Best Director . . . Tank Nelson : Movies: San Pedro residents look to the longshoreman for advice on what to see, and he gives it on a blackboard.

The Oscar nominations may be Hollywood’s biggest honor, but down at the port in San Pedro a film hasn’t really made it until it’s listed on a weathered blackboard that Rawlan (Tank) Nelson hangs from a second-story window at his home.

A burly longshoreman by trade and community film critic by avocation, Nelson said he has seen between 6,000 and 8,000 movies in his 59 years. Every morning he joins a dozen friends for breakfast at a local coffee shop, where the talk inevitably turns to film and what Nelson thinks about the latest releases.

To reach a larger audience, Nelson began posting his favorites four years ago for those passing by his home at West 22nd Street and Pacific Avenue. Because his fans are a diverse lot--they range in age from 15 to 78 and include longshoremen, homemakers and even a minister--he generally shies away from any movie with too much sex or blood, he said.

Nelson’s picks may not be as influential as Siskel and Ebert’s, but more San Pedro residents will line up at the box office after a movie makes the chalkboard, he said. In recent weeks, Nelson has endorsed “Bugsy,” “Prince of Tides” and “Beauty and the Beast,” all of which received Academy Award nominations for best picture.

“We’ve gone to a lot of movies he’s selected and he’s done a great job,” said Dottie Fabian, a longtime San Pedro resident. “Everybody who goes by the signboard looks at it. It’s become a local landmark. People know it who don’t know him at all.”

From the time Nelson was a lonely 5-year-old growing up in San Pedro, movies have been an important part of his life. His favorites--”Singin’ in the Rain,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “Sea of Love,” each of which he has seen dozens of times--are a part of his personal history, he said.

“Think about being in a drive-in with your true love,” said Nelson, a divorced grandfather of seven. “You have your arm around the lady who is going to be your wife and up on the screen is Gene Kelly dancing in ‘Singin’ in the Rain.’ When every emotion inside you says, ‘This is the person for me,’ Gene Kelley is singing that song. Do you think that song isn’t going to live with you forever?”

Nelson is such a film devotee that he can recall minor actors, scenes and even dialogue from movies made ages ago. When an actor from the 1966 Western “The Professionals” slipped his mind, Nelson scolded himself, picked up the phone to call a friend and then paused. The name had come to him. “Lee Marvin,” he said.

Although Nelson can recall the days when he paid a dime to see movies in the classic, old theaters of Los Angeles in the 1930s and 1940s, he doesn’t dwell on the increased cost or today’s giant theater malls.

“People pay a lot of money to see a Rembrandt,” he said. “They pay $50 to see ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ You go to a moderate restaurant and you pay $12 to $15 for a meal. But for just $7 you can have--if you choose the right movie--the experience of your life. How many restaurants are like that?”

Nelson occasionally will catch a movie on television or rent a videotape, but the editing, commercials and small screen irritate him. To really experience a movie, he said, a theater is essential.

“If you had a Lincoln Continental and a Ford Tempo, both could take you where you want to go,” he said. “Watching TV is taking the Tempo. Driving the Lincoln is watching the big screen. You get to the same destination but what’s important is how you get there.”

Movie watching is pure pleasure for Nelson, but he takes it seriously too. He sits in the center of the back row so that he has a clear view of the screen and no one to bother him from behind. He doesn’t munch popcorn, a distraction that he said can take away from the film. And Nelson is in his seat when the opening credits roll--for they are a critical part of the movie.

“Directors make the movie from the opening glimmer of light,” he said. “It’s all part of the movie experience. You can’t be late.”

Tank’s Top Ten (Plus 1)

The Oscar nominations may be movie-making’s biggest honor, but down by the port in San Pedro a film has truly made it when it appears on Tank Nelson’s weathered blackboard. His all-time favorite movies:

1. “Robin Hood,” the Errol Flynn version. It was filmed in a municipal park in Chico that Tank has strolled through himself. He has seen it 20 times.

2. “Stagecoach,” starring John Wayne. “The classic Western film,” Tank says.

3. “Casablanca,” with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Tank: “A perfect combination of actors in an emotional classic.”

4. “Singin’ in the Rain,” with Gene Kelly. “I can’t think of a man who saw Cyd Charisse dancing with Gene Kelly and was not in love,” he says.

5. “The Professionals,” starring Burt Lancaster.

6. “The Magnificent Seven,” starring Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner. “Has everything a movie should have--the pace, the score, the scenery. A glorious film,” says Tank, who has seen it 30 times.

7. “Dr. Strangelove,” with Peter Sellers. “I sat there and I was in awe,” Tank says.

8. “The Sting,” starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. “Scene after scene, I just loved it,” he says.

9. “When Harry Met Sally,” starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Tank literally fell out of his chair laughing during this comedy.

10. “Sea of Love,” with Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. “Don’t miss Pacino’s ‘I’ll catch you later’ line,” says Tank, who has seen the film 10 times.

11. “The Silence of the Lambs,” with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Tank says he was holding onto his seat even though he had read the book.