My Favorite Film Discoveries of 2023

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! We’re about a month and a half into 2024 now, but I didn’t want to get too far into the New Year without having talked about my favorite new discoveries of last year. Per my Letterboxd stats page, last year I watched 397 films. I really wish I’d managed to squeeze in 3 more so I’d have an even 400, but alas. Now that’s not to say that all 397 titles were unique. I tend to rewatch movies, especially my favorites. Last year’s most watched stars were Joan Blondell, Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant. My most watched directors were Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Curtiz, Mitchell Leisen, and William Wyler.

All in all, it was a good year for movie viewing–especially since I got to attend my first ever TCM Film Festival and had the best movie viewing experience of my life–Casablanca in Grauman’s Chinese Theater. I’d seen that movie four other times in the theater, and nothing will ever top seeing it at Grauman’s. For the record, my second best movie experience of the year was seeing Barbarella in 35mm at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR. Seeing a campy movie like Barbarella with an audience that was completely entranced and loving every second, was fantastic. There was even a girl dressed like Barbarella, in a short silver dress, knee-high boots, and big hair–despite it being January in Oregon! Now that’s dedication!

Anyway, without further adieu, these are all my new watches of 2023:

• The Apple (1980)
• Appointment with Danger (1950)
• Arsene Lupin (1932)
• Ask Father (1919)
• Barbie (2023)
• Because of You (1952)
• Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
• Big Business Girl (1931)
• Big City Blues (1932)
• Billy Blazes Esq. (1919)
• Black Angel (1946)
• Born to Be Bad (1934)
• Born to Kill (1947)
• The Boy and the Heron (2023)
• Brute Force (1949)
• Captain Carey, USA (1949)
• Carnal Knowledge (1971)
• The Children’s Hour (1961)
• China (1943)
• Cops (1922)
• Deadline at Dawn (1946)
• Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)
• Deception (1946)
• Deep Valley (1947)
• Desert Fury (1947)
• The Desperate Hours (1955)
• The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
• Dragonwyck (1946)
• Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
• An Eastern Westerner (1920)
• Enter the Dragon (1973)
• Experiment Perilous (1944)
• Fallen Angel (1945)
• The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)
• Father Goose (1964)
• Female on the Beach (1955)

• The Five Pennies (1959)
• Flaming Star (1960)
• Flaxy Martin (1949)
• Footlight Parade (1933)
• Framed (1947)
• A Free Soul (1931)
• The Gilded Lily (1935)
• Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
• Grand Slam (1933)
• The Great Moment (1944)
• Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 (2023)
• Harvey (1950)
• High and Dizzy (1920)
• High Pressure (1932)
• Honky Tonk (1941)
• Houseboat (1959)
• The Iron Mistress (1952)
• I’ve Got Your Number (1934)
• King Kong (1933)
• Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)
• Ladies in Retirement (1941)
• The Lady in Question (1940)
• The Lady is Willing (1942)
• Larceny, Inc. (1942)
• Life Begins (1932)
• The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
• Love Has Many Faces (1965)
• Love Me Tender (1956)
• Make Me a Star (1932)
• The Man I Love (1946)
• The Mask of Dimitrios (1946)
• Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk (1935)
• Mr. Soft Touch (1949)
• Mrs. Parkington (1944)
• Naughty But Nice (1939)
• The Navigator (1924)
• Night Editor (1946)

• One Week (1920)
• Passion Flower (1930)
• The Petrified Forest (1936)
• Play Girl (1932)
• The Princess Comes Across (1936)
• The Purchase Price (1932)
• Race Street (1948)
• Red Light (1949)
• Rio Bravo (1959)
• Romancing the Stone (1984)
• Search for Beauty (1934)
• Second Honeymoon (1937)
• Secret Beyond the Door (1947)
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
• Shakedown (1950)
• Shane (1953)
• The Silver Horde (1930)
• Singapore (1947)
• The Sky’s the Limit (1943)
• Stand-In (1937)
• Strange Bargain (1949)
• That Touch of Mink (1962)
• There’s Always a Woman (1938)
• Tight Spot (1955)
• Traveling Saleslady (1935)
• The Unfaithful (1946)
• The Unguarded Hour (1936)
• Union Depot (1932)
• Week-End Marriage (1932)
• Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Whiplash (1948)
• Wild in the Country (1961)
• Woman in Hiding (1950)
• A Woman’s Face (1941)
• A Woman’s Vengeance (1948)

That was a lot of new movies last year, 108 in fact. I discovered a lot of new favorites and discovered some films that I never want to see again (The Apple, I’m looking at you). I’m not going to include the new films I saw, but I want to go on the record to say that Barbie, The Boy and the Heron, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story were awesome.

