Jan Rohac z Dube (1947) ***

T-Men (1947) ***

Tense police drama about undercover Treasury agents exposing an international counterfeiting ring.

The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock (1947) ***

Also known as "Mad Wednesday". Preston Sturges' weakest film ever, and one of Harold Lloyd's least impressive efforts as well. Uneven, with the second half much better than the first. And a possible inspiration for "The Hangover" (2009).

Zakazane piosenki (1947) ***

Film about Polish songs forbidden during the Nazi occupation. A musical story of resistance.

Gran Casino (1947) ***

Luis Bunuel's most underrated work. It's his first Mexican film and his first "commercial" one. It's also his only musical. Peter Hogue's excellent article about this movie, as well as Bunuel's other more conventional efforts from his Mexican period, is available here.

One Wonderful Sunday (1947) ***

Uneven, but interesting film by Akira Kurosawa.

This Time For Keeps (1947) ***

A typical Esther Williams picture. Musical numbers include:

"Agnus Dei"  *
"A Little Bit This And A Little Bit That"  *
"Easy To Love"  **
"I Love To Dance"  **
"Why Don't They Let Me Sing A Love Song?"  **
"M'Appari"  **
"Ten Per Cent Off"  **
"Inka Dinka Doo"  *
"I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time"  *
"No Wonder They Fall In Love"  **
"Ora è per sempre addio"  *
"The Man Who Found The Lost Chord"  *
"When It's Lilac Time On Mackinac Island"  *
"Un poquito de Amor"  **
"Chiquita Banana"  *
"Easy To Love"  (reprise)  *
"La Donna è mobile"  **
"Easy To Love" (reprise)  *

Secret Agent (1947) ***

Soviet spy drama.

Angelina (1947) ***

It Happened In Brooklyn (1947) ***

The story is weak, but there are some very good songs in this Frank Sinatra musical. Songs include:

"I Believe"  **
"Time After Time" **
"The Song's Gotta Come From The Heart" **

Driftwood (1947) ***

Le Chanteur inconnu (1947)

Les Jeux sont faits (1947) ***

Gentlemen's Agreement (1947) ***

Oscar-winning film about antisemitism.

Cynthia (1947) **

Elizabeth Taylor has some problems finding a date for her prom.

Forever Amber (1947) **

Over-the-top melodrama about an ambitious woman in 17th-century England.

The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) **

Romantic drama about a widow and a ghost of a sea captain.

The Egg And I (1947) **

Claudette Colbert plays a chicken farmer in this moderately entertaining comedy.

Angel And The Badman (1947) **

Preachy western starring John Wayne as a gunfighter who abandons violence and becomes a Quaker.

Possessed (1947) **

Pretty ridiculous, but fascinating melodrama starring Joan Crawford as a rich man's mistress.

A Double Life (1947) **

A very weak beginning, but a strong second-half almost saves this psychological thriller about an actor playing Othello on stage who ends up killing in real life.

The Bishop's Wife (1947) *

Saccharine tale of an angel (Cary Grant) visiting a bishop and his wife. Hopelessly dated.

Golden Earrings (1947) *

Fairly unconvincing melodrama about a British spy in Germany who falls in love with a gypsy woman (Marlene Dietrich).

Scared To Death (1947) *

From a slab in the morgue, a dead young woman tells the bizarre tale of how she got there. Good premise, bad movie.

Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) *

Ridiculously over-the-top melodrama inspired by a Greek tragedy.

Varala naisten paratiisi (1947) ****

A wonderful documentary from Finland offering a poetic look at Tampere's Varala, a physical education college for women, located on the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi.

The Cage (1947) ****

Fireworks (1947) ****

A nightmarish vision of a young man beaten by a gang of brutal sailors. An interesting use of off-screen space. Kenneth Anger's first film.

Sauna (1947) ****

Chiquita Banana (1947) ***

Made by Walt Disney for the United Fruit Company, a commercial for Chiquita Banana.

Goodbye Miss Turlock (1947) ***

Short film about a teacher.

Denmark Grows Up (1947) ***

The film is available here.

Village Church (1947) ***

Brooklyn USA (1947) ***

Filmavisen 30 januar 1947 (1947) ***

Monsieur Verdoux (1947) *****

Charles Chaplin's best sound movie. Based on an idea by Orson Welles.

Out Of The Past (1947) ****

One of the best film noirs of the 1940's, a tense and suspenseful picture starring Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas.

So You Want To Be In Pictures (1947) **

Ronald Reagan makes a brief cameo appearance in this short film about how to become an actor in Hollywood.

The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer (1947) ***

A pleasant comedy starring Shirley Temple as a teenage girl who falls in love with Cary Grant.

