# Fave Old Movies?



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

So I grew up watching a lot of old movies (think mostly black and white). My hubby thinks they're totally boring but I still sorta enjoy some of them. Maybe it's just nostalgia. Anyone here a fan of old movies, pre-60's era? Which are the best?

Here's a few of my favorites:

Bringing Up Baby (Katherine Hepburn and Carry Grant)
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (Carry Grant)
My Man Godfrey
The Thin Man (all of the series)
Sherlock Holmes series (with Basil Rathbone)
Captain Blood (Errol Flynn)
Robin Hood (Errol Flynn)
Suspicion (the Hitchcock movie with Cary Grant)
Pride and Prejudice (with Greer Garson)
Roman Holiday (Audry Hepburn and Gregory Peck)
Sabrina (Audry Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart)
Arsenic and Old Lace (Carry Grant)
The African Queen (Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart)
Deskset (Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey)
Father of the Bride (Spencer Tracey and Elizabeth Taylor)
Life With Father (Irene Dunn)
I Remember Mama (Irene Dunn)
Penny Serenade (Carry Grant and Irene Dunn)


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## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
All About Eve
Double Indemnity
Sunset Blvd.

All four of those are pretty amazing movies.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Arsenic and Old Lace.  If you haven't watched it, WATCH IT.  I know a lot of old comedies seem really cheesy and lame when viewed from a modern perspective, but honestly, the humour in this is timeless.  One of the most hiliarious movies ever made.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Sporadic, I've seen The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Double Indemnity but not the other two. Guess I'll have to put them on my To-Watch list.

Ben, I hear you. That movie has some hilarious lines. "But Aunt Martha, there's a body in the windowseat!"


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## BuddyGott (Feb 4, 2011)

Just about anything that starred either James Stewart or Cary Grant. One of my favorites is The Philadelphia Story, which starred both of them.

For old comedies, you can't go wrong with The Marx Brothers. All of their movies make me laugh over and over again.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Dara England said:


> Sporadic, I've seen The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Double Indemnity but not the other two. Guess I'll have to put them on my To-Watch list.
> 
> Ben, I hear you. That movie has some hilarious lines. "But Aunt Martha, there's a body in the windowseat!"


"No, I am not drunk, madam, but you've given me an idea!"

Harvey is another great one--well, anything with Jimmy Stewart in it, really. " 'In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant."

Makes me tingle just to think of it. Gorgeous movie.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Arsenic and Old Lace was the first one to come to mind for me!

But I also like Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, and Fritz Lang's Metropolis (you have to spend some dollars and get a high-quality release, there are some cheap DVDs out there with heavily edited versions that make no sense at all, and even the "complete" version holds together only moderately well if you really think about it).


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## BuddyGott (Feb 4, 2011)

Ben White said:


> Harvey is another great one--well, anything with Jimmy Stewart in it, really. " 'In this world you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant."
> 
> Makes me tingle just to think of it. Gorgeous movie.


I couldn't agree more. Fantastic movie and James Stewart was brilliant in it.

I read that he actually did a Made For TV remake of it in either the late 60s or early 70s but I've never seen it. I know he performed it onstage around that time and he said he thought he was able to do a better job it then since he was older and more accomplished of an actor. I'd have loved to have seen him do Harvey onstage!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Ben White said:


> well, anything with Jimmy Stewart in it, really. "......Makes me tingle just to think of it. Gorgeous movie.


I liked Jimmy Stewart even as a kid (and he was an "old guy" actor even then) but have been particularly enamored of him ever since I was in high school and a girl I had a crush on spoke of Stewart in favorable terms and told me I reminded her of him!  She never would go out with me, alas.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Such a huge list to choose from.  Limiting it to pre-60's makes it easier even if it means the exclusion of some incredible movies ... but here are some of my favorites ... (You might spot a trend)


Wizard of Oz
King Kong
Godzilla
Them!
Dracula
The Mummy
Frankenstein
Fantasia
Forbidden Planet
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Creature From the Black Lagoon
When Worlds Collide
War of the Worlds
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Incredible Shrinking Man


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## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

Dara England said:


> Sporadic, I've seen The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Double Indemnity but not the other two. Guess I'll have to put them on my To-Watch list.


I'm surprised you have seen Double Indemnity before All About Eve and Sunset Blvd. You are in for a big treat  I can't imagine you not liking those two.



The Hooded Claw said:


> Fritz Lang's Metropolis (you have to spend some dollars and get a high-quality release, there are some cheap DVDs out there with heavily edited versions that make no sense at all, and even the "complete" version holds together only moderately well if you really think about it).


