66 Years of Movie Magic-The Epinions Film Dictionary W/O
Mar 28 '03 (Updated May 05 '03)
The Bottom Line The letter "G" as documented in film
When I first received the e-mail inviting me to participate in Simply Crispy's Film Dictionary W/O, my first reaction was "WOW, what an ambitious undertaking." I was somewhat intimidated initially by the brilliance of the idea. When I finally sat down to begin planning and writing my entry, I decided that the best way to approach this project was to write about the greatest films of what I call the the "modern era," or the past 66 years, with titles that begin with my assigned letter of "G." Which, incidentally, has nothing to do with film ratings as you will discover by my choices. I'm sure I've left out some excellent films from my time period, but these are the ones that, in my estimation, have had the greatest effect on the movie going public during the decade of their release. So, here we go, live, action, camera, shoot!
I will begin my cinematic journey with the 1937 classic Good Earth, The which is perhaps best known for the harrowing locust scene. This faithful screen adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel about love, duty, greed, and revolution resulted in an Academy Award for Luise Rainer as Chinese peasant farmer O-Lan. Two years later, David O. Selznick's sweeping saga of the tumultuous romance between Scarlet O' Hara and Rhett Butler was released. Set against the equally compelling backdrop of the Civil War, Gone With The Wind features stellar performances by Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable which will be forever etched in the minds of the movie going public primarily due to one of the most memorable lines of all time; Rhett to Scarlet upon leaving her for the last time, when she pleads " Oh Rhett, what will I do now?" His curt reply "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." The following year 1940, marked the release of the film version of John Steinbeck's powerful dustbowl era classic novel Grapes of Wrath, The. The highlight of the film is the moving performance by Henry Fonda as Tom Joad and his famous speech "I'll be around...whenever there's a fight so hungry people can eat..."
The 1950's were a lean period for memorable films beginning with the letter "G" with one notable exception-Cecil B. DeMille's Academy Award winning drama Greatest Show On Earth, The. This entertaining and somewhat sordid look at life under the "Big Top" captures the absurd appeal of Circus life, and features a fine performances by Charleton Heston and Jimmy Stewart. (Buttons The Clown.)
The decade of the 1960's spawned a series of heroic action/adventure films as well as films dealing with the issue of social consciousness. One of the top films of the former genre Great Escape, The is based on the true story of a dangerous prison break from a World War II POW camp, led by rugged matinee idol Steve Mc Queen. This intriguing film is propelled along at the dizzying pace of speeding freight train. Perhaps the best of the 1960's spaghetti western genre Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, The features Clint Eastwood as the enigmatic loner that eventually defined his film persona in this stylish western morality play, with a brilliantly ironic musical score by Ennio Morricone.
The year 1967 produced Spencer Tracey's last role in the controversial story of an interracial romance, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. This film also helped launch the career of Sidney Poitier with it's groundbreaking look at racial prejudice on the cusp of the Civil Rights era. The same year, Dustin Hoffman's break out role of Benjamin Braddock captured the alienation of the hedonistic generation of the late 1960's with the famous line, "think plastics." The poignancy of the film is enhanced by the lovely soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel and the hilariously disarming scenes of forbidden romance between Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson.
Moving on to the decade of the 1970's, one of the decade's most notable achievements was Frances Ford Coppola's fascinating multi-generational saga of the Corleone family, Godfather, The. Compelling performances by Al Pacino and Marlon Brando are the highlight of this masterpiece, which has become the epitome of the gangster film genre. On a lighter note, the 1972 release of the successful Broadway play Grease, re- invigorated the musical genre with this nostalgic 1950's box office smash. It's high points include a lusty soundtrack, period costuming, great choreography, and spirited lead performances by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
The 1980's ushered in a series political dramas and trendy, hilarious comedies. The 1981 Australian film, Gallipoli features Peter Weir's provocative directorial effort in a spellbinding story of friendship, honor, and duty with one of the most stunning and heartbreaking final scenes in cinematic history. It also introduced a young romantic hero who would go on to become one of biggest box office draws for decades to come, Mel Gibson. On the lighter side, Jim Henson's adorable muppets schlep their way around London in search of a band of jewel thieves in the the rowdy muppets misadventure Great Muppet Caper, The.
