Favorite Films (lists up to participating site members)

[Jonathan H]

I absolutely adore Russell's "Tommy" (1975)

And the "Lair of the White Worm" (1988) is a guilty pleasure too.

[Mayerling]

Jeff, it's years since I saw this and I can't remember how much cricket there was in it :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_...ket_(1949_film)

Thanks Robert. I read the Wikipedia article. It looks like an amusing film at that. By the way, since Radford and Wayne are the stars of it, I recall their great desire to get back to England for the test match in "The Lady Vanishes".

Jeff

[Mayerling]

Movie about cricket:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagaan

Thanks Penhalion.

[Mayerling]

Time for a new list .. Again.. mine are never in any " order"

how about favorite Film Noir?

1- Stranger on the Third Floor
2- Journey into Fear
3- While the City Sleeps
4- Dead Reckoning
5- Detour
6- The Stranger
7- D.O.A
8- Dark PAssage
9- The Naked City
10- Double Indemnity
11- Key Largo
12- White Heat
13- Angles With Dirty Faces
14 - The Blue Dahlia
15- Shadow of a Doubt
16- The Asphalt Jungle
17- Sunset Boulevard
18- the Maltese Falcon
19- M
20- the Wrong Man
21- He Walked By Night

again.. I could go on and on but I think this is a good start

Steadmund Brand-

Let's see: Film Noir

1) Double Indemnity
2) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
3) The Maltese Falcon
4) The Big Sleep (1946)
5) The Lady in the Lake
6) This Gun For Hire
7) The Blue Dahlia
8) The Glass Key (1944)
9) Farewell My Lovely (1947)
10) He Walked By Night
11) Touch of Evil
12) The Lady From Shanghai
13) I Wake Up Screaming / Hot Spot - this was Laird Cregar's most frightening role: A smart, dangerous police detective.
14) Conflict (had to add this one - only Bogart - Greenstreet confrontation where Sidney is the good guy)
15) The Lodger (1944)
16) Hangover Square (1944)
17) The Night Has 1000 Eyes (one underrated Robinson flick - from Cornell Woolrich)
18) Kansas City Confidential
19) Union Station
20) Laura (Clifton Webb's great first appearance - and he dominates from the opening words)
21) The Dark Corner
22) Lady On a Train (Surprisingly an amusing, part musical noir with Deanna Durbin)
23) Notorious
24) Shadow of a Doubt
25) Strangers on a Train
26) Rear Window
27) Vertigo

There are others - many others

Jeff

[Mayerling]

One day I was watching Lisztomania (probably my favorite of his films..... I did learn it WAS NOT one of his favorites ) and I thought to myself... I must write this man ( this was the days before the Internet was common... we actually wrote letters.. put them in envelopes and put international stamps on them and mailed them.... (young people would never understand this) and it would take several days/weeks to reach someone....), Anyway.. I went to a public library ( remember those ) and found a Who's Who directory... Looked him up and wrote him... a few months later I received a letter back, in which he asked I write again... so I did... and this went on for many years... ( he once sent me the press kit and poster for Lisztomania as well...as he knew I loved the film)... he was quite a guy

Steadmund Brand

Interesting Steadmund. I had a similar experience getting to become a friend of Jonathan Goodman.

Jon wrote a book like "Who's Who" about names we get to know without enquiring who the original was (like the London food establishment, "Fortnum & Mason"). It's a wonderful book, but in it was a particularly piece of out-and-out hokum.

Jon was certainly interested in writing and examining great crimes, but he had a degree of, shall we say, "weariness" about how the fascinating case this website is basically about had degenerated into a guessing game, "Name the Ripper!" So he purposely put in a fictitious entry and biography for one "Peter J. Hardpick" (which is an anagram for "Jack the Ripper". It is an amusing pastiche on biographical squibs, with Jon letting a clever reader in on the joke by dropping allusions to fictitious names in fiction and fact (such as one of Hardpick's teachers was a "William Bunbury", a reference to the fictitious invalid friend of Algernon in "The Importance of Being Earnest").

Well it is brilliant when one understands what Jon was doing. Unfortunately I did not quite understand what he was doing. He came up with his theory of why his "candidate" was the Ripper - Hardpick hated his mother, and disliked women who had an "A" in their names (Mary, Annie, Catherine, Elizabeth, Mary). I read this, thinking he was serious. Prior to this I had read three of his books, and was deeply impressed by his research. So, I wrote a letter to Jon, basically saying (politely, of course) "are you for real about this theory?!" Jon was nice enough to answer and let me in on the joke. I responded. A correspondence began, and eventually we met many times.

By the way, Jon said that several people actually took him seriously and asked him for more leads on Mr. Hardpick.

Jeff

[Robert]

Hi Jeff

Yes, and when Radford and Wayne finally get back to England, they find the test match has been rained off.

