I wrote yesterday about Edgar Ulmer and his theme of the outsider this month on TCM. There are a number of other excellent movies this month about outsiders, those who struggle to fit in, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing.
George B. Seitz's The Vanishing American (1925) is about the dilemma of the Native American, whether to fight to keep his heritage or become a part of the society that has, in some ways, rejected him.
John Ford's The Searchers (1956). John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, who struggles to find a place in a society that has changed immensely while he was off fighting in the Civil War.
Fritz Lang's Moonfleet (1955). An orphan tries to find a place in 18th C, society.
Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place (1950). About the self-destructiveness of a screenwriter who can't sell a screenplay.
Leo McCarey's Make Way for Tomorrow (1937). A moving and beautiful film about what to do with one's parents when they get old.
Gordon Douglas's I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951). Loyalty to one's country or to one's comrades; each choice has a price.
Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be (1942). A bleakly funny comedy about a Polish theatre troupe fighting back against the Nazis.
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