For more than a decade, Chicago-based podcast Filmspotting has been pitting actors, directors, and films against each other in their own bracket-style tournament where the listeners decide the winners. Working their way back through years to determine the listeners’ favorite films of each decade, they have made their way to the 1940s, a time that The Dryden has a particular ability to represent. For the first time, the Dryden Theatre is presenting some of the films on this Filmspotting list to view as they were meant to be seen—on the big screen. Come, do your research, then start your voting in March when the tournament begins.
Dates and Titles:
January 7: A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, UK 1944, 124 min., 35mm)
January 20: The Naked City (Jules Dassin, US 1948, 96 min., DCP)
January 21: I Know Where I’m Going (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, UK 1945, 92 min., 35mm)
January 28: Odd Man Out (Carol Reed, UK 1947, 116 min., 35mm)
Events in this Series
Odd Man Out (35mm)
Filmspotting Madness: Best of the ‘40s Recently escaped from prison and in hiding for six months, IRA soldier Johnny McQueen (James Mason) is instructed to rob the payroll of a mill with his team. While the robbery is successful, Johnny is shot during the getaway and is forced on the run, hiding where he can, never knowing who to trust.
I Know Where I'm Going (35mm)
Filmspotting Madness: Best of the ‘40s This lesser-seen Powell and Pressburger masterpiece reunites the directors with Roger Livesey who had played Clive Candy in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Wendy Hiller is the star as Joan Webster, a confident young upper-middle class Englishwoman who always knows where she’s going.
The Naked City
George Award Winners: William Daniels | Filmspotting Madness: Best of the ‘40s “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.” So ends this highly-influential crime drama from producer Mark Hellinger and director Jules Dassin. On the leading edge of the procedural sub-genre, the film follows a team of New York City detectives (lead by Barry Fitzgerald and Don Taylor) investigating the murder of a model in her apartment.
A Canterbury Tale (35mm)
Filmspotting Madness: Best of the ‘40s Three strangers meet up in Kent, one train stop short of Canterbury, where they stumble upon a bizarre mystery. Alison Smith (Sheila Sim) is a “land girl” sent to work a farm in the town, Sergeant Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price) is on his way to his next assignment, and Sergeant Bob Johnson (John Sweet) is a U.S. soldier on leave.