Bogdanovich - Peter Bogdanovichs Movie of the Week

(A listing of complementary films concludes each weeks recommendations.)

WEEK DATE
MOVIE
DIRECTOR

1
January 17
An American in Paris
Vincente Minnelli

2
January 814
The Lady Eve
Preston Sturges

3
January 1521
The Awful Truth
Leo McCarey

4
January 2228
To Have and Have Not
Howard Hawks

5
January 29 February 4
Anatomy of a Murder
Otto Preminger

6
February 511
White Heat
Raoul Walsh

7
February 1218
Adams Rib
George Cukor

8
February 1925
Notorious
Alfred Hitchcock

9
February 26March 4
The Blue Angel
Josef von Sternberg

10
March 511
The Miracle of Morgans Creek
Preston Sturges

11
March 1218
The Quiet Man
John Ford

12
March 1925
Heaven Can Wait
Ernst Lubitsch

13
March 26April 1
The Kid
Charles Chaplin

14
April 28
Out of the Past
Jacques Tourneur

15
April 915
Strangers on a Train
Alfred Hitchcock

16
April 1622
Grand Illusion
Jean Renoir

17
April 23May 1
Swing Time
George Stevens

18
May 28
Citizen Kane
Orson Welles

19
May 915
Breakfast at Tiffanys
Blake Edwards

20
May 1622
Sweet Smell of Success
Alexander Mackendrick

21
May 2329
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Buster Keaton

22
May 30June 5
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
John Ford

23
June 612
Some Came Running
Vincente Minnelli

24
June 1319
Only Angels Have Wings
Howard Hawks

25
June 2026
Singin in the Rain
Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen

26
June 27July 3
The Magnificent Ambersons
Orson Welles

27
July 410
Meet John Doe
Frank Capra

28
July 1117
Ugetsu
Kenji Mizoguchi

29
July 1824
Bringing Up Baby
Howard Hawks

30
July 2531
The Third Man
Carol Reed

31
August 17
Open City
Roberto Rossellini

32
August 814
North by Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock

33
August 1521
Robin Hood
Allan Dwan

34
August 2228
Artists and Models
Frank Tashlin

35
August 29September 4
Gaslight
George Cukor

36
September 511
A New Leaf
Elaine May

37
September 1218
The Crime of Mr. Lange
Jean Renoir

38
September 1925
Mogambo
John Ford

39
September 26October 2
Othello
Orson Welles

40
October 39
The Palm Beach Story
Preston Sturges

41
October 1016
Contempt
Jean-Luc Godard

42
October 1723
Twentieth Century
Howard Hawks

43
October 2430
Gloria
John Cassavetes

44
October 31November 6
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Don Siegel

45
November713
Arsenic and Old Lace
Frank Capra

46
November 1420
Laura
Otto Preminger

47
November 2127
The Crowd
King Vidor

48
November 28December 4
The Rules of the Game
Jean Renoir

49
December 511
The Merry Widow
Ernst Lubitsch

50
December 1218
How Green Was My Valley
John Ford

51
December 19 25
Holiday
George Cukor

52
December 2631
The Shop Around the Corner
Ernst Lubitsch

O ne time Orson Welles and I were talking about Greta Garbo. Welles adored her as an artist and was raving about her extraordinary presence, her mystery, her magic. I agreed. But wasnt it too bad, I said, that out of all the many films shed appeared in, only two (George Cukors Camille and Ernst Lubitschs Ninotchka) were really good movies? Welles looked at me a long moment and then said, quietly: You only need one.

Well, the majority of the filmmakers in this booklike the majority of the actorsare represented by only one film. My hope is that readers may be so intrigued by the one they read about, and then view, that they will search out the several others Ive noted at the end of each recommendationand thereby find themselves again in the presence of the same personality, the same aura.

Writing nearly all of these pieces (or their nucleus) on a weekly deadline for my column on the TV page of the iconoclastic New York Observer, I was decidedly at the mercy of what the next weeks (uncut and uninterrupted) New York City television selections were to be. Usually I chose either the film I thought was best or the one about which I felt most impelled to write at that moment. Occasionally, if I had recommended one directors work over too many weeks, I would make another choice. Or if there was an arcane picture I thought wouldnt appeal to as many people, I would go instead for a more easily understandable or popular choice, because essentially I was writing not for film buffs but for an audience with a wider interest than movies and so with less time for the esoteric. Also, since it was primarily a New York audience, fewer Westerns (to which Im partial) were chosen because Ive found that this genre seems to be the least favorite among New Yorkers.

The idea for the form of this book came from my excellent editor at Ballantine, Associate Publisher Joe Blades, who suggested that organizing the pieces (with quite a few expanded and some new ones written) into a functional weekly cycle that spanned a year would give readers a useful structure they could followrunning a picture a week, with choices appropriate for certain holidays or celebrations. Joe also suggested that I attempt to include only films that are available for rental or purchase at video stores. The final list of movies, therefore, is by no means definitive. Nor do I think it in any way covers all the best pictures madeor even all my own personal favoritesalthough certainly a number of both are included.