# Older Film that you feel have stood the test of time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511 "2004-04-06T06:13:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/1 "2004-04-06T06:13:07Z")
I’ve been renting a fair number of older movies from Netflix (and lots of newer ones as weel), and some of them have really held up well, IMO. There are movies that I can really appreicate even without reading reviews or listening to the commentary track.Specifically:[ul][li]Cape Fear[_]The Manchurian Candidate[_]Casablanca[_]Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (they put the fun in dysfunctional)[_]To Kill a Mockingbird[/ul][/li] A couple that haven’t held up so well, IMO, though I still enjoyed them: [ul][li]Rebecca (I’m a big fan of most of Hitchcock’s films - this is one of the few that I’d say hasn’t held up).Citizen Kane (I know, sacrilege!) [/ul][/li] I enjoyed these movies a lot; but they seemed rather dated. I’m sure if I were a film student or file scholar, I would have appreciated CK in particialr much more, but I suppose I saw it out of that context and just looked at is as I would any other movie. If Netflix send me my whole rental history I’ll probably be able to name a few more. So what older classics were you somewhat disapointed with, and which ones gave more than you expeced, or lived up to their hype? ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/2 "2004-04-06T06:52:26Z")
Airplane! Animal House Blues Brothers Caddyshack Happy Gilmore Have I missed any? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/3 "2004-04-06T12:35:10Z")
**Bringing Up Baby**. I didn’t understand why people raved about it until I saw it. It’s one of the finest comedies Hollywood has ever produced. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/4 "2004-04-06T12:49:19Z")
Some older flicks I can watch anytime… _Treasure of the Sierra Madre_ _The Wages of Fear_ _North by Northwest_ _The Hustler_ _Dr. Strangelove_ _The Train_ ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/5 "2004-04-06T13:08:28Z")
**Star Wars** (original trilogy) - I thought the special effects were fantastic back then, and I still think the model type special effects still look great now, even compared to the new digital effects. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/6 "2004-04-06T13:44:35Z")
_Star Wars_ and _The Blues Brothers_ are “old movies?” [**Eve** lies down on her fainting couch with a damp cloth over her eyes] ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/7 "2004-04-06T13:53:09Z")
Haw. I came into this thread expecting it to be mostly things like \*Star Wars \* and _Caddyshack_. I’m impressed by the OP and by **El Kabong** ’s list, especially: \*Wages of Fear \* and \*The Train \* are too-little-seen classics. Three of my topten favorite films of all time are silent films: _The Crowd, The Passion of Joan of Arc_, and _Sunrise_; a lot more from a slightly longer list are almost as old: _The Scarlet Empress, Street Scene, Scarface_–I’d recommend any of these movies to anyone who likes movies. And then of course there’s the forties and fifties . . . ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/8 "2004-04-06T13:59:01Z")
I’ll second Dr. Strangelove and Starwars. I’d also like to add that Clockwork Orange has yet to be beaten as far as distopean movies go and it came out more then 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/9 "2004-04-06T14:08:16Z")
Well worth watching. _The Women_ _Some Like It Hot_ _Auntie Mame_ ---
**Author:** ![MarkF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MarkF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkF)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/10 "2004-04-06T14:12:23Z")
All time favourite would be ‘The Apartment’. Classic. Shirley Maclaine _swoon_ Sunset Boulevard would be up there too and pretty much anything by Billy W. Adieu. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/11 "2004-04-06T14:12:56Z")
What **porcupine** , **El\_Kabong** and **Homebrew** said. Oh, and I’ll raise you _The Big Sleep_ and _Double Indemnity_. ---
**Author:** ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/12 "2004-04-06T14:26:13Z")
The Thin Man Bringin Up Baby (again) My Man Godfrey Fred and Ginger in almost every configuration The Man Who Knew Too Much (the earliest one) ---
**Author:** ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/13 "2004-04-06T14:28:53Z")
Didn’t read the OP carefully enough–some goodies > [@parsnip](#): > > The Thin Man > Bringin Up Baby (again) > My Man Godfrey > Fred and Ginger in almost every configuration > The Man Who Knew Too Much (the earliest one) Netflixing my way through Fawlty Towers, and it holds up better than Are You Being Served? ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/14 "2004-04-06T14:34:18Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > _Star Wars_ and _The Blues Brothers_ are “old movies?” > > [**Eve** lies down on her fainting couch with a damp cloth over her eyes] Heh, some peoples perception of ‘old’ is a little different than others. 😃 ---
**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:** [April 6, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/15 "2004-04-06T14:46:21Z")
Yeah. I just joined Netflix myself. And was chagrined to click on “Movies by Decade” and find the first section to be “Pre-1940.” _The Birth of a Nation…Gone With the Wind_…they’re both old Civil War movies, what’s the diff? ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/16 "2004-04-06T15:04:32Z")
I don’t know, some people may just post things cause they’re classics. Trust me though I’m no film buff, if I like an old movie that means it qualifies. **Maltese Falcon**. Its always cool to see a player do his thing. **Where Eagles Dare** Monty Python and yeah **Dr Strangelove** ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/17 "2004-04-06T15:07:19Z")
_12 Angry Men_ _His Girl Friday_ and anyone who likes _Bringing up Baby_ should see _Holiday_ - wonderful movie. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/18 "2004-04-06T15:08:11Z")
[Logan’s Run](http://www.stellar-database.com/non-ISDB/LogansRun.html). I still like the pretty colors. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/19 "2004-04-06T15:18:38Z")
Badlands Blood Simple Cool Hand Luke The African Queen The Conversation The Godfather et al Double Indemnity Shane Raging Bull Twelve Angry Men Rear Window Some Like It Hot Cabaret ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511/20 "2004-04-06T16:02:55Z")
I think some of the movies mentioned escape being dated now because they were ‘dated’ when they were made. A movie set in an earlier historical context (like _Treasure of the Sierra Madre_ or the Civil War ones mentioned above) doesn’t really get old; if it was good when it was released, it’s likely to stay good. Many of those that fail are those that depend on a style or passing fad that’s current when they are made. The ones that succeed despite being tied to the time they were made usually do it by using the current situation to say something universal. _The Manchurian Candidate_, I think, is a good example. The Cold War was at its height when that was made and the movie is all about that, but it keeps its appeal because people are always susceptible to feelings of helplessness and suspicions of unseen conspiracies going on around them. And Fred and Ginger will live forever! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-film-that-you-feel-have-stood-the-test-of-time/238511.md?page=2)