My Dad’s Top Five Movies

Update: I find it very hard to believe that it has been more than eleven years have passed since my father passed away.  I wrote this page very shortly after his passing. At first I thought I was crazy to write a page so soon after his passing, but this Remembering My Dad and His Top Five Movies of All-Time page has become my mother’s favorite. Copies of the page were actually at his memorial service. Dad, you are missed each and every day.  Happy Father’s Day, Dad. 06/19/2022.

Unfortunately my father, Bob, just passed away, days from 2011’s Father’s Day. I have been remembering all the great things my father did for me during my life. Two things besides family that I love, are baseball and movies. Both my interest in baseball and movies are directly attributed to my father’s influence. I grew up listening to my father talking about Ted William‘s baseball career, which he fondly remembered from his childhood. His favorite players of the 1970s, became my favorite players (Nolan Ryan and Dwight Evans). On the movie side of things, my dad worked in the newspaper business, papers like The Washington Post and The Daily Press.

At The Daily Press, my dad was friends with the local movie critic. The Daily Press’s movie critic, Henry, had the great job of watching movies and interviewing the movie stars. Henry would get the opportunity to go to New York City and interview which ever movie star was pushing their current movie.  Henry would return home, write the article about the latest movie, and tell my dad the behind the scenes stories. My dad would then relay the information to me. It was an awesome system. I felt like I was getting inside information and it was great.

So as I prepare for my first Father’s Day without my father I thought I would share some of his movie wisdom. The following five movies were his favorite movies. If you talked to my father long enough, the conversation would eventually stumble upon one of these five movies. 6/18/2011

My Dad’s Top Five Movies. 1940’s Northwest Passage.

This movie stars Spencer Tracy as Major Rogers, the leader of the Rogers’ Rangers, and was set during the French and Indian War. Our last name is Rogers, so as a kid I got such a kick out of the fact that I had the same name as the major.  As for why my dad liked the movie so much…..we have two expert opinions.

My mom says “His mom and dad sold fruit at a stand in Los Angeles, California during the 1930s and Spencer Tracy stopped by all the time and bought fruit….. thus your father became very interested in all of Tracy’s movies”.  While my uncle says ….”One of the reasons Bob was interested in the movie Northwest Passage was that it was filmed in Idaho, and our grandfather, Dan Hepburn, was gold mining in the area when they filmed it.”

My Dad’s Top Five Movies: 1949’s Twelve O’Clock High.

My father was a small boy during the entire war, and I think he was always fascinated with World War II movies. One of the best was this excellent movie based on a true story.

From IMDb “A hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber pilot unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.”

I just watched this movie a few months ago, and it is an awesome movie, with Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger giving standout performances. Dean Jagger actually won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this role.

My Dad’s Top Five Movies: Bridge on the River Kwai

From IMDb…”After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men’s construction of a railway bridge for their captors – while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.”

The winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, this movie is one of the best World War II movies. I must have bought this movie 5 times for my father over the years. I think I bought the laserdisc version, the VHS version, the DVD version, the special edition DVD version and his last Christmas I got him the highly rated special edition Blu-Ray version.

David Lean directed two of my dad’s favorite movies.  Lean won Oscars® for best director for Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia.  Both films won the Oscar® for Best Picture as well…..that probably has to be the best back to back movies ever done by a director.

My Dad’s Top Five Movies: 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia.

From IMDb….”Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service.”

Winner of the Best Picture Oscar®, my dad seemed to always get this movie into any movie conversation. We could be talking about Disney’s Bambi with my little kids….and somehow it would turn into a Lawrence of Arabia conversation….good memories.

My Dad’s Top Five Movies: 1963’s From Russia With Love.

My dad loved all the Sean Connery James Bond movies, but From Russia With Love was his favorite (Goldfinger was a close second).

When I was younger, James Bond movies seemed to play on Sunday Night Movies pretty often. My dad would only let me stay up until Q would show up with the gadgets. Once Q showed up, off to bed I would go…..

It took me years to finish a James Bond movie. My dad thought Robert Shaw was the best villain in the entire Bond franchise.

Honorable Mentions…or the rest of My Dad’s Top 10

• Goldfinger…yep…two Bond movies in his Top 10
• The Great Escape….he loved everything about the movie
• The Guns of Navarone…he loved the action, the actors and the story
• The Man Who Would Be King…one of he reasons I am a huge Caine fan
• North By Northwest…he liked the crop dusting scene…but loved the auction scene more

The reason I am hooked on movies….I thankfully blame my dad.