Men in Black, Wild America, Out to Sea, 1997
Tributes to James Stewart and Robert Mitchum – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Glenn Miller Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Night of the Hunter, Out of the Past, Farewell My Lovely, River of No Return, The Sundowners, El Dorado, Dead Man, The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Video Pick of the Week – Shiloh
I remember this week. James Stewart and Robert Mitchum, gone within 1 day of each other. It physically hurt, I loved their work so much. (This was a tough year for fans of the 1950s: both William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg died in 1997, too) If you are only familiar with Stewart’s most famous work, I highly highly highly recommend 5 westerns that he made with director Anthony Mann; the first is mentioned by Ebert, “Winchester ’76,” which for my money is, while still great, the least of the bunch. Also “Bend in the River” and “The Far Country”, wonderful movies. And finally “The Naked Spur” with Stewart and a pre-“Psycho” Janet Leigh (don’t get your hopes up, despite the title nobody gets naked) and “The Man From Laramie”. These are two of the greatest westerns ever made, period, they hold their own with anything Wayne, Cooper, and Eastwood ever made. With the Hitchcock movies and “Anatomy of a Murder” they form the foundation of one of the most incredible careers in motion picture history… and they were all made in the Fifties, a severely underrated decade. If you haven’t watched the Anthony Mann films, you must. You simply must.