Old Movies List

Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 10:34 am

My old movies list may make some of you feel really ancient, as I’ve included films as recent as the ‘50s, ‘60s and ’70s. Of course, that’ll seem like a hundred years ago to our younger readers, and they’ll no doubt wonder why movies from the ‘80s weren’t added to the list. It’s all a matter of perspective, I suppose, but hopefully this old movies list may give you a few new ideas the next time you log onto Blockbuster Online or Netflix.

1. 12 Angry Men (1957) – Using almost one set exclusively, this tense drama tells the story of 12 jurors deliberating the fate of a young man. Originally based on a play, this powerhouse film stars Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman and many more. An absolute essential for any old movies list.

2. Five Easy Pieces (1970) – Jack Nicholson gives a superb performance as a wealthy young man who turned his back on a life or privilege to work on an oil rig. When he hears that his father is dying, he must return to the family he abandoned and try to find some peace in his life. Also starring Karen Black and Billy Green Bush. The most famous scene in the film comes when Nicholson tries to get a side order of toast from a particularly stubborn waitress. One of the great old movies of the 70s.

3. The Sand Pebbles (1966) – Steve McQueen portrays Jake Holman, an engine specialist recently transferred to the USS San Pablo, a gunboat on patrol in 1920’s China. Colonialism and race relations are explored, and Holman forms a doomed relationship with a schoolteacher (Candice Bergen) at a local Christian mission.

4. The Music Man (1962) – In this great old movie from the 60s, Robert Preston stars as a conman looking to swindle the citizens of a small Iowa town by convincing them they need a boy’s marching band. After raising the money, his intention is to skip town, but he doesn’t plan on falling in love with the town’s librarian (Shirley Jones). A fun musical film based on a 1957 Broadway production.

5. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) – A heartwarming look back at the life of an English schoolteacher and the thousands of young boys whose lives he touched. Starring Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn and Paul Henreid. Up for seven Oscars, Robert Donat beat out Clark Gable (Gone with the Wind) in the Best Actor category.

6. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – This classic old movie from the ‘50s tells of the fall of the silent films and the rise of the “talkies.” Gene Kelly stars, and he’s supported by Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen. It’s considered the greatest musical ever made, and that’s a title that’s well-deserved.

7. The Thin Man (1934) – William Powell and Myrna Loy star as Nick and Nora Charles, a married couple who flirt relentlessly with one another while they’re solving crimes. Hugely popular, the film spawned five sequels and was based on a novel by mystery writer Dashiell Hammett. Definitely deserving of a spot on any old movies list.

8. All the King’s Men (1949) – A politician rises from rural office to becoming governor. Even though he begins as an idealist, the system eventually corrupts him just like those who came before. Starring Broderick Crawford and Joanne Dru.

9. The Caine Mutiny (1954) – Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny depicts a mutiny aboard a WWII American minesweeper and the later court-martial trial which resulted. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray.

10. Ivanhoe (1952) – Robert Taylor stars as Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a knight who tirelessly searches for a way to rescue his king, Richard the Lionheart. A sweeping adventure filled with romance, swordplay and deception. Two unofficial sequels would follow.

Instantly watch from thousands of TV episodes & movies streaming from Netflix. Try Netflix for FREE!

Don’t run off just yet, as there’s plenty more where that came from. For example…

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 10:34 am and is filed under Movie Megalists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

54 Responses to “Old Movies List”

Leave a Comment

January 22, 2010

Candida

Hello, I was wondering if you could help me find a movie title!
From what I remember, the movie went like this.

A young woman never got along with her father, her father was very hard on her and raised her to believe that she will never be loved by a man. She falls in love, and is supposed to meet a young man outside of her fathers mansion. He doesn’t show up. The young woman is heartbroken and later turn angry, and ends up alone with her housemaid. Her father dies, and she doesn’t even care at all. He leaves her the house where she lives alone for the rest of her life. The young man comes back to town and meets up with her housemaid, makes arrangements to come back, and the older angry woman let him in, talks with him and tells him they will be married, he goes to get his things, and she locks the door and doesn’t let him in.

