# Have forum members watched classic films of the mid 20th century?



## Rivendell_librarian (Sep 9, 2022)

I was wondering how many forum members are familiar with the classic films of the mid 20th century e.g. Vertigo, The Searchers, The Third Man, Black Narcissus, Some Like It Hot, The Dam Busters, The Seventh Seal, The 400 Blows, Bicycle Thieves

or are they considered too old hat now?


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## Halasían (Sep 9, 2022)

I love the old 'classics'. Casablanca is my all-time favorite, and I think Gone With The Wind is overrated. Enjoyed Vertigo, The Big Sleep, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. The Searchers is excellent, though it's been a long time since I've seen that one.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 9, 2022)

I love old movies as well. Casablanca is my favorite as well. I love old form noirs, Alfred Hitchcock films, Hammer horror movies, and classic Universal horror movies, just to name a few. Forbidden Planet is probably my favorite sci-fi movie ever.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 9, 2022)

Next month I'll be digging up my Val Lewton box set.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 9, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Next month I'll be digging up my Val Lewton box set.
> View attachment 15649


He produced Isle of the Dead, another excellent RKO movie. They're another company that had quite a few movies I really like.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 9, 2022)




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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 9, 2022)

Also found these on YouTube. Ive seen them on tcm and can only ever hear him as George Jetson 🤣


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Ditto on Casablanca... one of the greatest movies ever made.
I enjoy the "screwvball" comedies e.g. It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey (the original one with William Powell), You Can't Take It With You, The Philadelphia Story.

Also the Noir genre...Dial M for Murder, Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, Mildred Pierce, Strangers on Train, The Third Man, Sunset Boulevard ("Alright Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" )

Also Foreign Films: Grand Illusion, Seventh Seal, Rules of the Game, The Seven Samurai, The Bicycle Thief

Some silent ones Metropolis, Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922)

Classic Westerns: The Searchers, High Noon, Shane, Stageoach

Horror movies: Freaks (1932), Invisible Man (1932), Frankenstein, Night of the Demon (Martin Scorsese put this in his top ten of scary movies), The Haunting (1963). Creature From the Black Lagoon, Dracula (1933), The Fly (1958).

Classic Sci-Fi: Forbidden Planet, Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Incredible Shrinking Man, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Village of the Damned (1960, based on the Novel The Midwich Cuckoos), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Straight Drama: Citizen Kane, All About Eve, Little Foxes

Not a few Hitchcock films (but not all), Psycho, North by Northwest, Suspicion (and some listed above)

So many more, too numerous to list 😱


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## Halasían (Sep 10, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


>


Always loved that!

Speaking of the old classics, saw '*Bullets or Ballots' *with Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart as the 'bad guy'. Good chemistry which they bring to Key Largo some years later. 

And, I just watched a trailer of a new remake of the classic '*All Quiet On The Western Front*'. Nothing will ever be as good as the 1930 movie of Erich Maria Remarque's book. I will watch this remake, and hopefully it will have the gripping anti-war message the book and the 1930, and even the 1979 remake have.


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## Ealdwyn (Sep 10, 2022)

I love old movies: drama, horror, sci-fi, film noir. Although not the westerns so much.
I watched All About Eve again only last week - love this film!


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 10, 2022)

I recently watched Penny Serenade (1941) with Cary Grant and Irene Dunn. It was excellent but also bit of a tear jerker





This is one of my favorite comedies, with literally a full cast of big names


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## Berzelmayr (Sep 10, 2022)

Deimos said:


> Some silent ones Metropolis, Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922)
> 
> Classic Westerns: The Searchers, High Noon, Shane, Stageoach


From that movies I own Nosferatu (also the remake of 1979), High Noon and Shane.


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Erestor Arcamen said:


> I love old movies as well. Casablanca is my favorite as well. I love old form noirs, Alfred Hitchcock films, Hammer horror movies, and classic Universal horror movies, just to name a few. Forbidden Planet is probably my favorite sci-fi movie ever.


Good ...but not as good as Day the Earth Stood Still 😉
Still I have to admit that the sequence showing the Krell technology is absolutely stunning.


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## Eljorahir (Sep 10, 2022)

Reading everyone else's choices, I notice I've never seen most of everyone's favorites. Watching Casablanca all the way through has been on my to-do list for a while (sorry). Here are a few on my short list of favorites:

Sergeant York
Twelve Angry Men
Captains Courageous
Moby Dick


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Berzelmayr said:


> From that movies I own Nosferatu (also the remake of 1979), High Noon and Shane.


