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The dark movie about "blast" is against the entire spirit of Christmas which is LOVE. God gave hope to the world when he loved the world enough to send Jesus to save us from our sin.

thank you for doing this!!!! I love christmas movies each year. Its a wonderful life is the best next to the Nativity bible stories in animation.

Loved this post, so forgive my long comment! So happy to see you rave about "The Shop Around the Corner" and James Stewart's terrific work therein. It's my favorite Christmas movie and Stewart performance (some hold the idea Stewart won the 1940 Best Actor Oscar for "Philadelphia Story" because he lost the previous year for "Mr. Smith." However, he also made "Shop" in 1940, which IMO is definitely Oscar-worthy- Stewart did at least get mentioned by the National Board of Review for "Shop"). The whole cast is great, with Margaret Sullavan equal to Stewart. "Remember the Night" is also wonderful, deftly mixing comedy, romance and drama. Ditto 1949's "Holiday Affair," with Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum ideal together, forming an interesting love triangle with the also-good Wendell Corey. I've written about "Shop," "Remember" and "Holiday" on my blog, and I just posted on "Meet Me in St. Louis" today to celebrate its 80th Anniversary this year. Along with any comic relief she provides, I think Margaret O'Brien is extremely compelling dramatically in "Meet Me," specifically in the Halloween sequence, then later in her big emotional moment with Garland among the snow people. Haven't see "Blast of Silence" yet, but it shows in the L.A. area sometimes, so I'll have to prioritize it now. For X-mas viewing suggestions, "The Thin Man" takes place around Christmas, "We're No Angels" is an enjoyable dark comedy with Bogart, "Bell, Book and Candle" is bewitching enough and 1947's "It Happened on 5th Avenue" is also worth a look as a Christmas sleeper.

I looked up the set and saw that it lacks Broadway Bill and it's remake Riding High. I'm guessing its has something to do with the remake being Paramount. Perhaps they had to buy the rights to Broadway Bill to remake it.

You should watch: You can't take it with you, Mr. Deeds, Mr. Smith. Those are his best movies from this set. But his best one is It's a wonderful life

I adore the book. The movie(s) is/are OK.

Did you notice that Patricia Arquette had the same hairstyle in Lost Highway ? Probably an homage.

You forgot Children of Paradise, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Last Year at Marienbad, Vivre sa vie, Elevator to the Gallows, and a bunch of others.

Great to see you guys cover this one. Already have ordered the 4K (should show up on Sunday). Not my favorite Christmas movie but a pleasant enough watch, and I'm looking forward to seeing the first VistaVision movie and, as you guys mention, the biggest smash of 70 years ago at its best.

EPIC

Love this style of video 🎬

Frank Capra is proof that Auteur theory is a lot of nonsense. Without the writing of Robert Riskin and Jo Swerling he would never have gotten anywhere. Although to be fair no one did as much with their writing as he did. I've not seen the first three or Rain or Shine. You're probably going to ignore my advice bit I say skip the military buddy movies. Ralph Graves is a block of wood. Forbiden and The Bitter Tea..should be low priority. Even Barbara Stanwyck couldn't save them. Why isn't Broadway Bill part of this collection? I've wanted to see Rain or Shine for a while, just to see something James Gleason wrote. It's a shame that Robert Williams died right after Platinum Blonde. He would have been a great Peter Warne. I'm definitely going to have my eyes open in the thrift stores and torrent sites for this.

He should be right up my alley, but weirdly I never could get into Frank Capra. From the films I saw, I liked It Happened One Night the most. And if you haven't seen it, you should definitely check out Arsenic and Old Lace. But Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life? Those were really groaners for me.

Love unboxing videos and 4K/Blu-ray reviews, so it's very cool to see this, thanks! With the Criterion sale last month, current Kino Lorber sale, and a few Amazon 4K purchases during Cyber Monday, I passed on the Capra set to try to stay within some kind of budget, so I have to be jealous of Harry right now- so much for him to view in that packed set! Great to see the package in detail for the first time (including the individual cases for each title), which I'm now mulling buying next year, thanks to Harry's overview.

