Calamity Jane (1953)

Traditional westerns were plentiful in the 1950s, but musical westerns were a rarer occurrence. Calamity's script lacks much in the way of originality and is almost painfully predictable, but the screen presence of Doris Day (as Calamity) and Allyn McLerie (as Katie Brown) go a long way in making a viewer forget all of that. Both women are superb, bringing a sunny and spirited lustre to what's an otherwise rather bland portrayal of Deadwood. The famous town serves as the setting for a film with showmanship and charms that have as much in common with Broadway and theatre as they do the cowboy genre.

3 whip crack-aways out of 5

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Hitchcock remade his own film. It’s preferable to someone else doing it, I suppose. The 1956 version improves on the 1934 version by having Jimmy Stewart as the leading man, but by the same token it’s weakened in not having Peter Lorre as the antagonist. The story is similar (well, duh) but also different enough to keep people who've seen the previous version unsure of the outcome. The extra length allows for heightened tension, but at other times it drags on too long and becomes unnecessary. In many ways it’s a balancing act between improvements in one area vs change for the sake of it in another. Thankfully, when the scales come to a stop they favour the former. It’s a better film, but the plot is still a bit crap.

3½ moments in life out of 5