Black Narcissus (1947) ***

Set in a convent in a remote region of the Himalayas, it's a memorable film about passion and desire among nuns.

Body And Soul (1947) ***

Memorable boxing film.

Champagne For Two (1947) **

Rather predictable musical short about a clever old lady.

Lady In The Lake (1947) ***

Unique film noir, entirely filmed from the POV of the main protagonist, Philip Marlowe (played by Robert Montgomery - who also directed - and who can be glimpsed occasionally in mirrors).

Life With Father (1947) ***

An excellent adaptation of the popular Broadway play.

Miracle On 34th Street (1947) ***

A perennial Christmas classic. It hasn't aged a bit.

Nicholas Nickleby (1947) ***

A fine adaptation of the great Dickens' novel.

Odd Man Out (1947) ***

An IRA terrorist (James Mason) is pursued by police in Belfast.

The Paradine Case (1947) ***

A courtroom drama directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Road To Rio (1947) ***

A notch below the very best "road to" movies (like "Morocco" and "Utopia"), but still quite entertaining. Songs include:

"Apalachicola Fla"  **
"But Beautiful"  **
"You Don't Have To Know The Language"  **
"Experience"  **

Song Of The Thin Man (1947) ***

A pleasant finale of the long-running series.

The Unsuspected (1947) ***

Memorable murder mystery starring Claude Rains.

Le Tempestaire (1947) *

Boring short from Jean Epstein.

Antoine et Antoinette (1947) ***

French comedy reminiscent of Rene Clair's "Le Million" (1931).

Boomerang ! (1947) ***

Gritty, realistic courtroom drama starring Dana Andrews.

Brute Force (1947) ***

This gritty prison drama is actually an allegory about the rise of fascism.

Call Northside 777 (1947) ***

A journalist (James Stewart) frees two innocent men from prison.

Crossfire (1947) ***

Interesting film noir starring Robert Mitchum as a war veteran investigating a murder commited by a fellow soldier. Tense drama dealing with anti-semitism.

Dark Passage (1947) ***

An escaped convict (Humphrey Bogart) undergoes a plastic surgery. The first part of the film is filmed with a subjective camera.

Dead Reckoning (1947) ***

Tense film noir starring Humphrey Bogart.

Fun And Fancy Free (1947) ***

Two animated shorts, introduced by Jiminy Cricket and Edgar Bergen. 

"Bongo" (J.Kinney) *** 

"Mickey And The Beanstalk" (Luske-Roberts) ***

Good News (1947) ***

The quintessential campus musical, starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford. Songs:

"Good News" **
"He's A Ladies' Man" **
"Lucky In Love" **
"The French Lesson" *
"The Best Things In Life Are Free" **
"Pass That Peace Pipe" **
"Just Imagine" *
"The Best Things In Life Are Free" (reprise) *
"The Varsity Drag" ***

Kiss Of Death (1947) ***

Gritty drama about a gangster who betrays his friends and agrees to cooperate with cops.

Nightmare Alley (1947) ***

Directed by Edmund Goulding. Tyrone Power sheds his positive hero image playing a manipulative louse in this sleazy, but brilliantly directed, film noir/melodrama.

Pursued (1947) ***

Well-made, unusual western starring Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright.

Le Silence est d'or (1947) ***

Maurice Chevalier stars in this Rene Clair's comedy freely adapted from Moliere's "Ecole de femmes".

Along The Sungari River (1947) **

Directed by Jin Shan. Brave Chinese fighting Japanese invaders in Manchuria. Some unintentionally funny bits.

Angel On My Shoulder (1947) **

The Devil (Claude Rains) allows a vicious gangster (Paul Muni) to take over the body of an honest judge. A harsh indictement of corruption in high places.

The Farmer's Daughter (1947) **

Loretta Young plays a naive young girl who falls in love with a congressman.

Struggle Against Cancer (1947) *

Carl T. Dreyer's weakest film, a very conventional documentary about cancer.

Mother Wore Tights (1947) **

Boring show musical about a vaudeville couple and their two daughters. Songs include:

"You Do" **
"Burlington Bertie" *
"This Is My Favorite City" *
"You Do" (reprise) *
"Kokomo Indiana" *
"Silent Night" *
"Tra-la-la-la-la" *
"Choo'n Gum" *
"Lily Of The Valley" *
"Swingin' Down The Lane"
"Stumbling" *
"There's Nothing Like A Song" *
"Kokomo Indiana" (reprise) *
"You Do" (reprise) *

Smash Up: The Story Of A Woman (1947) *

Susan Hayward plays an alcoholic. Wake me up when it's over.

