Top 10 Films of 1949

1. "The Third Man" (Carol Reed, UK)

2. "White Heat" (Raoul Walsh, USA)

3. "The Bicycle Thief" (Vittorio de Sica, Italy)

4. "It's A Great Feeling" (David Butler, USA)

5. "A Letter To Three Wives" (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA)

6. "Gun Crazy" (Joseph H. Lewis, USA)

7. "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" (John Ford, USA)

8. "Kind Hearts And Coronets" (Robert Hamer, UK)

9. "On The Town" (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, USA)

10. "Orphée" (Jean Cocteau, France)

Other great films:

The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr Toad
All The King's Men

Les Amants de Verone (France)

The Barkleys Of Broadway
Battleground
La Beauté du diable (France)
The Big Steal

The Blue Lagoon (UK)

Champion
Le Curé de village (Canada)
D.O.A.

L'Epave (France)

The Fallen Idol (UK)
The Fountainhead

El Gran Calavera (Mexico)
The Heiress

In The Good Old Summertime
I Was A Male War Bride
Jolson Sings Again
Jour de fete (France)
The Last Night (Germany)

Late Spring (Japan)
Love Happy

Madame Bovary

Michurin (Soviet Union)
Mighty Joe Young
Neptune's Daughter

Ohara Shosuke-san (Japan)
Passport To Pimlico (UK)
Prince Of Foxes

Prison (Sweden)
Sands Of Iwo Jima
Skarb (Poland)
So Dear To My Heart
Stray Dog (Japan)
Take Me Out To The Ball Game
That Midnight Kiss

Thirst (Sweden)
Tight Little Island (UK)
Tulsa
Ulica graniczna (Poland)

The Village Revolt (Czechoslovakia)

The Window

Short Top 3:

1. "Pacific 231" (Jean Mitry, France)

2. "Van Gogh" (Alain Resnais, France)

3. "Thorvaldsen" (Carl T. Dreyer, Denmark)

Other great shorts:

Det gror mellom steinene (Norway)

Kitty Clean Up

The Lead Shoes

Mr Frenhofer And The Minotaur

Top Commercial:

"Sugar Crisp" (Sugar Crisp)

Other great commercials:

Doctor's Choice

Cartoon Top 10

1. "Song Of The Prairie" (Jiri Trnka, Czechoslovakia)

2. "The Magic Fluke" (John Hubley, Columbia)

3. "Ragtime Bear" (John Hubley, Columbia)

4. "Winter Storage" (Jack Hannah, Disney)

5. "Little Rural Riding Hood" (Tex Avery, MGM)

6. "Story Of The Bass Cello" (Jiri Trnka, Czechoslovakia)

8. "For Scent-imental Reasons" (Chuck Jones, Warner)

7. "Toy Tinkers" (Jack Hannah, Disney)

9. "Fast And Furry-ous" (Chuck Jones, Warner)

10. Begone Dull Care (Norman McLaren, Evelyn Lambart, Canada)

Other great cartoons:

All In A Nutshell
Bad Luck Blackie
Bad Ol' Putty Tat
Counterfeit Cat
Curtain Razor
Dingbat Land
Doggone Tired
Donald's Happy Birthday
Each Dawn I Crow
Goggle Fishing Bear
Goofy Gymnastics
Grape Nutty
The Grey Hounded Hare
A Ham In A Role
Hare Do
Hatch Up Your Troubles
Heavenly Puss
High Diving Hare
The House Of Tomorrow
The Lion Hunt
Love That Pup
Mississippi Hare
Mouse Mazurka
Often An Orphan
Out-Foxed
Polka Dot Puss
Power Of Thought
Rabbit Hood
The Sailor And The Seagull
Sheep Dog
The Windblown Hare
Wise Quackers

Weak films of 1949:

Adventures Of Don Juan
Beyond The Forest

En reportagefilm om Dansk Rode Kors (Denmark)
Le Gros Bill (Canada)
Un Homme et son peche (Canada)
Impact
Little Women
Omoo-Omoo The Shark God
Pinky
Saraband For Dead Lovers (UK)
She Shoulda' Said No!
Twelve O'Clock High
Young Girls Of Vienna (Austria)
You're My Everything

Weak shorts:

Asia's New Voice
Daybreak In Udi
Puce Moment
Report On The Atom

Weak cartoons:

