My Top 25 Classic Films

[betweensunandmoon]

This list is probably horribly predictable, and it may change tomorrow or the day after that, but as of right now, here are my twenty-five favorite pre-1960s movies arranged in chronological order.

Captain Blood (1935)
G-Men (1935)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Cover Girl (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Razor's Edge (1946)
Key Largo (1948)
Prince of Foxes (1948)
White Heat (1949)
Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
The Crimson Pirate (1952)
Scaramouche (1952)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Julius Caesar (1953)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
On The Waterfront (1954)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
Funny Face (1957)

Comments

[igenlode]

Yes, I found "The Flame and the Arrow" disappointing, too; given the Burt Lancaster/Nick Cravat pairing I was hoping for a second "Crimson Pirate", but it really isn't nearly so good. Not sure why.

You find Basil Rathbone sexually attractive...?

I mean, I love characters who *look* intelligent (which is why I was a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch for years before he became famous; not so much now he has been declared officially 'sexy' and "Sherlock" has turned into a parody of itself), but I wouldn't say that William Hartnell, Peter Cushing, et al. were obvious heartthrobs. I just happen to like faces with strong cheekbones and deepset eyes (that resemble mine :-p)

[betweensunandmoon]

You find Basil Rathbone sexually attractive...?

Yes. :P

I don't know if it was so much the way he looked as the way he walked and talked; he always seemed calm and sophisticated and in control, even when playing a hot-headed character like Tybalt. Whatever it was, I found it sexy.

(which is why I was a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch for years before he became famous; not so much now he has been declared officially 'sexy' and "Sherlock" has turned into a parody of itself)

I've considered watching that show, but never got around to it. What happened?

I've never understood the term "heartthrob"; it sounds more like an indicator of a serious medical condition than an attractive man.

I just happen to like faces with strong cheekbones and deepset eyes (that resemble mine :-p)

Bet you're a handsome devil. :P

[igenlode]

I've considered watching that show, but never got around to it. What happened?

"Sherlock" started off as a brilliant modern update of Sherlock Holmes, with Watson as an army medical man just returned from Afghanistan (oh, the irony of history) who is writing up Holmes' cases for his blog, and Holmes as a tech wizard who annoys Lestrade by sending disparaging text messages to everyone in a press conference simultaneously (while Lestrade is addressing it), with Holmes solving actual cases composed of clever sidelong references to the canon stories: http://archive.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2010/10/22/sherlock_holmes_in_a_strange_and_brilliant_take_as_a_pbs_series/

Unfortunately I still think the first episode of the first series was the best of *any* of them (though perhaps that's nostalgia speaking)

The updated Moriarty and 'archenemy' strand never worked very well for me (I really can't see Moriarty as a giggling young psychopath), although the 'Reichenbach fall' was clever. (Moriarty comes up with a way to destroy Sherlock's reputation by making it look as if he has faked his cases, thus causing him to fall in the eyes of the press.)

And with the third series it started turning into over-the-top soap opera about Sherlock's family relationships and childhood traumas and deceptions in the Watson marriage -- by this point they were hardly featuring actual cases at all, so far as I remember. The final episode, featuring elaborate games being set up for Sherlock to solve by the evil genius little sister whose existence he had conveniently wiped from his memory, was just pretty silly. I'm not sure where on earth they can go from there, if ever they do a fifth series (increasingly unlikely now, I think, with everyone involved committed elsewhere), but not back to the uncomplicated and fiercely intellectual 'consulting detective' episodes of the beginning. It's not that those first episodes weren't emotionally involved, because they *were* ("A Study in Pink" is simultaneously hilarious, nail-biting, and deeply touching -- one of the few TV episodes where I've actually wanted to cheer at the screen). They just weren't all *about* 'Sherlock trying to cope with emotions' at the expense of his dignity and self-possession and the viewer's intelligence. Frankly, my suspicion is that the writers found coming up with actual crime mysteries too difficult and went for self-indulgent whizz-bang conspiracies instead...

I just happen to like faces with strong cheekbones and deepset eyes (that resemble mine :-p)

https://www.deviantart.com/igenlode/art/Self-portrait-with-moustache-401234324