Your Favorite OLD Movie?
June 29, 2024 5:42 AM   Subscribe

What's your favorite movie from the 1940s-60s?

My partner has not seen a lot of old movies, and we have recently discovered them to be something we can enjoy together that's not sci-fi. We've seen most of Audrey Hepburn's films, working on Frank Sinatra's, and I think my partner would enjoy more William Holden and Cary Grant.

Help us expand our Watch List! We're open to any genre. Rat Pack, and Rat Pack-adjacent are great, but not required. No preference for black and white vs color. What's your favorite film(s) from this era?
posted by MuChao to Media & Arts (99 answers total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
It’s a Wonderful Life
posted by sandmanwv at 5:44 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


Mildred Pierce
The miniseries with Kate Winslet is more faithful to the book, but Joan Crawford got me first. Best watched with a slice of pie.
posted by phunniemee at 5:45 AM on June 29


Hitchcock is great for couple movies.
posted by transient at 5:50 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


If you're already doing Sinatra films, you may have these already but:

Guys and Dolls is one of my all time favorites, and has Sinatra and Brando, and is currently available for free streaming on Tubi, as well as Peacock and Amazon Prime if you subscribe to either.

The Manchurian Candidate is one of the all-time great political movies. Also on Tubi at the moment, it looks like.

Streaming suggestions US based, not sure of availability in other regions, sorry to all reading along.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:53 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


Auntie Mame, Singin' in the Rain, East of Eden, Sunset Boulevard, The Philadelphia Story
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:55 AM on June 29 [8 favorites]


Can it be earlier?!
My Man Godfrey. Stagecoach. It Happened One night. Bringing up Baby.
posted by ReluctantViking at 6:01 AM on June 29 [7 favorites]


Love love love The Maltese Falcon.
posted by lianove3 at 6:02 AM on June 29 [8 favorites]




The Red Shoes
Repeat Performance
3:10 to Yuma
A Star Is Born
Sunset Boulevard
The Apartment
12 Angry Men

Also a general comment, you pretty much can’t go wrong with Billy Wilder.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:13 AM on June 29 [6 favorites]


Abbot & Costello! Favorites are probably Buck Privates, Hold that Ghost, or In The Navy. Available at the Internet Archive
posted by evilmomlady at 6:15 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


The Sound of Music!
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:20 AM on June 29 [4 favorites]


sunset boulevard
the apartment
some like it hot
the philadelphia story
holiday
the shop around the corner
to be or not to be
trouble in paradise (1939, but maybe close enough?)
the palm beach story
the lady eve
basically anything with barbara stanwyck
posted by guybrush_threepwood at 6:20 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


I'm a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, but it sounds like you have her covered already.

Slightly older, but The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) has my favorite cast. Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains in key roles. All four were leading actors during their careers (Flynn and de Havilland acted together eight times, Claude Rains was in Casablanca (1942, another suggestion) and played the Invisible Man (1933, worth watching), and Rathbone memorably played Sherlock Holmes over a dozen times). Little John was played by Alan Hale, father of Alan Hale, Jr., best known as the Skipper on Gilligan's Island. Una O'Connor, one of the great, great character actors, shines in every scene she appears in. And it's early technicolor, just a year before Wizard of Oz (1939, which should be watched, too).
posted by Meldanthral at 6:23 AM on June 29 [4 favorites]


The Thin Man series!

Technically they started in the 1930s but it really doesn’t matter. Nick and Nora are absolutely wonderful.

Once again the 1930s, but every single Fred and Ginger movie is worth watching. The plots aren’t much but, oh, the dancing!

I’m not clear if science fiction from your preferred era is on the docket but the original The Day The Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet are both required viewing. Forbidden Planet can get a bit silly, but when you realize it’s a retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” it is forgivable.

