Hollywood has created some of our most powerful memories, social trends, and pure fun through the power of filmmaking. All of these iconic pictures — and those yet to be — defined the year they were released, resulting in a decades-long filmography of triumphant craftsmanship.
1945 — The Lost Weekend
Despite being the first picture on our list, The Lost Weekend has stood the test of time, earning its place as a Hollywood classic. Don Birnam is, simply put, an alcoholic. Whereas in the past, the town drunk was reduced to comedic relief or the village idiot, The Lost Weekend chose to confront the topic of alcoholism and addiction hard on by displaying the disease’s anguish, wrath, and destructiveness. Director Billy Wilder addresses the misery and consequences of splashing through life through spectacular and incredibly symbolic cinematography. The Lost Weekend makes no attempt to explain why Don drinks or the origins of his addiction because, in the end, preserving his life is more important.
1945 — The Lost Weekend
1946 — It’s A Wonderful Life
Every Christmas season, television stations scramble to schedule this film. It’s a Wonderful Life, maybe the quintessential feel-good film, teaches us the importance of self-love and that gratitude is never a wasted or misguided emotion. On a wintry Christmas Eve, George Bailey (the magnificent Jimmy Stewart) is a depressed family man considering suicide. Despite his good intentions toward everyone in town, this popular bank employee has been duped by his devious boss — and now fears the police are on their way to arrest him on false accusations.
1946 — It’s A Wonderful Life