To Kill a Mockingbird
To Be or Not To Be
unless I change my mind.
Hard Day’s Night for comedy
Night of the Hunter for drama
Entries are subject to change.
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.
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.
Perhaps you first saw it when everything was black and white?
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.
I’ll got with Clerks for my comedy and Winchester '73 for my drama. Both are on at least annual rewatch lists for me.
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.
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.
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.
Comedy: “Dr. Strangelove”
Drama: “The Third Man”
Drama: Run silent, run deep (Lancaster, Gable, Rickles)
Comedy: Dr. Strangelove
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.
Gonna cheat:
Modern Times and Some Like it Hot for comedy
The Seventh Seal and Fury for drama
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.
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.
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.
Comedy- Harvey (1950)
Drama- King Kong (1933)
Comedy: toss-up between Young Frankenstein and Dr. Strangelove
Drama: Fail Safe
Oooh - “M. Hulot’s Holiday” - I forgot that one!