Picnic (1955, USA)
On youth and age, beauty and brains – and sex, which is dealt with more directly here than in any movie I’ve seen since the time of Mae West. The Hayes Code, apparently, is dying. Most of all, though, this is a snapshot of mid-50s America, honest but not cynical, and free from the preachy nostalgia you get when later generations look back on it. Watched it all.
Crashout (1955, USA)
The dangerous gang of escaped convicts includes the always-sympathetic William Bendix, which means that the Hayes Code is dying, allright. This is probably the sort of movie parents had in mind when they worried about what was becoming of their children. Watched: 14 minutes.
Gelosia / Jealousy (1955, Italy)
Looks like the Italians have finally shaken off the neo-realist legacy, and are making actual movies again, with actors and scripts. Good for them! This is a nice little melodrama about passion! jealousy! murder! doomed love! etc., all leading up to: tragedy! Watched it all. It’s awful-wonderful, and I think I have a better understanding of the phrase “Catholic guilt” now. One character here literally dies from it.
All That Heaven Allows (1955, USA)
Rock Hudson doesn’t seem terribly interested in Jane Wyman, and he doesn’t seem terribly interesting himself. But I like the scenes with the daughter who has been reading Freud. Watched: 26 minutes.
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