Run-Off: The Best Film Titles Part I
Excellent prose sometimes seems to be a dying art. The film industry, at times, does its part to revive it with great screen plays and, every so often, with exquisite titles from various sources, including novels, poems, and songs. The titles below serve as oases in a desert of the vague and recycled stamp-ons like 'Deceived' and 'Shattered.' Enjoy the sound and substance of the words below and, instead of voting for your favorite movie, vote for your favorite title.
This is Part I of a Run-Off Poll. Vote in Part II here. Vote in the Run-Off Final here.
Discuss here
This is Part I of a Run-Off Poll. Vote in Part II here. Vote in the Run-Off Final here.
Discuss here
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19 titles
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsAudrey HepburnGeorge PeppardPatricia NealA young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.Breakfast at Tiffany's: From the novel, by Truman Capote, of the same name.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsElizabeth TaylorPaul NewmanBurl IvesBrick is an alcoholic ex-football player who drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife. A reunion with his terminal father jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: From the play by Tennessee Williams.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.A Clockwork Orange: From the novella, by Anthony Burgess, of the same name. Some sources state Burgess has given three explanations of the title, but according to The New Yorker, "The writer first heard the expression 'as queer as a clockwork orange' in a London pub before the Second World War. It’s an old Cockney slang phrase, implying a queerness or madness so extreme as to subvert nature."
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsAlan BatesJanet SuzmanPeter BowlesA couple uses extremely black comedy to survive taking care of a daughter who is nearly completely brain-dead. They take turns doing the daughter's voice and stare into the eyes of death and emotional trauma with a humor that hides their pain.A Day in the Death of Joe Egg: From the play, of the same name, by Peter Nichols.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.Double Indemnity: Double indemnity refers to a clause in a life insurance policy whereby the insurance company agrees to pay double the amount in the contract in cases of death by accidental means. "Accidental means" also includes murder by a person other than, and not conspiring with, the beneficiary of the insurance policy. Besides the great alliteration, the title does "double" duty regarding content because of the main characters' duplicity. The film was most likely given the title by novelist Raymond Chandler or director Billy Wilder, who together adapted, for the screen, material from a James M. Cain novella of a different name.
- 19641h 35mPG8.4 (519K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: Supposedly, Stanley Kubrick considered several other titles, including Dr. Doomsday or: How to Start World War III Without Even Trying, Dr. Strangelove's Secret Uses of Uranus, and Wonderful Bomb.
- DirectorPaul NewmanStarsJoanne WoodwardNell PottsRoberta WallachA middle-aged misfit struggles to raise her daughters, one popular and the other a promising science student.The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds: From the Pulitzer-winning play by Paul Zindel, in which the young heroine's science project is on the effect of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigold seeds. The resulting seedlings seem to mirror her complicated family.
- DirectorChester ErskineStarsClaudette ColbertFred MacMurrayMarjorie MainOn their wedding night, Bob reveals to Betty that he has purchased an abandoned chicken farm. Betty struggles to adapt to their new rural lifestyle, especially when a glamorous neighbor seems to set her eyes on Bob.The Egg and I: From the novel by Betty MacDonald.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.The Grapes of Wrath: From the novel by John Steinbeck. The title, suggested by the author's wife, Carole Steinbeck, references lyrics from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," by Julia Ward Howe:
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored..." - DirectorHy AverbackStarsPeter SellersJo Van FleetLeigh Taylor-YoungA thirty-something square falls in love with a hippie and decides to "drop out" himself.I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!: Alice B. Toklas, a writer and life partner of Gertrude Stein, published recipes along with recollections in her memoir. Among the recipes is one for marijuana brownies, which play a significant role in this Peter Sellers' film, written by Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker, and directed by Hy Averback.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartJohn WayneVera MilesA senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: From the short story, by Dorothy Johnson, of the same name.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsBette DavisLeslie HowardFrances DeeA young man finds himself attracted to a cold, unfeeling waitress who might ultimately destroy them both.Of Human Bondage: From the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, who had originally considered titles such as Beauty from Ashes but finally decided on a phrase taken from a section of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza's magnum opus, Ethics.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsHenry FondaDana AndrewsMary Beth HughesWhen a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.The Ox-Bow Incident: From the novel, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, of the same name.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsRyan O'NealTatum O'NealMadeline KahnDuring the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.Paper Moon: As IMDb member, cocoken, explains, "Director Peter Bogdanovich was looking for authentic music from the period to use in his film and when he stumbled across the song "It's Only a Paper Moon" he loved both the song and the title so much that he decided to put the song in the film just so he could use the title."
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsSidney PoitierClaudia McNeilRuby DeeA substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.A Raisin in the Sun: The playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, used, for the title of the play on which the film is based, a phrase from the poem, "Harlem," sometimes known as "A Dream Deferred," by Langston Hughes.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsVivien LeighMarlon BrandoKim HunterDisturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.A Streetcar Named Desire: From the play, by Tennesse Williams, of the same name.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.To Kill a Mockingbird: From the novel, by Harper Lee, on which the film is based.
- DirectorJames ClavellStarsSidney PoitierJudy GeesonChristian RobertsIdealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.To Sir, with Love: From the autobiographical novel by E. R. Braithwaite.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.The Wizard of Oz: Adapted from the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.