The Blu-Ray of that is mindblowing.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Complete-Metropolis-Blu-ray/8710/#Review


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Shane
The Public Enemy 
Angels with Dirty Faces
White Heat
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Casablanca
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Cleopatra
Gone with The Wind
Doctor Zhivago
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Little Women
Dracula
The Mummy (1932 version)
Treasure Island
High Plains Drifter
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Hang 'Em High
The Shootist
High Noon


Not sure how old, old has to be but my favorite movie of all time is "The Duelists" (1977)


I love old movies, I'm sure this doesn't even come close to all the old films I really love, it's just the ones I can remember.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Ooh, Yankee Doodle Dandy is a good one, Dawn. I get the songs from that one stuck in my head all the time.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

I enjoy watching the old movies at times - mostly because they rely on plot and characters as opposed to modern day movies where special effects seem to be more favoured over the story.  Not that that doesn't have its place when you want a movie you don't have to think about.


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

You just cannot beat The African Queen

By the way, Katharine Hepburn wrote a book about it when she was 77. It is wonderful.....reading it, you can hear her voice !!
(unfortunately, it has not been kindlized yet)


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## Elijah Joon (Mar 11, 2011)

Commando the original
They sure don't make the classics like they used to


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm appalled and horrified that I forgot to list "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1950s version, not the awful remake) as one of my favorite old movies.  Great story!  "We don't need no steenking computer graphics!"


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## Keith Blenman (May 31, 2009)

Anything Buster Keaton is wonderful, along with the Marx Brothers. I also have a thing for film noir and screwball comedies. Give me a "Kiss Me Deadly" and "His Girl Friday" double feature, and I'll be right at home.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

One of my favorites that was originally in black and white was Meet John Doe with Gary Cooper:



another was Stagecoach with John Wayne:



Just sayin.....


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

The Angel and the Badman
Invasion From Mars
Wake of the Red Witch
The Quiet Man
Shenandoah
Meet Me in St. Louis
Topper


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## Elijah Joon (Mar 11, 2011)

Another Buster Keaton fan.

Sherlock, Jr. and The Cameraman


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House
The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
The Birds
Miracle on 34th Street
It's a Wonderful Life
Christmas in Connecticut


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## originalgrissel (Mar 5, 2010)

Some of my all time faves are ...

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison 
Rebel Without a Cause
East of Eden
The Wizard of Oz
Rebecca
Anne of Green Gables (1934) & Anne of Windy Poplars (1940) starring Anne Shirley
It's a Wonderful Life
12 Angry Men
Planet of the Apes (the original)
Paint Your Wagon
Hang 'em High
A Patch of Blue
The 10 Commandments (grew up watching it every Easter & I still love it!)
The Sound of Music ( I wanted to marry Captain Von Trapp since I was about 6) 
The Parent Trap (the original)
Psycho
Rear Window  
What a Way To Go
The Family Jewels

There are so many more, but these are some that I just ADORE!!!


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

Had to nod again and again at these lists. So many good ones listed!

A couple of other favorites for me--

Some Like It Hot

Tammy and the Bachelor (a bit cheesy, but so fun. "Just think. The very moon that's shinin' down on me this very minute, is shinin' down on Pete's tomatoes."

Charade (and almost anything by Hitchcock)


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

originalgrissel said:


> 12 Angry Men


YES. Henry Fonda, amazing. Twelve men in a room, just talking, and it's one of the most compelling movies ever made.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Well - Henry Fonda and Alfred Hitchcock:

The Wrong Man - great movie:


Just sayin.....


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

originalgrissel said:


> Some of my all time faves are ...
> 
> The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
> Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
> ...


I love both versions of The Parent Trap, but this is one case where the remake might just be better than the original.

Ditto for Father of the Bride.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Dara England said:


> So I grew up watching a lot of old movies (think mostly black and white). My hubby thinks they're totally boring but I still sorta enjoy some of them. Maybe it's just nostalgia. Anyone here a fan of old movies, pre-60's era? Which are the best?
> 
> Here's a few of my favorites:
> 
> ...


I love a lot of those but absolutely not Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson even though she's one of my favorite actresses. It came out around the same time as Gone with the Wind and Elizabeth Bennett practically said "Fiddle-dee-dee." They made her into a Scarlet which Lizzie definitely was not.

Favorite film noir: Laura
Favorite Western: Red River
Favorite tear jerker: Madame X (and almost anything with Lana Turner)


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Keith Blenman said:


> Give me a "Kiss Me Deadly" and "His Girl Friday" double feature, and I'll be right at home.


Ooh, I forgot "His Girl Friday" does have some hilarious scenes. Nobody does comedy like Cary Grant did.


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## cinder (Mar 8, 2011)

I love old movies! (Well, film in general because my aunt owned a movie theater when I was a child)
My favorites are 
Twelve Angry Men
Sabrina (Love Audry Hepburn)
Meet Me In St. Louis
Wizard Of Oz
Gidget
Any Elvis movies
Singin In The Rain
Queen Christina
Anna Karenina
The Painted Veil
Little Women
Little Men
The Women
Harvey (The imaginary rabbit one)
Gone With The Wind
Scarlett
All The Nancy Drew Movies
Written On The Wind
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
An American In Paris

And that is all I can think of at the moment.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Gone with the Wind
Some Like it Hot
All of the Laurel & Hardy movies
All of the Abbot & Costello Movies.