You ought to check out The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1922).
And also: WARNING! WARNING! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!... do not under any circumstances read anything about it, or watch trailers or tell anybody you are going to watch it. 
I watched it "cold" i.e. with no other info than it was a great silent [suspense] flick.
The ending was a kicker, fer shure, fer shure. 😱



Eljorahir said:


> Reading everyone else's choices, I notice I've never seen most of everyone's favorites. Watching Casablanca all the way through has been on my to-do list for a while (sorry). Here are a few on my short list of favorites:
> 
> Sergeant York
> Captains Courageous
> Moby Dick


Yep Moby Dick ( I assume you mean the one with Gregory Peck as Ahab) was great.
Factoid: Did you know that Ray Bradbury wrote the screenplay for M-D?

Have never Seen sergeant York...no reason...just have never watched it.
Captains Courageous (with Spencer Tracy, right?) ....I 've seen it... was OK... since I had previously read the book, well. you know how that goes when you watch a movie made from a book you've already read....... typically the comparison does not end well for the movie.


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## Eljorahir (Sep 10, 2022)

Deimos said:


> Yep Moby Dick ( I assume you mean the one with Gregory Peck as Ahab) was great.
> Factoid: Did you know that Ray Bradbury wrote the screenplay for M-D?
> 
> Have never Seen sergeant York...no reason...just have never watched it.
> Captains Courageous (with Spencer Tracy, right?) ....I 've seen it... was OK... since I had previously read the book, well you know how that goes....


Yep. I really like Gregory Peck's performance as Ahab. Didn't know the Ray Bradbury connection. That's cool.

Yep again to Spencer Tracy.


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Forgot to mention a couple....both have George Sanders** as a supporting actor (portraying, per usual, a thoroughly unlikeable character, but not quite as bad as his Addison DeWitt in _All About Eve_).

_The Ghost and Mrs Muir_ (1947) just a wonderfully charming story... one of Rex Harrison's best screen roles (imo).
Movie is based on a book, maybe a novella but I have never read it.

_The Picture of Dorian Gray _ (1945)... I actually saw the movie before I read the book (by Oscar Wilde) because I had no idea at the time (I was in High School) there *was* a book. Maybe 15 years later I read the book and, omg, the movie is very faithful to the book. Some scenes are left out but nothing changed in plot or characters (and the most horrific scenes are in the movie).
The painting should give you nightmares.

**This man can make his voice so seductively evil, smoother than silk.... no wonder Disney chose him to voice Shere Khan in the original Jungle Book


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 10, 2022)

Deimos said:


> Good ...but not as good as Day the Earth Stood Still 😉
> Still I have to admit that the sequence showing the Krell technology is absolutely stunning.


That's also a really good one for sure! And the remake doesn't count, I saw it and it was garbage


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Erestor Arcamen said:


> That's also a really good one for sure! And the remake doesn't count, I saw it and it was garbage


Because Hollywood is in the throes of "remake mania" (and has been for quite some time) I make an effort to put the year of the movie I am recommending.
Oh, and you want to talk about a garbage re-make?
The 1999 remake of The Haunting (1963). The 1963 movie is based on the Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House.
The remake actually uses the full title from the book, but that is the only thing about the movie that is faithful to the book.
The rest of the [movie] story came from God knows where, but it sure wasn't from the book. 

in this case, too, I saw the (1963) movie on TV before reading the book.
I was 12 or 13 at the time, and didn't know about the book, until my brother mentioned it.
I read the book when I was in my 20s. If the movie is both scary and suspenseful (and it is) the book is terrifying.
I re-read it every few years, and then I sleep with the light on for about a week.

Here is a pic of the house in Ettington Park they used for the movie (exterior shots)
Color pic is the way it really looks. B/W pics are how it was shot for the movie.
And yes, the movie is in B&W even tho' it could have been shot in color.
Director Robert Wise chose B&W for the same reason Hitchcock often chose B&W even when color technology was available...B&W conveyed the mood better . Psycho was shot in B&W, remember? 




_“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” _
(Opening paragraph from Shirley Jackson's _The Haunting of Hill House".... _and if that doesn't set the mood for the rest of the story I don't know what would  )


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 10, 2022)

Deimos said:


> Because Hollywood is in the throes of "remake mania" (and has been for quite some time) I make an effort to put the year of the movie I am recommending.
> Oh, and you want to talk about a garbage re-make?
> The 1999 remake of The Haunting (1963). The 1963 movie is based on the Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House.
> The remake actually uses the full title from the book, but that is the only thing about the movie that is faithful to the book.
> ...


