Greatest cinema decade ?

1932-1942
After conquering the first awkward years of sound (1929-31), some
remarkable creative forces are unleashed. A whole new generation of
stars begin to make their mark--Cooper, Davis, Grant, Hepburn, Cagney,
Dunne, Astaire, Tracy, Bogart, Stewart, Stanwyck (this list goes on
forever). Ditto for the directors from this decade. And due to the
depression in the NY theatre and political troubles in Europe, the
greatest gathering of character actors ever assembled lands in
Hollywood.
After the best and the brightest returned from WWII, another good
decade begins in 1946 to complete the golden age. The American silent
film was probably at its zenith from 1923-28.


PB wrote:
> 1967-1977 ? (the height of auteur cinema : Coppola, Peckinpah,
> Cassavetes, Scorsese, etc...)
>
> 1994 - 2004 ? (success of Pulp Fiction leads to rebirth of
independent
> films)
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I wouldn't try to force any era into a 10-year period. The Golden Age
of Cinema lasted from its inception until the middle of the 1960s.

Traditionally, it's broken down by the movements that dominated at the
time: German Expressionism, Surrealism, Classic Hollywood, Neo-Realism,
Film Noir, etc., with genres running parallel and spanning several
decades each.

The Hollywood peak period is generally considered to have been in the
late 30s and early 40s with 1939 as the crowning year. Certainly a
partial roll-call of films made btw 1938-1942 is extremely impressive:
GONE WITH THE WIND, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON,
THE LITTLE PRINCESS, THE MALTESE FALCON, CITIZEN KANE, THE ADVENTURES
OF ROBIN HOOD, CASABLANCA, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY,
MRS. MINIVER, STAGECOACH, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, BEAU GESTE, THE
LETTER, THE WIZARD OF OZ, NORTHWEST PASSAGE, BOYS TOWN, DARK VICTORY,
NOW VOYAGER, THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, BRINGING UP BABY, HOLIDAY,
HIS GIRL FRIDAY, STRAWBERRY BLONDE, ALGIERS, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, THE
MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, THE WOMEN, REBECCA, SUSPICION, DRUMS ALONG THE
MOHAWK, STRANGE CARGO, THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE BANK
DICK, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK, THE LADY EVE, THE WESTERNER,
GUNGA DIN, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER,
HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, NINOTCHKA, THE WOLF MAN, CAT PEOPLE, OF MICE AND
MEN, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, THE BLUE BIRD, THE LADY VANISHES, ANGELS WITH
DIRTY FACES, THE CITADEL, THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD, THE JUNGLE BOOK, MEET
JOHN DOE, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, BAMBI, DUMBO, PINOCCHIO, TO BE OR NOT TO
BE, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, THE GREAT DICTATOR.........

By sheer number of great films produced, this 5 year period has got to
be the winner.

My personal favorite period, however, is from (give or take) 1945-1964
where we had such classics as: SCARLET STREET, THE STRANGER, THE
KILLERS, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE SEVENTH SEAL,
ORPHEE, BEAT THE DEVIL, SHANE, HIGH NOON, THE SEARCHERS, RED RIVER,
KISS ME DEADLY, PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, SHOWBOAT, SINGIN' IN
THE RAIN, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, THE DEVILS EYE, THE VIRGIN SPRING,
MOBY DICK, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, THE MISFITS, SOME LIKE IT HOT,
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, THE THIRD MAN, ODD MAN OUT, BRIEF ENCOUNTER,
SUMMERTIME, THE RED SHOES, VERA CRUZ, ATTACK!, PATHS OF GLORY, INHERIT
THE WIND, ON THE BEACH, THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, THE ROOTS OF
HEAVEN, THE BIG HEAT, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, VERTIGO, REAR WINDOW, THE
TROUBLE WITH HARRY, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, KISS OF DEATH, MY DARLING
CLEMENTINE, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, TOUCH OF EVIL, THE TRIAL, ACE IN THE
HOLE, SUNSET BOULEVARD, HE RAN ALL THE WAY, THE SIN OF HAROLD
DIDDLEBOCK, LIMELIGHT, MONSIEUR VERDOUX, RICHARD III, etc.

