Posted on 02/12/2011 9:19:45 AM PST by JoeProBono
"There's been a recent debate as to the validity of black-and-white films. Many of the youngsters say, "I just don't get it." Well, don't feel like the Lone Ranger young children. Ted Turner has similar thoughts on the supposed curse of black and white.
Whether one would like to admit it or not, the greatest films in history, to include horror, science fiction, suspense and drama, have been made in the breathtaking anti-color of black and white. According to film director John Carpenter in his inventive opus They Live, the reason films are now in color is because of an invasion of aliens during the 1950s. Nice going John, for you are not far from the truth.
I have compiled an unquestionable list made up of the 20 greatest black and white films in the history of mankind. And mind you, I have added a bonus of five Honorable Mentions. For those of you unacquainted, this list is as good a place to start as any. Enjoy some of the greatest films ever made, and they are all in glorious black and white."
Orson Welles and Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil, 1958
Agreed. Someone else had posted that one up the thread.
Great movie... I believe it was made for TV.
It Happened Here (1965)
What I want to know is why does the heading say "20", but the list is 25?
Usually such pieces have an "honorable mention" breakout to tamp down on avid cultists' criticisms.
Day The Earth Stood Still
Bride of Frakenstien
Invisible Man
The Czech movie “Closely Watched Trains” should also be on the list.
1) The Longest Day
2) In Harm's Way
No coincidence that both starred the greatest actor (IMNSHO) in film history, John Wayne.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
The more times I see Psycho, the more I loathe it. Hitchcock had a couple of warm, sensual movies (”Notorious”, “I Confess”), then he became very cold-blooded and violent, with women as the main victims (”Psycho”, “Frenzy”). A similar thing happened to Kubrick. “Paths of Glory” and “Spartacus” are warm, “Clockwork Orange” etc. are cold.
When the Metropolitian Museum of Art (one of my favorite places in the US to visit) opened their fashion wing, they started out with an incredible display of famous movie costumes. I’ve never seen anything like it since. What an eyeopener.
They had the black and white dress from My Fair Lady, the Curtain Dress from GWTW, etc etc. I’d love to see it again, as I was quite young and didn’t know half the movies.
The Top Hat (Cheek to Cheek) dress was a light blue. It surprised me. Also, they had Fred Astaire’s suit and I could fit my hands around the waist practically. I searched it out after that - they said he got down to 135 lbs in that movie, he worked so hard.
One of the things that really got me was the original costumes from A Midsummer’s Night Dream (the one with James Cagney) - by the way, that should be on the Black and White classic list. It’s unique - just one of the most beautiful black and white movies ever made. The fairies just shimmer on screen. When I saw the costumes, they were just nude body suits with strings of rhinestones attached.
Here is one of the great black and white films, that few people remember. And all the more remarkable because it’s 1935.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdhnCZvFTVU
The Birdman of Alcatraz
Run Silent, Run Deep? The Scarlet Pimpernel?
Harvey
It’s A Wonderful Life
Anatomy of a Murder
Clark Gable-Spencer Tracy-Jeannette MacDonald “San Francisco”
“Stagecoach”
“Lost Horizon” (Ronald Colman, and an unforgettable Margo)and oh, that music!!!
“How Green Was My Valley”
“Streetcar Named Desire”
Stanley Kowalski: "Stella!"
Here to Eternity..
Agree! Ace in the Hole, Manchurian Candidate (original w. Laurence Harvey), and the Birdman of Alcatraz are excellent movies.
Duck Soup
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