The WordPress/JetPack writing prompt for today is:
Favourite Movie of All Time?
One favourite film? When it comes to things like film, singular concepts like “favourite” fail to fit my paradigm. I have a multitude of opinions. So here we go:
Casablanca (1942)
Set during the still-ongoing Second World War, with Nazi Germany rampaging across Europe, freedom fighters, jewish families, and anyone else trying to get away, are being funneled through Vichy France’s colony in Morocco.
Many of these people need less-than-legal ways to flee to safety, which leads them to Rick’s Cafe Americain, where a former mercenary holds shop. Rick’s antipathy to the war is shattered when his ex-girlfriend Ilsa shows up, married to a very important fugitive.
The cinematography on this film is amazing. Even though the film is black and white, you can sense the colours.
The script created any number of memes long before memes were a thing, including “We’ll always have Paris,” “This is the start of a beautiful friendship,” and yes, “Play it again, Sam,” which is actually spoken by Ilsa and not Rick, as the memes suggest.
And the cast? Ingrid Bergman at the height of her beauty. Humphrey Bogart as the most wound-up still person you’ve seen….
Related: Lost Horizon (1937) Set during the boxer rebellion in China, this film, about a plane full of American refugees getting lost in the Himalayas does not survive intact. Instead we have most of it, with sound for some of the missing pieces, that get filled in with still frames. The survivors of the plane crash end up in and idyllic, ageless valley called Shangri-La (yep, that’s were western culture gets the word from). There are some problems viewing today, with white people playing Asians and other stereotypes that have not aged well.
Star Wars (1977)
George Lucas’ little film that even he expected to bomb absolutely changed my world, and the whole entertainment industry. From the rousing score toe the merchandizing, not just cinema but economics were never the same. if you’ve ever enjoyed a big spectacle film – dinosaurs or monsters or spaceships, you owe it to this little movie. Please note that Star Wars (released in 1977) is thematically different from Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, released in 1982. The ‘enhanced’ special edition of that imperfect 1977 gem does not need to be discussed.
Related: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Rogue One (2016), and the TV show Andor (2020-2025). Created by different people in different decades, the sequence of watching Andor (both seasons) followed immediately by Rogue One, Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back is one of the strongest story-telling experiences in modern American cinema.
Metropolis (1927)
Fritz Lang’s silent black and white masterpiece, released in 1927, set the tone and style for Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers a decade later, while being a dystopian love story mixed with a class war. The richest man alive has built an android that can pass for human, and he’s using it to replace a union organizer and subvert a reckoning. Even as the visual effects were stunning for the day, the message was what made the film eternal.
Related: Blade Runner (1982). Ridley Scott’s moody take on synthetic humans rebelling against their defined and limited lives is at least a spiritual successor to Metropolis if not a sequel.
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
There once was a director named Frank Capra. He made some very good movies, among them Lost Horizon (mentioned above) and It’s a Wonderful Life. Capra made movies of optimism, of the little guy struggling against insurmountable odds. His movies acquired the nickname Capri-corns, as in another corny film by Frank Capra.
This incredibly famous Christmas movie, filmed only a year after World War II ended, wasn’t actually a successful film when first released. It became a staple of independent TV stations until eventually it became a Christmas day must.
Oh, the plot? A good man (played by US war hero Jimmy Stewart) tries to commit suicide on Christmas Eve, an angel sets out to save him. It’s a Frank Capra film, so you know it ends well.
Related: Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939) An even younger Frank Capra made a movie with an even younger, pre-war Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy, the titular Mr. Smith, is appointed senator after one dies. This Boy Scout leader is expected to go along with the corruption around him, and when he rebels, the powers that be conspire to make him take the fall for everything that’s ever gone wrong in his state. It’s the original Capri-corn so of course it has a happy ending.
I know that, with the exception of Metropolis (made in Germany), this is a very American-centric list. As a Canadian I’ll apologize for that.
Any thoughts or comments?
How did I forget The Princess Bride (1987)? If you haven’t seen this romantic comedy adventure about a kidnapped princess and her pirate boyfriend’s efforts to free her, you really should. It’s amazing. and just like Casablanca, it’s made many memes.