Five movies Steven Spielberg has always loved: “Good choices”
Steven Spielberg, the iconic filmmaker behind pictures such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. and Jurassic Park, has selected five films he considers to be a part of his ever-rotating list of favourites. The director is a lover of movies, first and foremost, and it means that, quite naturally, his list of favourite pictures is an ever-changing horizon, dotted with the odd immovable object but largely freely changing colour with every new minute.
Spielberg, regarded by many as one of the founding pioneers of the new Hollywood era, has been active in the film industry for well over 50 years and has twice won the ‘Best Director’ category at the Academy Awards. It means that his vision for what makes a great movie is 20-20 and, if you should ever be so lucky to speak with the creator and he bestows on you a list of his ultimate favourite pictures, you should include every single one on your essential watching list.
However, as mentioned, that is fairly unlikely to ever happen. Spielberg knows that the value of art is its ability to affect the audience in different ways at different times in their lives for different reasons. Therefore, a list of favourites is a movable feast. However, when asked by his friend and actor Gwyneth Paltrow to pick his five favourite feature films, he duly obliged, to some degree, at least.
Compiled by Paltrow, who leaned on her friendly connections as part of a feature for Goop, Spielberg was asked to name five films he would suggest as some of his favourites that all movie fans should rent on DVD. “Steven Spielberg is a pretty good director, you might have heard of him,” Paltrow writes while introducing the list. The actor adds: “When I was 17 he asked me to be in Hook [his film about Peter Pan] one night when we were all driving to a movie. They made me a custom wig and I only had one line! Filming that scene was one of the best, most memorable days of my life.”
The acclaimed filmmaker preempted his list by stating: “These are not necessarily my all-time favourite films… but good choices to rent and enjoy!” See the full list below.
Steven Spielberg’s five favourite films:
5. The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1956)
A film etched in the history books. William Wyler’s 1956 movie about three United States servicemen readjusting to civilian life starred the likes of Harold Russell, Myrna Loy, Fredric March, and Dana Andrews and claimed seven Academy Award victories.
Notably, the film is now fondly remembered for the subsequent success Harold Russell received. Not considered a professional actor when he was nominated for an Oscar, the Academy Board of Governors later handed him an Academy Honorary Award “for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance”.
4. Captains Courageous – (Victor Fleming, 1937)
Given its world premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles back in 1937, Victor Fleming’s black and white coming-of-age classic was well-received upon release and managed to land Spencer Tracy an Oscar for ‘Best Actor’.
Under the stern yet caring guidance of Spencer Tracy’s unforgettable Manuel, Harvey transforms from a brat to a young man of character. Fleming’s direction captures both the rough beauty of the sea and the depths of human connection. A testament to the power of discipline and camaraderie, it’s a rousing maritime adventure that leaves a lasting impression.
3. Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982)
Tootsie, released in 1982 starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Sydney Pollack, was a major critical and financial success upon release and became one of the most profitable films of the time. Telling the story of a volatile actor who decides to adopt a new identity as a woman, Tootsie also stars the likes of Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray and more before subsequently being nominated for ten Academy Awards.
The picture is now routinely considered one of the finest pictures of the decade, not least of all because of the societal norms it so effortlessly challenged. Easily one of Hoffman’s greatest performances, the picture clearly lands a spot in Spielberg’s list for its uniquely positioned emotional narrative. Far removed from Spielbergi’s style as it may be, it showcases that, for the director, the story always comes first.
2. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
What can be said about The Godfather that hasn’t already been said? Based on Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel of the same name and famously starring the likes of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola‘s masterpiece really needs no introduction. Coppola said, “The Mafia was romanticised in the book. And I was filming that book. To do a film about my real opinion of the Mafia would be another thing altogether. But it’s a mistake to think I was making a film about the Mafia. Godfather Part I is a romance about a king with three sons.
“It is a film about power. It could have been the Kennedys. The whole idea of a family living in a compound—that was all based on Hyannisport. Remember, it wasn’t a documentary about Mafia chief Vito Genovese. It was Marlon Brando with Kleenex in his mouth.”
The film of iconic history, Coppola changed the face of cinema when he mapped out his portrayal of the mafia, becoming the highest-grossing film ever made and was celebrated by critics and audiences across the planet. A simply majestic creation.
1. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
With a nod of the head to John Ford, it perhaps should come as little surprise that Spielberg has decided to include an iconic Western film as part of his suggested list.
Based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May and set during the Texas–Indian wars, The Searchers stars the likes of John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Jeffrey Hunter and more in a project which is often lauded as one of the most influential films of all time.
Life imitating art has become a well-worn cliché for a very good reason, and in Wayne’s case, it can’t be overlooked that he was gradually becoming the embodiment of what might very well be his best-ever performance. Arguably the magnum opus of the inimitable John Ford, The Searchers was an elegiac Western for the ages that made it clear in the years to come that ‘The Duke’ didn’t have to deviate all that far away from his own personality to embody Ethan Edwards.
