Ranking the best films pre 1950

Have run through this again, so far specifically focusing on this period.

Importantly I am insisting on the whole film being an enjoyable watch.

Technical or stylistic innovation is rewarded, but only if it makes the grade on watchability.

It is in all honest impossible to rank these when they are so different to one another.
Even particular films are difficult to know how to assess. Gone With the Wind for example is visually utterly stunning. A bigger leap forward than 2001 Space Odyssey. But I find the story so so, the heroin loathsome, and the whole thing of questionable ethics.
Wizard of Oz was also a technical marvel, but I find it difficult to rate as an adult.
Reading the contemporary reviews, GWTW as well as Robin Hood, Snow White, Wizard of Oz and to an extent Prince Achmed obviously blew audiences away, understandably, and I think that needs to be considered.

This is what I've come up with this time:

26. Vampyr 1932
25. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927
24. Key Largo 1948
23. Scarface 1932
22. Laura 1944
21. Rebecca 1940

20. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1936
19. Out of the Past 1947
18. Brief Encounter 19451
17. Meshes of the Afternoon 1943
16. The Roaring Twenties 1939
15. Bicycle Thieves 1948
14. Rome, Open City 1945
13. Ornamental Hairpin 1941
12. Gone With the Wind 1939
11. My Darling Clementine 1946

10. The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938
9. Panique 1946
8. The Wizard of Oz 1939
7. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
6. Blackmail 1929
5. Casablanca 1942
4. The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1926
3. The Third Man 1949
2. Salt for Svanetia 1930
1. Day of Wrath 1943

This would give me the following decade lists:


1920s
(The General USA Buster Keaton 1926
The Thief of Bagdad USA Raoul Walsh 1924
Sherlock Jr USA Charlie Chaplin 1924
Pandora's Box Germany G.W. Pabst 1929)
4. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927
3. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
2. Blackmail 1929
1. The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1926

1930s
8. Vampyr 1932
7. Scarface 1932
6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1936
5. The Roaring Twenties 1939
4. Gone With the Wind 1939
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938
2. The Wizard of Oz 1939
1. Salt for Svanetia 1930

1940s
14. Key Largo 1948
13. Laura 1944
12. Rebecca 1940
11. Out of the Past 1947
10. Brief Encounter 1945
9. Meshes of the Afternoon 1943
8. Bicycle Thieves 1948
7. Rome, Open City 1945
6. Ornamental Hairpin 1941
5. My Darling Clementine 1946
4. Panique 1946
3. Casablanca 1942
2. The Third Man 1949
1. Day of Wrath 1943

Anyway, this is what I've come up with for the 50s. Very similar to what I had actually which I'm pleased about.
Bridge on the River Kwai's fallen because I'm sick of the stiff upper lip bollocks.

20/ 3:10 To Yuma 1957 USA Delmer Daves
19. A Man Escaped 1956 France Robert Bresson
18. The Cranes are Flying 1957 USSR Mikhail Kalatozov
17. The Killing 1955 USA Stanley Kubrick
16. 12 Angry Men 1957 USA Sydney Lumet
15. Bob the Gambler 1956 France Jean-Pierre Melville
14. La Point Courte 1955 France Agnès Varda
13. The King and I 1956 USA Walter Lang
12. Stromboli (italian version) 1950 Italy Roberto Rossellini
11. Bridge On The River Kwai 1957 UK David Lean
10. Touch of Evil 1958 USA Orson Welles
9. Rebel Without a Cause 1955 USA Nicholas Ray
8. The First Echelon 1955 USSR Mikhael Kalatazov
7. On the Waterfront 1954 USA Elia Kazan
6. Anatomy of a Murder 1959 USA Otto Preminger
5. North by Northwest 1959 USA Alfred Hitchcock
4. Pather Panchali 1955 India Satyijat Ray
3. The Music Room 1958 India Satyajit Ray
2. Journey to Italy 1954 Italy Roberto Rossellini
1. Rear Window 1954 USA Alfred Hitchcock

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Bicycle Thieves
The Grand Illusion
The Grapes of Wrath
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
Dodsworth
Shoeshine
The Devil and Daniel Webster
La Tera Trema
You Can't Take It With You
Citizen Kane
M
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Meet John Doe
The Lost Weekend
Casablanca
The Ox-Bow Incident
Late Spring
Le Jour Se Le Vie
Day of Wrath
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
Die Brücke

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