What Was Your Favorite Film As a Kid?

Calamity Jane!

The Mt Gravatt Princess theatre (cinemas were always called theatres in Queensland, Australia when I was growing up) opened on March 24, 1955.

I do not now recall much about The Diamond Queen which ran first at the premiere matinee of this local cinema on March 26, 1955, although Arlene Dahl must have registered as one of those adventurous, generally red-headed queens of technicolor that quickly became part of my staple matinee fare throughout the 50s. I used to wonder whether she was of Scandinavian descent (like me). Her royal cousins and distant relatives weren’t, at any rate, because Rhonda Fleming, Maureen O’Hara and blonde Virginia Mayo all seemed distinctly Anglo or at least Irish in appearance as well as name. I had yet to discover the really exotic sounding Yvonne De Carlo who disappointingly turned out to have the lowliest pedigree of any of them her real name being plain Peggy Middleton from Vancouver, Canada.

Beyond my first nodding acquaintance with these queens of technicolor, that afternoon became a turning point in my then 10 year old life because I met and immediately became enchanted by Doris Day (nee Kapelhoff). During 1955-56 I saw her in no fewer than seven films. In order, they were Calamity Jane, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, I’ll See You in My Dreams (in black and white), On Moonlight Bay, It’s a Great Feeling, Young at Heart and Lucky Me (in Cinemascope). It became the first “body of work” I associated with a particular star and the first time that the resonance and relevance of film stars in my life began to register. I became quickly super-aware of this phenomenon and now noticed the regularity with which the queens of technicolor appeared in my life and the similarities between the types of films they all appeared in. Additionally, I fell in love with Phyllis Thaxter whose emotional intensities burned deeply into my impressionable and receptive mind. Among the male stars, I was drawn to Errol Flynn above the others because my father had mentioned he was Australian, and appropriately enough, I first saw him playing an Aussie sheepman out west, causing deep angst among his cattlemen adversaries in a studio-fabricated Montana. But I responded almost as much to the cowboys who first entered my consciousness, especially to Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea and John Wayne; to comedians Bob Hope, Danny Kaye and Martin and Lewis; to the angry ferocity of John Garfield in The Breaking Point; to Burt Lancaster who was always “smilin’ Burt” back then; to Gordon MacRae by association with Doris Day; and to James Stewart who was Glenn Miller ( I proceeded to drive my poor mother crazy with an LP I bought of the Glenn Miller band). Needless to say, I didn’t have a clue who its director Anthony Mann was back then.

Getting back to Doris, those seven films defined her appeal-indelibly-to this small boy who was living in suburban Holland Park, Brisbane. Doris was a blonde, grown-up version of the tomboy girls in pigtails I generally fancied. Right on cue, Doris turned up in a ponytail in the next outing I saw her in, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, and what’s more, in the working habit of a grease-monkey! The tomboy in Doris clearly appealed to my Dad as well because he palpably displayed excitement at her first appearance in Calamity Jane when the Deadwood Stage came rolling over those plains bearing her on equal terms with stage driver Chubby Johnson wearing battered pants, toting guns, and belting out Paul Francis Webster’s raucous lyrics with a gusto bordering on the manic.

