The story of Norman Maine and Vicki Lester is age-old, first as done with Fredric March and Janet Gaynor in 1937, then forty years later with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofersson. But nothing has ever beaten the definitive version starring James Mason as the alcoholic Svengali and Judy Garland as his Trilby. All three hours of the film remain a sensational viewing experience, aided and abetted first and foremost by Garland's heaven-sent "Born in a Trunk" sequence, and it is truly shameful that she lost the Oscar that season to Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (even if the next day she was presented with a far greater trophy in the guise of newborn son Joey).
7. The Sound of Music (1965)
It's truly regrettable that Mary Martin was never really granted the opportunity to shine as a leading lady of film, especially in the musical adaptations she portrayed so brilliantly on Broadway. But nobody could have possibly played Maria von Trapp quite so expertly as Julie Andrews, with Christopher Plummer equally resplendent as the Captain. From the very first moment, revolving in the wind atop the mountain and intoning, "The hills are alive with the sound of music..." it is pointedly clear that the audience in in for a never-ending thrill ride. There are also the marvelous supporting performances of Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn, Charmia Carr, Peggy Wood and Angela Cartwright with which to contend.