The Quiet Man (1952)

A retired boxer (John Wayne) from America returns to his childhood home in Ireland in search of the quiet life. A beautiful hot-headed woman (Maureen O’Hara) catches his eye, but getting her brother’s permission to court her proves complicated.

Of John Ford’s four Oscars, none were for westerns. This was his last win and first when directing his old friend, Wayne. He was also nominated for Stagecoach (1939). While not a Western, The Quiet Man sports its fair share of Duke machismo. The only reasonable way to resolve your differences is a fist fight.

Victor McLaglen plays the aforementioned brother. His health wasn’t great so the big fight scene needed to be handled carefully. Barry Fitzgerald, everyone’s favorite leprechaun, is the village matchmaker. Frequent Ford collaborator Ward Bond is the village priest. Ford gave his older brother Francis a small part. Within nine years all four would be gone.

Romance is the primary story driver, and it is technically a comedy, so I suppose it’s a rom-com. Perhaps so, but it’s an unconventional one. While some story elements didn’t age particularly well, it’s still a very pleasant watch. AMRU 3.5.

What Else I Watched, 2025Q4, and 2025 Retrospective

I've managed to get myself way behind, so I decided to combine my I recap 2025 with my Q4 post. With five movies in the queue, plus a couple more for WEIW Q1. I need to get back to posting.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Essentially a remake of the superior 1931 film. It didn't work as a horror film principally because it wasn’t one. The gorgeous cinematography, luscious sets, and performances, not to mention the trippy dream sequences, spoke of a period drama. wasn’t filmed much like a horror film and if you go into it with that expectation, you will be disappointed. Viewers of the day were. 

The Old Dark House (1932)
I watched this last in the summer of 2011 on VHS. I remembered little of the experience except that the audio quality was rather poor. A youtube video encouraged me to revisit it. I found a much better quality version streaming and enjoyed it quite a bit this time. AMRU 3.5. 

The Unknown (1927)
I heard that additional footage was found and professionally restored. I had to take a look. TCM normally runs the most recent restoration and this was no exception. Unfortunately, the only additional footage I noticed was at the beginning, showing a young boy watch people entering the circus. No additional backstory of Alonzo’s crimes, no details of the surgeon’s fate. Apparently additional scenes were lengthened with the return of additional cuts. 

The Invention of Cinema: Cinema Finds its Voice (2021)
A pretty good doc about the advent of sound cinema. There are a couple more in the series, so I will keep an eye out. 

The Apartment (1960) is better each time I watch it. 

Brazil (1985)
I’ve long wanted to watch Brazil and finally took the opportunity to see it when TCM ran the director’s cut. I shouldn’t have waited so long. It’s a master class in world building and its absurdist comedy is next level.

So, how did the year go as a whole? Not too shabby. Surprisingly, I managed four Alfred Hitchcock films with two more in the chamber. Six (I believe) foreign language films and only two silent. Need to watch me some more Buster.

I watched four noir or noir-adjacent films in November. One German, one Italian, one French, and an American. That was perfect. I may have been oversold on The Big Clock, but it was still excellent. I did try to hit some Christmas films in December, but events got in the way. Instead I watched films recorded on my cable provider DVR before I hand it in. They raised the TV portion of my bill by fifteen bucks to a frankly insane $150 per month. I intended to have done this before new years, but, well, life. Soon.

The best film I saw may have been Rebel Without a Cause, which definitely has the highest profile, or perhaps the Japanese horror film Kuroneko. More likely it was Brazil or The Apartment.

 I don’t know what the worst film I saw. There were a fair number of weak films but nothing particularly terrible. Hitchcock’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith might have been the most disappointing.

Backfire (1950)

War veteran Bob (Gordon MacRae) is recovering from a serious spine injury. He and Army buddy Steve (Edmund O’Brien) have plans to start a ranch. But after being administered a sedative Bob is visited by a strange woman who tells him that Steve has had a serious spine injury. Nobody believes him but he hasn’t heard from Steve in quite some time. After being discharged, Bob learns that Steve has been fingered for the murder of a notorious gambler. Bob sets out to find his buddy and clear his name.

It appears at first that the film will follow O’Brien’s Steve character, but follows Bob instead. But much of the film is told in flashback, so it follows both. Bob’s best gal is pretty nurse Julie (Virginia Mayo) who helps with the sleuthing. Ed Begley Sr plays a police captain.

Backfire spent two years on the shelf before release for reasons unknown. This noir-adjacent film kept me guessing and boasts a surprising high body count. Considered a middle of the road drama at the time, I found it a bit better than most. I don’t see how the title plays into the story, but who am I to judge. AMRU 3.5.

Zero Hour! (1957)

Because a former war pilot (Dana Andrews) can’t get past a raid he led that went wrong, his wife leaves him. Despite being terrified to fly, he buys a ticket on her flight. When the pilot and co-pilot become incapacitated with serious food poisoning, our hero has to step up and land the plane.

Sound familiar? This is exactly the plot of Airplane! (1980), and that’s exactly why I watched it. Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers essentially remade Zero Hour! but with jokes. If you are as familiar with the classic ZAZ comedy as I am, you will spot every setup to every joke. I had to see it.

