Top 100 Favorite Movies

             It's taken years, but I finally managed to complete posts for each title on my unofficial list of 100 favorite movies. These are my favorites, not what I'd consider the best films of all time. The list leans heavily towards Hollywood classics from the 1930s-1960s, but there are a few foreign and post-1970 outliers. There is definitely a repetitive feel to many of the posts as, in order to get through these and due to my less-than-spectacular writing skills, I used an essay-type format for most of the titles, consisting of an overview of the film, usually followed by focus on the director's work, then a breakdown of the performers, ending with a wrap-up paragraph discussing the initial public and critical reaction to the movie, along with its awards and legacy. Here is the rundown in order of preference (although if I had to stop at, say, 50 titles and couldn't take all 100 to that desert island, I might have to move some movies around), with links to the actual posts (a few films are mentioned in more than one post):

1) The Wizard of Oz (1939)

2) Psycho (1960)

3) All About Eve (1950)

4) The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

5) The Heiress (1949) and here

6) Singin' in the Rain (1952)

7) The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

8) The Lady Eve (1941)

9) A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

10) Gone with the Wind (1939)

11) Nights of Cabiria (1957)

12) Laura (1944)

13) Written on the Wind (1956)

14) The Night of the Hunter (1955)

15) The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

16) Love Me Tonight (1932)

17) Dumbo (1941)

18) Double Indemnity (1944)

19) A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

20) The Tarnished Angels (1957)

21) Leave Her to Heaven (1945) 

22) From Here to Eternity (1953)

23) Lolita (1962)

24) Tootsie (1982)

25) The Rocking Horse Winner (1949)

26) Nashville (1975)

27) You Can Count on Me (2000)

28) Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

29) Vertigo (1958)

30) Midnight (1939)

31) Duck Soup (1933)

32) Tiger Bay (1959)

33) Sunset Boulevard (1950)

34) Strangers on a Train (1951)

35) The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)

36) The Member of the Wedding (1952)

37) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

38) Casablanca (1942)

39) National Velvet (1944)

40)  8 1/2 (1963)

41) Duel in the Sun (1946)

42) Peter Pan (1953)

43) Imitation of Life (1959)

44) The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

45) Rebecca (1940)

46) The Awful Truth (1937)

47) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

48) The Apartment (1960)

49) North By Northwest (1959)

50) The Navigator (1924)

51) Rear Window (1954)

52) It Happened One Night (1934)

53) Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

54) Friendly Persuasion (1956)

55) L'Avventura (1960)

56) Oliver! (1968) and here

57) Hud (1963)

58) Roman Holiday (1953)

59) Young Frankenstein (1974)

60) The African Queen (1951)

61) The Innocents (1961)

62) The Yearling (1946)

63) Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

64) Nightmare Alley (1947)

65) Black Narcissus (1947)

66) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

67) Stalag 17 (1953)

68) The Band Wagon (1953)

69) A Summer Place (1959)

70) Charade (1963)

71) The Maltese Falcon (1941)

72) Splendor in the Grass (1961)

73) Dead of Night (1945) and here

74) Lord Love a Duck (1966)

75) Airplane! (1980)

76) The Hustler (1961)

77) Ace in the Hole (1951)

78) The Ten Commandments (1956)

79) Central Station (1998)

80) These Three (1936)

81) Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

82) Dodsworth (1936)

83) Peyton Place (1957)

84) The Rainmaker (1956)

85) Funny Girl (1968)

86) City Lights (1931)

87) The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

88) Mulholland Drive (2001)

89) Children of Paradise (1945)

90) Intruder in the Dust (1949)

91) Some Like It Hot (1959)

92) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

93) House of Wax (1953) and here

94) Forbidden Planet (1956)

95) Pillow Talk (1959)

96) The Time Machine (1960)

97) The Nutty Professor (1963)

98) Tom Jones (1963)

99) A Hard Day's Night (1964)

100) 12 Angry Men (1957)

Other (mainly classic) movies I've written about on the blog (by year):

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 & 1941)

I'm No Angel (1933)

Of Human Bondage (1934)

The Thin Man (1934)

Camille (1936)

Jesse James (1939)

The Old Maid (1939)

The Women (1939)

The Letter (1940)

Remember the Night (1940)

Kings Row (1942)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Stormy Weather (1943)

Cobra Woman (1944)

Mr. Skeffington (1944)

The Uninvited (1944)

Fallen Angel (1945)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Mother Wore Tights (1947)

Act of Violence (1948)

