cbf@allegra.UUCP (10/10/83)
It was good to see someone pay special attention to three movies that are very close to my heart. Two of them in fact are on my scrupulously and regularly updated "desert island" movie list. I call it desert island because I had to reduce it from a 100+ "favorite" list to the current 29, which consist of the bare essential. *The Man Who Would be King* is No. 21 and *Robin and Marian* is No. 23. Although *Sleuth* was on the original "favorite" list, it wasn't kept for the final list. I was disappointed to see Nicol Williamson's name misspelled, as I am a great admirer of his film work, most of which I've seen. In addition to his Little John -- Robin's relationship with John was as moving to me as his relationship with Marian, hence the movie's special appeal -- as I was saying, in addition to his Little John, his Merlin and his Holmes, I admire his Hamlet a great deal and much prefer it to Olivier's whose conception of Hamlet I don't particularly care for. So I am looking forward to Williamson's interpretation of Macbeth (my favorite Shakespeare play) which will be coming soon as part of the BBC series. Also, perhaps Ian Holm (who played the running coach in *Chariots of Fire*) deserved a mention for his perversely sympathetic John Lackland in *Robin and Marian*, and what about Richard Harris' anti-heroic view of Richard Coeur de Lion? Finally, I must admit that I am frankly not sure whether the question about the Capra movie was tongue-in-cheek or not. As the movie in question, *It's a Wonderful Life*, has been getting plenty of attention in net.movies lately, I wondered if you were poking a little fun at the people who were gushing over it. By the way, *It's a Wonderful Life* is No. 27 on my "desert island" list. *Prince of the City* is No. 12, and *2001: A Space Odyssey* is one of the most boring movies I've seen. *Children of Paradise* is No. 1... forever. --Charles B. Francois (decvax!allegra!cbf)
ariels@orca.UUCP (Ariel Shattan) (10/17/83)
I'm sorry about the misspelling of Nicol Williamson's name; I guess my brain was a bit out of gear. BUT... The Capra movie I was thinking about WAS NOT "It'a a Wonderful Life"! The movie I'm thinking about does NOT have an angel in it. It also doesn't have Jimmy Stewart in it. I think it has "American" in the title somewhere. We all know that Capra repeats his themes, so it's not unlikely that there's more than one movie with the same general plot. There's a character in the movie who keeps saying "You could have knocked me over with a pin(feather?)." I also remember the final line in the mystery movie. The guy who opens up the bank vault in the morning after the action turns to the other tellers and says "Well, boys, did you have a good run for your money?" So There!