All of Pope Leo’s top 4 favorite movies are on my list too except for Ordinary People which I saw but don’t remember and thus not on my list but I just add others that I love too for my top 10.
I like late 1930’s through late 1950’s movies the most because they have artistic and surreal characteristics, by the mid 1960’s or later, that changed to a kind of ugly realism and blatant sex and violence, offered more discreetly under the Hollywood Hayes code and more powerful then than the realism of later years without the Hayes Code.
Here are the Pope’s top four:
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Sound of Music
Ordinary People
Life is Beautiful (an Italian film)
My top 11 movies:
Gone With the Wind
The Wizard of Oz
The Sound of Music
Mary Poppins
The Shop Around the Corner
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Godfather (part one and two)
Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte
The Big Combo
Stagecoach (with John Wayne although the remake is good too)
Laura
10 comments:
Ooooooo! "Hush, Hush" is among the best in the film noir genre!
It's nice to see The Shop Around the Corner on the list, but I'd want To Be Or Not To Be too. And some Preston Sturges, especially Sullivan's Travels and the Palm Beach Story.
I am a sinner. I do not have any business judging another person's soul.
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I had decades ago heard of Ordinary People. I have not watched that movie.
I have just read about that movie.
The reviews of Ordinary People stated that the movie has several examples of characters having taken the Lord's name in vain.
The movie employed 10 four-letter "bombs"...the big four-letter "bomb."
There are additional examples of cussing throughout the movie, according to reviews that I have read.
I am surprised that Pope Leo XIV has a favorable opinion of Ordinary People.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
There aren’t many movies since the 1970’s that don’t have vile language.
Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte has a stellar cast. From top to bottom. Love Cecil Calloway and Mary Astor, often overlooked!
Agnes Moorhead, Endora from Bewitched, stole the show.
Yes, Father McDonald, Agnes Moorhead, was wonderful and her role in that movie was a sharp departure from her usually sophisticated and elegant roles. I recall seeing her in Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and even The Singing Nun!
Quite the character actress and did many radio shows in the 40’s and 50’s and associated with Orson Wells in radio and movies
I have just read Pope Pius XI's ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE MOTION PICTURE
VIGILANTI CURA
https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_29061936_vigilanti-cura.html
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I read also yesterday's address by Pope Leo XIV:
ENCOUNTER WITH THE WORLD OF CINEMA. ADDRESS BY HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/speeches/2025/november/documents/20251115-mondo-del-cinema.html
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In particular, Pope Pius XI had heaped tremendous praise upon the National Legion of Decency's holy work that combatted Hollywood.
It is unimaginable, for example, that the Legion of Decency would have spoken well of movies that had contained 10 four-letter bleep bombs.
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Pope Pius XI:
"From time to time, the Bishops will do well to recall to the motion picture industry that, amid the cares of their pastoral ministry, they are under obligation to interest themselves in every form of decent and healthy recreation because they are responsible before God for the moral welfare of their people even during their time of leisure.
"Their sacred calling constrains them to proclaim clearly and openly that unhealthy and impure entertainment destroys the moral fiber of a nation."
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As Father McDonald had noted:
"There aren’t many movies since the 1970’s that don’t have vile language."
That is just one example in regard to the extent of the massive amount of filth and indecency in which the motion picture industry has long trafficked.
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Pope Leo XIV declared yesterday:
"Cultural facilities, such as cinemas and theaters, are the beating hearts of our communities because they contribute to making them more human.
"If a city is alive, it is thanks in part to its cultural spaces. We must inhabit these spaces and build relationships within them, day after day.
"Nonetheless, cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighborhoods.
"More than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger."
In light of the filth that has long flowed from cinema, is the above a bad thing?
Pax.
Mark Thomas
I agree with all of the movies mentioned by PLXIV and others here! All are great movies!
For my own list, here goes:
1) "It's a Wonderful Life"
2) "A Christmas Story" (filmed in nearby Cleveland with numerous NE Ohio Easter eggs, which I love!)
3) "The Bishop's Wife"
4) "My Cousin Vinny"
5) "Moonstruck"
6) "Sound of Music"
7) "The Music Man"
8) "All Quiet on the Western Front"
9) "The Shoes of the Fisherman"
10) "Cabrini"
Plus, "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind" - of course!
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