By Steve Crum

•ACE IN THE HOLE (1951): The first time I saw it, I regretted not having seen it decades earlier. I would have shown it to my high school journalism students as part of their ethical training. But alas, I was retired from teaching. Billy Wilder’s jarring movie about an exploitive, corrupt journalist (Kirk Douglas) still teaches all of us.

•THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN (1944): After first viewing this majestic biographical movie during my grade school years on our Philco TV, I was struck by the incredible acting of Frederic March in the title role. Max Steiner’s classic score continues to stay with me. Then there is the concluding scene of Twain-Clemens dying in bed while Halley’s Comet darts across the night sky. Sam Clemens, you see, was born the last time the comet was seen, 74 years to the day. Amazing. 

•THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938): Perfect storytelling, if for nothing else than the Technicolor, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music, the brilliant set pieces, the actors, and even the specifically recorded sound of arrows rocketing to their targets. Heroism vs tyrants has never been told better. 

•THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951): It was the leeches that imprinted on my 4 year-old mind when my parents and I first saw this movie. I think it was at a drive-in. I probably fell asleep before it all ended, but when Bogart had Hepburn help him peel one leech at a time from his body…what a slithering memory. 

•AIRPLANE! (1980): I do so love puns, and this picture is chock full. Shirley you also love the non-stop parody and sight gags running rampant. 

•AIRPORT (1970): Alfred Newman’s thematic music underscores this all-star, mainly airborne soaper. I loved its soundtrack so much I bought the German version (different cover art) when I was stationed in the Army near Kaiserslautern in 1971. 

•ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND (1938): It has all those Irving Berlin songs sung by Merman, Faye, and Ameche…but what lingers most is a socko song and dance routine by Wally Vernon, “This Is the Life.” He was thereafter sadly underused as a lame sidekick in B-westerns. 

•ALIEN (1979): First seeing this terrifying classic sci-fi/horror movie with my younger sister is fixed in memory. The thing is, my sister Becky was 29 years old in 1979. I invited her to an evening screening, and neither of us knew the terrors awaiting. Realize that Becky loathes scary movies because…they really scare her. And Alien really scared me too. The combination of suspense and graphic violence still shocks. 

•ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976): This wonderful film about truth and courage was released at a good time since I was just beginning my journalism teaching career. The landmark movie was inspiring to me and my students. No doubt it had much to do with increasing class sizes in j-classes nationwide.