I showed The Lord of the Flies (the original) to a bunch of Boy Scouts at a team leader conference. I had half dozen of them walk out two minutes into it, saying they just can’t stand watching B&W films. The remaining ones really enjoyed it.
When I saw that, the cashier said, “The movie is black and white and silent” and I replied, “I know. That’s why I’m going to it.” I understood why she told people, because some people didn’t know, and thought something was wrong with the camera or the sound system.
B&W is instantly arresting. I love it. “Everything is more beautiful in black and white.” Black and white films, even the relatively bad ones, are simply so much more visually interesting than practically anything being made today. Contemporary film is, at least visually, bland as shit.
If anything, I think that monochrome has more power than ever. Every image we see on TV and in movies is designed to fool us into thinking that it’s alive and true. A B&W film feels like it’s being broadcast from another planet. It has the potential to radically alter perception.
I absolutely pity anyone who can’t sit through a “deliberately paced” old film.
In fifty years, observers of our current movies are going to be flabbergasted by Hollywood’s lack of racial diversity and its paucity of roles for women. The holier-than-thou “everybody’s white in old films, sux!” attitude is such bullshit. Call me when Johnny Depp’s isn’t the first name called when a Native American hero is needed.
And I’m 29 by the way.
Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. Check out thetrailer.
So by exploring 50 years or so of film you would be limiting yourself?
And by dismissing them you are not?
Do you hear the words that you are typing?
mmm
The greatest courtroom drama ever made: Anatomy of a Murder
Yes, it’s sad. I’ve always loved movies but over the last decade I’ve learned to love silents and the early talkies. I recently watched King Vidor’s The Crowd for the first time and I’ve rarely been so gripped and moved by a film.
If we can’t appreciate the great art works of the past the fault lies in us. And we are immeasurably poorer.
Oh, yeah - can’t believe I forgot that, except there are just so many great movies.
I will say that somebody who has problems with slow pacing would not enjoy Anatomy of a Murder. Neither would they last in a real courtroom.
Oh - want to add Red River. John Wayne’s best role, and Montgomery Clift has the charisma set to 11.
Despite the slow pacing, a lot of the dialogue in movies of the day was spoken so quickly, in that clipped 1940s accent, it that would make Spanish language radio station disk jockeys envious. Dialogue in those old movies seemed to mention speed quite a lot, too, almost like …
Actor 1: “Say there, sonny boy, put some pep in your step, before I pop you one!”
Actor 2: “No, old man, why don’t you make it snappy!”
Actor 1: “I’m talking to you, see! See! Get a move on!”
Actor 2: “Who do you think you’re talking to, Mac? Hup hup, let’s go!”
Actor 1: “You’re the one that needs to keep it hot!”
Actor 2: “Let’s go! Time’s a’wastin!”
Actor 1: “No, you, lickety split! Why, I oughtta …”
Actor 2: “Oughta’ what? C’mon, get going before the cows come home!”
… and so on. The style was parodied on SNL a while back:
http://www.hulu.com/playlist/264839#pli342616
Metropolis
The Elephant Man
Down by Law
I like some B&W movies, and have nothing against slow plots, theater-style acting, or the lack of color itself.
The criticisms that do resonate with me are the often sexist elements (anytime I see a man slapping some sense into a woman, or a woman screaming bloody murder in a way that you never see in movies anymore), which will pretty much kill a movie for me instantly, and also the millions of white guys in suits and hats that all look and sound the same.
That being said, I’m go through phases of enjoying old movies, and even though I haven’t seen a lot, I look forward to discovering and watching more.
I’m 27, for what it’s worth.
How sad…
There are many B&W movies that have been mentioned already that I love, so I’ll just list some that I don’t think I’ve seen on this thread yet:
Witness for the Prosecution
Johnny Belinda
Judgment at Nuremburg
Rebecca
The Apartment
Inherit the Wind
One, Two, Three
Pygmalion
Heaven forfend that they come across a silent movie…
What about more recent stuff, like the work of Bela Tarr? Werckmeister Harmonies is one of the most beautiful movies ever shot and Turin Horse is one of the bleakest.
As a person under 30 I have to note that I find the patronizing and stereotyping that goes on in threads like these incredible.
As a film buff I have to note that I don’t find the B&W era to be the golden age of cinema. There’s a lot of selection bias when it comes to judging bygone eras. People tend to remember the really good (or sometimes the really bad) while the mediocre gets forgotten. And there were countless mediocre old B&W films, and plenty of truly terrible ones. As other posters have noted, many old films had some objective shortcomings when it comes to overly theatrical acting and pacing. It’s one thing to deliberately employ a slower pace to cultivate a certain mood. It’s another thing to have a movie packed full of spurious scenes and dialogue.
All that bitching aside, there are quite a few old B&W that I really like. Contrary to the general opinion of this thread, I genuinely enjoyed Citizen Kane. I love some of Kubrick’s old stuff: **Paths of Glory, The Killing, and Dr Strangelove **, which is one of my all time favorite movies. I also enjoyed Howard Hughes’s Scarface. As far as old B&W foreign films, I liked Rashomon, Breathless and The Grand Illusion.
I was underwhelmed by Double Indemnity, On the Waterfront, Casablanca, and To Kill a Mocking Bird. I was also underwhelmed by the novel it was based on. I thought the special effects in King Kong were impressive for their time, but other than that the movie didn’t do much for me. I still liked it better than Peter Jackson’s version, which I found mean spirited, shallow and way too long.
I also like some more modern films shot in B&W, such as Ed Wood.
16 and almost all my favourite movies are black and white:
Seventh Seal
Manchurian Candidate
Dr. Strangelove
One, Two, Three
Battleship Potemkin
Gabriel Over the White House
Well put. (That movie is in my top ten favorites.)
Some that may not yet have been mentioned:
[ul]
[li]Notorious (Hitchcock)[/li][li]Kind Hearts and Coronets[/li][li]Stage Door[/li][li]all the Paramount Marx Bros. movies not yet mentioned (only Duck Soup has been, I think)–The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Horsefeathers, Monkey Business[/li][li]Swingtime[/li][li]The Thin Man[/li][/ul]
My parents have lots of old movies they like and I grew up watching them. Several of my dad’s favorite movies are B&W (Young Frankenstein, Rebecca, Harvey, The 39 Steps, and My Man Godfry). I don’t seek out or avoid B&W (or silent) - I’ll give anything a try that I’ve heard is good.