I just picked "B" because it was near the beginning of the alphabet.
So, what's your favorite movie(s) beginning with the letter "B"?
Titles beginning with "The" are not movies beginning with a "T", such as "The Bounty", but is a movie beginning with the letter "B".
Here's mine (These are my favorites. I'm not trying to say these are the best movies ever made, or something not included is not one of the best movies ever made. These are just my favorites. I like movies that are either fun, love stories, adventurous, historical, epic, biographical, musical, or heartwarming. I don't like classic "guy" movies with car-chases, explosions, thriller, horror, mystery or with bimbos in them. Wanted to state that, so you know where I'm coming from and you can judge from there for different tastes. I also love Black and White movies and have found in my lifetime that it's difficult for most people under 45 to appreciate them because they weren't brought up on them. It's not right or wrong, it's just different from what you were brought up on.):
Also, my list doesn't include movies made since 2003 as the reference book I used was from that year. I might remember a couple that I'll include.
My favorites among my favorites from the "B's":
1. Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946) D. William Wyler; Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Harold Russell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George. Samuel Goldwyn's greatest achievement in film. He risked every dollar he had in the making of this film and received his first "Best Picture" Oscar after failing to win 8 times. This completely captured the mood of the Nation in 1946. Story about 3 returning G.I.'s and their assimilation into society. That theme was never really touched on again for another 30 years, as WWII veterans "didn't talk about it". You just didn't talk about "feelings" back then, not for another 20 years. It swept the Oscars: "Best Director", "Best Actor" (March), "Best Supporting Actor" (Russell), "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture", "Best Writing/Screenplay", "Best Film Editing". Russell was a real-life double-amputee of both arms up to the elbows and he had never acted before doing this role except in a training film after he had lost his limbs. William Wylie saw this training film and rewrote the character to include him in the film. He didn't act afterwards but a little usually playing himself. He passed away Jan 29, 2002 at the age of 88. This is a must watch movie if you've never seen it.
2. Ben-Hur (1959) D. William Wyler; Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Sam Jaffe, Cathy O'Donnell. Classic epic of brothers Heston and Boyd, one determined to rise through the Roman ranks, and the other determined to honor his Jewish heritage. Centered around the time of Christ's return to Jerusalem and the rise of Christianity after his death, with Christ's face never being shown. No one other than Heston could have played this role as he gives a powerful performance. No motion picture dominated the Oscars like Ben-Hur did....not "Gone With the Wind", "The Best Years of Our Lives", "Casablanca", or any other before it. Winner of 11 Oscars including "Best Picture, Director, Actor, Music, etc.", it's effective in every way. There's a full 17-minute Chariot Race that's never come close to being duplicated since.
3. Band of Brothers (2001) D.David Frankel, Tom Hanks, David Leland, Richard Loncraine, David Nutter, Phil Alden Robinson, Mikael Salomon, Tony To; Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Shane Taylor, Donnie Wahlberg, Peter Hills, Nicholas Aaron, Philip Barantini, Michael Cudlitz, Rick Gomez, James Madio, Doug Allen, George Calil, Dexter Fletcher, Nolan Hemmings, Ross McCall, Neal McDonough, Rick Warden, Robin Laing, David Schwimmer. Wow. With 8 Directors over 10 episodes and 8 producers, it's probably the biggest project ever put together for a war movie. Other than "Saving Private Ryan", it's the best production covering a war topic ever made, and this one was true, unlike "Saving Private Ryan". It's better because it didn't use well-known actors.
4. Blow (2001) D. Ted Demme; Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Franka Potente, Paul Reubens, Ray Liotta, Rachel Griffiths. This movie didn't win any awards, but for me, it hits home. Johnny Depp (as always) superbly played the real life story of George Jung, the man who established the American Cocaine market in the 1970's. I have a friend who was at the top of the Mexican mafia in Mexico at that time and what you see in the movie is exactly what it was like in real life. (He's long in recovery now and has led and is leading 100's of others to recovery themselves.) Penelope Cruz is hot in this! Very edgy, but not like other movies because this one is true. You could easily not like it.