In Night Train to Munich the running gag is that Radford has left his golf clubs in Germany, and spends part of the film trying to recover them.

There's a brief but amusing mention of cricket in A Matter of Life and Death during the legal hearing in heaven when Massey, the American attorney, tries to land a knockout blow by asking the Judge for a radio so that all might hear the voice of England. On comes the droning voice of a cricket commentator describing the final day of a test match. However, the Englishmen in the courtroom gather round the radio with deep interest. Livesey, Niven's attorney, replies to Massey by changing radio stations and announcing the voice of America, and we hear what sounds like a young Sinatra singing 'choo choo choo, baby.'

[lynn cates]

eternity

Hello Jeff. What about "Back from Eternity"?

Cheers.
LC

[Robert]

Are you talking about cricket, Lynn?

Regards

GBS

[Steadmund Brand]

Let's see: Film Noir

1) Double Indemnity
2) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
3) The Maltese Falcon
4) The Big Sleep (1946)
5) The Lady in the Lake
6) This Gun For Hire
7) The Blue Dahlia
8) The Glass Key (1944)
9) Farewell My Lovely (1947)
10) He Walked By Night
11) Touch of Evil
12) The Lady From Shanghai
13) I Wake Up Screaming / Hot Spot - this was Laird Cregar's most frightening role: A smart, dangerous police detective.
14) Conflict (had to add this one - only Bogart - Greenstreet confrontation where Sidney is the good guy)
15) The Lodger (1944)
16) Hangover Square (1944)
17) The Night Has 1000 Eyes (one underrated Robinson flick - from Cornell Woolrich)
18) Kansas City Confidential
19) Union Station
20) Laura (Clifton Webb's great first appearance - and he dominates from the opening words)
21) The Dark Corner
22) Lady On a Train (Surprisingly an amusing, part musical noir with Deanna Durbin)
23) Notorious
24) Shadow of a Doubt
25) Strangers on a Train
26) Rear Window
27) Vertigo

There are others - many others

Jeff

GREAT LIST!!!!

I can't believe I left off The big Sleep... shame on me ( but hey.. list was off the top of my head so....)

Thank you for mentioning Conflict... this is a film I have yet to see, and now I'll look for it ( see this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted this thread to do )

what should the next list be? any suggestions anyone.. let’s pick a genre... and please folks keep the lists coming... I know I for one am learning quite a bit and I hope others are as well.


Steadmund Brand

P.S. Now I must look up Jonathan Goodman as well that is a great story!!!!

[Robert]

Musicals?

My Fair Lady
Oliver
Mary Poppins
The Wizard of Oz
Calamity Jane
The King and I

[MrBarnett]

Robert,

Pretty much my own list, with exception of The King and I.

Can I substitute Way Out West or one of the Road To movies? Not strictly musicals but they contain songs and are very funny.

Gary .

[Robert]

Hi Gary

Make whatever list you like. My own lists aren't exhaustive, just off the top of my head. If I had to choose my absolute favourites in order of preference, I'd still be pondering 20 years from now.

[Abby Normal]

Musicals?

My Fair Lady
Oliver
Mary Poppins
The Wizard of Oz
Calamity Jane
The King and I

The Sound of Music
West side story
Absolute Beginners

[Mayerling]

Hi Jeff

Yes, and when Radford and Wayne finally get back to England, they find the test match has been rained off.

In Night Train to Munich the running gag is that Radford has left his golf clubs in Germany, and spends part of the film trying to recover them.

There's a brief but amusing mention of cricket in A Matter of Life and Death during the legal hearing in heaven when Massey, the American attorney, tries to land a knockout blow by asking the Judge for a radio so that all might hear the voice of England. On comes the droning voice of a cricket commentator describing the final day of a test match. However, the Englishmen in the courtroom gather round the radio with deep interest. Livesey, Niven's attorney, replies to Massey by changing radio stations and announcing the voice of America, and we hear what sounds like a young Sinatra singing 'choo choo choo, baby.'

Hi Robert,

I recall that scene in "A Matter of Life and Death" ("Stairway to Heaven" here in the U.S.), but never could understand the subject matter of the English radio broadcast. I do remember how Massey is asked if he understands "the voice of America", looks perplexed, shakes his head, and admits he doesn't know what is the meaning of the words.

As for Radford and Wayne and golf, in "Dead of Night" they appear in the only comic tale of that anthology, where they are rivals over a female they meet on the golf course, and the death of Wayne is caused by Radford lying about how he scored on a previous hole - so Wayne proceeds to haunt Radford.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

Hello Jeff. What about "Back from Eternity"?

Cheers.
LC

Hi Lynn,

I never saw "Back from Eternity". What year was it made, and who appeared in it?

Jeff