All Time Favorite Movies

Gone with The Wind, Stella Dallas, Angels with Dirty Faces, On The Town, West Side Story, South Pacific, oh my god the list is endless...

My grandmother was a Movie buff. So when the night was quiet and no one was around and she could sit alone and knit, she watched "The Late Show", then she watched "The Late Late Show" and then I would hear her snoring before she could catch "The Late Late Late Show" (yes there really was one). I would sneak out of my room in our little 3 bedroom ranch house and quietly sit at the end of the hallway and watch the movies with her. By the time I was 11 she allowed me to sit up with her, but only in the summer when there was no school.

I was in love. With the night, with movies, black and white ones especially as those had the best stories and the best acting!!

You cannot compare any actors of today with those of yesteryear. This is the advantage of younger people today. They have no idea that back in the 40's Meryl Streep's were plentiful in fact most actresses were as good if not better than Meryl. Hell, even Meryl knows that. The best actors admire the actors that came long before them and even emulate them to a certain extent.

My romance started with Susan Hayward in 1958's "I Want to Live". My grandmother loved Susan Hayward and I liked her too. But the movie is what moved me. The performance she gave!! I was awe struck!! And stuck on movies...

So here are some of my favorites...

West Side Story- I root for the Puerto Ricans but then I am half Puerto Rican. But at the time I did not know that and fell in love with Bernardo anyway. My sister loved Biff. Ugh, I couldn't understand her liking a pasty faced white boy...but that isn't the point...The score, the choreography, the performances by Rita Moreno and Natalie Wood, George Chakaris of course and Richard Bremer. Romeo and Juliet set to music in the modern time, or so it was then. I can't get enough of this movie. When it is on TV I have to watch it. But I warn you now, I am a musical movie buff, so there will be more ...

On The Town- Is that really Frankie??? Oh yeah. That skinny kid from Jersey (pronounced Joyzee of course) was not of any interest to me. It was Gene Kelly. I fell in love with him and waited night after night for another 2 hour course of Gene. Yes, I loved Signin In the Rain and An American In Paris was alright, but perhaps because I was so young and impressionable, I fell in love with this one first and I remain true to that. Naturally because I AM a New Yorker, my favorite song in this movie is "New York, New York" (yep, its a helleva town).

Gone With The Wind- Oh come on, I'm a girl. Of course this one was going the be here. Now, not to get personal or anything but wasn't Ashleigh Wilkes a bit of a simp? I mean all I could think throughout this movie was "Scarlett,  are you nuts???" Rhett...oh Rhett. Even Melanie knew he was a catch!! What a man What a man. Okay, you want to know why most of us women love when Rhett carries her up the stairs? Because she wakes up the next morning singing? Nooo, well, kind of, but mostly we love men who ARE MEN, without being CAVE men. We want control, but once in a while guys, can't you just grab the reins from us and ride that pony to a new destination?

I'm no fashionista either, but I loved those gowns and I loved Mammie (Hattie McDaniel) and how she spoke and the amazing way she had with Miss Scarlett. I loved her sweet and oblivious father (Thomas Mitchell), the magnificent camera angles and the scenes where Atlanta is burning and the bodies are just endless...the dramatic impact! The faces Vivien Leigh made. Oh you just loved watching her no matter what she did. I realize there are those in the south who do not enjoy Gone With the Wind but history cannot be changed, not even by Clark Gable.

Speaking of classics - here is another one I have to watch whenever it is on although I know all the dialogue, To Kill a Mockingbird. While I do love Gregory Peck (sensing a theme with men here?) as Atticus Finch, you couldn't help but enjoy Scout (Jean Louise) and her brother Jem (Jeremy). And the very young Robert Duvall as Arthur "Boo" Radley. Needless to say the book is a classic, but SEEING the movie acted out to perfection as it was. Incredibly enjoyable and tense. Mary Badham as Scout did a magnificent job for such a young girl. And watching a lawyer with ethics, morals and honor, I mean really, what are the odds???

