MY 100 FAVOURITE FILMS (PART FIVE). Here we are at the half way mark and Ooo look we're pretty much at the halfway mark of the 20th century. Ain't it funny how thinks look like you planned them all along?!? So it's off to the cinematic world of my next favourite ten:

• The Searchers (1956) dir. John Ford -- Quite a dark character portrayal from the Duke, there. It's interesting to note the kind of character John Ford had John Wayne play starting with STAGECOACH through SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON to THE SEARCHERS. Here, Wayne's brother's family is massacred by Indians and his niece is carried off. An incredibly bitter and racist Wayne teams up (reluctantly) with halfbreed Jeffrey Hunter to spend years tracking them down. And it's not certain whether Duke wants to rescue his niece (Natalie Wood) or, more probably, kill her because she's been tainted beyond redemption. Typical breathtaking John Ford vistas as well as a truly disturbing performance by Wayne make this one of the best. And the dialogue is top drawer as well.

• Quatermass 2 (1957) dir. Val Guest -- The second (and best) installment of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass series originally a BBC-TV phenomenon carried over to the silver screen. While Brian Donlevy may not be the right actor to play the character as originally written by Kneale, I think he's quite adequate in the role of a crusty professor trying to get his "moon base" project off the ground. Unfortunately, strange "pods" start crashing to earth during a meteor shower and explode in the faces of whomever finds them. This causes everyone to act "not quite themselves". Combine all this with a secretive installation that just happens to look exactly like Quatermass's proposed moon base and the prof is bound to get involved. Surrounded by a wonderful cast including Sid James, Bryan Forbes (yes THAT Bryan Forbes) and the ubiquitous Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper and you have an extremely moody and atmospheric science fiction horror film.

• Night of the Demon (1957) dir. Jacques Tourneur -- A sort of filmic love letter to Val Lewton, Tourneur continues the work he did on those classic 40's films starting with CAT PEOPLE with this filmic adaptation of the classic M.R. James short story "CASTING THE RUNES" starring Dana Andrews as a doubting Thomas who doesn't believe in the occult. Unfortunately he tangles with Niall MacGinnis who just happens to be a real-life black magician (loosely modelled on Aleister Crowley) and he soon has to reevaluate his doubts. MacGinnis is absolute perfection as the evil mage who can turn on the charm when he wants to. The birthday party scene where MacGinnis conjures up a fierce windstorm to prove his point to Andrews is (in my opinion) the direct inspiration for the birthday party attack in Hitchcock's THE BIRDS. Watch both scenes side by side and see if you don't agree Hitchcock was "homaging" like crazy. Also starring Peggy Cummins as a completely different character type than the one she played in GUN CRAZY, this is simply one of the best horror movies in the canon.

• Desk Set (1957) dir. Walter Lang -- Here's another of those films which conjure up the feel of the fifties so well for me. A pure delight of a film starring Spencer Tracy as a computer expert who shows up at a TV station in order to fit it for a new "electronic brain" computer called EMIRAC. In charge of the reference department is Katharine Hepburn who has one of those encyclopedic memories we'd all die for. It's another comical clash typical of Tracy-Hepburn films in which not only is it a war between the sexes but also a war between humans and computers. Joan Blondell and Gig Young round out a terrific cast.

• 12 Angry Men (1957) dir. Sidney Lumet -- A courtroom drama that's not a courtroom drama, the entire film takes place in one room only: inside the jury room after the trial is over and the jury must reach a verdict. And far from being static, it's rivetting. An ethnic teenager is accused of murder and the entire jury is ready to convict him from the start. Except for one lone juror (Henry Fonda) who has some questions. Over the course of the film, opposing opinions battle it out as more and more is uncovered about the case. A truly blockbuster cast includes an explosive Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, Marin Balsam, etc. Expertly written and suspensefully directed.

• Horror of Dracula (1958) dir. Terence Fisher -- Hammer Horror started in colour with THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN but this is the real jewel in Hammer's bloody crown. Drenched colour and heaving bosoms. Christopher Lee as the quintessential Count Dracula; all no nonsense, aristocratic bearing and wolfish physicality. Peter Cushing perfection itself as vampire hunter Van Helsing. The iconic musical score by James Bernard (DRA-cu-laaaaaaaaaah!). While the film "feels" like a fairly close adaptation of Stoker's novel, it's really nothing like it at all. But as pure cinema it's thrilling and set the style for pretty much all vampire films to follow.

• Rio Bravo (1959) dir. Howard Hawks -- Hawk's riposte to HIGH NOON, this is every bit as good as the earlier film. This time, it's John Wayne as the sheriff who has to face the band of baddies but this time he's not alone. He's got dotty old Walter Brennan, drunk old Dean Martin and young old Ricky Nelson along for the ride. Another of my favourite westerns.

• Jazz On A Summer's Day (1960) dir. Aram Avakian/Bert Stern -- the very first concert film, this highly stylized but nevertheless priceless document showing us the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival features more heavy hitting musical talent than you can shake a popsicle-stick at (fans of the film will get that reference). Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Dinah Washington, Thelonius Monk, Chuck Berry, Mahalia Jackson. . .the list is a music-lover's dream. While some audience scenes were staged and some "artistic" camera hijinx get in the way of the music sometimes, the film itself only leaves you wanting more!

• House of Usher (1960) dir. Roger Corman -- the first Edgar Allan Poe film Corman made for AIP is still the best. Vincent Price is perfect as the bleached-white haired Roderick Usher, senses overly acute, who believes the Usher blood is bad bad baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Hence he buries his own sister alive in her coffin just so she won't marry. A film that looks MUCH more expensive than the shoestring budget would suggest, it's carried by Price's performance, a nice Richard Matheson script and haunting Les Baxter music. And what I wouldn't give to have all those spooky paintings!
• The Apartment (1960) dir. Billy Wilder -- Shirley MacLaine has never been more vulnerable or loveable than here as the elevator operator involved in an affair with big boss man Fred MacMurray (who's never better than when he's a louse). The entire office uses the apartment of younger exec Jack Lemmon for their -- uh -- romantic rendezvous and, one night after MacMurray makes it known he's never going to leave his wife for her, MacLaine attempts suicide with sleeping pills. Lemmon returns to find her and nurses her back to health. A rather frank depiction of sexual politics for the time, the real backbone of the film is, again, the noteworthy performances of everyone involved. Oscar-worthy, of course.

And there we have it . . .that's another ten down and another ten to follow. This time, we're in the swinging sixties and we're gonna swing with even MORE ghosts, more racism, some drunken bar fights, some more Italian neorealism and even a couple of musicals, believe it or not. And you will believe a nanny can fly.