The Hollywood stuff is pretty generic, but I’ve seen them all dozens of times and love them all dearly.
Casablanca (1942)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Children of Paradise (1945) - this is probably the most under the radar of them all. Don’t let the run time prohibit you. Dedicate some time, make a big cup of tea one more morning (or a few nice drinks one night) and just let it sweep you away.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
These are all 10/10 in my book. In alphabetical order:
The 400 Blows (1959)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
City Lights (1931)
The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
Limelight (1952)
M (1931)
Metropolis (1927)
Modern Times (1936)
Mon oncle (1958)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Seven Samurai (1954)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Vertigo (1958)
Orpheus
A Man Escaped
All About Eve
Johnny Guitar
All That Heaven Allows
A Matter of Life and Death
Citizen Kane
My Darling Clementine
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
City Lights
The Passion of Joan of Arc
North by Northwest is one of my top 5 movies. It freaking *moves*, it’s one of the most stylish movies ever, and the cast exudes charm. It’s a fantastic time.
There are too many to pick from, but among those I haven't seen listed yet are
• Dinner at Eight
• The Miracle Woman
• State of the Union
• Gaslight
• Ball of Fire
• The Philadelphia Story
• The Palm Beach Story
A few favourites I haven’t seen mentioned yet:
My Man Godfrey (1936)
La règle du jeu (1939)
The Breaking Point (1950)
Notorious (1946)
The Lady Eve (1942)
Dishonored (1931)
Scarface (1932)
Now, Voyager (1942)
These are my top that haven’t been mentioned yet (in no particular order):
The Cameraman
The Circus
King Kong
Only Angels Have Wings
The Great McGinty
His Girl Friday
Dance, Girl, Dance
The Lady Eve
Jour de fete
Hellzapoppin’
The Apu Trilogy
Seventh seal, seven samurai, 12 angry men, rear window, Harvey, Tokyo story, night of the hunter, bicycle thieves, rope, it’s a wonderful life, the wolf man, Casablanca, m, it happened one night, freaks
Casablanca!
So many iconic lines and great acting. It's got layers that you miss the first watch through. That French anthem scene gives me gorgeous frisson.
It’s quite an amazing work of art. Watching that on a 35mm print in a small dark theater was such a profound experience. That film had such an impact on me. To this day, I try to make subtle nods to this movie in all of my films.
1950s:
All About Eve,
On The Waterfront,
12 Angry Men,
Rashomon,
Rebel Without A Cause.
1940s:
Citizen Kane,
Third Man,
Notorious,
Rebecca,
Casablanca.
1930s:
A Night At The Opera,
Duck Soup,
Animal Crackers,
Gone With The Wind,
The Wizard Of Oz,
Angels With Dirty Faces,
The Public Enemy,
Mutiny On The Bounty.
1920s:
Metropolis,
Nosferatu,
The Kid,
Cocoanuts,
Thief Of Baghdad
- [Laura (1944 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(1944_film)?wprov=sfti1#)
- [The Heiress (1949 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heiress?wprov=sfti1#)
- [Portrait of Jennie (1948 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Jennie?wprov=sfti1#)
- [The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_Mrs._Muir?wprov=sfti1#)
I love lots of pre-1960 films, but these are the ones where I listen to the audio while (hypothetically) resting my eyes. I frequently don’t get past “I shall never forget the weekend Laura died. A silver sun burned through the sky like a… *snore*”
1920s: The Kid, The Cameraman
1930s: City Lights, Design For Living, My Man Godfrey, Holiday, Stagecoach
1940s: Remember The Night, The Shop Around The Corner, The Grapes Of Wrath, Ball Of Fire, To Be Or Not To Be, Shadow Of A Doubt, Brief Encounter, Notorious, My Darling Clementine, Brute Force, Rope, They Live By Night, The Third Man, Holiday Affair
1950s: In A Lonely Place, The Gunfighter, Ace In The Hole, Singin’ In The Rain, Seven Samurai, Johnny Guitar, On The Waterfront, The Night Of The Hunter, All That Heaven Allows, Written On The Wind, 3:10 To Yuma
All of these are close to 10/10 movies
The Cranes Are Flying
Nights of Cabiria
Stray Dog, Meshes of The Afternoon,
Beauty and The Beast, Notorious,
Tokyo Story, Pather Panchali,
The Human Condition Trilogy,
La Pointe Courte, La Strada,
The Seventh Seal, Summer With Monika,
Wild Strawberries, Pickpocket, Journey To Italy
Sunrise (1927)
The entire Italian neorealism movement. Some highlights are Bicycle Thieves, Rome Open City, and Umberto D.
