Posts from A Girl Named Jen in thread „What Are Your Favorite Non-wayne-movies?“

    Hey girls, notice how guys are so prescriptive and think that everything has to be just one way when in most cases there are lots of different ways to do the same thing? ;)


    But hey, I didn't do so bad. I had twelve plus some honorable mentions.


    No Titanic on my list. I admit I got wrapped up in the visual grandeur of it the first time I watched it, but it doesn't hold up on subsequent viewings. Too soggy.

    Hey Sue! Glad to hear you like musicals as well. I saw Summer Stock on your list and couldn't help grinning. Couldn't be because Gene Kelly as Joe Ross is just so fine now could it? (Just for the record, my affection for Gene equals my affection for Duke.) That dance he does when he tears the newspaper up with his feet is hands down my favorite dance number ever. And I've seen lots of 'em.


    I enjoy lots of the same movies on your list, like The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story and Sense and Sensibility - actually nearly all of the Jane Austen adaptations.


    Yes, Donald O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh" number is amazing. I think the funniest bit is where he's flirting with the dummy on the couch, and then the dummy starts flirting back.


    Re Gigot, I've seen that one too and I found it very sweet and enjoyable. But it was actually directed by Gene Kelly and not Jackie Gleason. I'm pretty sure The Great One wrote the screenplay and composed the music for it, though. The film was heavily edited by the studio and Gene was terribly & bitterly disappointed with what they did to it. You're right - Jackie Gleason was a very very good actor and this film proves it. Regarding "The Honeymooners," I always loved Ralph Kramden and I always longed for him to just catch one break. Every time something good did happen to him, he found a way to squander it. *sigh*

    I can't believe I forgot to mention a couple. I know this is more than ten but I really like movies. :)


    THE THIRD MAN - directed by Sir Carol Reed. Hard to believe this is the same guy who made OLIVER! Anyway, it's dark and moody and ultra-super-cool; the style is a cross between Hitchcock and Orson Welles himself. (This movie owes a lot to CITIZEN KANE and Orson Welles said that he learned how to make movies from watching Stagecoach over and over again, so it also owes a lot to John Ford.) Anyway, Joseph Cotten is superb and so's the zither music.


    RADIO DAYS - Woody Allen's homage to his 1940s childhood - it's really nothing more than a collection of episodes revolving around a Jewish family and the songs and shows they hear on the radio. Some wonderfully good music and a sweet & innocent piece of nostalgia.

    Not sure if these are my absolute favorites, but these are the ones that come to mind offhand (in no particular order). Please keep in mind that I am a GIRL named Jen and as such I like some things that most fellas (including my husband) do NOT like, most specifically movies with cute smiling men who break into song and start tap dancing.


    SINGIN' IN THE RAIN - Yes, it is the best musical ever made. Fills one's heart with joy from start to finish.


    CASABLANCA - Bittersweet perfection. There's nothing new I can say so I won't. Gives me goosebumps.


    IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT - A hilarious Capra film that never gets old despite the fact that it's been around for almost 70 years. It's absolutely jam-packed with sweet & memorable moments. Clark Gable's dimples alone are worth the price of admission (purrrrr). Ward Bond is in this.


    IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - Pure Capra-corn - so sweet and so wonderful. We all know that Ward Bond is in this one as well.


    NOTORIOUS - My vote for best Hitchcock. Bergman & Grant are amazing together and the story really does put you on the edge of your seat. Claude Rains is one of my favorites; he is such a good actor he is able to make us feel sorry for him by the end of the film despite how terrible he is.


    THE MALTESE FALCON - Classic Bogart, who maybe had as much charisma as John Wayne. Love to watch him act just with his eyes. Love Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook, Jr. in this as well. And isn't Ward Bond in this one, too?


    SONS OF THE DESERT - Laurel & Hardy's best feature-length film; it has the energy of all their best shorts combined with a funny and outrageous yet still plausible plotline. Too many classic moments to mention ("two peas in a pod-DUH"). I do enjoy WAY OUT WEST as well, though - especially the musical numbers.


    TOP HAT - This is probably the best Astaire-Rogers musical with the score crammed full of Irving Berlin standards. It's like candy.


    ON THE TOWN - Another Gene Kelly musical - fun, infectious, & brash.


    SWING TIME - Another Astaire-Rogers musical that I adore. Jerome Kern score.


    Some honorable mentions: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, HOLIDAY (Hepburn & Grant), NOW VOYAGER, GONE WITH THE WIND, SHALL WE DANCE (Astaire-Rogers film with a Gershwin [*sigh*] score), anything with Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire.


    I also simply adore Harold Lloyd, but would have a hard time picking a favorite film (either SAFETY LAST or THE KID BROTHER, maybe).


    I guess that's good for now. I hope you guys will still respect me in the morning. ;)