Dick Cavett’s favourite films of all time
Undoubtedly among the most important figures in the history of American talk shows, Dick Cavett played a vital role in shaping public discourse through interesting conversations about important sociocultural issues with countless pioneers ranging from Orson Welles to John Lennon. Even after all these years, clips of these fascinating interviews continue to circulate on social media platforms like YouTube, where they garner praise from younger audiences.
As a central part of popular culture during his tenure as a talk show host, Cavett was exposed to a wide variety of art from different parts of the world. During a conversation with Criterion, the American icon opened up about his undying love for cinema and his admiration for directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Ernst Lubitsch. While it’s never easy to create a definitive list of one’s favourite films, Cavett put together a fantastic selection of essential works.
“The most thoroughly satisfying and perhaps only perfect film ever made,” Cavett said while talking about Carol Reed’s The Third Man. “I forget which director said they should close all the film schools and just show the students The Third Man thirty times. It bears at least a dozen reseeings, with something new and fine discovered each time. And to think that Benzedrine-riddled David O. Selznick tried to transform the fabulous final moments into a happy ending, but Carol Reed refused, standing up for all of us.”
When asked about the apotheosis of Alfred Hitchcock’s trailblazing directorial career, Cavett singled out Notorious. He explained: “Hitchcock’s best film, for my money. But then, any movie with the sinister Ivan Triesault gets my vote. He’s the one who takes Claude Rains in the final moments for his last ride, for us and for Claude. I wonder if, even in real life, the villainous Triesault could smile. The suspense in the wine cellar upsets my nerves every time.”
Restating his love for foreign films and Japanese cinema, Cavett also included Yasujirō Ozu’s magnum opus: “Tokyo monogatari, perhaps better known to non-Nipponophiles as Tokyo Story. Any film by the great Yasujirō Ozu will do, especially if it has Japan’s walked-away-in-mid-career huge star, the divine, mysterious, heart-seducing Setsuko Hara, who, Garbo-like and at the peak of her popularity, vanished into obscurity, never to return to the screen.”
Check out the full list below.
Dick Cavett’s favourite films:
- The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
- Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
- Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953)
- Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945)
- To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)
- Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)
- Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949)
- On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
Given his deep understanding of the machinations of the great American media machine, it’s no surprise to find Alexander Mackendrick’s 1957 gem Sweet Smell of Success on Cavett’s list. One of the greatest works from the film noir era, it’s a masterpiece that brilliantly highlights how misinformation is commodified by media apparatuses for profit.
Elaborating on the representation of New York City in the movie, Cavett said: “Love this film, partly and somewhat irrationally, because it preserves in amber the Times Square part of Manhattan as it was when I first knew it, with glimpses of fondly remembered theatres, dance halls, pool halls, the Camel sign, etc., etc. Not the gaudy, blinding array of plastic junk that area is now.”