Veering a bit off from movies, you may also enjoy the original Twilight Zone.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:26 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]


Roman Holiday:
A romance with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn
posted by sciencegeek at 6:26 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


Gilda
His Girl Friday
Stage Door
Bringing Up Baby
Casablanca
posted by rd45 at 6:27 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


Foreign Correspondent
posted by SPrintF at 6:32 AM on June 29


The Big Sleep
Dark Passage
Key Largo
Indiscreet
Paris When it Sizzles
Charade (just in case you have not seen it - Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant together is an absolute delight)
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:35 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


The African Queen. Romance and high adventure.
posted by Alensin at 6:36 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


Oh, and Kiss Me Kate (1953)!
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:36 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


The Apartment
posted by latkes at 6:36 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


The Trouble With Harry is now our go-to cozy fall movie. Hitchcock, but (black) comedy, pseudo murder mystery.

Arsenic and Old Lace for more dark comedy vibes.
posted by damayanti at 6:42 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]


An American in Paris
Bells Are Ringing
High Society
North by Northwest
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
West Side Story
On the Town
The Third Man
Charade
His Girl Friday
Citizen Kane
Funny Face
Some Like it Hot
posted by threecheesetrees at 6:43 AM on June 29 [4 favorites]


Now, Voyager

One of my absolute favorites.
posted by profreader at 6:44 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


All About Eve
posted by warriorqueen at 6:45 AM on June 29 [4 favorites]


Born Yesterday - highly entertaining and Judy Holliday is wonderful.
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 6:47 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


Oh man, The Night of the Hunter! It's so great! You'll be holding your breath the whole second half. I dont generally like older movies but this one is so good. The acting, the music, the scenery, all of it.
posted by silverstatue at 6:49 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]


Oh, and everything with Jacques Tati
posted by threecheesetrees at 6:52 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


you pretty much can’t go wrong with Billy Wilder.

It’s wild to me that one director made Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, and Double Indemnity. Just unreal. Chef’s kiss.
posted by bcwinters at 6:53 AM on June 29 [5 favorites]




I think I've seen everything listed so far and they're all great films.

Personal faves that I haven't seen mentioned yet: Laura, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Witness for the Prosecution, Sullivan's Travels. Film noir, romantic fantasy, legal thriller, comedy that was ahead of its time.

You could also do a double bill of The Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven, it's a fantastic way to spend the day when it's too hot to go outside.
posted by betweenthebars at 7:17 AM on June 29 [4 favorites]


It’s getting toward the end of the 60s but The Lion in Winter for me and it’s not even close. Look at how absurdly stacked that cast is!
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:18 AM on June 29 [8 favorites]


A Matter of Life and Death (1946) should satisfy your absence of a preference for black and white vs color. It's by the same team that did The Red Shoes, which has already been suggested. A romantic fantasy originally conceived to strengthen US-UK relations in late WW2 it considers cultural differences and what is most important in life.

I am also a big fan of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), b&w, very darkly written and sharp comedy about revenge, greed and class.
posted by biffa at 7:19 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


not listed yet AFAICT. Some of these will start to feel more like 70s movies.

Desk Set
12 o'clock high
Seven Samurai
A Fistful of Dollars
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House
Failsafe
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (not actually good but they made a few retro airplanes that flew)
Quatermass and the Pit (aka 5 million years to earth)
The Producers
Bullitt
Rosemary's Baby
Butch Cassidy


70s movies that will also feel old:

Vanishing Point
Billy Jack
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:21 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]








Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
posted by 2N2222 at 7:30 AM on June 29


The Loved One (1965)
posted by 2N2222 at 7:32 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]




So many awesome picks already. Here's a few others. I'm gonna stick with a WWII theme for narrowing purposes:

Von Ryan's Express with Frank Sinatra.
The Great Escape
The Dirty Dozen with Donald Sutherland

Not WWII but you gotta have spme Preston Sturges on your list and I love Sullivan's Travels

posted by brookeb at 7:39 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]




Duck Soup (1933)
posted by credulous at 7:56 AM on June 29 [4 favorites]


+1 for The Big Sleep
posted by terretu at 8:03 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


+1 for The Third Man
+1 for Bringing Up Baby
posted by Windopaene at 8:32 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


