The Scarlet Empress (1934, Josef von Sternberg). The most gloriously excessive and uncompromising of von Sternberg. Style, style and more style.
The Fallen Idol (1948, Carol Reed). Scripted by Graham Greene. Intelligent, complex drama about human frailties.
Naked Alibi (1954, Jerry Hopper). Superb film noir with an awesome cast - Gloria Grahame, Sterling Hayden and Gene Barry.
Une Parisienne (1957, Michel Boisrond). Charming French romantic comedy. What can I say? I adore Brigitte Bardot.
Room 43 (1958, Alvin Rakoff). Diana Dors in fine form in a steamy sleazy slightest noirish drama.
Man in the Back Seat (1961, Vernon Sewell). Absolutely top-notch offbeat British film noir.
Candidate for Murder (1962, David Villiers). A British Edgar Wallace thriller and a great example of what can be done on a limited budget.
Robbery (1967, Peter Yates). Brilliant British crime thriller from the director of Bullitt.
The posts that have been most popular with readers this year have been the very slightly noirish private eye mystery Twenty Plus Two (1961, Joseph M. Newman), the mildly disreputable and slightly trashy Girls in Prison (1956, Edward L. Cahn), the fine Brigitte Bardot romantic melodrama Futures Vedettes (1955, Marc Allégret), and the steamy crime potboiler The Girl in Black Stockings (1957, Howard W. Koch).
I love The Fallen Idol so much. So much to think about and Richardson is superb, as usual. Also The Scarlet Empress for how bizarre it is. The rest I have not seen. I really appreciate your comments on my blog.
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