Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

I'm rather fond of old movies. I was fortunate to have a 'Film Society' club in school. Once a week the teacher who ran the club would choose an older film to put on the lecture hall's projection screen to a room full of students after school. Sometimes there would be 60 of us watching an old film @7pm on a Friday.

Last week I got to thinking about Film Society so on Thursday, I watched an older movie that I had not watched before and I'm going to try to do it every Thursday now. I guess my classification of an 'older movie' would be one before I was born..even though the early 1980s and before might not be that old.

Last week though was unquestionably an old one...I had seen the original Magnificent Seven (and the remake). I liked the original more, but I had not watched the film that inspired the first Magnificent Seven. I had never seen Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) and I absolutely loved it. Modern films prefer CGI and oooh explosions and I really miss how the older films relied on close-ups to capture actors' expressions and convey emotion.

Today, I've settled on Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951). I've seen many Hitchcock films...Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, Rear Window, but have not watched Strangers.

I hope to keep this up trying to watch one old film on Thursdays. And please share any older films you may have watched/liked. And also any suggestions?

This sounds like an interesting idea. I grew up watching a lot of older films, primarily due to my dad and his love for cinematic history.

Basically anything directed by Frank Capra is guaranteed to be good - Mr Smith Goes to Washington, You Can't Take it With You, Arsenic and Old Lace, Mr Deeds Goes to Town, and It Happened One Night are a few that I recall enjoying. And of course, the classic It's a Wonderful Life.

Well, I certainly wouldn't recommend anything I haven't watched. My first thought would be 12 Angry Men (1957), my favorite movie of all. But as a slightly less well-known recommendation I'd say The Apartment (1960), which I only saw last year. It's a movie that rides the line between romantic comedy and pure drama, so that it's not just sappy nor just dark. It won Best Picture and a whole bunch of other awards.

Both of those movies are some of the last great black and white movies Hollywood ever made.

Ben-Hur (the original, not the garbage remake) is one of my favorite movies.

Awesome thanks for the recommendations.

@Dimcairien Luiniel Agreed. Love Frank Capra. Arsenic and Old Lace was one of my favorites. It's been a long time since I've seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (I do like Jimmy Stewart movies too). I have not watched any of the others you metioned.

@KingODuckingham 12 Angry Men is so good. Top class cast with Henry Fonda, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden and several others. I have not seen The Apartment *puts on list* thank you!

@Mojo that's good, because I've only seen the remake and did not like it. Most relatively current remakes really are garbage, I'll have to watch the original Ben-hur. Speaking of remakes, the first Robin Hood (with Errol Flynn made in 1938) was the best. The Kevin Costner/Alan Rickman one is just comically cheesy. I can't get through the Russell Crowe Robin Hood without falling asleep every time. And I think there's even a newer one that came out, but haven't watched it yet.

I've been watching a lot of spaghetti westerns lately, mostly because with the normal stresses of everyday life I want something relatively simple and mindless to watch in the evenings. If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend the Dollars Trilogy (Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and the Ugly).

Obviously, The Godfather and Godfather: Part II are classics.

Charlton Heston is such a great actor. And the old Ben Hur greatly benefited from the real life effects and stunts. I refused to see the remake on principle.

@Boromir88 Are you telling me you have never seen It's a Wonderful Life? You're missing out on one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion.

"They didn't wear flattops in ancient Rome!" -Ralph from the Sopranos probably on Ben-Hur

@Mojo I haven't watched a whole lot of spaghetti westerns. I tend to associate westerns with either John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. And for sure Godfather I and II are the 1 and 2 best mob movies :smiley8:

@Dimcairien Luiniel Is it shameful to admit I have not? Yes I like Jimmy Stewart, and other people in my family think It's a Wonderful Life is the best Christmas movie. However, I haven't broken away from my own Christmas movie tradition of watching... Elf, A Christmas Story, A Christmas Vacation and.... Die Hard Maybe, I'll have to drop Die Hard and watch It's a Wonderful Life.

Fully agreed on Charlton Heston. Planet of the Apes is very good too if you haven't seen the original.

After watching Strangers on a Train, I think it's my favorite Hitchcock movie. It's right up there with North by Northwest and I highly recommend for anyone who likes Hitchcock. :)

@Wamba_the_Fool , I have not seen Stagecoach. My grandpa was the big John Wayne fan of the family and I remember watching some of his movies when I was younger... The Searchers, Green Berets, and True Grit. I will have to find and watch Stagecoach though. Thank you for the suggestion.

I'm in here to toss in The Court Jester with Danny Kaye as my life's inspiration. XD

Court Jester is fantastic - my wife introduced me to it and it's definitely a family favorite!
"The flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true!" :smiley8:

Now that the libraries are opening back up I'm excited to watch some older movies too!

I think this list by the AFI is a good starting place. Many of the films already mentioned on the thread are there. There's a few newer movies (1980s and up), but many are much older. I would quibble with AFI's description as "the best" movies, but they've definitely been influential and many of them are really, really good. Content warnings for some (especially the newer ones on the list.)

Many of us probably saw these as children but some of the early Disney animated feature films are absolutely gorgeous. Snow White is definitely cartoony even though it was a big achievement in its day (and I don't think it's aged very well), but Bambi and Sleeping Beauty stick out to me as particularly beautiful in terms of visuals and music. I didn't pay attention to that kind of stuff as a kid, but now when my kids watch them I find I notice all kinds of intricate details tucked away.