# What old movies should I watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587 "2018-01-14T05:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/21 "2018-01-14T14:11:10Z")
Jimmy Stewart’s Westerns are some of the best ever made in that genre. They were among the first to focus more on character and the consequences of a violent life. You have to see his Westerns Winchester 73, Broken Arrow, Bend of the River, Naked Spur, Far Country, Man From Laramie, Destry Rides Again His movies with Hitchcock are equally good Rear Window, Vertigo His comedies are superb Philadelphia Story (with Hepburn and Cary Grant) Harvey (based on the play that Stewart starred in) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/22 "2018-01-14T14:15:17Z")
_Stagecoach_. It holds up amazingly well. It’s a Western, but much more of a commentary on society. _Sunset Bulevard_. Just watched this last night on PBS. Very Hitchcockian, a little noirish. Very good. My favorite Hitchcock film, though, is _Notorious_. And if you’ve never seen _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_, that is an absolute must. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/23 "2018-01-14T14:27:31Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > …How do you feel about film noir? I could recommend a few like **The Maltese Falcon** , **Double Indemnity** , or\*\* Touch of Evil\*\* but I don’t know if you’d like movies of that type… I am going to second this suggestion, **Double Indemnity** in particular. A masterpiece. mmm ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/24 "2018-01-14T14:37:49Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I am going to second this suggestion, **Double Indemnity** in particular. > > A masterpiece. > mmm It’s too derivative of _Body Heat_. 😃 Actually, I do like _Body Heat_ better. But I’d recommend both. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/25 "2018-01-14T14:45:23Z")
[Here](http://1001films.wikia.com/wiki/The_List) is a list of “1,001 films you must see before you die.” It’s actually over 1,200 now because the list has been added to since 2000 when it was first drawn up. Honestly, “must see” is a bit strong as it is mainly a list for someone who is _really_ into cinema; I would put some in the category of “watch so you can analyze what went wrong.” As a more casual fan, what you can use it for is to bring something to your attention you might never had heard of. They most likely all have an entry in Wikipedia (all the obscure ones I sampled did) so you can look it up to see if it is to your taste. The list is in time-order so you can start at 1974 and work your way backwards, clear back to 1902 if you have the stamina. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/26 "2018-01-14T14:50:35Z")
**The Shootist Treasure of the Sierra Madre The Oxbow Incident Stagecoach** (the original) **The Grapes of Wrath Flight of The Phoenix** (again, the original) **Gone With the Wind** **Freaks** (horror, so shocking at the time that it couldn’t be released in the original version) **Born Yesterday** (comedy, with the hysterical Judy Holliday) **Angels With Dirty Faces** (yeah, gangster film, but worth watching because of The Dead End Kids) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/27 "2018-01-14T14:58:55Z")
Action, war movies, political thrillers: \*\*Beau Geste \*\*(both the silent version starring Ronald Coleman, and the sound version starring Gary Cooper) **The Prisoner of Zenda** (the black-and-white version with Ronald Coleman is better than the color version with Stewart Granger, but both are good. [Both are based on the stage play adapted from the novel.]) Sergei Eisenstein’s films: **Alexander Nevsky Ivan the Terrible, Part 1 Ivan the Terrible, Part 2** Also, **The Battleship Potemkin** , just so you can tell the marxists that they are full of it. > [@](#): > > Romances- I don’t mind modern romcoms but I just can’t put up with an old style romance flick like Breakfast at Tiffany’s. **Ninotchka** is technically a romcom, but the comedy is mostly social and political. > [@](#): > > Non-Disney animation I might not know about. Max Fleischer **Betty Boop Popeye Superman Gulliver’s Travels Mr. Bug Goes to Town** ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/28 "2018-01-14T15:00:51Z")
You didn’t say what you meant by old movie, so I just decided you meant anything up to 1974, the only year you mentioned in your post. I took my list of my 100 favorite movies and eliminated anything from 1975 on. This is what’s left: _The Adventures of Robin Hood_ (1938, U.S., dir. Michael Curtiz) _All Quiet on the Western Front_ (1930, U.S., dir. Lewis Milestone) _Amarcord_ (1974, Italy, Federico Fellini) _Army of Shadows_ (1969, France/Italy, dir. Jean-Pierre Melville) _Camille_ (1937, U.S., dir. George Cukor) _Casablanca_ (1942, U.S., dir. Michael Curtiz) _Chinatown_ (1974, U.S., dir. Roman Polanski) _Citizen Kane_ (1941, U.S., dir. Orson Welles) _A Clockwork Orange_ (1971, U.K./U.S., dir. Stanley Kubrick) _Dark Star_ (1974, U.S., dir. John Carpenter) _Dr. Strangelove_ (1964, U.K., dir. Stanley Kubrick) _Duck Soup_ (1933, U.S., dir. Leo McCarey) _Fantastic Planet_ (1973, France, dir. Rene Laloux) _Forbidden Planet_ (1956, U.S., dir. Fred McLeod Wilcox) _Freaks_ (1932, U.S., dir. Tod Browning) _The Godfather_ (1972, U.S., dir. Francis Ford Coppola) _The Godfather Part II_ (1974, U.S., dir. Francis Ford Coppola) _The Great Dictator_ (1940, U.S., dir. Charles Chaplin) _Invaders from Mars_ (1953, U.S., dir. William Cameron Menzies) _It’s a Wonderful Life_ (1946, U.S., dir. Frank Capra) _King Kong_ (1933, U.S., dir. Merian C. Cooper) _La Jetée_ (1962, France, dir. Chris Marker) _La Strada_ (1954, Italy, dir. Federico Fellini) _The Last Picture Show_ (1971, U.S., dir. Peter Bogdanovich) _M_ (1931, Germany, dir. Fritz Lang) _Macbeth_ (1971, U.K./U.S., dir. Roman Polanski) _The Maltese Falcon_ (1941, U.S., dir. John Huston) _McCabe & Mrs. Miller_ (1971, U.S., dir. Robert Altman) _Modern Times_ (1936, U.S., dir. Charles Chaplin) _Play it Again, Sam_ (1972, U.S., dir. Herbert Ross) _The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes_ (1970, U.K./U.S., dir. Billy Wilder) _Psycho_ (1960, U.S., dir. Alfred Hitchcock) _Ride the High Country_ (1962, U.S., dir. Sam Peckinpah) _The Searchers_ (1956, U.S., dir. John Ford) _Seven Samurai_ (1954, Japan, dir. Akira Kurosawa) _Singin’ in the Rain_ (1952, U.S., dir. Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen) _The Third Man_ (1949, U.K., dir. Carol Reed) _The Treasure of the Sierra Madre_ (1948, U.S., dir. John Huston) _2001: A Space Odyssey_ (1968, U.K., dir. Stanley Kubrick) _Vertigo_ (1958, U.S., dir. Alfred Hitchcock) _The Wild Bunch_ (1969, U.S., dir. Sam Peckinpah) _The Wizard of Oz_ (1939, U.S., dir. Victor Fleming) ---
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/29 "2018-01-14T15:02:19Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never seen a Sean Connery Bond movie. Except for Never Say Never Again, which was 1983. A pale imitation of _ **Thunderball** _ (1965). The 1983 movie owes its existence to a dispute over producer rights. The best Bond movies are, IMHO, _ **From Russia with Love** _ and _ **Goldfinger** _. Connery will always be the best Bond, but the series really started to go over the top after the latter. (Parachuting frogmen? A ninja army? Really? :dubious: ) Of course, your mileage might vary. Of the rest of the movies in the series, I’d especially recommend _ **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service** _ (which is more or less faithful to the book) and _ **For Your Eyes Only** _ (actually a pretty good Cold War story). ---
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/30 "2018-01-14T15:06:07Z")
You may not consider \*\*\*American Graffiti \*\*\* (1973) an “old” movie, but I do. By far George Lucas’s best work (except maybe the original _ **Star Wars** _), and one in which I get completely lost from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/31 "2018-01-14T15:07:09Z")
The 1954 sci-fi/monster move, _THEM!_ has a great cast, good script, great f/x (for the era) & a terrific director. A personal favorite. I also like the Abbot & Costello monster fllicks, & the Hope/Crosby Road pictures. The Marx Brother are comedy gold, but ethic & racial references may offend some viewers. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/32 "2018-01-14T15:12:05Z")
My favorite film is [Beat The Devil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046414/) with Bogart and Peter Lorre. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/33 "2018-01-14T17:09:29Z")
I was thinking of starting a similar type thread, only about the wonders of technology (because of Netflix in particular, I’ve been able to watch a lot of old movies now that I never had the opportunity to while growing up–in those days, if they didn’t offer it at the local movie theater, or if it wasn’t on TV, you didn’t get to see it). Now, my recommendations: Kurosawa. My daughter (who’s a film buff, and is learning about old movies) and I just watched _Seven Samurai_ a couple of days ago. We loved it. We’ve also watched _Yojimbo_ and _Rashomon_. We both like Bogart. _The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre, and Caine Mutiny_ are three classics. Also _Key Largo_. Someone mentioned Jimmy Stewart. Watch _Harvey_. Almost any Cary Grant film is worth watching. For a good political thriller, watch _Three Days of the Condor_ (Robert Redford). For a political thriller/comedy, watch _Hopscotch_ (Walter Matthau) Silent: _Battleship Potemkin_. Classic. There are literally thousands of great old movies. You’ll never be bored. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/34 "2018-01-14T17:44:11Z")
