Classic films which lived up to the hype?

[BabyJellyShark]

I feel like watching some classic movies over the festive period. Which movies lived up to their reputation for you? I know it's subjective to an extent but I'd appreciate any suggestions.

I'm throwing in The Godfather and Casablanca. They're now two of my favourite ever movies.

TIA

Empire of the Sun 💚

Tiger in the Smoke

Another heartfelt vote for Muppets Christmas Carol

Throne of Blood

Ohhh if you want a Christmassy black and white movie that older kids will enjoy too, we watched The Bishop's Wife the other day and it was absolutely brilliant.

Cary Grant is at his most "oh look who George Clooney has been copying all this time" and David Niven is brilliant as the husband who doesn't see what's right in front of him.

Worth mentioning in advance to the kids that Cary Grant was a hottie though, because his loook is quite alien to the Timothee Chalamet generation, and they might not understand why all the women in the movie lose the run of themselves around CG.

My teen is just old enough to relish the AGONIES of David Niven (the bishop) being ruthlessly trolled by Cary Grant (the angel).

The 39 Steps

Only the Robert Donat version.

Glad to see This Happy Breed getting a couple of mentions.

Speaking of Carry on up the Khyber, North West Frontier is an adventure yarn with Kenneth More as an Army officer, with a train and an excellent supporting cast. Kenneth More isn't a favourite of mine but this is a good one to while away a Sunday afternoon with.

And of course the original Murder on the Orient Express. Don't particularly like Albert Finney as Poirot, but rest of the cast makes up for it.

Two other train films - the original The Lady Vanishes, 1938, and Night Train to Munich, 1940.

Leslie Howard as The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1934, and Pimpernel Smith, 1941, a wartime reworking of the story, also with a train.

See, we just watched it and found it oddly uncomfortable. Cary Grant seems amoral, which for an angel is unexpected.

However, the scene with the Bishop in the chair was funny, and the ice skating was fun.

You and I would get on, I think, @zosime.

Really want to watch The Bishop's Wife now.

Someone wanting to get better acquainted with decent old films could do an awful lot worse than work through the list of films on IMBD to which Eric Ambler contributed in some way.

Journey into Fear, 1943 - a curiosity, adapted by Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles from a novel by Ambler, with Welles and Cotten in the leading roles and various actors who often worked with them also in the cast.

The Way Ahead, 1944, directed by Carol Reed, adapted from Ambler's novel by Peter Ustinov. I'm a sucker for British WW2 films and this is a pretty good one. David Niven, Stanley Holloway and James Donald. Follows a group of raw recruits to the army to their deployment in North Africa. (See also Millions Like Us.)

The October Man, 1947. Stars the wonderful John Mills and Joan Greenwood. Directed by Roy Ward Baker ...

Who went on to direct A Night to Remember (1958), which stars Kenneth More and knocks Titanic into a cocked hat.

Screenplay for The Cruel Sea (1953), the ultimate WW2 navy and duffel coats film. Stars Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott and Stanley Baker.

Apparently EA contributed to the script of David Lean's Oliver Twist in 1948 too.

I haven't seen The Magic Box from 1951, but as it stars the glorious Robert Donat I really should seek it out.

Dirk Bogarde, a tale of two cities

She was one lucky lady!

@Gaspode 😄

Dirk Bogarde, a tale of two cities

The Blue Lamp, about the Met Police hunt for a young criminal, played by Dirk Bogarde. First appearance of P.C. George Dixon.

Any post war film set in London, showing all the bomb damage.

Yes! Hue and Cry is very good for that.

If we're headed in that direction I'd add Silence of the Lambs to the list.