Gone with the Wind (1939)

#4 on Original, #6 on Anniversary, #43 on Cheers, #4 on 10 Top 10: Epics, #2 on Passions

Any of the movies in the “10 Top 10: Epic” category are going to be a commitment.  You are committing time, and emotions to watch one movie, one story, for hours. In the case of Gone with the Wind, it is a 4 hour long commitment. Sometimes the movies marked as Epics feel like they take days to experience.  Luckily, with GWTW the time flies. 

But watching Gone with the Wind always makes me so conflicted. I can view it so many ways.  I can get lost in the romance of it all (big sweeping house, Clark Gable taking Vivien Leigh into his arms, etc). Or I can get turned off by the way certain groups of people are portrayed, and what a brat Scarlett O'Hara can be.  And sometimes she is being a brat because she is doing what has to be done to save her families property, and sometimes she is just being a brat because she can. 

Clark Gable gets one of the prettiest entrance shots in any movie, ever.  Standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, camera zooming in to his handsome face. Just a classic movie moment. Hattie McDaniel ties the story together for me, with her portrayal of Mammy. Mammy is an almost constant presence in the film, except when Scarlett goes to Atlanta. Olivia de Havilland as Melanie was great at playing sweet, with out venturing into saccharine. The character of Melanie really was considered to be almost a saint by everyone, so it would have been easy to go overboard, and almost mock the character, but de Havilland was able to walk that line with out going over. 

It is interesting to see history interwoven into Scarlett's story. Make no mistake, this is not a film about the Civil War. It is a film about Scarlett O’Hara; the war just happened to coincide with her life. 

Overall, GWTW really is a story of survival. Life will always have ups and downs and hardships. But no matter what happens, you have to get up and keep on living, one day at a time. Or as Scarlett says "After all, tomorrow is another day."

Favorite Quote:

Scarlett: Sir, you are no gentleman.
Rhett Butler: And you, Miss, are no lady.  Don't think I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any appeal for me.

Working Girl (1988)

#91 on Passions, #87 on Cheers

Oh the 80s.  The shoulder pads.  The overly big hair. So ugly, yet so endearing.  Working Girl is a good example of the fashions of this time, plus it highlights a woman trying to make it in the workforce, and having a brain in her head while still being able to have some fun.

Seriously. Just look at the trailer to see what we are dealing with:

Melanie Griffith plays Tess, a secretary who is taking business classes trying to work her way up in the world. After leaving her job with her pigheaded male coworkers, she is assigned to work for Katharine Parker (played ever so snottily by Sigourney Weaver) who presents herself not as a boss, but as a sort of peer. Of course, Katharine says this, and then treats Tess like a servant. When Katharine tries to steal a business idea that Tess has, Tess gets in touch with Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford in one of my favorite roles of his. Seriously, if you only know him as an action star, watch this.) to help her pull off the idea.  Deception and some hijinks ensue (like crashing an ugly 80s wedding!), and of course there is tons and tons of horrendous 80s fashion and hairstyles. Note: its not all bad, but it is just SO 80s.  Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack help to round out the cast, and give us some of the typical 80s looks that we would all expect. 

Random: The main song in the film is "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon.  The womens choir sang this when I was in high school. I kind of hated that song then.  I kind of still hate it now. I don't find it to be that thrilling as songs go, but it won all kinds of awards, so maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about. But I really do hate it. Mind you, this does not stop me from singing along if I can recall the words….

Favorite Quote:

Cyn: Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn't make me Madonna. Never will.

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

#34 on Original,   #25 on Anniversary,   #2 on Cheers,   #1 on 10 Top 10: Courtroom Drama

  

What can I possibly say about such a classic film.  The story is heartbreaking and inspiring; the acting superb.  It reminds me of a time in this country when people allowed hatred to cloud their judgment.  (I’m sure this is still going on someplace, but I can hope it isn’t, can’t I?) It represents the people in this country that are willing to stand up for what is right, even when it seems that most of the world is against them. 

