This list is part of my Top Ten project covering films released before I began writing this blog. The entries below are unranked. And because it might be a long while until the next installment, thanks for reading.
The Wizard of Oz - If you haven't been to see the Wizard lately, it's worth taking a trip back to Oz and visiting old friends. The film's Technicolor charms are as delightful as they always were. The songs remain irresistible earworms, and the actors' enthusiasm is infectious. On my latest rewatch Frank Morgan stood out, one of those dependable character actors who was in everything in the '30s and '40s, and is so immediately memorable.
Gone With the Wind - This was a film I had to warm up to over time, and though aspects of it have aged badly over the years - to the point that I'd never recommend this to the uninformed - the will-they-won't-they romance of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler still holds up just fine. Scarlett in particular is such a fascinating character, an unusually strong heroine with challenging faults and an irrepressible spirit. Love her or hate her, you have to give her her due.
Ninotchka - "Garbo Laughs!" I've written several times about "Ninotchka," the only film where Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder crossed paths with Greta Garbo, and subverted her usual, very serious screen persona to very good effect. I will never understand why Garbo didn't do more comedy, as her deadpan delivery of so many iconic lines is absolutely priceless. Then again, once you worked with Lubitsch and Wilder, could anything else compare?
The Rules of the Game - I don't think I'm French enough to really get the full effect of the social satire on display here, but I admire Jean Renoir's filmmaking to bits. There are shots and sequences in the film that are still astonishing to see play out, and images that aren't easily forgotten. Among the performers, it's ironically Jean Renoir himself that I regard the most fondly, playing a hapless guest who never quite manages to find his footing in the love game.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Features one of the most iconic Jimmy Stewart roles, Jefferson Smith, and an idealistic view of the American government that comes across as rather poignant today. I wish all of our problems could be solved with inspirational speeches and appeals to man's better nature. Despite its earnestness, this is one of Frank Capra's less sentimental pictures, spending as much time criticizing the state of American politics as it does lauding it.
At the Circus - I am not a complicated person. "At the Circus" is my favorite Marx brothers film because it's the one where Harpo hangs out with a seal, the orchestra floats out to sea, there are circus hijinks galore, and Groucho sings "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." I have no idea why this is considered one of their lesser comedy works, but then again nostalgia is doing a lot here. I respond to physical gags more than '30s patter, and this movie has some of their best.
Confessions of a Nazi Spy - Considered one of the first anti-Nazi Hollywood projects, and fairly controversial when it was first released. Though billed as an espionage story, this is really an examination of Nazi recruitment efforts among German Americans. Alas, the film has proven to be very timely, especially its depiction of how the Nazis used propaganda and misinformation tactics to spread their influence. It's still one of the better depictions of the U.S. lead-up to WWII.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex - One of my favorite showbiz stories is the one about Bette Davis watching a screening of this film decades after its release, and grudgingly admitting she was wrong about the performance of her co-star, Errol Flynn. Davis and Flynn are an odd couple onscreen, but it's an odd couple that shines, with Davis giving the portrayal of Elizabeth the authenticity that it needed, while Flynn livened up the proceedings with his matinee idol charm.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A very Hollywood adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel, but one that gives us an iconic Charles Laughton performance as Quasimodo and a lively supporting cast, including Maureen O'Hara in her breakout role. RKO overspent on the production but it was worth it. Part Gothic thriller and part adventure spectacle, this is still the best screen "Hunchback" by a considerable margin.
Bachelor Mother - Ginger Rogers stars as a loveable shop girl who mistakenly ends up as the new mother of a foundling, with David Niven as her love interest. It's a fun workplace and romantic farce, surprisingly featuring an army of Donald Duck figurines in a major role. And I don't know which is cuter - the baby or Charles Coburn jumping at the chance to be the little tyke's grandfather.
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