Pat and Mike (1952)

Pat, a natural athlete, has some success once she starts working with a manager -- but she's still getting the yips when her fiancee is around. Though there are some fun bits with mobsters and a jealous boxer working under the same manager, it's rather thin and very dated. Not one of the better Tracy & Hepburn outings.

C+

Road to Bali (1952)

A pair of womanizing Vaudevillians need to get out of town quick and wind up taking a job in Bali. They both fall in love with the same princess, get attacked by a giant squid, retrieve a treasure, get shipwrecked, are captured by an island tribe, and are almost forced to marry each other before a homophobic volcano puts a stop to that.

It's silly enough that I chuckled a few times, but -- even for a "Road to" movie -- it was wafer thin.

C

Monkey Business (1952)

A scientist (Cary Grant) is working to find a "fountain of youth"-type solution. When one of the test subject chimpanzees gets out of her cage and mixes up an extremely effective formula then dumps it in the lab's water cooler, things get a little out of hand.

I say "a little" because it's apparent that this is supposed to be a zany, fast-moving laugh-riot with Grant and Ginger Rogers as wife taking turns behaving like a 20-year-old and a child respectively. Though there were a couple of silly moments, it was, for the most part, terribly mild.

D

The Marrying Kind (1952)

Florence and Chet meet cute, get married, have a couple of kids, and seem to have a pretty great life. He's got a stable job at the post office and she's happy to be a homemaker. But he's jealous (over nothing) and dissatisfied with his position in life -- always dreaming of making it big. When they lose a child, it's too much strain for their marriage and they wind up in divorce court. Or that's what I saw.

What the denouement pushes is a "they're made for each other" and "it's both of their faults that they got here" narrative. Which, no. If they wanted me to blame her, they should've given me a reason to do so. I think Florrie would be better off without the sourpuss man-baby in her home.

D+

The Atomic City (1952)

Los Alamos -- nicknamed the "Atomic City" because it was a city made up entirely of the personnel for nuclear weapons research and their families -- is the setting for this cold-war era thriller. Frank Addison is one of the top men in atomic research. When on a school trip, son Tommy is kidnapped and held for the ransom of nuclear plans. Soon undercover agents are on the case.

Though the family stuff is a little stiff, the casework is crackling. Worth a watch.

C+

The Narrow Margin (1952)

Cop is tasked with babysitting a mob boss’s widow on the train ride from Chicago to grand jury proceedings in L.A. Solid noir with a didn’t see THAT coming twist.

B+

The Quiet Man (1952)

John Wayne returns to the Irish village of his birth after emigrating to America with his mother when he was small. He immediately sets his eyes on fiery Maureen O’Hara. Problem is that “the Yank” set himself at odds with her brother by buying adjoining land the brother hoped to obtain himself.

This is a spirited movie with a trove of charming locals and an intense love story between two well-matched people. But… there was also a distasteful “women as property” vibe going on. I started to watch a Kirk Douglas movie called The Indian Fighter a couple of weeks back and couldn’t get more than 20 minutes in due to the rape-y vibe (an Indian woman is ogled while bathing in a creek then grabbed and forcibly kissed without consent), all played as good-natured "boys will be boys" behavior. The same vibe -- though maybe a bit softer -- was in this movie as well. At one point O’Hara is pulled off a train and dragged home (sometimes literally) on foot for 5 miles with a kick in the pants serving as punctuation while villagers chased along to watch the show. At one point a woman even offers Wayne a “good stick to beat the lovely lady.” I mean, I get that this may be a picture of a certain place at a certain time, but finding humor in the misogyny was impossible.

B

Viva Zapata! (1952)

The only enjoyable thing about this movie was playing “moustache watch” with the ridiculous strips of hair affixed to Brando’s lips; they were often askew and varied in length, even within the same scene.  He was so unrecognizable that it took at least 20 minutes before I was sure it was him -- his nostrils were expanded, his eyes seemed to have been puffed and stretched to be Asian-like, and his acting ability was taking a break.

Completely devoid of on-purpose entertainment value.

D-

The Sound Barrier (1952)

Surprisingly effective film about a decorated flier going to work as a test-pilot for his new father-in-law, an aircraft manufacturer obsessed with technological breakthrough.

The flight scenes are exciting, but it's the central issue that I found more interesting: when is the personal cost of scientific progress too much to justify? Is sacrificing relationships and possibly even life ever worth it? Is it fair to demand that someone you love to give up a pursuit for any reason, even inherent danger?

