old films that have aged the best
Ben_Fisher1
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In your opinion, what films of the '30s '40s and '50s have held up the best over the years? What do you like about them, and what do you feel is the reason for them still being enjoyable/ relevant, or just plain entertaining?
I'll start things rolling with my list
1930s
It Happened One Night
Midnight
My Man Godfrey
1940s
The Philadelphia Story
Citizen Kane
Woman of the Year
Adam's Rib
Notorious
The Third Man
1950s
On the Waterfront
12 Angry Men
Some like it Hot
All About Eve
I'll start things rolling with my list
1930s
It Happened One Night
Midnight
My Man Godfrey
1940s
The Philadelphia Story
Citizen Kane
Woman of the Year
Adam's Rib
Notorious
The Third Man
1950s
On the Waterfront
12 Angry Men
Some like it Hot
All About Eve
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Comments
A timeless classic.
The humour in this movie was way ahead of it's time and I enjoy it as much now as I did the first time I saw it.
Its so wonerfully romantic and If I ever turn over the TV and this is on, I always end up watching until the end.
1950's - All About Eve - my second all time favourite film, with the most literate script ever, and with every actor playing their roles to perfection.
Apart from both having the same name in their titles, they do have a connection.
Mary Orr, the author of The Wisdom of Eve (the original title of All About Eve) was a friend of director Preston Sturges. She admired his film The Lady Eve so much that she named her title character after the character that Barbara Stanwyck played in the film. So Jean Harrington/The Lady Eve Sidwich became Eve Harrington.
So romantic in an old fashioned way.
It depicts a time long gone, railway stations as they used to be.
The ending is always so sad, even though I've seen it countless times.
I've never been able to get into 'The Lady Eve' and I love screwball comedies. I think I find the premise a bit hard to swallow. The bit where she meets him again, and passes herself off as someone else! hmmmm!
That is a shame, I have probably watched it more than any other film. I really find it easy to see why he would believe that she was a different person, even though they look the same. To me, Jean Harrington and Eve are two totally different personalities, I still think that it is Stanwyck's greatest performance, and I have seen all 87 of her films
high society
sunset boulevard
seance on a wet afternoon
sabrina
Psycho
The Apartment
An Affair To Remember
North By Northwest
haha! I like you Walter, you know your stuff.:p I will give TLE another chance and watch it again sometime.
Have you seen My Man Godfrey? there is a scene in the kitchen with Carole Lombard helping William Powell ( who I think was an actor very much underrated, and way ahead of his time in regards to natural acting style) to do the dishes, and their acting in this scene is timeless. She tells him he looks cute in his apron, and their byplay is so modern.
omg i love Psycho, definitely one of my favorite movies. It is the FIRST slasher flick, not 'Halloween' which I feel has dated MORE than Psycho, and which copies the former so much.
Thanks Ben, yes, do give it another try, her comic timing is just stunning, and the scene where she seduces Fonda in her cabin without even removing an item of clothing is sublime.
Incidentally, British actress Heather Thatcher coached her with the upper crust accent, and that must have been quite a struggle for the girl from Brooklyn. ;-)
I haven't seen My Man Godfrey for many years, I will take a look on YouTube.
I too am a big admirer of William Powell, I have the boxed set of The Thin Man series, I thought that he and Myrna Loy were a great team. He was also terrific in How to Marry a Millionaire and Mr Roberts.
He was so skilled as a comedic actor, his timing was effortless. Every-time I see him in a scene he makes me smile, he is so likeable. I can't think of any film stars today that make me like them so much. He was of his time, but also he's very much of ours too. I feel so sad that he is mostly forgotten today except by us movie buffs.
I don't recall that there was ever a biography written on him, so it was a nice surprise when I received my "Thin Man Collection" to see that one of the seven discs contained fascinating biographies on the two stars.: "William Powell - A True Gentleman" and "Myrna Loy - So Nice to Come Home To."
Sadly, it is not only the stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood that are forgotten. I was chatting about films to my gym manager, a lovely guy who is coming up to 30. I got a big shock when I mentioned that Paul Newman was one of my favourite actors. He looked at me blankly and admitted that he had never heard of him.
I know that his hey day was in the 1960's and '70's, long before my young friend was born, but it was still very depressing to hear.
In particular Sunset Boulevard in regards to ageing and the desire to be young and successful again. Also it shows how destructive the need for fame and stardom can be.
Apart from both being magnificent films, this is why they seem so fresh and modern more that 60 years later.
The frightening need to stay forever young seems to start even earlier these days, with some scary and depressing results.
Let's Make Love - Still an hysterically funny movie.
Psycho
All Quiet On The Western Front(1930)
(1920s
Metropolis
Battleship Potemkin)
1930s
Gone With The Wind
The Bride of Frankenstein
King Kong
Angels With Dirty Faces
Stagecoach
Duck Soup
Grand Illusion
1940s
Double Indemnity
Casablanca
The Best years of our lives
The Maltese Falcon
White Heat
The Grapes of Wrath
Odd Man Out
Spellbound
Cat People
1950s
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The War of the Worlds
the Thing from Another World
It came from Outer Space
Forbidden Planet
Rebel Without a Cause
Seven Samurai
A Streetcar Named Desire
Touch of Evil
Rashomon
The Searchers
The Seventh Seal
Wild Strawberries
The Asphalt Jungke
The Wild One
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Night of the Hunter
High Noon
There's a great many really.
*eyebrow*
Have no doubt, Psycho is a huge influence on the sub-genre, but the first? Nope.