Here are my Top 5 favorite new discoveries:

This is an incredibly misleading poster.

#1 Ladies in Retirement (1941). In September, Criterion Channel featured a series called “Gaslight Noir” which I took to mean film noir that took place during the Victorian era, but I think Criterion stated that it was “dark and moody film noir.” This film stars Ida Lupino, and was a movie that I’d heard about, but had never seen. I wasn’t even aware it was a film noir, the title makes it seem like it is a light-hearted film about rich women who live a life of leisure. However, that is definitely not what this movie is about. Ida plays spinster, Ellen Creed, who works as a housekeeper and live-in companion to her wealthy friend, Leonora Fiske. Ellen has two eccentric sisters who are about to be evicted from their apartment due to their behavior. Not wanting her sisters to be homeless, Ellen takes them in and convinces Leonora to let them stay. The sisters quickly wear out their welcome and Leonora demands that Ellen force them to leave. Not wanting her sisters to end up in an institution, Ellen takes matters into her own hands.

I did not expect the turn that this movie took and I absolutely loved it. I loved the setting of this remote English home that seems perpetually encased in fog. This movie had a spooky vibe to it and I just loved it. I wish that someone would put it out on blu ray.

#2 A Woman’s Face (1941). This is a Joan Crawford film noir that TCM played earlier this year. I’d heard of this film, but had never seen it scheduled. In this film, Joan plays blackmailer Anna Holm, a woman who bears a large, disfiguring scar on her face. Because of this disfigurement, Anna carries a lot of resentment and hostility towards others, which is why she has no empathy or remorse for carrying out her blackmail scams. Eventually, she gets plastic surgery from Dr. Gustaf Segert (Melvyn Douglas) to cover the scar. Without the scar to hide behind, Anna is forced to confront her insecurities, her anger over her past, and her current life of schemes and crimes.

Most of the plot unfolds through a series of flashbacks, told through witness testimony in a court trial, where Anna is being tried for murder. Joan Crawford’s performance is fantastic as her character evolves throughout the film. Melvyn Douglas is great as the doctor who provides emotional support and sees Anna for whom she really is. Conrad Veidt as an excellent villainous role as the wealthy Torsten Barring, her partner in crime as well as her lover. The ending of the film is exciting and memorable.

#3 Harvey (1950). This was a discovery for my husband and I at the TCM Film Festival. I’d heard of this film, but I just hadn’t gotten around to seeing it yet. We absolutely loved it. In this film, James Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, a man who by all accounts is eccentric. His best friend is an imaginary friend, a 6’3.5″ rabbit named Harvey. His sister, Veta (Josephine Hull), is absolutely embarrassed and horrified by her bother’s behavior. Elwood doesn’t see anything wrong with his behavior and insists that Harvey is real. Veta eventually is so fed up that she goes down to the sanitarium to have Elwood committed and she ends up being committed herself. Harvey is expertly crafted to make the audience wonder if Elwood really is delusional and Harvey isn’t real, or is Harvey real and only Elwood can see him?

Josephine Hull won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in the 1950 Oscars race and while I don’t know that she deserved to win over Nancy Olsen for Sunset Boulevard or Thelma Ritter for All About Eve, Hull is hysterical as Veta. She very much seems like her character from Arsenic and Old Lace, except without the murder aspect. James Stewart is the true standout performance (aside from Harvey, of course) in this film. He expertly plays Elwood P. Dowd to be friendly and likeable, there isn’t really any reason to distrust or dislike him. He seems content with his life and best friend. Peggy Dow is also a lot of fun as the nurse at the sanitarium, she’s also gorgeous as well.

#4 Shakedown (1950). Speaking of Peggy Dow, she’s in this film as well. In this movie, Howard Duff plays a cock-of-the-walk photographer, Jack Early, who will do anything to get a great photo. He manages to use these tactics to score a job at a prominent San Francisco newspaper, headed up by Ellen Bennett (Dow), the photography editor and David Glover (Bruce Bennett), the editor-in-chief. David is unimpressed by Jack’s somewhat questionable methods for getting the photos, but hires him anyway. He gives Jack the impossible assignment of getting a photograph of the face of local gangster, Nick Palmer (Brian Donlevy), a man who notoriously does not want his picture taken. Jack easily scores the photo by appealing to Nick’s ego. Appreciating Jack’s nerve, Nick takes him under his wing and tells him that the head of the rival gang, Colton (Lawrence Tierney), is planning a job. He gives Jack the time and location. He easily gets the photo and brings it back to David. Colton gets wind of Jack and hires him to pull one over on Nick. Jack continues playing both gang members against each other, all while David and Ellen start becoming more and more skeptical as to how Jack keeps scoring these amazing photos. Eventually Jack gets in over his head.

