The idea for this one came to me almost instantly as I'm always feeling guilty about having not seen these films, but for some reason never watch them or even make any effort to get hold of them.
I don't know why this is, but I do know that I'll have to watch them sometime as they are all massively important films especially from a cultural point of view, they are classics in the truest sense of the word.
Classic Hollywood has never really been my cup of tea anyway, I much prefer the work of the Hollywood New Wave, or even the Pre-Code films. But I'm often left unimpressed by the so called classics of the 40's and 50's. Maybe that is why I have never made the effort to watch these films.
Anyway, enough rambling, here are my choices:
Honourable Mentions:
Rebel Without a Cause
Rear Window
Notorious
A Streetcar Named Desire
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
The African Queen
And many, many more...
5.King Kong
Such an important film, from a cultural point of view but also from a cinematic al point of view as it was quite ground-breaking. In fact, I haven't seen any of the various incarnations of King Kong, such as the 1976 version or the 2005 version.The original was a real staple of cinema for so many years that I feel bad about not having seen it, but I have yet made no efforts to see it.
4.Singin In The Rain
A classic musical, and probably one of the most well known films around, even if not everyone has seen it, most have heard of it. But I as a film buff shuold have seen it by now, after all I've heard it referenced countless times (A Clockwork Orange) and yet again have made no effort to see it, maybe this can be pinned on my overall dislike for musicals. But that seems a rather shoddy excuse for avoiding this classic.
3.On The Waterfront
Ah, Marlon Brando, such a icon, and yet I've only seen him in two films, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. I have not seen any of his classic 50's films even though he's supposed to be one of the greatest actors of all time. Again, I have no real excuse for not seeing this, it's a widely known and easily obtainable classic.
Of all the films on this list, this is probably the one I'd be most likely to see, mainly because I am curious to see Brando at the height of his career.
2.Casablanca
Apparently this film has the greatest screenplay ever written (and one of the most quoted), is one of the first films to come to mind when thinking of a classic and is one every film buff should see.
And I have never seen it, I have no idea why, I just never got around to it. But to be honest, the only reason I would see it is for it's importance, and just to see what all the fuss is about. For it doesn't seem like the kind of film I'd enjoy.
1.Gone With The Wind
This one is pretty much the ultimate Hollywood Classic. A lengthy romantic epic that is widely considered one of the best films ever made. I've seen it ranked highly on lists so many times that I've lost count, and have been told I should watch it even more times. But I still haven't seen it, and I doubt I will anytime soon.
Of course I will probably end up watching these films at some point, and who knows, I may even like them, but for now I often surprise myself at how many Hollywood classics I haven't seen yet. It seems rather silly for a film buff like me to avoid them for no particular reason.
I decided to make this solely about Hollywood films because it would be far to long if I had included World cinema, The Bicycle Thieves, Ugetsu Monogatari etc... So many classics I have yet to see.
Anyway, that puts an end to my little self criticism session (I'm reading a book on Communist China at the moment, so that would partly explain this post), so how about you? I'm sure there are a couple of Hollywood classics you feel you should have seen already.
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