I'd also recommend: Passage to Marseille (1944) Dark Passage (1947) The African Queen (1951) The Desperate Hours (1955)

I just watched this for the first time this year. Really enjoyed it. Billy Wilder is a filmmaker I wanted to dive into this year and I've been enjoying his filmography quite a bit. Some Like It Hot and Sunset Blvd are masterpieces!

Apart from Varda's amazing ' Cleo de 5 a 7 ' I was not that interested. Can I suggest twelve ? Louis Malle's ' Le Feu Follet ' and ' Les Amants ' Eric Rohmer and his great span of work. ' Le Rayon Vert ' and ' Le Beau Marriage ' but find all his films. Bunuel's arguably finest films made him almost French. ' Belle de Jour ' with Catherine Deneuve and also with Deneuve ' Tristana. ' Francois Ozon ' Le Temps qui Reste ' and Christophe Honore's ' Les Chansons d'Amour ' ( the French have made great Queer/Gay films NOT to be ignored. ) Jacques Demy's ' ' La Baie des Anges ' with Jeanne Moreau ( along with ' Les Amants ' one of her great films. She is also NOT to be ignored. And finally Camille Vidal-Naquet's ' Sauvage ' ( arguably the most transgressive film in recent years. ) And of course ' Pickpocket ' by Robert Bresson. I put in one extra for luck.

really poor audio; should have checked it before sending it out

Nice review of some key Bogart movies. I'd add "The African Queen," his Oscar role, to his other two nominated performances you mention, "Casablanca" and "The Caine Mutiny," which was a huge hit in 1954, coming in second behind "White Christmas" at the box-office (according to "Variety"). "Beat the Devil," yet another collaboration with John Huston, is an offbeat caper with a great cast (Jennifer Jones, Peter Lorre, Robert Morley and Gina Lollobrigida among them).

good stuff

great episode

Just saw "Rope" with an audience at the Vidiots (not a typo) Theater in Los Angeles. Hadn't seen it in years, and it was interesting to finally watch it with others. Farley Granger actually got the biggest laughs when his character started to really stress out towards the end. I was most impressed by James Stewart's on-point acting in his final speech. It was cool to see "Rope" on the big screen.

Maybe in remembering the book hazily, but I don't remember asking love interest or wife at all. Idk why the film adaptations felt the need to add that

La maman et la putain

Merry Christmas everyone!

Great to see you guys hitting some Christmas movies in your jumpers- looking forward to more this month. Edmund Gwenn's perfection, one of my favorite Supporting Actor winners.

Great to see Italian Neorealism represented here. "Shoeshine" is my favorite De Sica work, with that powerful ending that's hard to forget.

I’m a massive Godard fan. But he is such a pretentious asshole! I cannot stand listening to him, or when he has put his words into a character’s mouth. I find his movies much better with subtitles off (I understand very little French thankfully.) As for what you missed… I’m going to cheat and go to 1973 with “Day for Night.” I know you said pre-1970, but I’d make an exception for one of the greatest films ever made, and it’s about the process of making films so right on target for this channel. Random trivia: Godard hated Day for Night so much he got in an argument with its creator (Truffaut) and never spoke to him again.

First time here, ye popped up on my feed.(well done byw) But really The Turd Man, I know yer Irish and that but...come on The TURD man.🤣

Play time for sure. I don’t think the other Tati films still stand up.

Love that you guys have reviewed, with depth and humor, so many Hitchcock movies. Can't beat that Grant-Bergman-Rains trio here, or Hitchcock clearly having a ball behind the camera with this one.

Another excellent overview. I will always wonder what might have been if the ending hadn't been completely whiffed- I'd guess "Suspicion" would place much higher in Hitchcock's filmography but alas, it wasn't to be. Agree Grant is great in cad mode, and it would've been cool to see him play the all-out villain most of the film suggests he is. Grant had quite a 1941 performance-wise, with his deft work here and his moving, Oscar-nominated portrayal in "Penny Serenade" (side note: I have a tribute video to Grant on my channel if you want to check it out, or view any of the other tribute videos to classic stars and genres I've created over the years). I also thought Fontaine was good; like many, I think she deserved the Oscar for "Rebecca," but I don't begrudge her win here.

