Favorite Movies from 1930s-1950s

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Just got around to watching Dark Victory after it was mentioned in the most depressing movies thread. Not one of my favorites, but worth a look nonetheless. As for ones I really enjoyed here are just a few:

Citizen Kane
The Third Man
Ben-Hur (The epic of epics)
Strangers on a Train
Double Indemnity
The Killing
Paths of Glory
M (German)
Rear Window
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)

[mizerable]

12 Angry Men
Angels With Dirty Faces
Brother Orchid
Citizen Kane
Double Indemnity
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Frankenstein
Harvey
High Sierra
The Invisible Man
King Kong
Les Miserables
The Long Weekend
Night of the Hunter
The Oxbow Incident
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
White Heat

[Deleted]

War of the Worlds
The Rope
North by Northwest
Ben-Hur
Citizen Kane
Vertigo
Duck Soup
Quo Vadis
This Island Earth (as reviewers have said, outside the MST3K version - which is great - it's a good movie on its own...)
Lifeboat

[Bang Bang Bart]

Vertigo
North by Northwest
12 Angry Men

(keep in mind, I've had to see these movies for film classes I took, but I enjoyed them immensely.)

[emperorthorn]

Seven Samurai and Cassablanca

[Crimson]

My Top Ten Favorite Classic Hollywood Movies:

1. 12 Angry Men
2. Citizen Kane
3. The Ten Commandments
4. North by Northwest
5. Casablanca
6. Ben-Hur
7. Seven Samurai
8. The Wizard of Oz
9. King Kong
10. Singin in the Rain

[BK From WV]

The Wizard of Oz
Adam's Rib
The Great Dictator
The Bridge On The River Kwai
The Ten Commandments
High Noon
Roman Holiday

[bob]

City Lights
Modern Times
Citizen Kane
Vertigo
M
Paths of Glory
Witness for the Prosecution
The Maltese Falcon
All About Eve
The Third Man
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ben-Hur
Wild Strawberries
Ikiru
The Wages for Fear
Dial M for Murder
Touch of Evil
Strangers on a Train
Stalag 17
The Killing
Sunset Blvd.
Casablanca
It's a Wonderful Life
Seven Samurai

and I'm sure I'm forgetting some

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Definitely The Great Dictator. It's one of my favourite movies period.

Seems a bit weird to bundle such a wide era of cinema together though as there have been quite a lot of changes and developments in technology, filming and acting techniques.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Sept 16, 2014 16:18:20 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Definitely The Great Dictator. It's one of my favourite movies period.

Seems a bit weird to bundle such a wide era of cinema together though as there have been quite a lot of changes and developments in technology, filming and acting techniques.

Kind of just looking for recommendations, but thought this would be a funner way to get them haha.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

Any of The Marx Brother's films
Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
The Thin Man

[8.2.11/SAVIOR_NEZ]

The Chaplin films from that period (City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, and Monsieur Verdoux) are all classics. Monsieur Verdoux is criminally under-appreciated, even if it is a bit preachy. I also love a lot of film noir (The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Kiss Me Deadly, Laura, etc.) from the period as well. There are so many others I can't recall right at the moment.

Always interesting too is some of the early talkies. For example, I own a copy of Soup to Nuts (the first film that The Three Stooges ever appeared in), and it's really interesting to see how awkward some of the early 30s films are. The action is almost static for the entire film, since the actors can't get too far away from the microphone. While I wouldn't call it a "favorite," it's fun to watch either as a Stooges fan or a fan of early cinema.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Sept 16, 2014 17:37:42 GMT -5 8.2.11/SAVIOR_NEZ said:

The Chaplin films from that period (City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, and Monsieur Verdoux) are all classics. Monsieur Verdoux is criminally under-appreciated, even if it is a bit preachy. I also love a lot of film noir (The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Kiss Me Deadly, Laura, etc.) from the period as well. There are so many others I can't recall right at the moment.

Always interesting too is some of the early talkies. For example, I own a copy of Soup to Nuts (the first film that The Three Stooges ever appeared in), and it's really interesting to see how awkward some of the early 30s films are. The action is almost static for the entire film, since the actors can't get too far away from the microphone. While I wouldn't call it a "favorite," it's fun to watch either as a Stooges fan or a fan of early cinema.

