Top Ten Films of...

[LawrenceA]

I need to see DEEP VALLEY. Looking at everyone's lists, there seems to be a lot of Ida Lupino films I haven't seen. She's someone I've always liked, but never went out of my way to see her movies. I guess I'll look out for her more, now.

[speedracer5]

1940s Top Ten

 

TEN FAVORITE FILMS

 

1. Casablanca

2. Gentleman Jim

3. The Palm Beach Story

4. Double Indemnity

5. Laura

6. On the Town

7. Gilda

8. Talk of the Town

9. Lady From Shanghai

10. Meet Me in St. Louis

 

TEN FAVORITE ACTORS

 

1. Errol Flynn

2. Humphrey Bogart

3. Cary Grant

4. Gene Kelly

5. Orson Welles

6. Claude Rains

7. Fred MacMurray

8. Joel McCrea

9. Dana Andrews

10. William Powell

 

TEN FAVORITE ACTRESSES

 

1. Rita Hayworth

2. Judy Garland

3. Claudette Colbert

4. Barbara Stanwyck

5. Ingrid Bergman

6. Gene Tierney

7. Jean Arthur

8. Vera-Ellen

9. Ann Miller

10. Myrna Loy

 

TEN FAVORITE DIRECTORS

 

1. Michael Curtiz

2. Vincente Minnelli

3. Gene Kelly

4. Otto Preminger

5. Raoul Walsh

6. Preston Sturges

7. Alfred Hitchcock

8. Billy Wilder

9. John Huston

10. Orson Welles

 

Favorite Genres: Noir, Comedy and Musicals.

[LawrenceA]

speedracer, GENTLEMAN JIM so high? Is this because of those tight pants you mentioned in another post? I haven't seen it yet. I added Flynn to my list of actors to watch this past year, but I'm only 16/55 so far.

[speedracer5]

speedracer, GENTLEMAN JIM so high? Is this because of those tight pants you mentioned in another post? I haven't seen it yet. I added Flynn to my list of actors to watch this past year, but I'm only 16/55 so far.

I love Gentleman Jim and not just because of Flynn's pants. It's a fun movie and one of Flynn's best roles. I also love sports movies and the boxing scenes are some of the best. Flynn did his own boxing too. The film has great co-stars too: Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, Ward Bond and William Frawley.

[NickAndNora34]

1940's Top Ten Films (in no particular order):

 

1. Laura (1944)

2. The Philadelphia Story (1940)

3. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

4. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

5. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

6. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

7. Johnny Belinda (1948)

8. His Girl Friday (1940)

9. I Love You Again (1940)

10. A Woman's Face (1941)

 

Ten Fave Actors:

1. James Stewart

2. Melvyn Douglas

3. Bob Hope

4. Humphrey Bogart

5. Cary Grant

6. Dana Andrews

7. Gene Kelly

8. Bing Crosby

9. Gregory Peck

10. William Powell

 

Ten Fave Actresses:

1. Myrna Loy

2. Joan Crawford

3. Betty Hutton

4. Bette Davis

5. Katharine Hepburn

6. Ginger Rogers

7. Ann Blyth

8. Olivia de Havilland

9. Rosalind Russell

10. Paulette Goddard

[Bogie56]

My Top Ten for 1940 - 1949 are:

 

1.  Citizen Kane (1941)

2.  Casablanca (1942)

3.  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

4.  Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

5.  The Third Man (1949)

6.  The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

7.  The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

8.  The Maltese Falcon (1941)

9.  How Green Was My Valley (1941)

10.  A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945)

[TopBilled]

It's nice to see people like Vera-Ellen and Paulette Goddard on some of these lists. Those ladies tend to be overlooked, because they were not powerhouse actresses, per se.

[TopBilled]

My list:

1. CROSSFIRE* (social message noir)
2. BLACK NARCISSUS* (literary adaptation)
3. CITIZEN KANE* (drama)
4. REBECCA* (literary adaptation)
5. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY* (romantic comedy)
6. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES* (post-war drama)
7. THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER* (romantic comedy)
8. THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS* (spiritual melodrama)
9. COME TO THE STABLE* (spiritual comedy drama)
10. THE HASTY HEART* (British comedy drama) 
 

Notable Directors: Alfred Hitchcock; Orson Welles; Preston Sturges; George Cukor; David Lean; and Roberto Rossellini.

 

Most Creative Studios: RKO; Eagle-Lion; MGM; Warner Brothers; Republic; Universal; and Paramount.

 

Best Genres/Subgenres: war films/feminist war films; morale boosters; literary adaptations; post-war noir; and social message dramas.

 

*On my Top-20 classics of all time.

[Swithin]

Once again, I second Bogie's sentiment. I love foreign films from all nations. French, Japanese sure, but I've also already listed two Russian films on my lists, and I have more upcoming, as well as Danish, Swedish, German, Italian, Czech, Polish, Chinese, Brazilian, Spanish. I don't mind subtitles!

 

I don't understand how the discussion about foreign films came about -- we've been listing them regularly, although the earlier ones were fewer and less familiar, and the war years had an impact. We are approaching a time when they will be more prominent in our lists. 