Nice to see your first episode. Hitchcock got his American career off to an awesome start with this gothic romance, which holds up beautifully, especially Joan Fontaine's compelling performance, one of my favorites.

Great take on an intriguing film, guys! Not among my favorites in Hitchcock's oeuvre, but you've got to hand it to him for continuing to challenge himself directorially.

Another great overview- love how into the classics you both are; a rare team on RUclips, for sure. Recently did a write-up for my blog (to post next year) on this one. Curtis (maybe his career best dramatic work, with an incredible run to follow right after this, including "The Vikings," "The Defiant Ones," "Some Like it Hot," "Operation Petticoat" and "Spartacus") and Lancaster are amazing, working with some of the best dialogue ever. It's great how director Mackendrick, cinematographer James Wong Howe and Elmer Bernstein's score (with the Chino Hamilton Quintet assist) brilliantly capture the wonderful seediness of late-night/early morning NYC of the period. "Trapeze" is also a great Curtis/Lancaster pairing, with the equally impressive Gina Lollobrigida.

My favorite noir is double indemnity. What do you guys think should be my number two- the third man or touch of evil? Also- another fantastic episode guys. Keep up the good work. I look forward to these every week

As a "Psycho" completist, I was one of the fools who paid money to see the VVP version. I just shake my head when I see (the very few) people online trying put an angle on VVP as a better movie in any way.

Lists of Films Noir do tend to omit candidates from non-US countries. There are plenty of brilliant examples so creators of these lists should do one of films from other places. It was good to see The Third Man included here as it is often omitted because it’s British. The term Film Noir was brought into use by the French (the Nouvelle Vague, in fact, and was the used retrospectively). It’s often termed a genre, but it has very few discernible characteristics in the way others have. If you refer to Westerns or Musicals, for example, they can be clearly and definitively recognised. Noir is really much more of a style, as its constituents are otherwise much more varied and differing. German Expressionism was its source (all the European directors escaping the Nazis carried their techniques to the US), but it can be tricky to differentiate it from Crime films or gangster films. Hitchcock was working in Germany for several years before he created his first ‘Hitchcockian’ film, The Lodger’. It’s a moot point as to whether he ever made a noir film in his career, however.

Peerless direction, stars and script add up to one of the great classic films. Wrote about this one recently on my blog after seeing the 4K Criterion, and it remains a riveting watch regardless of multiple viewings. I second the shout out to the "Stalag 17" video, one of my favorites that you've done.

Great overview; loved you mention the Billboard chart performance of the theme song- definitely one of the biggest hits of the era. Visited beautiful Vienna several years ago, and highlights were going on the wheel and seeing "The Third Man" at an old theater in the city.

La Piscine with Alain Delon is good too. It’s not as good as Plein Soleil, but still good.