This was such a great movie. I didn’t know what to expect from it and was so impressed by all the twists and turns that the plot took. I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves a good film noir.

#5 Shane (1953). I’m not a big westerns fan, but I watched this one because I’ve recently been on an Alan Ladd kick and I’d never seen what is probably his biggest, most well known role. Ladd plays the titular Shane, a drifter who arrives at a small town in Wyoming. Most of the town is comprised of homesteaders who moved west, taking advantage of the government’s offer to give free land to people wishing to move west of the Mississippi and set-up their own homes, farms, ranches, etc. Upon arriving in town, Shane encounters Mary and Joe Starrett (Jean Arthur and Van Heflin), a couple living off of the land they received from the government. Mary and Joe also have a young son, Joey (Brandon DeWilde) who immediately admires Shane. The main conflict of the film is a ruthless cattle baron wants to use force to push the Homesteaders off their viable land, so that he can take it over and grow his cattle empire.

This is such a beautiful film. Alan Ladd was great as the mysterious stranger who comes into town, helps out some of the folks, and leaves just as mysteriously as he came. His scenes with Joey are adorable and he’s great with Jean Arthur as well. Jack Palance was great as one of the cattle baron’s men, Jack Wilson, and he has a fun showdown with Ladd at the end of the film.

Honorable Mentions: Dragonwyck (1946), Enter the Dragon (1973), Larceny, Inc. (1942), Experiment Perilous (1944), and Deep Valley (1947).

Ingrid Bergman Blogathon–“Casablanca” (1942)

Ingrid Bergman was born 108 years ago today, August 29th, in 1915. Her life came full circle with her passing 41 years ago on her 67th birthday in 1982. Throughout her life, Ingrid won 3 Oscars, was condemned for her affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini on the floor of the US Congress, and came out on the other side of the scandal stronger than ever. She appeared in more than 40 films (including films in the US, Italy, and her native Sweden), a half a dozen made-for-TV movies, and dozens of theatre and radio performances. Despite winning awards for Classic Hollywood films such as Gaslight (1944), Anastasia (1956), and Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Ingrid is best known for her role in Casablanca (1942).

Today, Casablanca is regarded as one of the best films ever made. It also ranks on the top of many lists as one of the most (if not *the* most) romantic films ever made. However, during the time of production, nobody involved thought much of the film–especially its star, Ingrid Bergman. The script was constantly being re-written to the point where the stars didn’t even know how the film was going to end. The crux of the climactic scene at the airport involves the resolution of the film’s classic love triangle. Ingrid was kept in the dark as to who her character, Ilsa Lund, would end up with–Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine or Paul Henreid’s Victor Laszlo.

One of the most famous love triangles in cinema history: Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), and Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart)

Casablanca takes place in the city of the same name in Morocco. Rick Blaine is an American who operates a nightclub, Rick’s Café Américain (aka “Rick’s”). His club offers a refuge for citizens from all countries and all walks of life who are desperate to escape the Nazis and leave for the United States, which has not yet joined the war effort. Rick is seen signing off on a bill dated a few days prior to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Every refugee is desperate to procure a “letter of transit” which is required to leave Morocco for neutral Portugal, which then will allow them to get to the US. At the beginning of the film, a crook by the name of Ugarte (Peter Lorre) rushes into Rick’s, requesting a place to hide. Rick refuses and Ugarte is killed by the Nazis. Ugarte had stolen two letters of transit by murdering two German couriers. He manages to hide the letters of transit at Rick’s prior to his death. Rick’s possession of the letters of transit provides one of the main motivations for both the French and German police’s constant presence.

UGARTE: You despise me, don’t you?
RICK: If I gave you any thought, I probably would.
(Oof)

Nazi Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) and French Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) are constantly at odds with one other, with their blows often coming to head at Rick’s. Louis, while he is the prefect of police, is corrupt and is friends with Rick. It is implied that Louis propositions young female refugees, asking for sex in exchange for an exit visa. Strasser and Renault’s main bone of contention is the arrival of Victor Laszlo, a Czechoslovakian who escaped from a concentration camp and is the leader of a resistance movement. Major Strasser’s main motivation in the film is to capture Victor Laszlo and return him to the concentration camp.

However, while the political strife of Casablanca is important to the plot, the film is mainly remembered for its love triangle between Rick Blaine, Ilsa Lund, and Victor Laszlo. Throughout the beginning of the film, Rick is shown to be cynical and completely apathetic to everything. He has funny lines such as when he’s asked if he is available for drinks later in the evening, and he responds: “I never make plans that far ahead.” One evening, Ilsa and her husband, Victor Laszlo enter the club. When Rick spots Ilsa, his face suddenly contorts into the look of sheer anger and heartbreak.

