SCFZ poll: Phil Karlson

[flip]

Polling the films of director Phil Karlson

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Karlson films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: NO ONE

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

didn't see too many replies from karlson completists in the other thread, so i guess we'll use extended rules:

• if you have seen an odd number of karlson films, you can round up instead of down when deciding the length of your ballot (so if you've seen 5, say, you can list 3 films instead of the normal 2)

• if you have seen more than 10 karlson films, your list can extend beyond five films (so if you have seen 13, say, you can list a 7-film ballot)

[flip]

and director nominations are *reset*, if you are the first person (besides me) to post a ballot, please nominate our next director! (or if you don't want to, please mention that so the next person can)

[flip]

1. Gunman's Walk
2. The Texas Rangers
3. Kansas City Confidential
4. 99 River Street
5. The Iroquois Trail
6. The Phenix City Story
7. Scandal Sheet
8. The Brothers Rico

seen 16

[greennui]

1.

The Phenix City Story

[Holymanm]

seen 99 River Street and Kansas City Confidential; both seemed like pretty low-grade stuff.... but i am a known noir hater, so don't mind me

[rischka]

interesting career including films called 'thunderhoof,' 'the big cat' and a picture starring william shatner as alexander the great!

99 river street
gunman's walk
scandal sheet
the phenix city story

[kanafani]

Kansas City Confidential

[Curtis, baby]

Scandal sheet
Gunman's walk
99 River Street

[Umbugbene]

Seen 6

1. Hell's Island
2. Kansas City Confidential
3. 99 River Street

Incidentally, as of four days ago we've been doing these director polls for three years. We're currently starting the eleventh round, which means each round has lasted an average of 110 days.

[...]

99 River Street
Kansas City Confidential
5 Against the House
The Brothers Rico
Gunman's Walk
The Phenix City Story

I'd really like to see more of his early films outside the crime genre stuff, but I haven't come across many of them yet aside from the Elvis one and Ride the Wild Surf, which Karlson only co-directed.

[greennui]

I'll nominate a director that won't need any checking. Louis Lumière. I've got 82 lol.

[St. Gloede]

Seen 6:

Kansas City Confidential

[oscarwerner]

Seen 11:
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
The Brothers Rico (1957)
99 River Street (1953)
Hell to Eternity (1960)
The Phenix City Story (1955)

[FLABREZU]

Seen 2

Kansas City Confidential

[john ryan]

Seen 7

1. 99 River Street
2. Scandal Sheet
3. Gunman's Walk

[flip]

somewhat interestingly, karlson made twenty films in the 1940s, and another dozen or so after 1960 (his last film was from 1975), and none of that work got any support in our poll -- every film that got a vote was from karlson's 1950-1960 period. and i somehow never registered how late karlson was to the noir game; all of his famous noirs are from the middle few years of the 1950s.

results
1. 99 River Street (1953) — 19 pts
2. Kansas City Confidential (1952) — 17 pts
3. Gunman’s Walk (1958) — 12 pts
4. Scandal Sheet (1952) — 7.3 pts
5. The Brothers Rico (1957) — 6.1 pts
6. The Texas Rangers (1951) — 4 pts
6. The Phenix City Story (1955) — 4 pts
8. Hell’s Island (1955) — 3 pts
8. 5 Against the House (1955) — 3 pts
10. Hell to Eternity (1960) — 2 pts
11. The Iroquois Trail (1950) — 1 pt

[flip]

up at letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-251/