The 1974 version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Still holds up today.
I know that critics love to praise The Searchers, but I’ve seen the whole thing a few times, and I don’t think it’s very good. Lots of cheesiness and cliches.
Yeah. my bad. Thanks!
Day of the Jackal is good, but again, see the original, not the shitty remake. I seem to say that a lot.
The Americanization of Emily – Cynical WWII comedy/drama starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas and James Coburn.
Agree with all of these, and would add The Fourth Protocol with Pierce Brosnan as a KGB operative trying to plant a nuclear bomb next to an air base, and The Day of the Jackal, the 1973 version.
How can you leave out Jimmy Stewart’s The Cheyenne Social Club? It’s Western but it’s a hoot.
Some suggestions:
Earth vs Flying Saucers
When Worlds Collide
The 6th Day
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Almost an Angel
Armegeddon
Being There
Bicentennial Man
Casino Royale 007 (Daniel Craig as James Bond, kick ass)
Ah, I just remembered, The Man from Earth. This one is a mind bender. It’s about a 2000 year old man.
I would say, rather, the TZ dedicated one of it’s time slots to presenting this French made gem.
One of my favorite old movies is the 1934 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
A semi-prophetic line about when a nation goes mad, it can commit any horrors within its own borders.
The prince patting his big fat belly and saying “Beef and Beer! It gives a man a figure!” 
Agree with all of these, and would add The Fourth Protocol with Pierce Brosnan as a KGB operative trying to plant a nuclear bomb next to an air base, and The Day of the Jackal, the 1973 version.
Of the categories you list here, I have a few suggestions, some of which already have been made.
Twelve Angry Men: A drama about a very important issue - prejudging people as a jury. One of the best movies ever made.
Andromeda Strain: Science Fiction that was generally well-acted, decently ok on the science, and didn’t follow a plot-line that a two-year-old could predict the ending to. I think it’s a better movie than 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I that’s because I find the latter a bit weird.
The Adventures of Robin Hood: Classic period piece with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. You might prefer Dawn Patrol, which is set in WWI, or Captain Blood, which is set during the 1700s (and is based upon an excellent book by Rafael Sabbatini). All three movies star Flynn and Rathbone (Dawn Patrol gives you David Niven to boot!).
Btw: you said nothing about your tastes in comedy. From your posts on the Board, I believe you to be a person with significant intelligence, who probably finds comedy that has some intelligence behind it to be fun. In this vein, and given the above recommendation, you might try The Court Jester, an excellent Danny Kaye movie, which also stars Basil Rathbone (in a role in which he basically mocks his roll from the Robin Hood film, among others). It also has a VERY young Angela Lansbury in it, and I think you’ll be shocked at what she looked like at the time. Just remember where the pellet with the poison is!
Sterling Hayden was a good actor and led an interesting life - he was an operative for the OSS (forerunner of the CIA) in Yugoslavia in WWII.
I heard an interesting interview with the director of** My Favorite Year** (another recommendation). His first job as a film director was directing Peter O’Toole, which he found a little overwhelming. They were filming a scene after midnight in Central Park, and he was trying to get everything set up in the park and wanted to be careful not to forget anything and look bad in front of O’Toole. He saw a figure come walking up out of the darkness from a drainage culvert, and was surprised to see it was Sterling Hayden, who said he was trying to get mentally ready for a film role and asked to be introduced to Peter O’Toole. He said it was an odd moment.
Just saw Steel Yard Blues (1973). Took forever to make its point. Was neat seeing Hesseman in a straight role.
He was also the tallest leading man in Hollywood history, at 6’5.” Also an excellent sailor who only took movie work to pay for his boats, including a canal barge, which he lived on in France in the late 60s. Also liked to smoke hashish.
Hayden appeared in a ridiculous number of great films, many included in this thread. Might as well add another one: Robert Altman’s 1973 The Long Goodbye, starring Elliott Gould (!) as Philip Marlowe. After the aforementioned The Big Sleep, my favorite Raymond Chandler adaptation.
i like that film too, although it’s perhaps the oddest Chandler adaptation. He was also in one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies, The Last Days of Man on Earth (UK: The Final Programme).
I remember him as a frequent guest on Johnny Carson and Tom Snyder with that long beard, extolling the virtues of cannabis. He was definitely his own man who never seemed to give two foxes.
If you’re looking for another non-comedy Elliott Gould movie, check out The Silent Partner (1978).
Gould plays a bank teller who lives a boring life. His bank is robbed but he foils the robbery by hiding the money. But nobody else realizes the money was hidden and everyone assumes the robber (Christopher Plummer) took it. So Gould takes the money himself rather than turning it in.
Plummer figures this out when he sees the news reports saying he has the money. So he contacts Gould and tries to threaten him into giving up the money. Gould doesn’t want to give up the money but he also can’t turn Plummer in because he would then tell the police Gould had the money.
Yes, I definitely meant the original. The remake wasn’t horrible, but it’s nowhere near the film the original was.
I also really liked Judgement at Nuremberg. Spencer Tracy, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster. And you get Capt. Kirk as a bonus! And Colonel Klink as an extra bonus!
Monty Woolley, one of the greatest comedy performances ever, in “The Man Who Came to Dinner”.
There are some classic foreign films that I never get tired of watching: “A Man and a Woman” and “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. And Fellini is a must, maybe best in “Juliet of the Spirits”.
Be sure “Butch Cassidy” and “Bonnie and Clyde” are on your list.
Ukulele Ike writes:
> He [Sterling Hayden] was also the tallest leading man in Hollywood history, at 6’5.
So you don’t count any of these?:
Brad Garrett, 6’8"
James Cromwell, 6’7"
James Arness 6’7"
Fred Thompson, 6’6"
Christopher Lee 6’ 5"
Michael Clarke Duncan, 6’5"
Dwayne Johnson, 6’5"
Tim Robbins, 6’5"
Armie Hammer, 6’5"
Dolph Lundgren, 6’5"
Vince Vaughn, 6’5"
Tyler Perry, 6’5"
Chuck Connors 6’5"
Sidney Poitier films are worth it too. In the Heat of the Night tells the story of a black police detective in the rural bigoted South, and how he earns the respect of the sheriff (Rod Steiger).
Speaking of Rod Steiger, I was always a fan of The Illustrated Man,, though it can be argued it doesn’t do the book justice. Still, "They are not tattoos! They are skin illustrations!
I’m partial to The Pawnbroker myself.
He also made a great Pontius Pilate in Jesus of Nazareth.