I don’t think many establishment critics ever gave this multi-talented star her due. Before her motorbike accident as a teenager put paid to her aspirant career as a dancer, she became a notable songbird at the tail end of the big bands, earning her first stripes with the chart-buster Sentimental Journey. This added further lustre to Les Brown’s outfit for whom she had become a regular. Michael Curtiz of Casablanca and Mildred Pierce fame understandably snapped her up for Hollywood in 1948 in the charming Warner Bros musical Romance on the High Seas and the rest is history. Although she was to exhibit formidable acting talent for Hitchcock emoting convincingly as James Stewart’s distraught wife in The Man Who Knew Too Much; abused but surviving James Cagney’s ruthless gangster as Ruth Etting in the underrated Love Me or Leave Me; and paired with an angst-ridden Frank Sinatra in the good musical melodrama Young at Heart (a remake of Four Daughters), it was her vocal talent that stood out - she became one of the greatest singers of the Hollywood musical - up there as far as I’m concerned with Alice Faye, Judy Garland and just a handful of others. Calamity Jane is one of the best showcases for this aspect of her talent and appeal. The score by Webster and Sammy Fain contains a multitude of gems that extend Doris to her full range. The Academy award winning song Secret Love is justly cited as revealing the tenderness and lyricism behind Calamity’s façade as she dons a feminine blouse and dainty black ribbon to perform the number. (Characteristically, though, she is on horseback wearing pants). Part of the interest in her character lies in the androgynous elements played up through all her encounters with Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel) and the other rough, robust citizens of Deadwood. It is in striking contrast to the charms of Katie Brown, the Adelaide Adams substitute skillfully conveyed by Allyn McLerie in her only substantial film role. Katie’s clear-cut femininity arouses powerfully contradictory responses in Calam’ who on the one hand matches Hickok’s machismo in the I Can Do Without You number (reminiscent of, but by no means inferior to Anything You Can Do from Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun); and on the other gives in to the ultra girl-talk politics of A Woman’s Touch. That Doris is so convincing on either side of the gender divide indicates a much more complex performer than she is often credited as being, and the slyly subversive gender-bending subtext of the film allows her to extend her range to meet the challenge. This is all handled very lightly, of course. Almost every number in this grand piece of entertainment is memorable (Higher Than a Hawk, Just Blew in from the Windy City, It’s Harry I’m Planning to Marry) and none more so than my personal favourite The Black Hills of Dakota, pure Americana and a song that gave me goose-bumps as a child.

No question about it, Forbidden Planet! Saw it when it first came out, I was 5, maybe 6. As soon as I watched it, went home, got my box of Crayola crayons, started drawing storyboards (before I knew they were storyboards!). That film colored my imagination for the rest of my life and my thirst for good sci-fi hasn't slacked a bit. The other film I liked, because it had a happier ending than King Kong, was Mighty Joe Young.

Anna, thanks for keeping this in perspective. You are young, so your choice of movies will be different than for us older folk. I grew up in a movie theatre in the 1950s, so my choices will obviously be different. And many will say that the golden years of Hollywood were the 1930s. (You'll get no argument from me on that!) 1939 is still considered the high water mark for film.

Many will disagree with you that the CGI Disney films of late are any good at all, compared with the timeless classics of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Watch Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Cinderella for the incredible beauty of hand painted animation. The truth is that the newer films are good, and they fit their intended audience, just as the older films did.

Thanks for your insight. And long live Davy Crockett.

As a kid, I loved "The Thief of Baghdad" with Sabu, Conrad Veidt, and June Duprez. It was a wonderful fantasy in technicolor-most films of the 1930s-40s were in B&W. I remember going to the neighborhood theater after school and my mother had to come to the theater to take my sister and myself home because we kept watching the film twice (it was part of a double-feature). In those years, parents did not have to worry about problems in movie houses. Children were safe. A matron was in charge of kids.

The original War of the Worlds.

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves with John Hall, June Duprez, Andy Devine and Turhan Bey. Open Sesame!

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. The first film I saw more than once, to compete with a girlfriend who saw War of the Worlds more than once.

Disney's THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR. When Fred
MacMurray's old flivver flew through the air, and
then started bouncing up and down on Keenan Wynn's
car, I quite literally fell out of my theater seat
with laughter. I'd never seen anything like it in
my life!!

High Barbaree with June Alyson & Van Johnson

I would say I agree with Bill Pentland. Sci-fi 50s movies: War of the Worlds, Forbidden Planet, Them, Invader from Mars, When World Collides, IT Came from Outer Space, etc. To this day, I still enjoy watching those old sci-fi movies. But the golden age of TV started and low and behold, sci-fi tv series were born! Loved "One Step Beyond," Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Star-Trek, etc, etc. I also loved musicals with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Donald O'Conner, etc. All my brothers and sisters share my love of movies and television.

Its been a while since I was a kid, but the most memorable was "THE GUNS OF NAVARONE"

There were soooo many, but one that stayed with me for a long time was the classic "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" with John Wayne. I was about 7 when it came out and it was the first color film I ever saw with the Duke. The beauty of the film and the story and Ben Johnson and Joanne Dru and the Calvary made it a special film for me.......

