1950s movies marathon – part 22

Five (1951, USA, Oboler)

The post-apocalypse – it is finally here.  It is time.  The mid-20th century has felt empty without it, that sense that somehow we broke the world and can’t put it back together again.  Watched it all.  This is the earliest post-apocalyptic movie I’ve seen, and the format hasn’t changed in 60 years, or if so only by becoming more lighthearted.  This must be one of the most depressing movies that had been made up to this point.  Writer-director-producer Arch Oboler is most famous for his radio plays, though.  I’ll need to find some of them.

Fingerprints Don’t Lie (1951, USA)

Here’s another 1951 B-movie that appears to be using a Hammond organ for the soundtrack.  This may very well be the worst idea in the history of movies.  Watched: 1 minute.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, USA)

It’s hot in New Orleans.  Really hot.  Watched it all before, but not so much this time.  Sometimes you just don’t feel like a Tennessee Williams movie.

Flight to Mars (1951, USA)

These guys looked at the success of Destination Moon, and concluded that the secret of making a space flight movie is to make it as boring as possible.  And hey, let’s steal (or buy?) Rocketship X-M‘s ship set while we’re at it.  Watched: 9 minutes.  This is basically an episode of Stargate SG-1 with all the life drained out of it.  On the plus side, the Martian women are innovators in the field of sci-fi skirt lengths.