It’s that time of year when we celebrate the year that has gone by with the films that have stuck in our minds. This year, it was quite easy to find 10 movies that I liked, despite having seen at least 200 movies made before the 1970s (and/or aired on TCM). So, let’s not sugarcoat the lily of the valley any further, here are my top 10 cinematic discoveries of 2022.
Note: As mentioned above, the movies included here are either pre-1970 OR were broadcast on TCM and therefore deserve to be included. Also, please don’t comment “X is not a ‘classic'” or whatever you want to deconstruct the title.
Honorable mentions
- Good Girls Go to Paris (1939) – A charming romantic comedy that gives Joan Blondell a real chance to shine.
- The Decks Ran Red (1958) – Not a great vehicle to watch for Dorothy Dandridge; he does well with what she has given. It is, however, an incredibly intense thriller with an Oscar-worthy (should have been) performance from Broderick Crawford.
- Shopworn (1932) – Had this film engaged Clara Blandick’s attempt to kill off Barbara Stanwyck’s character, a woman who dates her son, it might have made a 10. Either way, it was a pleasant entry into the subgenre of ” uncomfortable mothers”. of movies.
- The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) – Joan Collins is exquisite in the true life story of Evelyn Nesbit. The narrative is very understated for 1955—there’s now reason to believe that the Nesbit/Tau murder was a story of sexual assault—but she packs a punch in the finale.
- Live A Little, Love A Little (1968) – Thanks to Sheila O’Malley for putting this on my radar. The STRANGEST movie you’re likely to watch, Elvis aside, with a dream sequence that’s pure nightmare fuel.
- The Trouble With Girls (1969) – Elvis’ last feature is one where he feels very haphazard, but contains some solid jokes.
- Rachel, Rachel (1968) – Paul Newman makes a touching film with an emotionally charged performance by his wife Joanne Woodward. Such a sweet, melancholy film that I doubt we would ever make today.
- The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) – Talking about movies that would never have been made today. Jack Benny plays an angel sent to Earth to blow the trumpet that ends the world. Also, the villains are two fallen angels who like to literally live in hell on earth. This must be seen!!
- Cleopatra (1934) – Cecil B. DeMille creates such an opulent, lush and sexy version of the famous Egyptian queen. Claudette Colbert’s costumes are a fan. tactic. I want to live in this movie.
- Chungking Express (1994) – Wong Kar-Wai directs one of the best romantic dramas of all time. The final scene is one I think about at least once a week.
Top 10
10. Hearts of the West (1975)
I’m a sucker for movies about making movies and if you’re watching a Silent Age movie this year, make it with this 1975 Jeff Bridges movie! Bridges plays a young man who ends up making silent Westerns. Directed by Howard Zieff who directed my favorite movie of all time My Girl it’s such a serious funny movie with Bridges at his best.
9. Make No Waves (1967)
Not sure what I expected from this Alexander Mackendrick directed film starring Tony Curtis as a man who, through a series of shenanigans, ends up stranded in Southern California. It’s a sly little sex comedy that, strangely, works best when Curtis himself stays away. Sharon Tate is absolutely stunning as Malibu. I can’t say why this movie stuck with me all year, but I couldn’t forget it.
8. Sylvia and the Ghost (1946)
Much like my appreciation of I Married a Witch (1942), the French film Sylvia and the Ghost was a similar fantasy romance, this time with ghosts. Odette Joyeux plays the titular Sylvia who harbors a love for the ghost who supposedly haunts her family’s castle. But when her family agrees to undo Sylvia’s crush by hiring three men to play her ghosts, that’s when the fun begins. It doesn’t feel like a Halloween movie, although it could be if you’re looking for something romantic and playful. It’s a beautiful love story with a fantasy element that I couldn’t help but smile.
