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The Good Soldier Svejk (1957, Chechoslovakia)

In the novel by Jaroslav Hasek, Svejk is a seemingly feeble-minded patriot who mocks Austro-Hungarian authority by complying with it. It’s not so odd that he became a national hero to 20th century Czechs. It’s a bit more surprising that the Communists allowed him to remain so, and to be filmed. Or was Svejk too big to brush off, so they thought they might as well embrace him and pretend that his subversion was only aimed at the previous tyrants? Watched it all.

Teenage Doll (1957, USA, Corman)

Girl gangs roam the streets, acting tough and speaking like the kids these days apparently speak. Watched: 6 minutes. Some of the early Roger Corman movies are quite fun, but the one way in which they all stand apart from the other movies of their time is in their title sequences. There’s nothing else like it.

Boy on a Dolphin (1957, USA)

Hugo Friedhofer was the greatest movie composer of the 1950s. Listen to this. And to this, (yes, I know the tune isn’t his, but listen!) And to this. But he usually worked on shitty movies. I have the soundtrack to Boy on a Dolphin. Listening to it starts a movie running in my head, the most beautiful movie I’ve never seen. It’s magical. This .. isn’t. Watched: 27 minutes.