Plum Crazy

The Producers. Personally, I believe this was Mel Brooks' best movie. I know there's the Young Frankenstein freaks (and that is a great movie) and the Blazing Saddles boosters (another great movie), but neither of those has the same laugh power for me as The Producers. Dick Shawn as the hippie Hitler. "I lieb you, baby, I lieb you. Now leave me alone." That in and of itself is enough to make this my Brooks pick. Add to that Zero Mostel as the sleazy old-lady-seducing Broadway has-been ("Max Bialystock is launching himself into little old lady land!"), Gene Wilder as the nervous accountant ("... I'm in pain! I'm in pain, and I'm wet! ... and I'm still hysterical!"), and Kenneth Mars as the crazy Hitler worshipper ("Hitler...there was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in ONE afternoon! TWO coats!!") and baby, you've got a hit!

The Philadelphia Story. Katharine Hepburn as the haughty heiress who discovers her heart before it's too late ("I don't want to be worshipped. I want to be loved."); Cary Grant as her charming ex-husband ("Be whatever you like, you're my redhead."), and Jimmy Stewart as the tabloid reporter who doesn't trust the wealthy ("I would sell my grandmother for a drink - and you know how I love my grandmother." This movie mixes the elements together, shaken, not stirred, into a fine cocktail.

Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier's gothic novel filmed for the screen by Alfred Hitchock. Already the film is off to a promising start. This tale of a shy young woman who marries a widower she fears idolizes his dead first wife has the best opening line of a film. Ever. "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again." There are also lesbian undertones to the adoration of the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers for the late Mrs. DeWinter, the infamous Rebecca. Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, and Judith Anderson all excel.

The Lion in Winter. Palace intrigue as the wife and sons of Henry II try to get him to name his successor. Peter O'Toole in his second role as Henry II (the first playing a younger Henry in Becket) is perfectly cast against Katharine Hepburn as his scheming queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The love/hate relationship they share is wonderfully acted by these two. The remainder of the cast is also excellent. Anthony Hopkins as Prince Richard (soon to be Richard I), Nigel Terry as Prince John, and Timothy Dalton as the young King Philip of France.

Rope. This cat-and-mouse tale of murder was loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case. John Dall and Farley Granger aptly play the two bored rich men who decide to strangle one of their friends, David Kentley, whom they believe to be intellectually inferior to themselves, as a sort of sociopathic thought-exercise - to see if they can commit the perfect murder. But if they simply commit the murder and dispose of the body, how can they prove to themselves that they are, indeed, intellectually superior to most mere mortals? Therefore they enact an increasingly elaborate scheme to keep the body stuffed in a chest in the library while having a few people over for dinner. They invite David's parents, his fiancee, and the only person they consider on an intellectually equal plane as themselves, their old teacher Rupert Cadell, marvelously played by Jimmy Stewart. And therein lies the challenge - if they can fool Rupert, they will know they have committed the perfect murder. However, as the evening progresses, Brandon becomes increasingly risque with his hints, and Phillip starts to fall apart from the guilt. Rupert begins to suspect something is amiss as David, who was ostensibly also invited, doesn't show up to the party. Filmed to look as though it were shot in one take, and taking place in "real time" (the movie is 77 minutes long, as is the action from start to finish), this is one of Hitchcock's most fascinating films.

Bell Book and Candle. If there were ever an actress I would want to be like, it would be Kim Novak. In this movie, she gets the perfect blend between being smart and independent vs. vulnerable playing Gillian Holroyd, a witch who decides to enchant her handsome neighbor, played by Jimmy Stewart, as a way to get back at his fiancee, a woman she has despised since college. Her plans go awry, though, when she falls in love with Shep for real. Character parts by Jack Lemmon, Hermione Gingold, and Elsa Lanchester make this enchanting tale even more bewitching. And, who could forget Gillian's familiar - the cat Pyewacket.

Hans Christian Andersen. Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen... Danny Kaye sings and dances his way through this fictional story about the life of the famous fairytale writer. Most of the rest of the cast doesn't particularly shine. Farley Granger is suitably annoying as Andersen's "nemesis", the director of a Danish ballet company and husband of Andersen's love interest. And Jeanmaire plays the egocentric ballerina well, in large part because, at the time the movie was filmed, she was basically playing herself. But Danny Kaye and the retellings of Andersen's fairytales make this movie wondrous. The Tale of the Ugly Duckling alone is worth renting the film for.

The Sound of Music. The first film I ever saw, this movie has never lost its magic for me. Julie Andrews is perfect as the young novitiate, Maria. The backdrop of the Austrian Alps is breathtaking. The sweet, innocent story of Maria's coming of age is darkly counterpointed by the Nazi's rise to power. My only regret is that I would have loved to have seen Theodore Bikel play the role of Captain von Trapp, as he did on Broadway.

Much Ado About Nothing. Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. But how can you not sigh while watching Kenneth Branagh's spot-on adaptation of Shakespeare's play? Starring him as Benedick, one half of Shakespeare's battling lovers, and Emma Thompson as Beatrice, the other half, in some ways this movie represents the love he must have felt for then wife Thompson. He films her so beautifully, and Benedick's joy when he finally realizes he loves Beatrice goes beyond acting. Wonderful erformances by Brian Blessed, Richard Briers, Kate Beckinsale, and Michael Keaton add even more zest. Not even an incredibly wooden performance by Keanu Reeves or a surprisingly flat one by Denzel Washington (maybe Shakespeare isn't his thing) mar this film too much.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. What can I say? (Not "Ni"). There is not one unfunny scene in the entire film. From the black knight hopping up and down on his stumps ("I'll bite your knees off!") to the confrontation between King Arthur and the anarcho-syndicalist commune ("Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!") to the insulting French soldiers ("Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.") to the ancient bridgekeeper ("What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"), everything in this film is funny. Python at their bizarre best.