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FILM POLICE! PRESENTS:
THE FIFTY BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS
1. "HOOP DREAMS" Steve James, Peter Gilbert, Frederick Marx 1994
2. "SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT" Spike Lee 1986
3. "SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE" Steven Soderbergh 1989
4. "DON’T LOOK BACK" D.A. Pennebaker 1967
5. "STRANGER THAN PARADISE" Jim Jarmusch 1984
6. "RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN" John Sayles 1980
7. "HARLAN COUNTY, USA" Barbara Kopple 1976
8. "THE THIN BLUE LINE" Errol Morris 1986
9. "ERASERHEAD" David Lynch 1977
10. "THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN" Rainer Fassbinder
11. "EATING RAOUL"
12. "SLACKER" Richard Linklatter 1991
13. "REVERVOIR DOGS" Quentin Tarantino 1992
14. "TRAINSPOTTING" Danny Boyle 1996
15. "DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST" Julie Dash 1992
16. "GIMME SHELTER" David & Albert Mayles 1970
17. "DAVID HOLTZMAN’S DIARY" Jim McBride 1967
18. "BADLANDS" Terrence Malick 1973
19. "MESHES IN THE AFTERNOON" Maya Deren 1943
20. "BLOOD SIMPLE" Joel Coen 1984
21. "BORN IN FLAMES" Lizzie Borden 1983
22. "TITICUT FOLLIES" Frederick Wiseman 1967
23. "A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE" John Cassavetes 1974
24. "SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSS SONG" Melvin Van Peebles 1971
36. "AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD" Werner Herzog 1972
37. "NOTHING BUT A MAN" Michael Roemer 1964
38. "KILLER OF SHEEP" Charles Burnett 1977
39. "MY LEFT FOOT" Jim Sheridan 1989
40. "TRUST" Hal Hartley 1990
41. "GIRLFRIENDS" Claudia Weill 1978
42. "MEDIUM COOL" Haskell Wexler 1969
43. "DRUGSTORE COWBOY" Gus Van Sant 1989
44. "NORTHERN LIGHTS" John Hanson/Rob Nilsson 1979
45. "IF" Lindsay Anderson 1969
46. "GREGORY’S GIRL" Bill Forsyth 1982
47. "SWINGERS" 1996
48. "HIGH HOPES" Mike Leigh 1989
49. "MEAN STREETS" Martin Scorsese 1973
50. "SHERMAN’S MARCH" Ross McElwee 1985
The American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Comedies:
1. Some Like It Hot (1959) - Ashton/Mirisch Director: Billy Wilder Stars: Jack Lemmon; Tony Curtis; Marilyn Monroe,
Joe E. Brown, George Raft
Wilder's comic take on the 1928 St. Valentine's Day Massacre finds Lemmon and Curtis as
musicians who witness a gangland killing in Chicago and need to get out of town fast. Disguised as women, they join an all-girl
band headed for Miami, where Curtis doffs his wig and chases Monroe while millionaire Brown falls for Lemmon's alter ego,
Daphne. When confronted with the truth about Lemmon's gender, Brown utters the film's memorable last line - "Well, nobody's
perfect."
2. Tootsie (1982) - Columbia Director: Sydney Pollack Stars: Dustin Hoffman; Jessica Lange; Bill Murray (uncredited),
Dabney Coleman; Charles Durning; Teri Garr
Hilarious comedy about a temperamental out of work actor Michael Dorsey
(Hoffman) who puts on a dress, lands the role of a lifetime in a TV soap opera, and becomes a national phenomenon as straight-shooting
female soap opera star Dorothy Michaels. Love interest/friend Lange and her lonely father make situations even more complicated
in this gender-bending love story. Lange won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
3. Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb - Columbia Director: Stanley Kubrick Stars:
Peter Sellers; George C. Scott; Sterling Hayden; Slim Pickens
Kubrick's black comedy of US nuclear bomb launch on Russia, focuses on an American president, played by Sellers in one
of his three roles, who must contend with a Soviet nuclear attack on the United States and his own maniacal staff, including
Scott's memorable General Turgidson. Features a memorable triad of performances by Sellers (as US president, British officer,
and deranged scientist) and Pickens's wild ride on a missile. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
4. Annie Hall- United Artists Director: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen; Diane Keaton; Tony Roberts
Sophisticated
autobiographical comedy of the untenable love affair of two New Yorkers (Allen and Keaton), notable for its witty dialogue
and sumptuous rendering of New York City. Allen's Alvy Singer, a Jewish comedian, is trying to find love in the Big Apple,
despite his neurosis, and falls in love with Keaton's aspiring singer, WASPy Annie Hall. He narrates the story of his love
affair as she "lah-dee-dah"s her way through life, while he obsesses on sex, New York, religion, intellectualism, fads and
fate. This comedy also launched a women's fashion trend based on Annie Hall's "look." Won Academy Awards for Best Picture
and Actress (Keaton, in title role), among others.
5. Duck Soup- Paramount Director: Leo McCarey Stars: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo Marx; Margaret Dumont; Louis Calhern
Quintessential,
anarchic Marx Brothers comedy about the Prime Minister of Freedonia Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), and his war on another fictional
country, Sylvania, with the help of Chico's peanut salesman and his sidekick, Harpo. Released at the height of the Depression,
this Marx Brothers comedy is a satirical attack on politics and the absurdity of war. At the height of battle, Groucho says
to his brothers of Dumont, "Remember, we're fighting for this woman's honor, which is probably more than she ever did." In
one memorable scene, Groucho, dictator of the mythical country of Freedonia, mistakes Harpo for his mirror image. Other timeless
gags involve a street vendor and a sidecar. Zeppo's last film.
Brooks' wildly irreverent, foul-mouthed spoof takes aim at the Western, in which no social convention
escapes ridicule, beginning with a heroic, impeccably dressed sheriff hired to keep the peace who happens to be a black convict
(Little), and a bad guy/villain named Hedley Lamarr (Korman) who has other ideas. They inhabit a town where Howard Johnson's
has only one flavor; the digestive effect of beans plays a major role in an unforgettable gas-passing scene; and movie conventions
are smashed so violently that ultimately the cast tumbles onto the Warner Bros. lot, where Korman flags down a taxi yelling,
"Get me off this picture."
7. M*A*S*H (1970) - Aspen/20th Century Fox Director: Robert Altman Stars: Donald Sutherland; Elliott Gould; Sally
Kellerman; Robert Duvall
Bawdy black comedy about the members of a free-wheeling, Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH)
during the Korean War. Sutherland's Hawkeye, Gould's Trapper John and Kellerman's Hotlips push the boundaries of irreverence
and inject humor into the daily horrors they encounter behind the lines. The film's episodic narrative concludes with a football
game that pits the surgeons, who have much in their bag of tricks, against the general's team. Established Altman as major
iconoclastic director and helped usher in a decade of US film experimentation. It also inspired a long-running television
series.
8. It Happened One Night (1934) Columbia Director: Frank Capra Stars: Clark Gable; Claudette Colbert; Walter Conn
Definitive
screwball comedy - a landmark battle of the sexes love story between a runaway heiress bride (Colbert) who shows her legs
to hitch a ride on their trip from Florida to New York, and learns about life and live, and an unemployed, unscrupulous newspaperman/reporter
(Gable) who separates their beds at night with a blanket known as the "walls of Jericho." Love blossoms along the way, despite
the "Wall of Jericho" that divides them. The film was an unqualified success and still provides inspiration for many comedies.
It was the first film to sweep the four top Academy Awards - winning Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director
- and established Capra as the preeminent director of the 1930s. Gable's bare-chested presence onscreen caused a decline in
US undershirt sales.
9. The Graduate - Embassy Director: Mike Nichols Stars: Dustin Hoffman; Anne Bancroft; Katharine Ross
Black
comedy of aimless, recent college graduate Benjamin (Hoffman) that defined a generation and established Hoffman as a star.
Hoffman spends his summer trying to find out what to do next in this biting comedy. Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson has some ideas,
and they're not about plastics. Hoffman's reactions to her advances and his attempts to be suave are among the film's funniest
moments, and her seduction of Benjamin is withering and hilarious. The evocative Simon and Garfunkel score, that includes
"Mrs. Robinson," is as much a character in the movie as Bancroft's amorous Mrs. Robinson or Ross' lovely Elaine. Nichols won
an Academy Award for Best Director.
10. Airplane! (1980) - Paramount Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker Stars: Robert Hays; Leslie Nielsen;
Julie Hagerty
Ensemble dramas and disaster films are played for laughs. Jokes fly in this zany spoof of Airport (1970)
and Grand Hotel (1932)
, starring passenger Hays who is recruited to fly a doomed plane. From the
visual - a Mayo Clinic doctor has jars of mayonnaise nearby - to the verbal - "...and don't call me Shirley" - no gag is too
quick, too small or too silly. It was followed by Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
11. The Producers (1968) - Embassy Director: Mel Brooks Stars: Zero Mostel; Gene Wilder; Dick Shawn
Two shysters,
Mostel's Max Bialystock, a has-been Broadway producer, schemes with accountant Wilder to fleece investors of their money with
an enormous flop musical. They solicit bad material until stumbling upon a musical about Nazi Germany and Hitler written by
fanatical playwright Mars, who informs, "Not many people knew it, but the Fuhrer was a terrific dancer." Their plan to produce
an enormous flop catches them short when the play becomes a hit. When the curtain goes up on their showstopper, Springtime
for Hitler, the debacle becomes a sudden comedy hit, sending the producers to prison.
12. A Night at the Opera (1935) MGM Director: Sam Wood Stars: Groucho, Chico, Harpo Marx; Margaret Dumont; Kitty
Carlisle
The Marx Brothers (minus Zeppo) bring chaos to the opera house, with contractual agreements. They steam toward
New York - on a voyage that includes the famous stateroom scene - to help Dumont stage a performance of Il Trovatore. Groucho
arrives at the opera in tuxedo and tails, berating his driver: "Hey you! I told you to slow down. Because of you I almost
heard the opera!" This was the Marx Brothers' first movie for MGM.
13. Young Frankenstein (1974) 20th Century Fox Director: Mel Brooks Stars: Gene Wilder; Teri Garr; Marty Feldman;
Cloris Leachman; Madeline Kahn; Peter Boyle
"Pardon me, boy. Is this the Transylvania station?" This satirical homage
to 1930s horror films and spoof of Frankenstein films stars Wilder as Victor Frankenstein, the heir to the original mad scientist
Dr. Frankenstein's research materials. He travels to Europe to continue the experiments and create a new life. Boyle is the
resultant Monster who learns to tap to Puttin' on the Ritz, and Leachman as Frau Blucher is something of a horror herself
as the eerie castle-keep. "Some varm milk, perhaps?" Seemingly relentless gags include Feldman's shifting hunchback and the
horse neighing whenever Frau Blucher is mentioned.