I agree with Stan Flax,Bill Blau and Trudy Bolter; "The Thief of Bahgdad" definitely is "tops".
Since Michael Powell was one of the directors it is only to be expected. His other films -- "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" and "I Know where I'm Going" are equally memoriable.

Baby-boomer days at the theatre!
Steve Reeves double-feature matinees:
HERCULES and HERCULES UNCHAINED
GOLIATH & THE BARBARIANS and DUEL OF THE TITANS
and 70mm epics like:
SPARTACUS
CLEOPATRA
FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
EL CID
and
HOW THE WEST WAS WON in CINERAMA
...curtains, overtures, intermissions and exit music!

The favorite movie of my long-ago youth was, "Mickey," starring Lois Butler, Myrna Loy, Skip Homeier, and I think, Bill Goodwin. My second favorite was, "One Touch of Venus," starring Ava Gardner.

I can't just name one, here are some.
Al Jolson Story , inspired me to go into music.
However I thought Lary Parks was Al. Jolson.
Tarzan films with Johnny W.The Great Caruso, and that Midnight Kiss, with M.Lanza.
Bud Abbot and Lou Costello meet Frankenstein,etc.
Samson & Delilah, Prince of Foxes w/ Tyron Power.
Salome w/Rita Hayworth,Black Hand with Gene Kelly.
Bicycle Thief,James Cagney in White Heat,and many
40 and 1950 movies.

I cannot name just one or even two favorite movies - there were so many good ones. But these movies always stand out in my memory. "Frankenstein", "Song of the South", "Forbidden Planet", "War of the Worlds" [the older version] "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Shane" with Alan Ladd, "Oklahoma", "Miracle in the Rain" with Jane Wyman, "Rebel Without A Cause", "Sampson and Delilah". You can tell the age group I'm in!! I used to go to the movies twice a week. If you were late, you could sit through the second show and see it again.

I loved all the Tarzan movies. Also, the non animated Disney movies. Light In The Forest, Swiss Family Robinson and Blackbeards Ghost.

I was a child of the 50s so Saturday matinees generally consisted of a serial, a cartoon and a western. Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid was ok. Johnny Mack Brown was anathema. Roy Rogers was too CAMP but Randolph Scott was king.

My favorites were the "Andy Hardy" Movies and the "Dead End Kids".

My Saturday matinee days we're during the early to mid 1960's. At that time my favorite movies where "Jack the Giant Killer" with Kerwin Mathews and Jerry Lewis films. On television my favorites where anything with Abbott and Costello, Boris Karloff or The Dead End Kids. And of course the annual showing of "The Wizard of Oz"

Another vote for 'Calamity Jane'. Doris was the very first, grown-up, female movie star that a 9 year old girl could actually relate to. A little later on I saw 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' on the Million Dollar Movie, (to this day when I hear the theme song of 'Gone With the Wind' it reminds me of the Million Dollar Movie), and it became my favorite movie. Those 2 have remained the closest to my heart all these years.

"Invaders From Mars", "Jack the Giant Killer", "Seventh Voyage of Sinbad."

"Them", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", and "The Fly"

No doubt about it, it was The Great Race. I thought that Lemmon and Falk were a scream and I laughed everytime I saw it, and still do. In college it came to the local drive in and we loaded 6 of us into my mom's Pontiac and watched it in a snow storm. Even fogged up it was still a riot.

Was a big cowboy and pirate fan as a kid. My favorites were She Wore A Yellow Ribbon with John Wayne and the Crimson Pirate with Burt Lancaster.

...a double feature "The Killer Shrews" and "The Giant Gila Monster"..also loved "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (fell in love with Debra Wally!)

Star Wars. I was five years old and my dad took me on the first day at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. I remember waiting in a huge line wondering what the big deal was. Once the movie started and that ship filled up the screen, I was hooked. We saw it five times over two years and I became a fanatic. I had to have every comic, card and toy. I still collect comics, cards and action figures to this day. I also remember seeing a double feature of the Black Hole and Sleeping Beauty at the Cinerama Dome. While The Black Hole isn't the greatest film, it still has a special place in my heart. Finally, Raiders of the Lost Ark will always be my favorite action film of all time. We saw that three or four times in the theater and I remember playing out scenes with the action figures for a long time.