A few of my favorites that haven’t been mentioned yet: _It Happened One Night_ - the original ‘rom-com’, with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert _Arsenic and Old Lace_ - screwball comedy at its best; Cary Grant, “Teddy Roosevelt”, and the kindest, sweetest stone-cold killers you’ll ever meet _The African Queen_ - Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn; adventure, comedy, romance, and leeches! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/35 "2018-01-14T17:58:27Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > For a political thriller/comedy, watch _Hopscotch_ (Walter Matthau) Maybe. I watched that movie back in the eighties and I remember it as being a great movie. So when it was recently released on a Criterion blu-ray, I sought it out to watch it again. And I was disappointed. It had not held up well. Matthau is still good but the movie itself was pretty sloppy. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/36 "2018-01-14T18:31:36Z")
I’m fond of garish, Technicolor cheesy musicals, and also elegant black and white Fred and Ginger movies. But some other oldies I like: Shane (Western, with Alan Ladd. An ambiguous ending.) Can’t go wrong with Bette Davis, her first is Of Human Bondage with Leslie Howard, though it’s slow and plodding you might not enjoy it, but Bette’s scenes are electrifying. I like her in almost anything in the middle years, Mr. Skeffington, The Little Foxes, Deception…and later The Catered Affair (with Ernest Borgnine, it’s a stretch, but a good attempt at a slice of life). And of course, All About Eve. Pygmalion with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller, hilarious, and it was remade as My Fair Lady. Cary Grant can do no wrong, I am fond of Bringing Up Baby and Father Goose. Also To Catch a Thief, just the costumes alone are eye-popping. Any cheesy or serious historical movie has my attention, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and even old Steve Reeves movies, which are kind of unintentionally hilarious. A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Little Women (you might find it too syrupy and sentimental), National Velvet (a young Liz Taylor and Mickey Rooney, just magical). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/37 "2018-01-14T19:00:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Maybe. I watched that movie back in the eighties and I remember it as being a great movie. So when it was recently released on a Criterion blu-ray, I sought it out to watch it again. > > And I was disappointed. It had not held up well. Matthau is still good but the movie itself was pretty sloppy. I can’t disagree that it’s dated in a lot of ways, and the band when Kendig is at the bar has always been bad, but to me, there are so many great lines (from memory): -By the way, my name’s not Murdison. Didn’t think it was, Mr. Murdison -You remind me of my father. That’s always been my problem -Now I know what FBI stands for: Fucking Ball-busting Imbeciles! -Someone is taking our picture. Oh, that’s Follett. He’s an idiot. Probably no film in the camera -Do please stop following me. You’re making my dog very nervous. He detests the smell of stupidity. -C You Next Tuesday Myerson? -This is Eleanor Roosevelt! And so on. So yeah, it has its drawbacks, but I still love it. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/38 "2018-01-14T19:09:53Z")
Some old war movies: \*\*\*Spitfire The Dam Busters 49th Parallel 13 Rue Madeleine Cockleshell Heroes Run Silent, Run Deep Destination: Tokyo Thirty Seconds over Tokyo Objective: Burma Orders to Kill Decision before Dawn Paths of Glory The Guns of Navarone The Great Escape The Train Von Ryan’s Express\*\*\* Some Cold War movies: \*\*\*The Journey A Dandy in Aspic Fail-Safe Topaz\*\*\* Some other great dramas: \*\*\*Town without Pity Experiment in Terror Anatomy of a Murder\*\*\* Some science fiction: \*\*\*The Day the Earth Stood Still Destination: Moon Forbidden Planet Silent Running Dark Star\*\*\* ---
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/39 "2018-01-14T19:19:22Z")
Lessie…just skimming some big ones, off the top of my head: _Triumph of the Will Alexander Nevsky It Happened Here Gojira The Hidden Fortress_ Maybe some examples of the [_Giallo_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giallo) genre _The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Marooned Forbidden Planet Jason and the Argonauts Colossus: The Forbin Project The Longest Day Where Eagles Dare Tora! Tora! Tora!_ In terms on animation, specifically, you might try: _[The Hunchbacked Horse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1OIiRY1MM)_ \*Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors - (The first full-length anime movie…released in 1945.) _Fritz the Cat The Lorax (1972) [The Point](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067595/)_ ---
**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:** [January 14, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587/40 "2018-01-14T19:38:36Z")
Fritz Lang’s _ **M** _ * * * The Dawn Patrol\*\*\* (1930 or 1938) \*\*\*Robinson Crusoe on Mars The Time Machine\*\*\* (1960) \*\*\*The OdeSSa File The Day of the Jackal \*\*\*(1971) _ **The Producers** _ (1968) _ **It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World** _ _ **The Great Race** _ _ **Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines** _ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-movies-should-i-watch/806587.md?page=3)