Wha is the BEST Pre-1950 movie you have ever seen?

[liberalitch]

[Sanity Claws]

1. Gone with the Wind

I'm just doing this off the top of my head without research. I'm sure someone else will come up with others that are better.

[liberalitch]

2. Damned good!

[joeybee12]

24. Greatest movie of all time...

...for many reasons, the impeccable acting, the incredible adaption of a sprawling (and very racist) book into a screenplay, and the big leap forward it signalled in the craft of movie-making.

[Louisiana1976]

36. One of my favorites, too!

[carlyhippy]

58. Good movie, long, but a good movie

Hattie McDaniel (mammy) and Miss Pittypat were awesome, they made the movie

[kwassa]

73. Gone with the Wind is a terrible film.

Long, tedious, with the lead role of the most unlikable heroine. She learns nothing, lost in her narcissism while the entire Civil War erupts around her, causing her great inconvenience, but no insight.

[liberalitch]

3. My personal favorite is Citizen Kane

[BrklynLiberal]

74. Ditto

[Tikki]

4. Things to Come (1936)

Set the tone for my future love of just about anything Sci-fi.

And NO, I didn't see it first run, but I was young when I first saw this movie....



Tikki

[Forkboy]

5. Wow...no way to list just one. Too many greats to choose from.

Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Maltese Falcon to name a few quick ones.

[supernova]

6. Les Miserables - 1935

Frederic March as Jean Valjean

Charles Laughton as Javert

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026725/

I saw this in school and loved it. Started a life long passion for great literature.

[supernova]

8. Wuthering Heights - 1939

Merle Oberon as Cathy

Lawrence Olivier as Heathcliff

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032145/

Quite a few of these early adaptations of classics are very good.

[hippywife]

13. One of my favorites, too.

Along with The Enchanted Cottage: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037671/

Waterloo Bridge: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033238/

And there is another I can never remember the name of. I'm gonna have to ask my sister because it's one of her faves, too. I hate when I can't remember this stuff, but I always get this one confused with Waterloo Bridge in my head.

:hi:

Oh, here it is: Enchantment: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040321/

[SteppingRazor]

7. Really, really tough, but I think I gotta go Casablanca. n/t

[Demoiselle]

51. Me too. Casablanca.

I've got it practically memorized, but that doesn't matter, because it's like listening to gorgeous music.
The lighting, Bergman's face, Claude Raines' theft of every scene he's in, the snow white tropical suits and the singing of the Marseilles...the wisecracking script...
Ahhhh.
Here's a tidbit for you: The airplane in the foggy background of the last scene is not real...it's a model considerable smaller in scale. To fool the audience, the ground crew working around the plane were all "Little People." I've heard this from serious trustworthy movie loving sources, but, of course, I can't prove it.

[mitchum]

9. The Rules of the Game (1939)

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Citizen Kane.

[nuxvomica]

48. Best movie anyone's ever seen

I pity those who've seen it but don't realize that. I envy those who are planning to see it for the first time.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

11. The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette), 1948.

One of my all-time favorites.

[begin_within]

18. +1

[Starbucks Anarchist]

20. I knew you'd show up.

:toast:

BTW, I finally saw "Tokyo Story" last weekend, even though it's been sitting in my apartment for months. I had seen the first two parts of the "Noriko trilogy" a while back, but I'm kicking myself for taking so long with this one.

I'm currently on a Japanese-cinema kick, so I also saw "Sansho the Bailiff" recently. Currently, my Netflix queue's top spots alternate between episodes of "The Office" and different Ozu films I haven't seen yet.

:rofl:

[begin_within]

69. Another great Japanese on is "Ikiru" (1952)

I would still rank "Tokyo Story" at the top and "Bicycle Thieves" just a tiny notch below it but "Ikiru" still ranks up there on my short list of truly great films (along with Au Hasard Balthazar and Soy Cuba). None of these are "feel good" films but all stand head and shoulders above average Hollywood output in my opinion. It's almost like Hollywood is afraid to tackle deeper and more universal issues.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044741/
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Ikiru/60033661?strackid=7a06965cb53790f9_0_srl&strkid=1045511761_0_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&trkid=222336

[Starbucks Anarchist]

70. I saw "Ikuru" for the first time about ten years ago.

It was when I started getting into film. I've actually been planning to see it again soon, though. Great film.

