# Older Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154 "2007-01-30T19:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/41 "2007-02-01T04:41:57Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Oh, but the wife is partial to “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I’m glad to see “The Passion of Joan of Arc” and “The General” mentioned above. Otherwise, not many silent features named here. Speaking of “The General,” I think I have all of Buster Keaton’s full-length features and several of his shorts. Does anyone remember his cameo appearance in “Sunset Boulevard”? [/QUOTE] indeed i do. one of my favorite movies. bonus points if you can name the rest of ‘the waxworks’ without having to google the movie. 😃 while on the subject of silent film stars… \*safety last \* with the inestimable harold lloyd some of my other favorites: _gaslight_ \*black narcissus \* _the red shoes_ _the maltese falcon_ _destination tokyo_ (favorite war, submarine, AND cary grant movie) _destry rides again_ _the search_ _donovan’s reef_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/42 "2007-02-01T05:19:39Z")
Many of the ones I like are listed, but one hasn’t been yet: _The Magnificent Seven_ And by coincidence, I watched it (again) just this past weekend! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/43 "2007-02-01T05:22:56Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] indeed i do. one of my favorite movies. bonus points if you can name the rest of ‘the waxworks’ without having to google the movie. 😃 [/QUOTE] Okay, let’s see. I’m not looking. There was HB Warner, who played Old Man Gower, the pharmacist, in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” (And, of course, Jesus in Cecil B DeMille’s “The King of Kings.”) Warner’s fresh in my mind, because we just saw his small role in Capra’s “You Can’t Take It with You.” And Gloria swanson, of course. But damn! I cannot think of the name of that other silent-screen lady. Penelope something?? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/44 "2007-02-01T05:25:22Z")
I just looked. It was Anna Q Nilsson. Damn! ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/45 "2007-02-01T20:32:28Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I just looked. It was Anna Q Nilsson. Damn! [/QUOTE] you did better than i did. 😃 i remembered the name of anna and that keaton was one, but for the life of me, warner’s name just wouldn’t come up as the third member of the waxworks. more bonus points: who is swanson’s butler, and what film is he famous for? (this i don’t have to google for). ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/46 "2007-02-01T21:16:25Z")
Dopers, There are so many wonderful old movies that you’ve reminded me of. **A Pocketful of Miracles** will be the next I try to find. I’m going to keep referring to this thread for movie ideas. I enjoyed the originals of **Ocean’s 11** and **The Italian Job.** Snappy, funny dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/47 "2007-02-02T03:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] you did better than i did. 😃 i remembered the name of anna and that keaton was one, but for the life of me, warner’s name just wouldn’t come up as the third member of the waxworks. more bonus points: who is swanson’s butler, and what film is he famous for? (this i don’t have to google for). [/QUOTE] I am drawing a blank on his name and the name of the film. But I know he directed Swanson in real life in a silent film that was instrumental in destroying her career. Wait. “Princess” something?? Their relationship in the film was not far removed from their relationship in real life. He really was her director in silent-film days, and weren’t they married at one point, just like in the film? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/48 "2007-02-02T03:34:45Z")
Damn! I looked it up. “Queen Kelly.” Sort of close. And the butler was Erich von Stroheim, and I’m kicking myself now for blanking out on his name. Old age is very sad. But were you referring to “Queen Kelly” or to “Greed”? ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/49 "2007-02-02T05:20:18Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Damn! I looked it up. “Queen Kelly.” Sort of close. And the butler was Erich von Stroheim, and I’m kicking myself now for blanking out on his name. Old age is very sad. But were you referring to “Queen Kelly” or to “Greed”? [/QUOTE] ‘greed.’ maybe the finest example of silent dramatic cinema i’ve ever seen that \*wasn’t \* a comedy. my favorite silent comedy is still ‘the gold rush.’ i’m partial to ‘orphans of the storm’ too, because it’s so completely over the top. 😃 and the fact that the actors risked their necks out on those ice floes without stunt doubles. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/50 "2007-02-04T06:02:45Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] ‘greed.’ maybe the finest example of silent dramatic cinema i’ve ever seen that \*wasn’t \* a comedy. my favorite silent comedy is still ‘the gold rush.’ i’m partial to ‘orphans of the storm’ too, because it’s so completely over the top. 😃 and the fact that the actors risked their necks out on those ice floes without stunt doubles. [/QUOTE] I’ve never been much of a Charlie Chaplin fan. Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd were both more talented, I think. “The General” is up at the top of my silent-film list, but there are quite a few other Buster Keaton films that would qualify, especially “Seven Chances.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/51 "2007-02-04T06:17:25Z")
The horror films produced at RKO in the '40s by Val Lewton (now available in a DVD set), including: **Cat People The Leopard Man Curse of the Cat People I Walked with a Zombie Isle of the Dead The Seventh Victim The Body Snatchers Bedlam** ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/52 "2007-02-04T16:04:37Z")
The Seven Samurai The Hidden Fortress Yojimbo High and Low (Can you tell I like Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurasawa?) June Bride The Man Who came to Dinner To Kill a Mockingbird Kiss me Kate, I could watch James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn sing Brush up your Shakespeare every day The Gazebo How to Marry a Millionaire Gentlemen Prefer Blondes You Can’t Take it With You Horsefeathers The Old Dark House Shadow of a Doubt Strangers on a Train Anything with William Powell A whole bunch already mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/53 "2007-02-04T16:05:15Z")
Also, in “Sunset Boulevard,” the film that Gloria Swanson and William Holden watch together in her home is “Queen Kelly,” which was dircted by Erich von Stroheim, who was playing her former director turned butler in “Sunset.” I heard “Sunset Boulevard” really bothered a lot of people in Hollywood at the time. A little too close for comfort. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/54 "2007-02-04T18:08:40Z")
Just watched [Battleship Potemkin](http://imdb.com/title/tt0015648/) (1925) the other day. O ne of the best silent movies I have ever seen. Found here at [archive.org](http://www.archive.org/index.php) where they have tons of great old movies for free download. The OP seemingly enjoying the Cary Grant films, I found a not-so great but watchable version of “His Girl Friday” with Rosalind Russell there. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154/55 "2007-02-06T18:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=FuriousGeorge] Just watched [Battleship Potemkin](http://imdb.com/title/tt0015648/) (1925) the other day. O ne of the best silent movies I have ever seen. Found here at [archive.org](http://www.archive.org/index.php) where they have tons of great old movies for free download. The OP seemingly enjoying the Cary Grant films, I found a not-so great but watchable version of “His Girl Friday” with Rosalind Russell there. [/QUOTE] Thanks FG, I have a crush on Cary Grant right now. (Yes I know he’s no longer available) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies/390154.md?page=2)