The first movie I remember seeing was"The War Wagon"with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in 1967 when I was eight years old.

The Thief of Bagdad with Sabu--still a wonderment in beautiful color!!

Growing up in the 50's I liked a lot of movies. All Westerns with lots of Indians in it. Sci Fi BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (my 1st Monster Movie I was 5 yrs old), WAR OF THE WORLDS, THEM!, FORBIDDEN PLANET, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH,just to name a few. Sword and Sandal HERCULES, HERCULES UNCHAINED, MORGAN THE PIRATE, DUEL OF THE TITANS, WARRIOR EMPRESS, and my all time favorite movie BEN HUR a true spectacle, none of the movies nowadays can compare to this true Epic. War Movies THE LONGEST DAY, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, PORK CHOP HILL. I could go on and on.

My favorite film as a child was "STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER".

growing up in the 40's and 50's the first sifi movie was man from planet x pretty campy now but it was something then. as the one i remember most was john wayne in red river, also roy rogers and gene autry it was a wonderful time to grow up.

A lot of people sure enjoyed this topic, as do I. My all time great movie as a kid, I'm 62, The Day the Earth Stood Still. I always thought we might be visited by a friendly being from space and help make the Earth stop fighting etc... Another big reason I liked the film was because Billy Grey was in it and I used to watch him all the time in Father Knows Best. I thought that was "really cool".Of course I have the DVD and watch it from time to time just to make me feel good.

Has everybody forgotten WHITE CHRISTMAS with Bing
Danny, especially Vera and Rosemary I still watch it every Christmas and I'm still in love with Vera-Ellen. Dean Jagger was also great in this movie

When I was a kid some of my favorite movies were westerns, or cowboy movies as I called them. My brothers and I would trek to the Tower Theater, pay a quarter and watch whatever shoot em up was playing. Then when I was ten I saw High Noon, staring Gary Cooper. For some reason that movie really resonated in me, I must of watched it five times and every time it came on television. I was also highly influenced by Walt Disney's Living Desert, The Vanishing Prairie and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. War movies, adventure flics and SciFi rounded out my passion for the big screen.

My all time favorite as a youngster of 7 in 1939 was The Wizard of Oz and I still try to watch it every time it is on TV now. Another one is Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney. Have a good day.

The Thief of Bagdad was tops and regularly shown when I was young in the late 40s and early 50s. I also loved anything with Randolph Scott, John Wayne. The serials were great as was also the East Side Kids/ The Bowery Boys. Alistair Sim was the greatest scrooge in "A Christmas Carol".

A lot of people mentioned "On Borrowed Time" as one of their favorites. It was one of mine when I
was a child. But, seeing it again after many years
changed my mind. The idea of a selfish old man causing innocents to die by trapping Death up a tree was a definite turn off. First a poor bird dies just trying to land on a branch. Then, Barrymore's grandson's pet dog dies by touching the tree. Then, the grandson is crippled and finally dies from falling against the tree. All this due to a selfish old man and Death not being able to control himself. Nope, I don't like this movie anymore. The cuteziness doesn't make up for the nastiness.

But, other favorites that still are - The Day the Earth Stood Still, anything with Jeanette McDonald & Nelson Eddy, anything with Jimmy Cagney, both Jolson movies with Larry Parks,
Thief of Bagdad, Astaire & Rogers musicals, Gene Kelly musicals, Howard Keel musicals, The Adventues of Robin Hood, Zorro with Tyrone Power. I was lucky to be a child and teenager during the 50s & 60's when classic movies were shown on tv at all hours of the day and night and got to see my favorites many times.

As a youngster during the fifties, I had a great interest in nautical stories so my favourite films were Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" 1954 and John Huston's "Moby Dick" 1956.

I saw both films several times when they were playing at the cinema and although more than fifty years have passed, I still enjoy seeing these films occasionally. They bring back the feelings of mystery and excitement that I felt as a six year old and eight year old respectively. Kirk Douglas was a great Disney hero in "20,00 Leagues Under the Sea" and Gregory Peck was on top of his game as Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick". To those viewers who have not seen either film, I recommend a trip to your local video store anbd rent the DVDs of both these fine films

Gosh, where do I start? One of my favorites was "Follow the Fleet" with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The set of the last dance number "Let's Face the Music and Dance" had all of the magic of New York in it, and created a wonderful dream scene. Then, there was "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" which would air once a year on Thanksgiving in New York. We would watch it every year after dinner. The scene where one wooden soldier loses his head rescuing a child would make me cry every time!

