Shhhhh! It's Time to Pick Your Bestavorite Silents!

[cinemalover]

Hollis,
I'm so glad you decided to join in the fun(?). Narrowing a list down to 25 is very tough, but that's what will make it interesting. I'm expecting some very passionate discourses on the merits of the films when it comes to elimination time, which should make for some great reading.
Thanks.

[mongoII]

My Golden Dozen usually consists of:

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
"Sunset Blvd."
"The Best Years of Our Lives"
"Double Indemnity"
"White Heat"
"The Letter"
"Captain's Courageous"
"It's a Wonderful Life"
"The Heiress"
"The Godfather: Part II"
"A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" (personal reasons)
"The Informer"

Plus over 100 other treasures.

[cinemalover]

Thanks Mongo,
A golden dozen indeed, and much prettier than A Dirty Dozen, which is also a heck of a film.

Thanks for your additions!

[bradtexasranger]

Hollis,

Just have to say I love the variety in your list. I think it's really cool to see Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction included. I'd be tempted to put Pulp Fiction in my list, but I really only like the John Travolta/Uma Thurman story and dialougue. The others leave me a little cold.

[Hollis]

Good morning again,

Well now, how could I have left the likes of "Double Indemnity,", The Informer," "Captains Courageous," "The Letter," "The Palm Beach Story" or "A Night at the Opera" off of the list? See what I mean? Revising and editing and reediting the list is a self fulfilling prophecy, a task that I don't think could ever be completed to anyone's satisfaction! Wait - what about "Yankee Doodle Dandy?" or "To Have and Have Not?" "The Shop Around the Corner?" "The Adventures of Robin Hood" or "Captain Blood?" Then there's "Mrs. Miniver" (which should have most definitely been on my list as it really is one of my favorites, but at the exclusion of what other movie?) And how could I possibly have neglected "Goodbye Mr. Chips?" (with Robert Donat, not Peter O'Toole) We could just about maintain and sustain this site on just this one thread alone! It's all so subjective and almost capricious that it's virtually without end. With the exception of those films that others have listed that I haven't had the privilege of seeing, I couldn't mount an argument against a single title. Thanks for starting this thread Chris, but it's like the children's movie I saw with my son when he was just a boy, "The Never Ending Story!" There's a thought, choose the best 25 "Family" or "Children's Movies" of all time. I'm sure there's more than a few parents amongst us!

As always,

Hollis

p.s. I forgot "Random Harvest" (which might be my favorite love story) "Dr. Strangelove," "Now, Voyager," "Red River" and "The Manchurian Candidate." If I really wracked my brain, I "might, just might" be able to think of one or two (dozen? hundred?) more... This may just be the best thread I've ever participated in. Special thanks again Chris, and to everyone else for all their suggestions.

p.p.s. Ahghhh! How could I have forgotten "On the Waterfront?" It's an immensely powerful film with perhaps Marlon Brando's finest performance! See what you've started Chris? This is the only thread I've ever selected to watch. I find it, quite simply, fascinating!

p.p.p.s. I promise this will be the last I'll venture into the subject, but I'd be remiss if I didn't include "The Night of the Hunter," "The Grapes of Wrath," "Inherit the Wind," "The Ox-Bow Incident," "Annie Hall" and "Twelve Angry Men." Amazing, isn't it, how much easier it is to add rather than subtract from the list? Maybe we should consider an alternative to the AFI's "Best 100 films of all time." Still not an easy undertaking but much less difficult than trying to narrow it down to 25. There are just too many deserving movies that would be left out in the cold. Hmmm, that brings to mind... No! I promised this would be my last comment on the subject and for once, I'm sticking to my guns! Have a great weekend everyone!

[cinemalover]

Hollis,
You're welcome, twice I think. If you think narrowing it down to 25 is challenging wait till we get rolling with single elimination match-ups. Favorites will be collapsing like K-Mart deck chairs. Ultimately only one will stand tall, and none of us will agree about anything. But that's what makes it fun, isn't it?