Well-made film -- though, it should be noted, the British did not break the sound barrier first!

B+

5 Fingers (1952)

This true story is based on "Operation Cicero," recounted by L.M. Moyzisch in his memoir of the same name. "Cicero" was the code name given to a spy selling British secrets to the Nazis in Turkey during World War II and Moyzisch was the German contact.

It's competent enough. The actors are good. Feels a bit too polished and stiff to get the blood pumping though and I was never hoping for one faction to "win" over the other. Cicero wasn't likable enough to root for and the British were a bit too self-satisfied for me to care much about the fact that they were being cuckolded by the ambassador's manservant.

I'd probably have liked this a bit more if I'd not seen the far superior, but similarly-themed, Breach so recently.

B-

With a Song in My Heart (1952)

Susan Hayward plays Jane Froman -- small-town singer who hits it big thanks to her savvy friend/manager/eventual husband. It shoots for a bit of "A Star is Born" as her less-talented husband gets jealous, drunk, and snippy as she rises to the top -- but there's not much bite to those scenes.

The "big story" is when Jane flies off to entertain the troops and winds up struggling to keep her leg after the plane crashes. Will the rugged fellow survivor give her the courage to fight? Will the charmingly brash nurse (Thelma Ritter) provide comic relief? Duh. Plus, it's based on a true story, so you know it's gotta turn out OK.

Not effective enough to squeeze any tears outta my eyes, but serviceable and the songs are pretty good.

C+

Rashomon (1952)

When sheltering from a torrential downpour, a commoner becomes audience to a woodcutter and a priest who share the strange story of a recent death and inquiry in the village.

We see the event from the perspective (honest or deliberately twisted?) of each of the three people involved and the one "witness." Each story is an ugly one -- but none are identical.

Despite the fact that I rank two of Akira Kurosawa's later films: The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo above this one, it's a groundbreaking, must-see.

B

My Cousin Rachel (1952)

Nice, creepy vibe in which I was nervous for the lead and confused about how someone can be so suspicious and blind at the same time. I liked the ambiguity, though I wound up feeling slightly manipulated that a major string didn't get fully tied off. There's a big lie that turns out to be harmless -- or was it?? I like a bit of something to chew on after the credits roll, but I don't enjoy feeling as though information I've been given means the story can't make sense.

Reminded me of "Rebecca" -- as well it should, since the two stories share an author. Simply couldn't measure up to that marvel of storytelling, but I still think it's well worth watching. Richard Burton is so impossibly young here!

B

The Lusty Men (1952)

Might sound like a bodice-ripping melodrama - but it's actually a top-notch film about life on the rodeo circuit.

Mitchum's a recently injured champion rider who happens upon young up-and-comer Kennedy and his wife Hayward. The newlyweds are hoping to earn enough cash to buy their own little ranch and hubby thinks that, with Mitchum as a mentor, rodeo cash could be just the shortcut he's looking for.

The riding scenes are truly exciting and the portrayal of life on the road and effects of sudden wealth believable. All three leads are extremely good.

A-

The Big Sky (1952)

Buncha guys pole to Blackfoot country to trade. It's way too long and lots of it is boring. Beginning is the best.

C

Moulin Rouge (1952)

The "effects" to make Ferrer appear short were laughable -- "Dorf on Golf" is more convincing. His height varied by half a foot at times and when he moved, I'm sure he was rolling. But the film, for all that, isn't awful. It's just not as good as it could be. It just went its predictable way. I also have no idea why this was named "Moulin Rouge" rather than "Lautrec."

C-

The Star (1952)

Vanity-free Davis does a great job in the role of a has-been golden girl of cinema facing middle-age and bankruptcy. The scenes with Sterling Hayden are alright -- but Hayden's just not on the same level as Davis and doesn't convince as a good guy who just wants to help. He's both too stiff and young.

B+

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

I am crazy for Kirk Douglas and movies about movies. Hey! How could I miss by checking out this movie about the movies STARRING Kirk Douglas? Not quite up there with All About Eve, but it's darn close.

I thought "isn't that just like life" after watching it; it's a great parable. The heartless producer who uses people for his own ends, but those he's used emerge the better for their affiliation. If only we could divorce ourselves from the hurt pride and hurt feelings and immediately expose the gems left behind by all experiences, we'd be able to die right there, for we'd have nothing else to learn.

A