Rita Moreno names her five favourite movies of all time
It is impossible to discuss the greatest movie musicals of all time without mentioning the 1961 Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise-directed West Side Story, a juggernaut of the genre that rubs shoulders with Singin’ in the Rain and Cabaret. Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the movie tells the story of two teenagers from rival gangs who fall in love and cause major rifts and stars the likes of Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer and Rita Moreno.
A veteran of the movie musical, Moreno appeared not only as Anita in West Side Story but also as Zelda in Singin’ in the Rain, rising to Hollywood fame in the 1950s. Whilst she would thrive on the silver screen, Moreno was equally well known for her time on TV, thriving in 780 episodes of The Electric Company, a beloved comedy variety show that also aired cartoons and sketch shows.
Back in 2021, the same year she would star in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, Moreno sat down with Rotten Tomatoes to discuss her five favourite movies of all time.
Her first pick is a film that many call the greatest of all time, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. “The first movie that comes to mind to me always is Citizen Kane, for many reasons,” Moreno states, “The camera work was extraordinary in it and it was way ahead of its time…I saw it on a rerun obviously in one of the art theaters in New York City. So that must have been in the, I guess, in the 1950s. It’s a great movie”.
The Steven Spielberg family flick E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial comes in at number two, with Moreno saying that she can “never get enough” of the classic alien sci-fi. Continuing, she adds: “Number one, it has superb child actors, which can really only happen because of Steven Spielberg. He is just great with children because he’s like a child himself. It’s a very interesting phenomenon”.
“I love The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, Moreno says of the third movie on her list of favourites, a classic film that stars Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons and Lynsey Baxter. “What a great movie,” she adds, “She [Meryl Streep] looked exquisite in it, the photography was amazing, and there was nothing wrong with that movie at all. It was a fabulous movie and so different and so unusual. I even love the title for its originality. Great movie”.
The only modern choice on her list is the 2020 Emerald Fennell ‘Best Picture’ nominee is Promising Young Woman, a film that enraptured critics and movie fans at the time of its release. Praising the lead performance of Carey Mulligan, she adds: “She’s such a controlled actress. She can really hang on and there’s something about somebody who’s playing a bad guy or girl who doesn’t give it all out. That’s very impressive”.
Her final choice in her favourites list is a movie she starred in, the iconic musical Singin’ in the Rain, which she starred in with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. “I love to show them [her grandchildren] my movie Singin’ in the Rain,” she exclaimed, “That’s one of my favorite movies by the way – of all the movies and the genres, I think Singin’ in the Rain is just one of the great movie musicals”.
Rita Moreno’s favourite movies:
- Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982)
- The French Lieutenant’s Woman (Karel Reisz, 1981)
- Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020)
- Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1952)
