# Classic black and white movies on Blu-ray **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951 "2020-08-13T02:58:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/1 "2020-08-13T02:58:13Z")
A few months ago my DVD player stopped working, so to replace it I got a Blu-ray player. I’ve seen classic movies like Casablanca on DVDs or DVD rentals, but well, seeing them on Blu-ray, wow. Right now I have The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, and Double Indemnity. Sweet Smell of Success is next on my list. What should be next? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/2 "2020-08-13T04:00:21Z")
The Third Man. Black and white cinematography doesn’t get any better. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/3 "2020-08-13T07:02:14Z")
the 1935 version of _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/4 "2020-08-13T09:06:21Z")
A few of Harold Lloyd’s films are on Blu ray. So are some screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/5 "2020-08-13T12:54:52Z")
The Hustler with Paul Newman is available on blu-ray. Highly recommend. > **[The Hustler Blu-ray (DigiBook)](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Hustler-Blu-ray/21663/)** > > The Hustler Blu-ray Release Date May 17, 2011 (50th Anniversary Edition). Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals. Also I’m sure there are many classic Alfred Hitchcock movies on blu-ray as well. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/6 "2020-08-13T13:54:07Z")
There is a home video release of Citizen Kane with a commentary track by Roger Ebert, which is very interesting. I think at one point he called it the Star Wars of its day, in that the film is full of special effects. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/7 "2020-08-13T14:16:52Z")
Some exceptional British black & white movies: _Dr. Strangelove (1964)_ _The Cruel Sea (1953)_ _Goodbye Mr Chips (1939)_ _The Winslow Boy (1948)_ ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/8 "2020-08-13T14:22:22Z")
There are a number of black and white films that have been released on 4K that have received very good reviews. Dr. Strangelove, It’s a Wonderful Life, Schindler’s List are a couple. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/9 "2020-08-13T15:05:21Z")
Definitely agree as to _The Third Man, It’s A Wonderful Life_ and _Dr. Strangelove_, and just about any Buster Keaton movie. He could really _act_ - he wasn’t just a supremely-gifted physical comic. Oh, and the Marx Brothers! _Metropolis_ is melodramatic and a bit cheesy to modern eyes, but is still worth a look as a sf classic. Hitchcock’s _The 39 Steps_ and _Notorious_ are both terrific spy dramas. Highly recommended. _Went the Day Well?_ is a great film - filmed during WW2! - about a small British village staving off Nazi subversion. I will confess I was underwhelmed by _The Cruel Sea_. I love the book, and the movie was but a pale imitation of it IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/10 "2020-08-13T18:19:31Z")
Should also have mentioned _Paper Moon_. A beautifully-filmed, pitch-perfect comedy about a conman and his (maybe) daughter traveling out west during the Depression. A longtime favorite in our family. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/11 "2020-08-13T20:04:12Z")
From the Criterion Collection - [https://www.criterion.com/shop/browse/list](https://www.criterion.com/shop/browse/list) - I would recommend (in alphabetical order): _The Atomic Submarine_ (1959) _The Baron of Arizona_ (1950) _Blonde Venus_ (1932) _Bob le Flambeur_ (1956) _Branded to Kill_ (1967) _Classe tous Risques_ (1960) _A Colt is my Passport_ (1967) _Cruel Gun Story_ (1964) _Detour_ (1945) _Le Doulos_ (1962) _The Fabulous Baron Munchausen_ (1962) _The Fallen Idol_ (1948) _Gilda_ (1946) _Green for Danger_ (1946) _The Hidden Fortress_ (1958) _I Married a Witch_ (1942) _The Innocents_ (1961) _Island of Lost Souls_ (1932) _The Killers_ (1946) _The Killing_ (1956) _Kiss Me Deadly_ (1955) _Ministry of Fear_ (1945) _The Naked City_ (1948) _Night and the City_ (1950) _Night of the Hunter_ (1955) _Onibaba_ (1964) _Panique_ (1946) _Pick-up on South Street_ (1953) _Rififi_ (1955) _The Steel Helmet_ (1951) _The Sword of Doom_ (1966) _The Testament of Dr. Mabuse_ (1933) _Three Outlaw Samura_i (1964) _Un Carnet de Bal_ (1937) _The Wages of Fear_ (1953) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/12 "2020-08-13T20:08:51Z")
Akira Kurosawa’s _Seven Samurai_, of course, and most of his other black and white movies. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/13 "2020-08-13T21:06:29Z")
I love the look of silent films on Blu-ray. It might be the celluloid film, but they have a beautiful sharpness and texture. Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera have great restored versions. You can’t go wrong with the Buster Keaton collections and a new Laurel and Hardy collection just came out. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-black-and-white-movies-on-blu-ray/917951/14 "2020-08-14T05:18:45Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > You can’t go wrong with the Buster Keaton collections and a new Laurel and Hardy collection just came out. Don’t forget W.C. Fields!