Two New Favourites

Watched two great films this weekend: Rear Window and The Ox-Bow Incident.

I'd seen Rear Window already, but it just gets better and better. I think for me it's almost up there with Vertigo now, which has always been my favourite Hitchcock. (By the way, I've never much rated North by Northwest. I don't enjoy that one at all.)

As for The Ox-Bow Incident, I'd never seen it before. I've had it on an old video in a double bill with Bad Day at Black Rock, which I've seen many times and I think is great. The Ox Bow Incident took me completely by surprise. I wasn't expecting anything so tense, taut or moving. It's an unusual style of Western, in that it could almost be performed as a play. It reminded me of An Inspector Calls (not exactly sure why) and, more obviously, Twelve Angry Men (the Henry Fonda link helping with that one).

I'll have to watch it again to decide whether it's one of my favourite westerns, but it has to be close. High Noon and Unforgiven probably clinch it, but there's always room for new favourites.