Tim, never thought anyone's choice would be the same as mine -- High Barbaree.

As a kid, I had very eclectic taste. I guess I was "older" than my years. Favorites were and still are, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, The Gene Krupa Story, Peyton Place, Valley of the Dolls, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, North By Northwest, Rebel Without a Cause, White Christmas, too many more to mention, but the all time favorite was FUNNY GIRL!

Ok, as a kid it was Lash LaRue. Didn't matter which film. Next: Abbott and Costello, again, it didn't matter which film. Then came Francis the Talking Mule (take your pick), and Martin and Lewis, I did like Jerry. Then I started liking SciFi. Destination Moon and the great Forbidden Planet, and the original The Thing scared the life out of me. Only the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz had ever scared me like that before.

The best movies were from the 30's 40's and 50's and even the B movies were great.

“In Search of The Castaways” (1962). I remember sitting there bug-eyed watching Haley Mills make her way through this Jules Vern adventure; of course I didn’t know at the time it was part of a Jules Vern Trilogy.

I’ll never forget, as a child myself, watching Mary and Robert Grant (Mills and Hamshere) fight off floods, earthquakes, alligators, a man-eating dog, and many other harrowing situations with Jacques Paganel (Maurice Chevalier) in the hopes of finding their father.

“It Happened at The World’s Fair” (1963). I was to young to really understand the whole of this Elvis Presley film, but I never forgot the part when Elvis sings to the lost Sue-Lin a song about being a baby bumble bee. It wasn’t until years later when I watched it again that I realized it was a very young Kurt Russell who kicks Elvis on the shin.

“Bye Bye Birdie” (1963). Again I was to young to really understand the whole story, however, it was the songs and the happy faces Dick Van Dyke draws in thin air that always stuck with me. It was probably the first musical I had ever seen, but certainly not the last.

They let our entire school system out to see "Lassie Come Home," the very first Lassie covie that MGM made. I will never forget that.
"Destination Moon" was the first major sci-fi movie and I became a huge George Pal fan. I've seen it a hundred times I guess. Just about any musical from MGM or Warners. But my all time favorite movie was "Scaramouche" from 1952 with Stewart Granger. It made me want to be a fence. "The White Tower" and "Third Man on the Mountain" made a mountain climber. No movie today can even touch the 1950's magic.

My favorite movie then and still is on the top of the list is "Flying Tigers" which I saw when I was 6 or 7 (1948) at the Pine Theater in Tulsa. There were images from that movie that kept popping up in my head for years after that from the movie that were somewhat inaccurate, but after seeing the movie many times after that, finally resolved the source of them. My favorite sci-fi was War of the Worlds. Favorite comedies; Abbott and Costello and The Three Stooges. Still enjoy them occasionally

Anything by Ray Harryhausen, and anything with Japanese movie monsters in it. But my absolute faves were The Valley of Gwangi (with the beautiful blue allosaur, blue pteranodon, and the world's first animated Eohippus) and Raquel Welch's One Million Years B.C., the first movie ever to draw my youthful attention from the battling dinosaurs to the iconic cave-babe presence of Ms. Welch, a permanent shift.

I don't know if anyone mentioned Disney's
FANTASIA with all those marching broomsticks.
Another one that left an impression was NAKED
JUNGLE with swarms of soldier ants. And as was
mentioned FORBIDDEN PLANET, all HARRYHAUSEN's
and so many Sci-Fi favorites, and then there
are all the other categories!

Well, if "kid" is under 10, I would have to say KING KONG. I got to see KING KONG when it made its TV debut on Sunday night THE MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE. My favorite movie that I saw in a movie theater would have to be my first- THE SILVER CHALICE, 1954. I was seven. It was also Paul Newman's first film! It was also the first and only time that my father and I went to the theater together. I think I may have embarrassed him as I pretended along with the action of the film- riding a horse, dueling, etc....

