Is 1939 overrated? What are some other classic years? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

The High And The Mighty is a very influential film. It paved the way for the likes of Airport, The Crowded Sky, Zero Hour, Skyjacked etc. and eventually Airplane! It's the granddaddy of disaster in the air flicks and a film that started a genre is not to be so easily dismissed! As for Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, if you like corn on celluloid, more power to you. I prefer mine on the cob! I leave you with Pauline Kael's quote: "No one else can balance the ups and downs of sentiment and corny humor the way Capra can - but if anyone else should learn to, kill him!"

I remember a little film called Five Came Back that preceded The High and the Mighty. If you have to quote Pauline Kael to defend your opinion then I'll let you have the last word on this matter. I was not a fan of her's as I viewed Kael as a hateful person with some of her reviews!

 

[Edwin-S]

The High And The Mighty is a very influential film. It paved the way for the likes of Airport, The Crowded Sky, Zero Hour, Skyjacked etc. and eventually Airplane! It's the granddaddy of disaster in the air flicks and a film that started a genre is not to be so easily dismissed! As for Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, if you like corn on celluloid, more power to you. I prefer mine on the cob! I leave you with Pauline Kael's quote: "No one else can balance the ups and downs of sentiment and corny humor the way Capra can - but if anyone else should learn to, kill him!"

I'm sure she was a huge fan of It's a Wonderful Life.

 

[SeanSKA]

My favorite film years :

1957, 1962, 1971, 1979

 

[BatKink]

Any year will seem overrated to some. It's all subjective.

1963 is one of my favorite years for films.
Chief among them are:

The Birds
Blood Feast
Bye Bye Birdie
From Russia with Love
The Great Escape
The Haunting
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Ladybug Ladybug *
Love with the Proper Stranger **
The Raven
The Wheeler Dealers
Wives and Lovers *

* To my knowledge, these aren't yet available on either Blu-ray or DVD.
** To my knowledge, this isn't yet available on Blu-ray.

As with all years, 1963 wasn't perfect. This was also the year of McLintock!, which I find loathsome. But overall, I think it was a very strong year with a lot of variety.

The Nutty Professor too!

 

[BatKink]

1994 is pretty spectacular year for movies.

Pulp Fiction
Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump
Ed Wood
Quiz Show
The Lion King
Leon The Professional
Legends of the Fall

 

[Vic Pardo]

The High And The Mighty is a very influential film. It paved the way for the likes of Airport, The Crowded Sky, Zero Hour, Skyjacked etc. and eventually Airplane! It's the granddaddy of disaster in the air flicks and a film that started a genre is not to be so easily dismissed! As for Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, if you like corn on celluloid, more power to you. I prefer mine on the cob! I leave you with Pauline Kael's quote: "No one else can balance the ups and downs of sentiment and corny humor the way Capra can - but if anyone else should learn to, kill him!"

So, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON is "junk," but you love THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, AIRPORT, THE CROWDED SKY and SKYJACKED. Hmmm....

 

[Thomas T]

So, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON is "junk," but you love THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, AIRPORT, THE CROWDED SKY and SKYJACKED. Hmmm....

I carefully re-read my original post to see where it says I love Airport, The Crowded Sky and Skyjacked (why did you leave off Zero Hour?) but I couldn't find it. Perhaps you could point it out to me? Yes I adore The High And The Mighty which I think is a legitimately fine film but the others are unpretentious entertainments which don't try to pass themselves off as important films that are actually about something like the sentimental white bread twaddle of of MSGTW. It's exactly that kind of crap that got us ..... well, if I go any further I'm going into politics which is (justifiably) taboo on this forum so I'll stop.

 

[MartinP.]

1962
[...]

Some time ago, the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles had a film series under the banner
"Hollywood's Greatest Year." This was the year they chose.

 

[Vic Pardo]

I carefully re-read my original post to see where it says I love Airport, The Crowded Sky and Skyjacked (why did you leave off Zero Hour?) but I couldn't find it. Perhaps you could point it out to me? Yes I adore The High And The Mighty which I think is a legitimately fine film but the others are unpretentious entertainments which don't try to pass themselves off as important films that are actually about something like the sentimental white bread twaddle of of MSGTW. It's exactly that kind of crap that got us ..... well, if I go any further I'm going into politics which is (justifiably) taboo on this forum so I'll stop.