I've seen the 1963 version, it's really good! Another few I love that have remakes are Thirteen Ghosts from 1960 and House on Haunted Hill fr 1959. Both have remakes that I've never bothered to watch because the originals were perfect as they are. Halloween is my favorite holiday and some of these movies are a big reason for it 😁


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Erestor Arcamen said:


> I've seen the 1963 version, it's really good! Another few I love that have remakes are Thirteen Ghosts from 1960 and House on Haunted Hill fr 1959. Both have remakes that I've never bothered to watch because the originals were perfect as they are. Halloween is my favorite holiday and some of these movies are a big reason for it 😁


House on Haunted Hill is great!... and not least because of Vincent Price (who was from my hometown 😁)
You know, I think V Price played the part kind of "campy" (which he was fond of doing at times).
That movie never scared me but it was suspenseful.... and (not too spoil it for others) I will only say the skeleton scenes were well done.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 10, 2022)

Deimos said:


> House on Haunted Hill is great!... and not least because of Vincent Price (who was from my hometown 😁)
> You know, I think V Price played is part kind of "campy" (which he was fond of doing at times).
> That movie never scared me but it was suspenseful.... and (not too spoil it for others) I will only say the skeleton scenes were well done.


I met his daughter once, she came to a movie convention that I go to every year. She had some really interesting stories about him growing up. He's definitely one of my favorite actors. But Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are also very high on my list. I haven't seen it in a while, but this one's on my list to watch for Halloween this year.


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Speaking of Vincent Price (were we? 😁) I forgot to mention one noir movie where he has a supporting role: _Laura._(1944)
But it's Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb who are the leads.
Clifton Webb is amazing. I've seen him in comedy (comic-drama actually) straight drama, and noir.
An incredibly polished actor.
Director is Otto Preminger ...need I say more?


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 10, 2022)

Deimos said:


> The ending was a kicker, fer shure, fer shure. 😱


Perhaps you've since become aware that Caligari's ending was forced on the writers, so I'll say no more, except for a couple of other examples: Don Siegel was forced by the studio to shoot a framing device for _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_, after a test preview of the original, ending with a crazed Kevin McCarthy pointing at the camera and shouting "You're next! You're next!" left the audience "uncomfortable", to put it mildly.

Jacques Tourneur was forced by his studio to show the demon in _Night/Curse of the Demon_, something he was loathe to do. He'd had a much better working relationship with Val Lewton, a decade earlier, leading to three of the best low-key horror classics ever made.

BTW, I wonder how many know Cesare and Major Strasser were played by the same actor?



George Sanders did play some "good guy" roles; he was the hero teacher in _Village of the Damned _in the sixties, but earlier he'd played detective roles in The Saint series, and also as The Falcon, including in this adaptation of _Farewell, My Lovely_:





His suicide note said "I am leaving, because I am bored".


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## Deimos (Sep 10, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Perhaps you've since become aware that Caligari's ending was forced on the writers, so I'll say no more, except for a couple of other examples: Don Siegel was forced by the studio to shoot a framing device for _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_, after a test preview of the original, ending with a crazed Kevin McCarthy pointing at the camera and shouting "You're next! You're next!" left the audience "uncomfortable", to put it mildly.


Didn't know that about the "The Cabinet..." or "Body Snatchers"


Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Jacques Tourneur was forced by his studio to show the demon in _Night/Curse of the Demon_, something he was loathe to do. He'd had a much better working relationship with Val Lewton, a decade earlier, leading to three of the best low-key horror classics ever made.


I did read that about the "Night of the Demon" (It was titled Curse of the Demon for US release and I believe some scenes were cut from it, but not certain).
But as concerns the physical presence of the Demon...yeah, totally unnecessary because the movie plays with your mind so much you don't need to see the "real thing". But you know what? I found it really easy to ignore, as bad and fake as it looks.
And it only appears at the end so it hardly takes way from the movie at all.
Other people (in reviews and articles) said the same thing: It hardly detracts from the movie at all, and they still consider the movie very scary and/or suspenseful, and most definitely recommend it.
Did you know that the Night of the Demon was based on a short story by M.R. James...."The Casting of the Runes".
Story is good. Screen writer took the basic plot and expanded it, but "it works" well enough to stand on its own.
I like both the short story and the movie. 



Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> BTW, I wonder how many know Cesare and Major Strasser were played by the same actor?
> View attachment 15667
> View attachment 15668
> 
> ...


I looked up Conrad Veidt after seeing him in Casablanca... very accomplished, but I can't say I've ever seen him in other movies (but then, I wasn't looking for him either 😁)

Oh, I know George Sanders played Good guy roles too...and _The Village of the Damned_ is one of my favorite movies.
You ought to read the book on which it's based: The Midwich Cuckoos by john Wyndham......movie is pretty faithful to it.
Sad about Sanders death...

