Older movies that shouldn't be missed...

[Jennifer5]

I just watched "A Walk to Remember", I can't remember if I say it before or not. I really enjoyed it though.

I also watched "Grease" the other night, which I'm sure everyone would agree is incredible. I had seen it before, but not in years.



What are some of your favorite older movies?

[christa08]

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

I also watched "Grease" the other night, which I'm sure everyone would agree is incredible. I had seen it before, but not in years.



What are some of your favorite older movies?

I love Grease

This post brought me back to the movies I used to watch with my mom when I was a little girl. The original Parent Trap, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Ma & Pa Kettle movies , An Affair To Remember, the first Sister Act, The Little Mermaid , etc etc. The list goes on and on

[Rick336]

Last weekend "Bye Bye Birdie" was on the movie channel. That's the first time I'd seen that movie in years. It was made in 1963 and starred Ann Margaret, Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Bobby Rydell, and Paul Lynne. Paul Lynne should have gotten an Oscar for playing a heterosexual father.

Anyway, the movie was a musical that came out just a couple of months after the Cuban missile crisis when the entire nation was on edge about nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

It was a very frightening time. I remember my mother stock piling canned food in our basement in case of a nuclear attack. At school we practiced "duck and cover" where we got under our desks in a fetal position to protect us from a nuclear blast. We literally thought that our days were numbered.

When "Bye Bye Birdie" came out in the spring of 1963 people flocked to the theaters to take their minds off the international crisis. In the movie there was a lively musical number with these comforting lyrics that seem to speak to us all.

"There is music to play,
people to see,
places to go.
There's everything for you and me.

Life's a ball
if only you know it.
And it's there
just waiting for you.

You're alive!
so come on and show it.
You've got a lot of living to do.

I want a taste of everything.
Let's live it up and really swing.
We've got a lot of living to do!"



Rick

[Pablo Rafael]

Recently watched The Devil and Daniel Webster (from 1941 I think). It is well worth watching. The really early movies have a charm about them, in my opinion.

Also saw The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao from 1964, not quite as old of a movie. Tony Randall is excellent in this one. It seemed to me to have a different flavor than most early sixties movies.

[Bethany4Love]

Stand by Me and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Ok ok, so my mom had a movie called "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. My girlfriend saw this and was like "oohhh! You need to see it!" and I was like boooo sappy love story, right? Months roll by with this VHS tape sitting on the entertainment center. She finally gets on the floor and begs me to watch it. Me and my stubbornness says "No!" and covers my head in a blanket. "No SAPPY LOVE STORY MOVIES!"
She puts in on and I start watching it and loving every second. LOL

[BrianB]

I recently watched Niagara with Marilyn Monroe. It was a good little murder mystery with some twists. Marilyn actually sings/hums a tune.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by BrianB

I recently watched Niagara with Marilyn Monroe. It was a good little murder mystery with some twists. Marilyn actually sings/hums a tune.

Me too!! It was on TV about a month ago, maybe we watched it at the same time. I was really hooked.

I've only just recently 'discovered' Marilyn. I don't know why I didn't connect with her before. Not long ago I saw "Seven Year Itch," (I think that was the title,) and while it was incredibly rooted in the particular time and place of the story setting, I loved it! I was just tickled pink watching that movie. Everything about it -- highlighting the differences in US culture between then and now. Fascinating.

[Gennee]

Wow, this is an interesting question. I saw Casablanca and enjoyed it. I saw West Side Story a couple of years ago for the very first time and really liked it.

Gennee

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Gennee

Wow, this is an interesting question. I saw Casablanca and enjoyed it. I saw West Side Story a couple of years ago for the very first time and really liked it.

Gennee

The interesting thing about Casablanca and one of the reasons that it is so good is that EVERY SINGLE ACTOR in that film is a "A-list" actor from somewhere in Europe. Except for the lead actors (Bogart, Bergman, Lorry et al) the actors were all drawn from among refugees from Hitler's Europe.
Actually Peter Lorry was a refugee also. he was one of the few to be successful in Hollywood because he was able to master English quickly.

[Daniel]

1. The Women http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Women_(film)

2. Dinner at Eight http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_at_Eight_(film)

The latter movie is one for our times- it was written during the depression. It's sad and very funny. And you get to see Glinda the Good Witch act herself into a frenzy.

