# Oldest Movie you enjoyed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240 "2016-06-24T15:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/1 "2016-06-24T15:22:04Z")
Silent Movie: The Thief of Bagdad (1924) Starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.! Talking Movie: Coconauts (1929) The Marx Brothers naturally. BTW: A Trip to the Moon (1902) is a neat movie, but just too ridiculous. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/2 "2016-06-24T15:55:26Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Silent Movie: > The Thief of Bagdad (1924) > Starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.! Heh. I was coming in to mention 1920’s MARK OF ZORRO, with Fairbanks: it’s all built around giving him chances to pull off entertaining stunts as the dashing and acrobatic rogue who rides around on horseback, but the best is him using swordsmanship to fight the bad guy to a standstill – and then start in on slapstick hijinks for the win, you see. (And when he gets the girl, it’s as if the movie suddenly realizes it can’t show her having an orgasm on screen and so instead has to imply it as cheerfully as possible.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/3 "2016-06-24T16:05:01Z")
Fritz Lang’s _Metropolis_ (1927) is overacted and kind of hokey, but visually it’s really, really cool, so I just ignore the story completely. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/4 "2016-06-24T16:14:44Z")
[Lady for a Day](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024240/)(1933). A Frank Capra film that he later remade as [A Pocketful of Miracles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055312/) in 1961. The remake had a star studded cast, and introduced Ann-Margret and Peter Falk, but the original had a charm of it’s own, a very well made movie for the time. There are plenty of earlier films that I’ve seen, enjoy to some degree, but this one marked a new level of competence in film making from one of the greatest directors of all time. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/5 "2016-06-24T16:21:04Z")
Tarzan the Ape Man 1932 King Kong 1933 The Mummy 1932 Dracula 1931 Dracula is the oldest. I like all the classic horror films from the 30’s. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/6 "2016-06-24T16:24:07Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Fritz Lang’s _Metropolis_ (1927) is overacted and kind of hokey, but visually it’s really, really cool, so I just ignore the story completely. Agreed. I can also go back one more year, 1926, for _The General_. If you can accept that the hero is a Confederate, it’s a fantastic movie. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/7 "2016-06-24T18:01:56Z")
1910 _Frankenstein_. It was believed lost for so long, it was amazing to watch. Not visually beautiful, but interesting to me. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/8 "2016-06-24T18:05:30Z")
_Broken Blossoms_ (1919) starring Lillian Gish as a victim of child abuse. If this movie doesn’t make you cry, you’re heartless. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/9 "2016-06-24T18:21:40Z")
I’ve seen \*\*\*The General \*\*\*too. Looking at a Laurel and Hardy filmography, the earliest shorts I can positively identify are _ **Two Tars** _ and _ **Big Business** _ (both silent, 1928 and '29, respectively), plus _ **Perfect Day** _ (talkie, also 1929). The two full-length feature films that come immediately to mind are Hitchcock’s _ **Blackmail** _ (1929) and _ **The Dawn Patrol** _ (1930). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/10 "2016-06-24T18:30:14Z")
[Oh Doctor!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfpHOmQojcQ)(1917) Roscoe Arbuckle is a doctor and Buster Keaton is his son. This was before Buster refined his stoneface persona. I crack up every time I see Rosco jab him with the pin. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/11 "2016-06-24T18:44:42Z")
1920 - The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. The oldest talkie I’ve seen is The Coconauts. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/12 "2016-06-24T18:47:26Z")
I’m gonna assume the OP means “a movie you enjoyed in the sense of watching a movie” rather than “This is SO FUCKING COOL.” Because early Georges Melies films, _The Kiss_ (1896), _The Great Train Robbery_ (1903), etc., evoke that second response without wrapping you up in a story, identifying with characters, etc. So, earliest movie I dig AS A MOVIE is **Cabiria** , the Italian epic from 1914. Good sympathetic characters…great historical plot…intertitles written by the great Decadent poet Gabrielle d’Annunzio…wonderful special effects, for 1914…and completely cool sets, colossal in size. If you liked Moloch in _Metropolis_, check out the Temple of Moloch scene in _Calabria_. Complete with babies thrown into a sacrificial furnace! Pleanty of places to watch it free on the Internets. Here’s the Wiki article for more details. > **[Cabiria](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabiria)** > > Cabiria is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows a melodramatic main plot about an abducted little girl, Cabiria, and features an eruption of Mount Etna, heinous religious rituals in Carthage, the alpine trek of Hannibal, Archimedes' defeat of the Roman fleet at the Siege of Syracuse and Scipio maneuvering in North Africa. Apart from... ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/13 "2016-06-24T18:59:16Z")
The Astronomer’s Dream (1898) ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/14 "2016-06-24T19:09:59Z")
Full length: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), I’ve only seen one other feature-length film before that though - a Chaplin film Cabiria has been on my watchlist for a long time along with the Feuillade serials ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/15 "2016-06-24T19:13:57Z")
_Things to Come_, 1936 is cool. Those giant aircraft! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/16 "2016-06-24T19:51:43Z")
I believe _Nosferatu_ was released in 1928, and it is one of my top ten. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/17 "2016-06-24T19:52:46Z")
_The Wind_ (1928), with Lillian Gish. It heped that I lived in Wyoming when I first saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/18 "2016-06-24T19:56:44Z")
Abel Gance’s _Napoléon_ (1927). All 5 1/2 hours of it. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/19 "2016-06-24T19:59:46Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I believe _Nosferatu_ was released in 1928, and it is one of my top ten. Kino Video sold me a box DVD set of German Expressionist film years ago. Includes Caligari, Nosferatu, Waxworks, and The Golem. The Golem (1920), set in the medieval Prague Ghetto, is my fave of the bunch. God, those wild sets! Those Weimar boys were Da Bomb, I’m tellin’ ya. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240/20 "2016-06-24T20:01:55Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > Abel Gance’s _Napoléon_ (1927). All 5 1/2 hours of it. Saw it in Manhattan back in the mid-'80s, with full orchestra and the original triple-screen treatment. It was excellent, but I shoulda brought a snack. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-movie-you-enjoyed/758240.md?page=2)