BTW, have you ever read David Bordwell's books? He's one of the premier film-textbook authors around. I just finished his book on Honk Kong cinema, and I want to read his book on Yasujiro Ozu, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Ozu-Poetics-Cinema-David-Bordwell/dp/0691008221

Yesterday, I saw "Synecdoche, New York." If you haven't seen it, check it out. Charlie Kaufman wrote and directed it, and it's one of the trippiest movies I've ever seen. I can't really summarize what it's about, so it's best to see it yourself.

[begin_within]

71. OK thanks

and no, I have never read David Bordwell's books.

[bigwillq]

12. Wizard of Oz (nt)

[old mark]

14. "The Maltese Falcon", or " Casablanca", depending on the mood I'm in.

Sometimes, "To Have and Have Not." I loved Bogart and all those crazy Faulkner and Hemingway characters and dialogue and they had some absolutely great photography.
Can't pick just one, sorry.
mark

[kentauros]

15. Metropolis

But also 'M' :D

[Starbucks Anarchist]

22. Fritz Lang is awesome.

:thumbsup:

Have you seen his American films like "The Big Heat"?

And the uncut version of "Metropolis" will be shown soon, too:

http://www.reelzchannel.com/movie-news/4922/complete-version-of-metropolis-to-screen-in-february

[kentauros]

23. I'm not sure if I've seen "The Big Heat"

but I do remember in a film history class having to do a paper on "Clash by Night". As I recall, I didn't like it as much as his earlier works.

Even since I happened across "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" I'd like to find and view the rest of the Mabuse series. Inspector Lohmann is great and funny, too :)


Thanks for the link about a reissue of Metropolis to the theaters. I'll have to be on the lookout for it...

[sarge43]

31. It's not an easy film to watch.

You'll never watch Lee Marvin in quite same way again.

[kentauros]

44. I just watched Lee Marvin this evening

(playing a bad guy, of course) in "Bad Day at Black Rock". Without TCM, I probably never would have heard of that one...

[sarge43]

45. Bad Day is a forgotten little gem.

Let's just say Marvin's Hec David is a cuddly pussy cat compared to his Vince Stone.

[handmade34]

16. Birth of a Nation

and Alexander Nevsky for the costuming

[trof]

32. Bertha Venation?

;-)

[old mark]

34. She' s nice, too.

:hi:

mark

[AsahinaKimi]

17. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

because, because because! Because of the wonderful things he does!!

[DFW]

19. ANYTHING by the Marx Brothers

"I have half a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it...........!"

[Brickbat]

21. "Ivan the Terrible," "Alexander Nevsky," "Metropolis."

Those are three that come to mind.

[Va Lefty]

25. "The Philadelphia Story"

[bikebloke]

26. Casablanca

Followed by The Adventures of Robin Hood - Errol Flynn

[Alexander]

27. The Battleship Potemkin.

[handmade34]

38. love Eisenstein

maggots and baby buggies...

[Swede]

28. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

A reel classic.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

29. King Kong

because of the special effects,given when the movie was made. A close second would be "The Wizard of Oz" for the same reason.

[ashling]

30. The Grapes of Wrath

Some great lines:

Tom: Ain't you the preacher?
Casy: Used to be. Not no more. I lost the call. But boy, I sure used to have it. Oh, I used to get an irrigation ditch so squirmin' full of repentant sinners I pretty near drowned half of 'em. Not no more. I lost the spirit. I got nothin' to preach about no more, that's all. I ain't so sure of things.

I asked myself, what is this here call(ed) Holy Spirit? Maybe that's love. Why, I love everybody so much, I'm fit to bust sometimes. So - maybe there ain't no sin, and there ain't no virtue. There's just what people does. Some things folks do is nice, and some ain't so nice. And that's all any man's got a right to say. 'Course I'll say a grace if somebody sets out the food, but ma heart ain't in it.

