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I am definitely of film buff. When I was in college, I took some film studies classes as electives, and I loved them. Fortunately, as an English teacher, films are perfect supplements to the curriculum. Unfortunately, I find it to be pretty difficult to find films for my classes: they are either simply not good, nothing to do with curriculum, or entirely inappropriate.

One example of a film that almost every English teacher throughout modern history has shown is the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli version of Romeo and Juliet. That movie is “okay”…I don’t love it. I like parts of it. I like the costume and set design; in fact, it was filmed in Italy. Also, I like most of the actors. But it’s just sort of over the top with all the screaming and crying and hooting and hollering. PLUS…..I absolutely HATE the scene during which the two teenagers sleep together naked, and two asses plus two 15-year-old boobs are shown. I literally used to run up to the screen to block my students’ views. You can imagine how much they loved that. A few times I would just fast forward through it. After about 2010, I gave up and threw my hands up in surrender. TV had already started to get so vulgar and inappropriate…I figured, “Oh well. They’ve seen worse.” Now, we all know just HOW MUCH worse/more explicit they have seen by the time they are in high school. If any of my students haven’t seen full-on, close-up orgies on Mars by now, I would truly be surprised.

Back to my love of film, I will now give you…...A COUNTDOWN!!

Here are my favorite films to show in either my English, or my Humanities, classes:

(Disclaimer: I never, ever show a film without giving the students an assignment that forces them to pay especially close attention. Otherwise, many of them would take the opportunity to go to sleep). I will provide a list of those assignments at my store FOR FREE!)

12. The Miracle Worker (1962): with Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan. I discovered this when I taught the play in middle school. By the time Helen grunts out her first word, “Wahwah,” I am sobbing uncontrollably. Every time!

11. Ratatoulle (2007): I don’t usually show animation, but this is my exception. It is beloved , clever, and meaningful. Plus, as an avid foodie, how could it be wrong? I like to show this in conjunction with a short unit I do on descriptive writing about food, which you can find at my store. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/literary-ladder-lessons

10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): This one is controversial, to be sure. I used it because I had to do a unit on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, not a favorite of mine. In addition, I gave a brief lesson on parody before showing the Python jaunt, and I would guess that about four students per class laughed, always boys. If anyone walked in, they would see me sitting with those four boys screamingly laughing, while the rest of the class sat glassy eyed and confused. Oh, and another teacher at my school complained vociferously about how terrible it was for me to show this disgusting film. Anyway, to spite her I showed it several times more but then finally gave up. Not everybody is cut out for Pythonery. ( below: “It’s just a scratch!!”)

9. Akeelah and the Bee (2006): Much beloved by my younger students, and I love it too. I especially admire Angela Bassett in this. I was delighted to see Keke Palmer host Saturday Night Live in 2024…I had not seen her since her days as Akeelah!! This film made my students care about spelling. As the fourth grade spelling bee champ, this made me ecstatically happy.

8. 12 Angry Men (1957): I wouldn’t have guessed that high school students would be so interested and affected by a film that was filmed in ONE ROOM for the majority of it. Initially, I showed it in my Speech and Debate class, and they had to take notes on each side of the argument, taking notes about who was “right” or “wrong” and why, and like that. Eventually though, I did show it to some other select special classes ( the most sensitive or attentive groups). For those who care about systems of justice, it is universally relevant and incredibly poignant. It’s Henry Fonda’s best role (Juror #8) for me. I wish his character were here to influence our courts today.

7. Babe (1995): I love animals and I have this utopian vision about living on a farm. This movie is just special to me. It was also ultimately hugely influential for it’s cutting – edge animal vocalizing technology. The assignment I give is a series of boxes with the words pig, dog, duck etc at the top of each box. They have to describe each character in depth in the boxes as they watch.

6. Much Ado about Nothing (1993): Emma Thompson has the heart of an English teacher and she has contributed greatly to my path in teaching ( and to a lesser extent, Kenneth Branaugh). This one is my favorite Shakespeare adaptations; it is beautiful and joyful. Michael Keaton is also hilarious and brilliant in it.

5. Rear Window (1954): I mostly use this in elective classes , especially Humanities. In fact, I did a whole Hitchcock unit in that class. This one was their second favorite, with Psycho being the overwhelming fave. But once again, it has got to be a great director and writer and actors who can hold the attention of teens for this long with only ONE APARTMENT ROOM in the set. And the Hitch was nothing if not great.

4. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946): One year after WWII! Isn’t that amazing? Another one with the teacher lady sobbing out her guts at the end. I love showing this right around the holidays. I guess I’ve seen it about 100 times, and still laughing and still crying. There is, of course, a colorized version, if the students care about that.

3. Gone With the Wind (1939): I don’t think there is anything that I don’t know about this film. I adore it. Does it romanticize the Confederacy and is it a racist film to show? Yes. and No. and Yes. I’ve had many debates in class about this very topic. The biggest surprise for me is that the students who seemed to say it was their favorite film were black kids (girls). It’s not easy to watch Scarlet beat down Big Joe at the dark wooded impasse when he is defending her from the white thieves. Let’s face it: Scarlet can be pretty cringeworthy at times.

2. Sense and Sensibility (1995): See what I mean about Emma Thompson?? She wrote the magnificent screenplay for this one and much deservedly won the Oscar and/or Golden Globes for it. If anyone wants to admire her and also have a great laugh (try to ignore her bangs), watch her acceptance speech in the voice of Jane Austen -posted below. My students, especially girls, love this movie. They always have a bazillion questions to ask me during and after, and it makes me quite happy to answer.

and….can you guess the Number One?????? drumroll please..

1. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962): Thank heavens this has always been a core novel selection for 9th graders in Florida. We would read it every year, and then compare the book to the film. Breathtakingly wonderful, heartbreakingly tragic. Above all, and in my opinion, it was and is the most important American novel written during the 20th century.

Well I hope you enjoyed my countdown…and I would love to know what you think of my little old list. Do you agree or disagree with any of them? Any other thoughts? PLEASE do let me know.

Here is a review of To Kill A Mockingbird from the year it was released:

https://variety.com/1962/film/reviews/to-kill-a-mockingbird-1200420238/