FANTASIA and it was shown with a brilliant cartoon called TOOT WHISTLE PLUNK and BOOM about how the sections of the orchestra developed starting with cavemen. I think it was also by Disney but I've never seen it since, pity ! I also saw BAMBI and had to be taken out of the theatre hysterically sobbing at the death of Bambi's mother.

"Jason and the Argonauts", "Mysterious Island" and "The Wizard of Oz" made me love special effects. But my favorite movie from then and now remains the romantic "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with that bearded dreamboat Rex Harrison. I just cry buckets at the end!

My favorite movie as a child was "The Red House" directed by Delmer Daves. I was particularly impressed by the haunting musical score but just about everything in the movie floored me. I watch the DVD version at least once a year and I'm still moved, much as I was years ago, by the characters and ambience of this minor film classic(1947).

I remember the first movie I saw in the 1940s was Dumbo, but other favorites came a bit later: Snow White; Bambi; Drums Along The Mohawk (which I saw twice in black and white a few years apart in a small town movie theater before catching it many years later on TV and finally seeing it in Technicolor!!!); The Third Man (Oh, that Orson!!! and it's still a major favorite); and Prince Of Foxes; The Black Rose; and Captain From Castile; and oh so many more.... I'd listen to Lux Presents Hollywood on the radio, then when the movie I haard came to my small town, I'd talk my mother into taking me, urging her that she'd enjoy it too!

Jack Webb in "The D.I."

Favorite film - The Beast With Five Fingers. Scared the bejeezes out of me,.

I was 8 years old and sat through Them with my coat over my face half the time. But I loved it. I also watched Shane with my friends from the front row of the theater - the speakers were so loud we could hardly hear when we left the theater and I had a neck ache from looking up at the screen but I loved that movie.

I loved to read the favourite childhood movies. My favourite was Song of the South. I am that old.
My favourite cartoon was Lady and the Tramp.

With the recent passing of James Arness,I immediately thought of the "The Thing" where he was the alien.That movie scared me to death!I must have been about nine at the time.Wonderful.....

Raised my 2 teenage daughters (19) & (17)on classical movies and books: To Kill a Mock. Bird, Ghost & Mrs. Muir (all sci-fi & classic horror, John Wayne westerns, The Searchers, Man who shot Liberty Valance, screwball comedies i.e. Bringing up Baby, w/Cary Grant & Desk Set w/Spencer Tracy & Katie Hepburn. Of course Danny Kay, they love
White Christmas. We attend live theater and have
enjoyed many of the above movies, live and performed extremely well. To Kill a Mockingbird
was especically terrific. Just watched Father of the Bride last night w/my 19 year older. This past Christmas season saw It's A Wonderful Life, live. Love Jimmy Stewart in Harvey. My daughter
wonders if there are any men left like Jimmy Stewart. Also read the classic books and of course Lord of the Rings. Found The Man who shot
Liberty Valance for $5.OO at WMart. Plan on buying it next time i'm at WMART and watching it w/my family. If anyone can remember the name of a movie w/a brother & sister purchased a house in
a small village, black & white ,only to find its being haunted. The love interest is between a young woman and the brother. The gal is being haunted whenever she enters the house. I'd appreciate the name of the movie and would like to purchase it. Just wish the classic movie channel would caterorize nightly, One night classic westerns, another night classic si-fi, one night classic screball comedies, etc. etc. Loved reading all the wonderful comments and realized their are people out there w/great taste. Lets keep it going. Judy

how could i forget meet me in st louis..watching hello dolly right now ..another favorite but i took my two little girls to see that 32 years ago