5. Bridges of Madison County (1995) D. Clint Eastwood; Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Annie Corley, Victor Sleazak, Jim Haynie. This movie covers two topics as perfect as they have ever been covered: 1. Don't judge anybody unless you've walked in their shoes; and, 2. May everyone, at some time in their life, fall so deeply in love with someone that all else in the world is meaningless. Standing alone as the best actress in the last 40 years, Meryl Streep gives another Oscar Nominating performance as a Country Housewife who, by chance, becomes acquainted with a Professional Photographer who's in her Iowa town to capture images of local bridges. The story's told through a letter she leaves to her children following her death. Through the letter they understand how much loss and how much love their mother received during her life and you're left after the movie with reflections of your own life. Short on awards from the Motion Picture Academy, the film won "Top Box Office Film" from the Screen Actor's Guild, usually a clone of the later Oscar Nominations and awards, yet it didn't even receive a nomination for "Best Picture". The Academy missed on this one.
6. The Buccaneer (1958) D. Anthony Quinn; Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Claire Bloom, Charles Boyer, Inger Stevens, Henry Hull, E. G. Marshall, Lorne Greene. Epic about Pirate Jean Lefitte who helped the British cause during the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Heston plays Andrew Jackson, while Brynner is Lefitte. Anthony Quinn was Lefitte in the 1938 version. Quinn's father-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille, financed this version for Quinn to direct. It's another swash-buckler, but the performances by Boyer, Brynner and Heston make this fun, dramatic movie memorable and rewatchable over and over again.
Favorites of mine beginning with a "B" that probably wouldn't make my Top-125 list, but are still favorites of mine to watch, listed alphabetically:
1. Back to Bataan (1945) John Wayne and Anthony Quinn leading Phillipino guerrillas to victory in the Phillipiines.
2. Back to the Future (1985) Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in a fun, exciting movie. I drove a DeLorean for about a month back in the Spring of 1986, but I didn't go back in time when I got it up to 88.6MPH. I didn't have the Flux Capacitator, nor any Uranium to work with.
3. Bambi (1942) Disney at it's finest.
4. Barabbas (1961) Anthony Quinn gives a stirring performance as the prisoner set free by the crowd in lieu of Christ.
5. Barbary Coast (1935) Edward G. Robinson in an epic of San Francisco in the 1890's.
6. The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) The story of poet Elizabeth Barrett and her courtship with poet Robert Browning.
7. Barry Lyndon (1975) Ryan O'Neal made a few good movies and this was one of them. It's a spin of "Tom Jones". Great costume piece.
8. Bataan (1943) The telling of the terrible horrible incidents at Bataan, and released during the early stages of America's involvement in WWII at about the time when America was beginning to push back on both fronts.
9. Battle of the Bulge (1965) Filmography of the famous book written post WWII. The book itself contained few facts and the movie followed suit, but it was still a great movie about WWII with great actors in it, too.
10. Beau Brummell (1964) Stewart Granger in en epic piece about the fashion trend setter (If you're Beau Brummell, you're dressed smartly) during the beginning of the 19th Century. Peter Ustinov is great and Elizabeth Taylor is stunning as usual.
11. Beauty and the Beast (1991) The last very, very good, full-length feature cartoon Disney made. Some have been good, but this one was very, very good. Colors are magnificent, the minor characters are compelling and the storyline is great all through the end of the movie. And, they don't overdue the singing.
12. Beckett (1964) I love epics and this one with Richard Burton playing Henry II and Peter O'Toole playing Thomas Beckett is excellent.