I have never read the book.  Most people read it in high school, but due to switching from regular to honors English classes, I somehow missed this and haven’t gotten around to reading it. So I don’t have the source material to compare the story to.  But this brilliant work portrays the story to me with such a kind of quiet forcefulness, I don’t think I would have needed to read the book to understand fully what was going on, like some other book to screen adaptations.  

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch is so amazingly good and believable.  I don’t know if any other actor could have played this part as genuinely as Peck did.   Atticus Finch makes me want to be a better person, and I think for a film to have that kind of an effect on a viewer speaks volumes all on its own.   Atticus’ strength lies in his inaction, in his ability to resist impulsive actions, and being the bigger person in situations with narrow minded people.   I think Peck as Finch could say almost anything and it would sound wise.  I’m not sure if this is because of Peck’s low pitched voice, or his way of speaking, but then again, I’m not sure if this matters.  I think it just matters that Peck was perfect in this part. 

There were other aspects to the film that helped to make it well rounded.  The interactions between Scout and Jem; the townspeople coming to the jail the night before the trial, and Scout not understanding really what was happening, but diffusing the tension with an innocence that it seems only a child can possess.  Being scared of their neighbor, Boo Radley, only to find out he wasn’t going to harm them. 

I was surprised to see that Boo Radley was Robert Duvall.  But I do think he was very good at portraying Boo’s “quiet way”.  Over all the casting on this film was pretty near to perfect.  Collin Wilcox as Mayella during her courtroom scenes was able to show exactly what her life was like simply in her eyes, even when her words were saying otherwise.  Brock Peters as Tom Robinson simply blew me away.  Peters portrayed the fear that Robinson must have felt, while still trying to maintain his innocence, perfectly.  You could see that he was not only scared, but he was angry that this was happening to him.  For an actor to be able to show that many layers of emotion takes great skill, and both Peters and Wilcox performed brilliantly. 

One of the other AFI lists that I do not include in The List, is AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains.  The number 1 hero is Atticus Finch.  With the 50^th anniversary of the movie being this year, AFI has uploaded the segment from that special to their YouTube page featuring Atticus Finch.  I suggest watching it, because this nicely sums up why I think in his own way, Finch is the bravest of all the film heroes.  And he shows this bravery without blowing things up, and without a lot of special effects and camera tricks. 

Every time I see Atticus Finch leaving that courtroom, with everyone in the balcony standing up to show their respect for him, my chest gets tight, and I feel the same pride that they must feel watching him help someone who deserves it. 

Favorite Quote

Rev. Sykes: Miss Jean Louise. Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing.

Stand and Deliver (1988)

#86 on Cheers

Basic premise:  A teacher sees the potential in a group of trouble making students, and wants to teach them way advanced math.   This is based on a true story.

Sometimes it takes other people acknowledging your potential for you to flourish. The students were pushed by a teacher, and he was able to get them to show their full potential. They were so use to people giving up on them, and not expecting things from them, that they had stopped trying.  When this teacher did push them, he got amazing results. 

I did find myself wondering how they were all doing in their other classes, because they spent so much time in math.  I also really liked that the teacher fought for them, after they were accused of cheating on the AP Calculus exam.  Those AP exams are no joke.  (Side Note: I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about those or Regents anymore.)  Sometimes all you need is for somebody to have your back in order to succeed.  A little support goes a long way.  

Also, I’ve always been terrible at math.  I cannot imagine going through all of this to learn AP Calc.  I probably would have ended up quitting, or being the one person who did not pass the AP test.  Stupid math. To quote my friend Dr. Time, "I always say that the part of my brain that should have been used for math was  used for Star Wars."  Replace Star Wars with Beatles and you probably have my brain.

Favorite Quote:

Jaime Escalante: You only see the turn, you don't see the road ahead.