MovieSorter

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Shane
Great 66 Points 1953

“Shane, come back!” could have been a Simon & Garfunkel lyric. Instead, the troubadours chose Joe DiMaggio, another icon of mid-Century American manhood. Yet, Shane endures as a cultural touchstone.

Thousands of baby boomers were christened with his clarion clear name

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WikChip Image Jack Palance: a badass star is born
The Wild One
OK 66 Points 1953

The Wild One is an iconic movie better now as an iconic image and line than a motion picture experience. The image? Marlon Brando as an outlaw biker, inspiring popular culture for the next half-century. The line?

Whattaya got?

You don’t have to be a Jeopardy whiz to k…

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WikChip Image "Whattaya got?"
The Desert Rats
None Yet 0 Points 1953
Hondo
Good 66 Points 1953

John Wayne starring in an Old West fairytale based on a Louis L’Amour story endows Hondo with loads of old fashioned panache, yet saddles it with too many cliches for enduring greatness. That’s in 2D however. Having seen it years ago in 3D, I recall it as being better but still not great.

It…

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WikChip Video The trailer hypes Hondo a bit too much.
White Mane
Great 66 Points 1953

Elemental kid’s movie, just 40 minutes long, thy name is White Mane. It’s from France of all places, with French cowboys. Really. And wild French horses – white horses and white stallions.

White Mane, the leader of a herd of wild Camargues, "was a proud and fearsome horse. All the other h…

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WikChip Image Wild Camargues on the run. Fabuleux!
Singin' in the ...
Perfect 71 Points 1952

Hollywood perfection, thy name is Singin’ in the Rain.

Forget the singing, forget the dancing, see it for the sparkling comedy. It’s simply studded with LOLs.

Though many of us have seen outtakes, especially Gene Kelly’s Singing’ in the Rain number, every movie fan should see the entir…

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WikChip Video Dancing with the Stars? Stars dancing.
High Noon
Great 66 Points 1952

Gary Cooper walking alone down a dusty Western street to confront a gang of killers is as iconic as Hollywood gets, making High Noon an archetype even more than a legend. That’s quite a weight.

Fortunately the movie itself is engaging, suspenseful and tight. A mere 85 minutes, it runs in ne…

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WikChip Video High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My D...
The African Queen
Really Great 66 Points 1951

Grownup romances don’t get better than this, with Bogie and the Great Kate as middle-aged fogies surmounting countless obstacles on their way to love and glory. Long celebrated as one of the all-time greats, The African Queen is less well known than Casablanca_…

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WikChip Image Two adults seizing the day: Bogie & Kate
The Desert Fox:...
Really Great 66 Points 1951

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel – the Desert Fox – was Nazi Germany’s national hero, their military icon. Hitler needed him, couldn’t kill him, so he had Rommel kill himself. Absolute evil, thy name is Hitler.

That and more make The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel a touchstone World War II movi…

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WikChip Video Start with the end: Churchill on Rommel
The House on Te...
OK 66 Points 1951

The House on Telegraph Hill is a triumph of art direction. That’s good. It’s also unintentionally campy. That’s bad. The result is a just OK movie, yet one that belongs in the San Francisco Cinema Hall of Fame.

The views are marvelous. And the views are the thing with San Francisco real…

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WikChip Image Grt Views, Lrg House, fake Telegraph ...