My Three Favorite Movies Part One

I am often asked what my favorite movie is. I never have a definitive answer. I have been worried about it lately, knowing that I should have a favorite movie. It would tell people a lot about me, spur countless conversations, and point me towards some blog or society for friendship and nerdy mirth. I need to have a favorite movie!
Seriously, I do love movies, always have. I love movies from all eras, and all genres (although I haven't been attracted to comedies much in the past few years). I remember movies, the actors, the directors, the related trivia. People accuse me of studying credits - movies are living, vibrant entities, every aspect of them fascinates me. All the more reason I should be able to articulate that/those movies that I love best.
I sat around one day, trying to decide on some criteria on which to base my final decision. After a long, fruitless analysis, it struck me that I was looking in the wrong direction. Instead of thinking about the qualities of the movies, the theme, the message, the significance etc., it occurred to me that my favorite movie/s were those that I watched over and over again. A movie that I would stop to watch no matter what I was doing, no matter how many times it showed, no matter if I had seen it the day before. No matter if it did not appear on anyone else's top ten list anywhere in the world. Three movies immediately came to mind: The Great Escape, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and The Best Years Of Our Lives. That was it, job done. Well, it wasn't. Now I realized I had just reversed the natural order of things, and was morally obliged to articulate why I would watch them over and over again. So to my chagrin,I was back to qualities, themes, message, significance, etc. Anyway, here is my attempt to explain why these movies enthrall me so much:
The Great Escape - This one was relatively easy, but disturbingly painful. As any film fan knows, this movie is not usually compared to the other two in serious discussion. I was about ten years old, in the Boy Scouts. For some unfathomable reason, my step-father was nominated to be a den leader, and he managed to hold the post for a few weeks. We had some large function, and he was to be the MC. I was terrified that he would show up drunk or embarrass me. The evening went well, and I got a glimpse of that charming side of him I never ever saw. He stood up near the end of the evening and announced that he was cutting the program short, as he realized everyone in the room wanted to get home to watch The Great Escape (evidently it must have been the network premier). There was a loud cheer, and I was actually proud of him. We went home together to watch the movie...I wish I could tell you there wasn't an explosion later in the evening, but at that age, I took what I could get. Now the movie itself is excellent, and probably underrated. A group of men, fighting impossible odds, supporting each other, adhering to duty above all, even life itself. Something I wasn't experiencing in the late Sixties. And I dare you to tell me there has been a cooler character than Steve McQueen, or a more riveting scene than his motorcycle romp through no man's land.
Honestly, I don't know how good the movie is, maybe it just represents a moment in time when I felt normal, close to my step-father, proud of my family. Good enough I guess.