Recommended movies from the golden era only

[rue]

I'm looking for movies made before 1950. We got rid of our cable (goodbye TCM) and now have only netflix to get our old movie fix. So if anyone can come up with a list of their must see movies, I'd be most grateful

 

[BunnyLamarr]

I love any of the old dance movies with Rogers & Astaire, - especially Swingtime and Tophat
'Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House' with Cary Grant was lovely
'The Women' with Joan Crawford & Norma Shearer is fab & funny too.
'The Shop Around the Corner' with James Stewart is lovely too
'Little Women' with Hepburn and Taylor
'All about Eve' - but I think that might have been 1950
'Gilda' Rita Hayworth is stunning
'Brief Encounter'
'Adams Rib'
'Kind Hearts & Coronets'
'Arsenic and old Lace'
'Ziegfeld Girls'
'The Best Years of our Lives'
'Mrs Miniver'

 

[Talbot]

'The Ghost and Mrs Muir'

 

[Shangas]

It really depends on what you want, but...

"In Old Chicago" is a good one.
"San Francisco" is another wonderful one (one of my favourites).
"A Night to Remember" (although that was made IN the 1950s).
"The Jazz Singer" (just don't think it's the first full-audio movie. It's a silent movie with singing in it).
"Casablanca" (Duuuuh!!)
"The Wooden Horse" and "The Dam Busters" (both 1950s b/w, very good WWII films).
"The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1939).
"The Wizard of Oz"
"Meet Me In St. Louis, (Louis)"
Any of the 1940s "Dick Tracy" films (from memory, there was something like 3 or 4 of them).

The 1940s 'Sherlock Holmes' films ('The Scarlet Claw' is my particular favourite).

There's also an excellent...1940s, I think...film adaptation of "Oliver Twist".

Any of the 1940s 'Frankenstein' films.

 

[rue]

You guys are great. Thank you and keep em comin'

Shangas,
We'll watch anything once, so whatever anyone throws at us is great

I've seen most of the so called classics (GWTW, Wizard of OZ, etc) but I thought this could be a good way of listing Golden Era movies that everyone should see but hasn't, meanwhile giving me a go to list

 

[dragonaxe]

Fantastic thread, Rue!!
My wife and I are getting into the habit of taking the laptop to bed (is the only quiet place away from the kids! lol) and watching classic DVDs. We are working our way through a box set of Cary Grant....and want to watch "High Society" and "Singing In the Rain" asap!! We will have to work our way through the list you've got already ;o)

I just love the old films!!! no continuous background music and violence, lol

 

[djd]

Casablanca
The Big Sleep
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Sea Hawk
Bringing up Baby
Notorious
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Bishops Wife
They Died with Their Boots On
To Have and Have Not
The Maltese Falcon
Raffles
The Thin Man (series)

 

[Bourne ID]

Just had the wife add Little Ceasar to the netflix list. Love this thread , keeps reminding of movies I haven't seen in ages.

 

[rue]

Fantastic thread, Rue!!
My wife and I are getting into the habit of taking the laptop to bed (is the only quiet place away from the kids! lol) and watching classic DVDs. We are working our way through a box set of Cary Grant....and want to watch "High Society" and "Singing In the Rain" asap!! We will have to work our way through the list you've got already ;o)

I just love the old films!!! no continuous background music and violence, lol

Thank you dragonaxe!

Singing in the rain is wonderful

 

[rue]

There's a lot here that I've never even heard of. Thank you everyone

 

[KY Gentleman]

"Laura" and "DOA" are both very good.

 

[Rudie]

Holiday
The Philadelphia Story - both with Grant and Hepburn
Captain Blood - Errol Flynn's first
Ball of Fire - with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck
You Can't Take It With You
Harvey - both with James Stewart
The Black Swan - great swashbuckler with Tyrone Power
The Mark of Zorro - also with Tyrone Power
The Three Musketeers - hilarious version with Gene Kelly and Lana Turner
Topper - another one with Grant
It's a Wonderful World - James Stewart again
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town - Gary Cooper; last two films by Frank Capra

 

[Atomic Age]

I think you could safely include the 50's in the golden age, at least as far as Hollywood goes.

Doug

 

[rue]

I think you could safely include the 50's in the golden age, at least as far as Hollywood goes.

Doug

Oh I know, I'm just really familiar with those movies and I was trying to come up with a cutoff since then people will want to add 60s movies and so on...., but if there are some relevant movies you can think of and want to add I'm not going to come after you

 

[Snowdrop]

You could try 'People Will Talk' and 'The Awful Truth'... two of my absolute favorite Cary Grant movies.

 

[Widebrim]

So many listed already, but:

The Mark of Zorro (great film, with two attractive leads); The Adventures of Don Juan and Charge of the Light Brigade (both Errol Flynn); the following Dick Powell movies: Murder, My Sweet, Pitfall, Cornered, and Cry Danger! (1951); The Locket (great Noir, with flashback within a flashback within a flashback!); Impact (Brian Donleavy); Gunga Din (classic); Beau Geste (great cast); Gilda (Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford); Gun Crazy (one of the greatest Noirs); Detour (perhaps the greatest Noir); Stagecoach (John Wayne); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Laughton); The Lady from Shanghai (Welles and Turner); White Zombie (great Lugosi Gothic horror film); The Corsican Brothers (Doug Fairbanks, Jr. in a dual role); Kansas City Confidential (one of my favorite films, but from 1952); Union Station (Holden and Jan Sterling, 1950); Kiss of Death (Victor Mature and Richard Widmark); Where the Sidewalk Ends (another one of my favorites with Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney); The Best Years of Our Lives (another great cast); Sahara (war film with Bogie); The High Wall (Robert Taylor as a vet with a plate in his head); The Blue Dahlia and This Gun for Hire (both with Ladd and Lake); Force of Evil (John Garfield); and The Prisoner of Zenda (!). Let me think of some more...

 

[Akubra Man]

Starring Greer Garson 2 films: Googbye Mr Chips and The Valley of Decision

 

[sheeplady]

Just finished watching The Complete Metropolis, done in 2010 with segments of film discovered in Argentina. I also liked the additional materials that trace the history of the film, I would recommend seeing these as well (not sure if you can see the extras or additional features on Netflix).

Three on a Match isn't too bad. American Madness (about a bank run) is quite good. Saw both of these on the large screen.

I would also second anything done by Rogers/ Astaire.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I'm a pre-Code junkie! These should be on Netflix:

Three On A Match (1932)
Red Headed Woman (1932)
Gold Diggers of 1933
Footlight Parade (1933)
42nd Street (1932)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
It (1927)
Metropolis (1926)
Harold Lloyd & Buster Keaton movies!
ANYTHING by Busby Berkely
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
The Divorcee (1930)
A Free Soul (1931)
Female (1932)
The Women (1939)
Carole Lombard movies!
Baby Face (1932)
Four Daughters (1938)
Stage Door (1937)

My tastes tend to run "girlie" -- except the Chain Gang movie. I put off watching that for a while then I finally broke down, watched it, now it's in my top 5 fave movies ever!!!

Oh, and I love 1932

 

[lci419]

I'm a nut for Edward G. Robinson and/or gangster movies. I saw someone mentioned "Little Caesar," but I also highly recommend three others as well (okay, anything with EGR is a good recommendation). Particularly, I am fond of "Brother Orchid,""Scarlet Street," and recently enjoyed "Woman in the Window."

Non-EGR movie favorites are "The Petrified Forest" and the all time classic "The Public Enemy."