January 22, 2010

Shane

Can someone help our friend? As I’ve said before, I’m terrible with these. Nobody ever asks about movies featuring Tom Cruise as a hotshot pilot. 🙁

January 26, 2010

Rhonda

For Candida:

The movie is called “The Heiress” staring Olivia DeHaviland.

January 30, 2010

Thomas

I am looking for an old Black and white that I saw when I was just a boy, you know, when you sneak out of your room to watch those scary movies your parents didn’t want you to watch? Well, I still remember it today as if I saw it yesterday and it made some sort of impact on my life, to what I am not sure but I think of that movie. So I need your help in finding out the name of the movie and the year.
All I can do is describe it.
The setting is Africa maybe the congo. There was a guy in a white suit who thinks he is better then other people, then a strange guy drags himself in the house with a beard and dirty. He finds out that he was in the jungle by himself for many day and went mad. But the other guy takes his job and goes into the jungle to a deserted train car filled with booze. But as time goes on he starts to go mad and some of the local tribes play on his mind with voodoo. He eventually runs into the jungle gets lost and finally ends up back at the house with his friends in the same shape as the first guy. The end…
A strange story but I cant get rid of it until I find it. I now live in a village in the heart of Africa. Please help……Thomas Morrow missionaryfamily@gmail.com

February 22, 2010

Kory

I’m from croatia ,sorry for my bad english
I’m looking for a title of movie
I’ll describe it somehow.
There was a young boy and he met an old man
And they’ve become friends..
The old man was death and he was extinglushing candles that were floating by the river…..as they were friends …the old man (death) let this boy live very long…and when this boy get very older …..he asked the old man to extinglush his candle because he was to old then and he wanted to die……..

My father told me about this movie but he doesn’t remember the title…….so please help me if you can ……thank you
😀

February 22, 2010

Shane

Kory,

Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of the film. I even spent some time searching on the Internet, but I couldn’t find anything about it. Hopefully, one of our other readers will come along and answer your question. You might also try posting the question on our movie forum located at http://www.cinemathreads.com.

February 27, 2010

Alison

Hi there, I am looking for an old black and white film i watched when i was younger, all i can remeber was a flood in a house and a woman trying to help her child up the stairs away from it, i know its not much to go on but any info would be good.
thanks

April 30, 2010

corinne

An elderly friend is trying to remember the name of a film she saw many years ago. A couple are ship wrecked and end up on an island that is misty and dark and lots of moss grows on the trees etc. They find a shack which contains many of cans of food which they use to survive.The cans are covered in moss too.Finally a ship comes to rescue them but they dont want to be rescued as by now, they too are covered in moss and dont want to repel people by rejoining society.They only ask for canned food from the ship so they can continue to live on the island. My friend thought it was a Hitchcock film but I cant find one with the description/story line she has given me.Would appreciate some help from a movie buff please!:O)

May 20, 2010

Chicha

Hi, I am trying to looking for an old movie. Do anyone of you know what’s the name of the movie please? It’s a story about a black poor lady has white son, and this lady always use socks to cover her skin, or also she use to ask the little boy to use sock to cover his white skin. I saw this movie around 1985. Hope anyone of you could help me find out, whats the name of it. Thanks very much.

May 23, 2010

Darlene

I too am looking for an old movie I saw a long time ago. It takes place on a tropical island and a prince comes to choose a wife. Instead of choosing the most beautiful girl, he chooses the outcast girl and pays a great price for her. Later (a year or so) the prince returns to the island with a BEAUTIFUL wife and they all wonder what happened to the ugly girl. He explains that this is the same girl, that his love brought out the real beauty in her. Can you help me? I am a speaker and have described this movie several times to my audience, but would love to know the name and perhaps even use a clip from it. Thanks so very much.

