1001 Movies, Part 11. Watch This Instead edition.

I present to you ten more movies, and just in case you (unlike me) don’t actually have 25 hours at your disposal, I have offered up some alternative viewing opportunities. One or the other should appeal!

A Streetcar Named Desire

Husband and wife Stanley (Marlon Brando) and Stella (Kim Hunter) have a classic abuse-pattern marriage. When Stella’s sister Blanche (Vivien Leigh) moves in to their tiny apartment, Stanley has somewhere else to redirect his rage and abuse. Throw in a baby and a shady past and you’ve got yourself a movie! I particularly appreciated the scene when Brando says the following about being Polish: “I am not a Pollack. People from Poland are Poles. They are not Pollacks. But what I am is one hundred percent American. I’m born and raised in the greatest country on this earth and I’m proud of it. And don’t you ever call me a Pollack.” I was “jokingly” called a Pollack by a friend in university (you know who you are, Ian) and I wish to death I’d had this quote in my arsenal at the time.

You could also watch: Seinfeld episode “The Pen”. Elaine yelling STELLLLA while on pain killers never gets old!

Freaks

An age-old story of a woman who seduces a man into marriage for his money, this time set with the backdrop of a circus sideshow. The cast is, in fact, almost entirely made up of well-known sideshow circus performers, including Siamese Twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, Living Torso Prince Randian, and Half Boy Johnny Eck. According to internet trivia, people’s sensibilities were quite offended when this movie came out. They were not, however, offended at the exploitation of differently-abled people for the purpose of profit and entertainment. No no no. They were offended at having to SEE the “freaks” on screen. Ah, people. This movie also takes the gold medal for cigarette lighting, when Prince Randian literally rolls over to a match box, removes and lights a match, and then lights his own cigarette. Seems pretty trivial until you realize that the Living Torso is, in fact, just a torso.

You could also watch: X-Files episode “Humbug”. One of my 7 favourites, along with the other 6 episodes written by Darin Morgan.

An American in Paris

Love triangles, older women with younger men, and a huge 17-min musical dance finale – this movie is all that!! There’s also a seductive chair-dance which seems pretty racy for 1951.

You could also watch: Flashdance’s “He’s a Dream” scene, available here on YouTube.

All About Eve

Margo (Bette Davis) is a Broadway star who attracts the attention of Eve (Anne Baxter). Eve manoeuvres her way into becoming Margo’s sycophantic assistant and then slowly appropriates her life. In an unexpected and yet satisfying turn, Margo seems to relish her expanding freedom even as Eve is increasingly constricted by the demands of fame and glory. Expanding Freedom is what I hope retirement is going to feel like!

You could also watch: “The Favourite”, a much stranger but equally dazzling movie about another assistant charming her way into favour that also turns out to be more than she bargained for.

The Killers

The movie story is told through a series of flashbacks, after Ole “Swede” Anderson (Burt Lancaster) is killed in the opening scene, while hiding out as a gas station attendant. Insurance investigator Jim Reardon tries to solve the Swede’s murder and find the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. Turns out the Swede’s glamorous girlfriend Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner) played a less-than-innocent part in his life of crime and ultimate death.

You could also watch: “Out of the Past”, where a gas station also serves as a place to try and disappear.

Out of the Past

This time it’s a private investigator (Robert Mitchum) looking to escape is past who is hiding out as a gas station attendant. Eventually his past finds him, and things go downhill. Kirk Douglas plays a bad guy, so you can continually be distracted by how much he reminds you of Michael.

You could also watch: “The Killers”. Maybe being a gas jockey isn’t the best way to hide?

Cabaret

A great but messy little movie about a messy time in history. The flamboyant and chronically flirty Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) performs in a Berlin Cabaret while the Nazi Party gathers footholds around the periphery of her life. The most shocking thing about this provocative musical is that I had never seen it before.

You could also watch: Schitt’s Creek episode “Life Is A Cabaret” where Stevie’s performance of Maybe This Time will bring a tear to your eye, unless you’re made of stone.

12 Angry Men

An accurately titled movie – there are men, there are 12 of them, and they are angry most of the time. Juror 8 (Henry Fonda) works to convince the others that at the very least, they should talk about the evidence since they are deliberating a murder trial. Meanwhile, the others try to rush to a verdict either because they have baseball tickets or they hate poor people. Much has been made of this movie as a framework for effective negotiating strategies (enough that I wrote a separate blog about it for work).

You could also watch: WKRP In Cincinnati episode “A Mile In My Shoes”

Bride of Frankenstein

What I appreciated most from this movie was not the origin story of Magenta’s hair in Rocky Horror Picture Show. Instead, it was that the movie used many of the bits from the book that were left out of the original Frankenstein movie. Particularly touching were the moments when Frankenstein tries to form some kind of connection with people, his only success being a blind man who was unable to see his face.

You could also watch: The Carol Burnett Show episode “Bride of Frankenstein” for a more humourous take.

The Haunting

Kind of a weird movie about a woman with mental issues who visits an alleged haunted house with a pair of ghost hunters. It’s not overly scary, unless the seemingly constant portrayal of women as psychotic and unbalanced terrifies you.

You could also watch: The Changeling. Now *that’s* a for-real scary movie!