I left off ZERO HOUR because it's a genuinely good little movie, tight, concise, dramatic without being stupid and a good deal shorter than the other ones you mentioned. (THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY is almost twice as long!) It also served as the direct inspiration for AIRPLANE!, so it gets props for that. The other films you mentioned are just bloated mediocrities and while I acknowledge that you didn't specifically say you "love" them, I was astounded that you'd compare MR. SMITH unfavorably to any of them, which is what you seemed to be doing. You might not like the ideas in MR. SMITH--and there was plenty of controversy about the film at the time it came out--but at least Mr. Capra had a vision about how American democracy should work and sought to portray his ideas in a bold, cinematic, and compelling fashion that tried to remind people what we would soon be fighting for in the coming war. Was it a tad unrealistic? Sure, like so many Hollywood movies about politics. Was it a bit too idealistic? Sure, but I'll take idealism over the mind-numbing stupidity of THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, which gave me no reason to care about anything happening on the screen and was an absolute chore to sit through--and it's two-and-a-half hours! (Claire Trevor had a few funny moments, though.)

 

[MartinP.]

Near the beginning of this thread someone posted that none of the past thirty years would qualify, so I took that as a challenge to pick one.

I'm picking a year that I enjoyed a great many of the releases:

1997
Boogie Nights
Good Will Hunting
Wag the Dog
Mrs. Brown
Titanic
L.A. Confidential
Gattaca
Men in Black
The Full Monty
The Sweet Hereafter
Air Force One
Face/Off
My Best Friend's Wedding
The Fifth Element
Donnie Brasco
Lost Highway
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
The Cube
As Good as It Gets
Jackie Brown

 

[cadavra]

1933 is my favorite year... King Kong, Duck Soup, Sons of the Desert, 42nd Street, Invisible Man, Kennel Murder Case, International House, Footlght Parade, Dinner at Eight, etc.

I'd put '33 second behind '39. Warner Bros. alone turned out so many masterpieces in that year.

I'd round out my Top Five with 1941, 1959 and 1967.

Mike S.

 

[Thomas T]

I left off ZERO HOUR because it's a genuinely good little movie, tight, concise, dramatic without being stupid and a good deal shorter than the other ones you mentioned. (THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY is almost twice as long!) It also served as the direct inspiration for AIRPLANE!, so it gets props for that. The other films you mentioned are just bloated mediocrities and while I acknowledge that you didn't specifically say you "love" them, I was astounded that you'd compare MR. SMITH unfavorably to any of them, which is what you seemed to be doing. You might not like the ideas in MR. SMITH--and there was plenty of controversy about the film at the time it came out--but at least Mr. Capra had a vision about how American democracy should work and sought to portray his ideas in a bold, cinematic, and compelling fashion that tried to remind people what we would soon be fighting for in the coming war. Was it a tad unrealistic? Sure, like so many Hollywood movies about politics. Was it a bit too idealistic? Sure, but I'll take idealism over the mind-numbing stupidity of THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, which gave me no reason to care about anything happening on the screen and was an absolute chore to sit through--and it's two-and-a-half hours! (Claire Trevor had a few funny moments, though.)

Well, our views are so completely opposite on the two films in contention (THATM and MSGTW) that that there's really no point in discussing them. I feel toward MSGTW exactly how you feel about THATM, "mind numbing stupidity with no reason to care about anything happening on screen and an absolute chore to sit through" Cinematic is the very last word I would apply to the stiff MSGTW and about as bold as a bowl of mashed potatoes. There's a reason Capra's films are referred to by cynics as Capracorn and MSGTW is a prime example (along with abominations like It's A Wonderful Life, Meet John Doe, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town) but I could write paragraphs on why THATM is a superior film but we're not going to change each other's minds and we've (I?) derailed the thread enough. But I do appreciate that you took Zero Hour seriously rather than relegating it to "camp" (whatever that is, I was born deficient of the camp gene). But a final word that should come as no surprise, I infinitely prefer the 1973 musical remake of Lost Horizon to the numbing original. If I'm going to sit through the horrors of Shangri La, let me sing and dance!

 

[Vic Pardo]

Thanks, Mr. T. Agree to disagree.

Getting back to the topic of the thread, I find it intriguing that the three years I've seen the most movies from are 1953, 1967 and 1972. 1967 is one I'm focusing on this year because it was 50 years ago and there were so many different things going on, cinematically, around the world that year. Italian westerns finally getting released in the U.S.; nascent kung fu films being made in Hong Kong (ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN); some great samurai films in Japan (SAMURAI REBELLION, KOJIRO), lots of stuff happening in European arthouse cinema, although my favorite Euro film from that year is probably Jean-Pierre Melville's LE SAMOURAI; Hammer horror and sci-fi in England; and in the U.S., the counterculture penetrating the dying Hollywood studio system with films like Roger Corman's THE TRIP and Mike Nichols' THE GRADUATE edging out Elvis vehicles like CLAMBAKE and EASY COME, EASY GO. THE DIRTY DOZEN, BONNIE AND CLYDE and the "Man with No Name" trilogy all sparked controversy with new, more explicit depictions of violence. Plus: my favorite Bond film came out that year: YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, the film I've probably seen more times than any other.