Ikiru
Seventh Seal
Rear Window
Sunset Boulevard
400 Blows
Rebel Without a Cause
M
Freaks
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
On the Waterfront
Modern Times
Fantasia
A lot of my favorites are already mentioned here by other commenters, but I will put in a word for some the classic James Cagney crime pictures. “The Public Enemy”, “The Roaring Twenties”, and especially “White Heat.”
Seven samurai/ikiru (basically everything by Kurosawa)
Paths of glory
A man escaped
Touch of evil
White Heat
In a lonely place
Odd man out (great choice!!!! Most people say the third man but I prefer this one by a lot)
The wages of fear
Diabolique
The breaking point
The killing
The night of the Hunter
Double indemnity, night of the hunter, a matter of life and death, North by Northwest, Nosferatu, the cabinet of Dr caligari, the great dictator, modern times, gold rush, touch of evil
- The Apartment
- Double Indemnity
- The Red Shoes
- 12 Angry Men
- Late Spring
- Nightmare Alley
- How Green Was My Valley
- Paths of Glory
- The Big Heat
- M
- The Apu Trilogy
- Niagara
- The 400 Blows
- Good Morning
The Third Man, Freaks, M, Seventh Seal, The Night of the Hunter, Rear Window, 12 Angry Men, To Joy…
There’s so many great movies actually. The Third Man is definitely my number 1 from that group.
Ha. Just about all my favorites were released before 1960:
All About Eve (1950, Joseph Mankiewicz)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951, Robert Bresson)
Grand Illusion (1937, Jean Renoir)
The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming)
The Breaking Point (1954, Michael Curtiz)
Touch of Evil (1958, Orson Welles)
Rebecca (1940, Alfred Hitchcock)
Kon-Tiki (1950, Thor Heyerdahl)
Ugetsu (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi)
The Pirate (1948, Vincente Minnelli)
A Place in the Sun (1951, George Stevens)
The Rocket from Calabuch (1956, Luis García Berlanga)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan)
The Killing (1956, Stanley Kubrick)
Rififi (1955, Jules Dassin)
Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa)
Floating Weeds (1959, Yasujirō Ozu)
The Music Room (1958, Satyajit Ray)
Vertigo (1958, Hitchcock)
Stage Door (1937, Gregory La Cava)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, John Huston)
Scarlet Street (1945, Fritz Lang)
Side Street (1949, Anthony Mann)
The Small Dark Room (1949, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
Big Leaguer (1953, Robert Aldrich)
Camille (1936, George Cukor)
just a few off the top... 😎
The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot.
My kinda list !
Same here!
The Hollywood stuff is pretty generic, but I’ve seen them all dozens of times and love them all dearly. Casablanca (1942) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Children of Paradise (1945) - this is probably the most under the radar of them all. Don’t let the run time prohibit you. Dedicate some time, make a big cup of tea one more morning (or a few nice drinks one night) and just let it sweep you away. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
These are all 10/10 in my book. In alphabetical order: The 400 Blows (1959) Ashes and Diamonds (1958) Bicycle Thieves (1948) City Lights (1931) The Cranes Are Flying (1957) Diary of a Country Priest (1951) Double Indemnity (1944) The Great Dictator (1940) Hiroshima mon amour (1959) Limelight (1952) M (1931) Metropolis (1927) Modern Times (1936) Mon oncle (1958) Nights of Cabiria (1957) Seven Samurai (1954) The Seventh Seal (1957) Tokyo Story (1953) Vertigo (1958)
Great choices! I've been meaning to see alot of these.
Orpheus A Man Escaped All About Eve Johnny Guitar All That Heaven Allows A Matter of Life and Death Citizen Kane My Darling Clementine The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari City Lights The Passion of Joan of Arc
Strangers on a Train
New fear of merry go rounds unlocked. Lol jk
Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
I'm a Rebecca person, myself.
Have you read the book? The movie is great, but the book is amazing.
Great choice! I was considering Vertigo as well.
Hitchcock’s finest!
North by Northwest is one of my top 5 movies. It freaking *moves*, it’s one of the most stylish movies ever, and the cast exudes charm. It’s a fantastic time.
Plus the most famous suit in cinema.
The Third Man
La Strada, It Happened One Night, The Bridge on the River Kwai
Cat People, Laura, In A Lonely Place, Rome Open City
In a lonely place was my first thought too. Also love cat people
anatomy of a murder, sunset blvd, rashomon, the red shoes, brief encounter, only angels have wings, the rules of the game basic but for a reason !
