All-Time Favorite Films

[afhickman]

Sylvia Miles in "Two Mules"?  You're not thinking of "The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday" by any chance?  She was also great in "Funhouse" and "Evil Under the Sun."

[CANSTANDIT]

Oh, I forgot about Sylvia Miles-what a great actress.


I see Dave mentioned The Grifters- a hard movie to watch, and amazingly well-acted. Its one of the few films I can stand Anjelica Houston in....

Can't forget the great Body Heat, either-'You're not too bright; I like that in a man.' (Kathleen Turner)

I keep coming up with films; it just never ends.

Thinking about James Cagney:

Foolight Parade-great old Cagney/Keeler flick, great dancing;
Torrid Zone-some great one-liners between Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Ann Sheridan-another one ahead of her time;
Roaring Twenties-a gangster heart-breaker, with Cagney, Bogart and Prisicalla Lane
City for Conquest-another Cagney/Sheridan flick-you're gonna cry, I'm telling ya
One, Two, Three-a farcical early 60's number, directed by Billy Wilder-some really funny moments.
Man of A Thousand Faces-sad back story about Lon Chaney and his wife
Ragtime-good for Cagney's late career cameos; he still had 'it'.

I share the same birthday with the late great Mr. Cagney, so he also holds a soft spot in my heart-not to mention he was an Irish New Yorker, like moi.

[Rosewood]

OK, I have no idea about all of these people you guys are talking about, so, I'd like to   

Sylvia Miles?  Jobeth Willams?  MaryKay (not as in cosmetics right?), Sandy Dennis?  Richard Burton?  Indulge me.   

Good grief! Me trying to 'educate' a soon-to-be Doctor? LOL........
Okay, here's my best shot, (and I am sooooo enjoying this!)
Sylvia Myles = Two Mules for Sister Sarah
Jobeth Williams = the Mother of CarrolAnn in Poltergiest
Mary Kay Place = The Big Chill, also a great Stage Actress
Sandy Dennis = Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Richard Burton = drunkard, 2 time Hubby of Liz Taylor, also in WAoVW.....

Does that help you at all??? 

Sylvia Miles:
MIDNIGHT COWBOY, EVIL UNDER THE SUN, also
an art and fashion fixture on the NY scene for many years,
something to do with Andy Warhol's mob as well.

Jobeth Williams:
Fabulous (!) in AMERICAN DREAMER as well as other films.

Mary Kay Place:
Still working, you see her occasionally in TV, she was also,
to my mind essential in that old series on tv with the two names - anyone remember?
Mary something or other!, Mary something or other! Quite groundbreaking in its time.
Remember '...condos for Christ'? It starred an actress who was with Woody Allen
at the time. Was it? - MARY HARTMAN!, MARY HARTMAN!....something like that
Or is that the woman from Entertainment Tonight?
I'm foundering here...What was the name of that damned show??
It was shot on tape.

Sandy Dennis:
Starred in an iconic gay film, THE FOX.
Also great stage actress. Made many films in the 70's and, I think, into the
80's. Passed away a few years ago.

Richard Burton:
One of the greatest stage actors of his generation. Sometimes considered to have
sold out for a big (though mediocre) screen career. Starred in the infamous CLEOPATRA
with Liz Taylor. Wonderful in THE ROBE with Jean Simmons. Also in THE SPY WHO CAME
IN FROM THE COLD, if I remember correctly. Many other films as well.

I was lucky enough to meet him in the mid-sixties for an unforgettable few moments.
And I can tell you that unique voice of his was just as spendid in real life as it was on film.
I was especially priviledged to see him on stage in HAMLET. Amazing, unforgettable
performance. This guy could have been a MAJOR super star, but, in my opinion,
drink and fame eroded his talents.

Richard Burton (actually, Sir Richard Francis Burton) was also the name of a famed 19th century
explorer who traveled far and wide through India and Africa (traverersed the Nile with Speke)
and other exotic lands. He was the first white man to travel to Mecca undetected.
(An offense punishable by instant death.)
An enigmatic man who always seemed to be absorbed into the cultures he explored.
He also, if I'm not mistaken, was the first to translate the tales of the Arabian Nights.
A fascinating man, quite independent of the actor Richard Burton.
Just thought I'd mention him as well.

[Nikki]

I've seen and loved many of the films you guys listed here -- won't repeat them all!!  BUT --- is it me, or did no one list Casablanca -- one of my all time favorites; I could watch over and over -- and have done.  Oh yeah, Dracula (with Bela as the count -- "no thanik you, I do not drink wine!"), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney,Jr.).

