Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Godfather
The Godfather came into this world, in the form of Mario Puzo's novel, as pulp. In a feat of creative alchemy arguably unsurpassed before or since, Coppola and his collaborators turned the Mafia melodrama into popular art that satisfies on every possible level -- as a family drama, a crime saga, a visual and musical ravishment and an impeccable evocation of a historical period.
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The Wizard of Oz
"If I was on a desert island, I'd bring The Wizard of Oz with me," says Elizabeth Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. "It always makes me feel alive. I could watch it over and over." And people have. In fact, it's the most-watched film of all time, according to the Library of Congress, thanks to regular showings on broadcast television since the mid-1950s. That yellow brick road clearly is made of gold.
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Photo by: RKO/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Citizen Kane
Critics have hailed this for decades as "the greatest American movie ever made," making it an all-too-easy pick for anyone's greatest-movie list. But not all moviegoers are enthralled with the story of Charles Foster Kane and his long-lost sled. Among poll respondents in their 20s, for instance, it was only the 26th-favorite film. Among the under-20s, it was 53rd. For those over 60, though, it was No. 1 or 2.
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The Shawshank Redemption
Of all the adaptations of Stephen King stories -- and they are legion because he is the most-adapted living writer -- this is the only one to make the list.
All that Shawshank love apparently came after the film's unexceptional theatrical release, when it began popping up on cable TV nearly as regularly as Geico commercials. In 2013, 151 hours of basic cable time was devoted to airing the 142-minute movie. That's about six days of watching Robbins try to escape from prison.
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Pulp Fiction
"Quentin has always been a student of film, and after Reservoir Dogs he said to me: 'The second movie from a filmmaker is almost more important than the first. We've got to get it right,'" recalls Lawrence Bender, Tarantino's longtime producing partner. Tarantino got it right, all right. In fact, Miramax's Pulp Fiction might be the most influential movie made during the 1990s, inspiring scads of imitators (nicknamed Tarantinies) and dozens of knockoffs. "We didn't think we were taking a big risk," says Bender. "We just though we were making something really cool."
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Casablanca
Not surprisingly, Rick and Ilsa's war-torn romance was a big favorite among seasoned poll respondents. Among those in their 60s, it was the third-most-popular picture, while among those in their 20s, it was 37th. Also not a big shocker, men and women had different opinions: Casablanca was males' third-favorite film and females' 14th. But then, men always prefer their love stories with Nazis in them.
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The Godfather: Part II
Arguments over which Godfather is greater, the first or second, began as soon as the sequel was released. The first film has the edge among this poll's respondents, but Part II has die-hard fans as well. "It's one of those movies," says producer Albert Berger, "that has every element of cinema working at the highest level. And it's entertaining, and it says something about our country."
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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
It's the first Spielberg film on the list but hardly the last (he has seven). And it totally makes sense that E.T. would be his most popular because it's basically The Wizard of Oz in reverse. Think about it: A 3-foot-tall munchkin lands on Earth, where he's befriended by a trio of locals (and their little dog) who help him phone to no-place-like-home until, at the end, where does E.T. go in his spaceship? That's right -- over the rainbow. "I never thought of that before," said Spielberg a few years ago when the theory was presented to him. "Do you mind if I steal that?"
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2001: A Space Odyssey
It was the first outer-space movie to take outer-space -- and special effects -- seriously. Sure, it creaks beside its successors, including Close Encounters and Star Wars, but 2001 does have one of the most famous match-cuts in movie history (the bone turning into a spaceship). And even though the smooth-talking computer in the film has an operating system that's 46 years old, people still want to own it: The HAL 9000 app on iTunes has been downloaded an estimated quarter-million times.
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Photo by: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Schindler's List
The most shocking thing about this emotionally wrenching black-and-white drama isn't that it's about an act of heartbreaking kindness during the Holocaust; it's that Spielberg released it only months after his other big hit of 1993, the one with the dinosaurs. Unlike Jurassic Park, this film took home seven Oscars, including best director and best picture (the first black-and-white movie to win that statuette since 1960's The Apartment).
