In Praise of Old Movies

Roy Munson
Roy Munson Posts: 886
edited February 2011 in Music & Movies
Last night I was looking for some entertainment and I wanted to watch a movie, so I went down to BB to check out what was available in the way of new releases. But there wasn't anything that was really interesting so I looked for something old that I might like.

Well, I rented "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" with Don Knotts. Now I haven't seen this in many years and it was just as good as I had remembered. It's a funny movie that I would recommend.

So, what old flicks have you watched recently that were fun or entertaining.

No rules on how old it has to be.
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,225
    edited February 2011
    I don't want this to be a Don Knotts tribute but recently I caught "The Incredible Mr Limpet" on AMC and watched it with my son who had never seen it. Wholesome entertainment for the kids. :cool:
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  • janmike
    janmike Posts: 6,146
    edited February 2011
    I loved watching Don Knotts as a kid. Still do. My son has been glued to the old Andy Griffith series for a couple years now.
    Michael ;)
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  • Roy Munson
    Roy Munson Posts: 886
    edited February 2011
    Another old flick that I recently got reacquainted with is "Its' a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World"!

    It's a crazy slapstick comedy from the early 60's that Don Knotts has a cameo in. lol

    Just about every comedian from that era is in this movie..it's a real romp!
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  • jflail2
    jflail2 Posts: 2,868
    edited February 2011
    Blazing Saddles comes to mind for me. Watched this recently, and it's still as funny as the 1st time I watched it.
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited February 2011
    Roy Munson wrote: »
    Another old flick that I recently got reacquainted with is "Its' a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World"!

    It's a crazy slapstick comedy from the early 60's that Don Knotts has a cameo in. lol

    Just about every comedian from that era is in this movie..it's a real romp!

    Jonathan Winters and Peter Falk are sublime in that film. Dick Shawn too.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited February 2011
    Old movies trump new movies.

    RT1
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  • Polkie2009
    Polkie2009 Posts: 3,834
    edited February 2011
    OMG! Speaking of Jonathan Winters, blows away the modern day stand up comics. Did any of ya'll ever see him in "The Loved One"? Too funny, check it out sometime !
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  • Rodeo0530
    Rodeo0530 Posts: 797
    edited February 2011
    After seeing Blazing Saddles on the list, I can only think of Young Frankenstein. I own the movie and have convinced the g/f to watch it on a number of occasions, but she always falls asleep at one point or other. I love that movie and looking at Teri Garr is always fine by me.


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  • obieone
    obieone Posts: 5,077
    edited February 2011
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    Old movies trump new movies.

    RT1


    +1,000,000! I was watching "12 Angry Men" earlier tonight.
    Another all-star cast movie, besides the ones mentioned, would be "Mr. Roberts" Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon.
    With the exception of Clint, I can't think of 1 actor in Hollywood that could hold a candle to any of the greats.
    I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE!
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  • Roy Munson
    Roy Munson Posts: 886
    edited February 2011
    Speaking of Cagney, "White Heat" is one of my favs from that era. Cagney gives a great performances as Cody Jarrett who's a psychopathic criminal. This is a great flick.

    And don't get me started on Bogart films. lol
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,225
    edited February 2011
    Is it just me or when someone mentions Bogart, you feel compelled to do a poor imitation of the man either in your head or out loud ? :cool:
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,992
    edited February 2011
    Roy Munson wrote: »
    Another old flick that I recently got reacquainted with is "Its' a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World"!

    It's a crazy slapstick comedy from the early 60's that Don Knotts has a cameo in. lol

    Just about every comedian from that era is in this movie..it's a real romp!

    Funny, turned my wife onto this one years ago,she's a bit younger than me and missed out on all the greats. Also made her watch the original True Grit before seeing the new one. She liked the older version better.
    The older Disney flicks are cool too,Kurt Russel in the Computer wore tennis shoes, was entertaining.
    My wife is a movie critic, she likes good acting,a good story,regardless of the age of a movie. I've been slowly turning her on to older flicks since Hollywwood these days can't seem to make anything worth a nickel. Never would have thought the woman I married would grow to like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, man, I lucked out.
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited February 2011
    nap wrote: »
    Is it just me or when someone mentions Bogart, you feel compelled to do a poor imitation of the man either in your head or out loud ? :cool:

    If I do a Bogey impression it always ends up being somethign out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon rather than a real one. :)
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  • mrbiron
    mrbiron Posts: 5,711
    edited February 2011
    I'm only in my late 20's but whenever i see McLintock on AMC or whichever, i have to watch it. That's what you get when your father is a Huge JW fan.
    Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!!
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  • hagmanm2
    hagmanm2 Posts: 205
    edited February 2011
    I used to spend every summer at the beach with my grandparents when I was younger. They practically raised me on the classics. Captain Blood, The Quiet Man, The Northwest Passage, Zulu, The Bridge of the River Kwai, The Lion in Winter. And, of course, Anything with Audrey Hepburn: she's still the most gorgeous woman to walk this earth.

