Recommend to me old films!

[Susu49]

Watching Casablanca for the first time...I love old films but don't feel I've seen that many of them.

Can you please give me your recommendations?

Off the top of my head, ones I've loved in the past include The Ladykillers and pretty much anything with Alistair Simm!

Not sure if it’s already been recommended but 12 Angry Men is an absolute classic.

Also lots of good old war movies are perfect for rainy Sundays - Where Eagles Dare, A Bridge Too Far, etc.

My Fair Lady, High Society, Easter Parade, Sound of Music, Where Eagles Dare, Ben Hur, Duel in The Sun and A Bridge Too Far.

My family are all very sniffy about The Towering Inferno but I love it. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, amongst others.

The Great Escape is long but worth a watch.

Mentioned already, but It Happened One Night is by far the best romantic comedy ever made.

Musicals - Top Hat and Singin’ in the Rain are pretty perfect.

Rebecca - the old B&W one, the remake is IMO not nearly as good.

Whistle Down the Wind (brilliant IMO)

Blithe Spirit (very funny)

The Tamarind Seed (a 1970s Cold War thriller featuring Julie Andrews in her first ‘non pure as driven snow’ role, and Omar Sharif as the Russian who’s trying to recruit her as a spy - or is he? Some v good twists!

Goodbye Mr. Chips - either the old B&W one, or the remake with Martin Clunes in the lead - he is brilliant.

The old B&W Gaslight.

I also like the old Scarlet Pimpernel. Can’t remember the actor’s name - he was killed during WW2 - but IMO he was brilliant - switching from the supposedly useless dandified fop, to the steely-tough character who was rescuing French aristos from the threat of the guillotine.

And Cabaret - the musical with Liza Minnelli. Brilliant.

Well I watched Green for Danger last night, Alistair Sim stole every scene of course!

I've found Nosferatu on YouTube as well, which might be this evenings watch but I'm going to write down all the suggestions so far and make my way through them.

I'm not usually a fan of westerns but a few here seem highly recommended so think I'm going to have to give them a go!

Blithe Spirit (the original) is possibly my favourite film! Can't believe I forgot to mention it in my original post.

I've only seen the Martin Clunes Goodnight Mr Chips and loved it (sorry!) But it does make me cry. Rebecca I haven't seen in years - refuse to watch the latest version - but I think it was the first Laurence Olivier film I saw.

I'd love to tag you all individually but would take me ages with so many suggestions in each post...

Claude Raines- was he The Invisible Man? Rocky Horror lyrics running through my head at the mention of his name!

I've never seen a Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire film, can you believe it? So Top Hat has to make the cut.

I saw Singing in the Rain for the first time during lockdown and couldn't believe how good it was! Watched it twice lol

I think Jack Lemmon & Shirley Maclaine are great actors so will look up The Apartment.

Love Cabaret ...Not a fan of Michael York though!

Agree John Mills was a great actor, I loved Grest Expectations with him. Didn't he play Douglas Bader too? I remember watching that with my grandparents.

Thank you for the suggestion of Safety Last - I shall see if I can find it anywhere!

At this rate I might have to start a MN Film Club for old films!

Lots I was going to mention (Blithe Spirit & Kind Hearts & Coronets) already posted... don't think I've seen these ones mentioned:
Harvey
The mouse that roared
The Producers
The yellow rolls Royce
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad world

Not counting those I've seen, I have 169 films to watch so far

Add all the Ealing Comedies and the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films. That’ll take you close to 200.

Dial M for Murder is on at 6.10pm today, TCM Movies.
Do you all have TalkingPicsTV on your menus? Essential. London Live shows good old films, maybe it's regional equivalents do the same.

This is such a good thread I've bookmarked it for future viewing!

A lot of my old favourites on here. Not sure if anyone has mentioned all the b/w adaptations of the Charles Dickens books:

Oliver Twist (not the musical, which is also great and one of my favourites)

A Tale of Two Cities - Dirk Bogarde as Sidney Carton

Great Expectations - John Mills as Pip - I passed my English exam on the back of seeing this (couldn't get into the book)

Strangers on a train

Bette Davis films! Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is amazing. Black and white but she was so great in most of her films.

Kenneth More was Douglas Bader in Reach for the Sky. Another reliable British actor, although he didn't have such a wide range as John Mills. Another of his, The Admirable Crichton, is good. Saw that for the first time quite recently.

The Scarlet Pimpernel actor killed during the war was Leslie Howard. He was in Gone with the Wind. He was also in The 49th Parallel, a terrific Powell and Pressburger film, which starred a veritable Who's Who of British and Canadian male actors of the time, including Laurence Olivier and the excellent Eric Portman. It was very obviously made to try and convince the US to come into the war, and none the worse for that.

Stagecoach - classic western

And if you like westerns, John Wayne's cavalry trilogy and Rio Bravo with John Wayne and Dean Martin. (Just fast forward over all Angie Dickinson's scenes.)

I think John Wayne was a better actor than he's often given credit for.

Almost anything with Humphrey Bogart.

And also recommending The Third Man. One of the best films ever.

Freeview Channels 42 - Great movies Action, 52 - Great Movies Classic and 82 -Talking pictures show nothing but lots of lovely old films every day.

Imitation of Life
Peyton Place

Both meladramas. Oh I love a good melodrama.

And if you liked Nosferatu don't forget all the fabulous Hammer Horror Dracula films with the wonderful Christopher Lee!

Green for danger
39 steps
Brief encounter
Dambusters
Passeport for Plimlico
I'm all right Jack

All This and Heaven Too.
The Letter.
Both Bette Davis films.
Random Harvest.
Mildred Pierce.
Imitation of Life.
All of the above were marketed as "womens' films" back in the day, but don't let that put you off!
Just thought of another. "The Heiress" starring Olivia De Havilland. Brilliant film with a fantastic ending.

Also does anyone watch silent films? Recommendations for them too would be amazing

Anything with Buster Keaton.

Flesh and the Devil
The Crowd
Both are absolute classics

www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/nov/22/top-10-silent-movies-films

The Lodger is a particularly good silent film, even more so if you’re holding your own mini Hitchcock season.

Pandora’s Box was Louise Brook’s best film (German, 1920s).

@Susu49

I found a lot of old movies for sale on DVD in charity shops. 4 for £1 and some have just started charging a pound for 10! Plus they are happy to accept them back to resell when your done.

We took a box down to a care home with a spare dvd player and now the residents have twice weekly movie nights and weekend matinees.

Some Like it Hot
The Big Country
Calamity Jane
The Great Escape
The Magnificent Seven (the 1960 version)
High Society