52 Pick-Up (Again)

27. James Woods

(actor, The Getaway, Citizen Cohn)

"I did very much like On the Waterfront, as we all did in our youth. To a young man on the verge of becoming an actor, the raw intensity and the realistic flavor, combined with a real genuine movie star charisma that Brando and many of the other actors exhibited in that movie, had a great effect on me. I thought, 'Oh God, movies can really make you stand up and cheer!' I always look for something on the one hand that's real and the other hand that's moving and powerful. You put the two together and you have an unbeatable combination."

28. Mims Rogers

(actress, The Rapture, Desperate Hours)

"Born Free. I don't remember how old I was but the movie devastated me. I was in love with it and was just so heartbroken about everything that happened. Ever since that time I've been desperate to go to Kenya, to actually see that place, go on a photographic safari, and play with the lions."

29. Morgan Freeman

(actor, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven)

"One of the first films that changed the way I viewed movies was King Kong. From an acting standpoint, I don't think I was that profoundly moved by it, but strictly from a child's standpoint, seeing this big-ass gorilla take on the entire world made me aware of the way films can make you believe while you're watching them. I wanted to be part of that.''

30. Paul Westphal

(coach, Phoenix Suns)

"When I was a kid, I saw The Robe and that changed my life. The resurrection scene is pretty hard to top when you think of motivating concepts."

31. Charles Barkley

(starting forward, Phoenix Suns, U.S. Olympic "Dream Team")

"A recent film, Malcolm X, affected me profoundly--it inspired me to study black history a little more intensely, and with more respect."

32. Sean Young

(actress, Fatal Instinct, No Way Out)

"It was Singin' in the Rain. I saw that and just said, 'I've gotta dance!' I just really wanted to be in musical movies and I hope they start making musical movies soon. I think people would really like to see them."

33. Greg Norman

(former British Open champ, one of the PGA's top 20 moneymakers for 1992)

"I really loved the book The Hunt for Red October and went to a mall to see the movie, which I rarely do. But the movie changed how I feel about films forever. I was heartbroken when they built up one of the star roles at the expense of a character that I had loved in the book. I was truly disappointed by them doing that, so I just decided never to watch a movie again which is based on a book I have read."

34. Michael Caine

(actor, Hannah and Her Sisters, California Suite)

"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre had a great theme, which is some ordinary guys going after the great prize. I remember sitting there thinking that my great prize would be to be in a movie like that. Years later, John Huston--who directed Sierra Madre--cast me in The Man Who Would Be King, which is the story of some ordinary guys setting out for the impossible dream. And there I was replaying my impossible dream, from watching a picture about an impossible dream, to being in a picture about an impossible dream. Great business, the picture business."

35. Mike Piazza

(catcher, Los Angeles Dodgers)

"Patton was the best war movie ever, and very, very inspirational to me. It showed how obsessed and emotional Patton was about his cause, which is what every leader should be--and it helped me move forward in my life and goals with clarity and strength."

36. Rob Lowe

(actor, Wayne's World, Great Performances' Suddenly Last Summer)

"The first one that ever made an impression on me was The Wizard of Oz, and it's still one of my all-time favorites. That's the first movie that I remember having a huge impact on me. The second one was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I saw it seven times when I was 11 years old. That was the first time I recall that a performer just reached out and threw that hook right in your mouth and just reeled ya in. I don't think I'd really ever been cognizant of what acting could do to an audience until I saw Jack Nicholson in that movie."

37. Kelly McGillis

(actress, The Accused, Witness)

"The Day of the Locust is still one of my favorite movies. I must have seen that movie about 10 times, and I have to say that movie took me through the emotional spectrum from laughter to tears in two hours, not to mention awe and disgust. Few films put one through every emotion a person could possibly go through."

38. Richard Pryor

(actor, Stir Crazy, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling)

"I remember that I loved to go see Laurel & Hardy, in anything. Going to see them, you knew you were going to laugh. You knew somebody would say, 'Whatever you do, don't touch the lamp on that table.' But you knew, as soon as that person left and they were in that room alone that something was going to happen, and they were going to get that lamp. .. and the table. They were funny, funny men who inspired me."

