Last night I watched the hilariously witty It Happened One Night (1934), with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. It was the first film to win all 5 top Oscars - Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay - and justifiably so. Very few aspects of this film have dated, particularly not the dialogue or the sense of humour. A near-perfect romantic comedy.
Rating: A+
Before that it was From Here to Eternity (1953), the classic rolling around on the beach war picture. While there are aspects of this film that are overrated, it is definitely a 'classic'. We get not one, but TWO forbidden love stories and the doomed Sinatra is perfect. The last 10 minutes that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor are more effective than the entire 17 hours of a Bruckheimer film (well, Pearl Harbor felt that long).
Rating: A
Prior to that it was Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens)(1935), Leni Riefenstahl infamous NAZI propaganda film. Hitler himself praised the film as being an "incomparable glorification of the power and beauty of our Movement". While the film is very much a glorification of the national socialist movement and Hitler as the Fuhrer, as a technical bit of filmmaking it is phenomenal. While Riefenstahl has lots of toys at her disposal, the camerawork is fabulous - including overhead shots of the parade and Hitler descending from the clouds with the sun behind his head framed to look like a halo. The fact that the film is such a sickening glorification of a terrible regime makes the film all the more powerful. Many will find this hard to watch, but it is hard to deny that this is great technical filmmaking.
Rating: A
for the film as a film, and not for what it has to say.
