# Make your argument that \ was the greatest movie made before 1960. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569 "2013-04-01T20:23:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/1 "2013-04-01T20:23:13Z")
Saturday night, as I was making the desserts for the Easter Sunday dinner with my wife, stepdaughter, & baby in the room, a mild dispute broke out over what movie would be watched during the cooking. Both _The Wizard of Oz_ and _The Ten Commandments_ were on. Mine was the deciding vote, so _Oz_ won. While _Commandments_ is best described as execrable dreck suitable only for making cruel jokes about, _The Wizard of Oz_ is the greatest movie made before 1960. Everybody knows that. At least, that’s what I think. If you care to nominate pre-1960 release movie as the greatest of all, hit REPLY and do so. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/2 "2013-04-01T20:34:30Z")
Well, the website I saw for Top Box Office Movie of All Time, adjusted for inflation, says the #1 is Gone With The Wind (1939), the movie that [supposedly] crashed the market for men’s undershirts. While I’m an Ozophile myself, I have to go with the data, so GWTW. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/3 "2013-04-01T20:37:10Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Well, the website I saw for Top Box Office Movie of All Time, adjusted for inflation, says the #1 is Gone With The Wind (1939), the movie that [supposedly] crashed the market for men’s undershirts. While I’m an Ozophile myself, I have to go with the data, so GWTW. Take your god! damned! data! back to god! damned! Swansea where it belongs! Or, to put things less profanely, I’m only interested in movies loved by individual posters. Their box office success doesn’t matter. Also, no movie with Clark Gable in it can be truly great. It says so in the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/4 "2013-04-01T20:40:25Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Well, the website I saw for Top Box Office Movie of All Time, adjusted for inflation, says the #1 is Gone With The Wind (1939), the movie that [supposedly] crashed the market for men’s undershirts. While I’m an Ozophile myself, I have to go with the data, so GWTW. I thought it was It Happened One Night that made men’s t-shirts the rage. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/5 "2013-04-01T20:42:36Z")
\*Oz \*was my first thought when seeing the title. Epic tale, brilliant color, singing, dancing, comedy and it’s fun for the WHOLE family. I don’t see young men or any children being in to _GWTW_. And, no singing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/6 "2013-04-01T20:46:15Z")
_“Citizen Kane! It was Citizen Kane!”_ I love that quote. Still, the greatest pre-1960 movie was _Casablanca_, which cannot be surpassed for quotable dialogue and has that “Marseillaise” scene. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/7 "2013-04-01T20:46:15Z")
_12 Angry Men_. Supremely minimalist, 12 actors in two rooms, the classic restricted narrative. Brilliantly structured, rapier-sharp dialogue, and a clever look at human decision making, where consensus trumps truth. Also features innovative use of focal length, lenses, and shooting angle to subtly influence the viewer’s mood and the film’s tone. Utterly enthralling, I’m hooked at the first scene every time. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/8 "2013-04-01T21:25:20Z")
Buster Keaton’s _The General_ was the greatest movie made before 1960, because, like, it was really good. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/9 "2013-04-01T21:35:13Z")
Another vote for _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/10 "2013-04-01T21:36:26Z")
Casablanca. This is the movie whose lines I will (mis)quote more than any other oldie. Ben Hur is great just for the chariot race. Its a Wonderful Life has been shown too much, but I used to go to church with Jimmy Stewart so it holds a special place for me. Bridge on the River Kwai is a great character study, and some of you now have a whistling earworm. Adventures of Robin Hood is my favorite Errol Flynn flick (and the second best Robin Hood adaptation after Disney). ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/11 "2013-04-01T21:39:30Z")
My pic: “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”-great story of human greed. But “The Maltese Falcon” is also pretty good. Being a Bogart fan, I cannot decide. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/12 "2013-04-01T21:52:30Z")
