My 150 Favorite Movies - #52

The Band Wagon (1953)

Unlike some who feel that Singin' in the Rain is the ne plus ultra of 50's MGM musicals, to me The Band Wagon takes top prize. Besides the fact that it stars Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray, the score by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz soars, and the show itself, written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, has an inside showbiz irreverence that still zings. Among the now classic musical numbers are included, "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," "By Myself," and "That's Entertainment!," a number specifically written for the movie.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #53

The Godfather (1972)/The Godfather, Part II (1974)

Since I consider The Godfather and The Godfather Part II of a piece, (it was even reedited in chronological order, with deleted scenes redacted and re-released as a boxed set under the title The Godfather Epic), I am lumping them together under one number. Two of the greatest movies ever made, The Godfather, and II, respectively, made massive stars out of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, James Caan, and Robert Duvall, among others, as well as providing a mid-career resuscitation to waning superstar Marlon Brando. Based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, these films tell the story of an Italian-American crime family headed by Vito Corleone, played by Brando. Universally regarded as masterpieces, both films won Oscars for Best Picture, and also Oscars for Best Actor (Brando), Best Supporting Actor (De Niro, Part II), and Best Director (Coppola, for Part II).

My 150 Favorite Movies - #54

His Girl Friday (1940)

The rat-a-tat dialogue delivered by Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday is enough to send shivers down one's spine. Based on the play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, originally produced on Broadway in 1928, the story concerns a police reporter, leaving the paper to get a respectable job and settle down, only to get caught up in a big criminal case. The newspaper's editor would do anything to have the reporter stay with the paper. The 1940 film version made the reporter a woman and added a romantic angle. One of the first films, if not the first film to have characters talking over each other in overlapping dialogue, His Girl Friday is a prime example of American screwball comedy, and was voted #10 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Films of All Time. In 1993 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #55

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Normally, I'm not much of a fan of science fiction, but E.T. is so much more than that. It's a fantasy, a family film, but above all else, E.T. is fun. Directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace and (introducing) Drew Barrymore, E.T. surpassed Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film of all time, until overtaken by Jurassic Park, another Spielberg-directed film. The story famously revolves around a lonely young boy, played by Thomas, who befriends an alien stranded on Earth, who is attempting to return home. The story of how Elliott helps E.T. to return home makes up the bulk of the plotline. Universally acclaimed upon arrival as an instant classic, E.T. is both awe-inspiring and unforgettable.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #56

Gone with the Wind (1939)

The mother of all cinematic classics, GWTW sits at the pinnacle of that peak cinema year, 1939. Based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, it tells the story of Becky Sharp, I mean, Scarlett O'Hara, Southern belle, before, during and just after the Civil War. Volumes written about this film could fill whole libraries (especially entertaining, Memo From David O. Selznick). This film made a star out of then little known British actress Vivien Leigh, cemented Clark Gable's reputation as permanent superstar, and it won all, or almost all the prizes, including the first ever acting Oscar for an African American, Hattie McDaniel, and deservedly so. Still widely viewed 70+ years later, may it live on in the hearts of moviegoers, forever.