A Centennial Rewind from Your Favorite Movie Committe Guy

By Chris Dier-Scalise

In commemoration of the Senate Theater’s centennial celebration, the members of the film selection committee have been asked to choose their favorite films from the Senate Theater’s initial 32-year run as a community movie theater serving the Southwest Detroit and Springwells neighborhoods. 

What follows is my list of 10 films, which I managed to put together from a spreadsheet of hundreds, with literally dozens of all-time, indisputable classics released between 1926 and 1958.

However, I want to qualify my list with a few rules I tried to abide by to keep things interesting.

First, I have intentionally excluded films that I felt did not need mentioning and would not benefit from my half-baked recommendation. This includes stuff like The General, Citizen Kane, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and a whole array of movies from heavyweights like Ford, Hitchcock and Lang. There’s very little reason for me to tell you that you should watch The Third Man (although you should).

I also challenged myself to select films of all genres. Being a total snob, my knee-jerk list would probably have some clear trends that might incriminate me in future committee picks.

Finally, I wanted a list that spans the range of years we’re considering, if for no other reason than to have “several” rules to follow rather than the far less satisfying “a couple.”

So yeah, my list and some words:

East Side, West Side (1927)

Compelling, gorgeously shot slice of Gilded Age New York melodrama. I’ve never seen another silent film capture a sense of place quite like it, and it makes you believe these rags-to-riches stories not only can happen, but maybe even did✨

Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) - Romantic until it isn’t. Funny until it isn’t. And then kind of funny again. Dorothy Arzner is a master. Watch all of her movies.

Scarlet Empress (1934) - Totally bonkers shooting and expressionistic set design. Sternberg was working out some deep-seated Russophobia in this one. Marlene Dietrich is Marlene Dietrich, and that’s basically like being Catherine the Great.

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

This might be a bit of a cheat around my first rule. But really, how many kids today are utilizing a doppelganger to briefly switch identities with an incapacitated twin to complete a crucial ceremony, only to find that the other has been secretly stolen away by a rival and it's now incumbent upon the impersonating double to rescue the kidnapped counterpart? Not enough, that’s for sure!

“I always have a hard time realizing how important we are.”

The Big Store (1941) - Not the best Marx Bros. film, but it was my first. Harpo and Chico get some great musical numbers. It also has some stellar lines, which I’ve included here for your enjoyment: “Hey Wacky, wake up. We gotta find the killers.” “Press-a da grapes, not-a my wife.”

Isle of the Dead (1945)

This is my horror pick, but Boris Karloff goes for broke and delivers a genuinely heart-wrenching performance. Moody and melancholy, like most Val Lewton productions, but the dread is less external than existential.

The Baron of Arizona (1950) - Early Sam Fuller, and one of the few non-genre flicks he ever made (Wikipedia says it’s a Western, I disagree). Vincent Price plays things pretty subdued until his monologue near the end that I think basically sums up Fuller’s whole life philosophy.

Night and the City (1950) - Jules Dassin’s last film before his blacklisting and exile from Hollywood, and I couldn’t leave it off this list despite sharing a release year with The Baron… Richard Widmark is a total scumbag in this, but you still can't help but want him to turn things around. Also, London never looked so good.

The Lusty Men (1952)

Now this is a Western. I make no secret of my love of Robert Mitchum, and if there was ever a role he was born for, this was it. “Fun” fact: I first heard the title of this movie in the lyrics to a Harvey Danger song, and surely it delivered. 

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Inferno (1953) - “Shot in 3-D.” An actually pretty compelling survival story that sometimes has a snake move toward the camera or one of the characters throws a sandwich at the screen or something…

HAPPY CENTENNIAL, YOU OLD MOVIE HOUSE!