American Cinema

My Favorite Joseph H. Lewis Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Gun Crazy (1950)

2.   Terror in a Texas Town (1958) 

3.   The Halliday Brand (1957)

4.   The Big Combo (1955)

5.   So Dark the Night (1946)

6.   My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)

* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema)

1.   The Rifleman – Season 1 (1958-1959)
1a. The Safe Guard (1958)
1b. Duel of Honor (1958)
1c. The Deadly Wait (1959)
1d. The Pet (1959)
1e. The Trade (1959)
1f. Boomerang (1959)
1g. Shivaree (1959)
(Television)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema)

1.   The Rifleman – Season 2 (1959-1960)
1a. Heller (1960)
1b. The Visitor (1960)
1c. The Fourflusher (1960)
1d. Letter of the Law (1959)
1e. Panic (1959)
1f. The Deserter (1960)
1g. Shotgun Man (1960)
1h. The Patsy (1959)
1i. The Hangman (1960)
1j. Surveyors (1959)
1k. Hero (1960)
1l. The Spoiler (1960)
1m. Eddie’s Daughter (1959)
1n. Day of the Hunter (1960)
(Television)

My Favorite Jerry Lewis Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Ladies Man (1961)

2.   The Nutty Professor (1963)

3.   The Bellboy (1960)

4.   The Patsy (1964)

5.   The Errand Boy (1961)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   Cracking Up (1983)

2.   Hardly Working (1980)
(I saw it on an old VHS tape)

My Favorite Richard Lester Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Petulia (1968)

2.   Help! (1965)

3.   A Hard Day’s Out (1964)

4.   The Bed Sitting Room (1969)

5.   The Knack …and How to Get It (1965)

6.   How I Won the War (1967)

7a. The Three Musketeers (1973)
7b. The Four Musketeers (1974)

8.   Juggernaut (1974)

9.   Robin and Marian (1976)

10. Superman II (1980)
(Richard Donner’s 2006 Cut is also great)

* * * * (Out of * * * * ) (Short Cinema)

1.   The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959)
(co-directed with Peter Sellers)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   Royal Flash (1975)

2.   A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

My Favorite Sergio Leone Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

2.   For a Few Dollars More (1965)

3.   Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

4.   The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

5.   Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
(a.k.a. A Fistful of Dynamite)

6.   A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

My Favorite Fritz Lang Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   M (1931)

2.   Spies (1928)

3.   Scarlet Street (1945)

4.   While the City Sleeps (1956)

5.   Liliom (1934)

6.   Fury (1936)

7.   The Woman in the Window (1944)

8.   You Only Live Once (1937)

9.   Moonfleet (1955)

10. The Big Heat (1953)

11. Rancho Notorious (1952)

12. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)

13. Die Nibelungen (1924)

14. Destiny (1921)

15. The Tiger of Eschnapur/The Indian Tomb (1959)
(a.k.a. Fritz Lang’s Indian Epic)

16. Metropolis (1927)

17. The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960)

18. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) 

19. Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)

20. You and Me (1937)

21. Clash by Night (1952)

22. Secret Beyond the Door (1948)

23. The Blue Gardenia (1953)

24. Human Desire (1954)

25. House by the River (1950)

26. Ministry of Fear (1944)

27. Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

28. Man Hunt (1941)

29. Western Union (1941)

30. The Return of Frank James (1940)

31. Cloak and Dagger (1946)

32. Woman in the Moon (1929)

33. The Spiders Parts I and II (1919/1920)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   Harikari (1919)

2.   American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950)

My Favorite Akira Kurosawa Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Ran (1985)