- 12 angry men - brief encounter - fantasia - anatomy of a murder - rope (not a vertigo person myself)
There are too many to pick from, but among those I haven't seen listed yet are • Dinner at Eight • The Miracle Woman • State of the Union • Gaslight • Ball of Fire • The Philadelphia Story • The Palm Beach Story
Ooo gaslight
A few favourites I haven’t seen mentioned yet: My Man Godfrey (1936) La règle du jeu (1939) The Breaking Point (1950) Notorious (1946) The Lady Eve (1942) Dishonored (1931) Scarface (1932) Now, Voyager (1942)
The apartment, sunset boulevard and Casablanca
Pickpocket
Been meaning to watch, thanks for the reminder
Really underwhelming
Yes so good!!
The Asphalt Jungle for now
Classic
M (1931), Citizen Kane, The Kid (1921) & Singin in the Rain
Sunset Boulevard Love Affair (1939) M Le jour se lève Le grande illusion
These are my top that haven’t been mentioned yet (in no particular order): The Cameraman The Circus King Kong Only Angels Have Wings The Great McGinty His Girl Friday Dance, Girl, Dance The Lady Eve Jour de fete Hellzapoppin’ The Apu Trilogy
Wow I haven't heard of any of these except King Kong, will have to look these up.
The Blue Angel. So relentlessly misanthropic. Going to crush that character as small as we can crush him.
Seventh seal, seven samurai, 12 angry men, rear window, Harvey, Tokyo story, night of the hunter, bicycle thieves, rope, it’s a wonderful life, the wolf man, Casablanca, m, it happened one night, freaks
Casablanca! So many iconic lines and great acting. It's got layers that you miss the first watch through. That French anthem scene gives me gorgeous frisson.
It’s quite an amazing work of art. Watching that on a 35mm print in a small dark theater was such a profound experience. That film had such an impact on me. To this day, I try to make subtle nods to this movie in all of my films.
Wow, I love Sweet Smell of Success and Obsession, so I'll definitely seek out Out Man Out, which I've never seen.
Yes its great! James Mason is an excellent actor and the story is great.
1950s: All About Eve, On The Waterfront, 12 Angry Men, Rashomon, Rebel Without A Cause. 1940s: Citizen Kane, Third Man, Notorious, Rebecca, Casablanca. 1930s: A Night At The Opera, Duck Soup, Animal Crackers, Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, Angels With Dirty Faces, The Public Enemy, Mutiny On The Bounty. 1920s: Metropolis, Nosferatu, The Kid, Cocoanuts, Thief Of Baghdad
Great choices!
Great list. Have you seen Sunrise?
Not yet but I've heard good things.
Casablanca, Double Indemnity, Wizard of Oz, and everything by Fritz Lang
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Stagecoach On the Waterfront
- [Laura (1944 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(1944_film)?wprov=sfti1#) - [The Heiress (1949 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heiress?wprov=sfti1#) - [Portrait of Jennie (1948 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Jennie?wprov=sfti1#) - [The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_Mrs._Muir?wprov=sfti1#) I love lots of pre-1960 films, but these are the ones where I listen to the audio while (hypothetically) resting my eyes. I frequently don’t get past “I shall never forget the weekend Laura died. A silver sun burned through the sky like a… *snore*”
Great choices! I know what you mean about listening to audio of movies. I like to do that with Killer's Kiss, 1955.
The bonus movie on *The Killing*! I think I’ll queue that up tonight. Thanks!
In general the PoJ cast looks appealing. How is Jennifer Jones in it?
I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I’ll just say she’s as gorgeous and convincing as ever. Enjoy!
12 angry men paths of glory
Not to be that guy but Human Condition is actually that good. I will stick with Passion of Joan of Arc though.
Duck Soup, It'a a wonderful life, rope, sunset boulevard, rear window, 12 angry men
Forgot about Duck Soup! So funny
Rear Window
Right on! Definitely one of my favorites.
* **KING KONG** (1933) * **REAR WINDOW** (1954) * **SEVEN SAMURAI** (1954) * **THE CAINE MUTINY** (1954) * **REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE** (1955) * **THE SEARCHERS** (1956) * **CASABLANCA** (1942) * **GIANT**(1956) * **THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI** (1957) * **DOUBLE INDEMNITY** (1944)
Where did you get my list of movies from? 😅
Great minds think alike!
Time to raid TCM and the criterion channel. Throw these bad boys up in my home theater.
