frankie's - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List
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La Strada (1954)La strada
Sold by her impoverished mother to Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a brutish fairground wrestler, waif-like Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) lives a life of drudgery as his assistant. After taking to the road with a travelling circus, a budding relationship with II Matto/The Fool (Richard Basehart), a gentle-natured, tightrope walking clown, offers a potential refuge from her master's clutches. Trapped by her own servile nature, Gelsomina waivers, and Zampano's volcanic temper erupts with tragic consequences. Characteristically mingling elements of biography with metaphor and symbolism, 'La Strada' also combines an easygoing charm with a far harder edged realism in the form of domestic violence and decaying, desolate towns. Masina - Fellini's wife - is astonishing in the central role and what with the evocative Nino Rota score and Otello Martelli's ravishing photography, it's little wonder that 'La Strada' was the winner of the first official Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart
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Seven Samurai (1954)Shichinin no Samurai
In 16th century Japan a poor village is raided every year by a group of bandits until, driven to the brink of starvation, the villagers decide to hire professional warriors to protect them. With only three meager meals a day to offer as payment, their request seems an impossible one. A simple plot, flawlessly executed - 'Seven Samurai' combines comedy, pathos, memorable characters, gripping tension and some of the finest action scenes ever filmed. - Director:
- Akira Kurosawa
- Cast:
- Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima
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Venice. 1866. After a night walking the empty streets of the ancient city together, a countess (Alida Valli) falls in love with an Austrian officer (Farley Granger) and becomes his mistress. War breaks out and separates them until she eventually finds him again in the throes of battle against the Italians. Betraying both her principles and her cause, she tries to reform him with cruel and tragic consequences for them both. - Director:
- Luchino Visconti
- Cast:
- Farley Granger, Alida Valli, Heinz Moog
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Dan Ballard (John Payne), a respected citizen in the western town of Silver Lode, has his wedding interrupted by four men led by US Marshal, Fred McCarty (Dan Duryea), an old acquaintance, who arrests Ballard for the murder of his brother and the theft of $20,000. Ballard seeks to stall McCarty while tracking down evidence that will prove his innocence, but the townspeople's loyalty to him gradually begins to waver under McCarty's accusations. - Director:
- Allan Dwan
- Cast:
- John Payne, Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea
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This sizzling screen version of Bizet's opera Carmen, updated for an all-black cast, stars Dorothy Dandridge, whose vibrant performance resulted in the first Oscar nomination for a black actress. She stars in the title role as a passionate sexy creature who lures handsome Gl Joe (Harry Belafonte) away from his sweetheart (Olga James) Following a brawl with his sergeant, Joe deserts his regiment with the sultry femme fatale. Carmen soon tires of him and takes up with a heavyweight prize-fighter (Joe Adams), triggering Joe's tragic revenge. - Director:
- Otto Preminger
- Cast:
- Harry Belafonte, LeVern Hutcherson, Dorothy Dandridge
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Sansho Dayu (1954)Sansho the Bailiff
When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi's dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil. - Director:
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast:
- Kinuyo Tanaka, Kisho Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa
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Salt of the Earth (1954)Sfida a Silver City
"Salt of the Earth" centers on a long, difficult workers' strike against a mining company in New Mexico. Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacon) fights for equity of wages as well as health and safety issues, but at home he mistreats his wife, Esperanza (Rosaura Revueltas). When the men are forced to end their picketing, Esperanza joins the other women who demand to play a role in the strike, against their husbands' wishes. - Director:
- Herbert J. Biberman
- Cast:
- Juan Chacón, Rosaura Revueltas, Will Geer
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Rick Todd (Dean Martin) and Eugene Fullstack (Jerry Lewis) share an apartment and have dreams for the future. Rick is an aspiring artist looking for a break. Eugene loves comic books, especially The Bat Lady series. He is so engrossed with her stories that he has nightmares and dreams of his own comic book characters. Their luck begins to change when Abby Parker (Dorothy Malone) is fired as the artist for the Bat Lady. Rick pitches his own comic book series and Eugene gets to meet Bessie Sparrowbrush (Shirley MacLaine), who, unbeknown to him, is the artist's model the Bat Lady. Rivalry and romance ensues for all four of them, with several song and dance numbers along the way. - Director:
