Shhhhh! It's Time to Pick Your Bestavorite Silents!

[cinemalover]

Here is the first draft of my fave 25. Dewey makes a good point that it might be more accurate to phrase this contest as looking for our all-time FAVORITE movie as opposed to the BEST.

1. Casablanca 1942
2. The Godfather 1972
3. Goldfinger 1964
4. Bride of Frankenstein 1935
5. Singin’ in the Rain 1952
6. North by Northwest 1959
7. The Grapes of Wrath 1940
8. The General 1927
9. The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 (with a nod to the 1922 version, which is also excellent)
10. Wizard of Oz 1939
11. King Kong 1933
12. Seven Samurai 1954
13. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966
14. Harvey 1950 (this knocked one of my perennial favorites, It’s a Wonderful Life, out of the count for me)
15. Pinocchio 1940
16. Police Story (Ging Chaat Goo Si) 1985
17. Lord of the Rings (trilogy) 2001-2003 (Yes, I’m stretching the rules)
18. The Dirty Dozen 1967
19. The Killer (Dip Huet Seung Hung) 1989 Out!
19. Support Your Local Sheriff 1969 In!
20. Beauty and the Beast 1991 (with a huge nod to the 1946 live-action version which also could have made my list)
21. M*A*S*H 1970
22. The Invisible Man 1933
23. The Thin Man 1934
24. Napoleon 1927
25. Cabaret 1972 Out!
25. Robin Hood 1922 In!

I can't believe that I don't have more westerns on my list as much as I love that genre, but it's not final yet. I was also trying to squeeze in The Maltese Falcon, The French Connection and some Chaplin. Too bad, so sad. They're out for now.

If any of you do go back in to alter your list (I know I will) please add a notation at the bottom to tell the date it was last updated. You have until the 30th to change your mind.

[Bogie]

This is just preliminary. I'm sure it'll change at some point. Oh and it's in no particular order

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Dodsworth

Glengarry Glenross

Goldfinger*

The Shootist

Scarface (Muni version)

Meet John Doe

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Firecreek

The Bellboy

The Petrified Forrest

Singin' in the Rain

Patton

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (personally the best Pryor/Wilder film)

Sorry, Wrong Number

Fantastic Voyage

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

The Last Man on Earth

On the Waterfront

Gone with the Wind

Airplane!

E.T. The Extra-Terrestiral

A Guy Named Joe

Only Angels Have Wings

Key Largo


I think that's 25 films.

* Edited on 11/16/07

[Dewey1960]

Chris, Fernando, Mel and now Bogie: terrifically interesting lists from you folks! Chris, I hope this little exercise in frustration yields more entries as it is a fascinating indicator of the personalities behind the names (and avatars) of those who post here. And yes Chris, I believe Mr. Freed is expecting to cast a vote... (as will, I assume Mr. Karloff and Mr. Bogart...)

[MissGoddess]

Chris---just to be sure, you only want our "Favorites", not those we think are The Best? Because that's actually two different lists for me.

Miss Goddess of the Lists

[feaito]

It's been so rewarding to read all the lists. Excellent and varied choices. And it has been so difficult not to change my list after reading them. i.e., When I read "Harvey" in Chris' list I immediately made the connection with "Arsenic and Old Lace" and remembered it's such a favorite, but it's not an easy task to decide to delete a film (which one?) and include a new one...

[cinemalover]

MissGoddess,
That's a tough question. For me my "favorites" are the "best" movies because I enjoy them the most. If I were going to list "best" as defined by technically astonishing or groundbreaking work it would indeed be a different list. I think we should be listing the films that are "best" for each of us, because that way we'll be able to discuss them with passion and heart as opposed to more clinical analysis. But the bottom line will always be, you are free to define your choices however you see fit. I think that difference will make this a much more interesting group of films to choose from. To do some research for this I Googled many top 100 film lists and there were so many of the same films on every list done by completely different people or groups. I don't understand that at all. Out of the thousands and thousands of films made how can so many different polls be so similar? To me that's people not thinking on their own. I want your opinion, because it is unique.

[mrsl]

Here are my eclectic choices:

1. Two Rode Together
2. Steel Magnolias
3. Liberty Valence
4. The Women
5. Casablanca
6. Valley of Decision
7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
8. Meet Me In St. Louis
9. Oklahoma
10. All About Eve
11. To Hell and Back
12. El Dorado
13. To Kill a Mockingbird
14. Sabrina (both versions)
15. Jaws
16. The Uninvited (Ray Milland version)
17. The Longest Day
18. The Alamo (1960)
19. The Searchers
20. The Hunt for Red October
21. The Enemy Below
22. White Christmas
23. Westward the Women
24. Gone With The Wind
25. People Will Talk

As you see, I don't necessarily go for block busters. These are movies I've watched again and again most of them average to at minimum 7 times each - most, if I'm channel surfing and land on one, I stay with it to the end. The only one that really gave me pause was Sabrina. I like both versions equally, so used only one space for them. Also, I would include all the R&H, H&H, Lerner & Lowe, etc. musicals because any one I'm watching at any time is my favorite, I cannot pick one or two over the rest, so I just left them off the list.

Anne

[cinemalover]

Anne, nice list.
Thanks for getting some of the westerns on the board that I couldn't fit in my list. I think your definition of films being ones that you enjoy watching multiple times is a great measuring stick. I wouldn't put anything on my list that I wouldn't want to revisit every year or two. Films that have really stood the test of time for my viewing habits.
Thanks for a wonderful list.

[cinemalover]

Dewey,
I let Mr. Karloff have 1/2 a vote, and he only got Bride on to the list despite many other Karloff favorites.

[jdb1]

Here's my list of 25 favorites, which isn't to be confused with all the other lists of my other 25 favorites. If I look at this one for too long, I'll just change it all, so I'm letting this one stand since I do like all of what I've put down:

The Incredible Shrinking Man
Little Women (Katharine Hepburn version)
Men O’ War (1929 Laurel & Hardy short)
Desk Set
Gone With the Wind
Singin’ in the Rain
Million Dollar Legs (1932)
The Thief of Baghdad (with Sabu)
Little Giant (Abbott & Costello)
Hard Day’s Night
The Band Wagon
Mildred Pierce
Beauty and the Beast (Cocteau version)
Julius Caesar (with Brando)
It Happened One Night
Red Ball Express
Support Your Local Sheriff
Disney's Alice in Wonderland
It’s a Gift
Rear Window
The Long, Long Trailer
High Noon
The Lost Wekend
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Damn Yankees

[cinemalover]

Judith,
The Incredible Shrinking Man! I love that movie! Good addition. Also thanks for bringing Support Your Local Sheriff into play, as much as I rave about that movie I didn't put it on my list, duh!

[jdb1]

Interesting that our lists reflect our favorite genres, mine heavy on comedies and music. So far, except for a very few choices in common, our lists are wonderfully varied. I hope the rest of our group will be inspired by these suggestions to consider lists of their own.

Now, to make a list of all the movies I left out . . . .

[Dewey1960]

Judith, I really dig your list; several of your choices came very close to making it onto my final draft (BAND WAGON, LONG LONG TRAILER, REAR WINDOW). This is getting interesting...

[feaito]

I've just realized I left out my favorite horror films "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "Freaks"

[cinemalover]

feaito,
Well, the good news is, you can go back and edit them into your list.

The bad news is, you'll have to figure out which two to knock off the list. Just wait until we have to pare all these choices down to the 64 finalists. Then it will really get interesting! (Insert evil laugh)