I have spent the last 1.5 hours reading all the comments. The memories came flooding back - wow! Born in '38, I literally grew up in the movies; my Dad was a projectionist at the Grand Theater in Vineland, NJ. So Mom and I got to go to all the movies free. Mom used to take me to Philly several times a year to shop, and we would always go to the Shubert Theater where they ran silent movies, complete with live accompaniment by a pianist! I noted that few comments referred to silent movies; too bad - some of greatest ever made were silents: BIRTH OF A NATION, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, WINGS, HELL'S ANGELS (First Oscar winner), NOSFERATU, and an amazing array of comedies by Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Keaton, etc. (I'll never forget Keaton in THE GENERAL.) There's simply no way I can name a favorite....... Any film by Frank Capra - who had that unique talent for touching one's soul would be on my list, headed of course by IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, but also YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU which had such stars as Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Spring Byington, and a budding Ann Miller.
In my teens I Joined my Dad in the projection booth as an assistant projectionist, so I got to watch each movie several times - what a revelation! I began to see things that most people would miss in one viewing. I fell in love with Fred Astaire's incredible dancing skills - have you seen his dance with a coat rack? SINGING IN THE RAIN ranks high on my list, along with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. One that particularly impacted me was the intense DUEL IN THE SUN - what a rush of emotion!
Also missing form the comments were foreign films: All Jaques Tati films, MY LIFE AS A DOG, THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, and

all Fellini films.
WWII produced a host of powerful films, such as TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH. Peck's performance in this was worthy of an Oscar.
Then there such gems as IT'S A MAD, MAD,MAD MAD WORLD with over-the-top performances by scores of comedic stars. Three hours of laughter!
One of my all-time favorites is CHRISTMAS STORY by Jean Shepherd (who I used to listen to on the radio in the 50's). Many of the little vignettes in this picture actually happened to me!
I could go on and on, but what touches me is films that touch my heart in some way; it's about emotion. I am thankful that we have Turner Classic Movies on TV to offer a window on the great accomplishments of movie-makers of all times.

The first film I can remember, at not quite 8 years old, was Laurel and Hardy's early talkie "The Hoose Gow" and I laughed my tail off..that led to a lifelong love of "The Boys" and I've since written two min-research papers about them..also the originals King Kong; The Invisible Man; Dracula; Frankenstein; The Mummy; Werewolf Of London; The Wolf Man (all staples of WABC-TV's "Shock Theatre" in the late 50s;); early Abbott and Costello, Marx Brothers and WC Fields films.; and,yes, Menzies' 1953 "Invaders From Mars".

My favorite movie as a kid was The Beast From 20000 Fathoms.However,as reported by one of your other responders,I saw The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad three times in one week at the movie theater.I was totally astonded by the special effects.

Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Jack Hailey, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke, the adorable Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, the wonderful Scarecrow (?), an absolutely irreplacable and unduplicatable cast of some of the most wonderful personalities ever in the movie business plus adorable little Toto and the never to be seen again Munchkins (Singers Midgets).

Of course, "The Wizard Of Oz" A Classic I saw six times in the first year it was out. There will never be another to equal it.

Clay Robinson, thank-you sooo much for the
correct info regarding the title of the movie,
"The Univited" starring Ray Milland. I'm looking
forward to watching this movie again, I hope they
show it soon. Again, thanks and I hope people continue to leave their comments. They're so
enjoyable to read.

Stars & Stripes Forever starring Clifton Webb,Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, Ruth Hussey.
I always thought as being patriotic along with "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Both of them brought a lump in my throat.

the birds,east of sudan,gone with the wind and my all time fav to kill a mockingbird

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Most memorable- Star Wars. I was 11 and my brother & sister were 15 & 16.
Part of what made it so memorable is that we saw it at some theater in Colorado where the screen was ULTRA huge and the sound system made the seats rumble! In the opening scene when that cruiser comes on screen, it felt like it was flying overhead and it was a unique and total movie experience that all 3 of us to this day share and relish!

Show Boat I was in love with Kathryn Grayson

MY FAVORITE FILMS WERE "ANGEL AND THE BADMAN" WITH JOHN WAYNE AND GAIL RUSSELL, "THE LUCKY STIFF" WITH DOROTHY LAMOUT, "OUT OF THE BLUE" WITH ANN DVORAK AND GEORGE BRENT and "NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES WITH EDWARD G. ROBINSON AND GAIL RUSSELL

The one movie that opened the door to Sci-Fi for me, was "Forbidden Planet" and will always be my extreme favorite, though I love all genres of movies. I was 11 when I saw it in theatres, and I had gotten a free pass (with an accompanying parent) out of a cereal box. It started me on the road to all sci-fi books, movies, and TV/Radio shows. I still listen to "X minus 1" on satellite radio.

