What an awful year in movies that was, especially for Hollywood, but the ‘49 movies that are good, are real good, and unique in a way earlier movies weren’t. The end of the “golden age” was the end of one size fits all movies, and the beginning of “let’s try anything that could possibly draw some viewers away from television”.
Working class heroes
Libertarian rabblerousers
Old violence with a new edge
Neo-realists can make okay movies too
Gategutter / Boys From the Streets
War, death and other humorous subjects
The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend