BEST FILMS OF 1957
by Mike Lorefice

12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet

****

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3:10 to Yuma
Delmer Daves

***1/2

The Bridge on the River Kwai
David Lean

***

The Cranes Are Flying
Mikheil Kalatozishvili

****

Crime of Passion
Gerd Oswald

***

Decision at Sundown
Budd Boetticher

***1/2

The Enemy Below
Dick Powell

***

A Face in the Crowd
Elia Kazan

****

Forty Guns
Samuel Fuller

***

A King in New York
Charles Chaplin

***

Les Mistons
Francois Truffaut

Romantic and personally honest early Truffaut short actually delves into the psychology of people who are confused about their feelings, and shows how you can accidentally do a bad thing to someone who you admire and find inspiring. A group of mischievous pre-teens just beginning to discover their sexuality are drawn to an attractive young adult woman Bernadette (Bernadette Lafont) without truly comprehending the reasons. Their curiosity tugs at them, and not understanding how to deal with it they begin tracking her and her lover (Gerard Blain). Innocent observation quickly leads to stalking, disturbing, and humiliating the couple. The more the kids are unsuccessful in impressing the woman whose love for her boyfriend is a mystery to them, the more aggressive and rotten they become. Eventually they realize they've done wrong in wanting something she was too old to give them and they were too young to understand, but by then it is too late. They are hurt and embarrassed by their own cruel actions, scarred by painful memories even though the sadness and bitterness they feel obviously can never match hers. The opening scene of a joyful Bernadette riding her bike is a classic of cinematic liberation, the new wave taking to the streets and approximating something like the real experience rather than presenting something so obviously staged and too technically polished. Perhaps in part because Truffaut is so thrilled to be making a film, the joy of the schoolboys is perfectly matched by his own youthful exuberance; the inconsistent and ever changing rhythm is exciting in a way that matches the sad but gleeful subject matter. Truffaut draws inspiration from many classics, but most important is the way he uses Hitchcock; he makes the audience the voyeur in a way that shows you can be doing something you probably shouldn't and still have a clear conscience about it. Truffaut's gift is presenting humanity, and he's at his best when he reminisces. He mixes the playful discovery of youth with the mature admission of guilt; it's like one of those stories you tell your friends about your childhood that you aren't too proud of but you know they'll be entertained by. [9/18/06] ***1/2

Night of the Demon
Jacques Tourneur

***1/2

Paths of Glory
Stanley Kubrick

***1/2

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Run of the Arrow
Samuel Fuller

***1/2

The Seventh Seal
Ingmar Bergman

***1/2

Sweet Smell of Success
Alexander Mackendrick

***

The Tall T
Budd Boetticher

***

The Tin Star
Anthony Mann

Anthony Mann is remembered for making westerns with Jimmy Stewart, but his second best, and certainly one of the greatest westerns ever, is Man of the West with Gary Cooper. My pick for his most underrated also comes after the Stewart period; I never even heard of this gem until I stumbled across it in the library. Anthony Perkins gives an excellent performance as a temporary hoping to be permanent sheriff learning the ropes the hard way, putting up a surly front despite being very timid and lacking in confidence. Henry Fonda is also strong as a sheriff turned bounty hunter, displaying uncharacteristic rough edges and cynicism. It's closest to his performance in John Ford's excellent Fort Apache, though more interesting because the character is less clearly defined and has more shades of gray. Fonda's Morg Hickman is a kind of precursor to Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name character, but he still has values and Fonda was an actor rather than a block. Sergio Leone was less interested in characters and performances than Mann, yet in a sense he took Eastwood and Fonda farther because they didn't exactly have to be redeeming. Mann's interest lies in the conflict between the good and bad sides of Fonda, the noble and the corrupt. As Perkins elicits his help in learning the sheriff job, mainly how to handle people, the goodness in Fonda begins to resurface. Fonda probably becomes too good of a guy as Tin Star progresses, not greedy enough to be a bounty hunter, but sheriff was more his calling with mercenary eventually seeming a more realistic though obviously less honorable profession. Mann's westerns were the least predictable, and Tin Star is no exception. The rivalry between Perkins and Fonda is set up initially, but the film quickly veers from the expected course. Like Mann's greatest film The Naked Spur, he shows there's a lot more to the west than John Ford's desert and dust of Monument Valley. A subtly tense film with characteristic standout photography that always works with the story, replacing words rather than just showing off. [12/27/06] ***1/2

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter
Frank Tashlin

****

Witness for the Prosecution
Billy Wilder

****

The Young Stranger
John Frankenheimer

***