Ok, why gets Silver Lode only 5 (without Dureya effect only 4)? Seems to me to be easily the best of the bunch. And having some moments of a political allegory also the most interesting for the plot.
And yes, Dureya is again pretty good here, I always like him. He’s also the best aspect of Ride Clear of Diablo, poor outacted Audie Murphy …
Drum Beat is also interesting, especially compared to Daves’ previous Broken Arrow.
I’m never really convinced by John Payne as a lead. He is OK but lacks something that the other leads in these films have. Joel McCrea, Stirling Hayden even Audie for that matter although to a lesser extent. Duryea outshines them all, except maybe for McCrea. Silver Lode is OK but I genuinely preferred most of the others and if it had given Duryea the kind of role he got in RCoD it would have scored more. Also, to be fair, when watching this many 50s westerns back to back they can start to blur after a while. I guess I started scoring in comparison to each other. Was Silver Lode better than Border River? No. So, if BR gets a 6 then Silver Lode gets a 5. Duryea or not. Again, if I gave half points both would have got that bit extra.
Maybe I should adopt SDs old method of 18 out of 20. CULT!
I see, but for me Silver Lode is a pretty good one, despite Payne. It has a powerful story, I even rated it higher than before, I gave it an 8/10
Dwan’s best western, but maybe another more ambitious director could have turned the story into a masterpiece.
Drum Beat is a 7/10
Checked Border River, I watched it once, but it is only a 4/10
So again, tastes differ …
Indeed.
Drum Beat was pretty good but Alan Ladd seemed to have aged 20 years in one since making Shane. Charlie Buchinsky steals the picture from him. And yes, a very different film and message from Broken Arrow.
Arrival (2016) - 6/10.
I know this film is often adored but for some reason I just can’t love it. I can rewatch it (this I think was the third time I’ve seen it) but I just can’t say it’s a film I think is great. Or maybe I do think it’s great if I’ve seen it several times now…
Approaching the end of Rutger’s career (2015-2017) and it’s a case of ‘diminishing returns’ with his involvement often being the only redeeming feature with only ‘Mata Hari (Russian TV series) and Ethan Hawkes ‘24 Hours To Live’ being passible watches. But there are a couple of good ones in my next batch which I’m starting on now.
A handful of British films from 1954 including a few absolute bangers.
Doctor in the House (Thomas / 6/10)
They Who Dare (Milestone / 5/10)
Hobson’s Choice (Lean / 10/10)
The Maggie (MacKendrick / 10/10)
The Belles of St Trinians (Launder / 10/10)
David Lean is often lauded for his epic scale films like Lawrence of Arabia but for me Hobson’s Choice is his finest work. Brilliantly cinematic in it’s visuals, expertly scripted, still funny after 70 years and acting masterclasses from Charles Laughton and the rest of the cast. Fabulous stuff.
The Maggie is also a beautiful little Ealing comedy that is often overlooked but is pretty much a perfect example of the type. And the first St Trinian’s film still has me doubling up after lord knows how many viewings over the years. Pretty much a perfect 50s British comedy. Marvelous.
‘Hobson’s Choice’ is up there in my all-time favourites. Superb film.
Some more British films from 1954 for me.
The Weak & the Wicked (Thompson / 4/10)
Beautiful Stranger (Miller / 6/10)
The Sea Shall Not Have Them (Gilbert / 4/10)
Heat Wave (Hughes / 6/10)
Blackout (Fisher / 6/10)
Heat Wave and Blackout are two of the better “Hammer Noirs” from this period and Beautiful Stranger is another British crime film with an old American star as lead actor which gets an extra point from me for Herbert Lom’s performance as the apologetic bad guy. The other two are standard fare which don’t reach the levels set by other similar but better films of the period.
