settima

1950s

Misterios de la magia negra [Mysteries of Black Magic] (Miguel M. Delgado, 1958)

Apr

12

Misterios de la magia negra (1958)

Two well-dressed women, one of them prostrated on a stone slab. DP: Víctor Herrera.

Raggare! [Blackjackets] (Olle Hellbom, 1959)

Apr

3

Raggare! (1959)

Bibban, a beaming blonde (Christina Schollin) in a petticoat, at a small bar table smoking a cigarette. There's an half-empty glass and a full ashtray next to her. Just offscreen the object of her smile: a smartly dressed man reaching for his glass. DPs: Frank Dalin & Bertil Palmgren.

1. April 2000 [April 1, 2000] (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1952)

Apr

1

2000

1. April 2000 (1952)

The President of the Global Union (Hilde Krahl) stepping out of her spaceship. DPs: Sepp Ketterer, Karl Löb & Fritz Arno Wagner.

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)

Mar

12

Pickpocket (1959)

Michel (Martin LaSalle) in a busy café, observing. An emptied water glass next to the thief should make him look like a paying guest. DP: Léonce-Henri Burel.

“Can we not admit that certain skilled men, gifted with intelligence, talent or even genius, and thus indispensable to society, rather than stagnate, should be free to disobey laws in certain cases?”

– Michel

Hägringen [Mirage] (Peter Weiss, 1959)

Feb

12

Hägringen (1959)

An uncomfortably close close-up up of a man's mouth eating something. Tongue and mouth are visible. He's got stubble. DP: Gustaf Mandal.

Weegee’s Coney Island [Coney Island] (Arthur “Weegee” Fellig, 1954)

Feb

10

Good Humor

Weegee’s Coney Island (1954)

Two chubby ladies on Coney Island's beach eating chocolate-coated ice cream bars on a stick, I guess Good Humor bars. The women both wear black shapeless bathing suits. One of them has a pink towel over her shoulders and her hair in rollers. The framing shows only part of the couple, but tells you all you need to know. DP: Weegee.

Day of the Outlaw (André De Toth, 1959)

Feb

2

coffee

Day of the Outlaw (1959)

Blaise Starrett (Ryan) and Mrs Crane (Louise) at a table. There are coffee cups and the talk is tense. DP: Russell Harlan.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Crane. This coffee made me think how good whiskey would taste.”

– Dan, Starret's foreman

Crime Wave [The City Is Dark] (André De Toth, 1953)

Jan

29

dinner for two

Crime Wave (1953)

Ellen Lacey (Phyllis Kirk) serving a bunch of punks (Bronson (2nd from the left, and Ted de Corsia (right) the food she prepared for herself and her husband Steve (Gene Nelson). DP: Bert Glennon.

“You know, it isn't what a man wants to do, Lacey, but what he has to do. Now take me – I love to smoke cigarettes, but the doctors say I can't have them. So what do I do? I chew toothpicks, tons of them.”

– Det. Lt. Sims

Ο Δράκος [O Drakos / The Ogre of Athens / The Ogre / The Vampire] (Nikos Koundouros, 1956)

Jan

2

Martini

Ο Δράκος (1956)

The boss, Hondros (Giannis Argyris), pours out a stiff drink on the floor of his cabaret with Mr Tomas (Dinos Iliopoulos) in the background. DP: Kostas Theodoridis.

The first film dinner of 2024.

Ο Δράκος [O Drakos / The Ogre of Athens / The Ogre / The Vampire] (Nikos Koundouros, 1956)

Dec

31

New Year's Eve

Ο Δράκος (1956)

Men in identical white shirts and dark slacks dancing in the club during after hours. Their upper bodies seem top-heavy, tending to lunge towards the ground. DP: Kostas Theodoridis.

New Year's Eve celebrations.
A mousy bank clerk (Dinos Iliopoulos), who bears an uncanny resemblance to a criminal on the run, finds himself hiding in a shady cabaret on New Year's Eve instead of spending a quiet evening alone. During his forced stay at the nightclub, he comes to enjoy and identify more and more with his newfound persona and assumes the role of the notorious “Drago”.

 

An initial box office dud, it is now considered one of the top ten all-time best Greek films.

 

Happy new year, everyone! On to many more cinematic discoveries!