Jeremy Arnold - The Essentials, Volume 2: 52 More Movies

W hen TCM launched The Essentials in 2001, our mandate was clear: we wanted to create a dedicated time slot8 p.m. Saturdayto present a single movie that we believed film lovers needed to know. For those not well versed in the Golden Age of Hollywood, it might be a picture they hadnt yet seen. For our more film-centric viewers, it might be a chance to see a classic in a new way, with a fresh perspective from a professional dedicated to this emotionally expansive art form.

Selecting that professional was key. Robert Osborne had been introducing movies on the channel since 1994and doing it as only Robert could, with his singular and seemingly incompatible combination of sophistication and folksiness. But we wanted The Essentials to feel different. To do that, we thought it had to look different. Writer/director Rob Reiner was the first host for a couple of years, followed by director Sydney Pollack, then Peter Bogdanovich, not only a seminal director himself, but a living link to classic cinema, a product of his extensive work interviewing the great directors who emerged out of the studio system: Ford, Welles, Hawks, Hitchcock, and so many more.

Each host provided valuable insight, but something was missing. And you didnt have to be a math major or a film student to complete the equation. The Essentials needed Robert. So we made a change. Wed continue to bring in an Essentials host, but they would sit with Robert, who would lead a conversation about the movie. Over the next decade, Molly Haskell, Carrie Fisher, Rose McGowan, Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, and Sally Field joined Robert.

After Roberts death in 2017, we had to change again. And it wasnt easy. Alec Baldwin helped get us through it, hosting three distinct guests in a single season, each of them lending their unique perspective to the conversation: David Letterman, William Friedkin, and Alecs 30 Rock costar, Tina Fey.

That led to our current incarnation, where I try, with limited success, to channel my inner Robert Osborne in conversation with a filmmaker. For the return of The Essentials in the 2019 season, we welcomed writer-director Ava DuVernay, who challenged us to think differently about what constituted an essential film. Ava worked with us to include movies previous hosts had likely never considered: Claudine (1974), with Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones; Barbara Kopples documentary, Harlan County U.S.A. (1976); and Gillo Pontecorvos The Battle of Algiers (1966) were all released more than forty years ago, yet each struck me as particularly relevant to the world we live in today. Ava turned The Essentials into a forum for exposing viewers to movies theyd never seen before. And then shed passionately and convincingly argue that those films were critical to a full understanding of the power of cinematic storytelling. Even when Ava discussed a more traditional film, like Dog Day Afternoon (1975), she brought a vibrant and fresh perspective to the conversation.

By the way, four of Avas picks, including Harlan County and Battle of Algiers, are included in this Essentials book. And please remember, this compilation is a delicious sampler. We are not claiming these are the definitive fifty-two essential films. Its merely a collection of delights, culled from more than three hundred movies weve featured on The Essentials since 2001, from Rob Reiner to my cohost for the 2020 season, director Brad Bird, who has four of his titles included.

Finally, as I look over the list, I see so many of my favorite films, movies that move me on a visceral level: TheBattle of Algiers, Sweet Smell of Success, The Sting, Network, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Ride the High Country, Sullivans Travels, The Producers, Notorious. I mean, if wed included Paths of Glory, this might have been a perfect book.

Photo by Jeremy Freeman

Joel McCrea, Robert Warwick, and Porter Hall in Sullivans Travels (1942)

O ne of the delights of TCMs The Essentials series has always been the sheer breadth of its films. Epic or intimate, American or international, serious or escapist, the only thing that has mattered has been whether a film made enough of an impact to stand as one that all dedicated movie enthusiasts should see. Every film may not be to everyones taste, but each is important in the history of Hollywood or world cinema, whether for content, visual technique, acting, directing, cultural impact, or myriad other reasons.

Through 2020, Turner Classic Movies has shown 318 movies on The Essentials, some more than once. The first Essentials book showcased fifty-two of them, and in this volume are fifty-two more. As before, this is not meant as a list of the fifty-two best (or second-best) movies ever made, although many of these titles could legitimately land on such a list. It is, rather, another sampling of the movies that have been shown in the series, chosen to represent a wide variety of genres and talents. (The full list of 318 films can be found on , and I hope you will refer to it as a guide to help you explore other worthwhile titles.)

The Essentials has had many hosts since 2001, and each entry in this book once again includes excerpts of their on-air introductions, from Rob Reiner in 2001 to Ben Mankiewicz and Brad Bird in 2020. The late Robert Osborne hosted the series for ten years with various cohosts, and it was a special joy to revisit his insights, especially for films that he always said were among his top favorites, such as Dodsworth and A Place in the Sun.

If this book inspires you to seek out and watch these films (that is, after all, the goal), you might consider a few illuminating and occasionally oddball double features, the result of connections, patterns, and contrasts that I noticed while writing. For instance, several actors appear more than once, making for interesting looks at their talent over the years.