Casey:This here ol' man jus' lived a life an' jus' died out of it. I don't know whether he was good or bad, an' it don't matter much. Heard a fella say a poem once, an' he says, 'All that lives is holy.' But I wouldn't pray jus' for an ol' man that's dead, cause he's awright. If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive an' don't know which way to turn. Grampa here, he ain't got no more trouble like that. He's got his job all cut out for 'im - so cover 'im up an' let 'im get to it.

Attendant Two: You and me got sense. Them Okies got no sense and no feelings. They ain't human. A human being wouldn't live the way they do. A human being couldn't stand to be so miserable.

Well, maybe it's like Casy says. A fella ain't got a soul of his own, just a little piece of a big soul - the one big soul that belongs to ever'body. Then...then, it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be ever'-where - wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad - I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise, and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too.

Ma: Scared, ha! I ain't never gonna be scared no more. I was though, for a while it looked as though we was beat, good and beat. Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kind of bad, and scared too. Like we was lost and nobody cared.
Pa: You're the one that keeps us goin', Ma. I ain't no good no more, and I know it. Seems like I spend all my time these days thinkin' how it used to be. Thinkin' of home. I ain't never gonna see it no more.
Ma: Well, Pa. A woman can change better'n a man. A man lives, sorta, well, in jerks. Baby's born and somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow like a stream. Little eddies and waterfalls, but the river it goes right on. A woman looks at it that way.
Pa: Well, maybe, but we sure taken a beatin'.
Ma: I know. That's what makes us tough. Rich fellas come up an' they die an' their kids ain't no good, an' they die out. But we keep a-comin'. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out. They can't lick us. And we'll go on forever, Pa... 'cause... we're the people.

[pokerfan]

57. +1

[Enthusiast]

76. +2 ! Love it. nt

[sarge43]

33. Can't pick just one.

Some of my favorites

Buster Keaton's The General
Metropolis
It Happened One Night
Young Mr Lincoln
The Lady Eve
Casablanca (natch)
Pimpernel Smith
Murder, My Sweet
The Oxbow Incident
The Best Years of Our Lives
Red River
My Darling Clementine

[OmahaBlueDog]

55. I can't pick just one either

Fantasia - 1940
The Grapes of Wrath - 1940
The Wizard of Oz - 1939
Duck Soup - 1933
The Thin Man - 1934
It's a Wonderful Life - 1946
Miracle on 34th Street - 1947
Little Caesar - 1930
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - 1939
Great Expectations - 1946

and what I think of as the Errol Flynn Trilogy:
Captain Blood -1935
The Adventures of Robin Hood - 1938
The Sea Hawk - 1940

I'm purposefully skipping the obvious choices of GWTW, Casablanca, The Great Dictator, and Citizen Kane

I agree with you 100% on Red River and My Darling Clementine

[sarge43]

63. Another fine one, Fort Apache.

Yesh, I'm a fan of Henry Fonda.

[Capn Sunshine]

35. To Have and To Have Not

only because Casablanca and the Maltese Falcon were already mentioned.

"you know how to whistle, don't you?"

PS Bacall's big screen debut- she was 19 here.

[kaehele]

37. Gregory Peck in

The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit.

[Moondog]

39. The Third Man (1949).

The older I get, the better this film becomes. I actually own most of the ones posted about previously; primarily because they are great films, and I enjoy them a great deal. The Third Man has it all - plot, script, photography, and it was wonderfully casted. Not to mention that it is an exquisite film noir. It was excellent in its day - but it has aged extremely well. My vote for The Best pre-1950 film or movie.

[murielm99]

75. That's my favorite, too.

When I rented it from Netflix and watched it for the umpteenth time, I made my husband watch it. I told him it was the best film noir ever made.

I'm not sure he understands my love of that genre. He agreed with me on this one.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

40. "Key Largo"...(1948)...a life parable if there ever was one.

