# "Classic" old films (pre-1968) that you don't like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095 "2006-08-17T16:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/21 "2006-08-17T23:48:10Z")
> [@Jean Poutine](#): > > “And anyone who says they like Citizen Kane is a LIAR!!” 😉 Well, Agnes Moorehead is quite my cup of tea, so if you want to edit her part out, I can say I don’t really care for Citizen Kane. hh ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/22 "2006-08-18T00:03:12Z")
Just gotta jump on the anti-“Graduate” bandwagon. What so many people see in that movie I’ll never know. Maybe you have to be a boomer (or a boomer wannabe?) to really enjoy it? I’m a bit more embarassed to admit that I didn’t think “The Wages of Fear” was all it was cracked up to be. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/23 "2006-08-18T00:15:32Z")
> [@Jean Poutine](#): > > **Zeldar** , I “think” you are misinterpreting my OP. I LOVE old films. LOVE 'em. I don’t watch anything newer than 1980 unless it’s foreign. I HATE current American big budget big studio cinema. {snip} The benefit of watching old movies is that the crap has already been winnowed out. In the year 1939 the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) lists 2155 titles. I didn’t look at every one of the pages, but on a sampling I found 8.5% of them to be television shows, which we can assume to be pretty ephemeral, especially at that time. That leaves somewhere around 1950 movies, most of which were a crapfest from beginning to end, and 1939 was a pretty good year for movies. Sturgeon’s Law is alive and well in the entertainment industry, but if you assume that all current movies are crap because you get to hear about all of them and that old movies are classics because the bad ones have dropped off the radar you’re making a mistake. Based on percentages, I’ll bet there were fewer lousy movies last year than in 1939. That being said, I looked at the IMDB top 250 films, and I went as far down as #170, “Gone with the Wind” before I found a pre-1968 film that didn’t belong there. I went as far as #10, “Star Wars Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back” before I found a post-1968 film that I thought didn’t belong there. My guess is most of the recent crap in the top 250 will drop out over the next 40 years. It’s not a scientific survey, and the IMDB top 250 skews new, but after the top 20 or so it starts to even out. ---
**Author:** ![Cherry\_Garcia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Cherry\_Garcia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry_Garcia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/24 "2006-08-18T00:26:00Z")
Another vote for Citizen Kane. I thought it was dull and plodding. Orson Welles’ performances in the wine commercials were better. I did like Casablanca, though. I can see why it constantly maintains its place on people’s list of classics. I saw it on TCM On Demand, and would gladly TiVo it next time it’s on regular cable. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/25 "2006-08-18T01:04:48Z")
I try to look at stuff like **Citizen Kane** as a 42-year-old in 1939 would, not as a 2006 42-year-old. To me in that year and with the prevalent sensibilities at the time it would be groundbreaking, but my 2006 self has seen such subject matter in films and in real life to the point of not even noting it very much. Does that make sense? Still, the cinematography of Gregg Toland (iirc) amazes to this day. No films to add of my own. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/26 "2006-08-18T01:11:15Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > Seven Brides for Seven Brothers just never should have been made. Gotta disagree – it’s all about the dancing, which is phenomenal. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/27 "2006-08-18T01:15:59Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > _Casablanca_ - overrated shite. So I’m reading along and suddenly get punched in the gut here. I was actually shocked to hear this. There are a lot of people I know who have never seen it, but you are the first I have ever heard to not like it. Mind if I ask why? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/28 "2006-08-18T05:47:25Z")
I’ve always hated _It’s a Wonderful Life_. Total saccharin mush with no redeeming darkness whatsoever. Similarly _The Wizard of Oz_, _Gone With the Wind_, _Guys and Dolls_, and virtually every other musical of that era you can name. The _Wild One_ was just plain bad luck, being made in that microsecond when bebop was cool and rebellious. Two years after release it was passe, and is completely cringeworthy now. Loved _On The Waterfront_, _Citizen Kane_ and _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/29 "2006-08-18T06:06:56Z")
I’m not sure if it’s considered a classic or not, but I recently saw _Just Imagine!_ (1930), a horrendous sci-fi flick about a crew of bland guys (and one annoying Frenchman) taking a plane to Mars. It takes place in 1980, yet all of the women dress like flappers and everyone listens to jazz. The acting was atrocious and the musical numbers are even worse. I won’t even mention the “natives” of Mars. Oh, and I also saw _The Omen_ the other day. It was all right. Not a bad film, scary in some parts, but not all that great. Maybe I was distracted by seeing the Second Doctor as the priest. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/30 "2006-08-18T08:37:01Z")