Rick is distraught after Ilsa re-enters his life. “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine.”

In flashback, we learn that Rick and Ilsa used to be romantically involved, while living in Paris. They’re shown in blissful happiness: romantic drives around the French countryside, sipping champagne while engaging in flirty banter and dancing at romantic clubs. Rick and Ilsa are in love and when they learn that Germany is marching into Paris, they make plans to leave together on the train. One rainy afternoon, Rick waits for Ilsa at the train station, but she never shows up. Heartbroken, Rick reads the “Dear John” letter she sent and boards the train. Ilsa’s reappearance in Morocco brings back a flood of memories to Rick and reminds him of how much she hurt him.

Seeing Rick is obviously a blow to Ilsa as well. Her admiration and love for him comes flooding back to her gorgeously lit face (kudos to whoever lit Ingrid Bergman for this film) that just sparkles on screen. Throughout the film, Ilsa becomes conflicted, not knowing if she wants to leave Victor and rekindle her romance with Rick. In her confusion, she tries to convince herself that she doesn’t love Rick and tries to hold him at gunpoint to force him to give her the letters of transit. Rick isn’t convinced and soon Ilsa confesses that she still loves him.

Rick and Ilsa during happier times in Paris.

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman acted out Rick and Ilsa’s romance perfectly. They are still in love, but Rick has been so hurt by Ilsa, that it’s hard for him to drop his defenses. The fact that she’s married makes him even more adverse to getting involved with her again. Ingrid portrays Ilsa’s dilemma perfectly, with her face displaying the conflicted feelings she has for Rick. She loves Rick, but she also admires Victor for his work in the resistance. In a very gallant speech, Rick tells Ilsa that Victor needs her, as she is his motivation. In the famous airport scene, Bogart’s face perfectly portrays the love that Rick has for Ilsa. Ingrid’s face beautifully portrays Ilsa’s confusion and overwhelming love for Rick. However, this time, Rick is able to end the relationship on his own terms, knowing that it’s for the best that Ilsa stays with Victor. Ilsa on the other hand, seems to have expected that she’d stay with Rick and send Victor packing.

“Play it Sam, play ‘As Time Goes By.'”

In the end, do we want Rick and Ilsa together? The Simpsons offered an alternate ending. As Rick and Louis walk away together as Sam (Dooley Wilson) plays piano. Sam then warns Rick that Louis has a gun. As Louis prepares to shoot Rick, Sam shoves his piano at Louis and knocks him out. Hitler then pops out of the lid of Sam’s piano, preparing to throw bombs at Rick and Sam. Ilsa suddenly parachutes down from her departing plane, lands on the piano lid, locking Hitler inside. Sam begins playing something that kind of sounds like “As Time Goes By” (but isn’t, obviously. Rights issues) and the scene segues into Rick and Ilsa’s wedding.

While this is obviously a ridiculous way to end the film, it does give the audience the happy ending that many in the audience want–Rick and Ilsa ridding the world of Hitler and living happily ever after. Personally, I cannot imagine Casablanca with that ending. The entire airport scene, oddly one of the most romantic scenes in cinema history, despite being basically a break-up scene, is so perfect. The credit for how the scene plays out entirely belongs to Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The problems of three little people may not amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, but for 102 minutes, we’re captivated. We’ll always have Paris. And we’ll always have Ingrid Bergman’s luminous face. Here’s looking at you, kid.

The alternate ending to “Casablanca” as envisioned by The Simpsons.

RICK: Last night we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. We’ll I’ve done a lot of it since then, and it all adds up to one thing: you’re getting on that plane with Victor where you belong.

ILSA: But Richard, no, I…I…

RICK: Now, you’ve got to listen to me! You have any idea what you’d have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we’d both wind up in a concentration camp. Isn’t that true, Louis?

LOUIS: I’m afraid Major Strasser would insist.

ILSA: You’re saying this only to make me go.

RICK: I’m saying it because it’s true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You’re part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

ILSA: But what about us?

RICK: We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.

ILSA: When I said I would never leave you.

RICK: And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of. Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday, you’ll understand that.

(Ilsa lowers her head and starts to cry)

RICK: Now, Now…

(Rick lifts Ilsa’s chin, so their eyes meet)

RICK: Here’s looking at you kid.

Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund, and Claude Rains as Louis Renault in “Casablanca.”

Ingrid Bergman’s gorgeous face as Bogart gives her the most romantic brush-off in cinema history.