Dewey1960 wrote:
The classic film I'm embarrassed to admit I've never seen: There are probably more than I care to admit, but one that comes to mind is Hitchcock's REBECCA (1940).
Dewey - you have 3 options:
1) Rent it from Netlflix.
2) Set your VCR/DVD to record it from TCM this very night at 11:45pm PST.
The five films that have been important to me are:
The Passion of Joan of Arc : The individual against authority/society
(I first saw this film in the last year, and it blew me away. I can't believe
Maria Falconetti never made another film.)
Charade: I've been trying to come up with a story that could equal
or surpass it , but it never happens.
Casablanca: The pacing, the love story, the noble gestures--it all
draws me in every time!
Singing in the Rain: the music, the dancing, the pacing, the humor...
Out of the Past: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas,
a great story, pacing, and Jacques Tourneur.
Films I've rewatched the most: Calamity Jane (I love it when Howard Keel sings "My Love is..."The songs are some of my favorites), Charade, The Great Escape, Notorious, Babette's Feast (totally changed my attitude in the kitchen), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, A Letter To Three Wives, Rear Window, To Catch A Thief, Metropolis, Dark Passage, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stalag 17, and Brief Encounter.
(Added to original, Lion in Winter--see comment below.)
Classic Films I haven't yet seen: The Great Dictator, City Lights, Captains Courageous, Intolerance, and a few film noirs, silents, and musicals still on my to do list.
Last edited by Sue Sue Applegate on February 6th, 2008, 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jezebel wrote: Dewey - you have 3 options:
1) Rent it from Netlflix.
2) Set your VCR/DVD to record it from TCM this very night at 11:45pm PST.
3) Come over to my side of the bay and see it ON THE BIG SCREEN at The Stanford Theatre THIS WEEKEND Friday 8th through Monday 11th.
Jezebel, that's hilarious! Goes to show how closely I pay attention to my surroundings! I think I'll set my recorder and grab it tonight. Much as I love the Stanford Theater, the timing just doesn't work out. Thanks so much!
Christy: You have incredible taste in films! Four of your five are among my most favorite films ever!!
1) To Kill a Mockingbird: The most vivid childhood memory of a film that I have. The issues that the film confronts have stayed with me for over forty years and in the end, speak to the better angels of our nature.
2) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Ford reminds us all of the price that is often paid by both sides when legend becomes fact.
3) Casablanca: It may not amount to a hill of beans but one of the finest love stories ever crafted.
4) The Searchers: The dark side of the winning of the American West.
5) The Iron Horse: Ford tackled the western in this silent epic and in doing so, cinematically wrote the language for this genre and then using that language, helped the genre to mature and find its voice.
Honorable mention:
Cinema Paradiso: Rarely has a film so exquistely captured what it means to love the movies.
Films I've watched th most: the ones above plus "Singin' in the Rain", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, LA Confidential, The Godfather, Gone with the Wind.
Film I haven't seen: The Covered Wagon
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
My own list will probably sound bizarre to most of you. I like 'great classics' but for me, there are never as interesting as some lesser known pictures which I find totally enthralling.
The Fountainhead (1949) I saw for the first time this incredible King Vidor feature when I was a teenager. I probably didn't quite get the message of the film at the time. But, I was absolutely overwhelmed by its lyrical pacing and its grandiose images. Since then, I saw the film countless times, even on a big screen in London. I now find some of Ayn Rand's dialogue quite funny, but, nevertheless, this Vidor remains incredibly powerful for me.
The Pirate (1948) My favourite Minnelli ever. I must have watched it a hundred times, but, it keeps its magic. This film is multi-layered. On first glance, it's a colorful musical. But, it's much more for me: where does reality and theatre meet? It's also Garland's liberation from her family's constraints. It's probably the most beautiful and tasteful Technicolor cinematography ever done.
Party Girl (1958) I saw this Nicholas Ray picture about a dozen times on a big screen. It's fabulous looking while being a study of redemption in 30s Chicago. It's a bit of a musical, a (spoof) gangster picture and a film noir.
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) Bernard Herrman's score literaly carries along this lovely Joe Mankiewicz film. Rex Harrison & Gene Tierney were never better.
Little Man, What Now? (1934) This rare Borzage feature is a more recent discovery for me. It's a masterpiece. Nobody described better 30s Berlin in the depression than Borzage with the help of the fabulous Margaret Sullavan.
Last edited by Ann Harding on February 6th, 2008, 11:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
I saw this on the big screen at the Charles Theater in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago. They're running a series of Hitchcock films through June. Last week it was the ok Saboteur, this coming week it's Shadow of a Doubt. Good times.
Christy: You have incredible taste in films! Four of your five are among my most favorite films ever!!
I must concur. And that outlier would be...let me take a shot in the dark...CHARADE.
Ann said:
My own list will probably sound bizarre to most you....Party Girl (1958) I saw this Nicholas Ray picture about a dozen times on a big screen. It's fabulous looking while being a study of redemption in 30s Chicago. It's a bit of a musical, a (spoof) ganster picture and a film noir.
