I don't consider myself a film critic. But, like
many raised in a time when film took precedence over TV, I have my favorites.
I've mentioned before, I consider The Gods Must Be Crazy my favorite film
of all time and view Jamie Uys as a cinematic genius. I'm not going to include
Gods in this summary, though, citing instead some other classics I enjoy. They
are, in no particular order:
Treasure
of the Sierra Madre. Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston star
in this 1948 adventure tale of a search for gold in Mexico based on a novel of
the same name by the mysterious B. Traven. Bandits and greed turn a search for
wealth into tragedy. Huston steals the star honors from Bogie.
Wuthering
Heights. There have been a number of remakes of Emily
Brontes' story of vengeful, thwarted love (one of my all-time favorite novels),
but none have surpassed the emotional intensity of the original 1949 version
starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven.
Arsenic
And Old Lace. Frank Capra's brilliant 1944
adaptation of a Broadway play is a dark comedy with a stellar cast headed by
Cary Grant. If this film doesn't make you laugh, you have no sense of humor.
The
Trouble With Harry. Another dark comedy, this one about a
dead man who won't stay put. I'm a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock and I've watched
this 1955 film dozens of times without tiring of its quirky humor. Captain
Albert Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) believes he's accidentally shot Harry, but he's not
the only one with reason to hide the body. John Forsythe and Shirley MacLaine
(in her screen debut) star, respectively, as a struggling artist and a single
mother who knows Harry and is glad he's dead.
North
By Northwest. This 1959 film, another Hitchcock, is
considered by many one of the director's best. Even if the critics didn't
agree, it'd still be among my favorites. A case of mistaken identity puts Cary
Grant (here in his more usual casting as a suave man-about-town) on the run
from villain James Mason and his cohorts and sexy Eva Marie Saint as the
mystery woman he meets on a train. Who can forget the crop duster chase or the
Mt. Rushmore climax?
To
Kill A Mockingbird. The 1963 film is a fitting tribute to
the Harper Lee Novel and Gregory Peck is superb in the role of Atticus Finch,
the small-town lawyer defending a black man accused of rape. Mary Badham and
Philip Alford, the children portraying Scout and Jem, were equally brilliant.
It's no surprise this film took three Academy Awards.
The
Sand Pebbles. A 1966 classic which earned Steve
McQueen his only Oscar nomination and explores U.S.-China relations in the
1920s. McQueen stars as a sailor with a personal code of ethics who is drawn
into a situation which can only go downhill. Based on a novel by Richard
McKenna, who actually served on a gunboat like the one in the film.
The
Wild Bunch. One of my favorite Westerns, this 1969 Peckinpah
classic about a group of aging outlaws who run to Mexico and come up against a
larger foe than the lawman (Robert Ryan) pursuing them after a foiled bank
robbery. An outstanding cast, including William Holden, Ernie Borgnine,
Strother Martin and Emilio Fernandez as the vicious Mapache. Bloody, but not
inappropriate for the time and situation.
Ragtime.
This 1981 movie is based on the novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow and
features an all-star cast including James Cagney as Police Commissioner Waldo,
the lovely Elizabeth McGovern as Evelyn Nesbit and Howard E. Rollins Jr. as
Coalhouse Walker Jr. I love the novel and wasn't disappointed by the film. It's
a beautiful (and at the same time, disturbing) portrait of New York City at the
beginning of the 20th century.
Once
Upon A Time In America. In my opinion, this 1984 Sergio
Leone offering is the best gangster epic ever--more emotionally satisfying than
the Godfather (see the full version, not the edited studio version). A
Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to his old haunts on the Lower East
Side and confronts ghosts and regrets from the past. A knockout cast including
Robert De Niro, James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern. And the score is knockout
beautiful.