[BrianB]

Originally Posted by u-dog

The interesting thing about Casablanca and one of the reasons that it is so good is that EVERY SINGLE ACTOR in that film is a "A-list" actor from somewhere in Europe. Except for the lead actors (Bogart, Bergman, Lorry et al) the actors were all drawn from among refugees from Hitler's Europe.
Actually Peter Lorry was a refugee also. he was one of the few to be successful in Hollywood because he was able to master English quickly.

PBS had a very interesting documentary on about Hollywood refugees. It really was something how so many jewish actors escaped to Hollywood just at the beginning of WW 2. Perhaps we saw the same documentary, U-dog. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/cinemasexiles/

[Matt Algren]

REAR WINDOW is hands down my favorite film. It's pretty recent, but I have to mention THE KITE RUNNER as a new gem. And AMÉLIE is joy given form.

Originally Posted by u-dog

The interesting thing about Casablanca and one of the reasons that it is so good is that EVERY SINGLE ACTOR in that film is a "A-list" actor from somewhere in Europe. Except for the lead actors (Bogart, Bergman, Lorry et al) the actors were all drawn from among refugees from Hitler's Europe.
Actually Peter Lorry was a refugee also. he was one of the few to be successful in Hollywood because he was able to master English quickly.

Also remember that it was filmed and released before WWII was over. Without giving anything away, the ending is heartbreaking and hopeful on a whole different level when you watch it with that in mind instead of as someone who knows how the war ends.

[Gennee]

Originally Posted by u-dog

The interesting thing about Casablanca and one of the reasons that it is so good is that EVERY SINGLE ACTOR in that film is a "A-list" actor from somewhere in Europe. Except for the lead actors (Bogart, Bergman, Lorry et al) the actors were all drawn from among refugees from Hitler's Europe.
Actually Peter Lorry was a refugee also. he was one of the few to be successful in Hollywood because he was able to master English quickly.

Peter Lorre was an excellent character actor who made his roles very believeable. To me, character actors are better performers than some of the stars.

Gennee

[Eugene]

Anything with Myrna Loy. But my very favorite Myrna Loy movie is The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer with Cary Grant and Shirley Temple.

I also like anything with Barbara Stanwyck. My favorite movie of hers is The Lady Eve.

[tdogg]

Ah, Barbara Stanwyck, she rocks!! She was one hot lady.

[antiochian]

Every now and then, I like to watch an old Laurel and Hardy movie. Those two were funny.

"Steel Magnolias" is another favorite. Shirley Maclaine is hilarious as Wheezer.

Charles Bronson is excellent as the vigilante in the "Death Wish" movies. Love the action... The first "Rambo" movie was pretty good, too.

"Valley of the Dolls," based on the Jaquelyn Susann novel. Very messed up people and a bit depressing, but still like it.

"Fried Green Tomatoes." Actually, pretty much anything with Jessica Tandy or Kathy Bates. Those two are great.

"Dead Man Walking." Susan Sarandon, another outstanding actress.

"Uncle Buck." "Who's Harry Crumb?".....When I need to laugh, pretty much any John Candy movie will do the trick. Rest his soul!

I also must admit to being a horror movie fan, and the old "Night of the Living Dead" is still one of my favorites.

[christa08]

Originally Posted by antiochian

"Uncle Buck." When I need to laugh, pretty much any John Candy movie will do the trick. Rest his soul!

OMG!! I love Uncle Buck!! I just watched it again last summer...aww good memories.

[taminator]

Originally Posted by Pablo Rafael

Recently watched The Devil and Daniel Webster (from 1941 I think). It is well worth watching. The really early movies have a charm about them, in my opinion.

Also saw The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao from 1964, not quite as old of a movie. Tony Randall is excellent in this one. It seemed to me to have a different flavor than most early sixties movies.

I LOVE old movies! They are the best. I've always wanted to see The Devil and Daniel Webster, but keep missing it when Turner Classic Movies shows it. Does Netflix or Blockbuster have it?

[taminator]

One movie that I could watch over and over is When Harry Met Sally. I don't think of it as an old movie, but I guess it is 20 years old now...

[Linda2008]

"Singing in the Rain," "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", "The Pirate", and pretty much any Gene Kelly film has my undivided attention. Lord that man could dance.

"The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"

"High Society"

"The Music Man"

"Gilda"

"The Wizard of Oz"

"Camille"

"The King and I"

"Rebecca"