[garyd]

I've seen and loved many of the films you guys listed here -- won't repeat them all!!  BUT --- is it me, or did no one list Casablanca -- one of my all time favorites; I could watch over and over -- and have done.  Oh yeah, Dracula (with Bela as the count -- "no thanik you, I do not drink wine!"), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney,Jr.).

No, take another look, I think "Casablanca" is on just about everybody's list.  Almost impossible not to include it, such a classic love story, AND even most guys will admit to liking it. 

[garyd]

OK, I have no idea about all of these people you guys are talking about, so, I'd like to   

Sylvia Miles?  Jobeth Willams?  MaryKay (not as in cosmetics right?), Sandy Dennis?  Richard Burton?  Indulge me.   

Adrian, Adrian, Adrian....my niece, also a medical student, is in the same boat.  She is interning or residenting , or whatever it is called these days, just outside of New York and whenever I am there she insists we get together for dinner and  movie or a play.   Great fun for both of us. My youngest son, the computer engineer, was subjected to all of this his entire life and claims that he may be the only guy in his development group that can even spell Sondheim much less be able to discuss most of his work. 
My point is, it seems so many people these days are so caught up in their very demanding education that there is no time for literature, film, theatre, music.  I can certainly understand why.  Medicine, engineering, finance...they require such intense, all encompassing attention that there is little time for anything else.
Anyway, aren't you on the East Coast.?  Perhaps you would like to join us sometime.

Rent the DVD of a movie entitled "Sweet November"  It has been re-made recently.  Don't get the remake.  Get the original.  It stars Sandy Dennis.  She is great though some found her mannerisms annoying.  Sylvia Miles....rent "Midnight Cowboy"..  Richard Burton..."Virginia Woolf" (Sandy Dennis is in it also and at her very best)   "Beckett",, "Ann of A Thousand Days", "The Sandpiper"(which is the one he made to pay for one of Taylors' diamonds) and for a real hoot, find the original Broadway cast recording of "Camelot".  He plays King Arthur. 

[CANSTANDIT]

Sandy D is also excellent in Up the Down Staircase; for some fluff see Richard Burton in Exorcist II: The Heretic. Dig the ka-zu-zu!!

 

and for Sandy at her comic best, try The Out of Towners with Jack Lemmon-between the two of them, you'll be laughing ALOT.
Its a classic New York against the visitors flick.....

[Nikki]

I've seen and loved many of the films you guys listed here -- won't repeat them all!!  BUT --- is it me, or did no one list Casablanca -- one of my all time favorites; I could watch over and over -- and have done.  Oh yeah, Dracula (with Bela as the count -- "no thanik you, I do not drink wine!"), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney,Jr.).

No, take another look, I think "Casablanca" is on just about everybody's list.  Almost impossible not to include it, such a classic love story, AND even most guys will admit to liking it. 

OK thanks -- must have overlooked it in my haste!

[Rosewood]

I've seen and loved many of the films you guys listed here -- won't repeat them all!!  BUT --- is it me, or did no one list Casablanca -- one of my all time favorites; I could watch over and over -- and have done.  Oh yeah, Dracula (with Bela as the count -- "no thanik you, I do not drink wine!"), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney,Jr.).

No, take another look, I think "Casablanca" is on just about everybody's list.  Almost impossible not to include it, such a classic love story, AND even most guys will admit to liking it. 

OK thanks -- must have overlooked it in my haste!

I am a heretic.
Having seen CASABLANCA over and over in my earlier years, I somehow seem to have been weaned of
the need to see it again. Possibly because I am not neither the world's biggest Bogart or Bergman fan.
And Paul Henreid always gave me the utter creeps.

I did LOVE Bergman in the Hitchcock film she made with Cary Grant. The one in which she infiltrates a family
of Nazi sympathizers in South America. The ending is unbearable for its tension. (Forgot the title.)

My favorite Bogart film is the almost impossible to locate: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT.

[Nikki]

I've seen and loved many of the films you guys listed here -- won't repeat them all!!  BUT --- is it me, or did no one list Casablanca -- one of my all time favorites; I could watch over and over -- and have done.  Oh yeah, Dracula (with Bela as the count -- "no thanik you, I do not drink wine!"), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney,Jr.).

