#20 It's A Wonderful Life

1946
Director: Frank Capra

Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

Poor George Bailey, he can't catch a break.  He just wanted to get out of his small town of Bedford Falls and ends up being needed there the most.  At his lowest moment, George gets a visit from his guardian angel Clarence and sees what life would be like had he never been born.  Movies don't get much better than this.  Terrific.

Trivia: For the scene that required Donna Reed to throw a rock into the window of the Granville House, Frank Capra hired a marksman to shoot it out for her on cue. To everyone's amazement, Donna Reed broke the window with true aim and heft without the assistance of the hired marksman. Reed had played baseball in high school and had a strong throwing arm.

Up Next: On The Waterfront

#21 Chinatown

1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

Private eye JJ Gittes takes on Evelyn Mulwray as a client when she think her husband (who works for the water department) is having an affair.  From there, Gittes gets in way over his head as the Mulwray story gets stranger and stranger.  Everything is involved- murder, politics and incest.

I can't say I liked this movie, but it was entertaining.

Trivia: At one point, Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson got into such a heated argument that Polanski smashed Nicholson's portable TV with a mop. Nicholson used the TV to watch L.A. Lakers basketball games and kept stalling shooting.

Up Next: It's A Wonderful Life

#22 Some Like it Hot

1959
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, Marilyn Monroe

I remember watching this movie when I was a little girl, it's one of the first movies I remember watching with my dad and my sister.  I haven't watched it since, so it was like watching it for the first time again.  I thought it was great! I laughed a lot, especially at Lemons character.
The movie follows two musicians who witness the Valentines Day massacre and try to escape by dressing in drag and joining an all-girls band, which Monroe's character Sugar Kane is a member of.  Silliness and romance ensues...
Trivia: When Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon first put on the female make-up and costumes, they walked around the Goldwyn Studios lot to see if they could "pass" as women. Then they tried using mirrors in public ladies rooms to fix their makeup, and when none of the women using it complained, they knew they could be convincing as women. There is a scene on the train recreating this moment. 

Up Next: Chinatown

#23 The Grapes of Wrath

1940
Director:  John Ford
Starring: Henry Fonda, John Carradine, Jane Darwell

Based on the Steinbeck novel, the movie follows the Joad family through hard times.  It's hard for me to imagine what times were like then, but this movie certainly paints a descriptive picture.   I never read the book and had never seen the movie.  I can say that the acting was excellent and the story compelling, but I can't say that it's a movie I would watch again.  I didn't love it so much, but can't really figure out why!

Trivia- John Steinbeck loved the movie and said that Henry Fonda as Tom Joad made him "believe my own words". 

Up Next - Some Like it Hot

#24 E. T. the Extra-terrestrial

1982
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Peter Coyote

I can admit now that growing up, this was never a movie that hit home for me.  Weird, because I like alien movies.  But for some reason, I don't remember liking it as much as I just did when I re-watched it for the first time in maybe 25 years.  This movie is sums up movie making in total.  I just loved it.  Every minute.

Trivia: Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliot and E.T. 

Up Next- The Grapes of Wrath

#25 To Kill A Mockingbird

1962 
Director: Robert Mulligan
Starring: Gregory Peck, Brock Peters, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford

Classic novel and movie that follows Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends a black man who is wrongly accused of raping a white woman in racially divided 1930's Alabama.  Despite pressure from some of the town, he takes the case.  Atticus represents someone who does the right thing for the right reasons... simply because its the right thing to do.  It's simply in his nature to do good.  The movie also follows the lives of his children, and the mysterious Boo Radley (A very young Robert Duvall.)  
I remember reading this in school and watching the movie back then too.  The movie seemed to mean more now.  We are definitely getting into the best of the best now. 

Trivia: Mary Badham (Scout) and Gregory Peck (Atticus) became close during filming and kept in contact for the rest of his life. He always called her Scout. 

Up Next: E. T. 

#26 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1939
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains

Made in one of the best year for movies, the movie follows a young senator and his introduction into politics.  Stweart is perfection and I HEART Claude Rains ( I've loved just about everything I've seen him in.) Stewart takes on the DC elite and corrupt.  His passion for democracy is certainly believable and missed these days!

Trivia: The movie Bitterly denounced by Washington insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works. 

Up Next: To Kill A Mockingbird