I saw this for the first time a couple of months ago and -- I have to believe, very luckily -- it was on the big screen. My jaw dropped. The mix of genres (musical & gangster) within a film noir framework made it one of the most surreal films and viewing experiences ever. It gave me a new perspective for watching Nicholas Ray films.
Mr. Arkadin said, regarding DAY OF WRATH:
It doesn't really matter as she is simply a scapegoat for societies own wicked conscience.
Oh, we must discuss this. I view her differently than other Dreyer "heroines" (and I may be the only person who does) in that I think she is just as complicit in her downfall, and therefore not "simply a scapegoat", as Society or the men (i.e. Society) around her are. That, in fact, makes her the most interesting, fascinating and realistic female character in any Dreyer film that I've seen.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
ChiO sed: And that outlier would be...let me take a shot in the dark...CHARADE.
And he was righter'n rain---the best Hitchcock film NOT directed by Hitchcock.
And I would likewise agree that AnnHarding's choice of PARTY GIRL is an inspired one and that ChiO's subsequent comment regarding it was adroitly put; Nicholas Ray is definitely a director who demands our scrutiny on a variety of interesting and important levels. For me Ray is pure cinema, pure genius.
Thank you and a tip of the Hatlo hat to MissG for starting this provocative thread!
I actually think it would be cool if all future SSO "Guest Stars" would take the time to answer these questions as well. It's a marvelous insight into what is important to them.
It's a marvelous insight into what is important to them.
Yes it is. However...
Does anyone else find it odd or interesting that one participant in this thread has failed to respond to the question?
Hmmm...what about it, MissG? How many non-John Ford and non-Gary Cooper movies can you list?
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
It's a marvelous insight into what is important to them.
Yes it is. However...
Does anyone else find it odd or interesting that one participant in this thread has failed to respond to the question?
Hmmm...what about it, MissG? How many non-John Ford and non-Gary Cooper movies can you list?
To paraphrase Maxim de Winter, I maintain the hostess' perogative of not participating.
Seriously, I have been pondering it but I haven't made my selections yet. I will probably end up with what movies I think are "important" in purely subjective terms, as Peter B. did. I don't feel qualified to offer any other basis.
Regarding Day of Wrath, I too think she is complicit in her own downfall although completely undeserving of such a end, it's a powerful film. I like Dreyer very much as a film maker.
One film that is a "REWATCHABLE" is being added to my initial entry and I can't believe I left it out: Lion in Winter!
I almost fell out of my chair when I read Mr. A's comment about it being
a "Christmas card from Hell..." So true, but such a fantastic script, great cast, and the psychology of familial relationships, pecking orders, resigned and assigned fates, love, lust for land,...Shakespearean and Gothic all coming at once, hurtling the viewer back to the 12th century...
I'm going to be a little picky about words in this one. I don't find movies important, but I do find them impressive, and learning experiences. Movies have impressed me with different feelings and emotions that I, for some reason or other, never learned at home, or simply did not grasp until something in the movie caused a 'lightbulb' moment. BTW 3 were seen at the theater, and the other 2 on TV, long before letterbox.
5 Movies that impressed me:
1. Age 7 - 8 yrs. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: I saw this at the theater in all of its' beautiful, colorful splendor, accompanied by the most wonderful and rousing music, dancing, and singing I had ever heard. At age 7 or 8, this movie made me a musical lover for the rest of my life.
2. Age 11 - Meet Me in St. Louis: I explained before, watching this movie alone with my Dad, gave me such a feeling of protection and togetherness that I had as yet never experienced with any member of my family, that to this day it is a vital part of my life. That night sustained me through many bad times in my young life.
3. Age 12 - Cheaper by the Dozen: Since my immediate family was a dictatorship, this movie gave me the belief that not everybody lived by the leaders' orders and belt. It actually helped me in deciding what to do when my own kids did something wrong. I literally thought "What would the Gilbreths do"? In addition I drew the books out of the library after seeing the movie, on the Saturday night movie, to learn as much as I could about kindness over brutality.
4. Age 12 - The Searchers: Much like Seven Brides, this one turned me into a Western fan. I was too young to understand all the intricacies of the movie, and I only saw it the first time at the theater, but after later viewings more and more was revealed to me.
5. Age 16 - Inherit the Wind: Seeing this on a date, my date was pretty unhappy because it gripped me from the start. The court scenes were thrilling, and I loved the verbal assaults between Spencer and Frederick, but most of all I loved many of the arguments Spencer used. This movie instilled in me the urge to learn, and examine. Again I was too young to appreciate the deep meanings but I liked it enough to re-watch over and over until those meanings became apparent.
Classics Never Seen: I don't think there are any except the foreign language films many members speak of, but if I can't understand what they are saying, to me it's not necessary to see it. I have no plan to invade the movie industry at my age, so techicalities are unimportant to me.
Movies Watched Most:Casablanca, - Steel Magnolias - Them - Sabrina - Frequency - Its a Wonderful Life - Meet Me in St. Louis. All of my musicals are on 4 videos, so when I'm in the mood, I close my eyes and point at one and play it - that gives me three movies.
Anne
Anne
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