Pretty Linda Darnell plays Dana’s estranged wife. She seemed very familiar but I haven’t seen anything she was in. She would die in a house fire at age 41. Elroy ‘Crazylegs’ Hirsch, the just-retired star wide receiver for the NFL Rams, plays the sickened pilot. Gruff Sterling Hayden plays the gruff Captain Treleaven.

Despite its reputation as a forgettable aviation drama, Zero Hour! isn’t that bad. Perhaps not great but better than its reputation. Rotten Tomatoes gives it some disrespect. And if you have seen Airplane!, you by and large have already seen Zero Hour! But give it a watch anyhow. ASMR 3.5.

The Invisible Ray (1936)

Eccentric scientist Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) has made a great discovery. He invites the more establishment scientists to his home to present his findings. Using a telescope to zoom into the Andromeda “nebula”, he can look into the past and see the Earth millions of years ago, because science. He shows them that a great asteroid struck the early Earth, and also because reasons, it must contain an element that radiates one thousand times as powerful as Radium. He calls this element, Radium X. But first they need to go on an African safari.

The science is deliciously wonky here. I give a pass to calling Andromeda a nebula, because that was the science of the day, but much of the rest is silly and hard to follow. But say what you will about Rukh’s science, he puts on one hell of a planetarium show.

Charming Frances Drake plays Rukh’s young wife. She retired from acting after marrying into English aristocracy. Mother Rukh steals the few scenes she is in. Played by Violet Kemble Cooper, she was only 11 months older than son Boris.

This is chronologically the fourth of eight films featuring Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and it’s the fifth one I’ve seen. Left is The Raven (1935) and two silly comedies. Karloff plays the mad Hungarian scientist while Hungarian Lugosi plays against type as the rational French scientist. 

The Invisible Ray is a very early depiction of the utility and dangers of nuclear radiation. It's a lot of fun, despite or perhaps because of the science element. Perhaps I was just in the mood for this self-serious foolishness, but it really delivered on the premise. AMRU 3.5.

One, Two, Three (1961)

A Coca-Cola executive (James Cagney) in West Berlin dreams of being promoted to the London office. His boss asks a personal favor: keep an eye on his wild daughter for a few weeks. This proves to be a difficult task.

There is a significant tonal shift between Wilder’s screwball comedy Some Like it Hot (1959) and his black comedy The Apartment (1960). The tonal shift to One, Two, Three, however, is off the chart. The comedy is extremely broad and the pace is absolutely frenetic. I suggest subtitles.

Leon Askin, better known as General Burkhalter from Hogan’s Heroes, plays a Russian doing business with Cagney’s MacNamara. John Banner (Sargent Schultz) did some voice work. But it's Cagney's larger than life persona that takes up the vast majority of the film. His performance is breathtaking, quite literally.

There are several references to Cagney’s prior work, arranged like poorly hidden Easter eggs. At one point he quotes a line from Edward G. Robinson, whom he is often mistaken for.

The Berlin wall was erected during filming causing big problems. Production had to relocate to Munich, and now a major plot element (crossing back and forth between east and west) was no longer possible. Most importantly, the public’s view of the divided city and the cold war turned pretty negative. No longer a prime topic for a zany comedy, it bombed.

One, Two, Three is a peculiar film with a peculiar title. Very over-the-top comedy seldom works for me, but if you listen close you will hear Billy Wilder’s unique brand of wit. AMRU 3.5.

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

Father O’Malley (Bing Crosby) returns, this time to take over a parochial school run by troublesome nuns. Nuns so troublesome that the previous priest had to be carried out and sent to a sanatorium. Kids have kid problems, school has financial problems, Bing sings songs.

Despite the build up, there is surprisingly little conflict. O’Malley and Ingrid Bergman’s Sister Mary have disagreements, but they are handled very cordially. Nothing that would send someone to a nut house. Una O’Connor is underutilized here.

The first big problem is money. The convent had to sell the kids playground to the local comedic millionaire for maintenance. Millionaire built a giant building on it and now wants the rest for parking. The nuns are hoping he gives them the building for a new school. Quite plausible. It'll be another year before Clarence earns his wings.

The second pertains to a single mother who wants her daughter to attend. This is a curious subplot. The girl was born in wedlock (because production code), but dad disappeared to play in a band. When asked how she has been supporting her all this time, she says in her own words that she’s “no good”. So, one wonders how being no good is a source of income for a single mother. Perhaps she means Entertaining Lonely Men for Fun and Profit. There are elements later in the film that support this hypothesis.

Despite Crosby and Bergman’s obvious onscreen chemistry, a movie about a convent cannot have any romantic undertones. A priest was on set to make sure of that, so Bing and Ingrid decided to play a prank. In the very last scene they embraced for a passionate kiss.

Going My Way was a huge hit, winning seven Oscars. Sequels don’t do as well as the original so less money and resources are usually brought to the production, fulfilling the prophecy. But there was faith in this sequel and RKO got Bergman on loan. Again, it was a huge hit and was nominated for seven Oscars, winning one. Bing was nominated for the same character in two different films, Bergman for the third time in three years, and I believe this is the first sequel to be nominated for best picture. I’m surprised they didn’t force a third film down the pipeline.

The story follows a school year, and during that time Christmas happens. Thus it is tangentially a Christmas movie. But what The Bells of St. Mary's really is, is a pleasant if undemanding watch. Old Hollywood was good at creating a world that seemed very enticing to live in. AMRU 3.5.