Beyond the Forest (1949)

Holiday Affair (1949)

White Heat (1949)

Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

Caged (1950)

Storm Warning (1950)

The Bullfighter and the Lady (1951)

Detective Story (1951)

Outcast of the Islands (1951)

A Place in the Sun (1951)

Kansas City Confidential (1952)

Son of Paleface (1952)

Stars and Stripes Forever (1952)

Kiss Me Kate (1953)

Lili (1953)

Robot Monster (1953)

The Long, Long Trailer (1954)

Woman's World (1954)

Guys and Dolls (1955)

Picnic (1955)

The Tender Trap (1955) and here

To Catch a Thief (1955)

The Bad Seed (1956)

Bigger Than Life (1956)

The Man on the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)

That Certain Feeling (1956)

Trapeze (1956)

War and Peace (1956)

Edge of the City (1957)

Island in the Sun (1957)

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

The Buccaneer (1958)

Gigi (1958)

King Creole (1958)

Some Came Running (1958)

Compulsion (1959)

Gidget (1959)

The Nun's Story (1959)

BUtterfield 8 (1960)

Elmer Gantry (1960)

West Side Story (1961)

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

Valley of the Dolls (1967)

Pretty Poison (1968)

Skidoo (1968)

Paper Moon (1973)

Jaws (1975)

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Mommie Dearest (1981)

For Your Consideration (2006)

Into the Wild (2007)

A Christmas Tale (2008)

The Wrestler (2008)

An Education (2009)

Jacques Demy Brightens the Screen with Umbrellas

 

                A lyrical, deeply moving and seminal work from 1960’s cinema, writer/director Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg from 1964 details the forlorn tale of two young lovers in three acts set from 1957-1963 with heartbreaking clarity. Taking on the musical genre in revolutionary fashion, Demy opts to unfold the story solely through the use of music and lyrics, forgoing spoken dialogue. Although this choice could render the movie as too artificial and/or gimmicky in nature, the simple but moving plot concocted by Demy, blended with a truly beautiful, inventive score by Michel Legrand set against lush on-location color cinematography by Jean Rabier proves completely captivating to willing viewers eager to become enmeshed in the film’s ultra-romantic, heartfelt and penetrating world. An impeccable cast, including the ethereally lovely Catherine Deneuve in her star-making role as Geneviève Émery, an equally alluring and touching Nino Castelnuovo as Guy Foucher, her true love and Anne Vernon as Geneviève’s worldly-wise mother, Madame Émery, bring rich characters to life with color and truth, helping the talented Demy to bring his challenging, creative endeavor to fruition with taste and conviction that leaves a lasting impression on audiences.

                Starting his film career at 29 during the onslaught of the French New Wave, Demy gained notice immediately as writer/director with his first feature, the romantic drama Lola, followed by the equally compelling Bay of Angels in 1963. Both showed Demy’s talent for vividly capturing the proper mise-en-scène for each carefully composed shot, as well as his skill in allowing the actors to work at their creative best, specifically Lola and Angels stars Anouk Aimée and Jeanne Moreau, respectively. Demy would utilize the skills he’d developed in these initial movies to reach an artistic triumph with his imaginative and focused helming of Umbrellas. Showcasing Deneuve and Castelnuovo as the ideal ultra-romantic couple, Demy powerfully illustrates Geneviève and Guy’s affair through the use of vibrant color visual designs and Legrand’s penetrating score, specifically using the haunting theme (“I Will Wait For You”) repeatedly to more impactful effect as fate plays a hand in the relationship, such as in a wrenching train station farewell and the movie’s unforgettable finale, which assures Umbrella will linger in memory for a viewer, with Demy making penetrating use of those lush musical strains and a melancholic atmosphere. After this peak, Demy would continue to turn out fanciful-yet-ambitious original works, following Umbrellas for the lighter-in-tone musical The Young Girls of Rochefort with Deneuve starring alongside her sister Françoise Dorléac, finishing the decade with the L.A. based Model Shop then returning to more fantastical fare and witnessing his biggest hit via Donkey Skin, with Deneuve in Cinderella mode. Demy proffered another notable achievement with 1982’s Une chambre en ville, before ending his filmography on yet another musical note with 1988’s Trois places pour le 26, shortly before his death in 1990 at 59.