13. Being There (1979) Peter Sellers made the rare "Double-Cover", Time and Newsweek in the same Week (March of '80). In it I remember Sellers saying that when he saw the script for "Being There" he had to have it as it was the role he'd waited his entire life to play. He went after it and got it. Within weeks of being on the cover of both magazines, Sellers died suddenly. I had the rare privilege of arriving into the theatre 5 minutes after the movie had started, and by doing so, the movie ended up being 10 times better than had I seen it from the beginning (I stayed in the theatre for the next showing and caught the 5 minutes I had missed, with a, "Wow!" expression upon me and glad that I had missed the beginning. I'd recommend seeing it that way for the first time.
14. Bend of the River (1952) Filmed mostly from the Eastern side of Mt. Hood (a rare glimpse for most people), Jimmy Stewart said most of the cast practically froze to death during the filming (most filming takes place immediately after the sun rises as that's the best light, so everyone's up a couple hours before sunrise preparing for that moment. It's damn cold on the Eastern side of Mt. Hood at night most anytime of the year. It's also a good movie.
15. Big Country, The (1958) Gregory Peck at his dynamic best. Charlton Heston cast as a bad, ambitious Cowboy. Jean Simmons and Carol Baker are the female leads in this range war Western with Peck caught in the middle of it having to choose sides.
16. Big Parade, The (1925) World War I flick from 1925. The perspective is worth every moment, while one of the battle scenes looked down-right as dangerous as the real thing.
17. Big Sky, The (1952) As one who knows a lot about Lewis and Clark, including having visited Clark's family gravesite in St. Louis, along with many of the expedition to the Pacific Ocean stops along the way including their winter quartering area of the winter of 1805-06, I thoroughly enjoy most any movie that traverses up the Missouri River. I've done massive research about John Fremont, the "Pathfinder" too, including discovering and uncovering two of his children's (both under the age of 3 (Benton and "Annie") vanished gravesites. Kirk Douglas stars in this western of travelers up the Missouri.
18. Billy Budd (1962) Herman Melville's character study directed and acted by Peter Ustinov on screen to perfection. Good vs Evil drama with questions about which is which.
19. Birds, The (1963) Don't see this on acid or mushrooms while sitting in a small shanty the size of a motor home. Fantastic Hitchcock thriller. Rest in Peace, Susanne Pleshette.
20. Birth of A Nation (1915) Must see for it's historical value and perspective.
21. Biscuit Eater, The (1940) Feel good movie about two young boys from the South of opposite races who raise together a tossed-aside hound dog to become a champion.
22. Bishop's Wife, The (1947) Cary Grant is an Angel who comes down to answer Preacher David Niven's prayer request, only to fall in love with Niven's wife, Loretta Young. Comedy all the way.
23. Black Arrow, The (1948) Robert Louis Stevenson's swashbuckler put to film superbly.
24. Black Narcissus (1947) Nuns trying to save Himalayan natives with superior cinematography (Oscar winner) and Deborah Kerr providing an empathetic performance.
25. Black Pirate, The (1926) There's never been a more athletic actor than Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and he's at his best in this swashbuckler. Never a dull moment in this cinematic masterpiece. Filmed in early Technicolor process, but some extant prints are black and white. Silent films are an acquired taste that I'm still working on. This is one that makes you want to see more silent films.
26. Black Swan, The (1942) Another pirate movie but this one has Robert Taylor (about 30), Maureen O'Hara (about 22 and stunning) with excellent villains in George Sanders and Anthony Quinn. Fantastic drama and fun.
27. Blanche Fury (1948) Stewart Granger as a steward who tries to run an estate. Typical Granger film where he tries to look better socially than where he comes from. But, I love his films of these type.
28. Blood and Sand (1941) Tyrone Power reviving Valentino's role as a bullfighter with Linda Darnell and Rita Hayworth as love interest's.
29. Blossoms in the Dust (1941) Greer Garson biography of Texas orphanage founder. Garson's young, beautiful and tender as always.
