--- The story could have been more exciting, but they really captured the atmosphere of this Russian/Soviet fairytale. Brilliantly shot! That cozy and adventurous feel had me deeply absorbed! And that's typical of Aleksandr Ptushko's movies. He was a master at capturing the imagination, and here that eye makes the most of its source material.
30. A Letter for Evie (1946, Jules Dassin) - 6/10 - 27th check
--- Sweet role for Marsha Hunt, getting two suitors. One hunk of a man (John Carroll), and a little dweeb (Hume Cronyn) that's good with words. The thing is that Hunt think's it's the handsome one that's writing her those romantic letters, and so starts the confusing courtship. Entertaining, especially at the start. Doesn't quite hit the same level of fun during the latter half, but it was always a delight.
31. Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946, Irving Pichel) - 4/10 - 10th check
--- I struggled to get into the plot of this one. Fairly thin and it's clearly aimed at the southern audience with its Confederate values. The film is a nice one for the old character actors grouped here, but a waste if you're here for Joan Bennett.
32. Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun (2020, Blair Simmons) - 2/10 - 1st check!
--- Aimed at a too young audience to entertain me much. The kids where clearly interested and I was not going to say no to my boy on his 5th birthday.
33. The Swan Princess: A Royal Wedding (2020, Richard Rich) - 1/10 - 2nd check
--- ....enough now. End this series.
34. Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946, William D. Russell) - 5/10 - 2nd check
--- The follow-up to Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944). Cute comedy. A little forced, but Gail Russell & Diana Lynn are a fun duo, and add in Billy De Wolfe for some goofy moments, and there are enough laughs to get one through this.
35. Just Before Dawn (1946, William Castle) - 5/10 - 11th check
--- They went more into the morbid with this Crime Doctor entry. Certainly got creative with the story. At times trying to too much to confuse things. Gave this a 'anything goes' feel to it. Not sure about the quality but I was entertained by how far they went with this plot.
36. Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946, William Castle) - 4/10 - 7th check
--- Fine episode of the Crime Doctor, just too ordinary to stand-out in any specific way. At least Ellen Drew was able to give it some presence while Warner Baxter keeps on aging.
37. Magic Camp (2020, Mark Waters) - 3/10 - 5th check
--- My bonus-daughter has requested me to look out for kids live-action movies, and not just the cartoons, so expect more films like this popping up. I can't really contribute too much to these as they're missing their mark on this old man, but I guess it was wholesome entertainment for the young. She mostly kept quiet and focused, but she also didn't express that much enthusiasm either. Adam Devine & Jeffrey Tambor did a good job "hosting" this Magic Camp (2020), but I'm not sure there was much screen magic going on.
38. Jivin' in Be-Bop (1946, Leonard Anderson & Spencer Williams) - 4/10 - 6th check
--- Just jivin' with Dizzy Gillespie for about an hour...
39. Inside Job (1946, Jean Yarbrough) - 4/10 - 48th check
--- A more modern rework of the great silent movie Outside the Law (1920). Not a very impressive one. There was a troubled sound version done in 1930 too, and while this 1946 version has the advantage of technology, it's the least believable version.
40. Loyal Heart (1946, Oswald Mitchell) - 4/10 - 1st check!
--- Loyal Heart (1946) is not exactly a picture that screams of appeal. A simple and wholesome rural farm drama with gentle problems with convenient solutions. But I guess that's what makes it an easy watch. It certainly knows what it is and doesn't try to impress beyond that.
41. Prosopa lismonimena [Forgotten Faces] (1946, Yorgos Tzavellas) - 5/10 - 5th check
--- This Greek melodrama is a fairly standard sleazy broken heart affair. What it did good was create clear characters, and that came in handy with the deliberate show pace this had. Well played by the actors.
42. Ôsone-ke no ashita [Morning for the Osone Family] (1946, Keisuke Kinoshita) - 7/10 - 68th check
--- Feels like such a turning-point for an entire country. Japan had just lost the war and the people are trying to come to terms with that. Keisuke Kinoshita clearly aims to preach that the old regime was evil and the new (now occupied) Japan will be a better place. Not sure how much of Japan's population believed that so soon after the war, but this film clearly sets the tone for what Japan should be from that point on. A bit of a slow start, but in a way the acting felt more modernized already. New era of Japanese film making. You really feel the importance of the climax as the warmonger in the family is challenged.
43. El crimen de la calle de Bordadores [The Crime of Bordadores Street] (1946, Edgar Neville) - 6/10 - 25 check
--- A clever ad different style of murder investigation. Little bit intricate, but it managed to gossip us through a entertaining and surprising twist of events. The world of Edgar Neville keeps intriguing me.
44. Upside-Down Magic (2020, Joe Nussbaum) - 3/10 - 2nd check
--- More magic from Disney. Saw Magic Camp (2020) with my bonus daughter yesterday, which was "fake" magic. Here they do closely the same theme, except with "real" magic. Real creative Disney!
