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Dementia / Daughter of Horror  (1955, USA)

Horror movies lost something when sound was invented, the ability to portray the world as fundamentally evil. This is one of the first movies to recapture that. It’s not scary, just perversely fascinated with the all the awfullness that life has to offer. Watched it all.

Kvinnodröm / Dreams (1955, Sweden, Bergman)

For a few moments, this is one of the most visually interesting movies I’ve seen .. and then the characters start speaking, the usual Bergman dialogue, ruining everything. Watched: 8 minutes.

Piagol (1955, South Korea)

The Communist Party of North Korea is EVIL, evil I tell you. (Well yes, actually, it was, and still is.) Watched: 14 minutes.

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East of Eden (1955, USA)

Preliminary hypothesis: The movies of James Dean are remembered today mostly because they were the only ones he got to act in. Hypothesis now disproven. Watched it before, and again now. I didn’t pick up on the Biblical allegory the first time, which is embarassing, considering that it’s right there in the title.

Guys and Dolls (1955, USA, Mankiewicz)

Musicals are supposed to be phony, but the right kind of phony, you know? Like this. I think Good News ruined me for musicals. Ever since I saw it, I’m always waiting for the Joan McCracken scene. And there isn’t any. She only really played in that one movie, and then she died in 1961. I miss Joan McCracken. I think I’ll go watch Pass That Peace Pipe again. Over and over again. Anyway – watched: 18 minutes.