- Frank Tashlin
- Cast:
- Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine
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The slickest big-time New York City gamblers, Sky Masterson (Marland Brando) and Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra), can't resist making or taking a bet on anything. So when a pretty missionary (Jean Simmons) sets up shop in the neighbourhood, Nathan slakes a grand that Sky can't seduce her. But all bets are off when Sky falls madly in love in this romantic musical spectacular that sets the Big Apple afire with excitement! - Director:
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Cast:
- Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra
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Pather Panchali (1955)Song of the Little Road
'Pather Panchali' tells the story of a family living in the grip of poverty in a small Bengali village, focusing on the experiences of a young boy, Apu (Subir Banerjee), and paying careful attention to a series of ordinary events: Apu's father sets off to the city in search of work, leaving his wife to take care of the children and an elderly aunt; a frugal meal is prepared; rains flatten the landscape; a train passes by; someone dies. - Director:
- Satyajit Ray
- Cast:
- Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Banerjee
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Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)Bad Day at Hondo
Folks in Black Rock have their own way of welcoming mysterious, one-armed stranger John J. Macreedy. He's welcome to leave. Or they'll make sure he leaves in a pine box. Two-time Academy Award winner Spencer Tracy plays World War II veteran Macreedy, who keeps his own counsel about why he's come to Black Rock and who keeps his wits about him when confronted with threats and violence. Director John Sturges ramps up the tension while revealing Macreedy's mission and the town's grim secret. Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin are among the town's thugs and lap dogs. - Director:
- John Sturges
- Cast:
- Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
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Alexander Mackendrick's last Ealing comedy and certainly one of the best, William Rose received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Sir Alec Guinness stars in one of his most vivid disguises, in this killingly funny black comedy gem. The villains plot to kill the old lady who discovers their robbery. But the pensioner is not as harmless as she seems! A rare colour film from Ealing in the '50s, it was premiered in 1955 at the end of the Ealing Green period. - Director:
- Alexander MacKendrick
- Cast:
- Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker
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"I've been looking for a girl every Saturday night of my life", says Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine). Yet, despite all his efforts, this 34-year-old Bronx butcher remains as shy and uncomfortable around women today as on the day he was born. So when he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), a lonely schoolteacher who's just as smitten with him as he is with her, Marty's on top of the world. But not everyone around him shares Marty's joy. And when his friends and family continually find fault with Clara, even Marty begins to question his newfound love... until he discovers, in an extraordinary way, the strength and courage to follow his heart. - Director:
- Delbert Mann
- Cast:
- Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti
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Ordet (1955)The Word
A tale of miraculous resurrection brought about by human love, Ordet is an extraordinary expression of spiritual optimism without being either sentimental or pious. Religious intolerance and family tensions lie at the heart of the film, which explores the clash between orthodox religions and true faith. Dreyer achieves its powerful effects in deceptively simple ways, and has produced, in its closing moments, one of the most extraordinary scenes in all cinema. - Director:
- Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Cast:
- Birgitte Federspiel, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Hanne Agesen
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Bob the Gambler (1956)Bob Le Flambeur
In Melville's self-confessed 'love letter to Paris', the world-weary hero weaves his way through a stylised Parisian underworld, a failed gambler wearing a trench coat and a gentleman's code of honor. His pursuit of the ultimate heist takes him on a journey from the Sacre Coeur to Montmartre and Pigalle. Encountering betrayal, secrets and a dangerously seductive young girl, Bob Le Flambeur seeks to carry out his one final crime, despite warnings from L'inspecteur, his loyal friend yet adversary. - Director:
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Cast:
- Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy
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