The Horse's Mouth (1958)

Annoying movie about an annoying artist who, though talented, makes a nuisance of himself at every turn by, among other things, vandalizing, harassing, squatting, and thieving.

I usually adore Alec Guinness, but everything from his gait to his voice was grating here.

D

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

I rather enjoyed the first half, in which I couldn't help but be impressed by Ingrid Bergman as a single woman determined to become a missionary to China. She gets no encouragement, but her single-minded assurance that this is God's will for her keeps her plugging along. The obstacles don't magically disappear, even once she finally makes it to her destination, but she's indefatigable and pretty inspirational.

The problems were that it just dragged on too long and that, though based on a true story, there were some obvious "no way" moments. Has some charm but no staying power.

C+

Man of the West (1958)

Gary Cooper's a reformed outlaw trusted with hiring a school teacher for his town. But when the train he's on gets held up, he finds himself left behind with a saloon singer and small-time opportunist in tow. Since the closest place he can think of to get help happens to be a hideout for his old gang, he heads there.

It's a tense little western -- a bit more seamy than usual and more believable for it.

B

Curse of the Demon (1958)

Dana Andrews is John Holden, an American skeptic, in England to help investigate an alleged Satanist. When he gets there, he finds that his research partner has died under mysterious circumstances and it seems he's next. Good thing his dead partner left behind a pretty young niece/daughter/whatever who wants to get to the bottom of uncle's/dad's/whatever's death as badly as Holden does.

Some scenes are creepy and have a nice sense of foreboding -- but there's so much talking and vocal skepticism that some of the scare leaks right out. It's fine, but certainly could have been better. And while most of the special effects work well enough, the demon himself is ripe for parody on MST3K.

B-

The Goddess (1958)

The movie's divided into three parts: "Portrait of a Young Girl," "Portrait of a Young Woman," and "Portrait of a Goddess." The first portion is given just a small amount of screen time, but we get it: she's a lonely latchkey kid before it was the norm.

In the second act, her desire to be accepted despite living in the bad part of town causes her to give the boys what other girls won't...and to dream of escaping to Hollywood to become a star and prove to everyone that she's as good as they are.

The third, and longest, part is all about Hollywood. I've read that Paddy Chayefsky based his screenplay on Ava Gardner's life -- but there's a competing theory that it's all about Marilyn. Regardless of who the inspiration was, it's damned depressing. It's also insightful, well-acted, and powerful. I didn't enjoy it, but I do respect it.

B-

Thunder Road (1958)

Every scene is ripe for the mocking. Keely Smith is particularly wooden/amusing.

D

Teacher's Pet (1958)

A too-old Gable takes the lead as a newspaper man who hates education and says experience is the way to go. College professor has disdain for his macho ways. He pretends to be a student in her class...they fall in love...can love survive when the lie is exposed? Duh.

C

I Want to Live! (1958)

A woman is wrongly convicted and sentenced to death – the unusual fact for an American film being that she is portrayed as being fairly unlikable.

But, the film forces you to keep emotional distance by, for example, having a stuffed tiger represent her love for her son, but giving us precious few scenes with the actual child. Even with Susan Hayward's brassylady-o-meter breaking from overuse, it's pretty good.

B-

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

The narration makes it feel less like watching a movie and more like listening to a fantastic librarian reading aloud from his favorite book. The story itself was new territory for me…but I learned much and was moved.

B+

Some Came Running (1958)

Reminded me a lot of Peyton Place: it’s a not-too-important story taking itself waaaay too seriously.

MacLaine is good as a floozy hopelessly in love with Sinatra who can't see her for the ice princess he loves. Predictably ends in "tragedy." Dean Martin is wasted in a character hampered by idiosyncrasies.

C+

Separate Tables (1958)

This film was not at all what I expected. When I saw that it starred David Niven, Deborah Kerr, and Rita Hayworth -- I thought cute & sweet. I was caught off-guard and loved every minute of it.

This is a deep film with deep emotions. Every single actor on the screen so inhabits their character that it's hard to see the seams. You gotta wonder about Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Railton-Bell, though. She did that same overbearing mother destroying her daughter thing in Now Voyager with Bette Davis. But make no mistake, she does it damn well. Watch Niven's performance, especially near the end in the hotel office. He's extraordinary and pitiful. Great film.

Problems? Yeah, just one. The bouncy score gets almost distracting.

B+