Best of 1915-1949
Part 1: Pre-1950. Out of the 150+ movies I've seen made before 1950, these are my absolute favorites!
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- DirectorsJohn G. BlystoneBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonNatalie TalmadgeJoe KeatonA man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.My first Buster Keaton film, and easily my favorite. He was a genius! This is silly and simple. The 'rubber' train tracks are awesome. Apparently, both Buster's real father and son are in this one.
- DirectorsClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.This has it all; the trenches, the machine guns, and that butterfly at the end!
- DirectorsTod BrowningKarl FreundStarsBela LugosiHelen ChandlerDavid MannersTransylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.The ruined castle is spectacular! Reinfield is spectacular!
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.This is a perfect movie! One of my all time favorites! What, you've never heard of this one?! Peter Lorre is as creepy as they get. The criminal underworld make this movie unforgettable. It's available for free right now on YouTube. Watch it.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinMarius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.The first of the Marius, Fanny, and Cesar trilogy. Chez Panisse is named after one of the many unforgettable characters in this story. In Marius, does he choose Fanny, or the sea?
- DirectorMario AlmiranteStarsDria PaolaAlfredo De SanctisMino DoroItalian version of Marcel Pagnol's play, Fanny, in which the pregnant lover of a sailor marries another, older man she doesn't really love, while the father is away.Second of the Marius, Fanny, Cesar trilogy. Panisse is one of those unforgettable characters in movies!
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsWarner BaxterBebe DanielsGeorge BrentWhen the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.Far better than I thought this would be! I didn't think I'd love this one. The business behind Broadway. Just brilliant. Go see the musical when it comes to your town.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsMarie DresslerJohn BarrymoreWallace BeeryAs an aspiring New York socialite prepares for a lavish dinner party, her guests find themselves consumed by a tangle of business, romantic, and personal crises - all of which come to a head on the big night.So many great characters. Marie Dressler is my favorite, playing the aging star.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are fantastic in this one. Another one I didn't think I'd end up loving!
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.What a fun Hitchcock spy thriller! With handcuffs!
- DirectorRaymond BernardStarsHarry BaurCharles VanelPaul AzaïsThe lives of numerous people over the course of 20 years in 19th century France, weaved together by the story of an ex-convict named Jean Valjean on the run from an obsessive police inspector, who pursues him for only a minor offense.This movie was where I saw my now favorite actor for the 1st time. Charles Laughton plays Javert in this with a tough exterior and an ever-present fragility... I love the 2012 movie musical, but I watch this one for the story.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsCharles LaughtonMary BolandCharles RugglesAn English valet brought to the American west assimilates into the American way of life.Charles Laughton again. Have I mentioned that he is my favorite actor of all time? Even the over-the-top recital of the Gettysberg Address is so moving coming from him!
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsRaimuPierre FresnayOrane DemazisHonoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot bring himself to tell his son Cesariot that his real father is Marius, the absent son of César, Cesariot's godfather. Panisse leaves that to Fanny, the lad's mother. Dissembling that he's off to see a friend, Cesariot then seeks Marius, now a mechanic in Toulon. Posing as a journalist, Cesariot spends time with Marius and leaves believing tales he is a petty thief. Only after the truth comes out can Marius, Fanny, César, and Cesariot step beyond the falsehoods, benign though they may be.Final movie in the Marius, Fanny, Cesar trilogy. Where Marius meets little Cesariot.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.I did not want to like Chaplin. I am a Keaton fan. But I admit to his genius in this one. The rollerskating scene is just perfect.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsWilliam PowellCarole LombardAlice BradyA scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.William Powell as the butler! It was fascinating to watch Hollywood take on the Great Depression.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyFreddie BartholomewLionel BarrymoreA spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.I get choked up just thinking about this one again. Dammit.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.A perfect movie. One of the all-time greats that should be in everyone's top-10. Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Baby, Charles Ruggles...
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineVictor McLaglenIn 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Victor McLaglen all called each other by their character names from this one for the rest of their lives. Now I see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in a totally different light.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLon Chaney Jr.Burgess MeredithBetty FieldA mentally disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.Ohhh...makes me cry every damned time.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.I did not want to like John Wayne. I actually don't like other Wayne movies. But this one is a classic with the greatest characters. And Wayne isn't deeply irritating in this one like he is in say 'McLintock' 1963.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyWhen a newspaper editor's ace reporter ex-wife is about to quit her job and remarry, he buys himself time to win her back by promising her an exclusive interview with a death row convict.What a great screwball comedy!
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys GeorgeSan Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.I remember when I realized that two characters were called 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy' and I made the atomic bomb connection. A great noir film! Much, much, much better than 'The Big Sleep' 1946 - which was cool but made no sense whatsoever.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartAfter a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart?! All together, that's brilliant.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.Creepy Hitchcock movie.