What are the Top Ten Movie Classics Pre-1975?

[Schrodinger's Dog]

The thread is about movies made PRIOR to 1975!
I love how no one reads the first post.

I did I just chose to ignore it and pick my favourite classic movies since everyone else was doing that, well some people were anyway if you look carefully there are about 10 pre 1975 movies in there anyway so I did my bit

 

[theCandyman]

I do not think I can list ten, but here are some I like, not in any order. The years listed are from the Internet Movie Database.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Ben Hur (1959)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

That is about it, I was going to list "The Picture of Dorian Grey" (1974), but much dialouge was cut out and I just do not feel this movie was all that great. Also I wanted to list "The Man in the Iron Mask", but I am unsure which version I saw.

 

[marlon]

over the waterfront (1954)
the wild one (1953)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
The third Man (1949)

marlon

 

[Astronuc]

Planet of the Apes (1968)

The Andromeda Strain (1971) - some parts I liked, some I didn't. The lasers were a good effect, better than darts.

The Terminal Man (1974)


Logan's Run (1976) - just missed the '75 cut off.

 

[Evo]

Adding to Greg's, Evo's, MIH's, Ivan's, Schroedinger's lists:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Adam's Rib (1949)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Time Machine (1960)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Hang 'Em High (1968)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
After '75
Apocalypse Now (1979)
. . . . lot's more

Oh, some good ones!

 

[daveb]

Besides lots that folks have already mentioned, other great movies both pre-1975 or which missed the cutoff:

Marathon Man (1976)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Sleeper (1973)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Gaslight (1944)
Forbidden Planet (1956)

 

[honestrosewater]

Sorry but that's 1980.

I tried...

Paths of Glory was 1957, by the way.

Hey, does anyone else love the Marx Brothers? I'll make an ordered list of theirs. There's more to life than drama, after all.

 

[tribdog]

Mr. Smith's War of the Northwestern Fair Lady and her two mules' Hanging Doctor.(1825)

 

[Astronuc]

Oh, some good ones!

I had to find a substitute for Wuthering Heights since you got that one. And I like your list too!
Maybe someday.


Also I would add in the Sci-Fi genre:

The Omega Man (1971) - Charlton Heston

Soylent Green (1973) - Charlton Heston

Genesis II (1973, TV) - Alex Cord as Dylan Hunt, Mariette Hartley as Lyra-a - Dylan Hunt, a scientist, puts himself into suspended animation in a NASA cavern in 1979 to establish if he could be brought back to life in a couple of days to research into extending the process to astronauts. However the cavern collapses during an earthquake and Dylan doesn't recover until the year 2133. During the 154 years he had slept, war has broken out and the world's scientists rebelled against the war-loving military and developed a society known as the Pax, whose goal is to keep the spirit of mankind alive. However there are also the mutant Tyranians who plan to be Nazi-like rulers of the slowly recovering world. Dylan is tricked by the Tyranians who plan to use his knowledge of the past to rebuild their nuclear generator and therefore make their plans complete. Can the Pax and Dylan stop them or will the man from the past destroy the future?...

Like a lot of men (boys) in my generation, I had a crush on Mariette Hartley.


Planet Earth (1974, TV) - John Saxon as Dylan Hunt - A man awakens from suspended animation and finds himself in the 22nd century, where he finds that women rule the world and that men are slaves called Dinks. He is captured and sold as a slave, but escapes and hooks up with a male rebel movement.


And for comedy -

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) - with Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers.

The Producers (1968) - Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder


Another classic drama - Rear Window (1954) - James Stewart.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) - Rock Hudson

Basically I like the old classics with actors like Alec Guinness, Laurence Olivier, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner, Victor Mature, Rock Hudson . . . .

 

[Moonbear]

I rarely watch old movies. Well, I used to not even find time to watch movies at all. I finally joined Netflix though, and now that I don't have to leave the comfort of home to rent a movie on a rainy day (or any other day), I've been watching 2 movies a week.