[TopBilled]

I don't understand how the discussion about foreign films came about -- we've been listing them regularly, although the earlier ones were fewer and less familiar, and the war years had an impact. We are approaching a time when they will be more prominent in our lists. 

I think it started because someone had been asked why they were leaving foreign titles off their list. There was also mention about the conflicting information regarding the release dates of some foreign titles. 

[Swithin]

I think it started because someone had been asked why they were leaving foreign titles off their list. There was also mention about the conflicting information regarding the release dates of some foreign titles. 

 

I don't think there's any need to fuss about release dates. I tend to use IMDB dates. There will always be discrepancies. For example, I will include Rashomon on my 1950 list, although some may include it on 1951 lists. I don't think it matters much, as long as it's vaguely accurate.

[LawrenceA]

I don't understand how the discussion about foreign films came about -- we've been listing them regularly, although the earlier ones were fewer and less familiar, and the war years had an impact. We are approaching a time when they will be more prominent in our lists.

 

Both kingrat and SansFin said they were intentionally leaving foreign language films off of their lists. Bogie and I both told SansFin we would like to see her choices, since she has extensive knowledge of them. She said she wasn't because in the past on these boards, she has discussed foreign language films and received little-to-no feedback. Bogie, film lover and I all assured her such would not be the case on this thread.

[Swithin]

Both kingrat and SansFin said they were intentionally leaving foreign language films off of their lists. Bogie and I both told SansFin we would like to see her choices, since she has extensive knowledge of them. She said she wasn't because in the past on these boards, she has discussed foreign language films and received little-to-no feedback. Bogie, film lover and I all assured her such would not be the case on this thread.

 

Well, I've just been going by your very flexible OP. If people want to leave or not leave things off their posts, that's up to them. I liked your OP very much, and particularly this phrase which you used:

 

"...seeing other people's idiosyncratic choices can be amusing."

 

I actually agree with that statement wholeheartedly and take it one step further to express the opposite:

 

seeing lists that are very similar can be unamusing! (Though some overlap will of course be unavoidable.)

[speedracer5]

Well, I've just been going by your very flexible OP. If people want to leave or not leave things off their posts, that's up to them. I liked your OP very much, and particularly this phrase which you used:

 

"...seeing other people's idiosyncratic choices can be amusing."

 

I actually agree with that statement wholeheartedly and take it one step further to express the opposite:

 

seeing lists that are very similar can be unamusing! (Though some overlap will of course be unavoidable.)

That's how I've been compiling my lists.  I'm not good at remembering the years that films were released, so I usually google "1949 films (for example)" and see a list of films that were released.  Then I jot down the ones I've seen that I liked and then compile my top 10 accordingly.  I'm not very familiar with foreign films, which is why I don't have any included on my list.  People may notice major releases missing off my lists, it might be because I saw the film and hated it, but more than likely, it's because I haven't seen it.  I won't list a film I haven't seen. 

 

I like seeing people's lists.  A film I wouldn't have even given a second thought, might be #1 on someone else's list.  They give me ideas on films to look out for on TCM's schedules, on Netflix and at the library.  Like the OP said, seeing people's idiosyncrasies can be fun.  I love musicals, so I always have some listed.  Unless of course, there weren't any musicals I liked that came out that year. 

[film lover 293]

1940's Top Ten Films, in no particular order:

 

The Magnificent Ambersons

On The Town

The Leopard Man

The Pirate

Casablanca

The Maltese Falcon

Notorious

Rebecca

Lifeboat

Double Indemnity

 

Funniest Film(s) of the 40's; Intentional:

 

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek--Betty Hutton & director Preston Sturges at his best; #11 on my list.

 

The Lady Eve--Barbara Stanwyck is brilliant in the Sturges comedy.

 

Funniest Films of the 40's; UNintentional:

 

"The Gang's All Here" (1943)--I nearly laughed myself into an asthma attack; "The Lady in The Tutti-Frutti Hat" has to be seen to be believed; same case with the finale.  Cannot recommend this highly enough!

 

"Bride of Vengeance" (1949)--Before seeing, Wikipedia "Lucrezia Borgia"; once there, go directly to "rumours".  BOV treats ALL rumors as fact: Cannon making is an important part of the plot.  Film plays like "I Love Lucy" in 16th century fancy dress. Is a wonderful restoration of BOV on The Paramount Vault, on YT.

[LawrenceA]

Anybody can list anything they want. If you want to list one film, great. If you want to list 68, like FrankGrimes, that's fine too. All foreign, no foreign, only Hollywood, only MGM, only films about snakes, etc,it doesn't matter. Do what you want.

 

I was just asking kingrat why he excluded foreign out of curiosity, not because I thought he should change what he's doing. And the only reason we asked SansFin further about foreign films was 1) She knows more about them than we do simply by the fact that she was born in Europe(not sure where), & 2) because she mentioned that others ignored her in the past, thus our assurances that would not happen here.