Stella Dallas- oh-my-God. You would have thought that considering my age my grandma would have warned me about Stella Dallas. A young woman (Barbara Stanwyck) from a factory town succeeds in social advancement and financial security through a romantic relationship and then marries the guy. However, the marriage ends and she ends up dedicating her life to their daughter's success. What a tear jerker and what a great performance by Ms. Stanwyck. This was a 4 hankie movie to be sure and although I know the ending and I hate all the suffering and pain, I love this movie. I love the self sacrafice of a mother for her daughter. I am a sucker for this stuff!!

Pride and Prejudice- Sorry people, not the Keira Knightly one. The PBS one with Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth) and Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy). This is a long movie on 2 CD's but I don't care. I curl up on my couch and watch it as long as I can and if I have to stay up until 2 am, I have. I just love this movie and how well done and elegant it is. Truth be told, I love just about anything Jane Austen but this one is nearest and dearest to my heart. Colin Firth does an impeccable job of making you dislike him, then care about him and then grow to adore him. Jennifer Ehle is a Perfect Elizabeth as she does have the kind of class and style that suits a Mr Darcy without having the snootiness. Keira Knightly simply does not exude that certain sense of class. It was missing and it is necessary.

Angels with Dirty Faces - This wasn't easy you know. Although James Cagney was nominated for an Oscar for this one, he actually won it for his portrayal as George M Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy. And rightfully so. But I also loved Public Enemy (yes, thats the one with the famous grapefruit scene). Perhaps we should just say I was a bit of a Cagney fan like my grandma. We can't overlook great performances by Humphery Bogart and Ann Sheridan either. Still, Angels with Dirty Faces just had something about it. The street thug who is admired and respected by the local delinquents. You can't help but wonder at the ending. Was he just "yella" like Father Connolly said, or was he honorable? You can't help but want to believe the latter.

The Godfather I & II- Where do I begin?  oh, ha ha no pun intended.  You know, referencing the song?  Oh never mind.  You probably don't understand "Leave the Gun, take the Canoli's" either, if you are not a Godfather fan.  Raised in an Italian family I have sort of a kindred relationship to these movies.  Marlon Brando as Don Corleone is the Patriarch as in any Italian family. Right?  Simply trying to raise his 3 boys Sonny (James Cann), Fredo (Richard S Castellano)  and Michael (Al Pacino) in the right way.  Okay so guns are involved.  These things happen.  These movies are done to perfection in acting and cinematography.  I am drawn to them again and again and again and NOT because I am afraid to sleep with the fishes.

Schindlers List - I know, Jesus Moon this is too depressing and horrific for words.  Yes, but looking away doesn't stop it from happening now does it?  It is already history and we cannot undo it so why not watch a movie about a man who was there and tried to do something about it?  Who saved thousands of lives and felt he still had not done enough?  That he had been stupid and selfish and could have done more?  Really Mr. Schindler?  And what does that make just about everybody else?  I don't know about you, but watching a movie about such an amazing individual moves me beyond words and makes me wonder "would I have been that daring and brave?"  Don't I wish....

Back to The Future - If I have watched Michael J Fox fly 30 feet back in the air with  his guitar at the beginning of this movie once, I have watched it a thousand times.  This was an amazing movie when it first came out because it was different and new.  No one had ever done anything like this before and Robert Zemeckis did it well.  A Michael J Fox fan ever since he was Alex P Keaton on Family Ties, I loved him in this movie and thought he WAS Marty McFly.   You can't rule out the great jobs done by Lea Thompson as his mom, Crispian Glover as his dad and of course the amazing Christopher Lloyd as Doc.  They had you believing the whole damn thing...Ok Ok a nod to Thomas F Wilson as Biff....eew...

Well folks those are 10 of my top all time favorites, of course there are about 75 more I am sure, but I won't list them all at once.  I hope you enjoyed remembering these and if you never did see one or a few maybe you'll be tempted to take a look...Enjoy.