Nicholas Ray suggestions.

I thought Bigger Than Life and Rebel Without a Cause were spectacular, but I don’t know where to go next. Suggestions?

In a Lonely Place and Johnny Guitar.

In a Lonely Place is may favourite of his so far, incredible performance from Bogie.

On Dangerous Ground and They Live by Night

They Live By Night
Party Girl (which you can get on made-to-order DVD from Warner Archives)

The Lusty Men is my favorite.

Bitter Victory and The Savage Innocents are also very underrated ’scope Ray films. The former is probably my personal pick for the greatest anti-war film.

Johnny Guitar, it’s just so good

On Dangerous Ground (1952). An offbeat noir. Haunting film.

If they were all destined to disappear and I could rescue only one, it’d be “In A Lonely Place”.

I’d go with In a Lonely Place, On Dangerous Ground, Party Girl and Johnny Guitar, in that order.

In a Lonely Place, for sure. Ah, Bogey.

Ditto on IN A LONELY PLACE and JOHNNY GUITAR. The others cited above are also good and should come after those.

WIND ACROSS THE EVERGLADES and KING OF KINGS are quite interesting, but wait till you’ve gone through all the other recommendations first.

FLYING LEATHERNECKS is an odd one and worth seeing, but I’d hesitate to recommend it unless you’re into John Wayne and WWII movies.

Stay clear of 55 DAYS AT PEKING.

Wind Across the Everglades is great “….one of Ray’s strangest, most challenging, and most visually sumptuous works.” and one of my favourites

looking at this thread I’m reminded of Ray’s amazing range! & stuff I still gotta see (Dangerous Ground & Party Girl)

Hot Blood now available from Sony’s “Columbia Classics” made-to-order DVD series

In spite of not being religious (or, perhaps because I’m not religious?), I find his 1963 film King of Kings to be the best of all the huge movies concerning the Christ legend, most all of them from that period. It is beautifully filmed and intelligently told.

and with the bonus of pretty boy Jeffrey Hunter playing Jesus…I’d actually have to watch it again to judge the intelligence of the story telling, can’t really remember

Yeah, Christopher, as Biblical epics go, Ray’s is very well done.

Just saw “Knock on Any Door”. Anybody have opinions on it? I thought it was pretty good with just enough noirish brutality to make it a dark film. Though the extended courtroom drama hindered the film from truly taking off.

Try and get a copy of the Region 2 “Masters of Cinema” series The Savage Innocnets as it comes equipped with an audio commentary by Bill Krohn and yours truly.

Truffaut called Johnny Guitar "The “Beauty and the Beast” of westerns." And when you see it you’ll know how right he was.

Also try and scare up a copy of “Bitter Victory” whose screenplay was written by Ray’s lover Gavin Lambert.

For more about Lambert and Ray read Gavin’s “Mostly About Lindsay Anderson” which tells all about it. Also if you can find a copy of Gavin’s “The Slide Area” the chapter entitled “The Closed Set” was inspired by Gacvin observing the shootin g of “Johnny Guitar” and Ray’s clashes with Joan Crawford.

I’m still on the basics with Ray. Haven’t yet seen “Rebel Without a Cause” or “Bigger Than Life”.

They Live By Night

You can get Bitter Victory on DVD via Amazon for $7.15 now.

David, have you heard anything about Patrick Mcgilligan’s new Ray bio?

Johnny Guitar and In A Lonely Place.

My favourite from what I’ve seen is In a Lonely Place. They Live By Night and Rebel Without a Cause are great as well. I enjoyed On Dangerous Ground to a lesser but it was still very good.

There doesn’t seem to be much love for “Knock On Any Door”. I enjoyed it much more than “Rebel Without a Cause”, “They Live By Night” and “In A Lonely Place”. I feel that “Knock On Any Door” is terribly underrated. It was one of Nicholas Ray’s earliest films so it’s a good place to go next. John Derek is quite good as Nick Romano although it’s clear that Humphrey Bogart dominates much of this film. Also, if you have the chance to witness “Johnny Guitar” on the big screen, grasp it with both hands—it has gorgeous use of colour to rival “The Red Shoes”. Joan Crawford is divine and the story is well told. I love its exploration of the mob mentality, looking to find someone guilty and string them up because they find that person an inconvenience to their way of life (Vienna’s plans conflicting with those of the townsfolk). One could draw parallels between the gang led by Emma (Mercedes McCambridge) and religious zealots, warmongers, cults—it has even been suggested they may represent the McCarthy witch hunts. The film does indeed deserve its reputation as a giant of cinema.

…love its exploration of the mob mentality, looking to find someone guilty and string them up because they find that person an inconvenience to their way of life

Yes, the first step for Utopians – round up and exterminate those that don’t fit their absolutist ideal.

When someone starts talking about Utopia, either run or get a gun.

Johnny Guitar

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2011/cteq/knock-on-any-door/

Good article on “Knock on Any Door”.