 

[Claire Panke]

I don't think 1939 is overrated. Besides, that year saw the release of one of my favorite of all time: The Rules of the Game.

I'm not exactly down on 21st century cinema. 2006, for example was a year boasting a very strong group of films and it was just a scant 11 years ago:

Children of Men
Pan's Labyrinth
The Lives of Others
The Return
Volver
United 93
The Proposition
After The Wedding
L'Enfant
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
The Departed
Inside Man
Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story
Brick
Half Nelson
Inland Empire
Casino Royale
The Prestige
The Queen
Once
The Fountain
Through A Scanner Darkly
Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer
Babel (Don't like it, but many did, including Oscar)
Stranger Than Fiction
Old Joy
The Good Shepherd
A Prairie Home Companion
Borat
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Cars
Happy Feet
V for Vendetta
The Last King Of Scotland

 

[Claire Panke]

Since I'm on a roll, I'll also nominate 1974 as a significant year for cinema based on 5 films and 3 directors:

Chinatown
The Conversation
The Godfather Pt2
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles


If you need more than 5:

Swept Away
A Woman Under The Influence
Lacomb, Lucien
The Parallax View
Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
Bring Me The head of Alfredo Garcia
Harry & Tonto
Thieves Like Us
The Taking of Pelham 123
California Splt
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Scenes From A Marriage
Sugarland Express
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
White Dawn

 

[MielR]

Surprised nobody's mentioned 1977:

Star Wars
Close Encounters
Annie Hall
Saturday Night Fever
The Spy Who Loved Me
Smokey and the Bandit

A better question might be which is the worst year??

So far....probably 2017. ;-)

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yesterday, Eddie Muller stated on Noir Alley TCM that 1950 is the greatest year in film history. That's very debatable to say the least, but the following list take from AFI's site has some really excellent to good films on it. Noting the number of film noirs and crime films that came out in 1950, I can see why a film noir expert like Muller would have such a high opinion of 1950. Some of my favorites that might not be classified as good films too are on this list and I kept them on it. Some of these films were definitely filmed in 1949 and probably had a limited release date in late 1949, but AFI has them listed as 1950 films so perhaps they didn't have their general release until 1950. Anyhow, another great year of cinema. My opinion, of course.


All About Eve

All the King's Men

Ambush

American Guerrilla in the Philippines

Annie Get Your Gun

Armored Car Robbery

The Asphalt Jungle

Battleground

The Big Lift

Black Hand

Borderline

Born to Be Bad

The Breaking Point

Bright Leaf

Broken Arrow

Caged

Cheaper by the Dozen

Conspirator

Convicted

D.O.A.

The Damned Don't Cry

Dancing in the Dark

Dark City

Devil's Doorway

Dial 1119

East Side, West Side

Father of the Bride

The File on Thelma Jordon

The Furies

The Glass Menagerie

Gun Crazy

The Gunfighter

Harvey

In a Lonely Place

Joan of Arc

Julius Caesar

King Solomon's Mines

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

A Lady Without Passport

Malaya

The Men

Mister 880

My Foolish Heart

Mystery Street

Night and the City

No Man of Her Own

No Way Out

Outrage

Panic in the Streets

Quicksand

Right Cross

Rio Grande

Rocky Mountain

Samson and Delilah

Sands of Iwo Jima

Second Chance

The Secret Fury

711 Ocean Drive

Shadow on the Wall

Stage Fright

The Sundowners

Sunset Blvd.

The Third Man

Three Came Home

To Please a Lady

Treasure Island

Twelve O'Clock High

Two Flags West

Union Station

Wagon Master

Walk Softly, Stranger

The West Point Story

When Willie Comes Marching Home

Where Danger Lives

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Whirlpool

The White Tower

Winchester '73

Woman on the Run

The Yellow Cab Man

Young Man with a Horn

 

[PMF]

IMHO, the 10 greatest "years" ever put to film are as follows:​

The Best Years of Our Lives
My Favorite Year
The Impossible Years
The Year of Living Dangerously
The Yearling

1492
1776
1900
2001
2010



​

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I don't think 1939 is overrated. Besides, that year saw the release of one of my favorite of all time: The Rules of the Game.

Happy to read that The Rules of the Game is one of their favorite and i still have the Criterion laserdisc released many years ago.

 

[Matt Hough]

Born Yesterday is not on that list and should be. And Summer Stock and Three Little Words deserve just as much a place on the list as Young Man with a Horn. And don't forget about Disney's Cinderella.