[SSO Admins]

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc. No question, to me that's the greatest of all time. Period.

24 others in no particular order.

The General
The Wind
Trouble in Paradise
The Godfather
Scarface (Paul Muni)
Broken Blossoms
Faust
Sunrise
The Last Laugh
Casino
M
Day of Wrath
Gold Diggers of 1933
The Thief of Baghdad
The Seven Samurai
The Emperor and the Assassin
My Fair Lady
The Public Enemy
Way Down East
The Big Parade
The Crowd
All Quiet on the Western Front

My last two are wild cards. They may not be great films, but they are consistently entertaining from start to finish.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Plan Nine from Outer Space

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Dear Jondaris,

Maria Falconetti's from 1928? Greatest Joan of Arc onscreen ever. Period.
Can't believe she never did another movie after that. (I 'm not sure where I read it.)

I'm ashamed I'd not listed it with mine. I'm just not much good with the lists because I have too many favorites from so many different genres.

[SSO Admins]

Dear Jondaris,

Maria Falconetti's from 1928? Greatest Joan of Arc onscreen ever. Period.
Can't believe she never did another movie after that. (I 'm not sure where I read it.)

I am not a religious person in that way that only the offspring of clergy manage. But that movie was so moving on so many levels. I've never been that shook up after watching a film.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Passion is a great film. It's good to see another vote for Day of Wrath, my personal Dryer fave. Way Down East and The Crowd are others that just missed my 25. I'm also glad BVD made the cut. Thanks for voting Jon.

[Jezebel38]

Dear Jondaris,

Maria Falconetti's from 1928? Greatest Joan of Arc onscreen ever. Period.
Can't believe she never did another movie after that. (I 'm not sure where I read it.)

I am not a religious person in that way that only the offspring of clergy manage. But that movie was so moving on so many levels. I've never been that shook up after watching a film.

Jon / SueSue

This film generates either a "love it" or "hate it" with most film buffs, and I am in agreement with you - this is an astounding acheivement in the silent film lexicon, and like you Jon, I am not a religious person and also was quite shook up after seeing this. However, there is a reason I did not include it in my list, and it has to do with the earlier arguments over "best " and "favorite". If this little contest had been strictly for our opinions of "best/greatest" films I would have listed this in the top five, but it seemed the majority of folks were putting favorite films. So for me, this is a great film, which I have seen a total of TWO times, and have absolutely no desire to watch it again, as it is etched in my mind and is too emotionaly wrenching to sit through again - therefore not a favorite. My favorites I can sit through dozens and dozens of times over the years and still look forward to viewing.

[cinemalover]

Everyday I look forward to the new lists or comments that you all add. This has become a very entertaining thread because so many of you have been willing to put your compilations and your opinions out there. Thanks so much, this has been a great deal of fun for me.

[jdb1]

It is, indeed, fascinating to read the choices of our colleagues, many of which I hadn't even considered before.

The real challenge is not going back to my list and making dozens of changes. So far, I haven't touched what I listed originally, although it looks like many people have gone for what they consider the "best" where I was mainly considering which films I liked the best. But, no matter; I feel that many of my choice are deserving of praise as fine cinema, not just entertaining cinema, and I will let my list stand as is.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Dear Jezebel,
I consider myself religious, and I feel that Maria Falconetti's performance in that film is one of the greatest cinematic portrayals in silence or in sound, and I, too, will find it difficult to ever sit through it again as it was so wrenching.
I had read parts of Joan's original trial somewhere before I actually saw that movie which made the film even more stirring.

My favorites are easy to sit through time and again, also, Jezebel, but this one, like you've stated, is difficult to revisit.

[MikeBSG]

It has been a while since I've seen "The Passion of Joan of Arc," but I was very impressed by it. It is as if someone found footage taken in the Middle Ages. There is nothing quite like it.