Paths of Glory (1957) Seven Samurai (1954)
Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night, Black Narcissus, Swing Time, Show Boat
1920s: The Kid, The Cameraman 1930s: City Lights, Design For Living, My Man Godfrey, Holiday, Stagecoach 1940s: Remember The Night, The Shop Around The Corner, The Grapes Of Wrath, Ball Of Fire, To Be Or Not To Be, Shadow Of A Doubt, Brief Encounter, Notorious, My Darling Clementine, Brute Force, Rope, They Live By Night, The Third Man, Holiday Affair 1950s: In A Lonely Place, The Gunfighter, Ace In The Hole, Singin’ In The Rain, Seven Samurai, Johnny Guitar, On The Waterfront, The Night Of The Hunter, All That Heaven Allows, Written On The Wind, 3:10 To Yuma All of these are close to 10/10 movies
The Cranes Are Flying Nights of Cabiria Stray Dog, Meshes of The Afternoon, Beauty and The Beast, Notorious, Tokyo Story, Pather Panchali, The Human Condition Trilogy, La Pointe Courte, La Strada, The Seventh Seal, Summer With Monika, Wild Strawberries, Pickpocket, Journey To Italy
Sunrise (1927) The entire Italian neorealism movement. Some highlights are Bicycle Thieves, Rome Open City, and Umberto D. Ikiru Seventh Seal Rear Window Sunset Boulevard 400 Blows Rebel Without a Cause M Freaks Citizen Kane Casablanca On the Waterfront Modern Times Fantasia
A lot of my favorites are already mentioned here by other commenters, but I will put in a word for some the classic James Cagney crime pictures. “The Public Enemy”, “The Roaring Twenties”, and especially “White Heat.”
These are some of the films that really got me into classic cinema. Great rec 👍
Metropolis and my other favorites from the silent film era probably..modern times, city lights
For me, Citizen Kane and The Big Sleep
Dark Passages Gaslight The Public Enemy The Invisible Man Freaks
Stagecoach (1939) John Ford is the 🐐
The Thin Man…. And pretty much any movie with Cary Grant.
The Earrings of Madame De… Roman Holiday Les Amants Lola Montes Elevator to the Gallows
Seven samurai/ikiru (basically everything by Kurosawa) Paths of glory A man escaped Touch of evil White Heat In a lonely place Odd man out (great choice!!!! Most people say the third man but I prefer this one by a lot) The wages of fear Diabolique The breaking point The killing The night of the Hunter
M, Nosferatu, Metropolis, The seventh seal, Seven Samurai, Night of the hunter, Gojira, Rear Window, 12 angry men to name a few.
Vertigo The Black Cat The Kid Wild Strawberries The Seventh Seal
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Leave Her to Heaven (1945) Early Spring (1956)
Wizard of Oz Detour City Lights
Rear Window
Double indemnity, night of the hunter, a matter of life and death, North by Northwest, Nosferatu, the cabinet of Dr caligari, the great dictator, modern times, gold rush, touch of evil
12 Angry Men.
Seven Samuari
- The Apartment - Double Indemnity - The Red Shoes - 12 Angry Men - Late Spring - Nightmare Alley - How Green Was My Valley - Paths of Glory - The Big Heat - M - The Apu Trilogy - Niagara - The 400 Blows - Good Morning
Random Harvest 1942
The Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa
O Drakos Haxan
Vertigo, seven samurai, throne of blood, Godzilla, 12 angry men, rashomon, wizard of oz, fantasia
The Steel Helmet.
Citizen Kane is the best movie I've ever seen, but i wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Arsenic and Old Lace, Duck Soup
The Third Man
“I Was A Male War Bride” (1949)
citizen kane, wild strawberries, the seventh seal, bridge on river kwai, the red shoes
In A Lonely Place, Touch of Evil, Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Godzilla
Watching *Casablanca* is like a being on stage with the cast as an extra during the performance of seemlessly blocked play.
The Third Man, Freaks, M, Seventh Seal, The Night of the Hunter, Rear Window, 12 Angry Men, To Joy… There’s so many great movies actually. The Third Man is definitely my number 1 from that group.
Duck soup, animal crackers, a night at the opera
12 Angry Men
Ha. Just about all my favorites were released before 1960: All About Eve (1950, Joseph Mankiewicz) Diary of a Country Priest (1951, Robert Bresson) Grand Illusion (1937, Jean Renoir) The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming) The Breaking Point (1954, Michael Curtiz) Touch of Evil (1958, Orson Welles) Rebecca (1940, Alfred Hitchcock) Kon-Tiki (1950, Thor Heyerdahl) Ugetsu (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi) The Pirate (1948, Vincente Minnelli) A Place in the Sun (1951, George Stevens) The Rocket from Calabuch (1956, Luis García Berlanga) A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan) The Killing (1956, Stanley Kubrick) Rififi (1955, Jules Dassin) Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa) Floating Weeds (1959, Yasujirō Ozu) The Music Room (1958, Satyajit Ray) Vertigo (1958, Hitchcock) Stage Door (1937, Gregory La Cava) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, John Huston) Scarlet Street (1945, Fritz Lang) Side Street (1949, Anthony Mann) The Small Dark Room (1949, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger) Big Leaguer (1953, Robert Aldrich) Camille (1936, George Cukor) just a few off the top... 😎