Two of my all-time favs, both starring Cary Grant: The Awful Truth (1937), and My Favorite Wife (1940). Irene Dunne is in both of these, and her filmography is also worth a deep dive. It's been noted that the first couple of scenes in The Awful Truth are a turn off, and this is true; but once you get past them, everything is golden and amazing. I just watched The Devil and Ms Jones (1941) a few days ago for the first time, and it's great too.
posted by jabah at 8:34 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


When it's closer to the holidays: The Bishop's Wife and The Homecoming (70s, but feels older)
posted by indexy at 8:46 AM on June 29


Not sure how this thread got this long without some love for Robot Monster (1953), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) or The Tingler (1959). Now there is a triple bill you won't forget in a hurry.
posted by flabdablet at 9:04 AM on June 29


Harvey (1950), starring James Stewart is the one that springs to mind.
It's one of those classics that's referred to obliquely in a lot in popular media over the years, but which I'd hazard not all that many people nowadays have actually watched.
posted by HFSH at 9:07 AM on June 29 [6 favorites]


If your partner wants more Cary Grant, I can heartily recommend the Hitchcock classics North by Northwest as well as To Catch a Thief!
posted by little mouth at 9:08 AM on June 29 [6 favorites]


Seconding Holiday — Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn at their best.

Random Harvest is classic Hollywood at its best.
posted by pasici at 9:19 AM on June 29


A Taste of Honey (1961). Emotionally powerful story of working-class English. Acclaimed for its then-daring themes and its young leads, unknown teenagers in their first roles. Also notable for the images of their grim town, and for the unusual soundtrack -- which does not include the song of the same name.

The Horse's Mouth (1958). Alec Guinness as an eccentric painter.
posted by JonJacky at 9:36 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


The Women
The Egg and I
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir...
posted by Czjewel at 9:45 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


You could try French New Wave and adjacent: there are so many lauded ones but I like Bande A Part and Elevator to the Gallows. Another French film I liked was Battle of Algiers. For Hitchcock I like Rope. A bit late in the 60s, maybe Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke. Badlands is my absolute favorite if you’re willing to go a little later. Oh also, I love love love Key Largo.
posted by vunder at 9:47 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


The cliche answer is Casablanca, but it's also the right answer.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:12 AM on June 29 [7 favorites]


In case you don't get enough from MeFites, here are some lists of expert picks.
* 100 Years, 100 Movies, from the American Film Institute.
* U.S. National Film Registry
* Top 1,000 films from They Shoot Pictures, Don't They. TSPDT compiles rankings from many other lists. This lists includes movies from across the globe.
posted by NotLost at 10:39 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]


How to Marry a Millionaire
Kelly's Heroes
The Court Jester (Danny Kaye)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Judgement at Nuremberg if you don't mind something dark
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:42 AM on June 29 [3 favorites]


Rope.
posted by lpsguy at 10:52 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]


For Hitchcock, nobody has mentioned Vertigo yet!
posted by JonJacky at 11:04 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]








The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) with Walter Huston as the Devil. Remarkable score by Bernard Hermann including American folk song themes and some then-innovative audio effects.
posted by JonJacky at 12:36 PM on June 29


For the most part these recommendations are all so conventional, so establishment. For the 1940s, you need some noir:

This Gun For Hire (1942)
D.O.A (1950)
Kiss Me, Deadly (1955)

...and for the 1950s and 60s, some juvenile delinquents and rock'n'roll:

Blackboard Jungle (trailer, 1955)
The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
High School Confidential! (1958)

All links go to the Internet Archive, complete movies unless noted otherwise.
posted by Rash at 12:38 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]


...and for the 1950s and 60s, some juvenile delinquents and rock'n'roll:

Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean

The Wild One with Marlon Brando
posted by JonJacky at 12:44 PM on June 29


I like Ida Lupino's work as a director.
The hitch-hiker (1953)
The bigamist (1953)

Edmund O'Brien was in those two films and also in
D.O.A. (1950)

From the U.K.
Cash on demand (1961)
posted by philfromhavelock at 1:27 PM on June 29


The Blob -- it's okay to stop after the title sequence
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:44 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]


Oh, and everything with Jacques Tati

You might want to stop with Playtime; his shtick of oddball persona is getting seriously out of whack with his age in Trafic. Still worth watching if you're a car buff, otherwise a bit meh.
posted by Stoneshop at 1:50 PM on June 29