                For Catherine Deneuve, Umbrellas would elevate her to major stardom as one of the leading players in French cinema, a position she upholds to this day. Debuting in films as a teen in 1957, Deneuve bided her time until Demy matched her up with one of her most iconic characters and, with her porcelain features and fragile, sensitive demeanor, Deneuve fills the roll of Geneviève with a subtleness and gentleness that makes a viewer emphasize with her and want to protect her from any cruel fate life throws her way. With Castelnuovo, she encapsulates an idealized version of young lovers that perfectly suits Demy’s ultra-romantic vision, making them one of the enduring couples found in 1960’s movies. After Umbrellas, Deneuve’s reputation as a gifted, instinctive screen performance would quickly grow with her stark work in 1965’s thriller Repulsion and daring, bewitching turn in Luis Buñuel’s erotically charged Belle de Jour, the same year she shown bright in a lighter vein reteaming with Demy for Rochefort. Occasionally Deneuve would work on an international scale in films such as Mayerling, The April Fools, Hustle and as a beautiful vampire in 1983’s intriguing The Hunger but primarily continue as the leading female star of French movies, with 1980’s The Last Metro and finally gaining an Oscar nomination for 1992’s epic-scale Indochine among her significant endeavors. Deneuve entered the 2000s with devastatingly effective, emotionally shattering work as Kathy in Lars von Trier’s profoundly dramatic musical Dancer in the Dark, then led an imposing cast of top female stars in 2002’s 8 Women. Further onscreen success showcasing Deneuve’s undiminished mastery of her craft include 2008’s satisfying A Christmas Tale and highly praised turns in 2013’s On My Way and 2023’s Bernadette.

Umbrellas would grant Italian-born Nino Castelnuovo the role to ensure his legacy in the annuals of film history. Starting his movie career in 1956, Castelnuovo garnered pre-Umbrellas attention primarily from an appearance in another major work of the period, Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers from 1960, then out of left field appeared opposite Annette Funicello on the Disneyland television series. With his amiable, wide-eyed innocence, mixed with a more subdued quality as things become more dire, and one of the most exquisite visages ever seen on the screen, Castelnuovo is fortuitously cast as Guy, bringing exactly the right qualities of joy and sadness to the role, while interacting with Deneuve with sincerity and focus, allowing Guy to become a highly sympathetic figure a viewer wants to see content and happy with Geneviève. Castelnuovo seemed destined for a great career as a top leading man after his breakthrough in Umbrellas; however, despite his affinity for the camera as an actor and movie star looks to rival any of his contemporaries, Castelnuovo’s filmography would witness hit-and-miss results as he toiled in movies and television, with a small part in 1996’s Oscar-winning The English Patient among his most high profile appearances in the medium before his death in 2021 at age 84.

As Madame Émery, Geneviève’s knowing, practical mother who runs the umbrella shop responsible for the film’s title, Anne Verdon brings understanding and sophistication to the role that allows the audience to grasp her motivations as, even when the character is working against her daughter’s bond with Guy, Vernon clearly conveys the concern and compassion Madame Émery holds towards Geneviève as she strives to secure a rewarding future for her offspring. As Roland, the suitor who can give Geneviève a better life, Marc Michel is earnest and benevolent recreating his role from Demy’s Lola, the title character of whom Roland refers as his lost love in Umbrellas, in a prime example of how Demy would allow aspects from his different films to merge together in a storyline. Finally, in the other chief role of Madeliene, who quietly and loyally pines for Guy until fate steps in, Ellen Farner brings a touching vulnerability and pensiveness to her movie debut, the key entry in her brief filmography. 

Released in February of 1964 in France, Umbrellas of Cherbourg would find great favor with both cinemagoers and the critics, with a win of the elite Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year helping Demy’s masterwork reach a global audience. This wide exposure allowed Umbrellas to score a rare accomplishment at the Academy Awards, as the movie managed to rate nominations in two years, with placement among the Best Foreign Language Films nominees for 1964, then for the 1965 Oscars gaining four nominations, including ones for Demy for Best Original Screenplay and (with Legrand) for Best Song (“I Will Wait for You”) and Best Music Score- Substantially Original and Legrand solely mentioned as a nominee for Scoring of Music- Adaptation or Treatment. The appeal of Umbrellas has only blossomed with time, with no less than Martin Scorsese a strong advocate of the film’s merits, helping ensure this lovely classic has continued to reach a wealth of new fans through re-releases and restorations, leading up to current excellent physical media releases on Blu-ray and 4K from Criterion and placement at #122 on the most recent esteemed Sight and Sound poll from 2022 of Cinema’s greatest movies; also, although not a Christmas-themed film overall, the finale, indelible scene is set during the yuletide season, helping make this classic an apt choice for a holiday screening.. Umbrellas’ alternately serene and distressing tale of young love at a crossroads, with one of the screen’s most memorable and melodious scores playing out amid the ornately colorful, beautiful backdrop of Cherbourg setting an exemplary romantic tonal for the graceful work of a grand cast, provides beneficial viewing for anyone interested in exploring Demy’s work via one of his most moving and creative offerings.

