# Your All-Time Favorite Black & White Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284 "2016-01-26T19:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/1 "2016-01-26T19:06:41Z")
There are many fabulous B&W movies and one of the best things about them is they are virtually unknown by modern audiences. So, I hope that you will find some movies in this thread that you will truly enjoy. I’ve thought of a few diff ways to organize this thread. I could ask people to each post the name of just one of their favorite B&W films. Or I could ask people to post as many as they feel like. But if I did that, some lunatic (like myself for instance) would then post a list with a hundred titles and then everyone would just ignore that post and ignore the rest of the thread. So, I’d like to ask you to post a maximum of three names of your most favorite B&W films. Then give someone else a chance to post theirs and then you can come back and post three more if you like. I hope that will work out OK. I will start with my three most favorite B&W films of all time: **-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------** 1. The Treasure of Sierra Madre 1948 - IMO, Humphrey Bogart’s finest performance ever - directed by Walter Huston and IMO, this is also his finest film, 2. White Heat 1949 - Gangster Film starring James Cagney - one of the best gangster films ever made. 3. Sabrina 1954 - they can’t all be crime stories - this one’s a love story starring Bogart and Audrey Hepburn - an unlikely pair but IMO, it’s the director (Billy Wilder) who made this such a great film - directed by Billy Wilder and IMO, it is his masterpiece. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/2 "2016-01-26T19:11:39Z")
Duck Soup Casablanca Scarface (the Paul Muni version) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/3 "2016-01-26T19:16:26Z")
It Happened One Night It’s a Wonderful Life Casablanca ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/4 "2016-01-26T19:17:30Z")
I have a hard time thinking of black and white movies as a genre, you know? There’s decades worth of movies there, from the very early silent film shorts to Kevin Smith’s “Clerks,” which have nothing in common except for the fact that they’re in black and white. That said… 1. Buster Keaton’s “Steamboat Bill” 2. Fellini’s “The Nights of Cabiria” 3. Billy Wilder’s “A Foreign Affair” ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/5 "2016-01-26T19:19:27Z")
Casablanca Schindler’s List Pi ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/6 "2016-01-26T19:21:35Z")
A Streetcar Named Desire Stalag 17 Citizen Kane ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/7 "2016-01-26T19:21:58Z")
_Bringing up Baby_ ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/8 "2016-01-26T19:28:39Z")
His Girl Friday Casablanca Ace in the Hole ---
**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 26, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/9 "2016-01-26T19:30:21Z")
The first three that come to mind are _ **Casablanca** _, _ **Some Like It Hot** _, and _ **The Dam Busters** _. But there are many, many others. War movies in particular (WWII and earlier). Gangster movies, too. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/10 "2016-01-26T19:31:03Z")
Young Frankenstein Schindlers List Out of the Past ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/11 "2016-01-26T19:31:56Z")
Bride of Frankenstein Citizen Kane Schindler’s List ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/12 "2016-01-26T19:36:21Z")
Citizen Kane The Third Man In Cold Blood Casablanca The Elephant Man The Killers ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/13 "2016-01-26T19:51:53Z")
**King Kong Casablanca The Maltese Falcon The Seven Samurai Young Frankenstein Stalag 17 A Night at the Opera The Day the Earth Stood Still Metropolis The General** (Buster Keaton) **The Thief of Baghdad** (Douglas Fairbanks silent version) **Twelve Angry Men To Kill a Mockingbird The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Frankenstein Dracula Bride of Frankenstein Hold That Ghost** (Abbott and Costello) **Naughty Nineties** (Abbott and Costello again, if only for the “Who’s on First” routine) **Modern Times** (Charlie Chaplin) **Rashomon The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms The Thing Paths of Glory Dr. Strangelove The Train** ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/14 "2016-01-26T20:08:33Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Young Frankenstein > > Schindlers List > > Out of the Past I was just going to post Out of the Past. But here are three more: 1. T Asphalt Jungle 1950 - a great crime movie - stars Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern & Marilyn Monroe 2. T Naked City 1948 - a great cops & robbers film 3. Impact 1949 - a little known love story - well … love and murder - but it’s one of my favorites ever - stars Brian Donlevy & Ella Raines ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/15 "2016-01-26T20:14:58Z")
Just a brief note to CalMeacham, I see you posted “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”. If you liked that, I’d like to recommend another film to you: It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955). I think it will surely please you. I think it’s one of the first movies to ever use stop-action animation to produce a truly terrifying moster. Maybe you remember it? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/16 "2016-01-26T20:15:34Z")
\*\*Double Indemnity Sunset Boulevard Young Fronkensteen\*\* ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/17 "2016-01-26T20:23:48Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Just a brief note to CalMeacham, > > I see you posted “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”. > > If you liked that, I’d like to recommend another film to you: > > It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955). I think it will surely please you. I think it’s one of the first movies to ever use stop-action animation to produce a truly terrifying moster. Maybe you remember it? I certainly do. It’s by Ray Harryhausen, who made _The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms_. But Beast was earlier. It is, in fact, the _ur_-1950s Monster Film, the first one to feature the Giant Creature Awakened somehow by Nuclear Weapons that threatens to destroy the City, but our Scientist Hero and Beautiful Assistant have One Chance to stop it, and succeed. You can say it’s a hackneyed plot, but this is the first time it was used (before Them!, before Godzilla), so it wasn’t a cliche yet. It’s also the first time Harryhausen used his Dynamation/Dynarama/Reality Sandwich technique, which he was to use ever after (including It Came from Beneth the Sea) as a way of doing the kind of forced perspective/glass painting/rear projection shots that previously had rerquired an army of effects technicians, bujt to do it on the cheap. Truly a ground-breaking movie, much imitated. In fact, the 1998 version of _Godzilla_ shamelessly ripped off its plot, without even a “Thank You”. I grew up on these by the way I think I’ve seen all the 1950s Giant Monster flicks, most of them countless times. I own copies of Beast and It Came from Beneath the Sea. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/18 "2016-01-26T20:23:50Z")
1. Caged 1950 - Women in Prison - Best Film Ever Made on this Subject - Eleanor Parker proves to be a fabulous actor - amazing! 2. T Miracle Worker 1962 - Anne Bancroft - very inspirational film - it’s about the teacher who got Helen Keller to realize she could communicate even tho she was deaf & dumb. 3. 5 Fingers 1952 - James Mason - wonderful spy movie - I love James Mason. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/19 "2016-01-26T20:30:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Duck Soup > Casablanca > Scarface (the Paul Muni version) Paul Muni helped define the term “movie star”. I hope you will check out one of his best films, “I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)”. It’s an amazing film considering that it was made in 1932. It’s still “gripping” today. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284/20 "2016-01-26T20:30:59Z")
**The Manchurian Candidate The Bicycle Thief** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-all-time-favorite-black-white-movies/744284.md?page=2)