.
Without further ado, my rankings for the 1940s:
See what I mean? If you’ve been reading every post, as I know you have, you’ll remember that I didn’t say anything particularly negative about any of those movies. The worst comment I made about Mrs. Miniver was that it was forgettable (true enough), but I have no animosity toward it. I don’t regret the time we spent together.
But why is that the case? I’m not particularly hard to please. If these truly are the best pictures of the 1940s, then that certainly doesn’t speak too well about the decade as a whole. And if they aren’t, well, why did they win? These are rhetorical questions, of course. I understand that all kind of studio politicking went into these decisions, but it’s sometimes disheartening to think about the highest award in the industry going to such bland films.
At the same time, it’s still fascinating to see the evolution that occurred over the 22 years since Wings took home the first Best Picture Oscar. Even a high quality movie such as It Happened One Night seems so crude in many ways. Every now and then I still see a weird cut or something, but on the whole, production values are miles ahead of where they were in the early 1930s.
I’m also realizing that, as I enter the 1950s, it’s almost time to say goodbye to the black and white era. 22 of the first 23 winners were black and white (Gone with the Wind being the lone exception), but half of the winners in the 1950s are in color, and 1960’s The Apartment would be the last true black and white Best Picture winner until this year’s The Artist. The age of glorious Technicolor is upon me.
 |
| Look at all the pretty colors! |
Not that I really care one way or the other, but the sudden arrival of color is a stark reminder of how far I’ve come. Because talkies appeared so soon after the Oscars were established, it didn’t have anywhere near the same effect; Wings felt more like an aberration than The Broadway Melody did. I guess the next major milestone will be the end of the Hays Code era in 1968. I can’t wait, because that’s also the last time a musical will win until 2002. Whew.
I do these interludes for two reasons: to buy myself more time to actually watch the movies and to slow down and reflect on what I’ve seen. Again, I thought the 1940s were fine, but I seriously hope I begin to see less “good” and more “great.” Is that so much to ask?
No comments:
Post a Comment