14. Bringing Up Baby (1938) RKO Director: Howard Hawks Stars: Katharine Hepburn; Cary Grant; Charlie Ruggles
Archetypal,
fast-paced screwball comedy about madcap heiress (Hepburn), with the help of her pet leopard Baby and a wire-haired terrier
named George, who wreaks havoc and derails the staid life of a paleontologist (Grant). Funny and fast, it features song standard,
"I Can't Give You Anything But Love," sung to the leopard perched on a roof.
15. The Philadelphia Story (1940) MGM Director: George Cukor Stars: Katharine Hepburn; Cary Grant; James Stewart:
Ruth Hussey
Divine adaptation of the Philip Barry marriage comedy features three of the screen's biggest stars at their
wittiest and most beautiful. Hepburn reprises her stage role as a haughty heiress (who is "lit from within") who is about
to wed a pompous self-made man. Reporter Stewart is covering the society event and helps her down from her pedestal - especially
during a tipsy wedding-eve encounter - and into the arms of ex-husband Grant. Memorable drunk scenes between Stewart and Hepburn,
and Stewart and Grant. Stewart won an Academy Award for Best Actor, among others.
16. Singin’ In The Rain (1952) MGM Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen Stars: Gene Kelly; Debbie Reynolds;
Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen
Kelly makes a splash as Don Lockwood, a Hollywood leading man who reflects on the production
of The Dueling Cavalier - a film that becomes The Dancing Cavalier when the studio takes advantage of a new invention called
sound. Reynolds and O'Connor are his energetic, supportive sidekicks, helping to devise a clever way to cover the grating
voice of his co-star Lina Lamont, played by Hagen. Furious when she learns of their plan, Lina asserts herself by screaming,
"Why, I make more money than, than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!" Delightful musical send-up of the transition-conversion
from silent to sound films, with many memorable and delightful song and dance musical numbers, including "Make 'Em Laugh,"
"Broadway Rhythm," and the incomparable title song. This musical set in Hollywood has Kelly singing, dancing and splashing
in puddles.
17. The Odd Couple (1968) - Paramount Director: Gene Saks, Robert B. Hauser Stars: Jack Lemmon; Walter Matthau; Herb
Edelman
In this adaptation of the Neil Simon play, two diametrically-opposed divorced men share an apartment and drive
each other batty. Recently divorced Lemmon has nowhere to live after being kicked out of his New York home. He reluctantly
moves in with sports writer Matthau for what is supposed to be a brief period. The "couple" are immediately at odds, with
fastidious Lemmon appalled at Matthau's crass and messy ways. The roles provided an ideal fit for the two comedic leads. A
long-running television series followed.
18. The General (1927) United Artists Director: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman Stars: Buster Keaton; Marion
Mack; Jim Farley
Beautifully-constructed Civil War comedy based on real-life drama of a Union spy's capture of a train
in Confederate turf. The two loves of Johnnie Gray's life - his girl and his train, The General - are kidnapped by Northern
spies during the American Civil War, leading him behind enemy lines to save them both. Remade as The Great Locomotive Chase
(1956).
19. His Girl Friday (1940) Columbia Director: Howard Hawks Stars: Cary Grant; Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy;
Abner Biberman
Hawks' fast-paced remake of The Front Page (1931; remade 1974) is a battle between the sexes with fast
and furious overlapping dialogue. Unscrupulous newspaper editor Walter Burns (Grant) tries to get ace reporter and divorced
ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Russell) to dump dull fiancee Bruce Baldwin (Bellamy). When Grant asks Russell what she sees in Bellamy,
she replies, "He treats me like a woman." Grant fires back: "What did I treat you like? A water buffalo?" They reunite one
last time to save a wrongly-accused man - and, if Grant can manage it, keep Russell from marrying Bellamy. This is one of
the fastest-talking comedies in history. Another remake called Switching Channels appeared in 1988.
20. The Apartment (1960) United Artists Director: Billy Wilder Stars: Jack Lemmon; Shirley MacLaine; Fred MacMurray
In
this sparkling office comedy, a career-climbing insurance clerk (Lemmon) advances his career when he offers his boss (MacMurray)
the use of his apartment as an evening love nest for an extra-marital fling. He soon gets tangled up with the boss's flighty
and fragile girlfriend (MacLaine), the insurance building's elevator operator, and his career gets dangerously close to plummeting
back down to the lobby. Winner of Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay.
21. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) - MGM/UA Director: Charles Crichton Stars: John Cleese; Jamie Lee Curtis; Kevin Kline;
Michael Palin
In this off-the-wall farce with hints of Monty Python and other varieties of offbeat British humor, a
low-rent gaggle of oddball thieves gets involved in a jewel robbery scheme, including a barrister (Cleese), a femme fatale
(Curtis), and her shady partner (Kline). The caper plot requires "Italian-loving" Curtis to seduce British barrister Cleese,
while keeping oafish lothario Kline at bay. Animal-lover Palin has some soul-searching moments as he tries again and again
to murder a matronly eyewitness, offing her cherished poodles in the process. Kline won an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor for his flamboyant performance.
Tracy
and Hepburn are happily-married lawyers who take opposing sides to prosecute (or defend) Holliday in a murder case. Defense
attorney Hepburn squares off against prosecutor Tracy, using women's rights and the double standard to free client Holliday,
who is accused of the attempted murder of her husband. But the fireworks don't stop in the courtroom - their professional
battles begin to take a toll on their personal lives. Husband-and-wife Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon wrote the snappy and witty
screenplay, that plays off Tracy-Hepburn chemistry to detail differences between the sexes. "Let's all be manly!"
23. When Harry Met Sally… (1989) Columbia Director: Rob Reiner Stars: Billy Crystal; Meg Ryan; Carrie Fisher
Two
friends Harry (Crystal) meets Sally (Ryan) in Chicago, and the film follows their relationship for thirteen years while exploring
the question, "Can two friends sleep together and still love each other in the morning?" They vow they will never fall into
the trap of love, but finally do, accompanied by a lot of distress. Ryan's dramatization of a fake orgasm in a crowded deli
is one of the film's most memorable scenes, as is the much-quoted comment by the patron (Reiner's mother).
24. Born Yesterday (1950) Director: Columbia Stars: Judy Holliday; Broderick Crawford; William Holden
Holliday
reprises her Broadway role as junk dealer's mistress Billie Dawn, who gains culture and courage with the help of a newspaperman
(Holden), Shady thug Crawford tries to ingratiate himself into Washington society, believing that girlfriend Holliday's lack
of social skills is hindering his success. He hires reporter Holden to teach her the ins-and-outs of protocol, unaware that
her brain is ripe for input and that her newfound knowledge will eventually spell his undoing. Includes a famous game of gin
rummy. Holliday's performance earned an Academy Award for Best Actress. A remake appeared in 1993. "Wouldja do me a favor,
Harry? Drop dead."
25. The Gold Rush (1925) United Artists Director: Charlie Chaplin Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Georgia Hale; Mack
Swain; Tom Murray
In one of Chaplin's most famous films, a poignant comedy that defines Chaplin's silent work, a lone
Alaskan prospector (Chaplin), the Little Tramp, battles the elements in search of gold, adventure, love and a girl in the
Yukon. He attempts to stave off hunger by dining on his shoe, much to the consternation of cabin mate Swain, who imagines
that Charlie is a giant chicken. The film's many memorable scenes include the meal he makes of his boiled leather boot, a
famished Swain's vision of Chaplin as a giant chicken, and the dance of the rolls. Chaplin also wrote the score and screenplay
26. Being There (1979) United Artists Director: Hal Ashby Stars: Peter Sellers; Shirley MacLaine; Melvyn Douglas
In
this black comedy, Sellers is Chance the gardener, a slow-witted soul who is brought into cultured society and becomes a powerful
political advisor and sage when his open-faced silences and childish statements are mistaken for insight by an influential
Washington, D.C. family. He has absorbed all he knows from television. "I like to watch." Jerzy Kozinski wrote the screenplay,
an adaptation of his novel.
27. There's Something About Mary (1998) - 20th Century-Fox Directors: Bobby Farrelly; Peter Farrelly Stars: Cameron
Diaz; Ben Stiller; Matt Dillon
Thirteen years after a disastrous prom date, Stiller still carries desire and a torch
for the lovely, good-hearted Diaz. He hires slimy detective Dillon to track her down, but things get more complicated when
Dillon falls for her too. This comedy tests the limits people go to for love. Stiller's bathroom accident is excruciatingly
funny. Gross-out humor has never been more romantic.
28. Ghostbusters (1984) Columbia Director: Ivan Reitman Stars: Bill Murray; Dan Aykroyd; Harold Ramis; Sigourney
Weaver; Ernie Hudson
Three underfunded scientists of the paranormal plus an employee (Hudson) get lots of work when
ghosts hit New York City. Big-budget special effects meet big laughs when Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis - a group of parapsychologists
- set up shop in New York City to rid the Big Apple of its supernatural pests. Weaver is memorable as client, love interest,
and human vehicle for a ghost. Soon they discover, however, that the apocalypse is near, and it's up to them to save humanity
from being "slimed." Beware the Sta-Puf Man! The sequel is Ghostbusters II (1989).
29. This is Spinal Tap (1984) - Embassy Director: Rob Reiner Stars: Michael McKean; Christopher Guest; Harry Shearer
Reiner's
directorial debut is a mock-documentary about the rise and painfully funny fall of a fictional, legendary British heavy metal
group in its twilight years called Spinal Tap. This satire, that has gained cult status and established the reputation of
the first-time director, gets its voltage from free-wheeling improv musical performances and the amp that goes to eleven.
30. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Warner Bros. Director: Frank Capra Stars: Cary Grant; Priscilla Lane; Peter Lorre;
Josephine Hull
Faithful adaptation of the hit Broadway comedy by Joseph Kesselring, about two elderly ladies who poison
their male visits with elderberry wine, that retains its whismy and zaniness. It features many of its original stage cast,
along with Grant as a shocked nephew. It's Halloween night, and Grant's attempts at a honeymoon getaway with bride Lane are
stalled when he discovers more than one skeleton in his closet. It turns out his charming aunts are murderers, his brother's
a serial killer, and his uncle thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt. Grant's explanation: "Insanity runs in my family. It practically
gallops."