Btw... Another John Wyndham novel, _The Day of the Triffids_, was made into a SF/horror movie (1962) of the same name.
I saw the movie long, long before I read the book. The Movie has the basic plot and two main characters from the book.
Anybody seeing the movie after reading the book would have no trouble associating the movie with the book but there are a lot of differences, too.
Triffids were well done in the movie. They looked the way they were described in the book.



Eljorahir said:


> Reading everyone else's choices, I notice I've never seen most of everyone's favorites. Watching Casablanca all the way through has been on my to-do list for a while (sorry). Here are a few on my short list of favorites:
> 
> Sergeant York
> Captains Courageous
> Moby Dick


I 'd like to see Penny Serenade.... have to think about some others and go through my list (wherever it is  )


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## Halasían (Sep 11, 2022)

Eljorahir said:


> Sergeant York


_"Ain't nobody ever cut 5 centers, lessen' it were Daniel Boone, an' you ain't he!"_
- Ike Botkin

Love Gary Cooper in Sgt York!


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## Eljorahir (Sep 11, 2022)

Halasían said:


> _"Ain't nobody ever cut 5 centers, lessen' it were Daniel Boone, an' you ain't he!"_
> - Ike Botkin
> 
> Love Gary Cooper in Sgt York!


Ike Botkin: *"...an' you ain't a wearin' no coon-skin hat..."*

Alvin York: _*"I ain't a needin' one."*_







_**_


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 11, 2022)

_Triffids _was discussed here recently, as it happens:

Post in thread 'What book are you reading right now?' https://www.thetolkienforum.com/threads/what-book-are-you-reading-right-now.10249/post-551477


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 11, 2022)

Deimos said:


> I looked up Conrad Veidt after seeing him in Casablanca... very accomplished, but I can't say I've ever seen him in other movies (but then, I wasn't looking for him either 😁)


He was memorable in _The Man Who Laughs _from 1928. Here's a short tribute to him, from a YouTube channel devoted to him:




Four years later, he starred in a film almost forgotten now, but was UFA's most expensive production at that time, _F.P.1_, a "science fiction" movie about the building of a gigantic aircraft landing platform in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean; this was at a time when transatlantic flight was mostly impossible, and SF was focused on technological marvels.

The film was unusual in several ways, one being that three versions were made: a German one, starring Hans Albers, a French, with Charles Boyer, and one in English, with Veidt. The first two were titled _F.P.1 Doesn't Answer_; the English was released as _Secrets of F.P.1_, or simply _F.P.1_. I picked up a VHS copy of a poor quality print, years ago, but I see someone's recently uploaded it to YouTube:




Well worth a look, if you're into old movies, though I thought Veidt looked a bit old to be playing the dashing romantic air hero.

I note that YouTuber's channel is chock-full of old movies I need to explore! 😃

BTW, the German version, which is apparently considered superior to the English, is also on YouTube:




English captions are available.

And here's the "Airman's Song" from the film, featuring stills and publicity material:




 That Veidt was the performer appears doubtful.


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## Rivendell_librarian (Sep 11, 2022)

Great that so many here like these classic films


Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> View attachment 15651


I love this as well and here's another great one:

I guess being British I'm biased but I think there are good reasons to think Powell/Pressburger made some remarkable films
But first to digress. Bogart, Greenstreet and Lorre. What a dream team but I prefer them in _The Maltese Falcon _over_ Casablanca. _Bogart, for me, is the definitive film noir private detective. It's almost as if the characters of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe were written for him. He has that wonderful subversive, intelligent scepticism which is just right for those parts.

And I prefer the Powell/Pressburger "propaganda" films e.g. _A Matter of Life and Death_, _A Canterbury Tale _and _The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp_. I think the WW2 films of this period were so much better being made by people who lived through the war. My favourite is _The Dam Busters. _Peter Jackson has bought the rights to the film (I kid thee not) and a remake has been rumoured for years now - but he's been a bit busy of course. One could argue that there has already been a remake.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 11, 2022)

I also forgot that I got the Dimentia 13 (1963) director's cut last year. Definitely going to be watching it soon 🙂


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## Halasían (Sep 11, 2022)

Eljorahir said:


> Ike Botkin: *"...an' you ain't a wearin' no coon-skin hat..."*
> 
> Alvin York: _*"I ain't a needin' one."*_
> 
> ...


Yeah, I knew I didn't have it quite right. Been twenty years since I watched it.


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## Eljorahir (Sep 11, 2022)

Halasían said:


> Yeah, I knew I didn't have it quite right. Been twenty years since I watched it.


After 20 years, I'd say you get full credit for the quote if it was based on memory! The bit about the coon-skin hat does add some extra flavor to the dialog.


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