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Thread: Classic Films

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Partly Orlando, FL partly heard Sandpoint, ID

    Classic Films

    Ok, one of the things our school does is have a week in the spring for kind of alternative education type programs. This year I decided to do one on classic films. For starters, I narrowed it down to movies from before any of them were born(which is basically 1990 or so), and movies that most of them haven't seen(so while folks might love Star Wars or Casablanca, etc those movies are on TV enough that the kids have seen them). Oh, and one other note, can't be rated R(which alas, tosses out some of the excellent 70s cinema). I'm going to be picking up a pretty wide selection of films over Christmas break(because well, its actually kind of hard to find legitimate copies of movies over here in Korea and for a school event, can't be pirated copies), and thought I'd look here for ideas, since I don't want my own particularly opinions to completely dominate what we pick from. I'm planning on picking up about 30 DVDs, of which we'll end up watching about 10 that week(each kid will also get to pick one to take away from the week as well).

    So basically, I'm looking for nominations from folks, if you had to pick 10 films or so that kids really should see, for appreciation of the art, cultural awareness, or just a rockin' good time, what would you pick?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    On the Waterfront
    Singin' in the Rain
    North by Northwest
    Breakfast at Tiffany's (might fall into the "on cable too much" category...if so, then Sabrina)
    Ben-Hur
    The Maltese Falcon
    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

    That's all I got at the moment. Can't go wrong with any of these though.

  3. #3

    classic films

    Are you only going to be able to show one film or will be able to show a series?

    If you have just one film to show, I'd suggest Citizen Kane ... followed by a discussion as to why most serious students of film consider it the greatest film ever made.

    If you're able to a series, then I'd try to show a variety of film genres -- start with a great silent (you'd be amazed how accessable a film such as Keaton's The General or Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad is to a modern audience). Add a '30s melodrama (something like Public Enemy), a screwball comedy (Bringing Up Baby), a great western (Stagecoach). I'd add Casablanca as a great example of how the studio system could produce a masterpiece, then go to White Heat to show the growth of the anti-hero after the war, then finish off with a political drama such as On the Waterfront (with a discussion of how it reflected the Blacklist scandal going on in Hollywood at the time). I'd throw in a good Marx Brothers movie (Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera) just because they are the Marx Brothers and maybe a Busby Berkley musical (42nd Street).

    If I had an entire semester, I'd do a director's series and start with America's greatest artist, John Ford (either Ford or Mark Twain is first on my list). From The Iron Horse to Men Without Women to Stagecoach to Young Mr. Lincoln to How Green Was My Valley to They Were Expendable (the greatest WWII movie ever made) to the postwar cavalry trilogy to My Darling Clementine to the Quiet Man to The Searchers and finally The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence.

    Then I'd move to Howard Hawks, Frank Capra and George Stevens ...

  4. #4
    If you wan't to show some stuff that most kids wouldn't ever get around to checking out on their own. . . some of these may not go over, but I would have loved if someone had shown them to me when I was in high school.

    The General (Keaton)
    La Jetee
    The Third Man
    Man with A Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
    Night of the Hunter
    Dr. Strangelove
    Beauty and the Beast (Cocteau)
    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
    M
    Mr. Klein
    Rashomon
    Kind Hearts and Coronets
    Once Upon a Time in the West
    Meshes in the Afternoon

  5. #5

    some more!

    12 Angry Men - stick to your guns
    It's a Wonderful Life - be thankful for what you have
    Days of Wine and Roses - A frightening study of addiction.
    The Grapes of Wrath - never give up
    The Razor's Edge - follow your heart, no matter what others say

  6. #6
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    Feb 2007
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    Charleston, SC

  7. #7
    Just a thought and I'm not sure what type of rating Seven Samurai may have tagged to it, but try showing Seven Samurai and Magnificent Seven back to back? Same story, different settings...both are in my personal Top Ten.

    Or a contrast of early Bond with later Bond?

  8. #8
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    Atlanta, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by YmoBeThere View Post
    Just a thought and I'm not sure what type of rating Seven Samurai may have tagged to it, but try showing Seven Samurai and Magnificent Seven back to back? Same story, different settings...both are in my personal Top Ten.

    Or a contrast of early Bond with later Bond?
    I was gonna suggest the Magnificent Seven Samurai thing too, but both of those are pretty long (Kurosawa especially). The Bond suggestion is a cool one too, but the new ones pale in comparison to the earlier films imo.

  9. #9
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    Feb 2007
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    Ashburn, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by willywoody View Post
    Good list, but it's missing Rear Window.

    I also liked Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940 - one of his earliest). But that may have been due to my huge crush on Joan Fontaine.

  10. #10
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    Oct 2007
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    Denver, CO.
    The Sting

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Here is a big list of films (I couldn't stop at 10) of various styles. Good luck choosing 10

    12 Angry Men
    The Third Man
    Rear Window
    Shadow of a Doubt
    Rope
    Dr Strangelove
    M
    Rashomon
    Maltese Falcon
    The Rules of the Game
    Bridge on the River Kwai
    Treasure of the Sierra Madre
    Sullivan's Travels
    Stand By Me
    Raising Arizona
    Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Touch of Evil
    The Manchurian Candidate
    To Kill a Mockingbird
    Young Frankenstein

  12. #12
    Most of the ones I'd recommend have already been said. I'm going to put in another plug for On the Waterfront, 12 Angry Men and Dr. Strangelove though. I'd also suggest All About Eve.

