Have to admit I like The Ten Commandments. So much of it is pure kitsch by today's standards, but it's all done with a straight face and it's a really enjoyable film because of it. I still like the special effects because it was all done the hard way back before we had all this CGI stuff.

Others I like:

Ben-Hur - the 1959 version is great, but check out the silent version from 1926 if you haven't already caught it on TCM or DVD. It really holds up quite well, all in all, though Francis X. Bushman (Messala) does most of his acting with his chin.

Speaking of silent films, I've always found Cecil B. De Mille's 1927 King of Kings quite watchable. Certainly more so than the 1961 remake (which was referred to, in some circles, as I Was A Teenage Jesus).

I'm sure others will pop into my head eventually, but these came to mind first.


Signor V.
"So let it be written, so let it be done."

"For me, there's only my wife..."

"Sure I cook with wine - sometimes I even add it to the food!"

"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?"

"It was a grass harp... And we listened."

"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"

"No. Saints and poets, maybe... they do some."