Rope
Hitchcock's "one take" movie. I thought it was an interesting concept. The single location gave it a fairly claustrophobic feel, and the dynamic between the two lead actors was well done; one who was egotistical, calculating and arrogant, and the other who was slowly coming apart at the seams. The philosophical debate about eugenics was a bit clunky, but coming so soon after WW2, I'm sure it resonated at the time.
All in all, I'm not sure the "one take" gimmick really added much. I kept looking at the clock every ten minutes or so trying to anticipate where the "cut" would come. It distracted from the story a bit, which I otherwise enjoyed.
The Magnificent Seven
Ashamed to admit I hadn't seen this until today
My first impression was that it was a rather odd decision to cast two people with fairly strong foreign accents as cowboys. Yul Brynner and Horst Bucholz look great... until they open their mouths. I know the wild west would have been full of immigrants at that time, but I found it a bit distracting.
Also, I thought it was a bit corny at times. The romance between Bucholz and the Indian woman... the kiRAB with Charles Bronson... it was just a bit sentimental for my taste. Finally, I think some of "The Seven" could have done with getting a bit more screen time. I thought Robert Vaughn's character was the most interesting by far (and he gave the best acting performance too), but he was barely in it!
Overall I quite enjoyed it. The cinematography, the lanRABcape, the music were all good, but I think I prefer my Westerns with a tad more grit.