I’ve seen 43 films beginning with O and there’s some good ‘uns amongst them.
Laurel and Hardy again contribute several decent shorts from the 1930s; notably One Good Turn, Our Wife, Our Relations, and the excellent Oliver the Eighth in which Ollie is in danger of being murdered by his new bride – relying on Stan to save him probably isn’t the best idea! For a longer length movie, there’s Only Angels Have Wings, a smart comedy from Howard Hawks starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. Often overlooked, coming as it did, in the Hollywood bumper year of 1939, this is still an excellent couple of hours’ viewing.
In the forties came neo-realism from Italy with Visconti’s Ossessione, an adaptation of The Postman Only Rings Twice, and David Lean’s Oliver Twist. A fine British gem occurs in 1949 with Obsession – a tale of a man wanting to kill his wife’s lover and to dispose of his body in a bath of acid. Changing tones completely, in the same year On The Town was released in the US – Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra two of the three sailors enjoying 24 hours shore leave in New York.
On the Waterfront is the release of note in the 1950s – a tale of corruption at the head of the dock unions. Marlon Brando gives arguably his best film performance and there’s great support from Janet Leigh, Eve Marie-Sant, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger. Winning a barrowful of Oscars, the film is often seen as the director Elia Kazan’s justification for outing suspected communists during the Mccarthyite witch hunts and as such has a slightly soiled reputation. However, whatever your views, there’s no doubt it’s an accomplished piece of work, well constructed and fine performances throughout.
Moving into the 1960s and there’s The Odd Couple, a Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau comedy which is very close to being perfect. Mere words cannot convey my love of this film, and the chemistry between the pair is, as always, sparkling. In 1969 two films of note appear – the Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which whilst often maligned due to it being the only film with George Lazenby as Bond, is actually really good and one of the best stories. In the same year came Once Upon a Time in the West, a pretty awesome Sergio Leone Western with Henry Fonda cast against type as a cold blooded killer – and yes he even kills little children!
From the 70s comes the multi Oscar winner One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, winning all the five main categories including Best Picture, Director, and Actor for Jack Nicholson. Set inside a mental hospital it’s one of the films of the 70s. The following year came The Omen with Gregory Peck as the father who perhaps shouldn’t have called his son Damien – that was his first mistake. In ’76 Clint Eastwood also came up with one of his best Westerns with The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Not much of note from the 80s unless you include On Golden Pond with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn giving performances in the twilight of their careers. There’s also Octopussy but one wouldn’t put it in the top few Bond films.
Into the 1990s and Once upon a Time in China is well worth a watch if you can catch it. Orlando, maybe not so much – it was critically acclaimed but I found it as dull as dishwater. From 1995 Outbreak is a silly but quite enjoyable thriller about a team trying to eradicate a deadly virus before it kills millions. From Alejandro Amenabar came Open Your Eyes, the film that Hollywood turned into the far inferior Vanilla Sky. The original is far more satisfying if you can cope with the subtitles, and Penelope Cruz shines more than she does in the remake. Into 1998 and Out of Sight is as fine film that helped propel George Clooney from TV to Movie superstardom, and also includes a bearable performance from Jennifer Lopez – a feat in itself. The decade finished with Kevin McDonald’s fascinating documentary One Day in September, telling the tale of terrorism at the Munich Olympic Games. Narrated by Michael Douglas, it’s an absorbing piece of work.
The last decade started excellently with the Coen Brothers’ musical O Brother Where Art Thou. It was a bit of a Marmite film – you either loved or hated it, but I was definitely in the former category and not just because of the presence of George Clooney. The aforementioned Mr Clooney also appears the following year in Ocean’s Eleven – a fun heist film which probably didn’t need the two remakes. From the same year came The Others, an effective creepy horror film starring Nicole Kidman. Robin Williams proved he can actually sometimes act the next year in One Hour Photo, a film that I rather liked, though it seemed to disappear under the radar a bit on release. Emerging from 2003 was Oldboy, a Korean revenge thriller where a man is released from a room in which he has been held prisoner for years, not knowing why. An intriguing and off-the-wall film. Finally, in 2006 came Once, a low budget bittersweet romantic comedy which can only be described as charming, with fine music and low-key, very likeable performances from the two leads.
So that’s the contenders; what are the final five?
On The Waterfront – The performances are enough to get it into the top five, including Brando’s “I coulda been a contender” speech to his brother Rod Steiger in the back of a taxi. Bleak, gripping, but always involving.
The Odd Couple – It’s difficult to go wrong with a film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau but this is the best of the lot with the two moving in together – the fastidious Lemmon and the slob Matthau. Simply magical filmmaking
Once Upon a Time in The West – Probably my favourite Leone film; this time with Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale. Slow at times, but go with it and it’s a great piece of art – the first ten minutes alone is worth seeing for the way tension is racked up with no dialogue.
O Brother Where Art Thou – A gem from the Coen Brothers with a musical theme – the soundtrack actually outgrossed the film. George Clooney, Holly Hunter and John Goodman are among the cast in this tongue-in-cheek tale that never takes itself too seriously.
Once – the surprise hit of 2006, winning Best Song at the Oscars, this tale of possible romance between two musicians in Dublin is a fine romantic tale. Low budget in the extreme, it really doesn’t matter, as it’s about the story and characters, not expensive sets or locations.
And the winner is The Odd Couple, quite simply one of the best comedies ever made.
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