Sam Fuller
Montgomery Clift
posted by brujita at 2:13 PM on June 29


It's been mentioned upthread, but I have to mention it again -- The Great Escape.
posted by Dolley at 2:18 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]


The Blob -- it's okay to stop after the title sequence

Oh my God, The Blob scared the shit out of me as a nine year old. Especially when the Blob ate the projectionist in the theater and then oozed out the projector ports -- the movie went dark right there for a second. Which made everyone scream. That was well made movie. My brothers and sister used to torment me by singing Burt Bacharach's theme song -- his first or nearly first composition if I recall correctly. But Steve McQueen as a teenager? -- I wasn’t buying that for a second: he was way too old guy.

And now I come to find it was remade in 1988. Ri-i-i-ight... like that was a good idea.
posted by y2karl at 3:05 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]


Double Indemnity. Made in 1944 from a James M. Cain novel. Screenplay by Raymond Chandler, directed by Billy Wilder, with Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and Fred MacMurray leading the cast. My top five movies change all the time, but this one's never off the list.
posted by Paul Slade at 3:34 PM on June 29 [3 favorites]


1951's Ace in the Hole is great too.
posted by Paul Slade at 3:38 PM on June 29


Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck, who is an American treasure. It's a spin on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, where the dwarves are a group of nerdy professors writing a dictionary, and Snow White is a saucy dame hiding from the mob. It's DELIGHTFUL.

Easter Parade with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. One great musical number after another, with the bonus of Ann Miller stopping the show with "Shakin' the Blues Away."

More Garland: Meet Me in St. Louis is just wonderful, set in 1904 with a young, scene-stealing Margaret O'Brien.

My favorite Fred/Ginger movie is Swing Time -- there's a scene I love where Astaire pretends he doesn't know how to dance.

If you haven't seen the original Parent Trap with Hayley Mills (and Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith as the parents), it's adorable!

Funny Girl was Barbra Streisand's first movie and she is absolutely mesmerizing in it.
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 4:33 PM on June 29 [4 favorites]


Cool Hand Luke
The Hustler
+1 for North by Northwest
posted by welsh robot at 4:40 PM on June 29


Penny Serenade: Cary Grant and Irene Dunn
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:50 PM on June 29


Slightly out of your time range, (1973), but has a great old time noir feel - The Long Goodbye with Eliot Gould.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:05 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]


Some of my favorites (probably several already mentioned):

Odd Man Out - 1947
Out of the Past - 1947
In Cold Blood - 1967
Stagecoach - 1939
Night of the Hunter - 1955
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - 1962
Twelve Angry Men! - 1957
The Third Man - 1949
Citizen Kane - 1941
The Maltese Falcon - 1941
The Asphalt Jungle - 1950
Seconds - 1966
The Manchurian Candidate - 1962
The Best Years of Our Lives - 1946
Where the Sidewalk Ends - 1950
The More the Merrier - 1943
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -1966
The Killing - 1956
Key Largo - 1948
Tokyo Story - 1953
The Hidden Fortress - 1958
The Hospital - 1971
The Trial - 1962
Touch of Evil - 1958
The Big Sleep - 1946
Rashoman - 1950
Sunset Blvd. - 1950
The Killing - 1956
Th Seventh Seal - 1957
The Virgin Spring - 1960
posted by rmmcclay at 5:58 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]


The satirical comedies of Preston Sturges are solid gold and have aged well.

Sullivan's Travels, Hail the Conquering Hero, Palm Beach Story.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:03 PM on June 29 [3 favorites]


Titanic (1953), with Barbara Stanwyck. The family drama is great, and one notices little moments that James Cameron probably took as inspiration. It's much less realistic ship-wise, and there's an embarrassing, culturally offensive musical number, so brace yourself for that, but on the whole, it's quite a good old movie.
posted by tomboko at 6:14 PM on June 29


Most of my big favorites are already covered above, except Wild Strawberries (1957), so good!

Also maybe check out The Big Steal (1949), and the 1946 Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête).

