Hoodlum Priest, The (1961)
“You can’t change a man by punishing him; you just build his hatred.”
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Twitch of the Death Nerve / Last House on the Left, Part II, The (1971)
“If you kill for killing’s sake, you become a monster.”
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who are done away with one by one (or, in an infamous shot, two at once):
Twitch of the Last Death Nerve — also known as A Bay of Blood and The Last House on the Left, Part II (!!) — is filled not only with LOTS of gore but plenty of kooky, mysterious, and/or sinister characters:
… who may or may not be responsible for the spate of bloody killings that won’t stop taking place. Favorite random line: “You are full of hot dogs and cadillacs, and you have no music in your soul.” Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Lawless Breed, The (1952)
“I never killed a man except in self-defense.”
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Unfortunately, there’s not much else to recommend about this movie, given that the storyline is pure hokum clearly drummed up by a man intending to whitewash his own murderous past. We get a brief sense of this through his fiancee (Castle), who rightfully calls him out on his desire for violence:
Meanwhile, the storyline’s rather improbable ending — involving Hudson’s grown son (Race Gentry) — attempts to close the loop on this tentative theme; but none of it is robust enough to turn this into a truly compelling story. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Last Command, The (1928)
“I would gladly die tonight — if it would help Russia.”
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now possessing the power to manipulate the man he once hated most, and sultry Brent forced to make a difficult ethical choice:
The question remains — what will Powell do with/to Jannings, and what type of humiliation does he have in store for him? The outcome is somewhat surprising, but the film as a whole doesn’t quite bring enough narrative interest to bear, and thus isn’t must-see viewing. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Red Badge of Courage, The (1951)
“He wished that he, too had a wound — a red badge of courage.”
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… and he’s surrounded by fine supporting actors as well — including Royal Dano as “The Tattered Man” in a performance that was severely truncated upon editing, but remains powerful even in the few glimpses we do see:
Film fanatics will likely appreciate seeing how Huston’s directorial genius emerges in nearly every scene of this finely shot, emotionally laden movie. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Virginian, The (1929)
“Out here, stealin’s about the lowest, the meanest thing a man can do.”
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Taking a New Look: A Chronological Overview of GFTFF Titles
Hello, fellow film fanatics!
I’ve had a few requests over the years to tally my votes for whether each of the titles in Peary’s GFTFF is must-see or not (in my opinion), and I’m now a little closer to that.
If you click on this page — named “Chronological Listing of Peary’s Titles – With Votes!” on the Navigation bar — you’ll see all of Peary’s titles from both the front and back of his book in one meta-list, arranged chronologically from 1914 to 1987, with hyperlinks to my own reviews when available — as well as my votes.
YES is in obnoxious red, just to make it super-obvious. (Currently I count 1,409 out of 2,967 titles, or 30.3%, as YES.)
As a reminder, my “Yes” or “No” vote on a title — like for Peary — doesn’t necessarily indicate whether I think a film is amazing… or awful… or somewhere in between. It’s simply my best attempt to indicate whether I think film fanatics of all ages and stripes would benefit from checking it out at some point in their movie-watching career. With that said, there are a ton of “No” votes on my site that I actually think are worthy viewing — just not essential. For instance, often I’ll recommend a film as “worth checking out” if you happen to like a particular actor or director or style…
While there will always be some movies that are indisputably must-see for EVERYONE, in many other cases it’s much less cut-and-dry. Should all film fanatics be familiar with every title that’s been given a Best Picture Academy Award, for instance? You might think so, but … I don’t. I have actually voted No to a few Best Picture Winners (and full admission that I was deeply disappointed in this year’s selection of Nomadland — an okay but flawed indie film that is worth a look if you’re curious, but simply doesn’t cut it as Best Picture material).
However — who’s to say, really? Peary notoriously had his say in Alternate Oscars (which I love citing from), though some of his own selections are pretty questionable… And just because I happen to loathe My Fair Lady (1964) doesn’t mean everyone feels that way; clearly, many don’t.
Back to my new list: by arranging all of Peary’s titles in chronological order, I’ve attempted to get a better sense of the arc of movies he’s recommending (with an abrupt end somewhere in 1987). There are only 12 titles listed from the 1910s (six of which I consider must-see so far) and 138 from the 1920s, but a whopping 673 from the 1950s! Meanwhile, since Peary was so intentional about including foreign titles in his GFTFF, we can somewhat see the range of world cinema over the years — albeit limited to titles that were available to American audiences when he published his book, and certainly not all-inclusive.
At any rate, chronological order remains just one way to try to make sense of cinema over the ages; other schemes I’ve been offering on this site for many years now include categorizing by actor, by director, by genre, and by topic or theme — and of course, simply by those titles reviewed in the front of his book, and those listed in the back.
Regardless of how you choose to peruse your GFTFF titles, I hope you enjoy looking over this new list and seeing how many votes you agree with — or not! (The debate continues… ’twas ever thus.)
– Sylvia (FilmFanatic)
P.S. If you’re a hardcore film fanatic, I would argue you should instantly know which film the still I’ve included up on top of this post is from — but just in case you need a reminder, click here.
Black Pirate, The (1926)
“It was the custom of these pirates to subdue their prey, loot the ship, bind their captives and blow them up.”
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… and the final rescue scene involving a crew of nimble men in swimming shorts:
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Guardsman, The (1931)
“It’s a soldier she’s longing for.”
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Lion and the Horse, The (1952)
“I’d of risked my neck to claim that horse for my own.”
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It’s also refreshing to see a girl in the central kid-role (Jackson is likeable and appropriately feisty):
… and there’s a fun musical interlude involving a cowhand learning to play the ukulele by record player:
However, this isn’t must-see viewing for anyone other than Cochran fans, or those who may somehow fondly remember it from their own childhood. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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