Top Ten Tuesdays

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Spy Films

I couldn't make one list in this category with the criteria and included James Bond films, so I've made two lists: one with films in which a main character is engaged in espionage (those marked with a * fit the criteria but are not necessarily classified as a 'spy film') and a separate list with James Bond films.

1. North by Northwest
2. The Third Man
3. Notorious (1946)
4. Possession*
5. Nikita*
6. The Conversation*
7. Inception*
8. The Bourne Ultimatum
9. The 39 Steps (1935)
10. Ronin*

Just missing out:
The Ipcress File; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; Marathon Man*; The Lives of Others; The Manchurian Candidate (1962); Bridge of Spies; Topaz; Patriot Games; Infernal Affairs; The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956); The Departed; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; The Bourne Supremacy; The Bourne Identity; Zero Dark Thirty*

James Bond films

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Casino Royale (2006)
3. From Russia with Love
4. Goldfinger
5. Skyfall
6. Licence to Kill
7. Dr No
8. Tomorrow Never Dies
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. Spectre

[Demoncrat]

The Spy In Black
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Possession
Blue Rita
In Like Flint
From Russia With Love
The Ipcress File
The Quiller Memoramdum
Carry On Spying

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

An updated list, with Duck Soup taking pride of place at the top. Because it is a comedy and generally regarded as a satirical war film, I'd forgotten it is principally a film about espionage, with Chicolini and Pinky sent to spy on Rufus T. Firefly as tensions escalate between Freedonia and Sylvania.

1. Duck Soup*
2. North by Northwest
3. The Third Man
4. Notorious (1946)
5. Possession*
6. Nikita*
7. The Conversation*
8. Inception*
9. The Bourne Ultimatum
10. The 39 Steps (1935)

Just missing out:
Ronin*; The Ipcress File; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; Marathon Man*; The Lives of Others; The Manchurian Candidate (1962); Bridge of Spies; Topaz; Patriot Games; Infernal Affairs; The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956); The Departed; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; The Bourne Supremacy; The Bourne Identity; Zero Dark Thirty*; Foreign Correspondent

*Indicates films which are not typical 'spy films' that are ones in which at least one of the principal characters engages in espionage.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I was considering several topics for this week, but the posts exchanged by Demdike and nosferatu42 in the What Have You Bought Recently? thread made me think it would be interesting to find people's top 10 films featuring two of cinema's true icons. You can do one list for each actor or a combined list depending on your knowledge of their work.

BORIS KARLOFF AND BELA LUGOSI

[bleakshaun]

Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula
Black Sabbath
White Zombie
The Ghoul
The Black Cat
Devil Bat
The Terror
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome


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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bleakshaun

Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula
Black Sabbath
White Zombie
The Ghoul
The Black Cat
Devil Bat
The Terror
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

Which version?

[bleakshaun]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Which version?

1934 version

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Top 10 Bela Lugosi Films.

The Black Cat (1934)
Dracula (1931)
White Zombie (1932)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Black Friday (1940)
The Invisible Ray (1936)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
The Return of the Vampire (1943)*
The Raven (1935)
You'll Find Out (1940)

Bela made quite a lot of cameo appearances in excellent films like The Wolf Man (1941) and The Body Snatcher (1945). However as these were only cameo appearances i have not included them in my top 10. He's an actor with such a body of work that i don't feel films with just the odd scene warrant a place in a top 10.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Boris Karloff Top 10.

The Body Snatcher (1945)*
The Black Cat (1934)
The Old Dark House (1932)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
Bedlam (1946)
Isle of the Dead (1945)
The Black Room (1935)
Corridors of Blood (1958)
Night Key (1937)

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Bela made quite a lot of cameo appearances in excellent films like The Wolf Man (1941) and The Body Snatcher (1945). However as these were only cameo appearances i have not included them in my top 10. He's an actor with such a body of work that i don't feel films with just the odd scene warrant a place in a top 10.

That's exactly what I'm in the process of doing, looking at the films and whether it is a case of one carrying someone's name because they briefly appear but sufficiently for the studio to market it as 'starring' them. This isn't the case for something like The Black Cat (1934) which is one where Karloff and Lugosi have almost equal screen time and could go on both lists.

Excellent list, by the way, with a couple of films (The Invisible Ray and You'll Find Out) which I haven't seen..