Foo - What's your favorite old movie?

I thought of this earlier while I was watching "Random Harvest" (thanks pgoat!) It's really hard for me to narrow it down to just one, because I love a lot of the sappy old movies (think Frank "Capricorn") but I also like Metropolis, All Quiet On The Western Front, Citizen Kane, Battleship Potemkin, etc. I think overall, my favorite old movie must be City Lights. I think I could watch it every day and the final scene would still cause a lump in my throat.

So what's your favorite? And by "old movie", I'm generally thinking no newer than early 1950s, but this isn't a rule at all. If you consider Encino Man old, that's perfectly fine too. I own a decent set of old movies, but I'm always open to see others.










P.S.
http://blogue.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/encino_man.jpg

No weezing the juice!!!!!!!

Is Desk Set with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy too young?

Is Desk Set with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy too young?

Nothing is too young as long as you consider it old! (Well, obviously there has to be some limit. Like maybe 70s and older?) Desk Set is one I hadn't heard of, but I like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy (Boys Town ftw), so that's one I may have to keep an eye for.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6e/Moderntimes.jpg

Ooh, that's one I keep meaning to watch but still haven't. Thanks for the reminder!

Duck Soup. Animal Crackers is a close second. The Sting isn't bad, nor is The Great Escape.

Not hard to tell that Lamplight and I were brothers separated at birth...

City Lights is my favourite movie of all time.

Metropolis.

If we'd bump the date to 1960, House of Usher takes a spot.

Metropolis, just watched the restored edition last week.
The Maltese Falcon, Beau Geste and Only Angels Have Wings (calling Baranga).
Oooh, almost forgot Spitfire.
And for a good laugh, The Man in the White Suit.

Duck Soup. Animal Crackers is a close second. The Sting isn't bad, nor is The Great Escape.

This. Plus "Its a mad mad world"

Metropolis.

If we'd bump the date to 1960, House of Usher takes a spot.

No problem with that, feel free to include any movie you consider old. :thumb: In my first post I was strictly mentioning the era I watch most. I guess I really consider any movie "old" if it was released before I was born (1979), it's just that I mostly own movies from the early 1950s and back. I want to leave the term "old" open to interpretation here!

Metropolis, just watched the restored edition last week.
The Maltese Falcon, Beau Geste and Only Angels Have Wings (calling Baranga).
Oooh, almost forgot Spitfire.
And for a good laugh, The Man in the White Suit.

I love Only Angels Have Wings! Come to think of it, I love any movie starring Jean Arthur. *swoon* And I own quite a few of them:

Mr Deeds Goes to Town
You Can't Take It With You
The Plainsman
Easy Living
Only Angels Have Wings
Mr Smith Goes To Washington
History is Made at Night
Talk of The Town
The More The Merrier
Shane

Maybe one or two others I'm not thinking of...

Popeye
"Goonland", "Blow Me Down", "The Paneless Window Washer", "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves"

Betty Boop
"Old Man of the Mountain"

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
"Trolley Troubles"

Farmer Al Falfa

Felix the Cat
"Woos Whoopee"

And the original version of "The Wizard of Oz" before they sepia tinted the first part. If you want a good new movie, check out "Tin Man". It goes back to Oz 50 years after Dorothy. It stars Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming and Neal McDonough.

It's a Wonderful Life, Lost Horizons, Twelve O'Clock High (best war movie ever made, Saving Private Ryan as 2nd), African Queen, War of the Worlds, Harvey, An Affair to Remember, Mister Roberts ("Alllll Right, WHO Did IT !, WHO DID IT ?), Miracle on 34th Street, Bridge over the River Kwai, North by Northwest, 12 Angry Men (What a cast !), Roman Holiday,

Great Escape is 60's.

Oh Right, forgot GWTW and Wizard of Oz

"Goldfinger"

Oh yeah, I own Lost Horizon and I really like it. I tend to like Ronald Colman in just about anything. Also somehow forgot about Harvey, which is one of my all-time favorites.

Fiddle dee dee. No one has mentioned Gone With the Wind yet.

The Bells of Saint Mary's, Going My Way, Lilies of the Field, White Christmas, Holiday Inn. Any of the "Road To" movies. See a pattern here? What is the one exception?

