AFI Top 100, #s 5-2

I previously reviewed all of these movies for my Best Picture Project. Below is the pertinent information about each: the movie stats, plot summary, and the rating I gave it.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA - AFI #5
Movie Stats:
Released 1962 (UK)
American & British, in English
Director – David Lean
Stars – Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains

Plot Summary:
Follows the exploits of British military man (later author) T.E. Lawrence (O’Toole), who helped unite Arab tribes in an uprising against the ruling Ottoman Turks during WWI. Sharif co-stars as Sherif Ali, an Arab leader who becomes Lawrence’s friend; Quinn as Auda Abu Tayi, another Arab leader who Lawrence convinces to join the revolt; Guinness as Prince Feisal, the man tapped to rule the united Arabs; Hawkins as General Allenby, Lawrence’s superior; and Rains as Mr. Dryden, a politician (I think).

Rating:
4.25 stars

Full review HERE.


GONE WITH THE WIND - AFI #4
Movie Stats:
Released 1940 (USA)
American, in English
Director – Victor Fleming
Stars – Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, & Hattie McDaniel

Plot Summary:
I feel a little silly summarizing a movie that everyone already knows the plot of, but here goes. Spoiled, self-absorbed rich girl Scarlett O’Hara (Leigh) spends years and years pining after Ashley Wilkes (Howard). Although Ashley returns Scarlett’s feelings to some extent, he marries his own cousin, Melanie (de Havilland), instead. At the same time, Scarlett is pursued by known cad Rhett Butler (Gable). This is all set against the backdrop of the Civil War & subsequent Reconstruction. Hattie McDaniel plays Mammy, Scarlett’s loyal servant.

Rating:
4.25 stars

Full review HERE.


THE GODFATHER - AFI #3
Movie Stats:
Released 1972 (USA)
American, in English (some translated Italian & some non-translated Italian)
Director – Francis Ford Coppola
Stars – Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton

Plot Summary:
It’s the story of mafia boss Vito Corleone (Brando), his sons Sonny (Caan) and Michael (Pacino), and his adopted son Tom Hagan (Duvall). Keaton co-stars as Michael’s girlfriend, Kay Adams.

Rating:
4.5 stars

Full review HERE.


CASABLANCA - AFI #2
Movie Stats:
Released 1943 (USA)
American, in English (small amounts of non-translated French & German)
Director – Michael Curtiz
Stars – Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, & Claude Rains

Plot Summary:
It’s December 1941. Casablanca, Morocco, under the control of Vichy France, is overrun by people desperately seeking a way to escape Nazi-controlled Europe. In the midst of it all is American Rick Blaine (Bogart), a bar owner who’s just trying to survive it all. He’s getting by all right until the arrival of Victor Lazlo (Henreid), a symbol of the resistance whom the Nazis are determined to capture, and his female companion, Ilsa Lund (Bergman). Rick and Ilsa share a mysterious past. Now that she is involved, will Rick be able to remain neutral, or will he decide to stick his neck out for her? Claude Rains stars as the local French leader, Captain Renault.

Rating:
5 stars

Full review HERE.