Your top 5 / 10 / <whatever> of pre-1960 titles?

[expatCanuck]

Goofnut recently schooled me for not having any pre-1960 titles in my collection.

Looking at it, all but one of the titles are younger than I am, and rather
Sci-Fi/Animation/Action/Horror heavy.

Citizen Kane has never really floated my boat, but I do have some
Hitchcock & Bogart titles in mind.

So ... looking for recommendations of pre-1960 titles.
Extra points for titles that are both available and relatively affordable
(<$20, and less is more ).

Thanks kindly,

- Richard

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by expatCanuck

Goofnut recently schooled me for not having any pre-1960 titles in my collection.

Looking at it, all but one of the titles are younger than I am, and rather
Sci-Fi/Animation/Action/Horror heavy.

Citizen Kane has never really floated my boat, but I do have some
Hitchcock & Bogart titles in mind.

So ... looking for recommendations of pre-1960 titles.
Extra points for titles that are both available and relatively affordable
(<$20, and less is more ).

Thanks kindly,

- Richard

This is an easy list for me:

1) Forbidden Planet
2) The Searchers
3) Casablanca
4) The Day the Earth Stood Still
5) The Wizard of Oz

[Batmon77]

The Maltese Falcon

[ikari777]

The user before me has some masterpiece films on that list so I agree with all the choices. Check my blog in my signature if you want because I watch films ranging from 1915-2012 so there is a lot you could find interesting.

[surfdude12]

1. Gone With The Wind
2. The Third Man
3. Citizen Kane
4. Wizard of Oz
5. Black Narcussius
6. Seven Samurai
7. It's A Wonderful Life
8. The 400 Blows
9. The Seventh Seal
10. North by Northwest

[benbess]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

1. Gone With The Wind
2. The Third Man
3. Citizen Kane
4. Rear Window
5. Wizard of Oz
6. Black Narcussius
7. Seven Samurai
8. It's A Wonderful Life
9. The 400 Blows
10. Vertigo

Great list. But Vertigo isn't on blu-ray yet. I think the OP is looking for films already on blu...

[Iamspartacus]

Casablanca
Caine Mutiny
All About Eve
Rio Bravo
Ben Hur
North By Northwest
Maltese Falcon
Paths Of Glory
The Killing
The Searchers

...and these are all on bluray.

[rockinrick]

Ben-Hur
North by Northwest
Quo Vadis
Maltese Falcon
Casablanca
African Queen
Gone with the wind
Wizard Of Oz
The Searchers
Stagecoach
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Big Country
Vera Cruz
Night of the Hunter
Spellbound
Notorious
Spartacus
Rio Bravo

[Al_The_Strange]

"Seven Samurai"
"Metropolis"
"North By Northwest"
"The Third Man"
"Sleeping Beauty"

[Batmon77]

These are super-classics that folks shouldnt even have to list.
This is 20 minutes of google research to find what great flicks were made before '60.
And the some hunting to see which ones are on BD or even DVD.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by benbess

Great list. But Vertigo isn't on blu-ray yet. I think the OP is looking for films already on blu...

thanks I fixed it. Put in Seventh Seal and North by Northwest. Removed Vertigo and Rear Window.

[wilky61]

From Russia with Love (1963)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Hustler (1961)
Psycho (1960)
The Apartment (1960)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957 I think)
An American in Paris (1951)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Other obvious titles like Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, any classic Disneys you enjoy, etc.

[blg]

Here's a few I like:

Seven Samurai (1954)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Stagecoach (1939)
The Third Man (1949)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
12 Angry Men (1957)
The Killing (1956)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Diabolique (1955)
The Wages of Fear (1953)

[expatCanuck]

Originally Posted by Batmon77

These are super-classics that folks shouldnt even have to list.
This is 20 minutes of google research to find what great flicks were made before '60.
And the some hunting to see which ones are on BD or even DVD.

I know how to conduct an internet search. And have done so.
I'm familiar with the traditional lists (AFI & such).

But I'm looking for personal recommendations of real folks here on this forum.

Is that a problem?

[Batmon77]

Originally Posted by expatCanuck

I know how to conduct an internet search. And have done so.
I'm familiar with the traditional lists (AFI & such).

But I'm looking for personal recommendations of real folks here on this forum.

Is that a problem?

Nope, but are you surprised at the well known Classics listed?

[expatCanuck]

I'm not surprised by the titles that overlap.
But I definitely enjoy seeing novel titles and seeing different prioritization.

For something like this, more perspectives are better (for me).

[The Dark Uniter]

In No Order:
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Godzilla (1954)
King Kong (1933)
Island of Lost Souls
Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Nosferatu
The Mysterians
Rodan

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by expatCanuck

I'm not surprised by the titles that overlap.
But I definitely enjoy seeing novel titles and seeing different prioritization.

For something like this, more perspectives are better (for me).

How many of these films have you seen? I have no business telling you how to spend your cash, but personally I've been burned by too many blind buys to recommend others to do the same.

For example, I have always hated Seventh Seal and Night of the Hunter, I think NBNW is an exceedingly mediocre film, I think 12 Angry Men is a crock of shit and I don't buy anything that Henry Fonda says/brings into the juror's room at all, you probably should be aware that Kiss Me Deadly has this bizarre sci-fi element in it (which ruined it for me), life just isn't long enough to watch Seven Samurai, The Third Man is an odd movie and I just can't justify spending $125 on it, The Killing is an otherwise good movie that is ruined by its constant narration IMO (though I admit that I love Killer's Kiss), The African Queen is a sentimental slice of Hollywood shit (and Bogart smiles like a jackass throughout the film, ugh), Treasure of the Sierra Madre is too heavy-handed with its moral message for my liking, etc.

I expect someone is gonna come in here and try to pick a fight with me now, but my point is that I have never had much luck going by the list of films that I'm "supposed to like." I've just had to carve out my own cinematic niche based on my preferences.

Good luck to you, though.

[oldtexan]

This is all very subjective, but here are a few of my recommendations:

The Rules of the Game
Metropolis
The General
Gone With the Wind
Black Narcissus
The Red Shoes
The Wizard of Oz
The Third Man
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Brief Encounter
All About Eve
Twelve O'Clock High
The Searchers
Ben Hur
L'Atalante (part of Jean Vigo collection)
M
Sunrise
Bicycle Thieves
King Kong
The Big Country
A Star is Born (1954)


My interest is primarily in pre-1960 films. If you click on the link to my collection, you'll find many more titles, mostly from before 1960. With very, very few exceptions I recommend them all.

Only a few of my Blu purchases (Boudu Saved from Drowning, Rules of the Game, the Jean Vigo collection) were films I had never seen before. In some cases I buy Blus that are from directors/film makers/actors whose work I know and like. Example of this would be Rules of the Game, directed by Jean Renoir. I knew from watching his La grande illusion and This Land is Mine, and from reading reviews of Rules, that I would almost certainly like it. It's one of my favorites now.

Most of my Blu buys were and are movies that I had not seen on Blu prior to buying but which I had seen(and usually own) on DVD or had seen on Turner Classic Movies.

[AeroK]

1. Bridge on the River Kwai
2. Ben Hur
3. Citizen Kane
4. North By Northwest
5. Casablanca