*scurries off to Netflix to update my queue with some pre-1975 movies*

 

[Bystander]

All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930; Battleship Potemkin; Gunga Din; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Editorial additions: Treasure Island (Jackie Cooper); Psycho; Stalag 17.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Well that was hard to see coming, theCandyman.

I Just saw the new one... interesting...

 

[theCandyman]

I have not seen the new one yet, but the color of the previews looked depressing. However I did see The Producers shortly after New Year's Day, so Gene Wilder was in the first one? I do not remember it too well, excpet for the part where the musical "Springtime for Hitler" was performed in the old movie.

 

[tribdog]

All's Quiet on the Battleship Potemkin, Gunga Din. (1960)

 

[loseyourname]

Once Upon a Time in The West (1968)
The Graduate (1967)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The Getaway (1972)
Chinatown (1974)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Spartacus (1960)

As you might guess, I dig the outlaw films.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Slaughterhouse-Five

 

[Astronuc]

Slaughterhouse-Five

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) Excellent and profound movie.

Add to that - Catch-22 (1970) - Alan Arkin, Capt. John Yossarian - very meaningful to a recalcitrant heathen.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

OK, OK, I'll play nice here's a list, I don't know the dates but if they're post 1975 I'll eat my hat.

In no particular order:-

Cassablanca
The African Queen
12 angry men
The Maltese Falcon
Ice Cold in Alex
The Sting(1973)
The Excorcist(also 1973 in case your wondering)
The 39 steps
The Treasure of Siera Madre
Whiskey Galore

c'mon I was 3 in 1975 if I can do it you old fogies aught to be able too

 

[Astronuc]

The Excorcist (1973) and horror movies are just not my thing.

I am more of Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang (1968) personality.

And I enjoyed Le Mans (1971) with Steve McQueen and the Gulf Porsche 917's. McQueen is a favorite actor, and the Porsche 917 is my favorite car.

 

[Evo]

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) Excellent and profound movie.

Oh yes! How could I forget, it's one of my favorite movies.

 

[Francis M]

Wow that's a tuff one. THere are so many movies (even pre 75) that I like. Well here goes...

The Enemy Below
Tora Tora Tora
Midway
The Cain Mutiny
The Bedford Incident
In The Heat of The Night
To Kill A Mockingbird
Inherit The Wind
12 Angry Men
Bullitt (Love that car chase )

THere's a lot more I like. THese aren't necessarily my top ten favs but they're the oens I could think of off the top of my head that I'll definatly turn something else off to watch.

 

[tribdog]

The Excorcist (1973) and horror movies are just not my thing.
I am more of Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang (1968) personality.
And I enjoyed Le Mans (1971) with Steve McQueen and the Gulf Porsche 917's. McQueen is a favorite actor, and the Porsche 917 is my favorite car.

and for the $50 gift certificate to PF, who wrote Chitty, chitty, Bang, Bang?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh yes! How could I forget, it's one of my favorite movies.

No kidding, this is easily on my top ten list...top five...top three...

 

[Kenneth Mann]

All of those that I would have chosen (it took a while to cite "African Queen" but it was) appear to have been, with possibly one exception (did I miss it?) - - - "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines".

Maybe a few musicals, like "West Side Story" or "Oliver"?

KM

 

[Astronuc]

All of those that I would have chosen (it took a while to cite "African Queen" but it was) appear to have been, with possibly one exception (did I miss it?) - - - "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines".
Maybe a few musicals, like "West Side Story" or "Oliver"?
KM

I was also thinking about - Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965). I saw it when it first came out. I've probably seen it at least twice.

A similarly funny and delightful movie (at least to me ) is The Great Race (1965), staring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood (boy did I have crush on her) and Jack Lemmon (hilarious bad-character). I saw it when it came out.

