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The Naked Spur (1953, USA, Mann)

It’s a shame James Stewart made such a great good guy, the kind who’d see the upside of a nuclear holocaust, because he was even better when you weren’t sure if he’d shoot you or hug you or both.  Watched it all before, long ago, and again now.  The Naked Spur once awoke me to how good Westerns could be.  It still sets the standard, but the rest of the genre hasn’t live up to the promise.

Salome (1953, USA)

The Bible got it all wrong: Salome / Rita Hayworth was actually an early Christian who danced before Herod to save the life of John the Baptist.  Save it.  But for some reason he got beheaded instead.  Watched: 15 minutes, so I’m not sure what went wrong, but it seems to have had something to do with an evil stepmother.

Donovan’s Brain (1953, USA)

The dead millionaire’s evil brain is kept alive in a laboratory, and spends its time controlling the minds of nearby scientists and humming Metallica tunes.  Watched: 35 minutes.

I Confess (1953, USA, Hitchcock)

Another thing I didn’t expect about this movie marathon: How old-fashioned a typical Hitchcock thriller would feel by 1953.  This is basically a Columbo episode, with Karl Malden as Columbo.  Watched: 28 minutes.