 

 

I don't want these lists to be homogeneous either. I started this thread to generate films for my "to-see" list. People like speedracer and TopBilled inform me on musicals I might not know. Swithin and Bogie know more about British films than I do. I've heard about noir I didn't know from many of you. I don't know that I'm illuminating any lost masterpieces for anyone, but I put my lists up just the same, because maybe you'll find something you don't know or should rewatch. If my lists are too cookie-cutter, I apologize, but they're the ones I liked the most. That's another reason I started adding the "Larry's Choice", so even if you've seen all my traditional favorites, maybe you'll enjoy my camp-trash picks.

[LawrenceA]

And I probably wouldn't have ever heard of BRIDE OF VENGEANCE if it wasn't for film lover, so that almost justifies the whole endeavor right there.

 

[speedracer5]

Anybody can list anything they want. If you want to list one film, great. If you want to list 68, like FrankGrimes, that's fine too. All foreign, no foreign, only Hollywood, only MGM, only films about snakes, etc,it doesn't matter. Do what you want.

 

I was just asking kingrat why he excluded foreign out of curiosity, not because I thought he should change what he's doing. And the only reason we asked SansFin further about foreign films was 1) She knows more about them than we do simply by the fact that she was born in Europe(not sure where), & 2) because she mentioned that others ignored her in the past, thus our assurances that would not happen here.

 

 

I don't want these lists to be homogeneous either. I started this thread to generate films for my "to-see" list. People like speedracer and TopBilled inform me on musicals I might not know. Swithin and Bogie know more about British films than I do. I've heard about noir I didn't know from many of you. I don't know that I'm illuminating any lost masterpieces for anyone, but I put my lists up just the same, because maybe you'll find something you don't know or should rewatch. If my lists are too cookie-cutter, I apologize, but they're the ones I liked the most. That's another reason I started adding the "Larry's Choice", so even if you've seen all my traditional favorites, maybe you'll enjoy my camp-trash picks.

Let's all just agree to compile our lists with the films we want.  We all promise that we will not ridicule anyone's lists and we will treat everyone with respect.  

 

I'm ready for 1950. 

[TopBilled]

And I probably wouldn't have ever heard of BRIDE OF VENGEANCE if it wasn't for film lover, so that almost justifies the whole endeavor right there.

 

As someone mentioned, the film is on the Paramount Vault page at YouTube. It's also available on Amazon Prime. So the title is quite accessible, unlike some of the Paramount stuff from the 40s.

 

It was made at the tail end of Paulette Goddard's contract at Paramount. It is sort of obvious that director Mitchell Leisen wanted to show off the leading men in tights. There is an unbelievable shot of Macdonald Carey, where Leisen has the camera man tilt up from the floor to Carey's face, supposedly from Goddard's point of view. When we get to the crotch region, the camera lingers for a moment and slowly very slowly continues upward. I still can't believe that got by the production code office. It reminds me of some of the provocative shots we'd see in racier pre-code films. 

[Swithin]

 maybe you'll enjoy my camp-trash picks.

 

I want more camp trash! (Maybe when we get to 1996, Butch Camp will be on someone's list!)

[SansFin]

I'm ready for 1950. 

 

 

That is very much how I feel. It is sad to say that calendar now shows it to be 2016. I believe that being sixty-six years behind is new record for me.

 

One important aspect of my excluding foreign movies from my lists is lack of available information. I remember in particular one movie which affected me deeply. The title was simply: The Girls. It was made during WWII. Many might call it propaganda as it was very much: "our heroic people facing Nazi menace with courage and wits." I searched several times for any more information on this movie and could find no references at all. 

 

A different but significant aspect also is how terribly lazy I am. We have database of movies shown on TCM since approx. 2002. Database was compiled for use in TCM Programming Challenges. I can sort so as to have all movies in any particular year displayed. I copy that list to word processor and then prune severely until list is so short that I must make decisions and weigh considerations on each as to whether to delete or allow it on final list.

 

I might add as addendum to list movies which I believe are of particular significance and have full descriptions on: IMDB.com and  which I know are available for free viewing with subtitles in English on: YouTube. Those will generally be movies made in 1960s.

[SansFin]

I want more camp trash! (Maybe when we get to 1996, Butch Camp will be on someone's list!)

 

 

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) would surely top my list of: post-2000 camp trash.

[Bogie56]

You can all hurl eggs at me.  I've kept a film diary of all films seen since 1968 and it is now on filemaker.

[speedracer5]

You can all hurl eggs at me.  I've kept a film diary of all films seen since 1968 and it is now on filemaker.

I'll just say that that is very impressive.

 

Do you include reviews of the movies in your diary? Or some type of rating system? 

[LawrenceA]

You can all hurl eggs at me.  I've kept a film diary of all films seen since 1968 and it is now on filemaker.

Lol...I have 7 handwritten notebooks for the film's I've seen, divided into Earliest-1940's, 50's & 60's, then 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's each get their own. I also rate each film on imdb, so I can also get an exact number of films seen, even broken down by genre. I also have spiral notebooks with printed lists of actor's filmographies so I can mark them off when seen. I am kind of OCD about it, but mainly it's to help my memory. When you've seen over 12,000 movies, it gets hard to keep them all straight. I used to keep this stuff on my desktop pc, but when it died I lost everything, and I just use a tablet now for computer needs and old fashioned pen and paper for record keeping.