June 1, 2010

joel padilla

i am looking for an old movie that has a story of a mother with her 4 children. the father died and they need to find a place to live. hungry and tired, they reached a palace, they were accepted by the owner. They live in a room but they were prohibited to go outside. the two children died because of poison placed in their food. The eldest found out that their food was mixed with poison and his mother was having an affair with the owner. He also found holes outside that was made for them. He was angry with his mother because she has not done anything to save them. They had fight and the mother fell and died from the balcony.

June 17, 2010

Rhonda l. Matthews

Joel,
the name of the movie you’re talking about i think is called Flowers in the Attic. Good look!

June 22, 2010

Denise Zecopoulos

I am looking for a movie that I am pretty sure is called December Love it came out I believe in the 1970-1976 era.

Any info on this movie would be appreciated.

August 2, 2010

Sam

Hi there,

I am trying to find a name of a good movie I have seen long time ago, It is about a Russian man who was invited to Germany as a poet or writer (I am not exactly sure) after world war 2 and he met a German lady who recognized him as an ex-officer in the red army during world war 2, as I remember, the German lady told him that she loved him and she even wished that the war never ends so he does not go back to Russia, at the end of the movie this man went back to Russia.

Can any body help me how to find the name of this movie?
I really appreciate that. If any body find this movie, I really recommend to see it.

Thank you very much.

August 15, 2010

William James

I have been looking for a movie called The Man(James Earl Jones) about A Black President. Also The Black Shield Of Farnsworth(Tony Curtis). Can you help thanks

August 16, 2010

Old Movies Online

If you are looking for old black and white movies, you should click my link. You can watch old movies for free! There are also many genres to choose from. But great information. This is a wonderful site.

August 20, 2010

chadrich

can anybody help me remember the title of the movie i watched in dvd in 2006..the movie is all about an old man who were asked to get a young boy in russia or maybe poland country by a syndicate to sell in phidophiles…later on the movie..the old man touched by the life story of the boy and he felt to be a father for the young boy… to be able not to give the young boy to the syndicate he edited the medical result of the young boy. he made the young boy a HIV positive..
please help me remember the title…thanks…

September 27, 2010

artautges

I’m looking for an old movie about a jewelry heist. The thieves hollow out food (loaves of bread, pickles, etc.) and hide the jewelry inside the items, putting it all inside a picnic basket. Somehow they lose the picnic basket and it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. They hire a Japanese diver to find the basket. I thought that Tom Bosley was in the movie, but I haven’t found any title that sounds familiar among his movie list.
I’ve had several people suggest “Million Dollar Mystery” but I know that is not it.
Please help!! 🙂

October 11, 2010

maria chavez

This is an answer to number #12(Darlene)I think the movie she is asking is called Johnny Lingo. The setting was in some polynesian island; he came to the island to bargain for a wife (She was called Mahana).Everyone saw her as ugly and unworthy. He bargains with Mahana’s father for 10cows.At that time 8cows is already alot for even a beautiful wife.Later Mahana actually turned out to be a very beautiful wife.I saw this cute movie when i was a little girl. It has a lot of good values about self worth and kindness. Good luck!

October 21, 2010

Helen

Hello! I was just recently interested in films. Your blog gives me information on which movies are worth seeing. I am planning to collect DVD’s of these films, and I was wondering if you could recommend places or websites where I can buy DVD’s?

