#3 Casablanca

1942
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains

Probably my personal favorite on the whole list, this is Casablanca.  Set in unoccupied France during World War 2, we meet Rick- American owner of a cafe in Casablanca (a waiting point for people looking to get to America.)  With transit papers hard to get, most are found on the black market.  When Victor Laszlo and Ilsa Lund come to Casablanca looking for their transit papers, it is Rick who has them instead of the original black market go-between.  But there's a catch - Ilsa and Rick have met before- in Paris, before the war, and fell in love.  Ilsa left Rick at the train station with no explanation.  Turns out that she was already married to Laszlo and thought him dead in a concentration camp.  So here they are, in Casablanca.  Laszlo a wanted man by the German army, and Rick with only 2 transit papers.  (All this happening with German soldiers in Casablanca waiting for them to make a move, and the prefect -Captain Renault- of Casablanca who takes no sides but is trying to impress the Germans) So..... Ilsa still loves him, but respects her husband who has become a symbol of freedom and righteousness in the war.  What's a girl to do?! She tells Rick he has to think for the both of them, so he does... I won't spoil the ending but what a movie!  Really I think probably the best one so far.  It has some of my favorite actors in Henreid and Rains, and you can't go wrong with Bogart and Bergman.   If you haven't seen this movie, there's probably something wrong with you.

Trivia: Rick never says "Play it again, Sam." He says: "You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can take it, I can take it so Play it!". Ilsa says "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By"'. The incorrect line has become the basis for spoofs in movies such as A Night in Casablanca (1946) and Play It Again, Sam (1972).

In the famous scene where the "Marseillaise" is sung over the German song "Watch on the Rhine", many of the extras had real tears in their eyes; a large number of them were actual refugees from Nazi persecution in Germany and elsewhere in Europe and were overcome by the emotions the scene brought out.

Up Next: The Godfather

#4 Raging Bull

1980
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Cathy Moriarty

Story of prize fighter, Jake LaMotta, set in the 1940's and 50's. LaMotta is unbeatable in the ring and desires greatness, but ultimately destroys everything around him and ends up alone.  The acting in the movie is some of the finest in movies, from DeNiro to Pesci to Moriarty... they all work brilliantly together to tell the story.

Trivia: When the real Jake LaMotta saw the movie, he said it made him realize for the first time what a terrible person he had been. He asked the real Vicki LaMotta "Was I really like that?". Vicki replied "You were worse."

Up Next: Casablanca

#5 Singin in the Rain

1952
Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald OConnor, Jean Hagen

Set in 1927 Hollywood, the movie follows movie star Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and his costar Lina Lamont (Hagen) as silent movies give way to talking pictures.  Along the way, Don meets-cute Reynolds' character, Kathy Selden, and they fall in love, much to Lina's dismay.  Kathy is trying to make it into the movie business also, but Lamont tries everything she can to prevent it.  The movie is funny, entertaining and is movie-making at its finest.  Loved it!

Trivia: In the "Would You" number, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) is dubbing the voice of Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) because Lina's voice is shrill and screechy. However, it's not Reynolds who is really speaking, it's Jean Hagen herself, who actually had a beautiful deep, rich voice. So you have Jean Hagen dubbing Debbie Reynolds dubbing Jean Hagen. And when Debbie is supposedly dubbing Jean's singing of "Would You", the voice you hear singing actually belongs to Betty Noyes, who had a much richer singing voice than Debbie.

Up Next: Raging Bull