Favorite Movies

I have been a lover of movies ever since I was a young boy growing up in the late 1940’s in the small Midwestern city of Topeka, Kansas.  I have seen many thousands of movies, everything from cowboy and western movies, to dramas, comedies and musicals.  I love them all.  Admittedly, there is a big difference between just movies and good and great movies.  I don’t claim to be a movie critic but I do know what I like and don’t like.  The movies I like and love are those that have held up over the years.  No matter how much time goes by before I see them again, they are always just as good and I continue to enjoy and appreciate them. The following movies are those that fit my description of what makes a good and great movie.  Many of these movies have won academy awards, and deservedly so, but others that haven’t are just as wonderful.  But like all “best of” lists, these are only mine.  I’m sure other individuals have their own favorites.  Nevertheless, I do encourage who ever reads my list to watch these movies if you haven’t already done so and to add them to your list if you end up liking them as much as I do.

My movies are arranged by the year they were released and I name only the main actors and actresses.

  • Green Book (2018), Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali
  • Lincoln (2012) Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader
  • Pride And Prejudice (2005), Kiera Knightly, Matthew MacFayden, Donald Southerland
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998) Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
  • Tombstone (1993) Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott, Val Kilmer, Dana Delaney
  • Cinema Paradiso (1988), Salvatore Cascio, Philippe Noiret, Jacque Perrin, Marc Leonardi, Agnese Nano 
  • Platoon (1986) Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, William DaFoe
  • Ghandi (1982) Ben Kingsley, Roshan Seth, Martin Sheen, Candace Bergen
  • Chariots of Fire (1981), Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Alice Krige 
  • Ordinary People (1980), Timothy Hutton, Donald Southerland, Mary Tyler Moore
  • All The President’s Men (1976) Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook
  • Jaws (1975) Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw 
  • Godfather II (1974) Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall
  • Chinatown (1974) Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
  • American Graffiti (1973) Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul LeMat, Harrison Ford
  • Godfather (1972), Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall  
  • Deliverance (1972), Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Day
  • Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Chaim Topal, Paul Michael Glaser, Norma Crane, Molly Picon, Leonard Frey, Rosalind Harris, Paul Mann
  • Patton (1970) George C. Scott, Karl Malden
  • The Wild Bunch (1969) William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
  • Midnight Cowboy (1969) Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Brenda Vaccaro 
  • Romeo and Juliet (1968), Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, Michael York
  • The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway
  • Dr. Zhivago (1965) Omar Shariff, Julie Christie, Rod Stieger, Alex Guiness
  • King Rat (1965) George Segal, James Fox
  • Lilies of the Field (1963) Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala
  • Hud (1963) Paul Newman, Brandon de Wilde, Patricia Neal, Melvyn Douglas
  • To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Robert Duvall
  • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guiness
  • West Side Story (1961), Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Ned Glass
  • Ben Hur (1959) Charleston Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith
  • Vertigo (1958) James Stewart, Kim Novak
  • Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) William Holden, Alec Guiness, Sessue Hayakawa
  • 12 Angry Men (1957) Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden
  • Giant (1956) Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Chill Wills, James Dean
  • East of Eden (1955) James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey 
  • Rebel Without A Cause (1955) James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
  • On The Waterfront (1954) Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
  • The Caine Mutiny (1954) , Humphrey Bogart, Fred McMurray, Van Johnson, Jose Ferrer
  • Roman Holiday (1953), Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert
  • From Here To Eternity (1953) Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Ernest Borgnine
  • Shane (1953) Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon DeWilde, Jack Palance
  • High Noon (1952) Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lon Chaney, Jr.
  • Viva Zapata (1952) Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn
  • A Christmas Carol (1951) Alastair Sim
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), Jose Ferrar, Mala Powers, William Prince
  • Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, Walter Houston
  • The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Dana Andrews, Fredrick March, Teresa Wright
  • The Ox Bow Incident (1943), Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn
  • Random Harvest (1942) Greer Garson, Ronald Coleman
  • Mrs. Miniver (1942) Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright
  • How Green Was My Valley (1941) Roddy McDowell, Maureen O’Hara, Donald Crisp
  • Citizen Kane (1941) Orson Wells, Joseph Cotton, Everett Sloane
  • The Grapes of Wrath (1940) Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
  • Gone With The Wind (1939) Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Hattie McDaniel, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Haviland
  • Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) James Stewart, Jean Arthur,  Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Thomas Mitchell
  • Of Mice And Men (1939), Burgess Meridith, Lon Chaney, Jr., Charles Bickford
  • Captains Courageous (1937) Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore. John Carradine, Mickey Rooney
  • David Copperfield (1935) Freddie Bartholomew, W. C. Fields, Edna May Oliver