31. Raising Arizona (1987) - 20th Century-Fox Director: Joel Coen Stars: Nicolas Cage; Holly Hunter; John Goodman
Cage
plays H.I., a chronic, ex-con thief who marries Hunter, the female cop who repeatedly books him for petty crimes. Their trailer
park world turns upside down when, after they're unable to have children, Hunter insists that Cage kidnap one of the quintuplets
just birthed by the Arizonas, a local couple who - in Hunter's words - "have more than they can handle." Slapstick and chase
scenes follow when the quint is discovered missing. Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the zany screenplay.
32. The Thin Man (1934) MGM Director: W.S. Van Dyke Stars: Myrna Loy; William Powell; Maureen O'Sullivan
The
sophisticated sleuth was perfected in stylish married couple Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy), who search for a killer
with wit and aplomb. Few can recall details of the film's complicated plot about a missing inventor, but the banter between
the couple is unforgettable. Powell is a former detective whose wife helps him solve crimes, and they're often aided by their
wire-haired terrier Asta. This adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel was filmed by master cinematographer James Wong Howe,
and was the first in the series of six Thin Man films from 1934-1947.
33. Modern Times (1936) United Artists Director: Charlie Chaplin Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Paulette Goddard; Henry
Bergman
Poignant comedy-drama about the dehumanization of the machine age. Chaplin ended the silent era with this film,
his last silent film, about a little man working on an assembly line, who is literally caught in the hub and cogs of an industrialized
society, and after several trips to the hospital and jail, ultimately finds happiness with a kindred soul.
34. Groundhog Day (1993) - Columbia Director: Harold Ramis Stars: Bill Murray; Andie MacDowell; Chris Elliot
Whimsical
existentialist comedy about a cynical TV weatherman (Murray) who doesn't want to cover the Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney,
PA. And yet, it looks like he'll have to do it for eternity as he continues to mysteriously relive his previous 24 hours over
and over and over. With each day, though, he gains new talents and broader insight into his surroundings and the meaning of
life, eventually charming co-worker MacDowell into a well-practiced, but romantic evening. The repetition of the Sonny &
Cher song "I Got You Babe" and the "Pennsylvania Polka" are appropriately excruciating.
35. Harvey (1950) - Universal Director: Henry Koster Stars: James Stewart; Josephine Hull; Peggy Dow
This
adaptation of the Mary Chase play tells the rambling story of Elwood P. Dowd (Stewart), a man who boasts that he's "wrestled
with reality for thirty-five years...and finally won out over it." Harvey is his friend, a six-foot, three-inch tall imaginary,
invisible rabbit that embarrasses Dowd's society-climbing sister, Hull, to the point where she tries to have both of them
put away. The pixiled Dowd became one of Stewart's best-known characterizations. Hull reprised her Broadway role as Dowd's
sister and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
36. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) - Universal Director: John Landis Stars: John Belushi; Tim Matheson;
John Vernon
The definitive frat-house comedy is marked by sight gags and on-screen high jinks led by Belushi as party
animal Bluto Blutarsky. The Delta House is struggling to save its charter at Faber College. Its members do so without much
hope - led by Belushi's Bluto, who laments after being expelled for a zero grade point average, "Seven years of college down
the drain!" Among notorious scenes is the toga party.
37. The Great Dictator (1940) - United Artists Director: Charlie Chaplin Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Paulette Goddard;
Jack Oakie
This incisive, broad wartime satire of well-known Nazi and fascist rulers features Chaplin in his first
feature-length talkie as Hitler, and Oakie as Benzino Napaloni. The film's slapstick, satirical look at Europe on the brink
of World War II has Chaplin in double-duty as both a Jewish barber and an evil dictator, Adenoid Hynkel. The film's central
image remains the dictator's ballet with an enormous balloon of the world.
38. City Lights (1931) Chaplin/United Artists Director: Charlie Chaplin Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Virginia Cherrill;
Harry Myers; Florence Lee
A moving tragi-comedy/drama in which the Little Tramp falls hopelessly in love with a blind
flower girl (Cherrill), and experiences difficulty linked to a rich and eccentric lush (Myers). Perhaps best remembered for
the dramatic ending when she first sees the face that helped her regain her sight, the film is grounded in classic Chaplin
comedy. Among the most memorable laughs has Chaplin trying to raise money for the girl's operation by entering the boxing
ring in a bout that he thinks has been fixed. Notable as an exquisite Chaplinesque blend of drama, passion, self-sacrifice
and true love.
39. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) Paramount Director: Preston Sturges Stars: Joel McCrea; Veronica Lake;
William Demarest
Disgusted and weary of the mindless entertainment and popular comedies he makes - like So Long, Sarong
- movie director McCrea decides to produce a serious film about social injustice - "a true canvas of the suffering of humanity."
He sets out to research the film with only ten cents in his pocket, and tours the country as a pauper (with comrade Lake).
During his unsettling journey, he learns what really counts in the cockeyed caravan of life. AMickey Mouse cartoon helps him
understand the value of bringing joy to the common man.
40. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) - United Artists Director: Stanley Kramer Stars: Spencer Tracy; Sid Caesar;
Edie Adams; Milton Berle; Ethel Mermen
The era's great comedians star in this shaggy-dog comedy about a treasure hunt
for a trove of cash. After a desert car crash (in which babbling crime-boss Durante literally kicks the bucket), a number
of scheming highway travelers break every law in the book to be the first to find his alleged buried treasure - under "da
big dubba-ya." The normally law-abiding citizens are unaware that they are being followed by police commissioner/detective
Tracy, who's keeping track of their shenanigans and every move in this cameo-bursting slapstick marathon.
41. Moonstruck (1987) - United Artists Director: Norman Jewison Stars: Cher; Nicolas Cage; Olympia Dukakis; Vincent
Gardenia
This cheery operatic saga and love poem depicts an Italian-American family thrown into chaos when one of its
members, a Brooklyn accountant and engaged widow (Cher), falls in love with her fiancee's brother (Cage) - a one-handed baker.
Love and laughs come to light in the glow of a particularly bright moon. That's amore! Dukakis won an Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress for her performance as Cher's philosophical mother.
42. Big (1988) - 20th Century-Fox Director: Penny Marshall Stars: Tom Hanks; Elizabeth Perkins; Robert Loggia
Marshall's
magical comedy warns us to be careful about what we wish for. Here the wish is made by a twelve-year-old boy who wants to
be "big" and wakes up the next morning a thirty-year-old man, played by Hanks. He struggles believably and amusingly with
life as a man in the world and a boy at heart. The film's memorable scenes include Hanks' reaction to the hors d'oeuvres at
an office party, as well as his and Loggia's piano dance at FAO Schwartz.
43. American Graffitti (1973) Universal Director: George Lucas Stars: Richard Dreyfuss; Ron Howard; Candy Clark;
Harrison Ford; Paul LeMat; Cindy Williams; Mackenzie Phillips; Charles Martin Smith
"Where were you in '62?" was the
advertising slogan for this nostalgic, comical, coming-of-age story of California teenagers/high-school graduates during an
eventful late-summer night out on the town in 1962, who mark passage from high school into adulthood. This funny, melancholy
film brought the director to prominence, featured a grown-up Howard, and made stars of newcomers Ford and Dreyfuss; use of
early rock hits influenced soundtracks for years.
44. My Man Godfrey (1936) Universal Director: Gregory LaCava Stars: William Powell; Carole Lombard; Eugene Pallette;
Mischa Auer
This classic screwball comedy about the Great Depression stars Lombard as a rich, madcap heiress-socialite
who tries to rehabilitate Powell, a "forgotten man" she finds at the city dump and hires as a butler, while participating
in a society scavenger hunt. This biting satire finds humor in the friction between the idle rich and the dignity of the common
man. When Lombard and Powell first meet, she looks around the dump and asks, "Can you tell me why you live in a place like
this when there are so many other nice places?" Powell's wry diffidence and Lombard's zaniness make for a believable romantic
pair that will never quite understand one another. A remake appeared in 1957.
45. Harold and Maude (1972) - Paramount Director: Hal Ashby Stars: Ruth Gordon; Bud Cort; Vivian Pickles
This
dark comedy that gained cult status in the 70s finds a romantic link between death-obsessed, haunted 20-year-old Cort and
free-spirited, iconoclastic 79-year-old Gordon, who encourages Cort to "L-I-V-E. Live!" Pickles is Cort's mother, who desperately
arranges for a series of encounters with "suitable" young women that all turn disastrous after Cort's ghoulish shenanigans.
46. Manhattan (1979) - United Artists Director: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen; Diane Keaton; Mariel Hemingway; Meryl
Streep
Allen's black-and-white valentine to New York City finds him as a TV comedy writer who aspires to credibility
while maneuvering through the complexities of friendship and love. When his wife, Streep, leaves him for another woman, Allen
laments that his son is being raised by two women: "I always feel very few people survive one mother." He pointedly observes
the mangled relationships around him and looks to young Hemingway for a cleansing innocence. Although its dissection of urban
society is on-target, the film is more memorable for its starry depiction of Manhattan, photographed in black-and-white by
Gordon Willis.
47. Shampoo (1975) - Columbia Director: Hal Ashby Stars: Warren Beatty; Julie Christie; Goldie Hawn; Lee Grant
Election
Day 1968. The doings of a seductive hairdresser (Beatty) and his well-heeled clientele make for a satire on the liberated
Southern California lifestyle. The national moral tides are ebbing and flowing, and Beatty is caught in the sea of change.
He plays George, a Beverly Hills hairdresser who hops from client to client, bed to bed and from the free love of the past
to the it's-about-me future. When girlfriend Hawn stumbles upon him in bed with her friend, Beatty's quick reply is, "Honey,
where have you been? We've been looking all over for you." Grant, as a salon client, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress.
48. A Shot in the Dark (1964) - United Artists Director: Blake Edwards Stars: Peter Sellers; Elke Sommer; George
Sanders
After the success of The Pink Panther (1964), Edwards expanded the role of Inspector Clouseau and released
this second film in the series. Sellers' Clouseau returns in this fast-paced follow-up that focuses on the detective's attempted
defense of a beautiful murder suspect - a sexy maid (Sommer). Amid a sea of gags, he investigates a murder at a French chateau,
and though she is the chief suspect, Clouseau seems determined to prove her innocence - even tracking her through a nudist
colony, where the murderer strikes again. The film also introduces Lom as Clouseau's tortured superior and Kwouk as Cato,
Sellers' ever-ready valet. As in the original, Henry Mancini wrote the smooth score.
49. To Be or Not to Be (1942) - United Artists Director: Ernst Lubitsch Stars: Jack Benny; Carole Lombard; Robert
Stack
The invasion of Poland by the Nazis was an unlikely subject for a black comedy in 1942, but Jack Benny as an
egotistical ham actor and Carole Lombard as his flirtatious wife (in her last film) proved that it could indeed be funny.
