# Your top two Black & White movies - one comedy, one drama. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154 "2019-04-28T01:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/21 "2019-04-28T02:32:23Z")
To Kill a Mockingbird To Be or Not To Be unless I change my mind. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/22 "2019-04-28T02:36:13Z")
Hard Day’s Night for comedy Night of the Hunter for drama Entries are subject to change. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/23 "2019-04-28T02:36:55Z")
Funniest silent film _Seven Chances_, with Buster Keaton Silent drama _Broken Blossoms_, with Lilian Gish. I have cried at very few films ever, less than ten. This was one Funniest black and white _Young Frankenstein_ Drama black and white _Casablanca_ Funniest color _Victor/Victoria_ Drama in color I will get back to the thread on this one, I absolutely can not decide. But I love at least 90 % of the other films I have seen in this thread. It is next to impossible to select just one in any category. I call a movie good, or a favorite, if, while I am channel surfing, I encounter it and sit back to watch, interrupting what else I may be doing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/24 "2019-04-28T02:43:17Z")
Ooh, I’d forgotten that _Young Frankenstein_ was black and white. Yeah, that’s definitely my top comedy, then. And Id apparently also forgotten that _Forbidden Planet_ was in color. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/25 "2019-04-28T02:51:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And Id apparently also forgotten that _Forbidden Planet_ was in color. Huh. Perhaps you first saw it when [everything was black and white](http://calvin-and-hobbes-comic-strips.blogspot.com/2011/11/calvin-asks-dad-about-old-black-and.html)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/26 "2019-04-28T03:34:10Z")
Drama: **Ikiru**. Kurosawa’s best film and a masterpiece of exploring the human condition. I could list 20-30 B/W dramas before I could get to a comedy to list. So I’ll go with **Young Frankenstein**. Sure. It’s plenty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/27 "2019-04-28T03:36:56Z")
I’ll got with Clerks for my comedy and Winchester '73 for my drama. Both are on at least annual rewatch lists for me. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2019, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/28 "2019-04-28T03:44:26Z")
I’ll go with my immediate choices: \*\*\*Casablanca \*\*\*and _ **Some Like It Hot** _. Runners up? Probably _ **Double Indemnity** _ and _ **The Philadelphia Story** _. So many others, though. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/29 "2019-04-28T03:44:46Z")
His Girl Friday – the Ralph Bellamy joke drops me to the floor. The snappy dialogue overall, and the chemistry between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell create magic. Days of Wine and Roses – the character exploration was my first insight into co-dependency. Prior to seeing this film as a kid on TV, I had seen co-dependency only in real life. I then recognized it to be a real issue, not just something that was limited to what I had observed. Later viewings gave me an appreciation for alcoholism as a disease, as well as the degree of work it can take to make a relationship succeed. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/30 "2019-04-28T04:00:10Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > I could list 20-30 B/W dramas before I could get to a comedy to list. So I’ll go with **Young Frankenstein**. Sure. It’s plenty funny. I can’t really disagree with _Young Frankenstein_ as choice, it’s one of the great comedies, period. But I think that the early Age of Black and White was packed to the gills with great comedy. Off the top of my head, there’s the great silents of Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd. Then come Lubitsch, Sturges, Capra, and Hawks, not to mention the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy. It’s harder to pick just one comedy than just one drama. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/31 "2019-04-28T04:18:34Z")
Comedy: “Dr. Strangelove” Drama: “The Third Man” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/32 "2019-04-28T04:19:42Z")
Drama: _Run silent, run deep_ (Lancaster, Gable, Rickles) Comedy: _Dr. Strangelove_ ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/33 "2019-04-28T04:22:30Z")
Drama: The Maltese Falcon (1941, Humphrey Bogart et al) Comedy: I love The Philadelphia Story but it’s only partially a comedy. I think I’ll go with My Man Godfrey, it makes me laugh every time and I can watch it over and over. It’s a tough choice, though. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/34 "2019-04-28T05:16:08Z")
Gonna cheat: **Modern Times** and **Some Like it Hot** for comedy **The Seventh Seal** and **Fury** for drama ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/35 "2019-04-28T05:41:06Z")
Another vote for Some Like It Hot and La Strada. But for comedy, I also have a soft spot for Tati’s Jour De Fête and M. Hulot’s Holiday. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/36 "2019-04-28T06:00:19Z")
I was going to go for “Some Like It Hot” and “The Manchurian Candidate”, but Wendell Wagner mentioned “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”. Decisions, decisions… P.S. “The Searchers” is not a black and white film. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/37 "2019-04-28T06:01:57Z")
My all time favorite film is Spider Baby, so that one is easy. For drama, I’m torn between listing Metropolis and To Have and Have Not. I think the greatest thing about high definition is how beautiful Black and White films look. Even more, I think silent films somehow transcend even that when presented on Blu-ray. I can’t describe it but they seem to have an extra crispness. It might be the Nitrate prints that tend to be the source material. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/38 "2019-04-28T06:03:19Z")
Comedy- **Harvey** (1950) Drama- **King Kong** (1933) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/39 "2019-04-28T07:14:12Z")
Comedy: toss-up between _Young Frankenstein_ and _Dr. Strangelove_ Drama: _Fail Safe_ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154/40 "2019-04-28T09:00:03Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Another vote for Some Like It Hot and La Strada. > > But for comedy, I also have a soft spot for Tati’s Jour De Fête and M. Hulot’s Holiday. Oooh - “M. Hulot’s Holiday” - I forgot that one! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-two-black-white-movies-one-comedy-one-drama/833154.md?page=3)