Here’s a compilation of films that have stood the test of time and those I believe will. I think you’ll find that they are blessed with the greatest special effects every conceived: story, character, and dialogue.

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD

The most colorful film, ever, with Errol Flynn the quintessential swashbuckler, ROBIN HOOD sparkles with action, witty dialogue and one of Hollywood’s best musical scores.

Maid Marion: “Why, you speak treason.”
Robin: “Fluently.”

BABETTE’S FEAST

“In Paradise you will be the great artist God meant you to be. Ah, how you will delight the angels!”
- A dinner guest acknowledging the abilities of an obscure chef in this 1987 Oscar winning Foreign Film.

CASABLANCA (1942)

Bogart: “I came to Casablanca for the waters.”
Claude Rains: “The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.”
Bogart: “I was misinformed.”

DR. STRANGELOVE, OR... HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)

“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here, this is the war room!” An outraged President Muffley (Peter Sellers).

ENCHANTED APRIL (1992)

Joan Plowright, Polly Walker. A delightful fable about four women in the 1920s escaping their repressed lifestyles in London by renting a castle in Portofino. They soon discover the estate has a magical effect on all those who stay there. At last, a PG film with no sexual activity, profane language, violence or religion-bashing. A romantic comedy that nourishes the spirit.

“Have you noticed how difficult it is to be improper when there are no men about?”

FRIENDLY PERSUASION

This unforgettable Gary Cooper tour de force concerns a peace-loving Quaker family caught in the Civil War conflict.

“If thee talked as much to the Almighty as thee does to that horse, thee might stand more squarely in the light.” Eliza Birdwell (Dorothy McGuire) admonishing her husband, Jess (Gary Cooper).

GROUNDHOG DAY (1993)

Bill Murray learns how to treat others after being caught in a surreal world where he wakes up each morning to re-live the same day.

Andie MacDowell: “What did you do today?”
Bill Murray: “Oh, same old, same old.”

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941)

Tenderhearted adaptation of a devoted family in a Welsh coal mining community, this winner of five Oscars was directed by John Ford and starred Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Pidgeon and Donald Crisp.

“Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still, real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then.” Narrator

IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.

From 1963, this non-stop laugh-a-thon has a group of motorists chasing after a fortune buried 200 miles away. Besides all the visual and verbal gags, and its constellation of comic greats, Mad World also contains some of the best car chases and stunts ever filmed.

“Listen, everybody has to pay taxes. Even businessmen who rob and steal and cheat from people every day. Even they have to pay taxes.”

JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961)

Well-crafted drama by director Stanley Kramer, it concerns a U.S. a judge presiding over war crimes. The exceptional cast includes Spencer Tracy, Maximillian Schell, Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Montgomery Cliff and Marlene Dietrich.

“Ernest Janning said he is guilty. If he is, Ernest Janning’s guilt is the world’s guilt. No more and no less.” Maximillian Schell defending Burt Lancaster for Nazi offenses.

KEY LARGO (1948)

Humphrey Bogey and Lauren Bacall captivate, John Huston’s direction hypnotizes, and Edward G. Robinson unnerves. A scintillating script about a gangster holing up in a Florida hotel during a typhoon, this romantic adventure features a first rate supporting cast and a terrific mood-setting score by Max Steiner.

“You were right. When your head says one thing, and your whole life says another, your head always loses.” Bogey to Bacall.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Peter O’Toole. I first saw this Best Picture of 1962 on TV and was disappointed. Years later I saw the restored version in a theater and was overwhelmed. Like Hitchcock, director David Lean is very visual. His work has to be seen on the big screen in order to capture all he’s saying. Look for LAWRENCE at revival houses or when re-released every ten years or so. This one’s too great to be imprisoned on television.

“It’s clean.” Peter O’Toole (Lawrence) on what attracts him to the desert.

Watch for PART TWO (“M-Z”) in the September Issue of Good News Tucson.

© 2008 Good News Tucson™