# Any Classic Movie Fans/Buffs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279 "2018-02-06T03:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/21 "2018-02-06T18:36:34Z")
> [@UncaStuart](#): > > Adding just a few: > > Rififi (1955)—Just about every heist/caper film since copies this one. > > The Killing (1956)—Early Kubrick racetrack robbery noir. > > And if a Region A/1 Blu-ray ever appears: > > Napoleon (1927)—Abel Gance develops a shit-ton of techniques to tell this 6-hour story. To quote [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_(1927_film)), “The film is recognised as a masterwork of fluid camera motion, produced in a time when most camera shots were static. Many innovative techniques were used to make the film, including fast cutting, extensive close-ups, a wide variety of hand-held camera shots, location shooting, point of view shots, multiple-camera setups, multiple exposure, superimposition, underwater camera, kaleidoscopic images, film tinting, split screen and mosaic shots, multi-screen projection, and other visual effects.” > I though it was especially cool that Gance, in the time that cameras were hand cranked, developed a compressed air device to crank the camera so he could strap it on the back of a horse for a chase scene. > (I was fortunate enough to see the 6-hour version at the Paramount in Oakland a few years back, with full orchestra and three intermissions, one of them a dinner break. If they do come out with it for Region A/1, I’ll be first in line.) My one and only issue with The Killing is s random and shocking use of the N word which ruins the film for me. I understand the context and motivation, but its just painful to watch. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/22 "2018-02-06T19:42:48Z")
I wouldn’t call myself a classic movie buff, but I do enjoy many pre-1960 films. A favorite of mine that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Burt Lancaster’s action/comedy swashbuckler [The Crimson Pirate](https://youtu.be/Izws4RmQUBo). ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/23 "2018-02-06T20:08:23Z")
Anything involving Hitch, Welles, Fritz Lang, Max Ophuls, Tod Browning, Marx Bros or Preston Sturges is splunge by me, with _The Testament of Dr. Mabuse_ being a standout in particular. I’ll take in the odd Busby Berkeley confection. Snippets of Riefenstahl I find morbidly fascinating. Also _Red Headed Woman_. _Outrage_ is one of the Ida Lupino-drected films that took on a taboo subject for its time (rape), actually making the actress one of the more progressive filmmakers at the time. If you scroll down to [“Director, producer, and writer”,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Lupino) there’s a good write-up on that part of her career. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/24 "2018-02-06T20:28:25Z")
Well, off (or near) the top of my head: _Skyscraper Souls_ (1932) _The Crusades_ (1935) _Strange Cargo_ (1940) _The Shanghai Gesture_ (1941) _Son of Fury_ (1942) _White Cargo_ (1942) _Confidential Agent_ (1945) _Canyon Passage_ (1946) _Three Strangers_ (1946) _Nightmare Alley_ (1947) _Sleeping Car to Trieste_ (1948) _Rope of Sand_ (1949) _Reign of Terror_ (1949) _A Lady without Passport_ (1950) _Gun Crazy_ (1950) _Night and the City_ (1950) _The Man from Planet X_ (1951) _Rancho Notorious_ (1952) _The Big Combo_ (1955) _Night of the Hunter_ (1955) _Death in the Garden_ (1956) _Fabulous World of Jules Verne_ (1958) \*The Fabulous Baron Munchhausen \* (1962) _The Stolen Airship_ (1967) - [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiiBg4QUGWk) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/25 "2018-02-06T20:31:13Z")
It may well be possible to love older media without hating newer media. In fact, it might be possible to love the best of all eras, and get a much wider range of media to love. Which is why I love silent films, such as _Häxan_ and _The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari_, which have influenced modern art and, in some cases, have even been remade. ---
**Author:** ![BlueInfinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BlueInfinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueInfinity)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/26 "2018-02-06T22:59:07Z")
- The Astaire/Rogers musicals - The Shop Around the Corner - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington That’s just off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/27 "2018-02-06T23:17:22Z")
**Gaslight** is one of my favorites ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/28 "2018-02-07T01:10:43Z")
**thatbpguy** - if you wanna be _truly unsettled_, check out _Peeping Tom_. Superbly made, in colour, from 1960. Put it at the top of your list - an absolute must see. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/29 "2018-02-07T03:46:04Z")
We have many “moldy figs” of the cinema world in our membership. (Moldy fig was a 1940s bebop term for jazz fans who preferred the “traditional” New Orleans jazz style) Don’t miss ANY Charles Laughton film, especially **Island of Lost Souls** (1933) and **Witness for the Prosecution** (1959). Don’t miss ANY Lon Chaney (senior!) film, especially **The Penalty** (1920) and **The Unknown** (1927). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/30 "2018-02-07T03:54:03Z")