Two other Curtis comedies I liked - Some Like It Hot (1959) and Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966)

More serious dramas with Curtis that I liked:

Taras Bulba (1962) with Yul Brynner - maybe one of these days I'll grow my hair longer and get a scalplock.

The Vikings (1958) - with Kirk Douglas and Curtis's wife - Janet Leigh

The War Lord (1965) - staring Charlton Heston and Tony Curtis, and another heavy I liked - Richard Boone.

Also staring Heston (but not Curtis) - El Cid (1961)

Those were back in the days when I was into sword fights and military history.

 

[arildno]

Ladykillers-British version
A shipload of whiskey (?) (It is possibly called Whiskey Galore)
King Kong
Dr. Caligari's Cabinet
M
Metropolis
The Seventh Seal
Gaslight (?) (Ingrid Bergman film)
Psycho
Seven Samurai

 

[Astronuc]

This one is right on the cusp -

Three Days of the Condor (1975) - Robert Redford.

Can we admit this one. A really good suspense movie, kind of like the Bourne Identity and Enemy of the State.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This one is right on the cusp -
Three Days of the Condor (1975) - Robert Redford.

Oh wow, absolutely!

 

[Kenneth Mann]

I was also thinking about - Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965). I saw it when it first came out. I've probably seen it at least twice.
A similarly funny and delightful movie (at least to me ) is The Great Race (1965), staring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood (boy did I have crush on her) and Jack Lemmon (hilarious bad-character). I saw it when it came out.

I always liked the old British comedies. American efforts often tend to be heavy-handed and adolescent in style ("The Graduate" being an exception). I call them 'Teen-Age Boy Flicks'. I'm hoping that the remake of "The Pink Panther" won't gravitate in this direction - - but I don't harbor too much hope.

Another one that I might put on the list of recommendations is "The Mouse That Roared".

KM

 

[Astronuc]

The Mouse That Roared (1959). KM

Yes, definitely. That is a great movie, staring Peter Sellers, in which "an impoverished backward nation declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose." Absolutely brilliant!

The Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to declare war on the United States, lose and accept foreign aid. They send an invasion force to New York (armed with longbows) which arrives during a nuclear drill that has cleared the streets. Wandering about to find someone to surrender to, they discover a scientist with a special ultimate weapon that can destroy the Earth. When they capture him and his bomb they are faced with a new possibility: What do you do when you win a war?

Another hilarious classic comedy with Cary Grant - Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

 

[Kenneth Mann]

Another hilarious classic comedy with Cary Grant - Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

I never saw the movie, but did see a stage version and a TV adaptation, so at least I have an idea. I have always suspected that older movies were better simply because the producers, writers, etc. hadn't yet come up with their adaptation formulas and thus hadn't yet learned how to distill the essence out of a story. They were more apt to stick with the plot than to substitute their pre-learned, canned "improvements".

KM

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Funny, I walked in the living room today just in time to see the first few seconds of Fail-Safe on TMC. I haven't seen this in at least ten years - had to stop and watch it.

I found myself sitting there with clenched, white knuckles.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I forgot Yujimbo as well the japanese version of a fistfull of dollars. And yes it is whiskey galore I had that on my list too

I once saw a hilarious send up of that film called Heroin galore about a small scotish seaside community who wind up finding a wreck full of grade A heroin. Very funny.

 

[NateTG]

and for the $50 gift certificate to PF, who wrote Chitty, chitty, Bang, Bang?

Ian Flemming who also wrote the original James Bond novels.

Funny how many of the good movies are based on plays or books.
The Sting
Lawrence of Arabia
Yojimbo
Singing in the Rain
Snow White
The Caine Mutiny
Dr. Zhivago
Arsenic and Old Lace
Casablanca
The Mark of Zorro (1920 -- this is the Douglas Fairbanks version)

The outlaw Josey Wales (1976) barely misses the cut.

 

[Astronuc]

Doctor Zhivago (1965) - Great Movie!