Wednesday, May 19, 2010

100 Great Films

Many people have asked Derek for a list of his favorite films. We have spent the last 10 years watching great and not-so-great movies. Here are some (100) of our favorites. Derek says (paraphrasing Roger Ebert) a great film is one worth watching over and over again. If you have a favorite film, let us know.

100 Great Films (in chronological order)

City Lights (1931)

The Thin Man (1934) first in a series

Modern Times (1936)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Stagecoach (1939)

Brigham Young (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath (1941)

Citizen Kane (1941)

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Sergeant York (1941)

Casablanca (1942)

Pride of the Yankees (1942)

The Human Comedy (1943)

Going My Way (1944)

Laura (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

The Stranger (1946)

Notorious (1946)

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Adam’s Rib (1949)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

The Stratton Story (1949)

The Third Man (1949)

The African Queen (1951)

High Noon (1952)

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

I Confess (1953)

Stalag 17 (1953)

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

Marty (1955)

Oklahoma! (1955)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

12 Angry Men (1957)

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Defiant Ones (1958)

Vertigo (1958)

Ben-Hur (1959)

The FBI Story (1959)

North by Northwest (1959)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Charade (1963)

The Great Escape (1963)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Sound of Music (1965)

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

To Sir, with Love (1967)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

The Sting (1973)

Rocky (1976)

Star Wars (1977)

The Black Stallion (1979)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Chariots of Fire (1981)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

The Man from Snowy River (1982)

The Scarlet and the Black (1983)

The Mission (1986)

Babette’s Feast (1987)

Empire of the Sun (1987)

The Princess Bride (1987)

Little Dorrit (1988; 2008 version is also great)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Age of Innocence (1993)

Middlemarch (1994)

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Evita (1996)

Hamlet (1996)

Horatio Hornblower (1998-2003)

Our Mutual Friend (1998)

The Road Home (1999)

Wives and Daugters (1999)

David Copperfield (2000)

Joseph, King of Dreams (2000)

Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

Copenhagen (2002)

Daniel Deronda (2002)

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

Master and Commander (2003)

Love Comes Softly (2003)

North and South (2004)

Bleak House (2005)

Cranford (2007)

The 39 Steps (2008)

Australia (2008)

UP (2009)


7 comments:

  1. Hmm, a quick point and click reveals a certain clumping of time periods... Seems like you folks don't much like films made between 1960 and 1999. =)

    Totals Decade
    23 1940
    19 1950
    15 2000
    11 1960
    11 1980
    10 1990
    6 1930
    5 1970

    Sadly, I think I've seen about 5% of these movies.

    Also, no 'How to Train Your Dragon"? I would definitely watch that one several times (but maybe I don't have very refined tastes, as my 5% number would suggest).

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  2. Thank you, thank you for introducing me to this world of great movies! My family has had so much fun since October when I first watched Our Mutual Friend with you and Stacey discovering great movies together. I LOVED North and South, Little Dorrit, and Bleak House. Those three are definite favorites. Daniel Deronda was also excellent. I am happy to have suggestions for the 40s. We haven't watched any of those. You guys are the best. Thanks for being who you are. I love you!

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  3. You've been crazy busy! Wow, what a great tribute to Derek...still remember those "dreamy" letters he sent you. Of course he didn't date - he spent all his time writing your those masterpieces ;) Also, why didn't Indiana Jones make the list - the only one of my top three not on the list.

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  4. There are some on the list that I've never seen! I'll have to look them up when we're in the US this summer.

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  5. LITTLE DORRIT 2008 is amazing!

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  6. I've seen a lot of these movies and have to agree. Most of them I've seen, I've seen with you! :)

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  7. There are a few of these films I haven't seen, and I few I would throw off the list.For a start you have the wrong 39 steps, and I don't know about Bing Crosby as a priest...

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