Westerns of 1950

This is an essay I never intended to write. But among the films I watched for my Errol Flynn retrospective were two midcentury Westerns: the first — a high-spirited Technicolor extravaganza taking on a subject Hollywood unfathomably found fascinating (cattlemen vs. sheep herders) — was ghastly; the other — a moody black-and-white tone poem about a ragtag group of Confederate soldiers torn between duty and decency — was splendid. The disparity in budget, approach, look and quality prompted me to idly wonder, “How many other Westerns were released that year?” It’s the kind of question Wikipedia lives for, and it had a ready answer: 112 of them, ranging from big-budget features to Poverty Row programmers.

The 25 Best Film Noirs

Following up my screwball comedy essay with another type of film that holds up well on the small screen.

Freshman year of college, I took a film course, and as an example of noir — a term that was only then making the rounds of academic circles — the professor screened The Big Sleep. The title proved prophetic; I nodded off halfway through. Was this, I wondered, a style of film that did nothing for me?