Best Old Romance Movies/Shows (1910s-1950s)
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- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallSpottiswoode AitkenBlanche SweetPrevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.This is ok. If you want something spooky playing in the background, this will suffice.
On one hand, it's 20 minutes longer than it should be. Every scene is way too long and repetitive. It tries to be a thriller (before thrillers were invented), but it's only slightly suspenseful. You mostly just want it to hurry up and move on to the next scene.
On the other hand, it's a pretty interesting and pretty strange movie. Guilt drives The Nephew (he isn't named) insane and we see his hallucinations. Henry Brazeale Walthall is really what makes this movie. He plays The Nephew as equal parts normal, creepy, and funny. He keeps you engaged throughout the movie and you root for him.
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Negative stereotypes - The Italians servants are depicted very negatively. They're sloppily dressed (ex. didn't shave), they day drink, and one of them blackmails The Nephew. - DirectorErnst LubitschStarsPola NegriHarry LiedtkeEmil JanningsA girl is kidnapped and held captive in an ancient Egyptian temple. She is rescued and flees to England, but soon finds that her mysterious captor is still haunting her.This is the first mummy movie.
The movie is ok. The main problem is that it doesn't bother to explain the strange supernatural stuff. But I'll explain it for you so you can just enjoy the movie.
I interpreted it as Ma and Radu are corporeal ghosts. The tomb is said to be haunted and it seems that they are the part of the soul that remains when a person dies (ancient Egyptians called it the ba). There is a painting of Ma that cannot be destroyed because it would kill her as well. The painting of Ma is not unlike paintings of people in ancient Egyptian tombs. To deface those was to destroy the soul (the ka). The movie is weird because the humans think that Ma and Radu are alive. But they're not. The only lifelike thing about them is they can be physically touched and can leave the tomb. But that makes sense because the ba can consume food (in some fashion, perhaps by eating it or perhaps by consuming the energy from it) and can roam the world.
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Brown face - Two of the four main characters are white people playing Middle Easterners. - DirectorErnst LubitschStarsVictor JansonOssi OswaldaHarry LiedtkeAn American heiress seeks the hand of an impoverished German prince.A fun gender-bending comedy about a tomboy who is the 'man of the house.'
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsOssi OswaldaHermann ThimigVictor JansonForced into marriage by his uncle, a man decides to fool him by marrying a life-like mechanical doll instead.This is a VERY dark comedy. It's also nightmare fuel because the leading lady pretends to be a sex robot and the creepy way she looks/acts is the stuff of horror movies. It is a weirdly funny movie though.
Warning: Jokes about suicide - DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsIris HallWalker ThompsonLawrence ChenaultRacists learn that the land a negro owns lies over a vast oil field, and threaten his life when he refuses to sell.This is a movie about a white-passing Black man and a white-passing Black woman who pretend to be only white and thus think they can't legally be together. It's a really important topic and more people should watch this movie.
I assume the reason that this has a low rating is because the footage of the climax (the KKK going after the Black characters) no longer exists. But that's kind of a plus because we don't need to see the traumatizing violence against Black people onscreen. - DirectorsEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonEdward F. ClineLuke the DogTwo inventive farmhands compete for the hand of the same girl.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsPola NegriVictor JansonPaul HeidemannA charismatic lieutenant newly assigned to a remote fort is captured by a group of mountain bandits, thus setting in motion a madcap farce that is Lubitsch at his most unrestrained.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBernhard GoetzkeLil DagoverWalter JanssenWhen a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.Warning:
Brown face & yellow face - DirectorBurton L. KingStarsHarry HoudiniArthur MaudeAlbert TavernierA man who has been frozen in the Arctic ice for 100 years returns to civilization to find his lost love.A man is destined to save the reincarnation of his true love from ruination.
The movie is just ok but the central theme of love conquering death is a powerful one. Also, Harry Houdini does the cool escaping from a straightjacket trick. - DirectorDudley MurphyStarsAdolph BolmRuth PageOlin HowlandIn Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre visual symphony, the desperate young lovers, Youth and Love try to evade Death's cold grip, as the terrible Black Plague devastates Spain.When silent movies first started adding sound, they started with just a little bit of sound, like sound effects.
This film short is a music video synchronized to the song Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.
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Brown face - White actors play Hispanic characters. - DirectorsLeo BirinskyPaul LeniStarsEmil JanningsConrad VeidtWerner KraussA wax museum hires a writer to give the sculptures stories. The writer imagines himself and the museum owner's daughter in the stories.This is the first 'murders in a wax museum' movie, sort of. It's only happening in the guy's imagination.