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Photo by: Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Star Wars
Star Wars set the bar for lots of things: special effects, box-office receipts, the incorporation of mythological storytelling structure, the number of aliens that can fit comfortably into a bar. But its real legacy is The Deal: Lucas negotiated rights to both the merchandising and the sequels -- deemed worthless by Fox in 1977, but today they are worth billions.
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Back to the Future
Fox was filming Family Ties when Zemeckis tapped the 24-year-old television star to play unwitting time traveler Marty McFly. (He was replacing Eric Stoltz, who had shot a few scenes but proved the wrong fit.) Fox worked nights and weekends, which explains why he looks so exasperated in most of the film.
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dreamed up while George Lucas and Spielberg were vacationing in Hawaii, Raiders indulged Lucas' desire to make an old-fashioned serial and scratched Spielberg's itch to make a globe-trotting James Bond film (incredibly, the 007 producers had turned down his services). When Jeff Bridges said no to the role of Indiana Jones (initially named Smith) and Tom Selleck couldn't get out of his Magnum P.I. contract, Lucas turned to his Han Solo.
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Forrest Gump
The mind-blowing CGI -- from the floating feather to removing Sinise's legs -- helped put Gump over the top in one of the most competitive best picture races in memory. The Shawshank Redemption (No. 4) and Pulp Fiction (No. 5) also were nominated that year.
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Photo by: MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Gone With the Wind
It's still the longest film to win best picture (nearly four hours) and the first to have an African-American castmember win an Oscar (Hattie McDaniel). Ironically, its only surviving star is Olivia de Havilland, 97, whose character was the main one to die.
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Photo by: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
To Kill a Mockingbird
More than 50 years later, this is still a pitch-perfect portrait of race and rural America during the Great Depression. No wonder it's Superman's favorite movie (according to Clark Kent's Wikipedia page, at any rate).
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Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Apocalypse Now
Harvey Keitel got fired. Brando showed up overweight and unprepared. Sheen had a heart attack and nearly died. And storms destroyed many of the sets. Has a better film ever been made from worse circumstances?
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Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Annie Hall
For years there have been rumors of a bootleg cut of an original, much longer version -- titled Anhedonia -- which supposedly was more of a surreal murder mystery than a love story. Please let THR know if you've got a copy.
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Photo by: Warner Bros./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Goodfellas
Scorsese's first film on this list is remembered for many things (like Pesci's "You think I'm funny?" riff), but it made the record books by dropping the F-bomb more than any other movie up till then (300 times). It was surpassed last year by The Wolf of Wall Street, which used the F-word 569 times.
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Photo by: RKO Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
It's a Wonderful Life
It was Capra's favorite, and Stewart's, too, but it bombed when it first was released. Like George Bailey, though, it got a second chance, becoming a holiday classic thanks to endless Christmas TV showings.
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Chinatown
This is the first of three Nicholson films to make the 100. But he's beaten by Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro (both with four) and by Marlon Brando and Harrison Ford (with five apiece).
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Photo by: Orion Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Silence of the Lambs
The only horror film ever to win best picture. It also won best director, adapted screenplay, actress and actor (for Hopkins' 25-minute turn, the second-shortest performance to win that trophy behind Peter Finch's in Network).
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Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Lawrence of Arabia
Steven Spielberg once estimated that remaking it today would cost close to $300 million. Also, these days, they'd probably need to add some estrogen; the 227-minute movie has not a single line spoken by a woman.
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Photo by: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Sound of Music
Such a cheery spirit-lifter, during the Cold War the BBC reportedly planned to air the film after a nuclear strike to improve the morale of survivors. "So Long, Farewell" being the perfect post-apocalyptic melody.
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Photo by: MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Singin' in the Rain
Reynolds once said that making this film and giving birth were the two hardest things she'd ever done. Kelly reportedly was a tyrant on the set.
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Photo by: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Breakfast Club
More proof that men and women are different: Hughes' after-school detention drama was the ninth-most-popular film for female respondents, but 75th for males.