For an alternative opinion, my review of a few years ago " Saw THE THIRD MAN yesterday for only the second time. Last viewing was maybe 35 years ago. For those of you who have not seen the film here is Wiki's synopsis--" The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. The film is set in post-World War II Vienna. It centers on Holly Martins (Cotten) an American who is given a job in Vienna by his friend Harry Lime (Welles) but when Holly arrives in Vienna he gets the news that Lime is dead. Martins then meets with Lime's acquaintances in an attempt to investigate what he considers a suspicious death. This is quite a famous film and has received many accolades, including in 1999, the British Film Institute voting The Third Man the greatest British film of all time. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw it ranked the second best British movie ever. On this film noir site it is almost universally praised. There's no denying the film takes you on an unforgettable trip. The Green story is complex, really making one think about the three main characters. Where do our sympathies lay--with any of them, or none? The acting is uniformly excellent and the dialog is very well written. High contrast cinematography by Robert Krasker on location in post war Vienna is outstanding, with of close-ups, mysterious glistening streets, ubiquitous shadows and intricate sewer labyrinths. This brings me to the two problematic issues. The direction and the soundtrack. IMO the distorted Dutch angle compositions are overdone. I realize they give emphasis to a cynical, uneasy post war Vienna, but when there's so many they lose their potency. IMO Welles handled these off kilter camera angles to better advantage than Reed, whom I think was obviously influenced by Orson. And yet there's no denying that The Third Man is a visual treat. The music. Aaah....the famous zither soundtrack by Anton Karas which eventually became a best seller in both England and America. It is certainly an attention grabber in the film, too much so. It is disconcerting at times and way too protruding in two instances when the volume is jacked up. And yet, when the music returns in the truly wonderful last scene, it sounds just about perfect. (And thank heaven Greene relented to Reed and didn't use his preferred happy ending) Don't get me wrong. There is an unmistakable director's stamp on this movie and that I'm always in favor of. Visually it is striking, but is it everything and the kitchen sink striking? Here is a quote from the legendary American critic Manny Farber. "But it bears the usual foreign trademarks (pretentious camera, motorless design, self-conscious involvement with balloon hawker, prostitute, porter, belly dancer, tramp) over-elaborated to the point of being a monsterpiece. It uses such tiresome symbol-images as a door which swings with an irritating rhythm as though if had a will of its own; a tilted camera that leaves you feeling you have seen the film from a fetal position; fiendish composing in Vuillard’s spotty style, so that the screen crawls with patterns, textures, hulking shapes, a figure becoming less important than the moving ladder of shadow passing over it." All this I agree with to some extent, yet the film still stays in my mind. But will it resonate with me a week, a month or a year from now. That I don't know. It reminds me of when I was a kid playing in arcades. There was a game where you rolled a ball and tried to land it in holes that had different scores. If you got a good score you got coupons that you could redeem for gifts. I remember spending a lot of money to get a lot of coupons and excitedly going to redeem them. I would usually get a lighter or a key chain or something like that. I was very excited. Only later, when I got home I realized that I had probably spent $20 to get something worth $2. It was all the intoxicating excitement of the game as it went down. So for now, a few hours after seeing The Third Man, I've got very mixed feelings"

Quite a list ! 12 films is an excellent starting point. As a French movie maniac I miss films from Marcel Carné : Children of Paradiase, but also “Hôtel du Nord”, “Les Visiteurs du Soir”, “Drôle de Drame”, “Quai des Brumes”, “Le jour se lève”, “Thérèse Raquin”, etc. An essential filmmaker of the 30s and 40s. Jean Cocteau has his place too in your list with “La Belle et la Bête”, “Orphée” (one of my all-time favorite film), “Le testament d’Orphée”, “Le sang d’un poète” and “Les enfants terribles” (directed by Jean-Pierre Melville). Maybe not in a Top12, but I recommend all the films of Julien Duvivier because they are all different. He was a unique director! Finally, try to see some Eric Rohmer’s films and keep on enjoying French movies!

... And the Swiss don't get tired of pointing out that the cuckoo clock was not actually invented in Switzerland but in Germany. I love this film so much.

Any list of French films limited to 12 (even only one per director) is vastly underselling French contribution to Film. Renoir alone has such a range of styles and plots as to be ridiculous. The great Jean Vigo is missed entirely here; L’Atalante is a wonderful film. Imagine if he’d not died so young… Marcel Pagnol is another early pioneer. Duvivier as well. Jean Cocteau’s Orphée is just genius (as is La Belle et Le Bête). Dreyer’s Jeanne d’Arc is a good film, but I find it too monotone for my liking. Long shots of her with a tear on her cheek or looking soulfully to the heavens are not riveting to me. There are many other great films to mention, but it would take a long time to write and read. I love Jeunette’s work, particularly Amelie, which was very popular but seems to have been forgotten. You mention most of the New Wave directors of note and other greats like Melville and Clouseau. Leos Carax is another modern director worth catching up with. Whilst Kieslowski was Polish and started out there, his later, big films were made in France often with French performers, so I’ve often thought it moot as to how we might designate them. As I say there are many, many great French films. For me they are the single greatest nation in film history. Hollywood may get many plaudits, but they rose on the back of European filmmakers and an industrial view of the business.