The AFI Top 100 Films: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (#29)

June 26, 2013June 26, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Rains Written by Sidney Buchman (screenplay) and Lewis R. Foster (story) Directed by Frank Capra The big surprise with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is how relevant it seems today. This is a movie that's nearly 75 years old, and it's talking … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (#29)

The AFI Top 100 Films: High Noon (#33)

May 15, 2013May 9, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ 1 Comment

High Noon (1952) Starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly and Lloyd Bridges Written by Carl Foreman (screenplay) and John W. Cunningham (short story) Directed by Fred Zinnemann This is another one of those movies where the behind-the-scenes story is just as good as what you see on the screen. But High Noon is included in this … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: High Noon (#33)

The AFI Top 100 Films: To Kill A Mockingbird (#34)

April 10, 2013April 8, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) Starring Gregory Peck, Mary Badham and Phillip Alford Written by Horton Foote (screenplay) and Harper Lee (novel) Directed by Robert Mulligan One of the great things about setting out to watch all 100 of the AFI's greatest American films of all time is it gives me an excellent chance to … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: To Kill A Mockingbird (#34)

The AFI Top 100 Films: It Happened One Night (#35)

April 9, 2013April 8, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

It Happened One Night (1934) Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert Written by Robert Riskin (screenplay) and Samuel Hopkins Adams (short story) Directed by Frank Capra One of the most interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits I've discovered about It Happened One Night is just how much its lead actors hated working on the film. Its distributor, Columbia … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: It Happened One Night (#35)

The AFI Top 100 Films: Midnight Cowboy (#36)

April 2, 2013April 2, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ 2 Comments

Midnight Cowboy (1969) Starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman Written by Waldo Salt (screenplay) and James Leo Herlihy (novel) Directed by John Schlesinger I have to admit it took me a little while to puzzle this one out. At the end of the Midnight Cowboy you get the sense of closure that comes when a … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Midnight Cowboy (#36)

The AFI Top 100 Films: The Best Years of Our Lives (#37)

March 22, 2013March 22, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Starring Frederic March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell and Teresa Wright Written by Robert E. Sherwood (screenplay) and MacKinlay Kantor (novel) Directed by William Wyler This is a great surprise for a number of reasons. Unlike most of the other films on the Top 100 list, I … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: The Best Years of Our Lives (#37)

The AFI Top 100 Films: Double Indemnity (#38)

March 12, 2013March 11, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

Double Indemnity (1944) Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson Written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler Directed by Billy Wilder Holy cats, do the two main characters in this movie do terrible things. That's actually what makes it so fascinating -- this is a film noir that's actually more Fargo than The … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Double Indemnity (#38)

The AFI Top 100 Films: Doctor Zhivago (#39)

March 11, 2013March 11, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Zhivago (1965) Starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin and Rod Steiger Written by Boris Pasternak (novel) and Robert Bolt (screenplay) Directed by David Lean After watching Doctor Zhivago, I found it easy to imagine why people were freaked out about communism. The movie, adapted from the Russian novel by Boris Pasternak, details the … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Doctor Zhivago (#39)

The AFI Top 100 Films: North by Northwest (#40)

February 27, 2013March 11, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

North by Northwest (1959) Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason Written by Ernest Lehman Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Cary Grant is Roger O. Thornhill, an advertising executive who has no problem with lying. During a dinner with "friends," he's abducted by two thugs and driven to a grand house in the countryside. … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: North by Northwest (#40)

The AFI Top 100 Films: West Side Story (#41)

February 21, 2013February 16, 2013 ~ Jakebe ~ Leave a comment

West Side Story (1961) Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno Written by Ernest Lehman (screenplay), Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise This movie comes with the weight of all its baggage. Granted, a lot of classic movies do, but this … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: West Side Story (#41)