King-Size Canary (1947) *****

One of Tex Avery's most inventive cartoons, involving a cat, a mouse, a dog, a canary and a magic potion, which allows them to grow rapidly in size. At one point, a big cat escaping from a huge dog is rescued by a giant mouse. Insanity rules in this hilarious and very cleverly constructed cartoon.

Tweetie Pie (1947) ****

The first confrontation between Tweety and Sylvester (here called Thomas for some reason) is also one of the best, with the cat trying various strategems to have the little bird for lunch. The first Warner Bros. cartoon to win an Academy Award, it established a successful formula repeated in countless films to come.

Pluto's Blue Note (1947) ****

A wonderful musical cartoon with Pluto imitating Frank Sinatra using a concealed gramophone.

Clown Of The Jungle (1947) ****

Photographer Donald looks for exotic birds in the South American jungle. One screwy bird constantly crosses his path. Zany Disney cartoon that successfully imitates the High Warner style of animation.

The Up-Standing Sitter (1947) ***

Daffy tries to keep an eye on a little chicken he's babysitting. Some jokes from this Robert MacKimson's film would later be recycled by Chuck Jones in his Road Runner cartoons (Daffy Duck even works for "Acme Agency").

Donald's Dilemma (1947) ***

It's actually Daisy who's facing a dilemma in this film, either to accept her boyfriend's new fame as a singer or to get him back at any cost. She chooses the latter (can we really blame her ?), after a long consultation with her psychiatrist.

Rhapsody In Wood (1947) ***

Impressive film in all respects.

Mexican Joyride (1947) ***

Fine cartoon with Daffy Duck battling an angry bull in a Mexican arena.

Smoked Hams (1947) ***

Neighbors Wally Walrus and Woody Woodpecker engage in a full-scale conflict. The "musical bed" scene is a classic.

Stupidstitious Cat (1947) ***

A brave buzzard takes advantage of a cat's superstitions.

It's A Grand Old Nag (1947) ***

The only cartoon ever released by the Republic Pictures, produced and directed by Bob Clampett. It's a racy (no pun intended) satire on Hollywood.

Red Hot Rangers (1947) ***

Tex Avery's cartoon about park rangers fighting a forest fire.

The Pest In The House (1947) ***

Daffy is a hotel bellboy. Elmer is a hotel manager. Daffy annoys the guests. Elmer is always blamed for it. Directed by Chuck Jones.

Slick Hare (1947) ***

Humphrey Bogart orders a rabbit, but waiter Elmer Fudd has troubles convincing Bugs Bunny to be the main dish. While the rabbit hides in Carmen Miranda's hat, Elmer sharpens his knives and discouraged Bogard is ready to settle for a ham sandwich. The best routine involves Bugs ordering "lemon marango", "banana cream" and "coconut custard" pies to hit Elmer with.

Temptation Of Mr Prokouk (1947) ***

Motion Painting #1 (1947) ***

Experimental animated film by Oskar Fischinger. Quite different from his earlier works.

Hound Hunters (1947) ***

Two hobos, George and Junior, become dog catchers, but even a little stray puppy manages to elude them. An uneven cartoon, with a couple of truly original gags among many lame and predictable ones.

Well Oiled (1947) ***

Entertaining Woody Woodpecker cartoon revolving around cars, gasoline and other oily matters.

Foul Hunting (1947) ***

Goofy is hunting ducks, but he cannot tell the difference between a mechanical decoy and live specimen. He literally hunts for them inside his pants and finally has the decoy for lunch (screws and all). An unusually silly cartoon.

Rabbit Transit (1947) ***

After two humiliating defeats, Bugs Bunny finally gets even with Cecil, but the turtle has the last laugh when the cops arrest the rabbit for speeding.

One Meat Brawl (1947) ***

Porky Pig is hunting a groundhog on Groundhog Day.

Enchanted Square (1947) ***

Directed by Seymour Kneitel. A simple cartoon about a blind girl and her new doll, Raggedy Ann. Very sentimental and very touching.

The Gay Anties (1947) ***

Excentric cartoon about ants at a Gay Nineties' picnic for two.

Little Orphan Airedale (1947) ***

Porky tries to get rid of a pooch desperately looking for a master.

Birth Of A Notion (1947) ***

Zany cartoon with Daffy trying to escape from the clutches of a mad scientist.

Uncle Tom's Cabana (1947) ***

A new and improved version of "Uncle Tom", jazzed-up by Tex Avery.

Crowing Pains (1947) ***

Funny cartoon starring Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, Sylvester and Mandrake.

Fiddle-De-Dee (1947) ***

Musicalulu (1947) ***

Little Lulu has to practice her violin, but would much rather play baseball with her friends. She's sentenced by the Musical Court of Justice and has to escape from angry instruments. There are some very inventive ideas in this cartoon. The story is credited to Otto Messmer, a great animation pioneer.