This month marks the 80-year anniversary of one of cinema's most beloved game-changers: Michael Curtiz's Casablanca. To celebrate this milestone, I wanted to write sort of a love letter to classic, old-school cinema in general, so today's list is all about my favorite old movies. Of course, 'old cinema' is a terribly arbitrary subject (people my age often use the phrase 'old movies' about Forrest Gump (1994) or The Matrix (1999), which immediately wakes up my inner boomer and likely leads to a terribly annoying and pretentious rant about what 'real old movies' are). But for the types of films that I wanted to discuss in today's blog, as in being lumped together with Casablanca as films representing the 'classic old Hollywood', I decided to use the year 1950 as a cut-off point, as the 50's spearheaded so many changes towards 'modern cinema', therefore feeling like a new era. So, these are my very favorite films from before the 1950's!
Here are my honorable mentions: It Happened One Night (1934), Key Largo (1948), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Pinocchio (1940), The Gold Rush (1925).
10. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
"Heavy. What is it?"
"The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of"
Every film genre seems to have that one movie that plays out like a 'Best of' album, colleting all the most beloved tropes into an end product that encapsulates everything great about the genre, making it must-watch for people who want to know what that type of cinema is all about. Adventure has Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), horror has Halloween (1978), action has Die Hard (1988) - and film noir, the specific yet ever-popular genre that had its heyday in 1940's and 50's Hollywood, has The Maltese Falcon.
The intrigue in this stylized John Huston crime drama is just off the charts - you have a stolen jewel of immense value, a femme fatale looking after her own interests, a gangster boss playing his own angle, and a washed-up detective protagonist (I'm not sure which is more aggressively 1940's - the main character's name being Sam Spade, or the fact that he's played by Humphrey Bogart). Bribes, spiked drinks, double-dealings and shady back-alley meetings ensue in this unforgettable classic.
9. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
"You still think it's beautiful to die for your country. The first bombardment taught us better"
This World War I epic is quite relevant now, as a high-profile remake of it was released on Netflix last month. While I dare to say that there are some elements that the remake does better than the original (turns out that a film about German soldiers feels more authentic when it's made by Germans, starring Germans and spoken in German, as opposed to Hollywood Americans speaking English), there's still no beating the original in overall cinematic value.
All Quiet on the Western Front is one of those old movies where you'll get sucked in and forget how old the film is, as the themes are so timeless and the directing so solid that it won't feel like you're watching something from 92 years ago. Speaking of themes, the film's anti-war themes resonate with my pacifist soul, especially when considering the time of its release - these days, it's fairly un-controversial to make an anti-war statement, but back in 1930, the world was such a nationalist-militaristic craze, that making a film that criticizes the senselessness of war in such a bold manner was quite the power move. Of course, it's not like humanity has exactly learned its lesson yet - man, I hope that I'll live to see a day when All Quiet on the Western Front isn't as depressingly relevant as it has been for every day since its release.
8. Gone with the Wind (1939)
"Where shall I go? What shall I do?"
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"
It's about time I opened this particular can of worms in this blog of mine. Yes, Gone with the Wind grossly misrepresents the period of American history it's set in as it reflects harmful norms of a deeply racist era and has played a part in why many Americans still don't understand what the Civil War was about and how deep the evils of slavery and the Confederacy truly went. And yes, Gone with the Wind is on many levels one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces ever made, and a point of perfection for many, many aspects of filmmaking. After a lot of thought on the conflict this film brings with it, I have come to the conclusion that at least for me personally, those two opinions can coexist.
Watching the film as a young American quite obsessed with history and even more obsessed with civil rights, many parts were painful and frustrating to get through, because some of the values behind the story are so very screwed up. While many defend the film and the book it's based on by saying they're products of their time, it's easy to forget that the book came out in 1936, seventy-one years after the Civil War ended, in a time where defending Confederate leaders and falsifying facts from U.S. history was part of a larger attempt to undermine civil rights for Black people to keep them segregated and unable to vote. It saddens me to think about how many Americans have had their view of U.S. history shaped by media such as this film, therefore playing into the whole 'the Confederacy wasn't that bad' / 'the Civil War was about states' rights' -narrative that dominates racist rhetoric in America to this day. The country has done a woeful job at reckoning with its history and learning from it, as could be seen from the confederate flags waved in the Capitol when it was stormed by said racists last year.
All of that being said - everything else about Gone with the Wind is pretty much cinematic perfection. And as it was based on a book that reflected the overall norms of its time, you can't blame the filmmakers too much as they very likely didn't realize what they were a part of, and were just trying to make a great film, which they very much succeeded at. To this day the set design, costume design, original score and acting performances in Gone with the Wind are some of the very best ever seen in cinema, making for an astonishing viewing experience for fans of cinema or just art in general.
So, no, I don't want the film to be 'cancelled' - I think HBO Max found the perfect compromise when some people were calling for the film to be removed from the streaming service while others demanded that it stays, and they ended up keeping the film but adding a disclaimer in the beginning about how the film doesn't represent facts from American history. I think that's a brilliant way to look at it: you can and should be able to enjoy Gone with the Wind as the cinematic masterpiece that it is, but only if you accept the dark facts about it and reckon with them instead of denying them and living in a lie. Maybe there should be a rule that if you watch Gone with the Wind, you need to also watch 12 Years a Slave, and understand that only one of those films takes place in a real historical era.
