Children of Paradise (1946)

Four men: a gifted but unsuccessful mime, a minor actor whose star is on the rise, a conman, and a nobleman all fall for Garance. She's beautiful, enigmatic and warm. Eventually the mime's a star, the actor's a star, the conman is comfortable, and the nobleman has "won" Garance -- the lives have moved on, but the desire for Garance has not... and the movie stagnates.

It's 3 hours long and the best bits were the stage shows of the mime and the actor: the plays within the movie. The actual story just felt like one idea stretched to the fraying point. Tightened up, this could've been poetry.

C

Dead of Night (1946)

A contractor heads out to the country to estimate a remodel but is struck by déjà vu immediately. Those in the house are fascinated by his strong belief that he's dreamed all of this before and, as a result, start sharing their own experiences with the supernatural.

It's well-crafted and spooky without ever delving into sheer terror (though the dummy scene scared me but good when I was younger). Just a great Halloween movie.

B+

Angel on My Shoulder (1946)

Gangster Eddie Kagle is plugged by his right-hand man and ends up in hell. An opportunistic Satan notices that the newly arrived Kagle is a dead ringer for a do-gooder judge that he'd like to get out of his way, so he offers Eddie the chance to get revenge on his killer in exchange for damaging the judge's rep. Kagle, however, finds that living the judge's life and being with the judge's fiance makes him want to be a better person which, coincidentally, means the devil cannot control him.

Clever and charming, but with a little less depth than it needs.

B

The Stranger (1946)

Orson Welles is a Nazi on the run from the War Crimes Commission, hiding in a small Connecticut town. He's been accepted by the town as a teacher at the local boys' school and as the new husband of a supreme court judge's daughter (the always lovely Loretta Young). Problem is, an investigator has tracked him down and just needs proof.

It's a tense little noir with its only drawback being the lack of finesse with which the Nazi attempts his escape.

B

Undercurrent (1946)

Rich dude comes and sweeps a plain Jane off her feet and into D.C. society. She doesn’t quite fit in until he remakes her into someone worthy of the company he keeps. He’s kind of moody and definitely obsessed with his missing brother… an obsession she starts to share once he brings it up a few times too often.

Is “overcurrent” a thing? Because that’s what the tension in this film is...it’s right there on the surface, darkening everything in the vicinity. There’s absolutely no finesse here.

D+

Sister Kenny (1946)

Felt like a repeat of every medical breakthrough movie I’ve ever seen. Someone figures something out and is ridiculed and/or ruined for their trouble. In this case, however, the story gains a bit of uniqueness by having the figure-outer be a woman. She succeeds because she’s not got the training the “experts” do -- and that’s also why her method for polio rehabilitation is rejected.

The film lets us feel her frustration at the pigheadedness of the medical community even when faced with her results and the true loss she suffers in her personal life since marriage wasn’t possible for nurses at that time.

It’s a well-told and interesting story.

B

Saratoga Trunk (1946)

This is like two separate movies.

The first is dark in tone and regards a woman coming to New Orleans in the late 1800s to blackmail those who slighted her mother. But, hey, her mom was the “other woman” to the patriarch of a society family so it seems to me that a little shunning's in order. Once the family pays her off to leave New Orleans, it’s time for the second movie: this one’s a fluffy tale of a woman scheming to marry a rich man and lying her ass off to do it.

Both stories feature the Texas feller who sees right through her, a frowny Haitian maid/cook/witch (who’s a dead ringer for an older, swarthier Zosia Mamet), and a dwarf servant who made me cringe with his antics. First movie was awful. Second movie was sometimes enjoyable.

C+

The Blue Dahlia (1946)

I like noirs. I like the formality of them, the hard-bitten dialogue delivered with precision rather than an excess of emotion -- I like the twists and turns and the look. This movie was almost there. Instead of formality, though, I think I'd go with "stiff" to describe the actors.

There's certainly some good stuff, but Alan Ladd was the least interesting character on the screen so I had little investment in whether he would be able to clear his name.

C+

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Also known as Stairway to Heaven

Charming "Heaven Can Wait"-type story. British pilot jumps without a parachute and is lost in the fog by his heavenly conductor. When heaven catches up with him later, he refuses to ascend because, in the meantime, he's fallen in love.

Niven is lovely as the pilot who argues that the error has changed the purpose of his life, and he's convincing enough to be awarded an opportunity to take it to court with anyone as his defender. I love that those around him (and we too) can't be sure that the "heaven" thing is real or a result of brain trauma since he claims that time and others stop when he receives visits from above. I was worried the medical questioning would take away from the magic, but it somehow works seamlessly -- making both possibilities able to co-exist.