I completely blanked on mentioning Chaplin in my OP for some reason. I agree with those who mentioned The Great Dictator as I think it is probably his best, but I also loved Monsieur Verdoux as well. A neat thing about that film is that is was based on an idea by Orson Welles (I believe he is credited as such in the actual movie). So technically you have two of the greatest filmmakers of all time in their only collaboration (that I can recall) in that film.

[Hurbster]

I'm a big fan of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films.

[Crappler El 0 M]

I love movies from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s!

1930s:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein
The Invisible Man
It Happened One Night
Bride of Frankenstein
Angels with Dirty Faces
The Lady Vanishes
The Wizard of Oz

1940s:
The Grapes of Wrath
His Girl Friday
The Maltese Falcon
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Suspicion
Shadow of a Doubt
Notorious
Double Indemnity
The Lady from Shanghai
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Third Man

1950s:
Sunset Boulevard
All About Eve
Strangers on a Train
Ace in the Hole
The Wages of Fear
Rear Window
On the Waterfront
Dial M for Murder
Rebel Without a Cause
The Night of the Hunter
Les Diaboliques
Marty
12 Angry Men
Witness for the Prosecution
Paths of Glory
A Face in the Crowd
Touch of Evil
Anatomy of a Murder
North by Northwest
Some Like It Hot

[8.2.11/SAVIOR_NEZ]

Sept 16, 2014 17:48:17 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Sept 16, 2014 17:37:42 GMT -5 8.2.11/SAVIOR_NEZ said:

The Chaplin films from that period (City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, and Monsieur Verdoux) are all classics. Monsieur Verdoux is criminally under-appreciated, even if it is a bit preachy. I also love a lot of film noir (The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Kiss Me Deadly, Laura, etc.) from the period as well. There are so many others I can't recall right at the moment.

Always interesting too is some of the early talkies. For example, I own a copy of Soup to Nuts (the first film that The Three Stooges ever appeared in), and it's really interesting to see how awkward some of the early 30s films are. The action is almost static for the entire film, since the actors can't get too far away from the microphone. While I wouldn't call it a "favorite," it's fun to watch either as a Stooges fan or a fan of early cinema.

I completely blanked on mentioning Chaplin in my OP for some reason. I agree with those who mentioned The Great Dictator as I think it is probably his best, but I also loved Monsieur Verdoux as well. A neat thing about that film is that is was based on an idea by Orson Welles (I believe he is credited as such in the actual movie). So technically you have two of the greatest filmmakers of all time in their only collaboration (that I can recall) in that film.

I failed to mention that, too. Orson Welles wanted to direct Chaplin in the movie, which Chaplin turned down (he never took direction after gaining creative independence). I think Chaplin paid Welles around $3,000 or so for the idea. It's not Chaplin's funniest film by any stretch, but it's one of his most interesting. Along with a scandal breaking out that he fathered an illegitimate child with a (much) younger woman, he was accused of being a communist at the height of McCarthy-ism. Considering the message of the film, essentially, he made the wrong film at the absolute wrong time.

[unc40]

Of Mice and Men
Grapes of Wrath
Animal Crackers
A Night at the Opera
Stagecoach
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

[DSR]

If you like horror (particularly in a b-movie vein), here's some favorites of mine:

The Wolf Man (1941)
Man-Made Monster (1941)
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
Gojira (1954)
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Mad Love (1935)

Other flicks I dig include M, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Rashomon, Bride of the Gorilla, DOA. There's a lot I like, I just can't think of them right now.

[kidglov3s]

Some 30s favorites of mine:
The Public Enemy
Scarface: Shame of a Nation
Gold Diggers of 1933
Footlight Parade
Night Nurse
Little Caesar
Ninotchka
Baby Face
Stella Dallas (even sadder than Dark Victory!)
Three on a Match
The Divorcee
The Women
Queen Christina
Blondie Johnson
Show Boat
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

I love 1930s cinema. To me you can't top the stars of the decade with Cagney, Blondell, Muni, Powell, Robinson, Shearer, Garbo, Rogers and Stanwyck all lighting up the screen. It was also the heyday of the Disney short, with all the best Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies being cranked out one after another.

[James Fabiano]

Gizzark???

Anyway, let me vote for Dinner at Eight, of course anything Jean Harlow is usually worth my while. Plus you see Glinda the Good Witch play a bitchy character.

I also admit to liking Fox musicals and such. And Marilyn.