7. City Lights (1931)
"Tomorrow, the birds will sing"
Now for something lighter; City Lights is a delightful trailblazer of the rom-com genre, and my personal favorite out of the Charlie Chaplin silent films I've seen. Mr. Chaplin is so brilliantly funny in his classic role of the Tramp, and the love story at this film's center will melt your heart. There's not much more to it, nor does there need to be: City Lights is quite simply short, sweet, heartfelt and amusing enough to earn its spot among the great classics.
6. King Kong (1933)
"Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast"
I have a huge soft spot for monster flicks, and the importance of the original King Kong in this genre's history cannot be understated. The best aspects of the monster movie genre tend to be threefold; the epic/mysterious lore behind the monsters, the visual grandeur of seeing such otherworldly creatures on the big screen, and the stories having a lot to say about humanity and the world through various metaphors. And all three elements are strongly present in this early instance: the lore behind Skull Island and its mysteries is brilliantly creepy and adventurous, the practical visual effects are mind-blowing for a film from the 1930's, and the themes about humans abusing nature for their own entertainment will hit your hard without feeling too on-the-nose.
5. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
"Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges"
Apparently, when actor Walter Huston's son John expressed that he wants to be a screenwriter when he grows up, his father told him to write a good part for his old man some day. This dream came true in quite spectacular fashion, as the younger Huston ended up winning Academy Awards for his writing and directing of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, while his old man Walter won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, for playing the part that his son wrote for him. Talk about cool father-and-son activities.
This adventurous western certainly deserved its three Oscars (and could've gotten a few more, in hindsight), with its sharp production values and thoroughly engaging atmosphere. The film manages to tap into the utmost intrigue of the western genre, with the rag-tag group of heroes encountering every possible fascinating obstacle that one could imagine into a treasure hunt story in 1920's Mexico. Whatever happened to the real treasure of the Sierra Madre, John Huston most definitely made a treasure of American cinema with this one.
4. Metropolis (1927)
"What if one day those in the depths rise up against you?"
One of the great tragedies of cinematic history is the fact that in the early decades of cinema, Germany was right up there with (or arguably even ahead of) Hollywood in the production quality, popularity and artistic value of movies - until Hitler happened, thought-provoking cinema was replaced with propaganda, and after the war it was too late to compete with Hollywood anymore. It pains me to think about what heights German cinema could have reached, were the world a kinder place.
A chief example of the glory of early German cinema is Fritz Lang's unbridled masterpiece Metropolis. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a film as ahead of its time as this one - in a decade where most cinema was just playing around with filming techniques while telling basic stories (American cinema really got into deep themes and such in the 1930's), Fritz Lang randomly came up with a larger-than-life story about greed, corruption, love and revolution, set in an imaginative dystopian society. The set designs are grandiose, the production values are off the charts for a film from the 1920's, and what the story has to say about the world still rings true today.
3. Citizen Kane (1941)
"I don't think there's one word that can describe a man's life"
Everything I could possibly say about Citizen Kane has already been said by dozens of critics and film historians, but here goes nothing. It's a classic, a milestone and a movie often used in conversation as a go-to example of a great movie, all for good reason.
Orson Welles' script muses on themes of legacy, wealth and the pitfalls of the American dream in a powerful manner. Additionally, the directing by Orson Welles absolutely revolutionized how visual storytelling and cinematography can be used in cinema, making Citizen Kane one of the most influential movies ever made for cinema as an art form. Also, the lead performance by - what's that? Orson Welles again? Yes, that man really did it all - and as I was saying, his lead performance as Charles Foster Kane has the gravitas and magnificence to really seal the deal.
2. Casablanca (1942)
"Here's looking at you, kid"
"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine"
"Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By"
"Round up the usual suspects"
"We'll always have Paris"
"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"
Need I say more? It is absolute madness that all of these iconic lines are from the same film. That's like having Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Lewandowski and prime Maradona playing on the same football team, or if The Beatles had put Hey Jude, Let It Be, Yesterday, A Day in the Life and Eleanor Rigby all on the same studio album. While there are many reasons for the film of the hour, which turns 80 years old this month, to be this high on today's list, the sheer quotability and level of dialogue can be argued to be its strongest suit.
But there's so much more to adore as well. The setting of Rick's Café Américain in a Vichy-controlled part of North Africa during World War II is one of the most unique and vibrant milieus seen in cinema, and the cynical nature of Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine bounces off the lightness of the romantic themes and occurrences of humor, which in turn bounce of the dark WWII backdrop, to create quite the emotional contrast. And to top it all off, the final act is genuinely and strikingly suspenseful. A beautiful piece of cinema if I ever saw one.
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives"
A tale as old as time, I had seen the concept and story of It's a Wonderful Life re-told in at least The Simpsons (1989-Present), Click (2006) and a Donald Duck comic book before I ever got around to seeing the original. I always wondered what old book or movie that plot concept was from, and it was nothing short of mind-blowing to realize just what I was watching about one hour into this 1940's classic.
I can't really spoil what happens in case some of my readers have been meaning to watch the film for the last 76 years but just haven't gotten around to it yet - let's just say that the narrative is such an emotional powerhouse that speaks to pretty much anyone in quite a profound manner, that it's no wonder that the story has been retold across various media so many times. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of movies in my lifetime, and very few have something as essential to say about life and humanity as this timeless gem.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next Thursday as I explore my findings from the latest rabbit hole that sucked me in - I may or may not have watched a seven-hour YouTube video about A Song of Ice and Fire fan theories at 1.5x speed across two very over-caffeinated train trips. And I may or may not have followed up by researching this fan theory culture across the deep crevices of the interet. So, next week's post may or may not be a ranking of seventy-five ASOIAF fan theories, ranked from most conventional to most obscure.
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