Nothing is too young as long as you consider it old! (Well, obviously there has to be some limit. Like maybe 70s and older?) Desk Set is one I hadn't heard of, but I like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy (Boys Town ftw), so that's one I may have to keep an eye for.


1957. As an IT guy, I find the movie absolutely hilarious. Spencer Tracy is kind of the proto-geek. We also now have most of the technology that they allegedly have in the movie... 54 years ago.

La Strada
La Dolce Vita
Ashes and Diamonds
Days and Nights in the Forest
Some Like It Hot
A Night at the Opera
anything by Buster Keaton (hey, wasn't he somebody's avatar once?)

It happened one night, Little Ceasar, White Heat, Hellzapopin, The Thin man, My Man Godfrey, It's a Gift(any W.C. Fields pic actually), Flying Down to Rio, Another Fine Mess( Laurel & Hardy), "M", To Have and To Have Not. I could go on and on. Best, The Wild Bunch, Peckenpah was out of control.

La Strada
La Dolce Vita
Ashes and Diamonds
Days and Nights in the Forest
Some Like It Hot
A Night at the Opera
anything by Buster Keaton (hey, wasn't he somebody's avatar once?)

And two hard boiled eggs!

I'll add one that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet: The Philadelphia Story.

http://image.xyface.com/image/t/movie-the-philadelphia-story/the-philadelphia-story-21085.jpg

My, she was yar.

Let's just say that our TV is more or less glued to Turner Classic Movies, if I have anything to say about it. I love pretty much every film named here so far.

It would be impossible for me to pick just one; it used to be It's a wonderrful life, but I've kinda OD'd on Capra.

I love films of the 30s especially pre-code - the raciness is surprising. Some good ones - Three on a match, Stage Door, Scarface*, Maltese Falcon*, Night Nurse and I Cover the Waterfront.

Also love film noir (The Killers*, Double Indemnity, Postman always rings twice*)

I like many old westerns, but not all (there have been so many!) - my picks include Oxbow incident, Silverado, My Darling Clementine, Fistful of Dollars and Tall in the Saddle

Also a huge Hitchcock fan, Kurosawa, Fellini, Peter Yates, Peter Bogdonovich.

I also love films from the mid-60s-mid 70s, Steve McQueen (Bullitt), Paul Newman (Hombre, Hud, Butch Cassidy) et al... as a lifelong NYer I have a special fondness for stuff filmed here during my childhood - the French Connection is one of my favorites, as are Superfly, Shaft, Pelham One Two Three*, Serpico, and so on.

(* - I refer to the originals, obviously)

If I had to pick one film I can watch over and over, it'd be North by Northwest.

I will name one sleeper old film I think is terrific - Executive Suite - Bill Holden and Walter Pidgeon. Good stuff.


Great thread - I could yak about this all day :D

pgoat:

How about The Warriors? I always thought that was a tremendously underrated movie.

The Philadelphia Story.

+1, great flick.

First one that came to mind though was Double Indemnity (1944), with Fred Macmurray and Barbara Stanwick.
Close second: Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) with Spencer Tracy.
Citizen Kane (1941) and Casablanca (1942) are gimmes.
And if 1966 isn't too recent, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is just farking awesome.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House but I tend to love a lot of old movies.

Wizard of Oz.
(I like winged monkeys)

The Days Of Wine And Roses
Patton
Das Boot
Out Of Africa
Once Upon A time In The West
Remains Of The Day
Midway

Anything with Humphrey Bogart in it, or Lauren Bacall. I really like How to Marry a Millionaire, or anything with Marilyn in it. "Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it's a whole different sex!"

pgoat:

How about The Warriors? I always thought that was a tremendously underrated movie.

Warrrriooooorssssss come out and plllaaaaayyyyyyy!

Ruggles of Red Gap

Das Boot

The Razors Edge

Charley Varrick

The Longshot - Tim Conway & Harvey Korman

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House but I tend to love a lot of old movies.

good call - great flick


pgoat:

How about The Warriors? I always thought that was a tremendously underrated movie.

I am embarrassed to say that I only recall seeing bits and pieces of that one back in the day - I really need to get out and see it in its entirety. Definitely as iconic a piece of 70s cinema as there is, but not sure if I'd say underrated anymore, as it seems to me to be a heavy duty cult classic now. Lots of threads on BF for themed Alley cats, etc.