45. Faithful in My Fashion (1946, Sidney Salkow) - 5/10 - 11th check
--- I'm sold on Donna Reed, for sure, but I'm still not convinced by Tom Drake, who is still too fresh. So Faithful in My Fashion (1946) was held back by a unfamiliar lead guy for me. Not that he did a bad job or anything. It sometimes takes a while to appreciate a character. But the scenario was fairly sweet, and did satisfy the expectations for a rom-com from this era. A good time.
46. Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946, Willis Goldbeck) - 4/10 - 44th check
--- One of the last Andy Hardy pictures, after 15 movies in 10 years. There would be one more, but that was late-50s, so Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946) can be considered the last of the original run. And they all looked old in this one. It was clear the energy the screen family possessed was gone. Kind of a sad send-off with Mickey Rooney returning from war and being heartbroken. Not very fun and one of the worst of the bunch. But there was was classic scene in this one I truly loved. Rooney's dance sequence with the tall girl! That was a rare glimmer of old excellence, and I'll remember this film just because of that particular scene.
47. Beware of Pity (1946, Maurice Elvey) - 6/10 - 12th check
--- The crippled lady and the hesitant gentleman struggle off-path, which goes in a tragic direction. There are layers here, a deeper drama than expected. And that's the key thing to appreciate about Beware of Pity (1946). Everyone has faults and they don't handle the romance in that typical shallow manner many classic movies do. Got to respect that.
48. Piccadilly Incident (1946, Herbert Wilcox) - 5/10 - 8th check
--- I had a love/hate relationship with this Piccadilly Incident (1946). War-time drama, shipwrecked and remarriages, came with a variety of different scenarios and twist of faiths. Some of it spectacular, some of it ridiculous, but never truly capturing the full emotion of it all. Kind of felt they added extra drama for the sake of being sensational, instead of listening to the story for a more natural turn of events. Handled clumsily in my eyes, but you're in for a roller coaster ride with this one.
49. Heartbeat (1946, Sam Wood) - 5/10 - 73rd check
--- Hollywood remake of the French movie Battement de coeur (1940). Might have been made in America, but it definitely feels European, pretty much lifting every cultural aspect off the original. In that way it was both awkward and fascinating. Something different, which could have been terrific had they polished-up the things the original did wrong instead copying absolutely everything. Unique Ginger Rogers performance too, but she's more mimicking Danielle Darrieux from the original than delivering her own specific charm. The highlight for me was Basil Rathbone as the crime professor. At least there things felt natural.
50. The One and Only Ivan (2020, Thea Sharrock) - 5/10 - 10th check
--- For what feels like a Disney movie on a budget, The One and Only Ivan (2020) seems to touch most of the right buttons. Never truly amazing, but within its simplicity it does get the most out of the captive situation.
51. Easy to Wed (1946, Edward Buzzell) - 6/10 - 85th check
--- Does a lot of things right, but where does it stumble? Not quite sure, but this Libeled Lady (1936) remake it doesn't reach Libeled Lady levels. What is does do right is cast Lucille Ball as a hot-tempered red head! Easily made this joy for me. Esther Williams as the pure beauty wasn't bad either. Not sure if Keenan Wynn was ready for such a high profile role, but Van Johnson had his moments while looking out-matched by the bait. You'll have a good time with this.
52. Gallant Bess (1946, Andrew Marton) - 4/10 - 3rd check
--- The horse love came across a little creepy. Easy to say that Gallant Bess (1946) wasn't really for me. The visuals where great. The only MGM feature film done in Cinecolor, and it gave it a allure. Just felt the animal lover mood lacked fine-tuning, making it a oddball experience.
53. Gallant Journey (1946, William A. Wellman) - 5/10 - 11th check
--- Early aviation with Glenn Ford. Your standard classic biopic, which means more fantasy and romance than the real reasons for making a movie about a pioneer in the first place. Ford does okay, the narrative a little frustrating, the flying scenes fun. That pretty much sums up my experience with Gallant Journey (1946).
54. So Goes My Love (1946, Frank Ryan) - 6/10 - 37th check
--- Cute. Don Ameche more so than Myrna Loy, though that's not a knock at Loy, who looked stunning in her first job post-MGM contract. Lollipop romance, and honesty exists for no other reasons than delivering something fluffy. And in this instance it worked.
55. Sister Kenny (1946, Dudley Nichols) - 5/10 - 72nd check
--- Long-winded. While underdog stories up against the arrogant establishment are a popular trait, the cliches felt ill-fitted for this medical story from the real world, which would explain why this was a massive flop. Rosalind Russell, who was hand-picked by the real Sister Kenny (1946), does fine, but there wasn't exactly any peak scenes for her to shine in. Instead the grumpy old doctor Philip Merivale trying to destroy the nurse's theories about infantile paralysis becomes the most memorable thing about this biopic. A good last performance for him, as this would be his final movie, passing away over half-a-year before the movie premiered.
