Online movie service for classic movies?

October 23, 2016 9:31 PM

Is there a Netflix type of service that's geared for classic (pre-1970) movies? I'm outside of the USA, so TCM.com doesn't work.

My dad loves watching old black-and-white era movies on his laptop. For his birthday, I'd like to get him a subscription to something like Netflix that will give him access to lots of high-quality movies online within that genre. I want a streaming service, not downloading files. Does such a thing exist? TCM.com seems like it would be ideal, but I'm in New Zealand so I don't have the necessary TV service.

posted by oceanmorning to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

Not sure the international support but there's the Warner Archive
posted by bitdamaged at 9:37 PM on October 23, 2016

Hulu has the Criterion Collection; tons of classic B&W films.
posted by isthmus at 10:40 PM on October 23, 2016

I can't speak for New Zealand, but given that the Warner Archive and Hulu aren't available in Canada, I'm guessing those may not be options for you. However, I've heard that Filmstruck (going live in November) might still be sorting out some international licensing and pricing. You might contact them to see if it'll be available in NZ.
posted by northernish at 10:54 PM on October 23, 2016

I know this doesn't fit the laptop element of your question as it's an Apple TV App. But I've found Free Classic Movies to be a pretty good service. And as the title says, it's all free. Works in Australia, so I assume it will in New Zealand as well. It's not a large collection, maybe ~100 or so films.

Given that the service itself is free, maybe you can put the funds for the gift to setting up the aTV for him.
posted by michswiss at 12:06 AM on October 24, 2016

Hulu doesn't work outside the US unless you use a VPN. However, Criterion recently announced that they are launching their own service paired with TCN and will be taking their films off Hulu. I would imagine that since many of Criterion's films come from foreign directors, they'll make an effort to make the service available outside the US.
posted by Brittanie at 12:51 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Mubi is available in New Zealand and it always has lots of great pre-70s stuff available. Right now it's showing Black Narcissus, The Lady Vanishes, and a bunch of William Wyler films.
posted by Chenko at 6:55 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

The BFI Player subscription service exactly this. You'll need to check if it's available in New Zealand.
posted by Polychrome at 7:34 AM on October 24, 2016

https://archive.org/details/moviesandfilms has lots of older films, perhaps this?
posted by TrinsicWS at 9:10 AM on October 24, 2016

Consider using a VPN service to access US-only content. As long as your Internet connection is fast enough, this generally works fine. I've used PrviateInternetAccess.com successfully, though I don't know for sure how well they (or other services) work in NZ.
posted by cnc at 9:20 AM on October 24, 2016

The latest version of the Opera browser has built-in VPN options that include a US IP address.
posted by Napoleonic Terrier at 6:39 PM on October 24, 2016

Response by poster: Mubi worked and he loves it. Thanks for another job well done, Metafilter!
posted by oceanmorning at 12:56 AM on October 29, 2016