I'm watching Five Came Back and it occurred to me....I don't believe I own any films by any of these directors (belay that, I have The African Queen). So if I were to expand my Bluray/DVD collection, which films should I include? Here is what I think is interesting so far....

John Ford - The Essential John Ford/Ford at Fox (includes Frontier Marshal, My Darling Clementine, Drums Along the Mohawk, How Green Was My Valley, The Grapes of Wrath)

Frank Capra - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Why We Fight

John Huston - The Asphalt Jungle or The Maltese Falcon

William Wyler - no idea. I've seen The Best Years of Our Lives and it's not the sort of thing I think I would rewatch many times.

George Stevens - another toughie. Giant? Shane?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AllenInAR,

Well, I'm far from knowledgeable about classic movies, but "Shane" is not just my favorite Western, it's one of my favorite movies of any genre. I think Stevens' directing was masterful, so many subtleties, like the scene of Joey and the little girl taking place during the solemn burial of Stonewall Torrey (and there are SO many others). Can't go wrong with any of them, but I think Shane is special.

The only William Wyler movie I really appreciated was The Big Country with Gregory Peck

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
I'm watching Five Came Back and it occurred to me....I don't believe I own any films by any of these directors (belay that, I have The African Queen). So if I were to expand my Bluray/DVD collection, which films should I include? Here is what I think is interesting so far....

John Ford - The Essential John Ford/Ford at Fox (includes Frontier Marshal, My Darling Clementine, Drums Along the Mohawk, How Green Was My Valley, The Grapes of Wrath)

Frank Capra - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Why We Fight

John Huston - The Asphalt Jungle or The Maltese Falcon

William Wyler - no idea. I've seen The Best Years of Our Lives and it's not the sort of thing I think I would rewatch many times.

George Stevens - another toughie. Giant? Shane?

My favorites:

Ford- By far, Stagecoach is my favorite Ford film, and one of favorite John Wayne films. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is an excellent one as well.

Capra- Wonderful Life is an obvious choice, but It Happened One Night with Gable is great.

Huston- The Treasure of Sierra Madre is my favorite Huston film.

Wyler- The Desperate Hours, Bogart's last film, is a favorite of mine, Bogey playing a bad guy. Love it.

Stevens- Other than Giant (not too fond of it), I enjoyed Shane. Really good western.

John Ford was and shall always be the greatest American director. Too many fine films to list, but off the top of my head- The Searchers, They Were Expendable, Stagecoach, The Last Hurrah and The Informer come to mind.

William Wyler? Again, one of America's finest film directors: The Letter, The Westerner, The Big Country, The Heiress, Jezebel, The Best Years of Our Lives, Detective Story and Dodsworth

John Huston? His name deserves to be mentioned with the likes of Ford and Wyler: The Maltese Falcon, The Asphalt Jungle, Night of the Iguana, The Man Who Would Be King and Prizzi's Honor

George Stevens? He photographed more films than he directed, but he directed some great ones: Shane, Giant, Gunga Din and A Place in the Sun

Capra? All film buffs know Capra, but if you would like suggestions for films of his that are not as well known to the casual viewer these days: Lost Horizon, American Madness and The Bitter Tea of General Yen

I would never dare call myself a "film buff." But I do like to sit and watch a good movie. I recently watched for the first time "To Kill a Mockingbird" and really liked it. Good story, and it looked good too. I guess my approach to movies has been like my approach to art. I don't bother with all the details of the artist, the period, etc., I just lump it into "like" or "don't like".

I notice that the Ford movies you all recommend AREN'T part of that collection. I shall have to backtrack.

Ford's They Were Expendable is one of my favorite WW2 films. It's about the members of PT Boat squadron during the early, desperate fighting in the Philippines in the 6 months after Pearl Harbor. Does a great job of capturing the uncertainty of the time for the outnumbered and unprepared US forces in the Far East, along with the valor of the crews of these relatively new and untested fast-attack boats who went up against Japanese naval vessels that grossly outclassed and outgunned the diminutive craft, as well as their frustration at being routinely ignored and sidelined by many of their more traditionally-minded superiors in the Navy, who didn't understand their capabilities and potential effectiveness (at least at first).

John Wayne is the star in this film that everyone recognizes. But the real star is Robert Montgomery, who plays the commander of the PT Boat squadron in the film (a character based closely on real-life Medal of Honor and Silver Star holder Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley). Beyond his skills as an actor, Montgomery had actually seen combat as a PT Boat commander in the South Pacific in 1942-1943. In addition, after Ford was injured during filming, Montgomery took over directing duties while Ford was recovering.

Definitely worth checking out.

I've watched that one. Pretty good.