Expert: Mel - 5/14/2007

Question
Hello,



I've asked several people for a list like this but they don't answer so I
figured I would try. I'm getting into classic movies and was hoping you could
recommend some must see movies. I have used AFI's top 100 movies and Oscar
winners for best movie to guide me but know that many great ones are left off so
I am looking for a list of those movies that I have to see.


Also I'm interested in the leading ladies of the time and hope you can direct me
to the best. I know people have different tastes but I have very
ecclectic tastes. Some of the favorites I've found are Katharine Hepburn, Myrna
Loy, and Jean Arthur. So I was also hoping you could give me a list of the
Actresses I should try to watch in  a significant number of roles. For this list I would like any and
all suggestions, even if they are the usual suspects.



Thank you in advance for all of your help.



Matt  

Answer
Hello Matt,

This is far too big a question to be answered well on a board like this one, but I'll list a few of my own all-time favourite films from the 30s, 40s and 50s which I would regard as essential viewing. I shall try to avoid "Citizen Kane" and other such films, but I suppose it's inevitable that some of my choices will overlap with other lists of classic movies. In doing this, I am applying a definition of "Classic" as being pre-1960 and with sound .......

Anything directed by Frank Capra
Anything directed by Preston Sturges
"This Gun For Hire" (1942)
"The Blue Dahlia" (1946)
"Paths Of Glory" (1957)
"The Glass Key" (1942)
"Shane" (1953)
"Block-Heads" (1938)
"The Searchers" (1956)
"She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" (1949)
"Stagecoach" (1939)
"I Married A Witch" (1942)
"Sullivan's Travels" (1941)
"Them Thar Hills" (1934)
"Double Indemnity" (1944)
"The Adventures Of Robin Hood" (1938)
"Frankenstein" (1931)
"Bride of Frankenstein" (1935)
"Singin' In The Rain" (1952)
"Incendiary Blonde" (1945)
"Guys and Dolls" (1955)
"Angels With Dirty Faces" (1938)
"The Ladykillers" (1955)
"Mr. Bug Goes To Town" (1941)
"The Roaring Twenties" (1939)
"Last Train From Gun Hill" (1959)
"The 39 Steps" (1935)
"Viva Zapata!" (1952)
"The Lady Vanishes" (1939)
"Du rififi chez les hommes" (1955)
"Anthony Adverse" (1936)
"We're No Angels" (1955)
"Champion" (1949)
"On the Waterfront" (1954)
"The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939)
"Sweet Smell Of Success" (1957)
"Destry Rides Again" (1939)
"On the Town" (1949)
"Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1939)
"Ace In The Hole" (1951)
"High, Wide And Handsome" (1937)
"Golden Boy" (1939)
"Love Me Tonight" (1932)
"Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hide" (1931)
"You Only Live Once" (1937)
"The Big Street" (1942)
"Twelve Angry Men" (1957)
"The Dawn Patrol" (1938)
"Detective Story" (1951)
"The Egg And I" (1947)
"The Killing" (1956)
"Pal Joey" (1957)
"It Happened One Night" (1934)
"The Far Country" (1954)
"Harvey" (1950)
"Ball Of Fire" (1941)
"The Joker Is Wild" (1957)
"Angel And The Badman" (1947)
"The Third Man" (1949)
"The Vikings" (1958)
"The Card" (1952
"Beau Geste" (1939)
"I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang" (1932)
"The Plainsman" (1936)
"Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" (1955)
"Stalag 17" (1953)
"The Thief of Bagdad" (1940)
"Union Station" (1950)
"Rachel And The Stranger" (1948)
"Things to Come" (1936)
"Suddenly" (1954)
"The Heiress" (1949)
"Shanghai Express" (1932)
"Gunga Din" (1939)
"The Big Country" (1958)
"Dead End" (1937)
"The Desperate Hours" (1955)
"Wild Boys of the Road" (1933)
"Moby Dick" (1956)
"His Girl Friday" (1940)
"The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933)
"Duel In The Sun" (1946)
"Quo Vadis" (1951)
"Topper" (1937)
"Kind Hearts And Coronets" (1949)
"Westward the Women" (1952)
"Peter Ibbetson" (1935)
"Random Harvest" (1942)
"Gunfight At The O.K. Corral" (1957)
"Waterloo Bridge" (1940)
"Union Pacific" (1939)
"The Best Years Of Our Lives" (1946)
"Bataan" (1943)
"Shall We Dance" (1937)
"Santa Fe Trail" (1940)
"If I Were King" (1938)
"The Westerner" (1940)
"The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937)
"The Prisoner of Zenda" (1952)
"The African Queen" (1951)
"The Sign of the Cross" (1932)
"The Little Hut" (1957)
"Holiday Inn" (1942)
"Camille" (1936)
"The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" (1935)
"Penny Serenade" (1941)
"The Last Hunt" (1956)
"Top Hat" (1935)
"They Died with Their Boots On" (1941)
"Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935)

As for actresses from this period, I would agree with you about Jean Arthur. I thought she was wonderful. Other favourites of mine would be Veronica Lake, Paulette Goddard and Claudette Colbert, all of whom appeared in the 1943 film "So Proudly We Hail!"

Veronica Lake is well represented in my list above in such films as "This Gun For Hire", "Sullivan's Travels", "The Glass Key", "I Married A Witch" and "The Blue Dahlia".

Paulette Goddard appeared in such films as "The Cat And The Canary" (1939), "The Ghost Hunters" (1940), "The Great Dictator" (1940), "North West Mounted Police" (1940), "Reap The Wild Wind" (1942), "Kitty" (1945) and "Unconquered" (1948).

Claudette Colbert appeared in "Cleopatra" (1934), "Drums Along The Mohawk" (1939), "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" (1938), "Boom Town" (1940), "Without Reservations" (1946), as well as several already mentioned in the list above.

Please remember that these are my personal choices and may not represent everybody's tastes. There are also probably hundreds of others that I have overlooked on this occasion, but I hope this list will be of some use to you.

Glad to be of help. Cheers.........Mel.