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On a Sunday, what could be more appropriate than a top 5 list of movies? I have seen all of these selections many times as I am sure many of you have. I know there will be some argument about the placement and selections, but in the end we all have our own criteria for our favorites, so this is fine too. My selection criteria was not based on anyone else’s view, but most of the films have seen similar placements elsewhere. I tried to be as objective as possible with the exception of the Quiet Man, which is actually my favorite. I suggest my readers watch or re-watch all of these before passing judgment too harshly. So here goes with the 5 best of all time.

#1 Gone With The Wind
The richest characters set against a back drop of momentary gentility, turned to desperation and then finally to hopeful imaginings essentially solidifies this films greatness. Even without the superb cinematography, costumes and set decoration - the tragic story played out by a host of unique actors pushed to their best performances reaches the zenith of film-making.

Who can ever forget the striking conflicts between the beauty and temper mentality of Scarlett O’Hara or the dashing and ardent or longing love of Rhett Butler? Set against a backdrop of a divided people and a lost innocence Gone With The Wind captures the viewer and delivers them into a past both magical and sorrowful. The singular human spirit is protracted via passion, beauty, despair, irony and across the panorama of humanity in all of its essences. I will never forget the sweeping shots of the Atlanta rail yard - strewn with the dead or wounded embodiment of people’s dreams, nor that undefeatable spirit of Scarlett as happiness walks into the mist at the end. Though not my actual favorite, this is the finest motion picture ever made.

#2 Citizen Kane
I wonder if Orson Welles and the elite company of this 1941 masterpiece knew how enduring their crisp black and white imagery would be over half a century later. Citizen Kane is widely considered the greatest motion picture ever made and only resides at my number two spot because the story of Gone With The Wind is more appealing to me.

At the center of this marvelous multi faceted story played out on a black shadowed over white canvas is Charles Foster Kane - a model enigma virtually unsolvable. Kane (played by Welles) is a character wrapped in a cloak of unbelievable depth inside a riddle quite unsolvable. From the brilliant screenplay to perhaps the finest black and white photography ever shot, Kane is endlessly watchable. Whether “Rosebud” is the final uttered remembrance of a boy’s sled or a metaphor for something gained and lost, the central unsolvability of any man’s life still etches these images in the mind. This is a truly great work of art in film.

#3 To Kill A Mockingbird
I remember seeing this movie as a kid and though I was drawn to westerns and other action films, something true and wonderful crept from the big screen into my mind’s eye that day. Gregory Peck gave perhaps the best performance by any actor as Atticus Finch, a small town lawyer propelled to greatness through necessity. The film is a timely expression of innocence amid a racially and socially challenged characterization of the South when innocence was literally set against stark reality.

The 1962 Academy Award winning screenplay was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning 1960 Novel by Harper Lee. Peck quite actually becomes Atticus, the humble attorney and loving father who ultimately delivers one of the most purely human (not black or white) pleas to the hardened ears and minds of an unwavering jury of prejudice. The enigmatic character of “Boo” ( played by Robert Duvall) delivers innocence from innocence in the end. Sometimes the very best of art and humanity can be observed from microscopic view as or even more easily than from the epic story. I love this film.

#4 Lawrence Of Arabia
This 1962 film retells the heroic exploits of T.E Lawrence’s during perhaps the most chaotic time when the world made a paradigm shift from old to new. Set against the majesty and beauty of the Arabian desert, if ever there was an epic story this film is the embodiment of the term. Peter O’Toole gives the performance of a lifetime portraying this fascinating cult character who expresses human duality as perhaps no other.

The rich characters, unbelievable (for the time) panoramas and tumultuous chaos of this film almost rendered me speechless when I saw it at the theater. O’Toole and Omar Sharif (Sherif Ali) interact in a dance of friendship and courage tinted at the corners by Lawrence’s enigmatic and eccentric personalities. The film reveals how intelligence combined with rebelliousness and courage can often propel mortal beings into almost godlike deeds and accomplishments. In the end, the cool reality that we are all mortal is impalpably tasted in the irony of Lawrence’s death. Even strength of character and sometimes our humanity can indeed be tested to their limits.

#5 The Quiet Man
Many of you will question this selection of John Ford’s masterfully told vision inside the simple dreams of extraordinary people. Set in Ireland, John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara initiate a courtship and love affair embodying subdued passion and purity the likes of which I have never seen since in film. The Quiet Man (Wayne) is in search of a homeland, a past and a future he has dreamed of all his life back home in the small town of Innisfree.

Sexual tension carefully laced into perhaps the best cinematography in color ever set to film make this movie a true jewel - and emerald tinted masterpiece. The honesty, innocence and bright glow of the people there in Ireland is portrayed beautifully via rich characters dancing about one another in one of life’s small dramas. O’Hara, as Wayne says, has the face of an angel and a fiery spirit and decency not easily tamed. I actually think this is John Wayne’s best film and it is certainly one of Ford’s finest. I think we would all like to return to a place of such decency and simplicity.