They Won't Believe Me (1947)

A man accused of murdering his wife tells his tale on the stand, which we watch unfold in flashback. He's a cheater with a rich wife, but he didn't do it, see? Decent enough, but I'm sure I'll forget it in days.

B

Bush Christmas (1947)

Three siblings and two friends track horse thieves in order to retrieve their father's mare. There's a little bit of danger and a lot of ingenuity, but it never sparks the way I hoped it would.

C

Shoeshine (1947)

Two young friends work as shoeshine boys on the streets of Rome, saving up to buy a horse together. To earn the rest of what they need, they take a job delivering blankets to an old woman -- not realizing that they're part of a bigger scheme to rob her. They are picked up for the robbery and thrown into juvie, where they must adapt quickly.

This really moved me. The terrible cycle of poverty, the joy of friendship, the pressure cooker of prison, and the pull of family obligation are all well-realized here. These boys broke my heart.

B+

Escape Me Never (1947)

Musician Caryl Dubrok is seeing heiress Fenella. Single mother Gemma is crashing with Caryl's brother, aspiring composer Sebastian Dubrok. The living arrangement is the source of a misunderstanding with Fenella's family, resulting in the Dubroks & Gemma hitting the road to explain the situation.

The story morphs from comedy to melodrama once the group tracks Fenella down, and it never recovers its easy charm.

B-

It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

Homeless guy has figured out how to be comfortable -- just move into the mansion that’s always vacant during the winter months. He extends an invitation to a recently displaced veteran and they wind up having a full house in no time.  A couple of the boarders are even the actual owners of the place, playing along with the sham.

It could’ve been really great in the right hands, but in these hands it’s only ever potentially good. There's a clever story with some ripe-for-slapstick situations and heart-tugging possibilities that never really quite get to where you know they should go.

C+

Great Expectations (1947)

Good adaptation of my least favorite Dickens.

B-

Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)

Garbage.

Adult daughter finds out that the man she’s sweet on is having an affair with her mother. Blackmail, two murders and two suicides follow and, despite all of the sordidness, it’s manages to be stiff and tedious. It feels like a stage play, but an extremely boring one. Hated this.

F

Crossfire (1947)

A civilian winds up dead after meeting some soldiers in a bar. The investigator on the case questions several of the servicemen and we see their stories in flashback.  I thought it was going somewhere cool, but no. It wound up just being a disposable sermon about the small-mindedness of anti-semitism.

Not bad, but it coulda been so much better if it would’ve stopped preaching for a couple of minutes.

C

Green for Danger (1947)

That's the newest DVD cover, which is much cooler than the disc inside. That's not to say that the film is bad -- just that it's a rather standard whodunit: an Agatha Christie lite.

During World War II in a British hospital, an operating table death gets ruled murder. One of the people working the room is guilty...can you figure out who before the murderer makes it blindingly obvious by virtue of being the last one standing? It's fairly square, and seems not to realize that the main pleasure of watching a mystery is the "playing along" as an investigator -- figuring out who, why, and how. Seeing as the movie's black and white with a mystery that hinges on a color, that game's a little stacked this time.

Alistair Sim as the Scotland Yard detective on the case is great, though. He adds much-needed wit with a raised eyebrow.

B

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Eighth...or 18th...time I've seen this.

Jaded Macy's manager is raising her daughter to shun fantasy -- and runs into a bit of trouble when the Santa Claus she hires for the store is a little too convincing. Just a wonderful mix of sweetness and how the magic of belief can melt even the most cynical hearts.

Every single time I watch this, I tear up when Kris Kringle is talking to the little Dutch girl. Has there ever been a more convincing bit of love captured on screen than the one conveyed by the mother's expression as she watches her daughter's face transform from worry to joy? My eyes are leaking just thinking about it.

A

Boomerang! (1947)

Beloved priest is shot down in full sight of several witnesses and a manhunt commences. The town wants a swift conclusion to the crime and finds a fall guy in Arthur Kennedy: a drifter who fits the general description, was in town at the time, owns a gun, and confesses to the crime.

The so-good-he's-almost-boring prosecutor (with an even more boring wife) takes what looks to be an airtight case and picks it apart, piece by piece, until it's just a pile of circumstance which isn't strong enough to combat reasonable doubt. The interesting thing about the film is that they're so careful never to say "the guy's innocent." For all I know he was guilty. But, in order for our legal system to work well, it must examine everything.

It's a decent "based on a true story" drama that is careful not to outright twist the facts, but has no problem giving the viewer a scapegoat that is obviously nothing more than fiction.

B

Out of the Past (1947)

Robert Mitchum is living a quiet life, wooing a local lady, when a "friend" from his past happens to see him. He's been hiding out for the few years since he was supposed to chase down and haul his boss's girl back to him, but fell for her instead.

Noiriest of the Noirs. Extremely enjoyable.

B+

Brute Force (1947)

Kind of stagy, but pretty good anyway. The singing prisoner named "Calypso" is ridiculous though, as is the photo of the representative woman in the cell.

B

Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

Interesting noir-lite. The back-story is deliberately shadowy and it's pretty effectively structured. The big problem with this film are the two leads: Montgomery (too slight to be the tough guy the script calls for) and Hendrix (too caucasian to be a wise but wide-eyed senorita).

B-

Possessed (1947)

The story is interesting enough -- woman goes slowly mad -- but they bog it down with simplistic psychobabble that's pretty laughable now. It reminded me quite a bit of "The Snake Pit." She's crazy...but why?? Should've just stuck to telling the story rather than explaining it.

B-

Kiss of Death (1947)

Pretty decent story of a thug going straight by way of being a stoolpigeon for the sake of his kids and new wife. Can't help but be dated…the "creepy" Widmark wouldn't even frighten my kids nowadays.

B-

The Farmer's Daughter (1947)

Smarter-than-she-looks Swedish girl gets off on the wrong foot in the big city, but quickly regains her bearings, falls in love, and becomes a congresswoman. Just goes to show.

B+

Body and Soul (1947)

Nicely done story of boxing mug being taken to the top, and for a ride, by shady management. Luckily, he has a faithful woman to stick by him. Uplifting, though rather long, tale.

B

Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947)

Pretty dang good, but the film wasn't true to itself a few too many times – "Aw, you drunk! I'm leaving and I'm taking the kid 'cause she's not safe with you…" then later, "No matter what condition she's in, the kid's safe with her.” Also, they blame a "fantasy" affair on an overactive imagination, when 20 minutes earlier an admission was made by one of the alleged participants! Nevertheless, Hayward does a good drunk and the early marriage scenes make you believe the two are in love.

B-

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

I'm a sucker for all things Christmas, especially Christmas movies. I love 'em all -- "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street," "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," "A Christmas Story," etc. But this is the film that makes all the others seem like runners-up.

Dudley (Cary Grant - playing an angel) is an inspiration to me each time I see this movie. Goofy, I know, but true. It's filled with humor, not the punch line kind, but the conversational kind. This is a movie of magic - and that's the best kind of movie for Christmas.

By the way...don't settle for the Whitney Houston remake "The Preacher's Wife," it's a shadow of the original. Why did they bother?

A+