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine Commingle with Elan in Wilder’s Apartment

 

1960 proved a banner year in cinema, with big productions following a traditional style of moviemaking (i.e. Spartacus, From the Terrace, Swiss Family Robinson) vying for patronage with films indicating a shift of audience interest towards more mature subject matter, such as Elmer Gantry and Hitchcock’s shocking Psycho. Ideally combining aspects of both old and new cinematic styles, director/writer/producer Billy Wilder’s The Apartment manages to infuse its cynical tale featuring adultery, attempted suicide and naked ambition with elements of romance and high comedy, resulting in a deeply satisfying, moving and funny experience for viewers interested in an assessable-yet-unorthodox storyline. Wilder and his ace writing partner I.A.L. Diamond, hot off their triumph the previous year with the riotous smash hit Some Like it Hot, concocted an incisive original screenplay of wit, dramatic force and merit. Striking B&W camerawork by Joseph LaShelle, powerful score by Adolph Deutsch and an incredible cast of talented pros led by Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and an against-type Fred MacMurray allows Wilder to impressively maintain a sense of fluidity, humor and emotional depth while detailing a scenario unlike any other during the movie’s 125-minute run time.

As C.C. Baxter, the affable-yet-determined office worker looking to rise up the corporate ladder through hard work and a side hustle which entails colleagues with more status to use his title residence for their after-hours trysts, Jack Lemmon laid the blueprint for his soon-to-be superstar persona on screen as an extremely likeable everyman with whom viewers could identify with and believe, whether Lemmon was playing heroes in comedy or drama mode. Starting his film career as a leading man on a high note opposite Judy Holliday in 1954’s George Cukor-directed It Should Happen to You, Lemmon quickly rose in rank, winning his first Oscar for his impressive comedic skill in one of 1955’s biggest hits, Mister Roberts, then rising higher after his hilarious, inventive work in his initial Hot teaming with Wilder. Apartment would showcase how skillfully Lemmon could shift between pathos and comedy in a role, sometimes in the same scene. His leaning into more dramatic acting via his work as Baxter would allow Lemmon great success, with 1962’s Days of Wine and Roses finding the star pushing himself to heretofore untested dramatic depths, with several Oscar nominations and a second win for Save the Tiger bringing Lemmon recognition as one of the finest serious actors of his generation, in addition to his fame as a top comic on screen.  

Shirley MacLaine, whose screen career had been on a steady path upward since her impressive debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry in 1955, found one of her signature roles as the forlorn elevator operator Fran Kubelik, who catches Baxter’s eye, then gets to know him better under very unusual circumstances. Discovered in ‘out of nowhere’ fashion on Broadway in The Pajama Game after going on for star Carol Haney, MacLaine’s quirky, impish screen persona allowed her to grab attention in a variety of roles, including 1956’s Oscar-winning smash Around the World in Eighty Days and her riveting Oscar-nominated work as goodtime gal Ginny in Some Came Running, wherein she managed to balance comic and dramatic aspects with skill, flair and great individuality, making her a perfect fit for the multidimensional, somewhat beatnik Fran. MacLaine handles her comic lines with deft precision, while also emoting Fran’s despondency with shattering force, specifically during a Christmas Eve sequence. She has a great, friendly chemistry with Lemmon, making one root for this touching, offbeat couple. MacLaine would reteam with Lemmon and Wilder for another big hit, Irma la Douce, and carry on with one of the most diverse and successful careers in show business as both actor and writer, gaining an Oscar in the process and a rich filmography unrivaled by most of her peers.

