I’ve written in Readers Club about my favourite book, The Last Enemy, by Richard Hillary. So perhaps it’s time to identify my favourite film. The shortlist would include Casablanca, The Battle of Britain, The High and the Mighty, In Which We Serve, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Apollo 13, and Tin Cup. However I wouldn’t have chosen to write about my favourite film if I hadn’t listened to the original soundtrack album of The Jungle Book last night.
On the Apple Music soundtrack album there’s an interview with Richard and Robert Sherman. They were asked by Walt Disney to write songs for the film. They were surprised because they knew that Terry Gilkyson was already writing the score. Disney explained that the original writers were being too faithful to the Rudyard Kipling book, which was too mysterious and heavy for Disney.
It’s a tough choice. They’re all favourite films, depending on the mood I’m in. The Jungle Book speaks to the child in me, and it does have The Bare Necessities, and, I Wan’na Be Like You. Casablanca has some of the greatest lines spoken on celluloid, like: “Well, I did. Every one of ’em. Mostly I remember the last one. The wow finish. A guy standing on a station platform in the rain with a comical look in his face because his insides have been kicked out.” Then there’s: “Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.”
I think if I had to choose just one, it would be Apollo 13. It’s such a great film. I imagine that anyone who watched the coverage in 1970 will remember the longest four minutes ever, as the command module re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. It seemed certain that they had burnt up until the radio crackled and they were safe.