He finds himself battling Nazis while trying to save his Polish theater group. Benny's interpretation of Hamlet's soliloquy
is one of the film's highlights. The 1983 remake starred Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.
50. Cat Ballou (1965) - Columbia Director: Elliot Silverstein Stars: Lee Marvin; Jane Fonda; Michael Callan
This
comic Western stars Fonda as the title character Cat - a schoolmarm gone bad who tries to avenge her father's murder and reclaim
her ranch with the help of a motley group of misfits. Among them is Marvin's "Kid Shelleen," a drunken outlaw with an equally
inebriated horse. In one memorable scene, boozy Kid arrives at a funeral, sees the candles and begins to sing Happy Birthday
To You. In a dual role, Marvin also plays Kid's sinister and nasty, silver-nosed twin brother Tim Shawn. Marvin was named
Best Actor by the Academy for his two-role performance.
51. The Seven Year Itch (1955) 20th Century-Fox Director: Billy Wilder Stars: Marilyn Monroe; Tom Ewell; Sonny Tufts
New
York publisher Ewell and his wife have been married seven years. When she and their son vacation in Maine during a long, hot
summer, he flies solo. His fantastic imagination heats up with the arrival of a new upstairs neighbor, Monroe. Wilder's sex
farce was wittily adapted from playwright George Axelrod's play (with co-writer Wilder) and contains one of American film's
signature moments - when the updraft from a subway grate blows Monroe's white dress high above her knees, she coos, "It sort
of cools the ankles, doesn't it?"
52. Ninotchka (1939) MGM Director: Ernst Lubitsch Stars: Greta Garbo; Melvyn Douglas; Ina Claire
As
advertised in studio publicity for the film, "Garbo laughs." Communism and capitalism collide in this bright political and
romantic comedy that takes place "in those wonderful days" - the narrator announces - "when a siren was a brunette and not
an alarm." Staunch party leader and tough communist agent Garbo arrives in Paris to discipline some wayward comrades for their
newfound materialistic ways and falls in love with Douglas' suave and rakish, capitalist aristocrat-playboy. Sparkling screenplay
by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch. Remade as the musical film Silk Stockings in 1957.
53. Arthur (1981) - Warner Bros. Director: Steve Gordon Stars: Dudley Moore; Liza Minnelli; John Gielgud
This
romantic comedy is about a ne'er-do-well, giddy millionaire playboy Moore who wants to marry waitress Minnelli, but there'll
be a sobering risk and price to pay if he does. His aunt, Fitzgerald, will cut him off from the family millions! The film
is notable for its oddball cheeriness and Gielgud's Academy Award-winning performance as Moore's acerbic valet. The sequel
is Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988).
54. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) - Paramount Director: Preston Sturges Stars: Betty Hutton; Eddie Bracken;
William Demarest; Diana Lynn
In the director Sturges' most manic, intricate comedy, he caught the censors napping with
this story of a waifish, World War II USO worker, Trudy Kockenlocker (Hutton), who gets drunk and blacks out during a night
on the town with a group of servicemen, and wakes up pregnant and maybe even married. The problem is, she can't remember a
thing - either whom she married or who the father could be. Here, the plot speeds up, the Sturges way. Faithful friend Bracken
helps her through the miraculous delivery of sextuplets. The remake is Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958).
55. The Lady Eve (1941) Paramount Director: Preston Sturges Stars: Henry Fonda; Barbara Stanwyck; Charles Coburn;
William Demarest
Fonda is a doltish bachelor and heir to the "Pike's Pale Ale" fortune, who prefers snakes to women.
Stanwyck is a con woman and cardsharp who tries to fleece him on an ocean voyage and winds up falling in love with him. When
he discovers her ruse and dumps her, she decides to fleece him again by assuming a British accent and posing as "Lady Eve"
Sidwich, and lets him fall in love with her. Elegance, wit, and buffoonery mix. Ocean cruises, train rides, and horses and
used to considerable effect.
56. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) - Universal Director: Charles T. Barton Stars: Bud Abbott; Lou Costello;
Lon Chaney, Jr.; Bela Lugosi
The final sequel in Universal's Frankenstein cycle of the 1930s and 1940s - with tip-top
Abbott and Costello and winning homage to Universal's movie monsters in this combination of gags and ghoulishness. The film
finds deliverymen Abbott and Costello bringing what they think are the dead Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein to a museum. Problems
arise when Lugosi's Dracula arises and wants to steal Costello's brain so he can insert it into Frankenstein's skull. Chaney
is a pal who tries to warn the duo of the plot, but then there's this full moon...
57. Diner (1982) - MGM/UA Director: Barry Levinson Stars: Daniel Stern; Mickey Rourke; Steve Gutenberg; Kevin Bacon
The
first of Levinson's movies set in Baltimore. 1959. This one is a wry look at a group of male friends on the verge of adulthood
who congregate in the comfort of a local diner between journeys into the real world. The late night back-and-forth is about
nothing...and everything...as they struggle to define what's important in their changing lives - like football trivia and
what's on the flip side of a record. Notable topical scenes include a marriage test about the Baltimore Colts and a debate
on the merits of Johnny Mathis vs. Frank Sinatra.
58. It’s A Gift (1934) Paramount Director: Norman Z. McLeod Stars: W.C. Fields; Baby LeRoy; Kathleen Howard
Fields
is Harold Bissonette, tortured family man and owner of a general store who dreams of buying an orange grove out West. Memorable
laughs include the blind man who smashes his way through the store only to ask for a pack of gum to be delivered, along with
Fields' attempt to get some rest while being tormented by an insurance salesman, a milkman, a faulty chain on a porch swing
and, of course, scene-stealing child star Baby LeRoy. He takes his brood west, with amusing and exasperating results.
59. A Day at the Races (1937) MGM Director: Sam Wood Stars: Groucho Marx; Harpo Marx; Chico Marx; Margaret Dumont
The
boys are in their element at Standish Sanitarium in this characteristically zany Marx Brothers comedy. Groucho is horse doctor
Hugo Z. Hackenbush who finds himself tending to humans in the sanitarium where Dumont is a patient; Chico is a racetrack tipster;
and Harpo is a jockey. The film's memorable moments include Groucho's response to Dumont's amorous moves - "If I hold you
any closer, I'll be in back of you." Seemingly endless comic bits include Chico selling ice cream and race tips.
60. Topper (1937) - MGM Director: Norman Z. McLeod Stars: Constance Bennett; Cary Grant; Roland Young
This
merry adaptation of Thorne Smith's popular novel offers Bennett and Grant as ghosts. After dying in an automobile crash, the
ghosts of the New York sophisticates haunt stuffy banker Cosmo Topper (Young), forcing him to evaluate his life. The fun comes
from the ghosts' ability to dematerialize at will, leaving their quiet friend Topper to face the consequences. The film inspired
two sequels (1939, 1941).
61. What's Up, Doc? (1972) - Warner Bros. Director: Peter Bogdanovich Stars: Barbra Streisand; Ryan O'Neal
Filmed
in the style of 1930s screwball comedies with a particular tip of the hat to Bringing Up Baby (1938)
this
wacky film opens when prim Professor O'Neal and his fiancee Kahn arrive at a hotel where he is to compete for a musicology
research grant. Enter Streisand's unpredictable Judy - an alluring, blithe spirit who invites havoc and disruption wherever
she goes, which culminates in a spectacular car/bike chase through the streets of San Francisco.
62. Sherlock, Jr. (1924) - Metro Director: Buster Keaton Stars: Buster Keaton; Kathryn McGuire; Ward Crane
This
surreal fantasy finds Keaton as a projectionist who unwittingly steps into the film he's screening, with hilarous results.
On-screen, he assumes the role of master sleuth, solves the crime and saves the girl... all this before waking in the projection
booth to find his real girlfriend waiting for him. This prototypical Keaton silent film continues to influence filmmakers.
63. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) - Paramount Director: Martin Brest Stars: Eddie Murphy; Judge Reinhold; John Ashton;
Bronson Pinchot
A fish-out-of-water crime and action comedy, with Murphy as streetwise, smart and fast-talking Detroit
cop Axel Foley who arrives in swank Beverly Hills in search of the man who murdered his friend. Culture shock drives the laughs
as Murphy navigates Rodeo Drive to solve the crime of his friend's death. The humorous support team includes Reinhold as a
local cop straight man, and Pinchot as Serge, the flamboyant, weird-accented art gallery employee. Overall, an ideal showcase
for Murphy's big, brash talent.
64. Broadcast News (1987) - 20th Century-Fox Director: James L. Brooks Stars: William Hurt; Holly Hunter; Albert
Brooks
Genial yet pointed comedy of the TV news business featuring Hunter as a fast-talking producer - the epitome
of the 1980s career woman. She does everything right, except for falling for the handsome but empty newsanchor Hurt, despite
the fact that he embodies none of what she respects in a journalist. Brooks is doomed to lead the life of the romantic third
wheel - a would-be paramour and ethical, caustic reporter.
65. Horse Feathers (1932) Paramount Director: Norman Z. McLeod Stars: Groucho Marx; Chico Marx; Harpo Marx; Zeppo
Marx; Thelma Todd
The Marx Brothers and Thelma Todd romp through this anarchic college comedy, satirizing one of the
most popular genres of the 1920s and 1930s. Groucho takes the lead as Huxley College president Wagstaff who enlists the help
of supposed football pros Harpo and Chico to help Huxley win the big game against rival Darwin U. They do, but not before
the boys fracture every rule in the book.
66. Take the Money and Run (1969) Palomar Director: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen; Janet Margolin; Marcel Hillaire
This
spoof of the gangster/crime films of the 1930s marked Allen's debut as writer-director-actor. The film was shot as a pseudo-documentary
about the rise and fall of one of America's most wanted - Allen's inept and unsuccessful thief Virgil Starkwell, who explains
the benefits of a life of crime: "You're your own boss, the hours are good and you travel a lot." His embarrassed parents,
meanwhile, hide their faces behind Groucho glasses during interviews. Hilarious gags include an attempt to escape prison with
a gun made of soap that disintegrates in the rain.
67. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 20th Century-Fox Director: Chris Columbus Stars: Robin Williams; Sally Field; Pierce Brosnan;
Harvey Fierstein
Field is fed up with husband Williams' free-spirited approach to life and files for divorce. Despondent
and desperate for additional time with his children, Williams concocts a scheme, aided by flamboyant brother Fierstein, to
transform himself into the perfect British nanny. Field hires "Mrs. Doubtfire" on the spot, allowing Williams to rejoin the
household and see his children and, hopefully, he can break up his estranged wife's new romance with Brosnan. Classical Williams
physical comedy and pathos follow. Based on Anne Fine's novel Alias Madame Doubtfire.
