I loved that tune from the musical “Annie”. Despite the fact that movies were anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents when I was young, I couldn’t afford to go much.

It was okay though, because television was actually a good source of my favorite movies – the black and white classics. Unmercifully cut up for the benefit of the advertisers, it was still magical.

Cary Grant and Merle Oberon were my favorite actors. Followed by (in no particular order):

Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Bette Davis, Claudette Colbert, Laurence Olivier and so, so many more.

It seems unfair that I named them because there must be 50 or 100 more who graciously entertained me through my childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and now in my senior years.

How odd it is to look at your favorite stars as a child, and now as an older person, they are still as young and beautiful as ever.

At the height of my middle years, we build a movie theater in our home. 120 inch screen, flanked by beautiful blue velvet curtains, trimmed in gold. Sconces on the walls, with posters of our favorite movies – Roman Holiday, The Godfather. Reclining seats in matching blue leather and sound systems that you could feel to your core. It was truly amazing! We enjoyed many movies in that theater. It was an odd addition for a middle income neighborhood, but I instilled my love of movies into my entire family so it was a true investment.

The movies that I have watched most often (I separated the holiday ones) are as follows:

Under the Tuscan Sun

Charade

Gone With the Wind

All About Eve

Now Voyager

The Birds

Nights of Cabiria

The African Queen

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Topper

His Girl Friday

To Catch a Thief

An Affair to Remember

Houseboat

Tea & Sympathy

Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell version)

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Desk Set

The Sound of Music

The King & I

Gaslight

Rear Window

The Picture of Dorian Gray

That Hamilton Woman

Sabrina

South Pacific

Summertime

The Women

And about 100 more, and I didn’t even include some of my new movie favorites (well I did include Under The Tuscan Sun because I am certain I watched it no less than 50 times.

The newer movies I love: Sideways, Steel Magnolias, Joy Luck Club, All of the Star Trek Movies (original series, next gen and the alternate universe); Michael, Meet Joe Black, Memoirs of a Geisha, Moonstruck, so many, many more.

Holiday favorites include White Christmas, The Bishop’s Wife, It’s a Wonderful Life, and the newer include Home Alone and Christmas Vacation

So much joy to be had in each and every one, and so many more that just didn’t come to mind at this moment.

You can spend two hours in an era, the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and so on.

You can feel their joy, their pain, their sadness. You can even view it as a therapy session in some cases.

You might notice that there are no dark dramas or horror films. Those tend to latch onto me, my well being seems to get thrown off, and honestly, I don’t find it entertaining. I had a lot of childhood drama, so maybe that’s it – but if I am going to sit and watch something for a couple of hours, I’d like to either be entertained or be left with some thought provoking questions. You may have noticed that I included The Birds, and Gaslight which might fall under the dark dramas genre. I found that the weight of the story they contained outweighed the negativity.

My family will always know a good quote from one of our favorites movies that will fit the current holiday, or celebration. And soundtracks are EVERYTHING! I replayed the Under The Tuscan Sun soundtrack all through Italy, and the Sideways soundtrack all through Napa Valley.

I would say there were times when I have lived life, as a movie…

If you are a classic movie lover and would like to share one of your all time favorites, I would love to see it in the comments!