The Awful Orphan
Bear Feat
The Bee-Deviled Bruin
The Big Drip
Bowery Bugs
Bubble Bee
Bye Bye Bluebeard
Canary Row
The Cat And The Mermouse
Daffy Duck Hunt
The Devil's Mill (Czechoslovakia)
Drooler's Delight
Farm Foolery
Frigid Hare
The Funshine State
The Greener Yard

A Haunting We Will Go
Hen House Henery
Hippety Hopper
Holiday For Drumsticks
Honey Harvester
Hula Hula Land
Jerry's Diary
Knights Must Fall
Long-Haired Hare
The Lost Dream
Paying The Piper
Pluto's Surprise Package
Pluto's Sweater
Porky Chops

Pueblo Pluto
Rebel Rabbit
Sea Salts
Senor Droopy
Slide Donald Slide
Snow Foolin'
So Much For So Little

Swallow The Leader
Tennis Chump

Tennis Racquet

Wags To Riches
Which Is Witch

Top 3 Musicals of 1949

1. "It's A Great Feeling" (David Butler, Warner)

2. "On The Town" (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, MGM)


3. "The Barkleys Of Broadway" (Charles Walters, MGM)

It's A Great Feeling (1949) ****

A hidden gem of a film. Countless Hollywood stars and film directors make hilarious cameo appearances in this original, self-reflexive and wacky comedy. They include Raoul Walsh, King Vidor, David Butler, Michael Curtiz, Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, Jane Wyman, Danny Kaye, Edward G.Robinson and Errol Flynn. Even Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson play themselves - two Hollywood actors who meet an aspiring actress (Doris Day). Highlights include Jack Carson imitating Maurice Chevalier and a surrealistic screen test. Songs:

"It's a Great Feeling" *
"Give Me A Song With A Beautiful Melody" *
"Blame My Absent-Minded Heart" *
"That Was A Big Fat Lie" **
"Fiddle-dee-dee" **
"At The Cafe Rendez-vous" *
"There's Nothing Rougher Than Love" *
"Blame My Absent-Minded Heart" (reprise) *

The Third Man (1949) ****

Stylish noir thriller set in post-war Vienna. Orson Welles steals every scene he's in.

The Bicycle Thief (1949) ****

The greatest example of Italian neo-realism.

Late Spring (1949) ****

Wonderful film about a relationship between a father and his daughter.

Prison (1949) ****

Ingmar Bergman's first masterpiece.

Skarb (1949) ***

Excellent Polish comedy about lodging difficulties in post-war Warsaw.

Prince Of Foxes (1949) ***

Impressive historical drama about one of Cesar Borgia's henchmen betraying his master and joining the resistance against him.

Michurin (1949) ***

Alexander Dovzhenko's last masterpiece.

The Village Revolt (1949) ***

Thirst (1949) ***

A bit different from other early Ingmar Bergman's melodramas, because he didn't wrote the script.

Madame Bovary (1949) ***

El Gran Calavera (1949) ***

Les Amants de Verone (1949) ***

L'Epave (1949) ***

Neptune's Daughter (1949) ***

Musical starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalban and Rod Skelton. Songs:

"I Love Those Men"  **
"My Heart Beats Faster"  *
"Baby It's Cold Outside"  ***

Ohara Shosuke-san (1949) ***

Very original film about a generous old man who looses all his possessions by helping others. Directed by Hiroshi Shimizu, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Matsuo Kishi.

Champion (1949) ***

Classic boxing drama starring Kirk Douglas.

Tulsa (1949) ***

Picking up where "Cimarron" has left off, it's a epic saga about the growth of the oil industry in Oklahoma.

The Window (1949) ***

Classic thriller about a little boy who witnesses a murder.

The Fountainhead (1949) ***

A fine adaptation of Ayn Rand's bestselling novel about personal integrity.

The Blue Lagoon (1949) ***

En reportagefilm om Dansk Rode Kors (1949) **

Danish documentary.

The Last Night (1949) ***

Saraband For Dead Lovers (1949) **

Melodrama about the sad fate of the wife of King George I of England.

Le Gros Bill (1949) **

A young man returns to his native village in Quebec.

Pinky (1949) **

One of those ponderous Elia Kazan's "message" pictures from the late 1940's, back when he was still into big social themes.

Young Girls Of Vienna (1949) *

Filmed during the war, but only released in 1949.