68. The Awful Truth (1937) Columbia Director: Leo McCarey Stars: Irene Dunne; Cary Grant; Ralph Bellamy
In
this prototypical screwball comedy, soon-to-be divorced sophisticated couple Grant and Dunne set out to destroy each other's
upcoming wedding plans, though it appears they still love each other. Grant is relentless with jokes about Bellamy - a comic
archetype as Dunne's fiancee, a hapless hick poet with bucolic ways. And Dunne pretends to be Grant's dipsomaniac sister for
his stuffy new in-laws. Originally filmed in 1925 and 1929, it was remade in 1953 as the musical Let's Do It Again.
69. Bananas (1971) United Artists Director: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen; Louise Lasser; Carlos Montalban; Howard
Cosell
An absurd romb in which Allen is product tester Fielding Mellish, who leaves his day job and moves to a small
Latin American country following a breakup with his girlfriend. He volunteers for a revolutionary force, which eventually
makes him its leader. Highlights include an oft-interrupted seduction scene with Lasser and a play-by-play commentary of a
political assassination - provided by Howard Cosell. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the score.
70. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Columbia Director: Frank Capra Stars: Gary Cooper; Jean Arthur; Lionel Stander;
George Bancroft
Folk humor tells the populist Capra comedy of Cooper's Longfellow Deeds, a simple, small-town New Englander
who inherits $20 million and moves to New York, where his sanity is questioned after he decides to donate his millions to
the needy - a situation that captivates hard-boiled reporter Babe Bennett (Arthur). Arthur, the epitome of the 1930s' "new
woman," is a wisecracking reporter trying to get an angle on the seemingly eccentric Deeds. Adapted from the play Opera Hut
by Clarence Budington Kelland.
71. Caddyshack (1980) - Warner Bros. Director: Harold Ramis Stars: Chevy Chase; Rodney Dangerfield; Bill Murray
The
exclusive and WASPy Bushwood Country Club provides the backdrop for intertwined stories, including Dangerfield's divoting
developer who wants to turn the country club into condos and Murray's "Cinderella-story" groundskeeper whose pursuit of a
greens-munching gopher threatens to destroy the entire country club. Memorable laughs take place at the pool, where the caddies
perform a Busby Berkeley-style water ballet and a floating candy bar sends swimmers screaming from the water in a JAWS-inspired
panic. More sight gags and base jokes abound.
72. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) - RKO Director: H.C. Potter Stars: Cary Grant; Myrna Loy; Melvyn
Douglas
This good-natured satire of the post-war housing boom stars Grant as an advertising executive whose dream of
building a home in the country becomes a nightmare when the architects, contractors and his wife, played by Loy, have their
own ideas. Among other problems, Loy won't get her very specific choices of paint colors. During the fiasco, Douglas offers
Grant advice: "The next time you're going to do anything or say anything or buy anything, think it over very carefully. When
you're sure you're right, forget the whole thing."
73. Monkey Business (1931) - Paramount Director: Norman Z. McLeod Stars: Groucho Marx; Harpo Marx; Chico Marx; Zeppo
Marx; Thelma Todd
A luxury ocean liner provides the backdrop for the chaotic antics and havoc of the stowaway Marx
Brothers. One of their classic bits involves an unconvincing impersonation of Maurice Chevalier to qualify for exiting the
ship, via a stolen passport and a Victrola playing Chevalier's hit You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me. The film is their
first screenplay collaboration with S.J. Perelman. Todd is Groucho's love interest.
74. 9 To 5 (1980) - 20th Century-Fox Director: Colin Higgins Stars: Jane Fonda; Lily Tomlin; Dolly Parton; Dabney
Coleman
Parton sings the title song and makes her big screen debut as the secretary to Coleman's lecherous corporate
boss, in a male-dominated workplace. After being ogled and harassed one too many times, Parton threatens to get her gun and
change him "from a rooster to a hen in just one shot!" Temp Fonda and office administrator Tomlin share Parton's disdain for
the barbaric boss Coleman, and the ultimate secretarial trio seek revenge for his male chauvinistic ways. The movie was a
box-office success. A television series followed.
75. She Done Him Wrong (1933) Paramount Director: Lowell Sherman Stars: Mae West; Cary Grant; Gilbert Roland
West
reprises her Broadway stage role (Diamond Lil) as Lady Lou, the wealthy, Gilded-Era siren and owner of a Bowery saloon who
wisecracks, "It was a toss up between whether I go in for diamonds or sing in the choir. The choir lost." Grant is the local
temperance officer who West takes a shine to. She sings "Frankie and Johnny," and plies young Grant with the line, "Why don't
you come up sometime and see me?" When he reveals that he's actually an undercover cop who's been following the riff-raff
who visit the saloon, West trades her summer and winter jewelry for one diamond on her ring finger.
76. Victor/Victoria (1982) - MGM/UA Director: Blake Edwards Stars: Julie Andrews; Robert Preston; James Garner; Alex
Karras; Lesley Ann Warren
Tight sex farce about an out-of-work singer (Andrews) who with the help of her gay manager,
played by Preston, pretends to be a man to get a gig as a female impersonator in the Paris nightclub world of the 1930s. She
becomes the toast of Paris cabarets and the object of desire for one macho audience member (Garner) who finds himself inexplicably
drawn to "him." Warren is Garner's lusty mistress, who steals a scene with a rousing song about her hometown, Chicago. A Broadway
musical adaptation followed, also with Andrews in the lead.
77. The Palm Beach Story (1942) Paramount Director: Preston Sturges Stars: Claudette Colbert; Joel McCrea; Rudy Vallee;
Mary Astor
Sturges took the message from his Sullivan's Travels to heart and his next film was this screwball comedy
that gave wartime America the giggles. Sturges-style marital mayhem occurs when happily-married Colbert hatches a plan to
divorce her poor inventor husband McCrea, marry a multimillionaire and bankroll her husband's ambitions. He's reluctant, but
desperate - and she's off to adventures with "The Wienie King," a train ride with the men's group "The Ale & Quail Club"
where she becomes their mascot, and finally, a Palm Beach pursuit by Vallee's wealthy Hackensacker. Top 1920s crooner Vallee
sings "Goodnight, Sweetheart."
78. Road to Morocco (1942) - Paramount Director: David Butler Stars: Bob Hope; Bing Crosby; Dorothy Lamour
This
third and most consistently funny picture in "The Road To ..." series of seven films lands Hope and Crosby in the deserts
of North Africa, where they meet a wisecracking camel and get tangled up in the world of Lamour's Princess Shalmar. Love blossoms
among the wry asides, until Quinn's jealous sheik enters the picture. Hope is sold into slavery by Crosby, which temporarily
keeps him from pursuing Lamour. When the boys realize they need to rescue Lamour, Crosby says, "We must storm the place."
Hope's reply: "You storm. I'll stay here and drizzle."
79. The Freshman (1925) - Pathe Exchange Director: Sam Taylor, Fred Newmeyer Stars: Harold Lloyd; Jobyna Ralston;
Brooks Benedict
Country bumpkin Harold "Speedy" Lamb wants to be a "Big Man on Campus" to win the girl (Ralston). In
this classic comedy, one of the comedian's most popular films, his attempts fall short, however, until a hilarious, freewheeling
football game proves that even the most inept of us can become a hero.
80. Sleeper (1973) United Artists Director: Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen; Diane Keaton; John Beck
Allen's
slapstick sci-fi parody freezes him in the year 1973 and unthaws him two hundred years later when he awakens. "Where are all
my friends?" he asks. A scientist explains that "everyone you knew in the past has been dead nearly two hundred years." His
reply: "But they all ate organic rice." Quickly mistaken for an enemy of the people, Allen disguises himself as a robot and
works for Keaton. When she realizes he's human, they fall in love as they try to overthrow the leader of the world - a nose.
The satirical script, written by Allen and Marshall Brickman, features commentary on contemporary mores and obsessions, along
with the cloning of a nose.
81. The Navigator (1924) - MGM Director: Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp Stars: Buster Keaton; Kathryn McGuire; Frederick
Vroom
Gag-filled silent movie with Keaton starring as a hapless, indolent millionaire who finds himself one of two
inhabitants of a deserted luxury ocean liner that's been cast to sea to sink. His traveling companion, McGuire, is a young
woman who earlier rejected his marriage proposal. Despite Keaton's attempts to learn about the ship - including a scene where
McGuire nearly suffocates Keaton by attaching his diving helmet while he's smoking a cigarette - the doomed duo find themselves
drifting toward an island of cannibals.
82. Private Benjamin (1980) - Warner Bros. Director: Howard Zieff Stars: Goldie Hawn; Eileen Brennan; Armand Assante
Hawn
is the pampered, suburban rich girl-princess who joins the Army for a change of scenery and quickly finds it's not her cup
of tea. After receiving her uniform and saying, "Pardon me, is green the only color they come in?" she stakes out the barracks
in disgust - "Look at this place. The army couldn't afford drapes?" Captain Brennan whips her into shape, and Hawn is transferred
to NATO headquarters in Europe, where she is pursued by Assante's Henri. A television series followed.
83. Father of the Bride (1950) MGM Director: Vincente Minnelli Stars: Spencer Tracy; Joan Bennett; Elizabeth Taylor
Tracy
is the exasperated patriarch of the Banks family, who sits among the remnants of his daughter Taylor's Great American Wedding
reception while relating the hectic events of the last three months. The film's advertising slogan was "The bride gets the
thrills! The father gets the bills!" The sequel is Father's Little Dividend (1951). The remake, Father of the Bride, appeared
in 1991.
84. Lost in America (1985) - Warner Bros. Director: Albert Brooks Stars: Albert Brooks; Julie Hagerty; Garry Marshall
In
this satire of self-fulfillment, yuppie couple Brooks and Hagerty decide to check out of the professional rat race, buy a
Winnebago and head out for a life adventure on America's highways. He figures they have about enough money to stay on the
road the rest of their lives, until she makes a trip to Las Vegas' roulette tables. In one of the film's most memorable scenes,
they attempt to convince casino boss Marshall to show a little mercy.
85. Dinner at Eight (1933) MGM Director: George Cukor Stars: Jean Harlow; Wallace Beery; Marie Dressler; John Barrymore;
Lionel Barrymore
Adapted from the stage play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, New York City's cultural elite assemble
for hostess Burke's dinner party, resulting in surprising repercussions among the varied guest list. The star-studded cast
shines under Cukor's direction, in this comic dissection of guests at the high-toned New York party. Dressler delivers the
memorable final comment.