Gangsterdam (2017) French comedy. A student in Amsterdam tries to win over a young woman by chasing after a packet of drugs, which happens to belong to a Dutch organised crime group. Only intermittently amusing. 4/10
Porters (2017-2019) British sit-com set in a hospital. Rarely seen. Only 9 episodes. Quite funny. 7/10
Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets (2017) The Luc Besson ‘Space Opera’. Mixed reviews but I think it’s great. 8/10
Channel Zero - Season 3 (Butcher’s Block) (2016-2017) TV horror anthology that ran for 4 Seasons. Rutger Hauer appears in Season 3. Very creepy. 7/10
Corbin Nash (2018) Vampire film with an ensemble cast. Reasonably entertaining but no classic. 6/10
Some Hollywood flicks from 1954. Not a bad bunch really. Some I saw for the first time. Others were rewatches.
Them! (Douglas / 7/10)
A Bullet is Waiting (Farrow / 5/10)
Pushover (Quine / 7/10)
Drive a Crooked Road (Quine / 7/10)
Dial M for Murder (Hitchcock / 8/10)
Rear Window (Hitchcock / 8/10)
Have I marked Them! too high? Maybe, but it has giant cardboard ants dammit. What’s not to love? Drive a Crooked Road is I think Mickey Rooney’s best performance in this Columbia Noir where he plays a pushed around introverted little guy with a talent for fast driving that gets him in trouble. Pushover’s opening credits say “Introducing Kim Novak” and boy does she sizzle. Another Columbia Noir and a really nice discovery with nice build up of tension. Although, in terms of tension Hitch was the master and these two films from ‘54, both featuring a sublime looking Grace Kelly were him at his best in that regard. I only mark Rear Window down because the premise that any heterosexual man would choose photo-journalism over Grace Kelly is just too far fetched.
No, Them! is surely not marked too high. Effective SF horror thriller.
But … but Rear Window … ok, I’m definitely in the minority here, but for me it is the overrated one of the “great” Hitchcocks. Good film, though, but only on the 7/10 level, not one of his best for me.
Have been craving some ‘Men on a mission’ flicks recently so I bought the 4K of Guns and the Indicator blu ray for Force 10. My first time watching these and both were very enjoyable. Guns felt a tad too long for me but I loved the character drama between the Peck and Niven. Force 10 I think I enjoyed just a bit more overall due to its cast and slightly tighter pacing. Absolutely loved the miniature dam in the finale.
Any other recommendations for these types of movies? I’ve seen the both Inglorious Bastards and From Where Eagles Dare, plus I plan to check out Dirty Dozen soon.
I should revisit these, haven’t seen them since I was a teen.
The final part of my journey through every available appearance of the late, great Rutger Hauer.
‘Samson’ (2018) was a poorly received Biblical drama with Rutger briefly appearing as Samson’s father.
‘The Sisters Brothers’ (2018) is a great Western but, again, Hauer doesn’t have much more than a cameo and one scene has him dead in a coffin which was kind of creepy.
‘The Sonata’ (2018) is a satanic, mystery thriller where Hauer’s character is already dead and only appears in flashbacks. This was the last of his films to be released before his death in 2019. It’s pretty average but nice looking.
‘Viy 2: Journey To China’ (2019) is the sequel to Viy (2014) released in English speaking countries as ‘Iron Mask’ is a Russian / Chinese co-production with an international ensemble cast incling Hauer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Jason Flemyng and Charles Dance is a real curio but unfortunately not very good. And it didn’t get much cinema time outside of Russia for perhaps understandable reasons. By the way, the 1967 version of ‘Viy’ is a far superior film worth checking out.
‘The Break’ (2020) is a low budget British independent sports drama and it’s pretty good. The sport in question is snooker. It became the first UK movie to premiere via Drive-in during the COVID.
There are at least 5 completed films that Rutger made between 2008 and 2018 that have yet to get a release.
Well done, Rockula.
I respect a long term film watching project. It shows character 
Some international films from 1954.
Godzilla (Honda / 6/10)
Seven Samurai (Kurasawa (9/10)
La Strada (Fellini / 8/10)
The Art of Getting Along (Zampa / 7/10)
No other choice: solid as expected, but a bit long and not nearly as exciting or wild as expected.