No, take another look, I think "Casablanca" is on just about everybody's list.  Almost impossible not to include it, such a classic love story, AND even most guys will admit to liking it. 

OK thanks -- must have overlooked it in my haste!

I am a heretic.
Having seen CASABLANCA over and over in my earlier years, I somehow seem to have been weaned of
the need to see it again. Possibly because I am not neither the world's biggest Bogart or Bergman fan.
And Paul Henreid always gave me the utter creeps.

I did LOVE Bergman in the Hitchcock film she made with Cary Grant. The one in which she infiltrates a family
of Nazi sympathizers in South America. The ending is unbearable for its tension. (Forgot the title.)

My favorite Bogart film is the almost impossible to locate: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT.

Oh Rosewood, I loved Paul Henreid -- especially in 'Now, Voyager' --  remember when he lit the two cigarettes?  -- forgot to mention that as favorite film!

The Nazi film with Bergman/Grant was 'Notorious' -- great kiss between Grant/Bergman - loved it!

That's why I didin't post on here -- too many favorites!

[garyd]

I've seen and loved many of the films you guys listed here -- won't repeat them all!!  BUT --- is it me, or did no one list Casablanca -- one of my all time favorites; I could watch over and over -- and have done.  Oh yeah, Dracula (with Bela as the count -- "no thanik you, I do not drink wine!"), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney,Jr.).

No, take another look, I think "Casablanca" is on just about everybody's list.  Almost impossible not to include it, such a classic love story, AND even most guys will admit to liking it. 

OK thanks -- must have overlooked it in my haste!

I am a heretic.
Having seen CASABLANCA over and over in my earlier years, I somehow seem to have been weaned of
the need to see it again. Possibly because I am not neither the world's biggest Bogart or Bergman fan.
And Paul Henreid always gave me the utter creeps.

I did LOVE Bergman in the Hitchcock film she made with Cary Grant. The one in which she infiltrates a family
of Nazi sympathizers in South America. The ending is unbearable for its tension. (Forgot the title.)

My favorite Bogart film is the almost impossible to locate: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT.

I think you are thinking of "Notorious".
I can still watch  "Casablanca" just for the atmosphere perhaps.
I always had trouble with the timeline.  Anyone else?
Just how long has Rick been in Casablanca when Ingrid shows up?
Long enuf to open the nightclub and establish himself prety well.
But where have Ingrid and creepy PH been since the fall of Paris?   

[oilgun]

Sandy D is also excellent in Up the Down Staircase; for some fluff see Richard Burton in Exorcist II: The Heretic. Dig the ka-zu-zu!!

 

and for Sandy at her comic best, try The Out of Towners with Jack Lemmon-between the two of them, you'll be laughing ALOT.
Its a classic New York against the visitors flick.....

I LOVED Sandy Dennis in Come Back to the Five & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean!  What a glorious camp fest that movie is:  Cher, Karen Black, Sandy D with all her wonderfully bizarre tics and muh-muh-muh-mannerisms, Kathy Bates in western gear!  And James Dean's love child!  I can't believe I don't own a copy!

[daannzzz]

Sandy D is also excellent in Up the Down Staircase; for some fluff see Richard Burton in Exorcist II: The Heretic. Dig the ka-zu-zu!!

 

and for Sandy at her comic best, try The Out of Towners with Jack Lemmon-between the two of them, you'll be laughing ALOT.
Its a classic New York against the visitors flick.....

I LOVED Sandy Dennis in Come Back to the Five & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean!  What a glorious camp fest that movie is:  Cher, Karen Black, Sandy D with all her wonderfully bizarre tics and muh-muh-muh-mannerisms, Kathy Bates in western gear!  And James Dean's love child!  I can't believe I don't own a copy!

I have seen this a few times and really loved it. Have watched it with a ocuple different people who hated it, i think mainly because it is all talk and now action.   The performances are all excellent and being as dense as I am I had no idea what was coming!  Sudi Bond was wonderful.

[graylockV]

I love Ingrid Bergman. 

Remember her in Gaslight - the one where Charles Boyer plays her husband who tries to drive her nuts?  (And take note of a very young Angela Lansbury as the maid with the cockney accent.)

[CANSTANDIT]

I just rememberd Kiss of the Spider Woman.....what an ending! Two beautiful actors doing so tenderly what it took another 20 or so years for Heath and Jack to do on screen.....did we all just forget about this movie? I can still remember seeing it with my sis and the two of us in tears at the end.