JHaft

Pronounced a la Humphrey -- "bewr - bahn" I'll drink to that.

THANKS, Rusty. I'm also a Sterling Hayden fan, so your recommendation is much appreciated. - Jeremy

Re: Double Indemnity, very much agree. All the more impressive as Billy Wilder was not a native speaker of English. He had the brilliance of a Joseph Conrad...

Save 50 for me...I'm going for the Vic Tayback look...

"Casablanca, however, became a cinematic masterpiece, a treasured American film and an Academy Award winner. " I dunno...I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I think it's one of the most over-rated movies ever -- the screenplay is pure schlock, and most of the cast puts in performances that are not their best, by any means. (i.e., Bergman is almost unwatchable. "Oh, Reek, Reek...") But I guess it takes the sting out of being occupied.

Francis Ford C. has four on the (extended) list. Good grief. That self-important martinet shouldn't be on the list at all. (His wine isn't that good either....) As far as I'm concerned, Billy Wilder could replace all of Francis's slots...

"Let's take a kayak to Quincy or Nyack..." Also love the collaborations between Ella and Frank...they rebroadcast some of those on PBS a little while back...

These lists are always pretty specious, anyway. Do you know anyone who agrees with the AFI's Top Films, for instance....?

Oh, I'll be attending the family reunion for your MOTHER'S side of the family this year, thanks....

You are 100% right. And what a tantalizing image you paint in that alternative casting of Casablanca. I nearly spilled my grapefruit juice from laughter. Ironic that screenwriters would confuse the finished product with the raw materials....surprised there isn't more billy wilder on there, for instance. boy, could that guy write a screenplay.

YES! Autumn in New York!!! love it

:-) I'm shocked -- shocked! -- to read this post.... (here are your winnings, sir...)

Thank you, stoneyburke

oh, puh-lease. screenwriting for the last two decades has reached an all time low. hence, this list. i'm surprised they didn't put "doc hollywood" on there because of its opening weekend gross.

if this is what the WGA thinks are the ten best of ALL TIME, then i guess the list is emblematic of why screenplays are so lousy today. there are some good ones on here, but also some real clunkers. two godfather movies?? it's a fun franchise, but that's all it is. that's like saying a commercial for crest toothpaste deserves to be in the hall of fame. and casablanca as the best screenplay of all time? give me break. it's got one of the worst opening two minutes ever.... The Third Man (Graham Greene) isn't even on here!!

Yes, WELCOME! Not only are commercials on AMC odious -- it's the WAY they run their ads. They just masticate the movies, cutting anywhere it serves the ad budget, often in the middle of a wonderful moment. It shows a total lack of respect of the form and is a cynical way of treating its viewers. As if viewers don't know better or care. Long Live TCM.

I see your point. But there are so many other incidents that one could point to that make it hard to believe these acts were just "sympathetic hits" by wise guys who were in the Frankie fan club....anyway, Sinatra was truly the greatest. I keep going back to the Capitol Box Set over and over again. The Billy May orchestrations especially....

Thanks for couching your remarks in polite quotation marks...no offense taken. I LOVE Fred Astaire and am not trying to make any disparaging remarks about him. But for sources, you might check out "The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy," by Arnold Ludwig, in which he posits that Astaire, as well as Glenn Gould (no surprise there), Frank Lloyd Wright and others suffered from manic depression. Also, "Dancing Backwards In High Heels : How Women Master the Art of Resilience," in which Dr. O'Gorman claims Astaire suffered from a mild form of manic depression. And antiessays.com, which puts Astaire with Gershwin and Niels Bohr as suffering from manic depression.

There are differing accounts on this.

...now, whether you'd classify putting a borscht belt comic in the hospital as great evil -- or an act of great humanitarianism -- depends on how you look at it.... :-)

Mason was actually dating my mom during his stint at the Fountainbleu, at the time when he made the crack about Mia Farrow. He did not show up to pick her up that night. When she found out what had happened, she visited him in the hospital for weeks. Not rumor.

Interesting perspective on manic depression. Fred Astaire too and many others. Not sure if it's a requirement, as you suggest though. Jimmy Cagney, Cary Grant, many film greats were not bi-polar.....etc etc As for Sinatra's righting wrongs, well there's the issue of macro vs. micro. In macro, he gave a lot to charity. In micro, he committed a lot of brutality on actual people. (or ordered that brutality to be committed...) i.e., Jackie Mason was playing the Fountainbleu (Miami Beach) in the late 60's and made a single innocuous wise crack about Mia Farrow (then Sinatra's wife). Sinatra's thugs put Mason in the hospital -- he was severely beaten and fought for his life for weeks. Don't get me wrong. I think Sinatra's virtuosity is unparalleled as a singer, but as a human being...? Giving to charities doesn't necessarily erase all the acts of violence....it just illustrates that Sinatra was a multi-facted guy -- capable of great evil and great good.

well, if you consider trading a nice, funny, successful agent for a jealous, manic-depressive bully, sure...! ;-)

???!!!

ouch i guess that clunker was appropriate -- given our sudden turn into Zeppo-land!! :-)