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Photo by: Embassy Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Graduate
Which of these actresses was not considered for Mrs. Robinson: Deborah Kerr, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Doris Day, Shelley Winters, Ava Gardner, Patricia Neal or Ingrid Bergman? Trick question: All supposedly were up for the part.
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Photo by: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Blade Runner
Despite studio tinkering (adding a voiceover, slapping in aerial footage shot for Kubrick's The Shining to give the ending a sunny feel), it remains the ultimate noir sci-fi detective movie.
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Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Kirk Douglas optioned Ken Kesey's book in the early '60s but decided he was too old to play McMurphy, so he gave the rights to his son, Michael, who produced it instead.
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Photo by: 20th.Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Princess Bride
Hardly anyone saw Rob Reiner's adaptation of William Goldman's comic-fantasy novel in theaters. But this was back when video could create a cult hit -- and that's precisely what happened.
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The Empire Strikes Back
An almost Shakespearean tragedy. The hero loses a hand but gains a father. And his best friend is frozen solid. Try and imagine the second installment of another giant sci-fi franchise that ends on such a downer. Go ahead.
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Photo by: Gramercy Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Fargo
This is one of four films on the list to have inspired hit TV shows that are current Emmy contenders. The other shows are Bonnie and Clyde, Hannibal and Bates Motel.
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American Beauty
Chevy Chase, Kevin Costner, and John Travolta all reportedly were considered for the part of Lester Burnham (which, incidentally, is an anagram for "Humbert learns," one of the film's many hat tips to Lolita).
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Photo by: Warner Bros./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
A Clockwork Orange
It's the film that began the debate over violence in cinema. Kubrick was so horrified by a copycat murder in England that he pulled the movie from U.K. theaters.
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Photo by: Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Hughes paid homage to his earlier movies via the license plates on the characters' cars: "VCATION" for National Lampoon's Vacation, "MMOM" for Mr. Mom and "TBC" for The Breakfast Club.
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Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Peter Sellers was the first actor to be nominated for a single Oscar for playing three characters (he lost on all three counts to Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady).
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Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Warner Bros/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Shining
Kubrick realized that the shot of Nicholson repeatedly typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" would make no sense to European audiences, so he had the line typed in Italian, German and Spanish.
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Photo by: Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Fight Club
Bonham Carter's line after her sex scene with Pitt -- "That was the best f-- I've had since grade school" -- was a replacement. The original, more offensive line: "I want to have your abortion."
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Photo by: Paramount/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Alien
When they shot the film's most famous scene -- the alien bursting through Hurt's chest -- the filmmakers didn't tell the cast what would happen. The horror on their faces is real.
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Photo by: Mary Evans/DISNEY/PIXAR/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
Photo by: Warner Bros/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Matrix
A virtual-reality prison. Sentient computer programs. Downloadable abilities. Bullet-time. Whoa. No wonder it was the first DVD to sell a million copies.
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Titanic
Both were the biggest of their day (882 feet for the vessel; $200 million for the film). But the boat sank, while the film went on to become the second-largest grosser in history (after Avatar).
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Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Some Like It Hot
"Everybody quotes me as saying kissing Marilyn was like kissing Hitler," Tony Curtis told a reporter a few years before his death. "I never said that. I said that kissing Marilyn was like f--ing her, the way she would grind against me."
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Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Usual Suspects
"Who is Keyser Soze?" was the question that drove the summer of 1995. Shot on a $6 million budget, Singer's breakthrough crime thriller would win Oscars for Spacey and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie.
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Jurassic Park
There was a four-way bidding war for Michael Crichton's novel: Warner Bros. wanted it for Tim Burton, Fox liked it for Joe Dante, Columbia chased it for Richard Donner, but Universal won for Spielberg.
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Photo by: Gramercy Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Photo by: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Miramax/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
In real life, Cassidy's gang was called The Wild Bunch, but Hill changed it to "Hole in the Wall" to avoid confusion with the Sam Peckinpah film.
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Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Taxi Driver
Screenwriter Paul Schrader was inspired by the diaries of Arthur Bremer, who shot George Wallace, and Scorsese turned to Psycho composer Bernard Herrmann, who initially turned down the job ("I don't write music for car movies").