October 21, 2010

Eva

I am seeking a golden era of Hollywood movie (1930-1950).
I think Michael Rennie is in it, but I have not been able to find it. I think the movie is called something like “The house on _________ Street” or “The House on the block,” “The House at the ________,” or something like that.
I missed the first 30 minutes and saw it in Black and White in Spanish so it’s Spanish name had nothing to do with the English title. The story revolves around a man who goes back to the past (Around the time of the Civil War). While there he meets a young woman and they fall in love. Everyone in the “past” thinks this man is crazy with all his new-fangled ideas. When it comes time for him to choose to stay or return, they both realize he must go back. He gives her an ankh and they put it in the secret compartment in a chest of drawers. When he returns to the future and out of his “coma” and he believes he has imagined it all, even though it seemed so real. Once out of the hospital he visits the house, which is now a museum. While there he spies the chest of drawers and opens the secret compartment to find the ankh. As he is leaving the house, a girl who looks exactly like the girl from the past greets him… you can guess the rest of the story (though that is where the movie ends). Can anyone help? Thanks!!!

October 22, 2010

Shane

It’s hard to beat Amazon. New DVDs are offered at low prices, and older DVDs can be purchased for next to nothing.

October 22, 2010

Helen

I was looking at Amazon too, I guess it’ll be my best bet so far. Thank you.

November 28, 2010

Sidney P. Bloomberg

I HAVE ‘tons’ of Olde Movies, & make VHS/DVD’s for People. U
CAN eMail Me U’r Request, BUT, I ONLY RSVP, to People Who
leave their snailmail Address. #17, I’ve BOTH Films. RSVP.
Sid Bloomberg

December 10, 2010

margaret murko

i saw a movie i cant forget

tyrone power who was transportback to medivel enland i think it was called i will never forget you it also featured ann blythe .they had a sweet romance
then he came back to the present .was in a hospital and the nurse was the same one he loved back in time
they went to the church yard and found a tomb stone
with her name from the past carved deep so they could find it

December 12, 2010

Rod

Margaret that is the answer for #23 also called “The house on the square” a remake of 1933s
Berkeley Square
Directed by Frank Lloyd. Starring Leslie Howard, Heather Angel, Valerie Taylor. A young American man is transported back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meets his ancestors

December 12, 2010

Rod

answer to #20 “The Boatniks” a Disney film from 1970
Harry (Phil Silvers), Max (Norman Fell), and Charlie (Mickey Shaughnessy)

December 12, 2010

Rod

answer to #6, my first thought of someone who goes mad in Africa is “the heart of darkness”
John Malkovich was in a 1993 version not b/w though

December 20, 2010

Salmaan

I’m trying to find a movie that I saw on television a while ago. I forgot the name. I believe it is a classic Hollywood, black and white film.

The plot line follows three successful Hollywood patrons-a director, an actress, and a producer(?). The man who made all of them successful has fallen on hard times (I forget the name) and needs their help. They all respond with “…tell him to drop dead” on the phone. As the movie progresses, each of their stories is told and at the end, they have a change of heart and all three are seen listening on the phone eager to help out.

One of the only lines I can recall is from the lead actress when she’s recounting her story, “That’s the thing about first loves: you’ll get over ’em, but you’ll never forget ’em.”

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

December 29, 2010

Cathy

I think the answer to # 13 is ‘Flowers in the Attic’

January 1, 2011

Salmaan

That’s great, Cathy.

Now how about the answer to #31? 😛

January 4, 2011

Wingless Angel

Someone help me PLease! What mid-century movie had a Widower father with daughter who will not eat food that touch. ie; a pb&j would be one plate with bread slice, one with pb, one with jelly and one with 2nd slice of bread. If you tried to tell her they all came together in her stomach she would get upset and cover her ears.

January 18, 2011

Spritzyspring!

There are two movies that I am looking for!
One: A middle aged man meets a wealthy woman who has had quite a few ex-husbands and all of them have died. The middle aged man finds this woman intriguing and pursues a relationship with her. One day, while on a family camping trip, the woman gets in a boat and persuades the man’s brother who’s legs are weak to swim in the lake and he eventually drowns. The woman lets the boy drown. Later on the woman and the man are married and he wants to have a child, she does not. When she does become pregnant, she throws herself down the stairs and loses the child. At the end of the movie she kills herself making it look like her sister killed her.

