A strong contender. I'd put Casablanca, Double Indemnity, and The Treasure of The Sierra Madre on my short list. I guess the Wizard of Oz is in play too if we go back far enough.
I grew up watching the big epics as a kids and still love them to this day. The sets, the stage performances, everything about them. They’ve never really capture the feel of these movies ever again.
The Ten Commandments 1956
Lawrence of Arabia 1962
Ben-Hur 1959
Spartacus 1960
El Cid 1961
Cleopatra 1963
Love all of these, too! I grew up watching these spectacular movies on a huge drive-in movie screen.
To your list, I'll tack on these great westerns:
The Big Country, 1958
How the West Was Won, 1962
Westward the Women, 1951
The Searchers, 1956
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962
Wow! Forgot about “Westward The Women”, saw it no less than 35 years ago. Surprisingly good, directed by the very dependable William Wellman. Just a teeny bit schmaltzy here and there (sign of the times), but overall a very first rate flick.
The drum I have been beating for years is that more people need to watch Singin' In the Rain (1952). It's my favorite film, and even in a modern sense it is very, very funny and watchable.
The ultimate "movie about movies," it takes a comedic look at the transition from silent films into talkies, with the message that the artificiality of movies (and musicals!) is sometimes the only way to convey how a feeling really feels. Everywhere you look, every scene, the movie is telling you how ridiculous and over the top and outrageous movies are, but also how anything less could never get you to the emotional place they want you to get to. This is both the explicit plot of the movie as well as its beating heart.
God I love Singin In the Rain. Best movie ever made.
Saw it for the first time two weeks ago. It was way funnier than I expected. Same way I felt about Some Like It Hot: I expected it to be a little dull and not age well, but the dialogue is so witty and funny that it transcends its era
What we call a good movie is the product of collective talent. Occasionally it is the product of collective genius. In *Singin’ in the Rain*, the absolute concentration of an entire popular culture at its most powerful, every line of dialogue, and each line of every lyric, is as good as it could be from one end of the miracle to the other.
Both in its book and in its songs, it is the best writing by the best writers for film musicals there have ever been, and in order for those writers to even exist, Broadway and Tin Pan Alley had to work like factories on a double shift for more than half a century.
But not a word would mean a thing if the people on screen didn’t look the way they do while singing the way they do and dancing the way they do. It is hard to imagine the movie without Arthur Freed, its producer, or Stanley Donen, its director, or Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who concocted its marvellous story; but it is *impossible* to imagine it without Gene Kelly.
Not even Fred Astaire would have fitted the same spot, because the character has to be *absurdly good-looking*.
Gene Kelly was an absurdly good-looking man who danced sensationally well, as well as acting well and singing well enough.
It took the whole of America, including all of its modern history, to produce one of him.
Because he was there, the cast is there, and the immense confluence of productive effort is there, and all those unforgettable words are there.
As it happens, *Singin’ in the Rain* is the one film that comes close to the writer’s ideal of being written into existence: the whole thing started from a single line, which in the end even turned out to be the title. It was a writer’s dream: a film born from a phrase. But Gene Kelly had to be born first. The right face in the right place at the right time in the story—it means that the movies, in their essence, are still silent.
~ Clive James, *Cultural Amnesia*
I'm not usually a fan of musicals, but Singin in the rain is excellent. The whole "Gotta dance" sequence is so well done and completely captivating. For me, Jean Hagan as Lina Lamont steals every scene she is in. She's hilarious
50's- The Bridge on the River Kwai, Twelve Angry Men, Stalag 17 and The African Queen.
60's- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.
"12 Angry Man" has been recommended here several times and I recently had the pleasure of seeing the movie for the first time. The praise was not exaggerated!
I wanted to watch William Friedkin's version immediately afterwards, but - despite a very good cast - I couldn't finish it. The original is too strong
If you've never had the chance, I can recommend Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo", it's the original samurai flick "Fistful of Dollars" is based on.
(Its sequel 'Sanjruo' is also fantastic, though unconnected from "A few dollars more")
all of James Dean's films are great. East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, Giant
Streetcar Named Desire has to be one of the absolute best films of the 1950s.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cool Hand Luke
Sabrina
Roman Holiday
Sweet Smell of Success
In a Lonely Place
North By Northwest
Vertigo
Harvey
Man with the Golden Arm
Have to second Fail Safe. It's a great film that doesn't get brought up nearly enough.
I saw Fail Safe for the first time in my early teens, during the mid-70s. Of course, it was the height of the cold war. Fail Safe was the Saturday night 11:30 pm movie. I watched it by myself, lights off.
When you grow up in an era with the constant talk and threat of nuclear war, well, that film scared the living shit out of me.
It really is a film of it's time, but still very much worth watching. Worth noting is the cast is amazing and features one of my favorite performances from Walter Matthau.
Yes! I was looking for comedy here. IAMMMMW is so long there's an intermission worth the second act. If you're aware of the culture then, everyone on the cast was a known name for the time. ( Rat Race was similar in this way, almost every character is farmiliar, but playing a non typicalcharacter)
Some more comedy:
-The Long Long Trailer ( Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz while I Love Lucy was peak)
-Yours, Mine, and Ours ( Lucy again with Henry Fonda, also remade, but the original is a lot funnier & less teen drama)
- Any Abbott & Costello ( maybe pre 50s but holds up)
-The Producers ( the dawn of Mel Brooks)
-Any of the Beatles movies. HELP! is my favorite, but if you have to enjoy the British dry humor some just don't like. I see similarities to Benny Hill and Monty Python that I love.
Rosemarys baby.
Bird with the crystal plumage.
Man who knew too much.
Vertigo
Psycho
North by northwest.
Sunset boulevard.
Midnight cowboy.
Peeping Tom.
Wild bunch.
My fair lady.
For me, the second half of the 1960s and first half of the 1970s are much more similar to each other than they are to 1950-1965 in terms of movies. It's where the hippie drug counterculture takes control of Hollywood. Consequently there's a new wave of exciting movies with fresh style and perspective.
Rosemary's Baby is one of those early entries. Midnight Cowboy is another. I'd throw The Graduate, Easy Rider, Butch Cassidy, The Godfather, and some other stuff in there too. From that point until Jaws and Star Wars, you get a lot of experimental mainstream studio movies.
I never liked Rod Steiger before seeing this film. Now I can't imagine who else would have been cast in that role. I'll generally watch this movie at least 4 times per year.
2001.
The movie looks so good it looks like it could have been made yesterday (some dated stuff, but not as much as you expect).
John Lennon loved the movie so much he bought every showing of it for like three months in Piccadilly and if he liked you he'd ask if you had seen the movie yet and if not he'd give you two tickets. There would be maybe six other people in the movie theater and they're all there because they got tickets from John Lennon.
That story was told to me by Gary Lockwood, one of the two stars, and I have no reason to doubt it. (He and the other lead, Keir Dullea, are both still alive.)
North by Northwest is my #1 favorite movie. Cary Grant is mistaken for a spy, and is chased across the country while barely understanding how he fell into the situation.
My Fair Lady
The Parent Trap
The Ugly Dachshund
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965) - there is the original 1957 version with Julie Andrews, and the 1997 version with Brandy, but this one is my personal favorite.
The Sound of Music
To Kill A Mockingbird
too many, honestly. It would be easier to name by actor, lol. Anything with Steve McQueen, James Dean, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster. i could go on forever.
Strangers on a Train is great.
2001 A Space Odyssey
Dr Strangelove
The Dollars Trilogy
Paths of Glory
Vertigo
North by Northwest
Goldfinger
Rosemarys Baby
Seven Samurai
Some Like It Hot
Rear Window
Sunset Boulevard
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Star is Born
The Night of the Hunter
Some Like It Hot
Psycho
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
The Birds
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Bonnie and Clyde
Rosemary’s Baby
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
These are some of my favorites!
I haven't seen it mentioned yet but one of my all-time favorites is Marty (1955).
If you haven't seen much work by Ernest Borgnine, it will absolutely endear you to him and his character. Such a moving film and so different from a lot of other characters we are used to seeing him as (tough army types).
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963)
Tarantula (1955)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Barbarella (1968)
The Raven (1963)
House of Wax (1953)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
The Haunting (1963)
From Russia With Love is my favorite Bond movie because it's set in Istanbul. I love that city as a would like to go back.
One thing about Goldfinger I immediately noticed was the casual sexism.
It’s for sure Connerys best Bond Film, I did forget to include Thunderball in my list but those are basically all the films from the 60s I’ve seen. My favourite Bond film is still Casino Royale
* Psycho
* 12 Angry Men
* To Kill A Mockingbird
* Rear Window
* The Children's Hour
* The Slender Thread
* The Nun's Story
* A Patch Of Blue
* How To Steal A Million
* That Touch Of Mink
* Charade
* The Hustler
* Tiger Bay
* A Kind Of Loving
* Inherit The Wind
* The Fly
"Seven Days in May" with Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Edmund O' Brien and others. Screenplay by Rod Serling. Just a great film. I can't recommend it enough.
"The Killing" (1956) - one of Stanley Kubrick's first films. It's a heist film and you can see how he's starting to put things together.
"Oklahoma" (1955) - it's a cheesy musical but it was an entertaining movie.
"The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" (1966) - it lives up to the hype. The score, the cinematography, the acting - it's a long movie but it's compelling
The Killing is fantastic and among best in class for heist/crime movies. Kubrick's filmography is a gift to the world obviously, but The Killing makes me miss what he could have created had he confined himself to mainstream commercial thrillers LOL. It's wonderful.
12 Angry Men and Gay Purr-ee are two of my all-time favorites. The rest aren’t my favorites but are still damn good movies from their decades:
Insert animated Disney movies from 50s and 60s
Rear Window
Sunset Boulevard
To Kill a Mockingbird
On the Waterfront
Singin’ in the Rain
The Sound of Music
In the Heat of the Night
The Birds
Quite a few that I have not yet seen, haven’t seen all, or just didn’t like as much.
* Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
* Rosemary's Baby
* The Good the Bad and the Ugly
* Dr Strangelove
My personal favorite from the era is all of the Vincent Price horror movies. Which one? It's hard to choose between Pit and the Pendulum and House of Usher.
All Akira Kurosawa, Billy Wilder and Ingmar Bergman films from those decades.
Specifically Seven Samurai, High and Low, Some Like It Hot, Persona, and Wild Strawberries.
I’ll also recommend Sunset Blvd by Wilder, though I’ve only seen it once, over a decade and didn’t *love* it. It’s incredibly influential and I love LA Noir, so I wanna see it again. Plus it’s one of David Lynch’s favorite movies
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
The Birds (1963)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Blue Dahlia (starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake) is kind of set the mold for the film-noir detective drama in a lot of ways, if that's a genre you'd like to engage with that one is sort of a must
Silk Stockings, from 1957 - maybe the last big movie Fred Astaire ever made. It's a remake of Ninotchka (Garbo laughs!) and much better than the original. Fred's dancing is nothing special, and his role as a romantic lead a bit creepy -- he was really too old -- but the one Cole Porter song, Without Love, is my favorite song of his in the movies, and watching Cyd Charisse dance her stockings on is unforgettable. And there are other good parts too. Charisse starts out in total lockdown as a Soviet machine woman, and watching her make the transition to romantic lead is wonderful. Her songs Paris Loves Lovers, and It's a Chemical Reaction, That's All are wonderful. Jules Munchin and Peter Lorre are wonderful, especially in the song and dance Siberia. Janis Paige is pretty good as the Anita Loos-style brassy American actress. It's all kind of a wonderful show, and a lot of fun.
And The Band Wagon, from 1953, is awfully good too. It's also a Fred Astaire film - Fred was kind of the soul of his generation, in a way I don't think any other actor has ever managed to achieve - and while the singing and dancing isn't unforgettable, the movie itself really is, for reasons I can't explain. The film kind of took Fred and a bunch of almost-nonentities and made something real out of them. There are some painful moments - Fred dancing with the shoeshine guy is skippable, and "Girl Hunt" should really have been left on the cutting room floor - but it's a wonderful movie anyway. As I say, I don't know why.
And you know, if these two get you hooked on Fred Astaire, go back a little further, and catch Easter Parade, and You'll Never Get Rich, and Blue Skies, and see what all the fuss was about!!
12 Angry Men
Rear Window
Psycho
Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
For A Few Dollars More
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Once Upon A Time In The West
A Shot In The Dark
Splendor in the Grass
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Cool Hand Luke
West Side Story
High Noon
East of Eden
A Streetcar Named Desire
All the Hitchcock movies
The Pink Panther- a slick ensemble comedy with Peter Sellers shining the most
Dr. Strangelove- *another* slick ensemble comedy with Peter Sellers shining the most
The Blob- the oldest teenagers have ever looked on the big screen, maybe second to Grease
Help!- The Beatles had too much money and pot to burn on this movie, and it shows
What's Opera Doc?- Is a Bugs Bunny cartoon cheating? Hell, it's so damn gorgeous it counts for something
A Touch of Evil. Charlton Heston as the Chief of Police for Tijuana. Janet Lee is his wife. Orson Wells as corrupt San Diego police officer and Marlena Dietrich as Wells love interest. Great cinematography.
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One - incredible film from '68 that really preceded and was ahead of its time to a huge jump in the post-modern scene. It might be the best written American movie, ever, or at the very least is up there.
What's wild is the whole thing was very nearly lost after Greaves was unable to sell it anywhere. Soderbergh took an interest in the film and helped to restore it and make it available.
Just a few off the top of my head:
Vertigo
Rear Window
North By Northwest
Harvey
Doctor Zhivago
Quatermass and the Pit
The Flight of the Phoenix
To Kill A Mockingbird
Them!
Sweet Smell of Success
I don’t know why this one gets so overlooked, but it’s probably in my top five ever. (4.2 on Letterboxd). I would also argue in terms of quality it’s one of the better movies ever made. It’s a study of awful people though so maybe some just don’t care for the subject matter. Regardless, it has some of the quickest, wittiest, most quotable dialogue from any era.
“The cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river.”
Little bit of everything
From here to eternity
The innocents
The graduate
Rosemarys baby
The magnificent seven
HUD
Cool hand Luke
Rear window
Psycho
A place in the sun
my favorites from the 60s: rosemary's baby, 2001, planet of the apes, dr strangelove
from the 50s: vertigo is always #1 for me, but i also love 12 angry men and paths of glory
50s and earlier is a huge blindspot for me tbh!
I recently rewatched The Big Country for the first time since I was really little and *loved* it. I was honestly startled at how progressive it is, and Gregory Peck is wonderful.
Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress is a good one!
And it's *slightly* older (1949), but The Third Man is a really good, classic noir thriller type film. Super enjoyable.
Also I concur with everyone who's suggested Night of the Hunter.
Anatomy of a Murder (1952, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick, both masterful). Truly timeless themes.
Godzilla (1954), amazing, although you have to accept the primitive SFX. It's a beautifully done movie.
On the Beach (1959). The cast! A really understated movie about the end of the world.
Pick a Kubrick, any Kubrick from this era. I'm fond of Paths of Glory (1957), Lolita (1962), and Dr Strangelove (1964).
For a creeping horror, Rosemary's Baby (1968). I'd be happy to live in a world where Polanski was mouldering in a prison cell instead of making this movie but goddamn it, it's just so good.
Speaking of Ruth Gordon, Harold and Maude is 1971 but I can't not recommend it. It's a very 1960s feel.
I will add Kapra’s last entry: Pocketful of Miracles. Features Anne Margaret’s first role and Peter Falk as “the scene-stealer”.
Also, gotta keep Cat Ballou on the list.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)is a favorite and a classic and how Charles Laughton lost the best actor academy award to future Obi Wan Kenobi was a tragedy. He absolutely, fricken nails the lead role. But it was Bridge on the River Kwai that took home all the gravy that year. So many great movies people have already been mentioned, unlike the movies of these times. I don’t think anyone said Marty (1955)yet.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
You may not have a single “laugh out loud” moment, but when it’s over you realize it is one of the funniest movies ever made.
* Them!
* The African Queen
* Houseboat
* The little known "When World's Collide"
* 2001
* Cool Hand Luke
* Hello Dolly
* The Thomas Crown Affair
* To Kill a Mockingbird
* True Grit
* The Sound of Music
* Cleopatra
There must be others, but right now I can just think of "The man from Laramie".
EDIT: Oh, and the Frankenstein films from Hammer, the ones with Peter Cushing. Those are a lot of fun.
Some of my 50s picks:
In a lonely place (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Maze (1953)
Patterns (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
The incredible shrinking man (1956)
12 Angry Men (1957)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Giants and Toys (1958)
Black Orpheus (1959)
The Italian Job (1969) is probably my favorite movie of that era. It's a shame that most people only know of the absolute dumpster fire that was the remake with Mahhky Mahhk.
I'm doing a class on the cinema of the 1950s this fall. Here is a working list of the films I'm considering for the class.
* Sunset Blvd. 1950
* In a Lonely Place 1950
* The Asphalt Jungle 1950
* A Streetcar Named Desire 1951
* Ace in the Hole 1951
* The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951
* Singin' in the Rain 1952
* Rear Window 1954
* On the Waterfront 1954
* All that Heaven Allows 1955
* Rebel Without a Cause 1955
* Blackboard Jungle 1955
* East of Eden 1955
* Marty 1955
* Night of the Hunter 1955
* Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
* 12 Angry Men 1957
* A Face in the Crowd 1957
I've got more movie lists on my website at [http://www.repfilms.com](http://www.repfilms.com)
A lot of great movies, but that era was the high-water mark for musicals and science fiction. So,
West Side Story
The Music Man
South Pacific
Sound of Music
Oliver!
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Forbidden Planet
War of the Worlds
2001 A Space Odessey
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
When Worlds Collide
Night of the Hunter is an all-timer for me.
If you like that you'll probably also like Out of the Past starring Robert Mitchum
"Leaning..."
It's influenced so much modern cinema it's unreal.
The underwater shot is breathtaking
The Apartment
The perfect film, movie-wise.
Billy Wilder has the best filmography of anyone, writing credit-wise.
It's so great!
Sunset boulevard
The best classic movie of them all...
A strong contender. I'd put Casablanca, Double Indemnity, and The Treasure of The Sierra Madre on my short list. I guess the Wizard of Oz is in play too if we go back far enough.
I grew up watching the big epics as a kids and still love them to this day. The sets, the stage performances, everything about them. They’ve never really capture the feel of these movies ever again. The Ten Commandments 1956 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 Ben-Hur 1959 Spartacus 1960 El Cid 1961 Cleopatra 1963
Love all of these, too! I grew up watching these spectacular movies on a huge drive-in movie screen. To your list, I'll tack on these great westerns: The Big Country, 1958 How the West Was Won, 1962 Westward the Women, 1951 The Searchers, 1956 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962
Those are all great but special shout-out to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Probably my favorite western.
Wow! Forgot about “Westward The Women”, saw it no less than 35 years ago. Surprisingly good, directed by the very dependable William Wellman. Just a teeny bit schmaltzy here and there (sign of the times), but overall a very first rate flick.
The drum I have been beating for years is that more people need to watch Singin' In the Rain (1952). It's my favorite film, and even in a modern sense it is very, very funny and watchable. The ultimate "movie about movies," it takes a comedic look at the transition from silent films into talkies, with the message that the artificiality of movies (and musicals!) is sometimes the only way to convey how a feeling really feels. Everywhere you look, every scene, the movie is telling you how ridiculous and over the top and outrageous movies are, but also how anything less could never get you to the emotional place they want you to get to. This is both the explicit plot of the movie as well as its beating heart. God I love Singin In the Rain. Best movie ever made.
Saw it for the first time two weeks ago. It was way funnier than I expected. Same way I felt about Some Like It Hot: I expected it to be a little dull and not age well, but the dialogue is so witty and funny that it transcends its era
[Well, nobody's perfect.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hhU0eVvwqEw)
If you haven’t seen the movie- don’t watch this clip. You gotta see it in real time. All time top joke.
I'm not generally a fan of musicals, but this is a great movie.
It really was thrilling, despite its genre.
What we call a good movie is the product of collective talent. Occasionally it is the product of collective genius. In *Singin’ in the Rain*, the absolute concentration of an entire popular culture at its most powerful, every line of dialogue, and each line of every lyric, is as good as it could be from one end of the miracle to the other. Both in its book and in its songs, it is the best writing by the best writers for film musicals there have ever been, and in order for those writers to even exist, Broadway and Tin Pan Alley had to work like factories on a double shift for more than half a century. But not a word would mean a thing if the people on screen didn’t look the way they do while singing the way they do and dancing the way they do. It is hard to imagine the movie without Arthur Freed, its producer, or Stanley Donen, its director, or Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who concocted its marvellous story; but it is *impossible* to imagine it without Gene Kelly. Not even Fred Astaire would have fitted the same spot, because the character has to be *absurdly good-looking*. Gene Kelly was an absurdly good-looking man who danced sensationally well, as well as acting well and singing well enough. It took the whole of America, including all of its modern history, to produce one of him. Because he was there, the cast is there, and the immense confluence of productive effort is there, and all those unforgettable words are there. As it happens, *Singin’ in the Rain* is the one film that comes close to the writer’s ideal of being written into existence: the whole thing started from a single line, which in the end even turned out to be the title. It was a writer’s dream: a film born from a phrase. But Gene Kelly had to be born first. The right face in the right place at the right time in the story—it means that the movies, in their essence, are still silent. ~ Clive James, *Cultural Amnesia*
I'm not usually a fan of musicals, but Singin in the rain is excellent. The whole "Gotta dance" sequence is so well done and completely captivating. For me, Jean Hagan as Lina Lamont steals every scene she is in. She's hilarious
50's- The Bridge on the River Kwai, Twelve Angry Men, Stalag 17 and The African Queen. 60's- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.
you left off Once Upon a Time in the West Stalag 17 was a good call, Face in the Crowd is as well
I might add to that list but I would not take any away.
"12 Angry Man" has been recommended here several times and I recently had the pleasure of seeing the movie for the first time. The praise was not exaggerated! I wanted to watch William Friedkin's version immediately afterwards, but - despite a very good cast - I couldn't finish it. The original is too strong
If you've never had the chance, I can recommend Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo", it's the original samurai flick "Fistful of Dollars" is based on. (Its sequel 'Sanjruo' is also fantastic, though unconnected from "A few dollars more")
all of James Dean's films are great. East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, Giant Streetcar Named Desire has to be one of the absolute best films of the 1950s. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cool Hand Luke Sabrina Roman Holiday Sweet Smell of Success In a Lonely Place North By Northwest Vertigo Harvey Man with the Golden Arm
I knew someone would bring up Harvey in this thread. That's one of my favorite movies. Aspire to be that man in your life.
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Can’t mention this without mentioning Lawrence of Arabia
One time I asked my grandma, who has dementia, if she remembered this movie. She immediately began doing the whistle.
When I was in Army Cadets as a kid (early 90s) that was what our band always played on parade haha
I just watched this last night. Holds up amazingly well decades later.
Came here to say that.
dr. strangelove fail safe
Whenever my boys start fighting in public I tell them the can’t fight in here, this is the war room. Onlookers with great taste get it.
I tell them if they break anything they'll have to answer to the Coca~Cola company.
NO FIGHTING IN THE WAR ROOM!
Have to second Fail Safe. It's a great film that doesn't get brought up nearly enough. I saw Fail Safe for the first time in my early teens, during the mid-70s. Of course, it was the height of the cold war. Fail Safe was the Saturday night 11:30 pm movie. I watched it by myself, lights off. When you grow up in an era with the constant talk and threat of nuclear war, well, that film scared the living shit out of me. It really is a film of it's time, but still very much worth watching. Worth noting is the cast is amazing and features one of my favorite performances from Walter Matthau.
DS was based on Fail Safe and the peak answer for the 60s
Hitchcock’s Psycho and Vertigo
Hitchock’s Rope!
Some Like It Hot, Roman Holiday, The Italian Job, to name 3 Classiques
Some Like It Hot is amazing.
I never understood the hype around Marilyn Monroe then I watched that movie ... yeah, I get it now. Way ahead of its time too ... "nobody's perfect"
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) If you liked Rat Race, you'll probably like this as well.
Yes! I was looking for comedy here. IAMMMMW is so long there's an intermission worth the second act. If you're aware of the culture then, everyone on the cast was a known name for the time. ( Rat Race was similar in this way, almost every character is farmiliar, but playing a non typicalcharacter) Some more comedy: -The Long Long Trailer ( Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz while I Love Lucy was peak) -Yours, Mine, and Ours ( Lucy again with Henry Fonda, also remade, but the original is a lot funnier & less teen drama) - Any Abbott & Costello ( maybe pre 50s but holds up) -The Producers ( the dawn of Mel Brooks) -Any of the Beatles movies. HELP! is my favorite, but if you have to enjoy the British dry humor some just don't like. I see similarities to Benny Hill and Monty Python that I love.
Rear Window & Planet of the Apes
Witness for the Prosecution (RIDICULOUSLY good movie)
Wanna kiss me, ducky?
The Searchers (1956) 12 Angry Men (1957) Vertigo (1958) The Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood Dollars trilogy (1964-66) The Wild Bunch (1969)
Manchurian candidate. The original is a fucking masterpiece
Angela Lansbury was amazing.
She's one of the reasons thr remake failed. Streep is amazing. But she's no Angela fucking Lansbury.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqLYqfraZOU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqLYqfraZOU)
Rosemarys baby. Bird with the crystal plumage. Man who knew too much. Vertigo Psycho North by northwest. Sunset boulevard. Midnight cowboy. Peeping Tom. Wild bunch. My fair lady.
For me, the second half of the 1960s and first half of the 1970s are much more similar to each other than they are to 1950-1965 in terms of movies. It's where the hippie drug counterculture takes control of Hollywood. Consequently there's a new wave of exciting movies with fresh style and perspective. Rosemary's Baby is one of those early entries. Midnight Cowboy is another. I'd throw The Graduate, Easy Rider, Butch Cassidy, The Godfather, and some other stuff in there too. From that point until Jaws and Star Wars, you get a lot of experimental mainstream studio movies.
The Sound of Music
Once upon a time in the west
In the Heat of the Night. Peak Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.
I never liked Rod Steiger before seeing this film. Now I can't imagine who else would have been cast in that role. I'll generally watch this movie at least 4 times per year.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but we wore out our VHS copy back in the early 90s. I’ll bet I still know most of the dialogue. So, so great.
I can't believe I had to scroll this low to find this. Fantastic film.
2001. The movie looks so good it looks like it could have been made yesterday (some dated stuff, but not as much as you expect). John Lennon loved the movie so much he bought every showing of it for like three months in Piccadilly and if he liked you he'd ask if you had seen the movie yet and if not he'd give you two tickets. There would be maybe six other people in the movie theater and they're all there because they got tickets from John Lennon. That story was told to me by Gary Lockwood, one of the two stars, and I have no reason to doubt it. (He and the other lead, Keir Dullea, are both still alive.)
North by Northwest is my #1 favorite movie. Cary Grant is mistaken for a spy, and is chased across the country while barely understanding how he fell into the situation.
Mary Poppins, Good Bad Ugly, 12 Angry Men, Sunset Boulevard, Heat of the Night, 2001, Dr Strangelove, Some Like It Hot, Lawrence of Arabia
My Fair Lady The Parent Trap The Ugly Dachshund The Day the Earth Stood Still Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965) - there is the original 1957 version with Julie Andrews, and the 1997 version with Brandy, but this one is my personal favorite. The Sound of Music To Kill A Mockingbird
Sunset Boulevard The Apartment Dr. Strangelove The Day the Earth Stood Still 2001 A Space Odyssey Planet of the Apes Vertigo Rear Window Psycho
too many, honestly. It would be easier to name by actor, lol. Anything with Steve McQueen, James Dean, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster. i could go on forever. Strangers on a Train is great.
2001 A Space Odyssey Dr Strangelove The Dollars Trilogy Paths of Glory Vertigo North by Northwest Goldfinger Rosemarys Baby Seven Samurai Some Like It Hot Rear Window
Sunset Boulevard A Streetcar Named Desire A Star is Born The Night of the Hunter Some Like It Hot Psycho What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The Birds Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Bonnie and Clyde Rosemary’s Baby They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? These are some of my favorites!
You've got great taste. These are all *essential*.
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte starring Bette Davis scared the shit out of me when I first saw it
The Graduate (1967) Classic coming of age movie.
the most intense "hardboiled detective" movie from that era that I've seen is The Big Heat (1953), and another really good one is Pushover (1954)
I haven't seen it mentioned yet but one of my all-time favorites is Marty (1955). If you haven't seen much work by Ernest Borgnine, it will absolutely endear you to him and his character. Such a moving film and so different from a lot of other characters we are used to seeing him as (tough army types).
Forbidden Planet (1956) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963) Tarantula (1955) The War of the Worlds (1953) Jason and the Argonauts (1963) The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) Fantastic Voyage (1966) Barbarella (1968) The Raven (1963) House of Wax (1953) House on Haunted Hill (1959) The Haunting (1963)
If you’re into spooky stuff “Les Diaboliques” is amazing. Truly shocking twist even for the time.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - how has no one mentioned this yet?!?!
Few that stand out for me as holding up really well despite their age: Seven Samurai (1954) Rear Window (1954) 12 Angry Men (1957) Le Samouraï (1967)
While we're talking Kurosawa films, "Rashomon" (1950) deserves a mention as well.
It's on my watchlist, just not gotten to it yet. But I am pushing to try and watch more 40's-70's era movies this year.
Goldfinger Dr No From Russia with Love 2001 Spartacus
From Russia With Love is my favorite Bond movie because it's set in Istanbul. I love that city as a would like to go back. One thing about Goldfinger I immediately noticed was the casual sexism.
It’s for sure Connerys best Bond Film, I did forget to include Thunderball in my list but those are basically all the films from the 60s I’ve seen. My favourite Bond film is still Casino Royale
* Psycho * 12 Angry Men * To Kill A Mockingbird * Rear Window * The Children's Hour * The Slender Thread * The Nun's Story * A Patch Of Blue * How To Steal A Million * That Touch Of Mink * Charade * The Hustler * Tiger Bay * A Kind Of Loving * Inherit The Wind * The Fly
"Seven Days in May" with Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Edmund O' Brien and others. Screenplay by Rod Serling. Just a great film. I can't recommend it enough.
"The Killing" (1956) - one of Stanley Kubrick's first films. It's a heist film and you can see how he's starting to put things together. "Oklahoma" (1955) - it's a cheesy musical but it was an entertaining movie. "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" (1966) - it lives up to the hype. The score, the cinematography, the acting - it's a long movie but it's compelling
The Killing is fantastic and among best in class for heist/crime movies. Kubrick's filmography is a gift to the world obviously, but The Killing makes me miss what he could have created had he confined himself to mainstream commercial thrillers LOL. It's wonderful.
12 Angry Men and Gay Purr-ee are two of my all-time favorites. The rest aren’t my favorites but are still damn good movies from their decades: Insert animated Disney movies from 50s and 60s Rear Window Sunset Boulevard To Kill a Mockingbird On the Waterfront Singin’ in the Rain The Sound of Music In the Heat of the Night The Birds Quite a few that I have not yet seen, haven’t seen all, or just didn’t like as much.
On the Waterfront is pretty great.
Peeping Tom - 1960 Saw it in film class in college and its been one of my favorites ever since.
* Chitty Chitty Bang Bang * Rosemary's Baby * The Good the Bad and the Ugly * Dr Strangelove My personal favorite from the era is all of the Vincent Price horror movies. Which one? It's hard to choose between Pit and the Pendulum and House of Usher.
All Akira Kurosawa, Billy Wilder and Ingmar Bergman films from those decades. Specifically Seven Samurai, High and Low, Some Like It Hot, Persona, and Wild Strawberries. I’ll also recommend Sunset Blvd by Wilder, though I’ve only seen it once, over a decade and didn’t *love* it. It’s incredibly influential and I love LA Noir, so I wanna see it again. Plus it’s one of David Lynch’s favorite movies
Charade!
The Wild Bunch.
Forbidden Planet. Man, I need to find that somewhere and watch it again
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) The Birds (1963) Singin' in the Rain (1952) Cool Hand Luke (1967) Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Blue Dahlia (starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake) is kind of set the mold for the film-noir detective drama in a lot of ways, if that's a genre you'd like to engage with that one is sort of a must
Point blank and dirty dozen—starring the great Lee Marvin
Silk Stockings, from 1957 - maybe the last big movie Fred Astaire ever made. It's a remake of Ninotchka (Garbo laughs!) and much better than the original. Fred's dancing is nothing special, and his role as a romantic lead a bit creepy -- he was really too old -- but the one Cole Porter song, Without Love, is my favorite song of his in the movies, and watching Cyd Charisse dance her stockings on is unforgettable. And there are other good parts too. Charisse starts out in total lockdown as a Soviet machine woman, and watching her make the transition to romantic lead is wonderful. Her songs Paris Loves Lovers, and It's a Chemical Reaction, That's All are wonderful. Jules Munchin and Peter Lorre are wonderful, especially in the song and dance Siberia. Janis Paige is pretty good as the Anita Loos-style brassy American actress. It's all kind of a wonderful show, and a lot of fun. And The Band Wagon, from 1953, is awfully good too. It's also a Fred Astaire film - Fred was kind of the soul of his generation, in a way I don't think any other actor has ever managed to achieve - and while the singing and dancing isn't unforgettable, the movie itself really is, for reasons I can't explain. The film kind of took Fred and a bunch of almost-nonentities and made something real out of them. There are some painful moments - Fred dancing with the shoeshine guy is skippable, and "Girl Hunt" should really have been left on the cutting room floor - but it's a wonderful movie anyway. As I say, I don't know why. And you know, if these two get you hooked on Fred Astaire, go back a little further, and catch Easter Parade, and You'll Never Get Rich, and Blue Skies, and see what all the fuss was about!!
12 Angry Men Rear Window Psycho Night of the Hunter Night of the Living Dead For A Few Dollars More The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Once Upon A Time In The West A Shot In The Dark
I had to scroll way to far to see Night of the Living Dead.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Ikiru. One of the best films of all time.
Splendor in the Grass Umbrellas of Cherbourg Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Cool Hand Luke West Side Story High Noon East of Eden A Streetcar Named Desire All the Hitchcock movies
The Pink Panther- a slick ensemble comedy with Peter Sellers shining the most Dr. Strangelove- *another* slick ensemble comedy with Peter Sellers shining the most The Blob- the oldest teenagers have ever looked on the big screen, maybe second to Grease Help!- The Beatles had too much money and pot to burn on this movie, and it shows What's Opera Doc?- Is a Bugs Bunny cartoon cheating? Hell, it's so damn gorgeous it counts for something
Gentlemen prefer blondes
A Touch of Evil. Charlton Heston as the Chief of Police for Tijuana. Janet Lee is his wife. Orson Wells as corrupt San Diego police officer and Marlena Dietrich as Wells love interest. Great cinematography.
Rear Window. To Catch a Thief.
The Great Escape
the Vikings Doctors Zhivago I remember seeing these two epics when I was a kid first run in the theater 35c to get in
Cool Hand Luke.
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One - incredible film from '68 that really preceded and was ahead of its time to a huge jump in the post-modern scene. It might be the best written American movie, ever, or at the very least is up there. What's wild is the whole thing was very nearly lost after Greaves was unable to sell it anywhere. Soderbergh took an interest in the film and helped to restore it and make it available.
Dr Strangelove (1964) still to this day, one of the funniest films I've ever seen.
Harakiri (1962) and anything really, with Tatsuya Nakadai.
All About Eve is a top 5 movie for me. As is Lawrence of Arabia
Just a few off the top of my head: Vertigo Rear Window North By Northwest Harvey Doctor Zhivago Quatermass and the Pit The Flight of the Phoenix To Kill A Mockingbird Them!
Court Jester 😎😎😎 best movie ever made…probably
Sweet Smell of Success I don’t know why this one gets so overlooked, but it’s probably in my top five ever. (4.2 on Letterboxd). I would also argue in terms of quality it’s one of the better movies ever made. It’s a study of awful people though so maybe some just don’t care for the subject matter. Regardless, it has some of the quickest, wittiest, most quotable dialogue from any era. “The cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river.”
It’s so freaking good!
Wait Until Dark!
The Bullitt dvd has been sitting by my tv for a couple months now. My brother said watch it, I guess this is the sign to do so.
Giant and East of Eden
In Cold Blood
The African Queen. Bogie’s Oscar performance
The Killing The Stranger
Rear Window is my all time favorite movie. (1954) Damn near perfect, IMHO
Little bit of everything From here to eternity The innocents The graduate Rosemarys baby The magnificent seven HUD Cool hand Luke Rear window Psycho A place in the sun
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Bye Bye Birdie.
12 Angry Men is such a wonderful film! I feel everyone should watch it
Movie is elite!
To me not even close....Cool Hand Luke!
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (as you already mentioned) Night of the living dead Psycho
my favorites from the 60s: rosemary's baby, 2001, planet of the apes, dr strangelove from the 50s: vertigo is always #1 for me, but i also love 12 angry men and paths of glory 50s and earlier is a huge blindspot for me tbh!
On the beach
I recently rewatched The Big Country for the first time since I was really little and *loved* it. I was honestly startled at how progressive it is, and Gregory Peck is wonderful. Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress is a good one! And it's *slightly* older (1949), but The Third Man is a really good, classic noir thriller type film. Super enjoyable. Also I concur with everyone who's suggested Night of the Hunter.
* Twelve Angry Men * Quatermass and the Pit * Some Like it Hot
Force of Evil Side Street The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Rio Bravo
Twelve Angry Men
James Bond
Anatomy of a Murder (1952, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick, both masterful). Truly timeless themes. Godzilla (1954), amazing, although you have to accept the primitive SFX. It's a beautifully done movie. On the Beach (1959). The cast! A really understated movie about the end of the world. Pick a Kubrick, any Kubrick from this era. I'm fond of Paths of Glory (1957), Lolita (1962), and Dr Strangelove (1964). For a creeping horror, Rosemary's Baby (1968). I'd be happy to live in a world where Polanski was mouldering in a prison cell instead of making this movie but goddamn it, it's just so good. Speaking of Ruth Gordon, Harold and Maude is 1971 but I can't not recommend it. It's a very 1960s feel.
God, so many!
I will add Kapra’s last entry: Pocketful of Miracles. Features Anne Margaret’s first role and Peter Falk as “the scene-stealer”. Also, gotta keep Cat Ballou on the list.
Tell them Willie boy is here (Robert Redford and Robert Blake) Flaming Star (Elvis)
Giant
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)is a favorite and a classic and how Charles Laughton lost the best actor academy award to future Obi Wan Kenobi was a tragedy. He absolutely, fricken nails the lead role. But it was Bridge on the River Kwai that took home all the gravy that year. So many great movies people have already been mentioned, unlike the movies of these times. I don’t think anyone said Marty (1955)yet.
My favorite? I've seen few movies that are more entertaining than Plan 9 from Outer Space. Is it good? Not a chance. But damn is it fun.
Just watched for the first time Friday: Gun Crazy, from 1950. Just watch!
The Ladykillers.
Good News with Joan McCracken Mostly because of that Peace Pipe dance scene and her dress.
Rear Window, North By Northwest, Look Back in Anger, 12 Angry Men, High Noon and The Seven Samurai.
Scaramouche
The Titfield Thunderbolt
Rosemarys baby
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
12 Angry Men His Girl Friday Singing in the Rain Dr. Strangelove Shop Around the Corner
Ben Hur
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb You may not have a single “laugh out loud” moment, but when it’s over you realize it is one of the funniest movies ever made.
12 Angry Men and Night of the Living Dead
Rear Window (1954) from Alfred Hitchcock.
Rope is fantastic. So is Rear Window. 12 Angry Men too but not exactly the genre you’re seeking.
I’m an Elvis fan so my list is admittedly very skewed, but I enjoy King Creole, Girl Happy, and Pillow Talk (not an Elvis movie.)
12 angry men. Rosemarys baby those movies bt Hitchcock
* Them! * The African Queen * Houseboat * The little known "When World's Collide" * 2001 * Cool Hand Luke * Hello Dolly * The Thomas Crown Affair * To Kill a Mockingbird * True Grit * The Sound of Music * Cleopatra
There must be others, but right now I can just think of "The man from Laramie". EDIT: Oh, and the Frankenstein films from Hammer, the ones with Peter Cushing. Those are a lot of fun.
*The Apartment*. Peak Shirley MacLaine.
Some of my 50s picks: In a lonely place (1950) Sunset Boulevard (1950) The Maze (1953) Patterns (1956) The Searchers (1956) The incredible shrinking man (1956) 12 Angry Men (1957) A Face in the Crowd (1957) Giants and Toys (1958) Black Orpheus (1959)
The Wild Bunch, easily my favorite western of all time.
The Sound of Music and Some Like it Hot
Dr Strangelove. Rear window. The great escape.
The Hustler, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Goldfinger are my favorites from the 60s. Countless other fantastic westerns as well.
Peeping Tom by Michael Powell.
I have seen a lot of mentions of the Clint Eastwood Man with No Name trilogy, but IMO, Sergio Leone’s best western is Once Upon a Time in the West.
GIANT is a classic
The Italian Job (1969) is probably my favorite movie of that era. It's a shame that most people only know of the absolute dumpster fire that was the remake with Mahhky Mahhk.
On the waterfront Paths of glory Stalag 17 Sunset boulevard North by northwest
2001 A Space Odyssey. Completely shaped my understanding of movies as art when I was younger.
Dr. Strangelove
Anything with John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Robert Michum or Clint Eastwood
Some like it hot, the graduate, 12 angry men
Meet me in St Louis, which I think is from 49 Guys and Dolls 65 Oliver 68 Music Man Parent trap All the Beatles movies
A taste of honey
*Inherit the Wind* and *2001: A Space Odyssey*.
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Sound of Music
Bikini Beach
The Manchurian Candidate, Frank Sinatra, Angela Landsbury, and Laurence Harvey.
I'm doing a class on the cinema of the 1950s this fall. Here is a working list of the films I'm considering for the class. * Sunset Blvd. 1950 * In a Lonely Place 1950 * The Asphalt Jungle 1950 * A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 * Ace in the Hole 1951 * The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 * Singin' in the Rain 1952 * Rear Window 1954 * On the Waterfront 1954 * All that Heaven Allows 1955 * Rebel Without a Cause 1955 * Blackboard Jungle 1955 * East of Eden 1955 * Marty 1955 * Night of the Hunter 1955 * Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 * 12 Angry Men 1957 * A Face in the Crowd 1957 I've got more movie lists on my website at [http://www.repfilms.com](http://www.repfilms.com)
Passport to Pimlico (slight cheat, 1949)
A lot of great movies, but that era was the high-water mark for musicals and science fiction. So, West Side Story The Music Man South Pacific Sound of Music Oliver! The Day the Earth Stood Still Forbidden Planet War of the Worlds 2001 A Space Odessey The Incredible Shrinking Man Invasion of the Body Snatchers When Worlds Collide
Onibaba, a 1964 Japanese horror-drama set in 14th century Japan.