Fred MacMurray, just around the time he was becoming one of America’s favorite father figures via Disney hits such as The Shaggy Dog and the television debut of My Three Sons later in 1960, would offer one of his most laudable portrayals in the change-of-pace role of Jeff Sheldrake, Baxter’s seemingly easy-going but arrogant, egocentric boss. Starting his career as a saxophone player before making a strong impact in 1930’s and 1940’s romantic comedies alongside the likes of Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn among others, MacMurray would largely remain in light comedies for the next couple of decades, with Wilder allowing MacMurray his best chance to show a darker side in 1944’s Double Indemnity, one of the greatest noirs and 1954’s The Caine Mutiny also displaying MacMurray in less-than-noble mode. Wilder, wanting to utilize MacMurray again for an unsavory character, pulls no punches in illustrating all the unsympathetic aspects of the part, while his star does an ace job using his established genial film persona to underline what a dishonest, chauvinistic egoist Sheldrake is at heart. MacMurray would become increasingly iconic as an amiable figure in films and television during the rest of his career, with The Apartment remaining a great example of how dramatically stirring he could be when given the right opportunity.

Jack Kruschen scored a career breakthrough as Dr. Dreyfuss, Baxter’s neighbor who figures importantly in the plot mid-film. Kruschen brings a nice gravitas to the proceedings in these compelling scenes with the two stars, while also throwing out some sage, amusing observations with a calm resourcefulness that adds dimension to the role, illustrating the wisdom and morality the doctor possesses. The talented Edie Adams also figures importantly in the story as Miss Olsen, Sheldrake’s observant secretary and former lover, making a strong impact with scant screentime. Adams had established herself on stage (winning a Tony for Li’l Abner) and television, portraying a variety of characters and offering on-point impressions of Marilyn Monroe, among others, opposite husband and television pioneer Ernie Kovacs, before her impressive Apartment impact, wherein Adams first invests Miss Olsen with a comic sensibility (especially in a drunken encounter with Fran) then, in keeping with the dynamics of the film’s overall tone, shows the character’s switch to regret, bitterness and bravery as Miss Olsen is forced to re-assess her dealings with Sheldrake, both as employer and former flame.

Hope Holiday, after Broadway work and a film debut the previous year in Li’l Abner, gains perhaps her most notable role as Margie McDougall, the wry, lackadaisical Mrs. whom Baxter picks up at a bar, using her unique raspy voice and some off-kilter line readings to create a portrait of a zany original in only a couple of scenes. Ray Walston and David White (a few years before their greater fame on t.v. in My Favorite Martian and Bewitched), David Lewis and Willard Waterman all do distinct work as the four unscrupulous colleagues vying for individual time at Baxter’s busy pad. Joan Shawlee, a year after scoring as a brassy bandleader in Hot, stands out as a switchboard operator who trysts at the apartment to open the film, and Joyce Jameson impresses early in the film in a clear take-off on Marilyn Monroe (wearing a Monroe dress from Hot), with a breathy vocal delivery that does Marilyn proud.

Released in June 1960, The Apartment was received with abundant critical praise, although a few expecting a light comedy ala Hot were taken aback by the stark, dramatic adult themes involved in the film. Audiences fully embraced Wilder’s latest acerbic offering, leading to The Apartment ending up one of the top hits of the year, eventually gaining $9,300,000 in rentals (according to Variety). The memorable theme song also resonated, with an instrumental by Ferrante & Teicher hitting Billboard’s top ten. Come awards season, Apartment racked up plenty of hosannas, placing among the top ten films of the year on Time, The New York Times and the National Board of Review lists, with MacLaine winning Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and the film, Lemmon and MacLaine taking top honors at the British Academy Awards, a feat mirrored at the Golden Globes. Wilder was cited as Best Director at the New York Film Critics (in a tie with Jack Cardiff for Sons and Lovers, the film which also tied with The Apartment for Best Motion Picture) and won outright at the Director’s Guild of America, while Wilder and Diamond won screenplays awards from New York and the Writers Guild of America.

 The Academy Awards granted the movie ten nominations (including nods to Lemmon, MacLaine and Kruschen) and five wins, three for Wilder (Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay), cementing its status as one of the most praised and profitable films of its era. Subsequent generations of filmgoers have continued to find great merit in The Apartment. A musical reworking of the material led to a 1968 Broadway hit, Promises, Promises, and the film has placed high on “All-Time” lists, entering the National Film Registry in 1994, then coming in at #93 on the AFI’s first list of Greatest Films, then moving up to #80 on the 10^th Anniversary list, and ranking as high as #14 on the esteemed Sight and Sound poll (during 2002). Over the six decades since its release, The Apartment, which also serves as an interesting choice for holiday viewing due to the story unfolding during the Christmastime to New Year’s Eve period, has lost none of its capacity to wow audiences with its adroit, persuasive blend of humor and conflict, well-earning its reputation as one of the prime entries in the screen endeavors of Wilder, his sterling cast and anyone else associated with this formidable classic.