A caller recently asked if I would write a column recommending 10 movies that everyone should see - a combination of box-office favorites and my own personal choices.
In other words, films like "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz" and "Citizen Kane" . . . - movies that have had an impact on the language of cinema, those that can help the audience learn how to read a movie, if you will.I'm not completely comfortable with that, however. Besides, there have been so many books written on the subject that it would be redundant. In fact, I've resisted compiling any kind of "favorites" list for some years, partly because it's difficult to narrow literally dozens (if not hundreds) of favorites down to a mere 10 or so without feeling you've slighted one. Also because it's virtually impossible to try to choose the better picture from a vast array of films that are all disparate. Apples and oranges and all that.
But people do frequently ask for my favorites, so perhaps it's time to at least come up with a few video recommendations. Especially since most of mine are from the so-called "Golden Age" of movies and there seems to be a trend afoot among certain national critics to go after the "classics."
I'm referring to a writer for a prominent national movie magazine who used his column last year to slam-dunk Howard Hawks' great 1938 screwball comedy "Bringing Up Baby" and, more recently, a video columnist who said he had seen "Casablanca" too many times and was now reduced to picking out the film's minor technical glitches whenever he watched it. (His argument was, essentially, that in this video age, accessibility breeds contempt.)
These guys miss the point of why we watch movies more than once. It's true you can't ever regain the magic of seeing something wonderful for the first time. And it's also true that older movies are dated to some degree, whether in the stiffness of the acting style or the hair, clothing and cars that belong so distinctly to another era.
But there are other reasons why repeat viewings can provide great enjoyment. Sometimes it's the pleasure of sharing a film with someone else. Or just being able to hear again a favorite piece of sparkling dialogue or watch an amazing special effect or a brilliant performance. Or to reacquaint ourselves with characters or stories that had an impact on us.
Watching a beloved movie again can be like visiting with an old friend.
And rather than look upon a film as being dated, perhaps we should view it as a piece of history. A book can describe a period but a movie gives you firsthand examples of what people wore and how they spoke, etc., during the time a contemporary film was shot.
So, with all of that in mind, here are some of my favorite movies - a wide variety, five each listed alphabetically in various categories - and all are available on video. Any one of them, in my estimation, offers the perfect alternative to the kids renting "Wayne's World" or "The Addams Family" for the 27th time:
Adventure: "Glory," "Henry V" (1989), "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Man Who Would Be King," "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935).
Dramas: "The Best Years of Our Lives," "Casablanca," "Field of Dreams," "Ordinary People," "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Foreign: "Babette's Feast," "Cinema Paradiso," "La Strada," "The Makioka Sisters," "Rashomon."
Horror: "The Bride of Frankenstein," "The Haunting," "The Night Stalker," "Psycho," "Village of the Damned."
Musicals: "Carousel," "A Hard Day's Night," "The Music Man," "Singin' in the Rain," "West Side Story."
Romance: "Hannah and Her Sisters," "The Quiet Man," "Random Harvest," "Sunrise," "The Way We Were."
Satire: "Dr. Strangelove," "The Candidate," "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," "Raising Arizona," "Tootsie."
Science fiction/fantasy: "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "Death Watch," "Forbidden Planet," "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," "The Time Machine."
Silents: "City Lights," "The General," "The Kid," "Laurel & Hardy's Laughing '20s," "Sunrise," "Way Down East."
Slapstick: "Arsenic and Old Lace," "Buck Privates," "The Court Jester," "Duck Soup," "What's Up, Doc?"
Thrillers: "Double Indemnity," "The Maltese Falcon," "North By Northwest," "Out of the Past," "Wait Until Dark."
Westerns: "High Noon," "Red River," "The Searchers," "Silverado," "Wagon Master."
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Gene Hackman, explaining to Michael H. Price, of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that he took a role in Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" because it makes a statement against violence as opposed to the kind of violence in "The Silence of the Lambs":
"My family's influence, by itself, is what caused me to move away from `The Silence of the Lambs,' which I had been invited to direct and star in - either as the senior FBI man, or in the Dr. Hannibal Lecter role - in order to steer clear of the horrific nature of the story."