Spoiler
2. A Boy, a Girl and a Dog (1946, Herbert Kline) - 4/10 - 3rd check
3. My Dog Shep (1946, Ford Beebe) - 3/10 - 2nd check
4. Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946, Kurt Neumann) - 5/10 - 66th check
5. Because of Him (1946, Richard Wallace) - 6/10 - 20th check
6. London Town (1946, Wesley Ruggles) - 4/10 - 3rd check
7. Beware (1946, Bud Pollard) - 4/10 - 6th check
8. She Wrote the Book (1946, Charles Lamont) - 6/10 - 1st check!
9. Her Adventurous Night (1946, John Rawlins) - 5/10 - 1st check!
10. Partners in Time (1946, William Nigh) - 5/10 - 1st check!
11. Stars on Parade (1946, Joseph Seiden) - 3/10 - 1st check!
12. Danmark i Lænker (1946, Svend Methling) - 4/10 - 2nd check
13. Project Crossroads (1946, U.S. Department of Energy) - 3/10 - 1st check!
14. San Quentin (1946, Gordon Douglas) - 5/10 - 43rd check
15. One More Tomorrow (1946, Peter Godfrey) - 6/10 - 14th check
16. Do You Love Me (1946, Gregory Ratoff) - 5/10 - 11th check
17. Holiday in Mexico (1946, George Sidney) - 5/10 - 26th check
18. School for Secrets (1946, Peter Ustinov) - 6/10 - 6th check
19. Urashima Tarô no kôei [The Descendents of Taro Urashima] (1946, Mikio Naruse) - 4/10 - 5th check
20. Englandsfarere [We Leave for England] (1946, Toralf Sandø) - 5/10 - 2nd check
21. Rakkauden risti [Cross of Love] (1946, Teuvo Tulio) - 6/10 - 25th check
22. Kärlekens kors [Cross of Love] (1946, Teuvo Tulio) - 6/10 - 2nd check
23. Reka caruje [The Magic of the River] (1946, Václav Krska) - 5/10 - 14th check
24. Aladin (1946, Vicente Salumbides) - 4/10 - 1st check!
25. Fearless (2020, Cory Edwards) - 4/10 - 1st check!
26. Levoton veri [Restless Blood] (1946, Teuvo Tulio) - 6/10 - 57th check
27. Un revenant [A Lover's Return] (1946, Christian-Jaque) - 6/10 - 13th check
28. Pengar - en tragikomisk saga [Money] (1946, Nils Poppe) - 5/10 - 18th check
29. Kamennyy tsvetok [The Stone Flower] (1946, Aleksandr Ptushko) - 7/10 - 46th check
30. A Letter for Evie (1946, Jules Dassin) - 6/10 - 27th check
31. Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946, Irving Pichel) - 4/10 - 10th check
32. Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun (2020, Blair Simmons) - 2/10 - 1st check!
33. The Swan Princess: A Royal Wedding (2020, Richard Rich) - 1/10 - 2nd check
34. Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946, William D. Russell) - 5/10 - 2nd check
35. Just Before Dawn (1946, William Castle) - 5/10 - 11th check
36. Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946, William Castle) - 4/10 - 7th check
37. Magic Camp (2020, Mark Waters) - 3/10 - 5th check
38. Jivin' in Be-Bop (1946, Leonard Anderson & Spencer Williams) - 4/10 - 6th check
39. Inside Job (1946, Jean Yarbrough) - 4/10 - 48th check
40. Loyal Heart (1946, Oswald Mitchell) - 4/10 - 1st check!
41. Prosopa lismonimena [Forgotten Faces] (1946, Yorgos Tzavellas) - 5/10 - 5th check
42. Ôsone-ke no ashita [Morning for the Osone Family] (1946, Keisuke Kinoshita) - 7/10 - 68th check
43. El crimen de la calle de Bordadores [The Crime of Bordadores Street] (1946, Edgar Neville) - 6/10 - 25 check
44. Upside-Down Magic (2020, Joe Nussbaum) - 3/10 - 2nd check
45. Faithful in My Fashion (1946, Sidney Salkow) - 5/10 - 11th check
46. Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946, Willis Goldbeck) - 4/10 - 44th check
47. Beware of Pity (1946, Maurice Elvey) - 6/10 - 12th check
48. Piccadilly Incident (1946, Herbert Wilcox) - 5/10 - 8th check
49. Heartbeat (1946, Sam Wood) - 5/10 - 73rd check
50. The One and Only Ivan (2020, Thea Sharrock) - 5/10 - 10th check
51. Easy to Wed (1946, Edward Buzzell) - 6/10 - 85th check
52. Gallant Bess (1946, Andrew Marton) - 4/10 - 3rd check
53. Gallant Journey (1946, William A. Wellman) - 5/10 - 11th check
54. So Goes My Love (1946, Frank Ryan) - 6/10 - 37th check
55. Sister Kenny (1946, Dudley Nichols) - 5/10 - 72nd check