I’d definitely go with Oz between those choices. It’s probably the best before 1960. Other possible candidates would be _Bridge on the River Kwai_, excellent in many individual aspects, but maybe not in the entirety. \*On the Waterfront \*is an excellent movie, also \*The Best Years of Our Lives \*and _Treasure of Sierra Madre_, but those movies were good stories and acting, not spectacular movies that go beyond the dramatic appeal. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/13 "2013-04-01T21:54:37Z")
_Casablanca_ followed closely by _THEM!_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/14 "2013-04-01T21:54:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’d definitely go with Oz between those choices. It’s probably the best before 1960. Other possible candidates would be _Bridge on the River Kwai_, excellent in many individual aspects, but maybe not in the entirety. \*On the Waterfront \*is an excellent movie, also \*The Best Years of Our Lives \*and _Treasure of Sierra Madre_, but those movies were good stories and acting, not spectacular movies that go beyond the dramatic appeal. I hadn’t really appreciated how much better OZ is than COMMANDMENTS until I saw bits of each close together. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/15 "2013-04-01T22:22:40Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I hadn’t really appreciated how much better OZ is than COMMANDMENTS until I saw bits of each close together. Oz was made in 1939, Commandments in 1956, yet I find the special effects in Oz to be much better. Commandments also is full of hammy acting, which isn’t necessarily bad, but just seems misplaced to me in this story, while River Kwai has a ton of hammy acting, at least some of it is appropriate to the story, and not performed by Charlton Heston. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/16 "2013-04-01T22:26:09Z")
Too late. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/17 "2013-04-01T22:26:51Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > _Casablanca_ > > followed closely by _THEM!_. Good choices! It might not be the greatest but (along with the two above), the one I’ve watched most often is The Searchers. It has its flaws, but it’s still watchable, repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/18 "2013-04-01T22:30:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Oz was made in 1939, Commandments in 1956, yet I find the special effects in Oz to be much better. Commandments also is full of hammy acting, which isn’t necessarily bad, but just seems misplaced to me in this story, while River Kwai has a ton of hammy acting, at least some of it is appropriate to the story, and not performed by Charlton Heston. You’re right about the FX. My preference for Oz is partly born of my love of musicals; partly due to the fact that Oz is just tons of fun; and partly because Commandments involves tons of moral dissonance. I just can’t help thinking, “Yo, Lord of Hosts! Why don’t you just strike Pharaoh down with a thunderbolt instead of murdering all the first-born? Not cool, god, just not cool!” And even as a kid, I never believed that anybody in Pharaoh’s army was going to charge after the Israelites into the Red Sea. Somebody would have chopped off Ramses’s head and said, “Alright, guys, here’s the deal. The sea thing is an obvious trap, am I right? We’re just going to quietly dump Pharaoh’s corpse into this convenient sea and go home.” ---
**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:** [April 1, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/19 "2013-04-01T22:38:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another vote for _Casablanca_. Ditto ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569/20 "2013-04-01T22:40:52Z")
Casablanca. Bogie could beat the shit out of Chuck Norris and ripped shirt Captain Kirk at the same time. No movie ever made, before 1960 or after, is anywhere near as good as Casablanca. Most quotable movie ever, and that’s just counting Claude Rains lines. The sing-off was the best fight seen ever. Best getting dumped and left at the train station in the rain scene. Best rendition of As Time Goes By. Best bitter drunken rant at ex-Girlfriend in a Gestapo closed saloon. Best rank sentimentalist at heart. Best use of a fixed roulette table. Best hypocrite in a supporting role (again, Claude rains). Most escapes by a person from Nazi concentration camps (Victor Lazlo), and it’s all off screen. Best I’m dumping you bitch speech 'cuz I’m running off with a duplicitous Frenchman scene. Best war propaganda movie ever. One would have to be a watched media illiterate to think that anything other than Casablanca was the best movie ever made. Casablanca means “white house” bitches! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-your-argument-that-blank-was-the-greatest-movie-made-before-1960/654569.md?page=2)