My only complaint is that the trial scene goes on a little long. Still, even that scene made some very affecting points and actually brought tears of pride to my eyes when the multi-ethnic American jury was chosen.

B+

The Seventh Veil (1946)

We start near the end -- a silent young woman in a hospital room waits until the doctors depart and then furtively escapes in an attempt to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. A hypnotist is called in to explore the cause of her desperation and to find a cure. The bulk of the story is told through these memories uncovered during treatment.

The story is sad and desperate with a fantastic vibe -- I was rooting for the lead to recover...to understand the abuse in her past and triumph over it. Instead, the ending has her making the absolutely WRONG choice and the entire effect of the movie was spoiled. Went from creepy and hopeful to creepy and kinda twisted.

B-

The Green Years (1946)

Sweet-natured story about a young orphan going off to live with his extended family. I enjoyed the first half immensely - young Dean Stockwell and great-grandpa Coburn interact wonderfully and really made me believe that they were rescuing each other. Once the hero grows into a young man, the charm dissipates somewhat...but it's still a definite keeper.

B+

Anna and the King of Siam (1946)

I don't understand the casting of Rex Harrison, who doesn't bother to conceal his very obvious Englishness, but this movie is strong despite that weirdness. A little overlong, but interesting throughout.

B+

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Everything about this movie is just as it should be. It's long, but it doesn't feel long. It's also not afraid to be dark. One of my favorites -- for Christmas or any time.

A+

The Jolson Story (1946)

Just fine rise-to-the-top biography. Way too long, but still works, for the most part. The story line that left me scratching my head was his marriage to "Julie Benson" (why they didn't just call her "Ruby Keeler," I don't know…). Had these people never heard the concept of compromise? Either he's working every minute and his wife wants to leave or he's going cold-turkey and he's depressed as hell. Made no sense to me, but I guess that's show biz.

B-

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Nothing thrilling about this thriller. Serial killer is getting rid of all girls with flaws because "there's no room in the world for imperfection." Dorothy Maguire is, conveniently, mute. She's imperfect AND she can't scream -- bonus! Plods predictably along.

C

The Razor's Edge (1946)

After the war, Larry just doesn't care about society life any more. After the movie, I just don't care about Larry any more. Oh, Larry's an admirably hopeful character who refuses to fall back into the patterns that the rest of the world has set forth, but it's just not all that interesting.

Gene Tierney (as his ex-fiancé) is an embarrassment -- it's as though an acting coach is just off-camera shouting "More imperious, Gene!" "You're not screeching enough, Gene!" "You call THAT distressed, Gene?" She's just way too everything.

C-

Road to Utopia (1946)

Pure, silly fun. The jokes fly fast and hilarious.

B+

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Ambitious film about servicemen nervously returning to their homes…and the reaction of their families and their hometown. The refrain of this film could be "you can't go home again." But it's also hopeful.

I think that the filmmakers could have tightened it up; part of what makes it such a looooong movie (nearly three hours) is fluff. But, for the most part, a moving and, I imagine, utterly new subject for Hollywood.

B

Duel in the Sun (1946)

Well, it's obvious that Selznick was trying his best to recapture that GWTW magic...but this is an unbelievably inept failure.

Here's what you can expect from this overblown sex-western:

--Jennifer Jones (in pancake make-up so orange that she put me more in mind of an Oompa-Loompa than the half-breed we're supposed to see) apparently directed to act as though she's Scarlett O'Hara with a lobotomy and bad grammar.

--Gregory Peck as rogue murdering rapist and the apple of his daddy's eye. At one point even doing a pretty decent vocal imitation of Clark Gable -- too bad it's just the voice.

--Lionel Barrymore lazily repeating his "It's a Wonderful Life" role from the same year -- wheelchair & grumpiness standing in for effort.

--Butterfly McQueen as kerchiefed ditzy maid. Hmmm, wonder where they got that idea?

All in all, a miserable movie experience. You'd think that since they cribbed from the best it'd have turned out better! Go figure.

D

The Killers (1946)

This was a pure treat from start (menace and sarcasm in a normally non-threatening setting) to the final surprise end. The story starts with a murder, then follows the subsequent life insurance investigation. This investigation turns up information from unwilling informants, spinning out the facts in flashback. "A Soldier's Story" copied its structure entirely from this earlier film.

One complaint -- after all is said and done, there's what I like to call a "Scooby-Doo wrap-up." You know, where Fred and Velma explain the mystery to the 3 and 4-year-olds who might not be able to put it together by themselves. Well, as I am an adult, I found this device unnecessary and vaguely insulting. Anyway, even if I had got lost in the plot twists, there's always the rewind button.

A