Movies Came Out In (1945)
Winner:
The Lost Weekend – Just watched recently, and this film had to be super edgy for the time. The plot is: desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout. It reminded me a little bit of Nicolas Cage’s Leaving Las Vegas, but set in the 1940’s. The film stars Ronald Reagan’s ex-wife, Jane Wyman, in a pretty convincing role of desperate girlfriend clinging on to anything to try and save the man she loves. I enjoyed this film quite a bit, it moves along at a nice pace and is an easy watch.
Anchors Aweigh – Ok, this was an interesting movie in that I didn’t hate, but I didn’t love it either. I watched recently and the plot is: Two sailors (Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly), one naive, the other experienced in the ways of the world, on liberty in Los Angeles, is the setting for this movie musical. There are a ton of musical numbers in the film, if you took them out, I think the film would be about 40 minutes long (not joking). It’s quite a bit corny in that Gene Kelly’s character is supposed to be this macho ladies man and around his Navy sailor buddies, all he does is sing and dance which doesn’t exactly give off the impression of “tough guy”. The plot is incredibly transparent and you can see what’s coming a mile away, so you have to take the film for what it is: Big name actors in a rom-com-musical which people probably really enjoyed in 1945.
The Bells of St. Mary’s – Just watched recently, and this is a fun little film. Plot is super transparent (At a big city Catholic school, Father O’Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.), but fun nonetheless. Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman are the major stars of the film, and they provide some good back & forth, along with some classic Bing singing.
Mildred Pierce – Watched on TCM. This was a really good film. Good acting, good plot, didn’t drag. I enjoyed it quite a bit, highly recommend watching. A lot of recent films borrow/copy elements of this film in their stories as well. The plot is: A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Spellbound – I really enjoyed this Hitchcock film. Some of the acting (Gregory Peck in particular) was a bit “silly”, but overall I thought it was pretty good. The plot is decent, and the dream sequences designed by Salvador Dali were actually pretty impressive especially given the time period. I would definitely recommend watching this Hitchcock film.
Brian’s Winner:
The Lost Weekend – A great year for films!
#BrianWatchesOscarMovies
#1945
Ceremony Year (1946) – Movies Came Out In (1945)