86. City Slickers (1991) - Columbia Director: Ron Underwood Stars: Billy Crystal; Bruno Kirby; Daniel Stern; Jack
Palance
Amiable, gag-filled comedy about three urban mid-lifers who head out West for male bonding and to clear their
minds on a lengthy cattle-drive "vacation" that is clearly out of their league. Palance is the tough and crusty trail boss
who's only too happy to show them the ropes - he won the Academy Award for his supporting performance. The sequel is City
Slickers: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994).
87. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - Universal Director: Amy Heckerling Stars: Sean Penn; Jennifer Jason Leigh;
Judge Reinhold; Phoebe Cates
Cameron Crowe's book provides the basis for this loopy comedy about teenage life at high
school. Penn leads an ensemble cast of newcomers in this sharp and painfully funny look at what's on the mind of teenagers
in southern California - peer pressure, sex, and the mall. Penn gained notice for his portrayal of a drugged-out student.
"Hey, bud, let's party!"
88. Beetlejuice (1988) - Warner Bros. Director: Tim Burton Stars: Michael Keaton; Geena Davis; Alec Baldwin; Winona
Ryder
Baldwin and Davis are "newly-deads" appalled at the disagreeable nouveau riche family who has moved into their
home. They enlist the help of Keaton's marvelously grotesque dark spirit Betelgeuse to perform an exorcism of the living,
thereby opening Pandora's Box. The haunted "Day-O" dinner party is a scream. Notable for its visual inventiveness and mix
of horror and comedy. The clever music is by Danny Elfman.
89. The Jerk (1979) - Universal Director: Carl Reiner Stars: Steve Martin; Bernadette Peters; Bill Macy
This
absurd and gentle comedy introduces Martin as "a poor black child." When the dim-witted man leaves his adoptive family to
find his way in the world, he bumbles through many an odd job - "For one dollar, I'll guess your weight, your height or your
sex." People often exploit his naivete, until he invents a nose support device for eyeglasses that brings him a fortune. His
travails make for abundant humor and pathos from Martin, in his first lead role.
90. Woman of the Year (1942) - MGM Director: George Stevens Stars: Spencer Tracy; Katharine Hepburn; Fay Bainter
Tracy
and Hepburn's first pairing has them as married columnists at the same newspaper. He's an easy-going sportswriter, while she's
a high-strung political reporter. It's soon obvious that her global political interests do not match his laid-back enthusiasm
for spectator sports. But they fall in love and learn amusing lessons on their differences along the way. Among these lessons
is a well-paced drinking scene. After a dramatic separation, the couple is reunited after Hepburn tries valiantly - and fails
miserably - to make him breakfast. The clever screenplay is by Ring Lardner, Jr., and Michael Kanin. A stage musical followed.
91. The Heartbreak Kid (1972) - Palomar/20th Century-Fox Director: Elaine May Stars: Charles Grodin; Cybill Shepherd;
Jeannie Berlin
Based on a story by Bruce Jay Friedman, this is the wry tragi-comedy of a newlywed Jewish man (Grodin)
who meets the blonde woman of his dreams, beautiful Shepherd, while on his honeymoon in Florida with wife Berlin. After a
relentless and obsessive pursuit to obtain Shepherd's affections, Grodin must endure one more hurdle - convincing her protective
father, played by Albert, of his sincerity. At a loss for how to do so when they first meet, he looks to his food: "This is
a totally honest meal. You don't know what a pleasure it is in this day and age to eat food that you can believe in."
92. Ball of Fire (1941) - United Artists Director: Howard Hawks Stars: Gary Cooper; Barbara Stanwyck; Dana Andrews;
Oscar Homolka
A staid group of seven scholarly professors are compiling a new encyclopedia when Stanwyck's Sugarpuss
O'Shea breezes into their musty world. She's a flashy, night-club jazz singer who helps them with their slang dictionary,
but they have to think fast when her angry gangster friends come looking for her. The screenplay for this worldly take-off
on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. The remake is A Song is Born (1948).
93. Fargo (1996) Gramercy Pictures/Polygram Filmed Entertainment/Working Title Films Director: Joel Coen Stars: Frances
McDormand; William H. Macy; Steve Buscemi
Dark, jaunty, but grisly crime drama about a Minnesota gruesome multiple
murder case (intertwined with a botched kidnapping job hatched by Macy) in a frigid and snowy landscape under the able investigation
of pregnant police chief Marge (McDormand). She reconstructs the crime with a style all her own. Wood-chipper scene and blinding
white exterior shots are notable. Academy Award winner for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. "You betcha."
Notorious
party-thrower Mame (Russell) towers over New York City with her lush life and eccentricities. She fashions a new lifestyle
for herself when she must care for her recently orphaned nephew. Amid the colorful characters of Beekman Place's residents
and visitors, Russell's elegant, wisecracking Mame reminds everyone that "Life is a banquet - and most poor suckers are starving
to death." Based on the Broadway play by Jerome Robbins and Robert E. Lee which was drawn from Patrick Dennis' autobiographical
novel Auntie Mame. The musical stage and later screen version is Mame (film, 1974).
95. Silver Streak (1976) - 20th Century-Fox Director: Arthur Hiller Stars: Gene Wilder; Richard Pryor; Jill Clayburgh
The
first Wilder-Pryor pairing mixes mystery, fast talk, and physical humor amid a long-distance train trip meant to be a vacation
getaway. Wilder's a mild-mannered, hard-working publisher onboard - and several times, off-board - a train from Los Angeles
to Chicago. When he witnesses a body thrown from the train, he's framed by the killers and pursued by police. Pryor helps
to disguise Wilder with shoe polish and a lesson in jive, and the action comes to a smashing conclusion at the train station
in Chicago.
96. Sons of the Desert (1933) MGM Director: William A. Seiter Stars: Stan Laurel; Oliver Hardy; Mae Busch
"Well,
here's another nice mess you've gotten me into," complains Hardy to Laurel in this feature-length version of their 1928 silent
two-reeler, We Faw Down. A classic Laurel and Hardy film with familiar hijinks. The duo sneak off to the "Sons of the Desert"
convention in Chicago after telling their disapproving wives they are going on a Hawaiian cruise for Hardy's health. They
have a grand time at the convention, where they're filmed by a newsreel crew, but they return home to find that the ship they
were supposed to be on had sunk, and their wives had seen them on the newsreel.
97. Bull Durham (1988) - Orion Director: Ron Shelton Stars: Susan Sarandon; Kevin Costner; Tim Robbins
Shelton's
charming and picaresque baseball fable finds Robbins on the minor-league mound as a greenhorn pitcher who needs help focusing
on the game. He gets an assist from down-and-out baseball vet and aging catcher Costner and superstitious baseball groupie
Sarandon, who sits both men down to explain her one-player-per-season rule - and that they are the finalists. This romantic
comedy follows the trio from bus to hotel to ballpark and back again, providing an insider's look at America's pastime. Location
filming and off-the-wall pitcher's mound discussions lend realism and a fanciful sensibility to this celebration of baseball.
98. The Court Jester (1956) - Paramount Director: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank Stars: Danny Kaye; Glynis Johns; Basil
Rathbone
Villains perch on every turret in this musical swashbuckler comedy that finds Kaye masquerading as a court
jester in an attempt to infiltrate an evil government to overthrow Rathbone, a baron with a stranglehold on the throne of
England. He finds himself singing, falling in love, and fighting villains along the way. "The pellet with the poison's in
the vessel with the pestle..."
99. The Nutty Professor (1963) - Paramount Director: Jerry Lewis Stars: Jerry Lewis; Stella Stevens; Del Moore
This
Jekyll-and-Hyde story focuses on Lewis as Julius Kelp, a buck-toothed, bumbling milquetoast college professor who creates
a formula for a secret potion that turns him into the arrogant but irresistible swinger "Buddy Love" - for brief moments,
anyway. Stevens co-stars as the object of affection to both sides of Lewis' split personality. The remake appeared in 1996,
starring Eddie Murphy.
100. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) - Touchstone/Buena Vista Director: Barry Levinson Stars: Robin Williams; Forest
Whitaker; Tung Thanh Tran
Saigon in 1965 provides the backdrop for this thoughtful war comedy - the true story of Armed
Forces Radio disc jockey Adrian Cronauer (Williams) who brings his madcap comedy to a world gone mad. His highly-charged,
on-air improv is popular with the troops but troublesome to officers, who fear the beat of his different drummer. Memorable
for the star's runaway radio patter.
(1941) When a Hearst-like newspaper tycoon (Orson Welles) dies, a reporter (William Alland)
interviews the man's former associates (Joseph Cotton and Everett Sloane among them) and wives (Ruth Warrick and Dorothy Comingore)
in an effort to pin down the essence of the contradictory, larger-than-life millionaire by discovering the meaning of his
dying word, "Rosebud." Also co-written (with Herman J. Mankiewicz), produced and directed by Welles, the movie is a landmark
in American cinema, notable both for its superb use of film technique and its intriguing story of a man who came from nothing,
acquired fame and fortune but died without the love he sought. Marital infidelity. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association
of America. (Turner, 50th Anniversary Edition includes a 30-minute documentary on the movie, $19.98)
8 1/2 (1963) With both career and marriage in chaos, an Italian movie director (Marcello
Mastroianni) protects his overgrown ego by retreating into surreal memories of the past and wild fantasies about the present.
Director Federico Fellini has some self-indulgent fun with his profession, semibiographical events from his youth and themes
from his movies while taking viewers on a journey through the rich, at times bizarre, imagination of an artist whose attempts
to cope with the demands of the real world are resolved in a final flood of optimism as the director joins with all his characters
in a human carousel of life. Subtitles. Ambiguous treatment of mature themes. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association
of America. (Vestron, $69.95)
Fantasia (1940) Walt Disney's
only excursion into the world of the fine arts presents eight selections of classical music, including Dukas' "Sorcerer's
Apprentice" with Mickey Mouse and a bucket brigade of brooms, Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" with its massive, earthbound images
and the macabre vision of Musorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain." Using different approaches and animation styles for each piece
of music as performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor Leopold Stokowski, the imaginative work was not only Disney's
most ambitious undertaking but it remains an enjoyably creative introduction to fine music, especially for youngsters. The
Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. (Disney, $24.99)
Grand Illusion (1937) Shot down during World War I, a French aristocrat (Pierre Fresnay) is treated
as a brother officer by the German aristocrat (Erich von Stroheim) commanding the prisoner-of-war camp, then makes use of
his special status to distract attention while two fellow prisoners (Jean Gabin and Dalio) make good their escape to Switzerland.
