Growing up, my family instilled in me a love of old movies, especially the black and white classics. They may not have had the tech and special effects we have now but the stories stuck with you, even the silly ones. Some of them are among my favorite movies ever.
I tried to pick a single favorite and failed miserably. Heck, I can’t pick a single favorite ice cream flavor. I tend to have a range of favorites. So, here are just a few of my all-time favorite old movies (for the purpose of this article, we’ll “old” or “classic” as pre-1975):
Auntie Mame (1958)
Funny and touching. Plus, it has one of my favorite movie lines: “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!”
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Vertigo (1958)
Hitchcock. Enough said.
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Gone with the Wind (1939)
Never mind the multiple episodes of ambiguous consent and all the slapping, what romantic didn’t get goosebumps when Rhett told Scarlett, “That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed. And often. And by someone who knows how.”
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Harold and Maude (1971)
Funny, weird but mostly sweet. One of the best quirky, dark romantic comedies EVER.
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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Poisonous fun.
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Dark Passage (1947)
Bogie and Bacall.
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Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Nobody does crazy like Bette (or Joan).
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Mary Poppins (1964)
Required viewing for every kid or kid-at-heart.
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The King and I (1956)
Pretty sure I ran around singing “Getting to Know You” for months after.
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Okay. This one might be cheating a bit, seeing as how it’s not exactly pre-1975. Still, it may be the greatest movie ever. Seven out of ten killer bunnies agree.
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Are any of these on your old favorites list? What else is on the list?
Sonia G Medeiros 
Love GWTW and Mary Poppins… and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 🙂
Oh yes, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 😀
I would just add Double Indemnity (1938, I think) and The Haunting (1968) to the list, but otherwise I agree with all your choices.
I haven’t seen either. *adds both to list* Thanks!
No problem. By the way, it’s not a very old movie, but in talking about Westerns I thought about the movie Tombstone with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. Has to be one of the best movies ever.
Agreed.
Young Frankienstien 1974 but I love all the older ones. My kids are the only ones in high school who know who the Marx Brothers are
How could I have possibly left Young Frankenstein off the list! That is one of my favorites too.
woof what knockers
Roll, roll, roll in ze hay. 😀
I didn’t notice any Westerns in your list. I think there should definitely be Westerns, and the best of all of them was Rio Bravo, from around 1962. I wouldn’t include anything with Bette Davis in it.
Oh my goodness! You are so right. My mom took me to Clint Eastwood movies when I was a kid and I loved them. I had less exposure to John Wayne movies but clearly I need to fix that.
I like a lot of the movies on your list (and yes, Monty Python should be there). 🙂 Here’s a few of my own.
Seven Samurai (Kurosawa). Absolutely AMAZING film, just about perfect in every way.
It’s a Wonderful Life, which, in spite of all the more upbeat, schmaltzy takes I’ve seen on it, is actually a very dark film with a complex, flawed protag.
Flight of the Phoenix (the original). The tension between the German engineer and the American pilot is fantastic, and the ending? Mind-blowing. At least, for me. Loved it. 😀
You are correct on It’s a Wonderful Life. 😀
I’ll have to check out Seven Samurai and Flight of the Phoenix. Thanks!
It’s Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday today 🙂 And you have excellent taste in movies. I’ve seen all of these and you’re absolutely right about them being among the best.
I didn’t know it was Hitchcock’s birthday! Shame on me. Must celebrate with Hitchcock movie marathon.
Lol! Monty Python, huh? Too funny!
I, too, love classic movies. I can watch Casablanca over and over. I only saw Gone with the Wind once. I wasn’t a fan, but that was 20 years ago. I recently had it in my hand, but put it back. I’m thinking about buying a big BluRay collection of it. I love the original Twelve Angry Men, West Side Story, The Philadelphia Story and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
I love talking about films. Thanks for such a cool topic, Sonia! Hope everything is well with you. *waves*
-Jimmy
http://jamesgarciajr.blogspot.com/
All excellent suggestions!
*waves back*
All About Eve; The Lost Weekend; Funny Face; Singing in the Rain; Calamity Jane; Mildred Pierce; Some Like It Hot, To Catch a Thief…. oh, I could go on and on and on…..
Oooh! All good ones.
Oh, Dark Passage is one of my favorites! I grew up near San Francisco, so watching this movie was a kid was a treat to see a historical snapshot of the city. This also has one of my favorite endings ever–so romantic!
Definitely. 🙂
I love anything with Cary Grant. I also love film noirs – my favorite is probably Out of the Past or Double Indemnity.
Actually, (warning, shameless plug ahead 🙂 ) I spend a lot of time watching TCM. My wife runs a tweet along, TCM Party. We watch a movie on TCM and tweet using the hashtag #TCMParty. People from all over show up and it’s a lot of fun 🙂