Citizen Kane The graduate - Long. And also stupid. Why are things not that unsympathetic main characters fault? Harvey, some like it hot, pretty much all old comedies - Just not funny. 8½, det sjunde enseglet - wtf? ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/31 "2006-08-18T09:05:30Z")
Love Citizen Kane, Casablanca, 8-1/2, the Graduate, and Gone with the Wind. My entry (I admit that I don’t know how “classic” it is considered to be, but it sure seems to cross my path more often than expected) is **I Was A Male War Bride** (1949). The title refers to a humorless 3-1/2-minute segment toward the end of the film, the rest is completely forgettable. It is historically significant only in that it was shot on location in then-recently-liberated Germany. Which puts it on the same echelon as that cinematic marvel, “Red Heat”, with its closing shot of newly-Glasnost-ed Red Square. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/32 "2006-08-18T10:20:21Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > Seven Brides for Seven Brothers just never should have been made. My father loved it. There were a lot of things I didn’t like even as a kid, but once I got old enough to understand the whole reasoning behind the Rape of the Sabines part, I absolutely wanted to puke. Great musical score and dances, though - it’s just the plot that makes me sick. One of the couples (the real tall brunette) shows up in other musicals quite a lot; I think she’s so tall that finding partners who could actually lift her up and twirl her round can’t have been easy. Never was able to go beyond a qualification of “bleh” with Oklahoma, which apparently is always sold to TV with the same pack. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/33 "2006-08-18T10:21:27Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > …Similarly _The Wizard of Oz_, _Gone With the Wind_, _Guys and Dolls_, and virtually every other musical of that era you can name. The first two films are both 1939; the third is 1955. Which era are you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/34 "2006-08-18T13:41:45Z")
> [@Cherry Garcia](#): > > Another vote for Citizen Kane. I thought it was dull and plodding. Orson Welles’ performances in the wine commercials were better. “Rosebud… Yes, Rosebud frozen peas! They’re country fresh, and full of green pea-ness. Wait, that’s terrible. I quit!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/35 "2006-08-18T13:50:24Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > I try to look at stuff like **Citizen Kane** as a 42-year-old in 1939 would, not as a 2006 42-year-old. To me in that year and with the prevalent sensibilities at the time it would be groundbreaking, but my 2006 self has seen such subject matter in films and in real life to the point of not even noting it very much. Wow. When I look at the film as a 2006 24-year-old I find it intense, funny, exciting, subversive, and visually stunning. I can only imagine what the experience must have been like when it was the only film of its kind. _Kane_ is the one movie that I simply cannot fathom being described as slow, boring, or old-fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/36 "2006-08-18T14:18:00Z")
Here’s one they made us watch in cinema class: [**The Loved One**](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0059410/). Dull, dull, dull. All the attempts at humor fall flat. It’s apparently highly thought of, since our cinema prof made us watch it and it’s rated a 7.1 on IMDB, and the comments are all gushing praise. But, I’m here to warn you: don’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/37 "2006-08-18T14:47:18Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > _Casablanca_ - overrated shite. Oh…my…God! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/38 "2006-08-18T15:46:58Z")
Just to demonstrate that I have had similar misgivings about the “classic films,” I’d like to direct you to one of my earliest SDMB threads ([“Great” Old Movies That Go Sour With Time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=192185)) which may help to clarify my earlier comments in this thread. I wouldn’t even want to guess how many other threads have approached this issue from one angle or another, and I don’t imagine the last word will ever be spoken about it. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/39 "2006-08-18T15:51:59Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > _Casablanca_ - overrated shite. Jesus, now there’s a concise soliloquy to poor taste. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095/40 "2006-08-18T16:42:45Z")
Well, I love _Citizen Kane, Casablanca,_ and _Easy Rider_. I’m a big Robert Mitchum fan, but I think _Night of the Hunter_ is a mess of a movie. Give me _Out of the Past_ any day. I can’t watch more than 20 minutes of _Gone With the Wind_. I have no sympathy for Scarlett whatsoever. My mom would kill me if she knew that. On the plus side, the crane shot with all the wounded is cool, but even that still emphasizes what a selfish upper-class sociopath Scarlett is. I also find the Marx Brothers’ output extremely spotty. I used to hate _It’s a Wonderful Life_, but I watched it last year and kind of realized it’s a much darker movie than it appears on the surface. I like movies that have something going on under the surface. Off topic, for modern classics, I was watching _Godfather II_ the other night and I realized that except for De Niro I wasn’t really enjoying it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-old-films-pre-1968-that-you-dont-like/369095.md?page=3)