Another underrated flick is Over the Edge (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079688/) - predates all the John Hughes and other 80s brat pack flicks - killer soundtrack and interesting plot, if a bit out there.

speaking of killer soundtracks:

Easy Rider

Times Square

Run Lola Run

The Bells of Saint Mary's, Going My Way, Lilies of the Field, White Christmas, Holiday Inn. Any of the "Road To" movies. See a pattern here? What is the one exception?

Well, you're obviously a fan of Der Bingle. With a little touch of Poitier.

I worked for the company that colorized quite a few of those as well as a number of John Wayne war films like "They Were Expendable". "Bells" was the first one out the door, so it got the most care.

We were all set up to do "Citizen Kane", we had all the planning done and the color regions chosen, but got slapped down by Welles' estate.

We watched Adam's Rib a couple of weeks ago. It was in a DVD set of romantic comedies with The Philadelphia Story, Woman of the Year, and... hmm... a fourth film I am not remembering now. I am not sure what Adam's Rib was doing in that set, but man, what a movie.

La Strada
La Dolce Vita
Ashes and Diamonds
Days and Nights in the Forest
Some Like It Hot
A Night at the Opera
anything by Buster Keaton (hey, wasn't he somebody's avatar once?)

Probably mine! :D I've often used BK as an avatar on forums.


And two hard boiled eggs!

I'll add one that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet: The Philadelphia Story.

http://image.xyface.com/image/t/movie-the-philadelphia-story/the-philadelphia-story-21085.jpg

My, she was yar.

Yes! One of my favorites by far with three of my favorite actors. I also really liked John Halliday in that film, but I haven't seen him in any other films yet.


The Days Of Wine And Roses
Patton
Das Boot
Out Of Africa
Once Upon A time In The West
Remains Of The Day
Midway

Once Upon A Time In The West is definitely a favorite of mine. And though it's kind of "new", I also love Once Upon A Time In America. And those are two I don't own, but need to.

YOUUUUUUUU started this-

blues brothers:lol:
abbott and costello meet the mummy:lol:
bells of saint mary's:cry:
going my way:cry:

Mclintock
Rio Bravo
American Graffiti

Sunset Blvd.

Little Big Man.

High Noon

If you bump it up to 1969, I'd have to go with Butch Cassidy. That was some great stuff. Hmmm, older than that, I'd probably have to go with From Here to Eternity just for Sinatra's performance when he gets out and maybe some of Montgomery Clift's. The whole Burt Lancaster/Deborah Kerr thing with the iconic sex on the beach scene just didn't do it for me though. Oh and Some Like it Hot was cute enough with "Nobody's perfect". Oh and you can't go wrong with Casablanca. As far as movies with iconic scenes go, I would not recommend The 7 Year Itch. That just seemed to drag on and on.

1969?
Paint Your Wagon

Das Boot

The Razors Edge

Lots of good movies on this list so far. The Razors Edge was good enough to entice me to come back and see it again a few days later. Das Boot is one of my favorite antiwar movies.

Casablanca
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Hang 'em High
Fistfull of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
+1 on the G,B, & U
The Magnificent Seven

Private Lives (Norma Shearer!) and Marcel Pagnol's Marius, Fanny, and Cesar (aka the Fanny Trilogy).

For fans of Fistful Of Dollars, you should see Yojimbo; Fistful of Dollars is nearly a scene-for-scene remake. Nothing wrong with that; Yojimbo is heavily based on two Dashiell Hammett novels: Red Harvest and (for the torture scene) The Glass Key.

Mask of the Red Death

I like Vincent Price movies. He's one creepy ass guy.

Hell in the Pacific

WWII film starring Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune (the original edit)

The Best Years of Our Lives

On The Waterfront

Star Wars (the original release, because it was groundbreaking in its genre and still a classic!)

The Count of Monte Cristo

Casablanca

Deliverance (it freaked me out more than any horror movie ever could)

Sunset Blvd.

Little Big Man.

High Noon

"She sure had a strange way of bathing me for a preachers wife"
Little Big Man

Dr.Strangelove
Wag the Dog
Outlaw Josey Wales
History of the World by Mel Brooks