Jankp's 10 Favorite, Less Popular Thrillers!
Jul 16 '03
The Bottom Line I do like some newer thrillers, but prefer the older ones.
In my last list, that of Film Noir movies, you probably noticed that I really like Alfred Hitchcock movies. In this list of thrillers, I include another three of his and leave out the most popular ones again, which include: North By Northwest, Psycho, Rear Window (all by Hitch), Memento, The Usual Suspects, 12 Angry Men, Pulp Fiction, The Silence Of The Lambs and M (1931). I highly recommend all of Hitchcock's work (except his last) as well as the ones mentioned in my lists. It must be noted that one on this list is Film Noir, but I hope you won't mind since it's still a great thriller.
In order of their theatrical release:
The Petrified Forest (1936): Archie Mayo, director. Robert E. Sherwood, play, and Charles Kenyon, screenplay. Humphrey Bogart, Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Edward G. Robinson are holed up in an island saloon during a frightening hurricane. The one with the gun rules the roost and everyone wants it before getting killed! It's one heckuva bumpy ride.
Only Angels Have Wings (1939): Howard Hawks, director and story. Jules Furthman, screenplay. Cary Grant proves he can cry (but not play piano) in this movie with elements of drama, witty comedy, thrills (aerial) and perhaps film noir. Jean Arthur's curious character happens upon Grant's distant character in a small airport and she decides to stick around as he runs his dangerous flights in snowstorms and an old flame (Rita Hayworth) with her unpopular husband shows up.
To Have And Have Not (1944): Howard Hawks, director. Ernest Hemingway, novel, and Jules Furthman, screenplay. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall light up the screen as their characters meet and fall in love on Martinique during the war and the tourist business is so bad that principles must be corrupted. Walter Brennan plays a lovable drunk friend of Bogie's character. Hoagy Carmichael tickles the ivories.
Niagara (1953): Henry Hathaway, director. Charles Brackett and Richard L. Breen, story, and Walter Reish, screenplay. Marilyn Monroe's character finds herself with no way out when her lover fails to murder her no-fool husband (played by Joseph Cotton) and he comes p!ssed off after her Jean Peters and Max Showalter make fine, nosy neighbors in this Film Noir beauty.
The Trouble With Harry (1955): Alfred Hitchcock, director. Jack Trevor Story, novel, and John Michael Hayes, screenplay. Fun times await you when Edmund Gwenn's befuddled character seeks help with disposing a body he thinks he's responsible for. Lovely blend of country charm, mystery and romance with John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Mildred Natwick and little Jerry Mathers.
To Catch A Thief (1955): Alfred Hitchcock, director. David Dodge, novel, and John Michael Hayes, screenplay. Cary Grant mesmerizes as a suspected Parisian cat burglar when copycat crimes follow the ex-offender. Grace Kelly's catty character is the perfect foil for him as he tries to catch the thief.
Vertigo (1958): Alfred Hitchcock, director. Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcjac, novel, and Samuel A. Taylor and Alec Coppel, screenplay. James Stewart's character has a fear of heights, complicating matters when he meets a beautiful woman (played by Kim Novak) who seems to be going insane and wants to commit suicide from a bell tower. Barbara Bel Geddes as his doting friend tries to save him in this nailbiter.
Cape Fear (1962): J. Lee Thompson, director. John J. McDonald, story, and James R. Webb, screenplay. Gregory Peck is a prosecuting attorney stalked by a vengeful man he sent to prison (played by Robert Mitchum). Nothing is getting rid of him so Peck's character takes his frightened family on vacation, but the stalker watches them and waits until dark. Chilling indeed!
Charade (1963): Stanley Donan, director. Peter Stone and Marc Behm, novel and screenplay. Is Cary Grant's character a good or bad guy? Audrey Hepburn's widowed character can't figure out who to trust when her husband died in possession of something worth millions that several men want. Is Walter Matthau's smooth character the one to trust? Be wary, Audrey! I also enjoyed the remake, Incognito, but not quite as much.
Wait Until Dark (1967): Terence Young, director. Frederick Knott, play, and Robert and Jane Howard-Carrington, screenplay. Audrey Hepburn is a blind woman caught in intrigue when a drug smuggler asks her husband (Efrem Zimbalist Jr. plays him) to hold a doll for her at the airport, but she then disappears to be found dead in their apartment! Alan Arkin and Richard Crenna also star as creepy drug smugglers trying to gain the blind woman's trust while her husband's away so as to get the doll.
Here is the link to my Film Noir movie list:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3394019460
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Member: Jan Peregrine
Location: Lincoln, NE
Reviews written: 1566
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Peregrine 10 write-off in progress: http://www.epinions.com/content_5367242884
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