Two: I remember this movie in fragments… There was a group of friends and they would go and spend time together in the same place by the sea where there was a cave that had an opening at the top. However, no one knew what was at the top of the cave. At one point in the story, the woman goes back to the cave and begins to climb up the cave. With the tide rising and no other way out but up, the woman climbs all the way up the cave, and reaches the top to have climbed out of an abandoned well into a monastery….

So far that is all I know! If anyone knows of these two movies, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you and God bless!

January 18, 2011

Shane

The first film is Leave Her to Heaven.

January 24, 2011

Spritzyspring!

Thank you, Shane!

January 24, 2011

Spritzyspring!

I found the second movie!!!! It is called GREEN DOLPHIN STREET (1947) with Lana Turner!!!!!!!WOOOOWOOOOO!!!!!!! So excited to watch it again!!!!

March 12, 2011

Andrew

I want to find the name of a black and white film, probably from the 1960’s.

A bunch of criminals pull of a heist, and hide the loot in a tree. They subsequently get caught and go to jail.

Upon release they return to the tree and find that a house has been built on the land and the tree is now in someones garden. It might have been an Ealing comedy.

Thanks for any help.

March 27, 2011

sue

i can’t remember the name of a movie,a japanese girl and her father lived together. he was mean,did not have any legs and ,got around in a bucket with wheels.

April 4, 2011

Mithun

This is an old movie having three musketeers which are famous for their bad work but they are best Friends.This movie had an a very good music played at the background and that is still used in many Bollywood movies .I forgot the Movie name can you help in finding the name of that movie…pls pls

April 14, 2011

france

for #31 is the sun also rises

June 1, 2011

lila

I’ m looking for the title of a movie that had a plot dealing with realestate one woman against one man . I believe they were husband and wife . I don’t remember the year or who was in it but she push his car down hill from a peiece of realestate with her car they were fighting over . It could have been their own home. i would love to see it again or own it.

June 17, 2011

Chica

Can someone tell me the name of this movie with a African American man whose engaged to be married offers his friend to come stay with to he gets a job but the friend and him his sleepin with the same girl who gave them both a diffrent name and the contact Hiv…Mean while the one who is engaged passed the disease to his soon to be wife..At the end of the movie his wife and him was on a Hiv billboard…I saw it once and really what love for someone to help me with the name…thanks

June 25, 2011

JEn D

Hi, I’m looking for an old black and white movie that takes place in an old ladies home. Three ? theives/criminals hide out from the police in her house. They plan to kill her but they end up dying in odd ways themselves, I think one fell off the roof. The old ladie seems oblivious to their plans but you think she may know more than they think.

June 25, 2011

Shane

Jen D, are you talking about British version of The Ladykillers starring Alec Guinness?

October 14, 2011

saundra davis

looking for an old Movie, called [Fear] i think. about a pychic trying to catch a seriel killer who writes Fear on the walls after he kills. Where can you go on line to buy old movies. also looking for What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford and An Eye For an Eye with Sally Fields. I never see these on cable

January 19, 2013

frank paolucci

19 january 2013
frank paolucci
loocking for a bl/white film the title of which i think it is [in italian][la ribbellione degli impiccati]saw it as a child i remember some bits, it was shot in south america the locals were kept almost like slaves had to cut down trees and they rebel, one scene i recal one worker gets a gun and tries to use it but cannot he presses the trigger guard instead,another scene i remember is a guard is tied to a tree and a rebel takes revenge by plunging two thorns in to his eyes,another scene i remember is the old man tells a younger man to tear his shirt to cover his damaged hands, this old man, actors name unknown but i think he was the old mexican in the film “THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN” any help to find the title, much appreciated please email me. Hope i have written this request in the correct place for a reply.

March 26, 2013

Nada Lawton

I am looking for an old movie I think was about WW 2. At the end this missionary I think brings all these orphaned kides to safety and they were singing this Ole Man

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *