Best Golden Age Films??

[Aggie]

since blackdragon gave us the opportunity to rip "oldies", let's take the opportunity to rave about them...i'll start it off:

-jezabel

-double indemminity

-pick a chaplin ...<most are pretty damn fine>

-the pawn broker...<though technically not a golden age flick...it is b&w and is one of the best movies i've ever seen>

-my little chickadee

-arsenic and old lace

-kitty foyle

-stage door

-lifeboat

[the film freak]

Personal Faves that just came to mind.

King Kong
Bringing Up Baby
Stagecoach
Touch of Evil
Sierra Madre
Casablanca
Ace in the Hole (I need a DVD version)
Some Like It Hot
Sunset Boulevard
Sullivan's Travels
High Noon

Man it's so hard to choose. There's too many good movies from that era. I haven't even hit Hitchcock or the silent films.

[ragnarok_2012]

Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
Manchurian Candidate
Mark of Zorro
Stalag 17

[Buzz Dixon]

GREED -- it's long, but worth it

METROPOLIS -- fully restored version

THINGS TO COME

Some Cecile B. DeMille epics:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (silent)
CLEOPATRA
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (original, not truncated re-release)
UNION PACIFIC
REAP THE WILD WIND
MADAME SATAN

The following films are much shorter, some only a hour in length.

Lon Chaney's collaborations with Tod Browning:
WEST OF ZANZIBAR
THE UNKNOWN
THE UNHOLY THREE (1925 version)
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (Chaney w/o Browning, but still pretty good)

Laurel & Hardy:
SONS OF THE DESERT
THE MUSIC BOX (short)
3 A.M. (short)
ANOTHER FINE MESS (short)
HELPMATES (short)

THREE ON A MATCH -- very fast paced melodrama
MYSTERY OF THE WAY MUSEUM

The Marx Brothers first 6 films:
ANIMAL CRACKERS
THE COCONUTS
HORSE FEATHERS
DUCK SOUP
MONKEY BUSINESS
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Most of the above are fast paced and filled with either lotsa laughs or spectacle. But in terms of drama, I would recommend THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS.

[Tony Bang]

Night of The Hunter
Out of the Past
The Asphalt Jungle
Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
Sunset Boulevard
Forbidden Planet

[Chiasm]

These might not be old enough to qualify but oh well, they are amongst the oldest of the old as far as movies I've seen.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly This is one of my favorite movies of all time.

I also like a lot of John Wayne films whose titles I mix up with others now. In the other thread I believe I said something like I hadn't seen many old movies. I forgot about westerns - I did see a lot of them as a kid and I loved the John Wayne ones.

I don't claim that the John Wayne ones are works of art but they hold tremendous popcorn value.

[ragnarok_2012]

These might not be old enough to qualify but oh well, they are amongst the oldest of the old as far as movies I've seen.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly This is one of my favorite movies of all time.

I also like a lot of John Wayne films whose titles I mix up with others now. In the other thread I believe I said something like I hadn't seen many old movies. I forgot about westerns - I did see a lot of them as a kid and I loved the John Wayne ones.

I don't claim that the John Wayne ones are works of art but they hold tremendous popcorn value.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is my favorite Western.

[Scorpion13]

My Favorites....

The Ten Commandments (I dont care what anybody says, I love this movie. Its my favorite Biblical Epic.)

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Dont let the later movies fool you, this movie is dark and depressing as hell. I think, in many ways, Burr's inlcusion in the American cuts enhanced the film. His narration as Godzilla relentlessly destroys Tokyo and kills thousands in haunting)

King Kong (I loved the remake, but while I disagree with many that the new one was too long, I cant argue with the fact that the original was much faster paced.)

Ben-Hur (The defining Bibical Era adventure movie. Fanfiction at its finest.)

12 Angry Men (12 guys just sitting in a room and talking. Marvelous drama and acting)

Once Upon a Time In the West (Not as popular as TG,TBATU, but, IMHO, a better movie. The soundtrack is fantastic. See it if you can find it)

[Bouncing Boy]

Ooooh, too many to think of. Let's see...

Casablanca (of course)
Citizen Kane
Animal Crackers ("One night I shot an elephant in my pajamas, what he was doing in my pajamas I'll never know")
The Gold Rush (I think it's the only Chaplin I've seen. It's fantastic)
Arsnic and Old Lace
Harvey
King Kong
Singing in the Rain
Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney)
Dracula (Bela Lugosi)
Bride of Frankenstein (Much better than Frankenstein)
The Invisible Man (Claude Raines)
Wizard of Oz
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
To Be or Not to Be (Jack Benny)
Man of A Thousand Faces
It's a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
Little Miss Marker

There's probably more I could put on this list, but I can't think of them at this moment. Seeing 12 Angry Men on someone else's list made me move it from #4 to #1 on my netflix queue. I've been meaning to see that movie for almost 20 years.

[The Humanist Hero]

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. For my money they have never made a better Robin Hood pic.

I agree with many of the other ones cited here so I won't repeat them.

[Motormouse]

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Icecold in Alex

633 Squadron

To kill A Mockingbird

First men In the Moon (not too sure how old that is though)

:rolleyes:

[hoffmandu]

I'm gonna go with Hud and The Hustler. And who can forget Reefer Madness. :eek:

[jessecuster]

There's a little known Noir with Burt Lancaster called Criss/Cross that may be better than Maltese Falcon or Double Indemnity.

Also I am a big fan of The Man with the Golden Arm (Frank Sinatra as a heroin addict !)

Aside from those I have wayyy too many to list, I could just make a list of 40's Noir and '50s Sci-Fi that would take me all day.

[clayholio]

I'm a sucker for old Humphrey Bogart films, so Casablanca, Maltese Falcon, and the Big Sleep come immediately to mind. The Treasure of Sierra Madre might be my favorite Bogie film, though.

I love a lot of Akira Kurosawa stuff, especially Seven Samurai. High and Low is also really, really good.

[Jonathan Bogart]

-stage door
Ooh, nice one. That and Libeled Lady are among my favorite churned-out-by-the-studios pictures.

I'm such a snob about classic movies that even the 1940s gets to be too recent, sometimes; the exception is Preston Sturges, particularly Sullivan's Travels.

Ernst Lubitsch's sly "sexual" comedies are also favorites: the Big Five are Trouble in Paradise, To Be or Not to Be, Ninochtka, [/i]Heaven Can Wait[/i], and The Shop Around the Corner; typically, my favorite is Trouble in Paradise, which has the least star power.

Astaire and Rogers; Grant and Hepburn; Powell and Loy; Bogart and Bacall; Cagney and Harlow; Gable and Colbert ... those are some great teams. I'd rather watch a mid-range screwball than the finest Hitchcock thriller or most lavish epic ever made.

[meethraa]

First three that come to mind are The Hustler, The Philadelphia Story and The Bad and the Beautiful, all for personal reasons... but I'd probably answer something else a few days ago or a few days from now.

[Davideaux]

All about Eve

Some Like it Hot

Aunt Mame

[Aggie]

Ooh, nice one. That and Libeled Lady are among my favorite churned-out-by-the-studios pictures.

I'm such a snob about classic movies that even the 1940s gets to be too recent, sometimes; the exception is Preston Sturges, particularly Sullivan's Travels.

Ernst Lubitsch's sly "sexual" comedies are also favorites: the Big Five are Trouble in Paradise, To Be or Not to Be, Ninochtka, [/i]Heaven Can Wait[/i], and The Shop Around the Corner; typically, my favorite is Trouble in Paradise, which has the least star power.

Astaire and Rogers; Grant and Hepburn; Powell and Loy; Bogart and Bacall; Cagney and Harlow; Gable and Colbert ... those are some great teams. I'd rather watch a mid-range screwball than the finest Hitchcock thriller or most lavish epic ever made.


totally forgot about "sullivan's travels"...joel mcrae is excellent in that one and it's a gorgeous film too...i like the screw ball comedies as well...mostly because the chemistry between the leads were great for the most part, not forced like what you see today, plus they knew how to really handle the material as far as pacing and timing...some one listed "39 steps" on the other thread...i actually really like it a lot because it's essencially a screw ball comedy w/ action and suspense thrown in...it's as complete as a film can get, i think.

[Rabid Trekkie]

My Must See List:

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Forbidden Planet
Adventures of Robin Hood (yep Flynn is Robin Hood and no one comes close)
The Pit and the Pendulum
Dracula (Bela Lugosi)
The Mummy (Karloff)
The Wolfman (Raines and Chaney jr.)
The Invisible Man
Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
Dark Passage
The Birds
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Stewart, haven't seen the original yet)
North by North West
Captain Blood
Treasure Island (the Disney one with the best Long John Silver ever)
White Heat
The Manchurian Candidate
Suddenly!
Mark of Zorro (the one with Basil Rathbone)
Arsenic and Old Lace
King Kong
Mighty Joe Young

and a whole host of others that more than deserve a mention but the list is already too long.

[cactusmaac]

Casablanca
Gone With The Wind
Ben-Hur
12 Angy Men
Seven Samurai
Mr Smith Goes To Washington
The Philadelphia Story
Captain Blood
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Marx Brothers movies

I haven't seen High Noon yet, but I'll definitely be putting it on the DVD rental queue.

[SMKSPY]

Any Abbott and Costello

The horror and gangster movies of the 30s

Hell's Angels

Freaks...truely scary movie

[Arilou]

Casablanca: I Looove Casablanca. The "Duelling songs" scene is one of the best in movie history. Damnit, it's such a great movie!

Ninochtka: Funny as hell in it's tragedy. "We are getting fewer but better russians." And the letter that was three pages and all that was not censored was "Dear..." and "I love you". Great movie!

Seven Samurai: Great movie.

[CaptainAwesome]

The Thin Man
The Third Man
The Lady From Shanghai
A touch of Evil
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Wizard of Oz
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (not sure if thats "golden age")

[Buzz Dixon]

Casablanca: I Looove Casablanca. The "Duelling songs" scene is one of the best in movie history.
Director Michael Curtiz lifted the concept from his earlier film, DODGE CITY, in which Civil War vets begin dueling it out with "Marching Through Georgia" and "Dixie" in a crowded saloon with predictable results!

[david r]

Let me give another recommendation for The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West as the two greatest westerns I've ever seen.

I agree with many of these films but one over-looked 40s flick I loved recently was The Devil and Miss. Jones . A must-see.

[Super Hero Guy]

I know these are very popular, but I still think It's A Wonderful Life and Gone With The Wind are two of the greatest films ever (though I have some issues with GWTW...)

The African Queen I found to be surprisingly entertaining, and I think it's one of the few old-style films that could work for today's audiences (NOTE: This does not mean I want to see it remade.) "An Affair To Remember", I liked that one too even if it is a tad "chick-flickish". "Cheaper By The Dozen" the original, was hilarious. Why the hell did they remake this? And the first ever "Christmas Carol" movie, that was pretty dark.

And not sure if this is actually Golden Age, but "The Diary Of Anne Frank" from the late 50's. The scene with the buglar is one of the most suspenceful I've ever seen.

[Buzz Dixon]

When you (rhetorical) say "golden age" what exactly do you mean? To me the golden age was the peak of the Hollywood studio system -- roughly 1922 to 1948. In the late forties the theater chains divested themselves of the studios due to anti-trust lawsuits, TV began making inroads as competition, and actors began following Jimmy Stewart's lead and insisting on a slice of the pie, all of which led to the studios shedding their contract player lists and on-lot producers.

[ponset]

I love musicals. My 5 favorites.

1) Singin in the Rain.
2) The Band Wagon.
3) Easter Parade.
4) The Harvey Girls.
5) On the Town.

[Buzz Dixon]

I love musicals. My 5 favorites.

1) Singin in the Rain.
2) The Band Wagon.
3) Easter Parade.
4) The Harvey Girls.
5) On the Town.
My faves:
1) The Band Wagon
2) Singin' In The Rain
3) Stormy Weather
4) Thoroughly Modern Millie
5) How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

[meethraa]

Just have to add The Band Wagon.

Loved that one.

[Ontir]

Metropolis
the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Rear Window
Some Like it Hot
the Sweet Smell of Success
to Kill a Mockingbird
the Day the Earth Stood Still
Paradise Lost

[EZMOHR]

Wow, well, here we go.....

1. The Ten Commandments(I feel the sentiments of a previous poster...F-U, if you think this movie sucks....It is cool to watch.)

2. Ben-Hur(I love epics.)
3. The Bridge on the River Kwai(The greatest war movie ever.)
4. Shane(One of the greatest westerns EVER.)
5. The Night of the Hunter(Cool freakin twisted movie.)
6. Once Upon a Time in the West(Great movie.)
7. The Charge of the Light Brigade(Has anyone besides me ever seen this movie.)

8. To Kill a Mockingbird(Almost as good as the book.)
9. It's A Wonderful Life(If you hate this movie you don't have a heart.)
10. Harvey(Jimmy Stewart Rocked.)
11. Psycho(Hitchcock's Best Movie.)
12. The Magnificent Seven(I'm the only person on earth that thinks it owns the far less superior Seven Samurai. )

13. The Wizard of Oz(Why do people hate this movie now.)
14. Lawrence of Arabia(First movie I remember seeing.)
15. The Dirty Dozen(When men were men.)
16. The Manchurian Canidate(Dude, Murder she Wrote was evil)
17. The Great Escape(Steve McQueen's best.)
18. Giant(Elizabeth Taylors and James Dean's Best.)
19. Cool Hand Luke(Worth the Egg Scene alone.)
20. The Sting(Not old, but it feels classic.)

Tons more, just the ones I feel like writing about.

[SlightlyMad]

Laurel & Hardy:
SONS OF THE DESERT
THE MUSIC BOX (short)
3 A.M. (short)
ANOTHER FINE MESS (short)
HELPMATES (short)


Don't forget Swiss Miss That's the one where they sing The Trail of the Lonsome Pine - an absolute classic!

I also remember A Chump at Oxford was a classic too. I think that one featured Stan's great "thumb pipe" gag -where he would put some tobacco in his hand, crook his fingers into a loose fist, put his thumb in his mouth, light just above the top finger (with a light from his other thumb!) & smoke his hand like a pipe! :D

BTW Is the The Music Box the one where they're trying to get the piano up the stairs?


I'll think on my other fave B&W movies & post again.

[Buzz Dixon]

7. The Charge of the Light Brigade(Has anyone besides me ever seen this movie.)
Are we talking about the Errol Flynn version or the big budget 60s epic remake? I have seen the former but not the latter. The Flynn version is glorious nonsense, getting just about every single historical detail wrong that one could possibly get wrong (it would be as if a movie about the American Civil War has Joe Stalin defending the Alamo in the middle of it), but is tons o'fun nonetheless. THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, Flynn's other doomed calvary movie, is even more inaccurate but just as enjoyable.

[EZMOHR]

Are we talking about the Errol Flynn version or the big budget 60s epic remake? I have seen the former but not the latter. The Flynn version is glorious nonsense, getting just about every single historical detail wrong that one could possibly get wrong (it would be as if a movie about the American Civil War has Joe Stalin defending the Alamo in the middle of it), but is tons o'fun nonetheless. THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, Flynn's other doomed calvary movie, is even more inaccurate but just as enjoyable.


I like both for different reasons....but I'm talking about the 60's one in particular. Don't know why, I just like it.

[Buzz Dixon]

BTW Is the The Music Box the one where they're trying to get the piano up the stairs?
Trying repeatedly and almost succeeding... :D

[Mikado]

Treasure of the Sierra Madre* ( Best film ever....stars *Bogie, of course )
Cassablanca*
King kong
Citizen Cane
They Drive by night *
Public Enemy
the General ( Buster Keatons masterpiece )
The Freshman ( Harold Lloyd )
Speedy ( also Lloyd )
The GoldRush ( Chaplin )
City Lights ( Chaplin )
The Kid ( Chaplin )
Gone with the Wind
Wizard of Oz
Its a Wonderful life
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Niagara ( Monroe )
Prince and the showgirl ( Monroe )
( Ill probably add more later :rolleyes: )

[Athena Bast]

What years are golden age? Then I will comment.

[Buzz Dixon]

1939 is regarded as the greatest year in the history of film. Say 10 years on either side of the equation so the Golden Age of Hollywood starts in 1929 (when the very last silent films [other than Chaplin's] were released) and ends in 1949 (just prior to the collapse of the studio system and the rise of drive-ins and TV).

[rick]

I’m not really sure what the Golden Age of Film is.

Mostly because the term normally would mean the Greatest era for movies when they were at their very best.


And that instantly becomes one of those things where it suddenly becomes an issue of individual taste.

For example I personally believe that the ”Golden Age of Film” was the period between the making of Lolita in 1962, or maybe Jacques Demy’s, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg in 1964 and ending 20 years later in 1984, with Alex Cox’s, Repo Man or possibly a year earlier with DePalma’s, Scarface.


That 20 year period, most especially during the 1970’s saw the release of what easily could be considered some of the best movies ever.

Here are just a few examples from the period to give you an idea of how many great films and different genres there were.

The Sorrow & the Pity
The Godfather
Sleeper
Nashville
Ran
Vanishing Point
Star Wars
Goldfinger
Rocky
Chinatown
Aguirre the Wrath of God
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Network
Clockwork Orange
Taxi Driver

And about a thousand others.

It really was the best of times.

But I am willing to bet that what we are talking about here is the Golden Age of the black & white era, going from the early days of silent movies up until sometime in the late 1950’s when color become the big thing.

But that’s cool because then we get to talk about the 1930’s. Oh yeah the 20’s, 40’s & 50’s gave us some great movies, especially the noir stuff from the 40’s and the American musicals, as well as those great arty French & Japanese films of the 50’s, but I have a real love for those early sound films, let alone those huge in your face epics of the time. And most especially there were the gangster movies.

Some great films from the 30’s…..

The Petrified Forest
Captain Blood
Stagecoach
Die 3 Groschenoper
The Wizard of Oz
The Roaring 20’s
Little Caesar
The Bank Dick
I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
Top Hat
M
Duck Soup
The Bride of Frankenstein

And just like the 70’s, a few thousand more.