Directed by Jean Renoir, the picture of life in the camp is rich in narrative incident and human detail, neatly supporting
a theme dealing with the end of the aristocratic ideal of chivalry and its replacement by mass armies of commoners with no
desire for war. Subtitles. Some ribald humor and tense situations. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
(Home Vision, $29.95)
La Strada (1956) Two-bit circus strongman
(Anthony Quinn) adds a simple-minded peasant (Giulietta Masina) to his act, treating her badly until a tragic encounter with
a bantering acrobat (Richard Basehart) who tries to help her. Italian director Federico Fellini's somber picture of lost souls
on the backroads of life has its emotional center in Masina's Chaplinesque performance as the poor waif struggling to keep
her spirit from being crushed by the brute she serves. Subtitles. Some stylized violence and brutalizing conditions of life.
Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Sultan, $29.98)
The Lavender
Hill Mob (1951) British comedy classic in which a timid bank employee (Alec Guinness) concocts a scheme
to hijack a shipment of gold bullion with the aid of professional crooks (Sidney James and Alfie Bass), then melt it down
in the foundry of an accomodating sculptor (Stanley Holloway) and recast it as Eifel Tower souvenirs for export to Paris.
Scripted by T.E.B. Clarke and directed by Charles Crichton, the tongue-in-cheek depiction of a perfect crime has one hilarious
flaw after another, culminating in a wild police chase through London and a neat twist ending in South America. Comic crime
caper and mild menace. . Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (HBO, $19.98)
The Leopard (1963) Historical drama set against the background of Garibaldi's 1860 invasion of
Sicily where the prince (Burt Lancaster) of an old aristocratic family refuses to adapt to revolutionary times despite the
marriage of his more egalitarian nephew (Alain Delon) to the daughter of a wealthy ex-peasant. Directed by Luchino Visconti
from the novel by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, the result captures a fascinating period of social, political and economic change
in a family saga filled with nostalgia for a past, more elegant age. Subtitles. Mature themes. Not rated by the Motion Picture
Association of America. (Not available on video)
Little Women
(1933) Lovingly sentimental but firmly crafted adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's story of four New England girls cared for
by their mother while their father is soldiering in the Civil War. Director George Cukor depicts the joys and woes of the
loving March family household with warmth and sincerity, but most memorable is the ensemble performance of a remarkable cast
headed by Katharine Hepburn as serious-minded Jo, Joan Bennett as vain Amy, Frances Dee as prosaic Meg, Jean Parker as waifish
Beth and Spring Byington as the girls' beloved Marmee. Prime family fare. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
(MGM/UA, $14.98)
Metropolis (1926) Silent classic of a future
society ruled by an aristocracy living in luxury above ground while the workers suffer miserably underground, comforted only
by the religious faith of a young woman (Brigitte Helm) in whose likeness a sinister scientist (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) fashions
a robot inciting the workers to rebel but all ends in reconciliation. Directed by Fritz Lang, the story's melodramatic turns
and woolly finale may be dated but not its vivid pictorial sense, grandly expressionistic decor and theme of social justice.
Bleak picture of exploited workers, stylized violence and some sexual innuendo. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association
of America. (Nostalgia, $16.95)
Modern Times (1936) Charlie
Chaplin's insightful fable of man versus machine centers in the artificiality of industrialized society and the anxieties
caused by the Depression as Charlie dances his way through the hazards of an assembly line job. A model of silent comedic
technique and refined slapstick humor, the movie marks the last appearance of the Little Tramp character as Charlie takes
his final walk down the long empty road, this time in the company of Paulette Goddard who adds an element of freshness to
the plot's old-fashioned romance.. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. (CBS/Fox, $19.98).
Napoleon (1927) Epic silent chronicle of Napoleon Bonaparte
(Albert Dieudonne) from his student days at a military academy through his rise as an officer during the Revolution and Reign
of Terror until ending in 1796 when the Directory puts him in command of the army invading Italy. Directed by Abel Gance,
the episodic narrative is heavily melodramatic, yet the sheer exhuberance of the actors and the monumental staging of the
action carry viewers along in richly visual experience made memorable by Gance's innovative use of portable cameras and triple
screens. This reconstructed print runs 235 minutes, with music composed by Carmine Coppola. Stylized violence and brief sexual
innuendo.. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (MCA/Universal, $29.95)
Nosferatu (1922) Silent horror classic loosely based on Bram Stoker's novel, "Dracula," centers
on the vampire count (Max Schreck) who leaves his sinister castle in the Carpathian mountains to sail on a doomed ship bringing
him to 1838 Bremen where his dark deeds are undone by a brave young woman and the first light of dawn. Directed by F.W. Murnau,
the German production is most notable for its eerie portrayal of the vampire in images which seem to personify evil and dread
in a movie even more remarkable for having been filmed mostly on location rather than in the controlled confines of a studio.
Stylized violence and menace. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Nostalgia, $19.95)
Stagecoach (1939) In this Western classic, a cowboy (John Wayne) wanted by the law
on trumped-up charges joins an odd assortment of passengers (Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, Donald Meek, John Carradine and
others) on the stage to Lordsburg in the midst of an Apache uprising. Directed by John Ford, the characters are a microcosm
of frontier types, each of whom has a different reason for the journey whose dangers are played out against the majestic vistas
of Monument Valley, with a brilliantly staged Indian attack and a final showdown on the streets of Lordsburg that brings the
story to a rousing finish. Stylized violence.. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Warner, $19.98)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Director Stanley Kubrick's epic work, co-written with
Arthur C. Clarke, is both science fiction and metaphysical poetry using an unconventional mixture of visuals and music to
bridge humanity's reconstructed past, identifiable present and projected future, all tied together by the recurring image
of a monolith as symbol of a superhuman existence. The central narrative follows the struggle of two astronauts (Keir Dullea
and Gary Lockwood) to wrest control of their spacecraft from HAL, a talking computer (voice of Douglas Rain), on a half-billion-mile
trip to Jupiter and the unknown. For young people and imaginative adults but too long, deep and intense for children.. The
Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. (MGM/UA, $19.98)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) Dorothy rides her cyclone to the magic land over the rainbow in director
Victor Fleming's classic that skyrocketed Judy Garland's career and has given generations of families prime entertainment
again and again. The 50th anniversary edition has 17 minutes of material not included in the original release. The Motion
Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. (MGM/UA, $24.98)
Values
Au Revoir les Enfants
(1988) When the Gestapo discover that a priest has hidden three Jewish youths
in a Catholic boys' school, he and the boys are arrested and deported to concentration camps. French writer-producer-director
Louis Malle re-creates a painful memory from his own youth in a restrained, humbling, well-acted dramatization of a boy's
firsthand experience of the Holocaust. Subtitles. Some rough language. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is
PG -- parental guidance suggested. (Orion, $19.98)
The Bicycle Thief (1949) Simple yet compelling study in desperation as a worker (Lamberto Maggiorani) must find his stolen bicycle or
lose his new job. Ignored by the police and others, the man and his young son (Enzo Staiola) search the streets for it until,
in despair, he himself tries to steal a bicycle. Scripted by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica, the result
is an engrossing picture of the human realities of life on the edge of poverty, shot on the streets of Rome with a cast of
non-professionals that brought a new realism to the postwar screen and a new emotional honesty to the stories it told. Subtitles.
Some earthy references. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Nostalgia Family, $69.95)
The Burmese Harp (1956) Badly wounded in Burma at the end of World War II, a Japanese
soldier (Shoji Yasui) is nursed back to health by a Buddhist monk, then devotes himself to searching the jungle battlefields
for the abandoned remains of dead soldiers to give them a decent burial. Directed by Kon Ichikawa, the Japanese production
takes a strong anti-war stance through a series of flashbacks to the horrors of battle, but uses hauntingly poetic imagery
to convey the main theme of life's value and the need to atone for its loss. Subtitles. Wartime violence. Not rated by the
Motion Picture Association of America. (Connoisseur, $29.95)
Chariots of Fire (1981) Two young Englishmen (Ben Cross and Ian Charleson) overcome quite different obstacles to win gold medals at
the Paris Olympics of 1924. One is a Jew determined to beat the anti-Semitic establishment at its own game and the other is
a devout Scot who runs for the glory of God. Directed by Hugh Hudson, it is a richly entertaining and highly inspiring movie
for the whole family. Several coarse words. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested.
(Warner, $19.98)
Decalogue (1988) Produced for Polish television,
this series of ten hour-long programs explores the contemporary meaning of the Ten Commandments as seen in the lives of various
residents of a drab Warsaw apartment complex. Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, none of the stories is religious though all
grapple with moral conflicts arising from ordinary situations and relationships which most viewers will not see as being at
all foreign to them. Subtitles. Mature themes. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Not available on video)
Dersu Uzala (1978) Russian production about the friendship that
grows between a turn-of-the-century explorer in Siberia and his guide, an aging Tungus hunter whose name gives the film its
title. Japanese director Akira Kurosawa concentrates on evoking the vast remoteness of the Siberian wilderness, a world the
Russian finds forbidding but one in which the hunter is perfectly at home. Subtitles. Finely acted, beautifully photographed,
it is an admiring portrait of a man living in harmony with nature and with his fellow hunters. The Motion Picture Association
of America rating is G -- general audiences. (Sultan, $29.98)
Gandhi (1982) Superb portrait of India's great political and spiritual leader comes to life in Ben Kingsley's authoritative
yet sensitive performance. Director Richard Attenborough's epic-scale production re-creates Gandhi's life and times, especially
his use of non-violence and hunger strikes to bring together the diverse peoples of India and unify them as a nation. Though
its scenes of violence are not for children, the movie's vision of justice and peace is for everyone else, especially young
people. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. (Columbia TriStar, $29.95)
Intolerance (1916) D.W. Griffith's epic masterpiece intercuts
four stories of injustice -- the fall of Babylon, the Crucifixion, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and a contemporary American
story of an innocent man sentenced to death. The movie develops parallel action in each of the stories, though centered principally
on the tale of an impoverished couple whose wife tries to save her husband from being unjustly hung and the Assyrian conquest
of Babylon which is presented on an epic scale. Though complex in narrative structure, each story is connected to the others
by the simple image of a woman rocking a cradle, a device dropped as the tempo increases in the conclusion of the stories.