Footnotes: 1. In the former, he is a mad scientist on an isolated island who turns wild beasts into quasi-humans via EXTREMELY PAINFUL surgery and gets to say “The natives are restless tonight” for the first time; in the latter, he is a brilliant defense attorney in one of Agatha Christie’s best mystery plots. 2. In the former, he has no legs; in the latter, he has no arms. In real life, Chaney had both legs and arms. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/31 "2018-02-07T05:56:09Z")
[Carnival of Souls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bUePiQJJCI) is good for getting all creeped out at and sorta depressed.🙂 Luis Bunuel’s [Los Olvidados](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QRWQRDpqMw)is a grim, bleak look at violence among the impoverished youth in Mexico City’s slums. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/32 "2018-02-07T17:35:36Z")
_Peeping Tom_. It’s often called the British version of _Psycho_. It was so profoundly disturbing that it effectively ruined the director’s career. Every time I’ve ever shown it for film groups, they have been surprised and impressed. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/33 "2018-02-07T17:37:17Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > [Carnival of Souls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bUePiQJJCI) is good for getting all creeped out at and sorta depressed.🙂 Never really got that one. Perhaps I am not patient enough. Odd, considering that \*Cabinet of Dr. Caligari \*is one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/34 "2018-02-07T17:54:30Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Lonely are the Brave (1962) I have not watched the end of that film. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/35 "2018-02-07T17:54:34Z")
TCM is a regular channel in our house. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/36 "2018-02-07T20:30:30Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > _Peeping Tom_. It’s often called the British version of _Psycho_. It was so profoundly disturbing that it effectively ruined the director’s career. Every time I’ve ever shown it for film groups, they have been surprised and impressed. [Indeed!😉](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20772609&postcount=28) I always liked the blind lady living below him, _listening_ for him, with that skeeved-out look on her face. Oh and dad’s home movies.:eek: (and the camera op’s pov of that “camera accessory”) > [@Dropo](#): > > _Night of the Hunter_ (1955) In more than one thread I’ve waxed obsequious over this. Another suspenseful flick with some downright creepy scenes. Disappointing how it was a critical and box office failure in 1955, prompting the actor Charles Laughton to never direct another film. Now it’s more or less a critically revered film. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/37 "2018-02-07T20:34:40Z")
Right now I’m watching The Uninvited (1944) with Ray Milland for the umpty-zillionth time. That wonderful song “Stella by Starlight” comes from it. Others that I’ve watched over and over are Rebecca and The Day the Earth Stood Still (the original, of course) ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/38 "2018-02-07T20:48:09Z")
I watch lots of TCM as well, and I could name many old films I enjoy, but the one that comes to mind at the moment has a quote in it I was just thinking about the other day. When Women Meet, 1933, Bridget Drake (Alice Brady) - “I tell you this is an awfully hard age for a good woman to live in - I mean a woman who wants to have any fun. The old instincts of right and wrong merely hold you back. You’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re neither happy and bad, nor good and contented. You’re just discontentedly decent.” Have things really changed all that much? I love it when an old movie reaches right out and beans you over the head with the knowledge and assurance that humans have struggled over time with very similar problems. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/39 "2018-02-07T21:01:08Z")
The Caine Mutiny The Enemy Below The Day the Earth Stood Still ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279/40 "2018-02-07T22:58:50Z")
[I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Fugitive_from_a_Chain_Gang) is really great. [The Best Years of Our Lives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Years_of_Our_Lives) is very good too. Hoagy Carmichael has a cameo and it features the only Oscar winner to ever sell his Oscar later on when times were tight, [Harold Russell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Russell). I’m going to go ahead and second or fourth or eighth “The Third Man”. I saw it for the first time a few months ago and it really is fantastic. It illustrates how movie makers can do so much with so little, especially in comparison to today’s action-packed and CGI-laden explosion-fests. I used to consider myself something of a movie buff, but I hadn’t gone to the theater or even seen a movie I really liked in years. But I got FilmStruck recently and I really enjoy it. I don’t know if culture is passing me by or what, but new movies just don’t do it for me anymore. Thank Og for the internet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-classic-movie-fans-buffs/808279.md?page=3)