February is the shortest month with just 28 days, but you can make each one count by viewing this collection featuring some of Hollywood’s longest films. Pour yourself a tall drink, prepare an extra large serving of popcorn and enjoy these gems.
The Best Years of Our Lives: (1946) Running Time: 172 minutes. Director William Wilder’s classic film follows three World War II veterans as they adjust to post-war life. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Fredric March) and Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell, an actual World War II veteran). The cast also includes Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright and Virginia Mayo. While the male characters take center stage, the female actresses all deliver fine performances. The film is near the top on my list of favorite films. Wyler’s direction moves the nearly three-hour production along at steady pace.
The Bridge on the River Kwai: (1957) Running time: 161 minutes. Director David Lean’s epic set in a Japanese POW camp during World War II, featuring Alec Guinness as Col. Nicholson, the senior British officer, Sessue Hayakawa as Col. Saito, the Japanese commander, and William Holden as Shears, an American POW who escapes the camp only to be sent back to help destroy a bridge being built by British POWs. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Guinness) and Best Director. The soundtrack includes Mitch Miller’s catchy “Colonel Bogey March”. Memorable line: "What have I done."
The Godfather: (1972) Running time: 175 minutes. Francis Ford Coppola’s brilliant work about an aging crime boss and his family won three Academy Awards in 1972, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Marlon Brando). Coppola presents a near-seamless story, featuring outstanding cinematography. The terrific cast includes James Caan, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Richard S. Castellano, John Cazale, Richard Conte, Sterling Hayden and Abe Vigoda. It tops my list of favorite films. It’s one I can watch again and again. Memorable line: “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
How The West Was Won: (1962) Running time: 164 minutes. John Ford and three other directors collaborated on this episodic epic that follows the Prescott and Rawlings families through several decades as they move across the country, from Ohio to Arizona. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Writing and Best Film Editing. The ensemble cast includes James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck and John Wayne. Memorable line: “They went west in search of beaver.” (Clumsy, but an accurate summary of westward expansion.)
Lawrence of Arabia: (1962) Running time: 216 minutes. Director David Lean delivers another Academy Award winning film. This time Lean tells the story of T. E. Lawrence, a controversial British Army officer and his efforts in the Middle East during World War I. The cast includes Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn and Jose Ferrer. As with most Lean productions, the scenery in the film is impressive. The film received 10 Academy Award nominations and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Director.
The Longest Day: (1962) Running time: 172 minutes. The film adaptation of Cornelius Ryan’s book delivers a comprehensive presentation of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film features an all-star cast, including John Wayne, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Curd Jurgens, Jeffrey Hunter, and Robert Wagner. While not historically accurate in every detail, the film gets the main points right. I think the screenplay spends too much time on the story leading up to the invasion. That aside, it’s still an entertaining movie. Memorable line: “They’ll be talking about this day long after we are dead and gone.”
Reds: (1981) Running time: 195 minutes. Warren Beatty stars, directs and shares writing credits in this epic tale of American journalist Jack Reed and his involvement in the Communist revolution in Russia. The cast includes Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson (Best Supporting Actor nomination), E. Emmet Walsh, Edward Herrmann and Gene Hackman. The film received 12 Academy Award nominations. It won three Oscars, including Best Director for Beatty and Best Supporting Actress for Maureen Stapleton. Memorable line: “You and Jack have a lot of middle class dreams for two radicals.”
The Right Stuff: (1983) Running time: 193 minutes. Director Philip Kaufman presents an engaging and highly entertaining adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s bestseller about the Mercury Project and America’s early days in the space race with the Soviet Union. Sam Shepard’s portrayal of Chuck Yeager dominates the show, but Dennis Quaid and Fred Ward deliver fine performances as astronauts Gordon Cooper and Gus Grissom, respectively. Also watch for Donald Moffat as Lyndon Baines Johnson. The cast also includes Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Pamela Reed, Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, and Levon Helm. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations and won four, mostly for technical achievement. It also features Bill Conti's great musical soundtrack. Memorable line: Ambulance driver: “Is that a man over there? Ridley: “You’re damn right it is.”
The Sand Pebbles: (1966) Running time: 182 minutes. Steve McQueen perfected the role of the quiet (almost sullen) loner, and he’s in top form here as Jake Holman, a misfit sailor sent to serve in the U.S.S. San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River in China in 1926. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (McQueen), Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Richard Crenna delivers a strong performance as the ship’s captain and Candice Bergen is first-rate as a missionary worker. The cast includes Richard Attenborough, Simon Oakland, Mako, Joe Turkel and Gavin MacLeod. Memorable line: “What the hell happened?”
Spartacus: (1960) Running time: 197 minutes. Director Stanley Kubrick’s sprawling tale of the slave Spartacus and the revolt he leads against Rome. Kubrick presents a nice mix of action, drama and scenery. The cast includes Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov, Woody Strode and Tony Curtis. Produced long before computer-generated images became available, “Spartacus” includes thousands of extras. The climatic battle between the Romans and Spartacus’ army included 8,500 extras. Memorable line: “I am Spartacus.”
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