7. Scandal (1950)
This year, I’ve made a point of diversifying my films and watched almost all of Toshiro Mifune’s films that aired during his Summer Under the Stars tribute. I’ve seen many wonderful films for the first time, including Rashomon (1950) and the excellent I Live in Fear (1955), both of which could have made this list. But, in the end, I kept thinking about this quiet little film from 1950. Mifune plays a man who arrives at a seaside resort at the same time as a famous singer. The pair are romantically linked by a tabloid, which has led to the pair taking legal action. But it’s actually incidental to the story of three disparate people brought together in this scandal, including a heartbreaking performance by Akira Kurosawa Takashi Shimura. Seriously, there’s a sequence in a bar that made me cry. Kurosawa, man, he knew how to make a film that sticks to your skin.
6. A Warm December (1973)
I’ve seen a lot of Sidney Poitier movies this year so don’t expect this to be the only time you see him here. Poitier plays the dual role of director and protagonist here, telling the story of a doctor who falls in love with a woman who is dying of sickle cell disease. Is it a standard inspirational love story, with a beautiful dying woman at the center? Yes. But Poitier and the glamorous Esther Anderson have such phenomenal chemistry that I didn’t care. Poitier is also incredibly playful here, going to a nightclub at one point. I’m so used to seeing Poitier being a gentleman with too much integrity and here it’s great to see him as a father and a man trying to find love and have fun and be normal. Such a great love story.
5. Queen Bee (1955)
Seeing it in a cinema during this year’s TCM Classic Film Fest was by far the most enjoyable movie experience I’ve ever had. When Joan Crawford’s venal Eva Phillips slaps a character across the face, the whole theater goes “Ooooh” so loud! But you should expect no less from Joan, especially when she is reworked with Ranald McDougal who penned her Oscar-winning turn in Mildred Pierce (1945). Queen Bee is no Mildred Pierce, but she is funny as hell. Crawford plays Eve with a sophistication and excess that sets the tone for ’80s TV shows like Dynasty. Add to those wonderful parallel performances by Barry Sullivan and Betsy Palmer before Friday the 13th and here you have 1950s movie magic!
4. Sandpiper (1965)
I might preface my appreciation of this film with “It’s directed by Vincente Minnelli” or “It’s Elizabeth Taylor’s best performance.” But, honestly, I’ll say it’s because Richard Burton plays a priest and I’m a terrible Catholic. Honestly, it’s one of the sexiest movies you’re likely to see. Burton plays the aforementioned sexy (and married) reverend while Taylor plays a free-spirited single mother. The two meet when Taylor’s paternity is questioned, and the rest of the film is one emotional scene after another. Seriously, this is a movie where a big wooden statue of a naked Taylor is shown in every frame! This movie is the definition of Thirst and I Am. for what.
3. Somewhere in Time (1980)
I actually missed it at TCMFF this year, so I decided to take it home, and thank goodness I did. This movie made me cry! Richard Matheson – acclaimed science fiction writer Richard Matheson – wrote the screenplay for this absolutely perfect romantic drama starring Christopher Reeve as a man who travels back in time to the turn of the century to find a woman in a portrait. I don’t even want to say more because you just have to experience both the level of detail of the time travel conceit and how thoroughly nuanced the romance is. Oh, and did I mention Christopher Plummer plays a turn-of-the-century scoundrel? Please!
2. The VIPs (1963)
I have Samantha to thank for that because she put it on my radar during our Liz Taylor episode. But I doubt she expected me to fall absolutely in love with this EPIC movie. Seriously, it has so many stars that it’s enough to make you squint, but for me it was all about the love triangle that is Liz Taylor, Richard Burton and Louis Jourdan. Though seriously, Louis didn’t stand a chance in hell. Burton is at his best here and Liz Taylor is on par. It’s an epic soap opera that I’ve watched many times since and it never fails to immerse me in it.
1. Buck and the Preacher (1972)
I told you Sidney Poitier would reappear. It was Poitier’s attempt to make a revisionist western and he succeeded! He and Harry Belafonte (and Ruby Dee) are pure fire. He’s not only a revisionist Western that explores how black people have transitioned to the West, he also does unique things with Indigenous characters even if they’re problematic at times. This movie is both action packed, emotional and a really fun way to look at the past through a marginalized perspective. A perfect movie.