The following year, 1982, Sir Richard's Attenborough's Gandhi was marked by a sympathetic portrayal of peace guru Mohandas Gandhi. This fascinating character study won 8 Academy Awards including best picture, with an amazing lead performance by Ben Kingsly. In 1984, on the wave of a faddish interest in the psychic phenomena, we were introduced to a group of goofy Paranormal Exterminators in the wacky sci-fi/fantasy classic Ghostbusters. One of the early buddy movies, Saturday Night Live alumni Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray, set out on a madcap ghost destroying mission, to a catchy theme song by Ray Parker, Jr. The year 1987 produced another brilliant comedic performance in Robin Williams' portrayal of the off-beat armed forces deejay, Adrian Cronauer. Rocking the troops, "From the delta to the DMZ," Cronauer's quirky brand of irony, humor, and sarcasm is intermingled with the subplot of the disturbing Vietnam war experience in Good Morning Vietnam. The following year, Sigourney Weaver won an Oscar nomination for her gritty performance as the passionate primatologist Dian Fossey in Gorillas In The Mist. With stunningly beautiful National Geographic style cinematography and expert human/animal interaction, this film is a fascinating biopic of an amazingly brave woman. A Civil War epic with a different twist, Glory was released in 1989. This mesmerizing account of the war, from the perspective of the African American soldiers, is marked by the pageantry of the war, and strong performances by Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.
The year 1990 produced two very different but highly successful films, Ghost and Goodfellas. The former combines elements of the supernatural, romance, and comedy in this appealing blockbuster. Whoopi Goldberg delivers a fantastic performance as the zany psychic medium Otta Mae Brown in this sophisticated tragi-comedy. The latter, combines humor and horror in the graphic gangster film by Martin Scorsese, with a powerhouse performance by Robert Di Niro.
I will have to jump 10 years to find the next great "G" film in the 2000 smash hit Gladiator. This grisly account of the glory days of the Roman Empire is marked by a riveting performance by Russell Crowe, and graphically captures the violence and decadence of ancient Rome. In 2002, Robert Altman's Gosford Park pokes fun at the upstairs/downstairs class distinction of English society, at the same time, parodying the Agatha Christie type murder mystery phenomena. Finally the 2003 ambitious epic, Gangs Of New York exploded onto the screen, capturing the cultural revolution and street gang conflict of the 19th Century with a dazzling performance by Daniel Day Lewis as Bill The Butcher.
These are what I consider to be the 21 greatest "G" films of the past 66 years. I'm sure there are some inaccuracies included in this brief synopsis, since I am working from long term memory on many of these films. Anyway, thanks to Simply Crispy for providing me with such fertile material for this very challenging retrospective. The End!
"G" films worthy of honorable mention: Gaslight, (1940) Great Expectations,(1946) Giant (1956) Guns Of Navaronne, (1961) Gigot, (1963) Goodbye Girl, (1979) Going In Style, (1979) Gremlins (1984) Good Will Hunting, (1997) and Green Mile, The (1999)
Please see the reviews by other participants in this W/O: artbyjude, cripper, dedemw, d_fienberg, Drdevience, food_critic, JackSommersby, lemon_lime, Lynus, Macresarf1, mfunk75, millinocket, Pffrdfudus7, Psychovant, sleeper54, SusiDee34, Vormancian, wierdo_87, Wokelstein, XXXXer, Youngchinq, and of course our illustrious host Simply_Crispy.
Please see the following link to the letter "F" by Cripper:
The Letter "F"
Please see the following link to the letter "H" by Youngchinq:
The Letter "H"
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Epinions.com ID:
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Member: Sheila Calabrese
Location: Chattanooga, TN USA
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To err is human, to purr is feline
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