Richard Dreyfuss names his favourite movies of all time
When Richard Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ for his performance in 1977’s Goodbye Girl, he was, at the time, the youngest ever actor to receive the award at the age of 30. Dreyfuss has also starred in a series of truly memorable films of the mid-late 20th century, including the likes of Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Stand By Me and Always.
The actor’s other credits include favourites such as American Graffiti, Nuts and Mr. Holland’s Opus. But what about Dreyfuss’ own favourite movies? Well, we can consult the book You Gotta See This, which details the top picks of several famous actors.
Dreyfuss’ passage begins: “Do you want one or two or my list? Okay, I’ll give you the list,” before going on to name his all-time favourites. “I’ll start with A Few Good Men,” he added. “You can’t get much better than that courtroom scene at the end. It’s also an intelligently written movie, and I appreciate when the words matter.”
A Few Good Men arrived in 1992 after the success of Aaron Sorkin’s original 1989 theatre version. It was directed by Rob Reiner and starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Keifer Sutherland and Demi Moore. The film tells of a court case surrounding the murder of a US Marine by two of his fellow Marines.
Dreyfuss then went on to name his second choice, saying: “I also love Gone with the Wind because it’s an epic romance”. Gone with the Wind was released in 1939 as a film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel. It stars Vivien Leight, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland and Clark Gable and tells of a daughter of a plantation owner and her romantic endeavours.
“I can’t leave you without saying, Citizen Kane,” then said. “It’s the classic of all classics. Mesmerising! You feel wrong turning it off if you happen upon Citizen Kane on cable. It’s just gorgeous filmmaking. And it meets my test, which is ‘Can you stick with the film?’ I’m stuck when it comes to Citizen Kane.”
Citizen Kane is, of course, the masterwork of legendary director Orson Welles. It was Welles’ first feature film, which he also co-wrote, produced and starred in. Citizen Kane charts the life of the fiction Charles Foster Kane, a media tycoon and is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made.
Richard Dreyfuss’ favourite movies:
- A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner, 1992)
- Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)
- Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