If you can handle war or war adjacent try Mister Roberts, The Best Years of Our Lives, or The Enemy Below.
posted by gudrun at 7:48 PM on June 29


The Man Who Would Be King, Directed by John Huston, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine, based on the book by Rudyard Kipling
posted by theora55 at 7:56 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]


Seconding The Best Years of Our Lives.

In this 1946 movie about the difficulties of veterans returning from WWII, one of the veterans is played by an actual veteran who lost both hands and uses prosthetic hooks. The courage of this veteran and the unflinching honesty of the movie makers who depicted his life in detail and at length, realistically and without sentimentality, have not been matched in any movie since.

It also says much for the audience who could face up to its content and made this film a commercial success. According to Wikipedia, it was the highest grossing film of the 1940s. The film won Best Picture and other academy awards including Best Supporting Actor for the veteran.
posted by JonJacky at 8:19 PM on June 29 [3 favorites]


I can't believe nobody has mentioned A Face in the Crowd (1957) yet. Astounding leads from Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal; exquisitely, depressingly relevant.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:21 PM on June 29 [3 favorites]


The Philadelphia Story!
posted by rustcellar at 8:28 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]


forgot la grande illusion and the rules of the game, both late thirties, but very good.
posted by guybrush_threepwood at 8:50 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]


The Apartment is a masterpiece.
posted by porn in the woods at 9:06 PM on June 29 [2 favorites]


Oh, one more of my favorites: Inherit the Wind, also currently streaming free on Tubi and so.e other sources
posted by the primroses were over at 8:09 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]


The Philadelphia Story!

And the star-studded musical remake "High Society."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:44 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]


A few of my favorites from that period:

The 400 Blows (classic French New Wave)
Wild Strawberries (Swedish)
The Misfits (American, with Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (American, and an interesting meta-Western)
And if you like musicals, or just want to understand why people do, Singin' in the Rain (American; Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds)
posted by socialjusticeworrier at 11:30 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]




I can't believe nobody has mentioned A Face in the Crowd (1957) yet. Astounding leads from Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal; exquisitely, depressingly relevant.

Absolutely, computech_apolloniajames -- I am embarrassed I forgot it myself. Both Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal deserved Oscar's for their roles. A Face in the Crowd has come to my mind so often ever since 2016.
posted by y2karl at 4:51 PM on June 30 [1 favorite]


Dr. Strangelove.
posted by jimfl at 5:57 PM on June 30


Also, computech_apolloniajames, here is Doing ‘A Face in the Crowd’ almost undid Andy Griffith
-which is Very interesting..
posted by y2karl at 5:58 PM on June 30 [1 favorite]


Dang, posted that by accident just as I put your handle in bold. In a word: D'oh! As I did with this one. Boy, posting one finger, one letter on a phone is dangerous.
posted by y2karl at 6:04 PM on June 30 [1 favorite]


Robin & the Seven Hoods (Ratpack fun)
The Sons of Katie Elder (John Wayne & Dean Martin in an enjoyable Western)
Rio Bravo (Wayne & Martin again, this time directed by Howard Hawks)

I wouldn't put any of these in the very top tier of the period's movies, but they're all hugely entertaining.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:41 AM on July 1


“Was you ever bit by a dead bee?”

And

Eddie : You know, you got to be careful of dead bees if you're goin' around barefooted, 'cause if you step on them they can sting you just as bad as if they was alive, especially if they was kind of mad when they got killed. I bet I been bit a hundred times that way.
Slim : You have? Why don't you bite them back?
Eddie : That's what Harry always says. But I ain't got no stinger.

To have or have not (1944)
Worth a watch for Hawks early oeuvre and a smokin’ hot Bacall. Early Bogart before he became Bogart is good too.
posted by Vroom_Vroom_Vroom at 1:51 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]


Surprised nobody has mentioned Grand Hotel.

Though it clocks in a little earlier than your range, at 1932.
posted by schrodycat at 6:21 PM on July 1


Valley of the Dolls (1967) will get you some campy melodrama.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) cranks up the camp by a factor of 10 and pors in the T&A.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:35 PM on July 1


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