It would take forever to list my favorites. South Pacific, Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, All mine to give, Mr peabody and the Mermaid (one of my very favorites and impossible to buy)One Touch of Venus, All the musicals, Abbott and Costello movies, Olsen and Johnson, The list is endless. They dont make em like they used too.

As a baby boomer, HS class of 1965, I would submit Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Must have started something because this movie, plus Loyd Bridges' "Sea Hunt" on TV, got me immersed (couldn't miss that opportunity) in the undersea world culminating in becoming an avid scuba diver.

Seeing beautiful Rita Hayworth in Cover Girl when I was four years old and then came Gilda!

My favorite is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. My mother took me to one of the big downtown theaters to see this on my seventh birthday. The theater was called the RKO Place, one of those theaters that still had Red Velvet drapes across the screen and usher that showed you to your seats. I remember being scared by the opening sequence , where the camera is in the tail pipe of the car as it is pulling away.

There are way too many to list one favorite. But when Channel 9 Movie Theater or The Late Late Show on channel 2 showed their features, I loved any film that featured little a little girl lead. When a A Tree Grew in Brooklyn played, I wanted to move into a tenement. My mother said apartments had rats. When I saw John Wayne lift Natalie Wood in the Searchers, I wanted to live in the desert iand ride a horse. But Mother said horses would eat too much. When Shirley Temple danced in Captain January, my mother told me to stop clomping around and try to walk like a lady. Thank heaven for the movies....I never told my mother how much I loved Jill in Mighty Joe Young. I couldn't have faced never getting a trip to Africa to get my own gorilla.

Without a doubt - 'Gone with the wind' - loved it! Clark Gable was such a heart throb & Scarlett was such a tragic person...she tried so hard...but, working towards the wrong goal!!! So...I rewrote the ending...and have them getting back together...a little like the movie, 'Scarlett'...they lived happily ever after in my rewrite...& had 10 children.

The Wizard of Oz
Forbidden Planet
House of Wax
Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Silver Chalice
Them!
Tarantula!
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

Yankee Doodle Dandy- not that I am that old, but I saw it on TV and it was then and is still my favorite movie of all time.

my favourite films as a 12yr old kid, 57yrs ago, were the republic and columbia picture serials of the 1940s, superman , with kirk alyn, batman, with lewis wilson, & robert lowery, but my favourite of all time and always will be, ...tha adventures of captain marvel (1941) with two of the greatest serial film stars of all time , tom tyler, and the great frank coghlan jnr, who sadly passed away aged 93yrs old only a couple of years ago, these serials were magic to a 12yr old kid growing up in the mid 1950s.

I loved cowboy movies with Lash Larue, Sunset Carson, Cisco Kid and the Durango Kid. I also loved Charlie Chan,Michael Shane and Boston Blackie movies and anything with James Cagney in it.

I've always loved to watch Rio Grande and and Gone With the Wind.  My parents took me to both of those movies in 1948 (I was 6).  Rio Grande was first run then, GWTW was rerun.  I watch both of these whenever I get the chance;  I will be 70 next month

Tie:  Mighty Joe Young and White Heat.

"Home of the Brave" with Frank Lovejoy (television in 1956).  In the theater, either "Mister Roberts" or "Bambi".

the aussie flick  smiley

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison.  It is the best as far as love stories filmed in the 1940's

The Fighting Sullivans.  

Jumanji? Wow don't get out much huh? I saw a movie a few years ago called 'Purgatory' a western. Not a spaghetti one either. Rent it you will be amzed. It's in my top 10.

Walt Disney's "Treasure Island"...

Labyrinth!!!!!!!!

How about MR Bugs Goes To Town(1941)?

I would have to go with Four guns to the border, or Warlock

Mary Poppins

My favorite film as a kid is still my favorite film of all time. "Down To The Sea In Ships". A story of wooden ships and iron men who sailed the seas hunting whale. It's old and was laced with great actors e.g., Richard Widmark, Lionel Barramore, Dean Stockwell (as a very young boy). It is the story of a youth growing into manhood and the relationship with the sea, the captain of the ship (his grandfather) and a young man who becomes his idol. Lots of action, lots of good of fashion acting.