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Brown face - Brown face in the Middle Eastern story. - DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsLon ChaneyNorma ShearerJohn GilbertA bitter clown endeavors to rescue the young woman he loves from the lecherous baron who once betrayed him.An adaption of He Who Gets Slapped by Leonid Andreyev.
- DirectorsGeorge ChesebroBruce MitchellStarsGeorge ChesebroRoy WatsonMilburn MoranteAfter wolf blood transfusion, man thinks he's becoming a wolf.This is the first werewolf movie. Whatever you're imagining when I say that is completely wrong. This bizarre movie is a romantic drama/Western and it finds the romance between a rich woman and a poor man to be much more interesting than werewolves. Go figure.
That's not unrelated, however. Once he becomes a werewolf, that's two strikes against him in the eyes of 'proper' society. The horror in this movie is knowing that you're being seen as less than human. - DirectorGuido BrignoneStarsBartolomeo PaganoUmberto GuarracinoMario SaioThe devil takes Maciste down to hell in an attempt to corrupt and ruin his morality.Most of the movie takes place in Pluto (the Roman underworld), where our hero has been dragged. All kinds of crazy things happen in Pluto, and the special effects are very unique.
- DirectorOtto MessmerFelix saves a girl doll from a dog, and the doll comes to life and falls for Felix. She takes him to Toyland, where he must save her from the designs of the evil Pierrot. As it turns out, though, she's not quite as helpless as she might seem to be.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsAileen PringleConway TearleMitchell LewisAn American criminal imports a gang of Hungarian gypsies to gain control over a fortune. The victim, Doris Merrick, is persuaded by fake medium Zara to hand over her jewels to Nash.This is the first evil fake medium movie.
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Brown face - White actors play "gypsies" from Hungary. The movie plays into the evil Romani stereotype. - DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyMae BuschMatt MooreA sideshow ventriloquist, a midget, and a strongman form a conspiracy known as "The Unholy Three" and commit a series of robberies.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsLon ChaneyGertrude OlmsteadHallam CooleyA meek clerk who doubles as an amateur detective investigates some very strange goings-on at a remote mental sanitarium.This is the first inmates-running-the-asylum movie.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.This is rightfully considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time.
It's a romantic comedy that takes place during New Year's Eve.
There's two versions of the movie. The 1925 version is a silent movie. The 1942 version is narrated by Charlie Chaplin and the music score was composed by Charlie Chaplin. The 1942 version even won an Oscar.
The Criterion Collection-WB DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Gold Rush has an orchestra reproducing Chaplin's music score in the 1925 version of the movie. - DirectorsRupert JulianLon ChaneyErnst LaemmleStarsLon ChaneyMary PhilbinNorman KerryA mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.An adaption of Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.
- DirectorRichard E. NormanStarsLaurence CrinerKathryn BoydBoise De LeggeA WWI fighter pilot returns to his former job as a railroad detective, and must recover a satchel filled with $25,000 of stolen payroll, locate a missing employee, and capture the gang of thieves responsible.A romantic comedy with an all-Black cast.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsJohn GilbertGreta GarboLars HansonChildhood friends are torn apart when one of them marries the woman the other fiercely loves.This Pre-Code romantic drama is about two bisexual men who are in love with the same woman. The atmosphere of it is deliciously gothic.
- DirectorsWilliam A. WellmanHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastStarsClara BowCharles 'Buddy' RogersRichard ArlenTwo young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.This Pre-Code dram-edy definitely has comedic parts but it's also a WWI movie (with actual planes etc. that were used in WWI) so it's pretty sad too.
This famously has the first same-sex kiss in a movie. It's between two male best friends who seem to be bisexual. (Hilariously, they're also both bi-plane pilots.)
Plus, you get to see Clara Bow's boobs. - DirectorPaul LeniStarsLaura La PlanteCreighton HaleForrest StanleyRelatives of an eccentric millionaire gather in his spooky mansion on the 20th anniversary of his death for the reading of his will.An early killer-in-the-house movie. It's also a romantic comedy.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyNorman KerryJoan CrawfordA criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost.This is the first evil carnie movie.
Warning:
Brown face - White actors play "gypsies" from Spain. They wear stereotypical Romani clothing and live in caravans. It plays into the fiery 'Latin Lover' stereotype and the evil Romani stereotype.
