Cinema: CURRENT & CHOICE, Oct. 22, 1951

The Lavender Hill Mob. Alec Guinness as an engaging master criminal in a superior British concoction of wit and farce (TIME, Oct. 15).

An American in Paris. A buoyant, imaginative musical, as compelling as its George Gershwin score; with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron (TIME, Oct. 8).

The Red Badge of Courage. Stephen Crane’s classic Civil War novel, handsomely translated by Writer-Director John Huston into one of the best war films ever made; with Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin (TIME, Oct. 8).

The Day the Earth Stood Still. Science-fiction, combining a glimpse of futuristic marvels with a thoughtful look at the seedy old earth of 1951; with Michael Rennie (TIME, Oct. 1).

The River. Director Jean Renoir’s sensitive story of an English girl growing into adolescence beside a holy river in India; based on Rumer Godden’s autobiographical novel (TIME, Sept. 24).

A Streetcar Named Desire. An unvarnished adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ prizewinning Broadway hit; with Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter (TIME, Sept. 17).

People Will Talk. Scripter-Director Joseph L. (All About Eve) Mankiewicz needles the medical profession in his latest comedy of U.S. manners & morals; with Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain (TIME, Sept. 17).

A Place in the Sun. Producer-Director George Stevens’ masterly version of Dreiser’s An American Tragedy; with Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters (TiME, Sept. 10).

Pickup. In his debut as a Hollywood moviemaker, Czech-born Hugo Haas directs and stars in a tense, unpretentious drama about a middle-aged railroad watchman and the floozy he marries (TIME Aug. 27).