    As for Bond, I found Casino Royale to be easily the best in the series. And yes, I have seen most of the classic ones.

  13. #13
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    Lompoc, West Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by darthur View Post
    Most of the ones I'd recommend have already been said. I'm going to put in another plug for On the Waterfront, 12 Angry Men and Dr. Strangelove though. I'd also suggest All About Eve.

    As for Bond, I found Casino Royale to be easily the best in the series. And yes, I have seen most of the classic ones.
    Anything directed by Frank Capra.

    Casino Royale? I prefer the Clousteau version.

    I'm not sure that waiting to hear "Rosebud" wouldn't bore them to sleep.

    Comedies will keep their attention.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by captmojo View Post
    Comedies will keep their attention.
    A Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road movie

    Abbott and Costello, including the one with "Who's on First?"

    An Elvis Presley movie

    Not comedies, but my other recommendations:

    Jaws (the first one)

    The God Father (the first one)

    A Jimmy Stewart movie

    Star Trek IV (put this one up with the comedies)

    Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope

    Die Hard
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

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  15. #15
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    Feb 2007
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    Los Angeles

    So many movies!

    I didn't try to limit myself at all! Figured you will make the final decision, so...just started listing flixs off the top of my head -- trying to concentrate on films that I thought kids would enjoy -- rather than "classic films you should love." I've tried to include all/most genres. And I forced myself to NOT look at any of the other posts. (can't wait to do that now).

    So...for what it's worth: (in no particular order)

    Bringing Up Baby
    Road to Zanzibar
    Ben Hur
    The Day the Earth Stood Still
    Monty Python & The Holy Grail
    Dr. Strangelove
    Some Like It Hot
    West Side Story
    Lifeboat
    North By Northwest
    To Kill a Mockingbird
    Back To The Future
    Cool Hand Luke
    The Terminator
    Amadeus
    Holiday
    The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
    Das Boot
    Shane
    Old Yeller
    National Velvet
    Fantasia
    Topper
    Aliens
    Windjammer
    Lawrence of Arabia
    Dr. No
    Lilies of the Field
    Jailhouse Rock
    East of Eden
    Magnificent Seven
    The Great Escape
    Stalag 17
    The Shining
    M
    The Godfather
    Singin' in the Rain
    Lion in Winter

    Okay, I'll stop for now. sigh. Such a GREAT class. Wish I were there.

  16. #16
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    I'm struggling with this, but here's my first take on "important" films that pre-date 1990 and are not commonly seen by most folks:

    1. Birth of a Nation - the first "modern" feature film
    2. Battleship Potemkin - an exercise in Leninist propoganda, but commonly recognized as one of the greatest films of all time - very influential and often imitated
    3. The Jazz Singer - the first big talkie hit
    4. Stagecoach - brought Westerns into cinematic mainstream, launching a genre
    5. Citizen Kane - possibly the peak of B&W cinematography - invented many modern camera techniques - and generally considered the best film ever made by critics' polls
    6. The Bicycle Thief - epitome of European post-War minimalist films
    7. Rashomon - breakthrough Japanese filmmaking - examined multiple-viewpoint filmmaking
    8. Forbidden Planet - launched sci-fi as a legitimate, mainstream genre
    9. Easy Rider - perfectly captures a moment in American time - does any other movie capture its era better?
    10. My Neighbor Totoro - kind of seems odd on this list, I know. I wanted to do an animated film, but most of the big Disney ones are too popular. Then, I decided to go with an anime film, of which I think the best is "Spirited Away", but that's too new for your list. So, this is the early Miyazaki film that I think best embodies his work and gives an idea of what anime is capable of accomplishing.


    Now, "Citizen Kane" is shown fairly often on TCM, but I'm always surprised at the number of folks that haven't seen it. If you want to drop it off the list, I'd suggest "City Lights" in its place. Or possibly "Top Hat".

    If you took off the constraints of being commonly seen, my list would include: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Gone With the Wind", "Star Wars", and "The Sound of Music" in place of "Stagecoach", "Forbidden Planet", "Easy Rider", and "My Neighbor Totoro".
    JBDuke

    Andre Dawkins: “People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. That’s kind of the same thing.”

  17. #17
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    Feb 2007
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    Durham, NC
    For kids, I highly recommend The Cowboys with John Wayne. One of my alltime favorites, I can't believe no one has mentioned it, yet.

    Ooh, and The Black Stallion. A kids' movie, but a classic.

  18. #18
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    Feb 2007
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    Brevard
    Maybe:
    Shane
    Marty
    Arsenic and Old Lace--silly and fun

    And...It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World---to see some of the early comedians; its long but kids would like it I think...

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    St. Louis
    Grand Hotel
    Modern Times
    Rebecca
    Citizen Kane
    Shadow of a Doubt
    Now, Voyager
    To Have and Have Not
    The Day the Earth Stood Still
    Vertigo
    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Deslok View Post
    For starters, I narrowed it down to movies from before any of them were born(which is basically 1990 or so), and movies that most of them haven't seen(so while folks might love Star Wars or Casablanca, etc those movies are on TV enough that the kids have seen them).
    No matter how often they're on TV, I guarantee that 90% of kids have never seen a movie made before 1978. Keep Casablanca on the list. Maybe "Airplane!" it's fairly recent but still I bet most kids have not seen it.

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