The movie's brilliance in concept, execution and editing is still impressive, dated only by its florid titles and melodramatic
characterizations. Stylized violence, sexual references and a few flashes of nudity. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association
of America. (Kino, $29.95)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Seasonal
favorite about the joys and trials of a good man (James Stewart) who, facing financial ruin on the eve of Christmas, contemplates
suicide until his guardian angel (Henry Travers) shows him how meaningful his life has been to those around him. Director
Frank Capra's unabashedly sentimental picture of mainstream American life is bolstered by a superb cast (including Lionel
Barrymore as a conniving banker) and a wealth of good feelings about such commonplace virtues as hard work and helping one's
neighbor. Young children may find the story's dark moments unsettling. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
(Republic, 45th Anniversary Edition, $19.98)
On the Waterfront
(1954) Classic labor film about a punched-out boxer (Marlon Brando) who, despite the machinations of his shifty brother (Rod
Steiger) and with some encouragement from the woman (Eva Marie Saint) he loves as well as a waterfront priest (Karl Malden),
decides to stand up to the criminal boss (Lee J. Cobb) of a corrupt union of dock workers. Budd Schulberg's fact-based script
is directed by Elia Kazan with stand-out performances and a gritty realism grounded in a working-class milieu, abetted by
Leonard Bernstein's rousing score and Boris Kauffman's atmospheric photography. Much menace and some violence. Not rated by
the Motion Picture Association of America. (Columbia TriStar, $19.95)
Open City (1945) Composite picture of the resistance movement in German-occupied Rome focusing on an underground leader (Marcello
Pagliero) hidden by a widow (Anna Magnani) until he's betrayed to the Gestapo, then tortured and executed along with a partisan
priest (Aldo Fabrizi). Director Roberto Rossellini began filming while German troops were still in the city and the result
has a documentary quality giving a sense of immediacy to the period portrayal of events by a cast whose naturalistic acting
captures the fervor and determination of diverse social types united in their opposition to fascism. Subtitles. Wartime violence
and some intense torture scenes. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Kino, $24.95)
Schindler's List (1993) Sobering account of an opportunistic German businesssman
(Liam Neeson) out to make his fortune by exploiting Jewish labor in occupied Poland but the increasing barbarism of Nazi racial
policies and the sadistic perversions of the local commandant (Ralph Fiennes) cause him to risk his life trying to save the
Jews in his employ. Director Steven Spielberg restages this Holocaust story on an epic scale that gives horrifying dimension
to one man's attempt to save some innocent lives, though providing little insight in the German's moral transformation or
the individual lives of his Jewish workers. Realistically graphic treatment of an infamous historical period and its crimes
against humanity, a few discreet sexual scenes and occasional rough language. The Motion Picture Association of America rating
is R -- restricted. (MCA/Universal, $29.98)
The Seventh Seal
(1956) Intense medieval morality tale about a disillusioned knight (Max Von Sydow) returning from the Crusades to a plague-ravaged
land where he forestalls Death (Bengt Ekerot) by wagering his life on a game of chess during the course of which he saves
a traveling player named Joseph (Nils Poppe), his wife Mary (Bibi Andersson) and their infant son. Swedish director Ingmar
Bergman convincingly re-creates the religious context of the Middle Ages but the knight's quest to find meaning in a world
of physical suffering and spiritual emptiness is more directly related to the contemporary search for life's meaning in our
own age of doubt and uncertainty. Subtitles. Recurring images of death, some stylized violence and instances of religious
fanaticism. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Video Dimensions, $19.95)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) Quiet, richly textured Italian drama about the lives of four peasant
families who work as tenant farmers on a Lombardy estate at the end of the last century. Beginning with the fall harvest and
ending with the spring planting, the movie depicts the everyday life of rural people who endure with human dignity in spite
of the oppressive system which exploits their labor. Written, photographed and directed by Ermanno Olmi, this is a loving
portrait of ordinary life in an age of social injustice. Some tense scenes. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of
America. (Fox/Lorber, $79.95)
Wild Strawberries (1958) During
the day on which he is to be awarded an honorary degree from a nearby university, a 78-year-old retired scholar (Victor Sjostrom
in a masterful performance) is visited with dreams and reveries about his past life, especially his failures and disappointments
in personal relationships. Swedish director Ingmar Bergman brilliantly develops the man's interior journey from pangs of regret
and anxiety to a refreshing sense of peace and reconciliation summed up in blissful images of his happy youth. One of the
great films about aging that touches universal chords in mature viewers. English subtitles. Not rated by the Motion Picture
Association of America. (Connoisseur, $29.95)
Religion
Andrei Rublev
(1969) Russian production about a 15th-century monk (Anatoli Solonitzine) who perseveres
in painting icons and other religious art despite the civil disruptions and cruel turmoil of his times. Director Andrei Tarkovsky
visualizes brilliantly the story of a devout man seeking through his art to find the transcendent in the savagery of the Tartar
invasions and the unfeeling brutality of Russian nobles. Subtitles. Stylized historical violence. Not rated by the Motion
Picture Association of America. (Fox Lorber, $79.95)
Babette's Feast (1988) Screen version of a story by Isak Dinesen, set in a rugged fishing village in 1871 Denmark, shows the impact
of a French housekeeper (Stephane Audran) on two pious sisters who carry on their late father's work as pastor of a dwindling
religious flock. Danish director Gabriel Axel's understated but finely detailed work centers on the preparation and consumption
of an exquisite Gallic meal, a sensuous labor of love which has a healing effect on the austere sect and the Frenchwoman who
prepared it. Subtitles. Cerebral treatment. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. (Orion,
$19.98)
Ben-Hur (1959) Director William Wyler's classic Hollywood
epic follows the Jewish prince of the title (Charlton Heston) after he's betrayed by his boyhood Roman friend (Stephen Boyd)
and subjected to much misery until finally achieving retribution for all his suffering. The narrative's conventional melodrama
is transformed by the grand scale of its spectacle, especially the chariot race, and by the stirring performances of its principals
who manage to overcome the story's cliches and stereotypes. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general
audiences. (MGM/UA, $29.98)
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
Remarkable Italian production about the beginnings of the Franciscan Order as its founder sets the example of humility, simplicity
and obedience for his first followers at Portiuncula, a little chapel near Assisi, from which they depart into the world to
preach peace. Directed by Roberto Rossellini from a script co-written with Federico Fellini, the movie's form is as simple
and sincere as the subject of the narrative which relates a series of little incidents realistically, yet with an infectious
sense of joy marvellously conveyed by an anonymous cast of monks from a Roman monastery. Subtitles. Not rated by the Motion
Picture Association of America. (Facets Multimedia, $34.95)
Francesco (1989) Overwrought Italian production portrays St. Francis of Assisi (Mickey Rourke) as a spiritual agitator challenging
the accepted values of his 13th-century contemporaries by embracing a life of utter poverty and simplicity. Director Liliana
Cavani builds an elaborate picture of the period's social injustices but fails to evoke any convincing sense of religious
conviction from Rourke's embarrassingly vacuous performance. English-language version. Occasional scenes of violence, desperate
poverty and brief nudity. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that
some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (Hemdale, $89.95)
The
Gospel According to St. Matthew (1966) Straight-forward Italian dramatization of the evangelist's account
of the life of Jesus and His message of salvation succeeds exceptionally well in placing the viewer within the Gospel events,
avoiding the artificiality of most biblical movie epics. Director Pier Paolo Pasolini is completely faithful to the text while
employing the visual imagination necessary for his realistic interpretation. Subtitles. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association
of America. (Water Bearer, $24.95)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Engrossing drama of the last seven years in the life of Thomas More, Henry VIII's chancellor, who met a martyr's death rather
than compromise his conscience during a period of religious turmoil. Robert Bolt's script is masterfully directed by Fred
Zinnemann, with a standout performance by Paul Scofield in the title role, among other notable performances from a uniformly
fine cast. The historical dramatization achieves an authentic human dimension that makes its 16th-century events more accessible
and its issues more universal. Profoundly entertaining but heavy-going for children. The Motion Picture Association of America
rating is G -- general audiences. (Columbia TriStar, $19.95)
The Mission (1986) In the 1750s, the large and prosperous Jesuit Indian missions were divided between Spain and Portugal. In dramatizing
these events, Robert Bolt's screenplay focuses not on the religous but on the sociopolitical dimension of the colonial era
and its injustices. The epic production is visually splendid but Roland Joffe's direction is erratic and bogs down in contrasting
a nonviolent priest (Jeremy Irons) and one (Robert De Niro) who leads the Indians against a colonial army. Although dramatically
flawed, the work recalls a past that provides a context for current Latin American struggles. Some violence and ethnographic
nudity. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. (Warner, $19.98)
Monsieur Vincent (1947) Lucid, moving account of St. Vincent de Paul's work among
the poor and the oppressed in 17th-century France, from his first labors in a plague-ravaged village and his appeals to the
conscience of the aristocracy to the founding of an order devoted to charitable works and his death in 1660. Director Maurice
Cloche portrays the poverty of the times and the cruelty of the regime in starkly convincing fashion, providing a solid historical
framework within which Pierre Fresnay's performance in the title role shines with a warm compassion and spiritual intensity
which most viewers will find irresistably compelling. Subtitles. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Nostalgia,
$29.95)
Nazarin (1958) Mexican story set in 1905 when a young
priest comes into disfavor with his inflexible religious superiors, the civil authorities and even the poor among whom he
tries to live a life of simplicity, poverty and charity. Though director Luis Bunuel's work is not very optimistic about the
possibility of idealism winning over the world, it's not critical of religion, only pious hypocrisy. Subtitles. Perplexing
themes. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Connoisseur, $69.95)
The
Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) Silent screen masterpiece portraying the heresy trial, confession, recantation
and execution of the Maid of Orleans (Maria Falconetti) in a performance of such emotional power that it still stands as the
most convincing portrayal of spirituality on celluloid. Directed by Carl Dreyer, the work is essentially the interior epic
of a soul, consisting largely of close-ups of Joan's face and those of her interrogators accomplished in a fashion which is
never static as the camera explores the inner struggle between human frailities and spiritual strength. Some duplicitous churchmen,
medicinal bloodletting and a restrained torture scene. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Nostalgia,
$29.95)
The Sacrifice (1986) Swedish production in which a group
of adults and a child pass through a night of confusion and fear, including portents of a nuclear-devastated landscape. Director
Andrei Tarkovsky's murky religious allegory about an aging writer's bargaining with God to save others relies upon long silences,
ritualized dialogue and beautiful but static photography. Subtitles. A very personal film about love and compassion, the effect
is strangely cold and distant. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. (Pacific
Arts, $29.95)
Therese (1986) French dramatization of the life
of St. Therese de Lisieux from age 15 when she joined a cloistered convent of Carmelite nuns to her death there 9 years later
of tuberculosis. Director Alain Cavalier's impressionistic account of the young woman (luminously portrayed by Catherine Mouchet)
who found personal joy, spiritual liberation and the sanctity of selfless simplicity within the restrictive traditions of
an austere religious community will challenge contemporary viewers and confound some. The young may find its picture of 19th-century
religious life more confusing than inspiring. Dubbed in English. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Palisades
Home Video $39.95)
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PBS broadcasts "The American Flag"!!
Producer/Director Phillip Koch &TV/Film Producer Norman Lear
Photographed at Second City in Chicago
Harold Ramis interviewed for the PBS program "The American Flag"