39. John Lucas

(coach, San Antonio Spurs)

"Malcolm X changed my life because it shows how misleading what people say about other people is. An Officer and a Gentleman influenced me tremendously because I was overwhelmed by the determination and inner strength the Richard Gere character had to succeed."

40. Rachel Ward

(actress, After Dark, My Sweet, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid)

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I remember I really wanted to be Katharine Ross. That was a role that definitely appealed to my sense of romance."

41. Tom Selleck

(actor, Quigley Down Under, Mr. Baseball)

"When I was just a young man I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, and that was the first glimpse I saw of what epic possibilities a motion picture really holds. I've now seen it 22 times, and that's not counting videotape because, you know, this is Kubrick and it requires a big room. There was just something about that movie that clicked with me--it helped me to see the artistic possibilities of the human condition."

42. Gene Wilder

(actor, The Woman in Red, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

"Arsenic and Old Lace made a big impression on me because I was so scared I got up and left the theater. I got scared when he came out with that scar on his face--I couldn't take it. And that was a comedy, but it was scary!"

43. John A. Alonzo

(cinematographer, Chinatown, The Meteor Man)

"I was a poor Mexican in my teens, living in Dallas, who had only seen serials and black-and-white Spanish films. One day the movie I wanted to see was full, so I went up the street and saw The Benny Goodman Story. This turned my entire life around because I had never seen a musical, or a movie in color. I came away thinking someday I have to get involved in that world. From that moment on I realized there's something wonderful and glamorous and magical in the world of movies."

44. Rod Carew

(California Angels Hall-of-Fame coach)

"I think the film was called No Blade of Grass--it was a film that made me aware of pollution worldwide, and how we're destroying the planet. Before seeing that film, I was under the misguided impression that the problem of pollution wasn't so bad and would somehow work itself out."

45. Dina Merrill

(actress, The Player, The Courtship of Eddie's Father)

"I remember seeing Gone With the Wind as a child and the whole scope of it--the size, the romanticism, the beauty--was just absolutely overwhelming. I'd never seen anything like the chemistry between Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, and I knew then that acting was a rich, dignified contribution to the arts. I just never forgot seeing Gone With the Wind--what a glorious film!"

46. Vin Scully

(Los Angeles Dodgers Hall-of-Fame broadcaster)

"Going My Way and The Quiet Man changed my life for very simple reasons--they touched me because I was Irish and a Catholic. Seeing them, I felt I was looking at an important part of my life in a different way."

47. Joe Piscopo

(actor, Sidekicks, Dead Heat)

"I can still remember the night my dad took me to see Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor down in Beach Haven, New Jersey. I remember it distinctly. I remember the theater. I remember the seat. I just thought that movie was the greatest movie ever made, and it very well might have been--it's a terrific little film. Even now, I watch it on videotape and it's a great film. I remember me and my dad and my brother watching Jerry go into his Julius Kelp character, which I'm sure influenced me, later, in my comedy."

48. Dan Majerle

(All-Star forward, Phoenix Suns):

"Vision Quest affected my life tremendously. Though the main character in the movie was a wrestler, the film motivated me as a basketball player to work hard and chase my dreams. It taught me not to be afraid to put everything on the line for one moment or one game."

49. Jack Lemmon

(actor, Glengarry Glen Ross, Some Like It Hot):

"There was a film called Les Enfants du Paradis in which there is a great deal of mime work. It was only 10 cents then on 42nd Street when I got down there right after college. I must have seen it a dozen times at least. I just marveled at what the actor did--it made me aware of how much we convey not just with lines and the face, but with the body."

50. Bud Cort

(actor, Harold and Maude; director, Ted and Venus):

"Seeing The Grapes of Wrath changed my life. I had never seen such rare human emotions on the screen so I went out and read the book, which was great also. This made me realize how powerful movies are--because they can even enhance a magnificent work of art."

51. Jim Gott

(relief pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers):

"I'm a big fan of underdog-type movies so I'd have to say Hoosiers and Chariots of Fire. They were inspirational movies that showcased the human element of sports, which is the most important side of sports that's often misunderstood."

52. Christian Slater

(actor, True Romance, Kuffs):

"It's a Wonderful Life showed me how grateful I should be. I love old movies, and I love Jimmy Stewart."

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Tom Roberts, Craig Modderno and Brian Hirsch are freelance writers and men-about-town.

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