# Pre-1965 Movies That Hold Up **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252 "2009-06-28T11:54:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/1 "2009-06-28T11:54:19Z")
These should be films that, say, a bright teenager of today might enjoy. They should be things you’ve re-watched or (even better) seen for the first time within the last 10 years. Video stores and Netflix have made it easy to screen old movies, and I’ve watched dozens of “classics” made between 1915-1965. A lot of them do almost nothing for me, and I’m sure would do even less for someone younger than myself. I picked 1965 as the cut-off date because that’s about the time color films were taking over, and because the 60’s bought in a lot more open sexuality in film. It’s a soft cut-off date really, but I’d rather hear about earlier films rather than later. Last week I rented Sturges’ _The Miracle of Morgan Creek_ from the library. The Video Hound books say it’s an hilarious social critique and give it 4-stars (top rating.) If it came out today, I’m guessing it would get rated closer to 1.5 stars. Not funny, not insightful, but a fairly cute lead actress. Here some pre-1965 films that I’ve enjoyed and that often my teenager daughter has enjoyed with me: Rear Window Duck Soup Nosferatu Casablanca Wizard of Oz High Noon Hard Day’s Night Father Goose Harvey ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/2 "2009-06-28T11:54:54Z")
Most Hitchcock. I really love the 1948 film Rope myself. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/3 "2009-06-28T12:15:21Z")
The Searchers To Kill A Mockingbird A Fistful of Dollars Ben-Hur ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/4 "2009-06-28T12:31:02Z")
There are a lot of pre-1965 movies that a generally entertaining. The trouble is most the great movies are considered great because they were original and/or ahead of their time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help them age well. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/5 "2009-06-28T12:41:25Z")
[The Quiet Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quiet_Man) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/6 "2009-06-28T12:45:07Z")
_The Third Man_ and _Citizen Kane_. Both of which star Orson Welles, interestingly. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/7 "2009-06-28T12:49:42Z")
Have you tried showing her _Gone With the Wind_? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/8 "2009-06-28T12:59:23Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > There are a lot of pre-1965 movies that a generally entertaining. The trouble is most the great movies are considered great because they were original and/or ahead of their time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help them age well. True. However some films from that era will honor intelligent plotting and match up to more modern films in that regard. Compared to books, movies from all eras generally cut corners regarding logical behavior and character consistency. Generally movie makers (or the viewing public) don’t value logic and consistency as much as authors. Which makes me think of the film _My Fair Lady_. I don’t know exactly when it was released, but it’s one of my daughter’s favorite films and it holds up beautifully. For me, that’s chiefly due to the rigorous integrity of the Rex Harrison character… he believes what he believes and is consistent, “logical” and happy in his beliefs. I’ve not seen the theatrical version, but I assume that the virtues of the movie are mainly due to respecting the words of a talented, principled writer. Nice songs too. There’s a similar dynamic in _Father Goose_. It has some silliness, but the scenes of the U.S. Navy officer manipulating Cary Grant into doing his bidding are better thought out than the plot machinations of most current Hollywood blockbusters. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/9 "2009-06-28T13:03:29Z")
_•Metropolis •Gojira •The Bedford Incident •Forbidden Planet •The Trouble With Harry •The Court Jester •The Thing from Another World •Plan 9 From Outer Space •The Agony and the Ecstasy_ ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/10 "2009-06-28T13:17:49Z")
I’ll add \*\*Brigadoon \*\*to the list. As a teenage boy I hated musicals (still do) but I always liked this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/11 "2009-06-28T13:23:41Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > _•Metropolis > •Gojira > •The Bedford Incident > •Forbidden Planet > •The Trouble With Harry > •The Court Jester > •The Thing from Another World > •Plan 9 From Outer Space > •The Agony and the Ecstasy_ I agree that _The Thing_ still works very well. I haven’t watched _Forbidden Planet_ in 15 years, but it was pretty good when I saw it. I tried _Metropolis_ within the last six months, and thought some of it’s visuals were amazing for it’s time and still good today, but after an hour I was wandering in and out of the room. I haven’t tried _Trouble With Harry_. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve heard of it. Hitchcock was a great director, but even so most of his movies haven’t held up well enough for me to recommend them over something more modern. But I’ll try _Harry_ and _Rope_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/12 "2009-06-28T14:22:38Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Last week I rented Sturges’ _The Miracle of Morgan Creek_ from the library. The Video Hound books say it’s an hilarious social critique and give it 4-stars (top rating.) If it came out today, I’m guessing it would get rated closer to 1.5 stars. Not funny, not insightful, but a fairly cute lead actress. I couldn’t disagree more, and here’s the fallacy of your way of thinking–the morals and context of the story means that it would make no sense for someone to make this movie in 2009, so the “if it came out today” standard is non-sensical. _Modern Times_ or _Dr. Strangelove_ are no less brilliant now than when they first came out, but if they “came out today”, it wouldn’t mean the same thing and they wouldn’t be as important in the same way. But that doesn’t make the writing any less brilliant or all 3 movies any less hilarious. Long after people have forgotten _The Hangover_ (or any comedy from this year thus far), _MoMC_ (in fact, virtually all of Sturges’ films) will still be a model of construction, sophistication, and sly bawdiness. So pre-1965 movies that hold up? I can think of hundreds upon hundreds, though the OP’s mileage would obviously vary. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/13 "2009-06-28T14:34:44Z")
[Lawrence of Arabia](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/) [Bridge on the River Kwai](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050212/) [Treasure of the Sierra Madre](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040897/) All of those would work for teenage boys. Dunno about teenage girls. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/14 "2009-06-28T14:37:15Z")
[The African Queen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043265/) also holds up. …and the original [Invasion of the Body Snatchers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/15 "2009-06-28T14:43:29Z")
[To Kill a Mockingbird](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056592/) ---
**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:** [June 28, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/16 "2009-06-28T14:46:46Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I haven’t tried _Trouble With Harry_. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve heard of it. Hitchcock was a great director, but even so most of his movies haven’t held up well enough for me to recommend them over something more modern. But I’ll try _Harry_ and _Rope_. Well, I’d try _North by Northwest_ as well. Just about anything directed by Howard Hawks, but _To Have and Have Not_, _Rio Bravo_ and _Only Angels Have Wings_ are particular standouts. Maybe _The Hustler_, although it may be too relentlessly downbeat for some. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/17 "2009-06-28T14:48:51Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I couldn’t disagree more, and here’s the fallacy of your way of thinking–the morals and context of the story means that it would make no sense for someone to make this movie in 2009, so the “if it came out today” standard is non-sensical. _Modern Times_ or _Dr. Strangelove_ are no less brilliant now than when they first came out, but if they “came out today”, it wouldn’t mean the same thing and they wouldn’t be as important in the same way. But that doesn’t make the writing any less brilliant or all 3 movies any less hilarious. Well, Mr. ArchiveGuy, you raise an interesting point, and I definitely welcome discussion of why or why not a movie “holds up.” I did type my comment on _Miracle of Morgan Creek_ understanding that it would be essentially impossible for it to be made and reviewed today… But still, if an independent film maker in 2010 was to produce a film set in 1944, imitating classic hair styles and cinematography and using the same script… I believe contemporary audiences would find it an interesting novelty but view the story and dialog as not very entertaining and find the characters generally annoying. Cute lead actress though. I deliberately led of my original post by asking if a “bright teenager” of today would enjoy the film. That meant does the film work as a contemporary entertainment instead of as document of historical interest. And…I haven’t seen \*Modern Times \*in 30 years, but I remember it as holding up pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/18 "2009-06-28T15:29:24Z")
Casablanca. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/19 "2009-06-28T15:38:21Z")
The Little Foxes ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252/20 "2009-06-28T15:39:01Z")
[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041866/) [Donovan’s Reef](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057007/) [The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056217/) [The Horse Soldiers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052902/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1965-movies-that-hold-up/501252.md?page=2)