my favorite movies of 1953:
(4) Stalag 17
(5) Niagara
(7) The Big Heat
favorite of 1953:
Summer with Monika[Swedish: Sommaren med Monika] (Harriet Andersson, Lars Ekborg. Directed by Ingmar Bergman.)
Young fools lovers endeavor to go off the grid.
Criterion’s essay on the movie analyzes this wordless but striking scene:
Monika [Harriet Andersson] sits in a café … and, as music rises from the jukebox, turns to stare — in a very long take — directly into the camera. Her open but defiant gaze anticipates the more reflexive distancing devices of Bergman’s films of the sixties, such as Persona (1966), where the female point of view is also central. … The static shot of Monika’s face is scandalously close up, and she looks steadfastly at us, breaking the cinematic illusion, as the screen darkens around her. Such a shot has rarely been seen in cinema, and it was practically unheard-of at the time. Film critic Robin Wood described this moment as almost the only departure from the film’s strict naturalism. Monika’s returning our gaze distances us from the fiction. It also says, “Look at me and judge me if you dare.” … We may remember that Monika’s vision of escape is motivated by her love of the cinema. … Near the beginning of the film, returning from a night out at the movies with Harry [Lars Ekborg], Monika looks longingly at a blouse in a shop window, after fantasizing about the elegant lives of the movie stars. Her command “You may kiss me now, Harry” echoes words from the film they have just seen. As she says this, the close-up of her brightly lit face against the dark background is similar to the moment in the café when she stares into the camera. She has taken a puff from her cigarette like the star did in the movie she saw with Harry. …In short, it’s a movie about people who want their lives to be like a movie.
Stream Summer with Monika on the Criterion Channel (with bonus features) or Kanopy. If you don’t subscribe to the Criterion Channel, try a free 14-day trial. If you want to own it, you could buy Criterion’s set of 39 Bergman movies in the Barnes & Noble 50% off sale on all Criterion movies, which happens every July and November. I have the set — an amazing deal at less than $4 per blu-ray. (Amazon often lowers its prices at the same time.)
2nd favorite of 1953:
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes(Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn. Directed by Howard Hawks.)
After watching this musical comedy for the first time, a Bust writer said: “To my pleasant shock, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is wildly feminist. …”
This movie launched Marilyn Monroe into superstardom. She was billed second, after Jane Russell, but that’s hard to believe when you watch Monroe’s signature song:
Stream Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on these sites.
3rd favorite of 1953:
(Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine. Directed by Fred Zinnemann.)
On an Army base in Hawaii in 1941 before the US has entered World War II, soldiers struggle with their own character flaws, with the military, and with women. What’s happening in the characters’ lives and minds in this ensemble drama is even more gripping than the looming attack on Pearl Harbor.
From Here to Eternity won a staggering 8 Oscars, including best picture, director, screenplay, supporting actress (Donna Reed), supporting actor (Frank Sinatra), and black and white cinematography. It also might have won best actor if only the vote hadn’t been split by nominations for the movie’s two leading men, Montgomery Clift and Burt Lancaster.
The movie’s most famous scene is the one with Deborah Kerr (who was nominated for best actress) and Burt Lancaster making out on the beach — tame by our standards, but radical for 1953. Of course, From Here to Eternity is much more than that brief scene, which is why I chose the above photo with different actors, Donna Reed and Montgomery Clift. I found them the most interesting people in the movie — and I deliberately put her name first! It’s hard to believe you’re watching the same Donna Reed who played Mary Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life (one of my favorite moves of 1946).
What’s so great about From Here to Eternity? This video explains (with spoilers):
The video concludes: “It’s one of the unsung classics that demonstrates the real power of films from the Golden Age. When you watch it, you can see why this period was called that.”
Stream From Here to Eternity on Max (leaving after December 2023) or these sites.
4th favorite of 1953:
(William Holden, Sig Ruman, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Peter Graves. Directed by Billy Wilder.)
In a German POW camp called Stalag 17, the American prisoners in one compound can’t pull off an escape until they figure out who among them has been betraying the other men by tipping off their German captors.
Most movies are shot out of order to be more convenient and save money, but Stalag 17 was shot in the same order we see it. Director Billy Wilder made that unusual choice so that the actors, who didn’t get to see the whole script at first, would be unaware of who in the POW compound was double-crossing the others until the scenes where we in the audience find out.
William Holden (the one talking in the photo above) won the Oscar for Best Actor for playing J.J. Sefton, whom the other men in the barracks suspect of being the “stoolie” because of his penchant for making trades with the Germans.
Billy Wilder loved to keep things fun and unpredictable by mixing humor into dead-serious subject matter. So Stalag 17 is a dramedy, and this clip gives a taste of the comedy side:
Stream Stalag 17 on Tubi (free with ads), the Roku Channel (free with ads), Kanopy, or these sites.
5th favorite of 1953:
(Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters. Directed by Henry Hathaway.)
Niagara is a rarity in a couple of ways: a film noir in color back in the ’50s, and Marilyn Monroe as a calculating femme fatale.
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Stream Niagara on Plex (free with ads) or these sites.
6th favorite of 1953:
(Harriet Andersson, Åke Grönberg, Hasse Ekman, Gunnar Björnstrand. Directed by Ingmar Bergman.)
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Sawdust and Tinsel is an early example of Ingmar Bergman’s fascination with a theme he’d keep returning to in later movies: humiliation.
The ringleader of a circus (Åke Grönberg) and his mistress (Harriet Andersson) are dissatisfied with their lives in the circus, and with each other.
After the circus has a setback, the two of them go to a theater and beg its director (Gunnar Björnstrand) for aid, while both overdressed in their classiest attire. The director lashes out at the couple in front of actors who are in the middle of a rehearsal; when the ringleader asks why he’s being so insulting, the director’s answer encapsulates the movie’s themes of humiliation, contempt, and dominance:
This video gives an insightful analysis of Sawdust and Tinsel (from Learning About Movies, a YouTube channel by Dr. Josh Matthews). He says to watch for these contrasts when you watch the movie: appearance vs. reality, dynamic vs. static, high art vs. low art, art vs. the state, male vs. female, boss vs. clown, humans vs. animals, work vs. leisure, and glamour vs. humiliation.
Stream Sawdust and Tinsel on the Criterion Channel (with extras including commentary), Max, or these sites. If you don’t subscribe to the Criterion Channel, try a free 14-day trial.
7th favorite of 1953:
The Big Heat(Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin, Jocelyn Brando. Directed by Fritz Lang.)At first I wasn’t sure what to make of this film noir with numerous characters and an elaborate plot. Ebert’s review crystallized it for me: “[Fritz Lang] tells the story of a heroic cop [Glenn Ford], while using it to mask another story, so much darker, beneath. …”
Gloria Grahame is the standout, and she has the best line:
Stream The Big Heat on Mubi or these sites.
Click here for the full list of my favorite movie(s) of each year from 1920 to 2020.
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