I'd call this one "almost Shakespearean."

Good versus evil, with a flawed hero Frank Temple (Bogart, feels like he did his time in the Military, and that mobster Johnny Rocco is "not his battle," even though he most certainly IS)

Lauren Bacall as recently-widowed Nora Temple...Bogart pays a visit to the hotel because he fought alongside her husband. She has a void in her life that could be filled by Bogart, IF he were the man he SEEMS to be on the surface, but once you go BELOW the surface, you find out that he does not want to BE that man (see above)

Lionel Barrymore as Bacall's father-in-law, owner of the hotel, confined to a wheelchair, more willing to fight Rocco than Bogart

Unrepentant mobster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson in one of his greatest all-time roles). The Robinson-Bogart dynamic is similar to the DeNiro-Pacino dynamic in "Heat"...you know in VERY short order that only ONE of them can make it out of the movie alive.

The movie is as hot and humid as the Florida Keys setting. This is a five-star movie, one I've watched many, many times.

:toast:

[SoCalDem]

60. I liked that one too:)

It's funny to watch those oldies now.. the sets are so primitive:)

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

65. It's a GREAT movie

and the scene where Rocco makes his alcoholic girlfriend sing for a drink, and then doesn't give it to her is just, well, I don't know, powerful. I think that's the first step in Frank's standing up to Rocco isn't it?
:toast:

[gratuitous]

41. Many already mentioned

But I also like "The Thin Man" and "Libeled Lady." I'm also quite partial to "The Big Sleep," another Bogart/Bacall vehicle. The DVD I have has both the 1946 theatrical release version and the 1945 cut by director Howard Hawks. The re-cut was done when Lauren Bacall became a big star and gives her a more prominent role. The 1945 cut makes more sense. Lots of bodies hit the floor, but not all of them are quite accounted for in the 1946 re-cut. The 1945 version accounts for who killed whom.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

42. Midnight

with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche

[KansDem]

43. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948)

Such impudence never came my way. Early this afternoon I gave you money... while I was having my shoes polished I gave you MORE money... now you put the bite on me again. Do me a favor, will ya? Go occasionally to somebody else - it's beginning to get tiresome.

It was also the first movie I remember seeing...

[Enthusiast]

77. "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Love that movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqomZQMZQCQ

[abq e streeter]

46. Chaplin's Modern Times... ( all those Bogart movies previously mentioned are great too)

[BuelahWitch]

47. Another vote for Charlie!

:hi:

[nuxvomica]

50. I saw it the first time earlier this year

I was amazed at his comic timing. I don't think anyone comes near it though Jacques Tati comes closest.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

54. The scene with the eating machine is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen.

The first time I saw it, I almost broke my brain from laughing so hard.

[Brigid]

49. Another vote for Citizen Kane.

I haven't seen it in a while. I think I may just put in on the DVD player. I think I have it.

[JackDragna]

52. Trimuph of the Will

Not for the content, but for everything else. Reproductions of scenes from this movie have practically become celluloid memes. An awesome, disturbing movie.

[JCMach1]

61. Unfortunately, yes- Leni Reifenstahl was a genius and way ahead

of her time.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

53. The Curse of the Cat People -1944

[LearnedHand]

56. The Awful Truth

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, 1937. Funniest movie I ever saw in my life.

[mochajava666]

59. Lost Horizon

Jane Eyre
The Man Without a Country

[NYCGirl]

62. My favorite film: OUT OF THE PAST from 1947

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Past

The greatest film noir ever made, and one of the greatest Mitchum films.

And running a close second:

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan's_Travels

[Hawaii Hiker]

64. Pride of the Yankees

[XRubicon]

66. The Public Enemy 1931

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnIluhlfieY

[Pool Hall Ace]

67. The Lost Weekend

Starred Ray Milland and Jane Wyman, directed by Billy Wilder. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[hunter]

68. Pre-code Hollywood Fred Niblo movies.

My Hollywood ancestors slid pretty much unscathed through the Great Depression thanks to the film industry.

[kwassa]

72. .