2.   High and Low (1963)

3.   Seven Samurai (1954)

4.   Ikiru (1952)

5.   Red Beard (1965)

6.   Throne of Blood (1957)

7.   Rashomon (1950)

8.   Yojimbo (1961)

9.   The Hidden Fortress (1958)

10. Stray Dog (1949)

11. Madadayo (1993)

12. Kagemusha (1980)

13. Drunken Angel (1948)

14. Sanjuro (1962)

15. Dersu Uzala (1975)

16. The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

17. I Live in Fear (1955)

18. Does’ka-den (1970)

19. The Idiot (1951)

20. The Lower Depths (1957)

21. Scandal (1950)

22. The Quiet Duel (1949)

23. One Wonderful Sunday (1947)

24. No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)

25. The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)

26. Sanshiro Sugata (1943)

27. Sanshiro SUgata Part II (1945)

28. The Most Beautiful (1944)

29. Rhapsody in August (1991)

30. Dreams (1990)
(a.k.a. Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams)

My Favorite Stanley Kubrick Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   Barry Lyndon (1975)

2.   2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

3.   Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

4.   The Shining (1980)

5.   The Killing (1956)

6.   Dr. Strangelove (1964)

7.   Paths of Glory (1957)

8.   Full Metal Jacket (1987)

9.   Lolita (1962)

10. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

11. Spartacus (1960)

12. Killer’s Kiss (1955)

13. Fear and Desire (1953)

My Favorite Kim Jee-woon Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   A Bittersweet Life (2005)

2.   The Age of Shadows (2016)

3.   A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

2.   I Saw the Devil (2010)

3.   The Last Stand (2013)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *) (Anthology Films)

1.   Three (2002)
(Segment: “Memories”)

My Favorite Gene Kelly Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   That’s Entertainment, Part II (1976)
(Documentary)

2.   Invitation to the Dance (1956)
(Live-Action/Animation)

3.   Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
(co-directed with Stanley Donen)

4.   It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)
(co-directed with Stanley Donen)

5.   On the Town (1949)
(co-directed with Stanley Donen)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Happy Road (1957)

2.   The Tunnel of Love (1958)

3.   Hello, Dolly! (1969)

My Favorite Buster Keaton Films

by John Charet

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   The General (1926)
(co-directed with Clyde Bruckman)

2.   Sherlock Jr. (1924)

3.   The Navigator (1924)
(co-directed with Donald Crisp)

4.   Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
(co-directed with Charles Reisner)

5.   The Cameraman (1928)
(co-directed with Edward Sedgwick)

6.   Our Hospitality (1923)
(co-directed with John G. Blystone)

7.   Seven Chances (1925)

8.   Go West (1925)

9.   Three Ages (1923)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema) (1917-1923)

1.   One Week (1920)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

2.   The Scarecrow (1920)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

3.   The Goat (1921)
(co-directed with Malcolm St. Clair)

4.   Cops (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

5.   The Playhouse (1921)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

6.   The High Sign (1921)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

7.   Neighbors (1920)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

8.   The Electric House (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

9.   The Boat (1921)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

10. Hard Luck (1921)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

11. Convict 13 (1920)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

12. The Love Nest (1923)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

13. The Blacksmith (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

14. The Paleface (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)
(no relation to the Bob Hope movie)

15. The Haunted House (1921)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

16. Day Dreams (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

17. The Balloonatic (1923)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

18. My Wife’s Relations (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

19. The Frozen North (1922)
(co-directed with Edward F. Cline)

20. The Rough House (1917)
(co-directed with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle)

* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema) (1934-1937) (Educational Pictures)

1.   Grand Slam Opera (1936)
(co-directed with Charles Lamont)

2.   Love Nest on Wheels (1937)
(co-directed with Charles Lamont)

3.   One Run Elmer (1935)
(allegedly, Charles Lamont co-directed)

4.   Allez Oop (1935)
(co-directed with Charles Lamont)

5.   The Gold Ghost (1934)
(co-directed with Charles Lamont)

6.   Blue Blazes (1936)
(co-directed with Raymond Kane)

7.   Mixed Magic (1936)
(co-directed with Raymond Kane)

8.   Tars and Stripes (1935)
(co-directed with Charles Lamont)

* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)

1.   College (1927)
(co-directed with James W. Horne)