Old yet glorious and obscure movies

I have inherited my late mother's love for 2 films already mentioned here-IKWIG and Pimpernel Smith.Also love the Ladykillers (original version only) and Rabbit proof fence is a brilliant film and is well worth watching.Also love Dirk Bogarde as many others do.Recently re read his autobiographies-such a lovely man.

Does The Room (Tommy Wiseau) count? It's relatively old, and certainly obscure! Worth a watch for sure. It cost $6 million to make it in 2003, it only made little over $1,000 back....until recent years where it has become a much loved cult classic!

"You're tearing me apaarrrrrt Lisa!!"

Yes , yes, yes to Dragonwyck. Vincent Price was just made for the gothic genre.

Another film I like (this time starring Jeanne Crain) is A letter to Three Wives. Full of lovely suspense.
The last one I'll mention is the Gene Kelly Musical On the Town. Bloody love it and know all the words to the songs.

The Awful Truth with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
Unfaithfully Yours with Rex Harrison.
Both absolutely hilarious.

Yes Dragonwyck! Great film! And wasn't Gene Tierney SO beautiful.

And 'Betty Blue' - what a sad film. Haunting and a fab soundtrack too.

Not sure how obscure this is, but 'Death in Venice' starring Dirk Bogarde is a wonderful film (IMHO). Based on the life of the composer Mahler, the cinematography is beautiful and although there was hardly any diaglogue, it was unusual and the acting by dear Bogarde superb.

And speaking of Gene Tierney she was fantastic in Dragonwyck with Vincent Price. Real mad Gothic stuff!

Howyoualldoworkme you are right! Bleugh! Not sure how I made that mistake.

The film stars of the 40s were just too confusingly glamorous!

I see Kind Hearts and Coronets, Blithe Spirit, Murder by Death, and Young Frankenstein have already been mentioned!

The Ghost and Mrs Muir is one of my mums favourites but to my shame I have not watched it yet - I will seek it out!

Has anyone mentioned Harvey yet? The 1950 version with James Stewart.

Xenadog It was Gene Tierney in The Ghost and Mrs Muir. Jeanne Craine was in loads of other excellent films and was a major crush of my late stepfather

ElQuinto Summer of my German Soldier - full film on YouTube, watched it this evening!

Yes, yes, yes to My Own Private Idaho - I saw this about 6 times at the cinema the summer it came out. It was £1 for a matinee ticket and it as when you could still smoke and I loved it. A little earlier than this but Gas, Food, Lodging remains a beautiful slice of 80's Americana. Clockers is my top cops & gangs movie - I think The Wire must be a descendant of it.

Shamelessly sentimental b&w movie I adore is "Letters to an unknown woman", the main character is a composer and he is writing to a woman who has quietly loved him throughout his life and who he has paid no attention to. Haven't seen it for years.

More recent films that have blown me away - Sing Street and The Priest. Couldn't be more different in tone and mood. Sing Street made me smile for days and The Priest, well, I don't know how I felt - provoked I suppose. I think there are some great modern movies but they aren't necessarily the blockbusters in the cinema.

Night of The Hunter, strange, unique and disturbing with Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters, directed by Charles Laughton. The book it is based on, by Davis Grubb, is perfect too.

The Quiet Man
Why on earth am I reading this thread? I've just gone onto a well-known website and bought four cheapie DVDs and no doubt will be buying more before this thread ends. Thanks for the trips down memory lane though!

Well, if we're allowed foreign films ...

Betty Blue
The Icicle Thief

Plus a host of 90s indie films ...

My Own Private Idaho (yes, Keanu acts)
Amateur
The Unbelievable Truth
Drugstore Cowboy
Short Cuts

Elizabeth Taylor has had a few mentions already, but one of my favourites is her "Taming of the Shrew" with Richard Burton and an all star cast directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
I think it won an Oscar for costumes, but overall it's visually stunning, and wonderful entertainment.

Putting the TV on that is meant to say.

Thanks for starting this thread, OP. I also adored The Amazing Mr Blunden. I remember being terrified by it when I was about 8 but utterly loved it too.

Other films which I loved from my younger days (always watched when I was off sick from school after Farmhouse Kitchen) were: A Matter of Life and Death, Blithe Spirit, The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Murder by Death and then two I don't think have been mentioned so far, Margie (which starred Jeanne Crane who was in The Ghost and Mrs Muir) and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs which starred Angela Lansbury.

There is something magical about putting the to on and coming across one of these old classics - really cheers me up.

So many favourites already mentioned! I'm a sucker for a Danny Kaye film - The Court Jester is brilliantly silly. Also love The Thief of Bagdad (Alexander Korda - just magical!), Ivanhoe (Anthony Andrews version), Victim (Dirk Bogarde) and practically anything with Bette Davis.

All those French films where nothing much happens. Like "Chacun cherche son chat".
Diva-80s, daft but beautiful.
Yaaba-Senegalese. Poetic.
Colonel Redl-Hapsburg empire drama
Sholay-one of the greatest Indian films of all time. The dancing on glass scene! The man with no arms who fights on! Four hours long though.

Black and white films:
Anything with George Burns and Gracie Allen, or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Super-fast witty dialogue, dangerously raked hats, creepy head-still-on fox furs, great songs.
The Cruel Sea
Annie Oakley
Stella Dallas
Convoy
The Man in Grey-Stewart Granger!
Saraband for Dead Lovers-more Stewart Granger!
The 1935 Lorna Doone
Fire over England

YY to Kind Hearts and Coronets and Yield to the Night. Both fantastic films.
Not RTFT but there is a channel on freesat called TPTV which has lots of old B&W UK films, some of which are definitely obscure but rather good
Film4 sometimes have a decent old B&W film on about 12 pm. Another great film has John Mills in it and called The Long Memory.

The Legend of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, stars Bob Dylan, there's classic moment with Slim Pickens which I won't reveal ...

I Never Sang for My Father, an early Gene Hackman, worth seeing

Gosh, thete's a film of Summer of My German Soldier? Read it at school when i was 13-ish and loved it! I'll definitely have to look it up on Amazon.

Scenes From The Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. Waspish bed hopping, very 80s.
I've seen Summer of 42, really sad.
Manon des Sources, Emanuelle Béart all vengeful fury.
Cool Hand Luke

Another worthy mention for Gaslight [origin of the modern term 'gaslighting'] reminds me that there were two versions - the first British in 1940, with a suitably sinister Anton Walbrook.

I do prefer the later Ingrid Bergman/Charles Boyer version [1944] but both are a good watch.