    What I love about the classics, what makes them so endearing, is the character development. For all the CGI and outrageous movie budgets of todays films, the script writing has gone downhill. So it goes. :\
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  • shack
    shack Posts: 11,154
    edited February 2011
    "12 Angry Men" was on TCM last night. What a great film! Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, John Fiedler, Ed Begley, Robert Webber...all actors of some notoriety...and if you don't recognize the name, you would certainly recognize the face if you saw them. If your ever get a chance to see it...do so.
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  • Rivrrat
    Rivrrat Posts: 2,101
    edited February 2011
    What I love about the classics, what makes them so endearing, is the character development. For all the CGI and outrageous movie budgets of todays films, the script writing has gone downhill. So it goes. :\

    You beat me to it.
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited February 2011
    John Wayne/John Ford Western trilogy Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, & Rio Grande. Just about all the old musicals. Blazing Saddles & High Anxiety. The Hospital starring George C. Scott, I also like his version of a Christmas Carol. The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn. Gone With The Wind.

    I could go on & on.
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,833
    edited February 2011
    Certainly enjoy quite a bit of the newer stuff ("Avatar", etc); graphics can't be beat.

    But a good old black/white film ....... ahhhhhh !

    "Grapes of Wrath".
    Today's marketing managers would replace Henry Fonda with Bruce Willis ("has a higher Q-Rating"), and have Tom Joad using martial arts and a .50 caliber Grizzly to mow town railroad dicks. :rolleyes:

    Love a movie like "Night of the Hunter". Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, and ...... Lillian Gish. Awesome.
    Scene with Lillian Gish in a rocking chair, shotgun on her lap, singing "Leaning" .... masterpiece.

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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited February 2011
    ^ Mitchum was superbly evil in that one.

    Lot of greats listed already with The Adventures of Robin Hood and 12 Angry Men a couple of my all-timers...

    Then there are the epics, e.g., Ben Hur and Doctor Zhivago. I can still remember going to one of the big, first-run theaters in "downtown" Cleveland to see the former... suits, ties and reserved seating.

    But I can not overlook the classic musicals. Singing in the Rain is still in my top ten.
    More later,
    Tour...
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited February 2011
    Tour2ma wrote: »
    But I can not overlook the classic musicals. Singing in the Rain is still in my top ten.



    Singing in the Rain is a fantastic flick. I'm a big fan of Bogie movies (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, Treasure of the Sierra Madre), as well as so many Hitchcock films. Older movies just take their time with a story, that's all there is to it.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,317
    edited February 2011
    1941's "Seargent York" is one of my fav's Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, and the lovely adorable Joan Leslie...check it out...funny, sad, action, and romance
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  • shack
    shack Posts: 11,154
    edited February 2011
    Virtually anything Hitchcock did is worth watching. There is a fair amount of really good Film noir stuff from the 40s and 50s by the likes of Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, Fritz Lang and others.
    "Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right." - Ricky Gervais

    "For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." - Stuart Chase

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  • Polkie2009
    Polkie2009 Posts: 3,834
    edited February 2011
    Gary Cooper won the Best Actor Academy Award that year with Sergeant York. Movies back then had to rely on great acting,directing and writing and sometimes music :) A lot of movies nowadays seem to rely more on special effects etc..(Not that I don't enjoy good special effects:). I guess we'll see if after 70 years if the movies made now hold up or not to the "classics".
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  • Polkie2009
    Polkie2009 Posts: 3,834
    edited February 2011
    Speaking of film noir, anybody remember a cool film from 1955 called "Kiss Me Deadly"? Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer!
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,182
    edited February 2011
    I have TCM and AMC on all the time.

    All anybody has to do is look at a list of Acadamy award winners for best picture winners, Best actors and actress's, etc. They don't give them lightly.

    I love this month on TCM. Oscar winners all month long.:biggrin:


    I just watched Treasure of the sierra madre the other night. Pretty darn good!
    Then the African Queen today. Also pretty darn good.
    Always loved 12 angry men!!!!

    Watching a black and white and not even noticing until the end when the color comes back on, is proof of FINE film makers!!
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited February 2011
    +1 on TCM... especially during their annual "30 Days of Oscar" theme.

    AMC? Not so much due to too many commercials. FMC is my TCM back-up... It has a fairly limited rotation, but no commercials.

    I also love how TCM has updated their play list over the last year or so, e.g., tonite at 9:00 CST they're running Amadeus... another of my top teners and the inspiration for the bulk of my classical music collection.

    Meanwhile back at the oldies...

    shack mentioned Billy Wilder and I immediately thought Some Like It Hot... a classic comedy.
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited February 2011
    Twelve Angry Men is so good it can't be put into words.

    Mitchum as the original Max Cady in Cape Fear. Screw DeNiro.
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