30. Blue Angel, The (1930) The film that made Marlene Dietrich famous.
31. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway portray the depression-idles splendidly, then learn that crime doesn't pay.
32. Boom Town (1940) Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy are partners in midst of Texas oil boom competing for oil, money and Claudette Colbert. I wonder if this movie inspired George Bush, Sr. to follow his great WWII career and find his niche in oil in Texas where he builds his foundation for his business and life?
33. Born to Dance (1936) Cole Porter musicals are hard to beat and this one has Eleanor Parker dancing and Virginia Bruce looking hot. A young James Stewart adds enough to make this show one of my favorite movies that start with the letter "B".
34. Bounty, The (1984) Hate Mel Gibson or love Mel Gibson, he's been involved with a lot of very, very good movies. With a Hall-of-Fame cast of Anthony Hopkins, Daniel-Day Lewis, Liam Neesen and Laurence Olivier, this remake equals the entertainment value of the Gable-Laughton version.
35. Boys Town (1938) Spencer Tracy in title role of Father Flanagan, who began Boys Town in 1917. Today the foundation provides more than 400,000 children each year with a safe, caring, loving environment where they gain confidence to get better.
36. Braveheart (1995) Mel Gibson in another spectacular movie. He's the legendary William Wallace who leads his Scottish kinsmen in a revolt against England. While the decisive battle is historically inaccurate, it doesn't matter. Sophie Marceau is stunning.
37. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Even better than "Frankenstein", the Mary Shelley classic that's the Grand Duke of Horror.
38. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) William Holden and Alec Guinness in battle of American Grit versus British sense of Honor. Who hasn't whistled the, "Colonel Bogey March"? This is a GREAT movie. It swept the Oscars as many consider this their favorite movie of all-time.
39. Brief Encounter (1945) Two married strangers meet at a train station and have an affair. While it's both British and 1945, there's enough tension created to feel what the characters are going through when they have to make a decision to go forward or end the romance. While I really enjoy this movie, I appreciate the remake with Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro set along the NYC to CT route as I've been to where Streep and DeNiro were throughout the movie. That they're Americans makes for a more personal connection and Streep and DeNiro (he's surprisingly excellent in this romantic movie) are much better actors than their British counterparts as they capture perfectly the strains of having to decide to take the next step with someone you believe you were born to be with or to quit altogether and do the right thing.
40. Bringing Up Baby (1938) Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn at their comedic best.
41. Brink's Job, The (1978) Story about the biggest heist in U. S. history. Most Hollywood accounts of "big heists" are fictional, but this was true.
42. Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) More Cole Porter. More great dancing. More great singing. The last and best of the "Broadway Melody's".
43. Brother Orchid (1940) Gangster Edward G. Robinson tries to mix with aristocrats. I enjoy Robinson in almost everything he's done. Fun movie.
44. Brother Rat (1938) Eddie Albert's screen debut as military cadet along with Ronald Reagan. Another fun movie. If you haven't seen Eddie Albert when he started his movie career, catch this. Reagan's awesome, too.
45. Buccaneer, The (1938) See above (Favorite "B" movies). Anthony Quinn in title role, with Frederic March as lead actor. Excellent movie.
46. Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) Robert Stack as a Cocky American (he also pulls that off in "John Paul Jones" launching his 118 Untouchables episodes, where he pulls it off there, too) who goes to Mexico and decides he wants to take up bullfighting. He's 8 years younger than his JPJ character and pulls it off very well.
47. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Paul Newman and Robert Redford make their first of 3 solid movies together, but this one is by far the best. Burt Bacharach scores a hit with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head".
48. By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) The beautiful and talented Doris Day sings along with Gordon MacRae in an old-fashioned musical set in Post-War WWI America.
I might have included a few too many "B"'s, but I definitely left off dozens of movies beginning with a "B" that I've really enjoyed (like "Blues Brothers, The") or haven't seen.
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Originally Posted by Raisor