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## James043 (Mar 10, 2011)

My Fair Lady.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

James043 said:


> My Fair Lady.


I love the music in this one, particulary the song, "The Street Where You Live". I'd have totally married Freddy instead of the professor. But that's mostly just because I know Freddy will go on to play Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series.


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## Mollyb52 (Jan 4, 2009)

An Affair To Remember
To Kill A Mockingbird
Any Elvis movie...I can't help myself


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## kaotickitten (Jan 9, 2011)

I loved 
Rio Bravo
The Wackiest Ship In the Army 
Almost all musicals you just can't beat Sintra, Kelly and Bing

Not to knock todays movies or music since I love them too, but back nthan way before I was born it was based on talent and not how many times you showed your privates to the world.


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## Stephen Prosapio (Jul 13, 2010)

DARA!
You had me with _Bringing up Baby_!!!

MYYYYY baby sister had come to stay with me when I was in college and of course we stayed up way too late just talking and acting like grown ups (I'd moved out and away from her when I was just 17). _Bringing up Baby _ came on and captivated both of us...and then later to learn it's one of the top rated movies off all time with the #1 Screen Actress and #2 Screen Actor.

And the humor of the film is one in which the more you watch, the more you appreciate it. And there are silly quotes too. Anyway... just my 2 cents. Many great old films but that will remain my favorite.


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

As soon as my kids show me how to use Netflix I'm going to order two cheesy movies that I remember from growing up in the seventies.  I'm sure they're terrible but I need to see these:

Race With the Devil

Bad Ronald


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## BuddyGott (Feb 4, 2011)

daveconifer said:


> As soon as my kids show me how to use Netflix I'm going to order two cheesy movies that I remember from growing up in the seventies. I'm sure they're terrible but I need to see these:
> 
> Race With the Devil
> 
> Bad Ronald


Dave, I remember Bad Ronald very well. It was one of those Made For TV movies that used to get shown A LOT in the seventies. It was pretty creepy. I'd love to see it again. I'm not the biggest fan of remakes, but I think it would be a good one for a remake - especially since hardly anyone under 40 would be familiar with the original.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

I love old musicals - they're my favorite! 
Anything Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (The Gay Divorcee, Flying Down to Rio, Irene and Vernon Castle, Swing Time; just to name a few). 
Singing in the Rain (with Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly) 
The Music Man (with little Ronnie Howard, Shirley Jones - aka Mrs. Partridge -, and Meredith Willson lol)
Oklahoma (with Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae)
State Fair (with Jeanne Crain)
The Wizard of Oz 
Meet Me in St. Louis (love, love, love this movie!)
Brigadoon (with Gene Kelly)
Gulliver's Travels (the old cartoon)
Carousel (again with Shirley and Gordon)
The Sound of Music (really any Julie Andrew's movie!)
Mary Poppins
Bed knobs and Broomsticks
Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi)
Frankenstein (Boris Karloff)
The Bride of Frankenstein (Another Boris Karloff)
The Three Stooges
Funny Girl (with Barbara Streisand)


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Gotta say I love Laurel and Hardy in the March of the Wooden Soldiers: Babes in Toyland.


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

What a great list of movies! I would like to add _Mister Roberts_, _Ten Little Indians_, _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers_, and _The Haunting of Hill House_ to the list.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

NoBull_Steve said:


> DARA!
> You had me with _Bringing up Baby_!!!


Glad to have found another fan. I've seen _Bringing Up Baby _ a million times and it still makes me laugh. And you're right, the more times you watch it, the more funny quotes you notice that you missed the first time.


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

BuddyGott said:


> Dave, I remember Bad Ronald very well. It was one of those Made For TV movies that used to get shown A LOT in the seventies. It was pretty creepy. I'd love to see it again. I'm not the biggest fan of remakes, but I think it would be a good one for a remake - especially since hardly anyone under 40 would be familiar with the original.


I'm so with you. Remakes annoy me if the first one was perfectly good. For made for TV movies (Bad Ronald, Kane and Abel come to mind) it's just what the doctor ordered. Good stories that were made into poor, low budget movies are the ones that should be remade...


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I'm fine with remakes if the remakes are good. It just seems like so often they're not...


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

The remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was better than the original (with Marlon Brando and ... someone else), in my opinion.  Other than that I can't really think of any that were even 'as good' as the original and a huge waste of time and resources.  Incidentally, did you know the remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was originally going to star David Bowie and Mick Jagger?  As much as I love the Steve Martin/Michael Caine version ...


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