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Photo by: Focus Features/Courtesy Neal Peters Colllection
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The film helped revive Winslet's career by proving she could do (quirky) comedy. "It took me right away from that English period-film thing and put me in the U.S. market," she recently told THR.
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Thelma & Louise
"It was pretty shocking that people were so threatened by it. Like somehow we had backed into territory long held only by white heterosexual men of a certain age,"says Susan Sarandon of her role in Ridley Scott's 1991 groundbreaking female-bonding road movie. Geena Davis doesn't disagree -- "I don't think any of us knew it would strike a nerve the way it did."
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Photo by: Miramax Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
West Side Story
"My category was called first, and I got lucky. And then Rita [Moreno] got lucky. What a perfect night," recalls George Chakiris of the night he and Moreno picked up Oscars for their performances as Bernardo and Anita in West Side Story." Moreno recalls it slightly differently. "I had to wait a long time. At that point, West Side Story had swept the awards, and I thought, 'My Puerto Rican luck; I'll be the only one who doesn't get an award.' " When her name was called, she walked to the podium and delivered one of the briefest speeches ever for an Oscar.
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Photo by: MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: COLUMBIA PICTURES/COURTESY NEAL PETERS COLLECTION
Groundhog Day
Bill Murray reportedly was bitten by the groundhog twice during shooting. Why isn't that on the DVD extras?
Photo by: Disney/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The original script was set half in the Middle Ages, half in the 20th century until Terry Jones suggested doing the King Arthur story.
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Photo by: Dreamworks/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Gladiator
It was Russell Crowe's big entrance as a Hollywood star (he won an Oscar) and Oliver Reed's big exit (he suffered a fatal heart attack during filming).
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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: DreamWorks/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Almost Famous
One of Philip Seymour Hoffman's most beloved performances -- and he delivered the whole thing while suffering from the flu.
Photo by: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Young Frankenstein
Gene Wilder suggested the idea for the movie to Mel Brooks while they were filming Blazing Saddles, which is why Wilder's name is first in the writing credits.
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Photo by: Warner Bros./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
All the President's Men
Alan J. Pakula was so intent on re-creating the Washington Post newsroom, he had the paper's trash shipped to Hollywood to clutter desks on the set.
Photo by: Warner Bros./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: FOCUS FEATURES/COURTESY NEAL PETERS COLLECTION
Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee won best director, but in one of the biggest Oscar upsets in recent memory, Brokeback lost best picture to … see if you can remember.
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Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy The Neal Peters Collection
Ghostbusters
In the original script, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of 50 monsters, but Reitman estimated it would have cost $300 million to produce them all.
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Photo by: United Artists/COURTESY NEAL PETERS COLLECTION
Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Warner Bros./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
There were many failed attempts at a live-action adaptation of LOTR, dating back to the 1960s, when The Beatles asked Stanley Kubrick to direct a version for them to star in.
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Photo by: 20th CENTURY FOX/COURTESY NEAL PETERS COLLECTION
Photo by: New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Walt Disney Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Photo by: New Line Cinema/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Only one poll respondent claimed to be over 100 years old, and this was one of his top picks. Nice to know Gandalf likes online polls.
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Photo by: Twentieth Century-Fox/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Newmarket Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: United Artists/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: Courtesy Everett Collection
Photo by: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Photo by: MGM/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Doctor Zhivago
Peter O'Toole turned down the title role, so David Lean settled on another Lawrence of Arabia star, which is how Sharif went from playing an Arab prince to a Russian physician.
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Photo by: Picturehouse
Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Airplane!
The film that forever changed the way people think about Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Barbara Billingsley and especially Leslie Nielsen.
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Photo by: Miramax Films/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Reservoir Dogs
It's actually not Tarantino's debut feature; the first film he directed was 1987's My Best Friend's Birthday, much of which was destroyed in a lab fire.
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Photo by: Warner Bros./Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
Bonnie and Clyde
One of the films that buried the Hays Code, though today it looks about as risque as basic cable.
Photo by: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection
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