I'm afraid I can't share the enthusiasm of the 70s fans here -- the
period from (roughly) 1967-1980 gets my vote for the nadir of cinema
(with a handful of stand-out exceptions by the likes of Kubrick,
Boorman, Allen, Mallick, Kurosawa and one or two by Coppola and
Scorcese).
 >> Stay informed about: Greatest cinema decade ? 

"clarkster" <ceva.TakeThisOut@loc.gov> wrote:

>1932-1942
>After conquering the first awkward years of sound (1929-31), some
>remarkable creative forces are unleashed. A whole new generation of
>stars begin to make their mark--Cooper, Davis, Grant, Hepburn, Cagney,
>Dunne, Astaire, Tracy, Bogart, Stewart, Stanwyck (this list goes on
>forever). Ditto for the directors from this decade. And due to the
>depression in the NY theatre and political troubles in Europe, the
>greatest gathering of character actors ever assembled lands in
>Hollywood.

good point -- the sheer number of fantastic character actors
throughout the '30s

>After the best and the brightest returned from WWII, another good
>decade begins in 1946 to complete the golden age.

Despite the general sogginess of patriotic themes out of Hollywood
during the war, the gods of movies still gave us "The Maltese Falcon"
& other really good melodramas & comedies.

I wonder whether there will ever be another renaissance of good movies
equivalent to the 1970s -- movies that were so sharply observant of
American culture at that point. Even the stuff today that isn't
directed primarily at teens doesn't seem all that pertinent. Maybe
that's part of the reason why so many people love the Guest movies:
they seem so reflective of everybody's experience (which is probably
what makes them so funny, too). If an alien landed & wanted me to find
some current films that would give him the best idea of the drives &
goals & foibles & stupidity of Americans -- & the ways we interact
with & even talk to one another -- I'd point him to "Guffman" & "Best
in Show" & the others, which capture something really essential about
all of us in ways that even far greater movies don't.
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On 2-May-2005, David <doberman DeleteThis @fields.com> wrote:

> I wonder whether there will ever be another renaissance of good movies
> equivalent to the 1970s -- movies that were so sharply observant of
> American culture at that point.

Hi Dober-dude.

I know the 70s was a liberating period for filmmakers, but there are some
common style elements from that period that I find perticularly unappealing.
I wonder if others here agree. Specifically I mean the extensive use of
long lenses, especially when the sound that corresponds to the image is
taken a close range (like a conversation filmed at 100 yards but heard as if
you were three feet away); seemingly pointless close ups of inanimate
objects, usually at the start or end of a scene; embarassingly close shots
of love scenes, usually around the face and lips...hmmm..what
else?...drawing a blank... Lots of films from the 70s have a similar look
and feel that's quite unmistakable...it's as if the filmmakers were in love
with their own film, yet it's unrequited. When Im looking for films to rent
I generally take a 70s release date as a negative.

steve
--
"A man was severely injured today in the Knutsford area."

Benny Hill
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PB wrote:

> 1967-1977 ? (the height of auteur cinema : Coppola, Peckinpah,
> Cassavetes, Scorsese, etc...)


Er, no.


> 1994 - 2004 ? (success of Pulp Fiction leads to rebirth
> of independent films)


Gotta do better than that. I'd have to say that
the 20s and 30s reveal all you need to know,
and anything else can be taken from there.
I'm open to things that are really new an original
without them existing for their own sakes. Lately
there are far too many directors who think they are
doing a great job merely by having the camera
revolved around the actors as they speak, or
looking straight down on a dolly following
actors as they walk along below. One thinks
of "Elizabeth" from a few years ago. I was
getting dizzy from the show-off director who
wanted to show us what he learned, I guess,
in a two-bit film school.

Bob T
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