Gonna necro this thread, coz I love old movies, and have a zillion cool, old, under-watched classics that I could rave about. I was thinking of starting a dedicated "Film Noir/Old gangster movies" thread, but there probably wouldn't be enough interest to justify it, so I'll just post here.
But I wish ths "multimedia" subforum ws more active; There seems to be a lot of people into old movies on KF ; I've picked up some good reccomendations here before, in random threads for different cows or whatever. But for some reason, these dedicated movie threads never seem to stay active for long.
Violent Saturday (1955) Super-cool old, colour Film Noir "bank robbery gone bad" movie, with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Victor Mature; Kinda like a 50's version of Reservoir Dogs, or Heat.
The Trap (1959) Similar to Violent Saturday- Colour noir crime thriller, with a "heist gone bad" story
The Hanging Tree (1959) A very cool, unusual Western with Karl Malden, about a secretive doctor with a mysterious past in a mining town, who starts to come unravelled when a pretty girl washes up in town.
The Story or Temple Drake (1933) Probably the movie most responsible for the implimentation of the Hays Code, the year after it was released. The rich, spoiled, fast-living young daughter (Miriam Hopkins) of a judge goes out partying at a hillbilly speakeasy in a swamp, and gets kidnapped by a gangster (Jack laRue), who forces her into prostitution. I love this movie so fucking much, it's got this weird, dark, gritty, pre-noir b-movie vibe. And it's probably the most "mature" pre-code movie I've seen, but not just in a gratutiously trashy way (I don't think there's any nudity at all), it was just a real movie made for grown-ups, with an approach to crime and sex, that wouldn't re-appear til the late 60's, or 70's.
Roman Scandals (1933) I know KF has a few fans of Eddie Cantor, old-timey 1930's comedian/song and dance man, who was as big as the Marx bros in his day, but is largely buried today, because he did a lot of (hilarious) blackface bits. If anyone watched Boardwalk Empire, the singing comic who's gf Knucky steals, was based on Cantor. He has a bunch of great movies, but this (or maybe Palmy Days, 1931) is my favourite.
The Last Gangster (1937) Classic gangster movie with Edward G Robinson as a hood, fresh out of prison, who discovers he has a kid.
Day of the Outlaw (1959) Excellent western, about a town besieged by a gang on the run from the law.
The Face Behind the Mask (1941) This criminally under-watched Peter Lorre movie is a weird mix of horror, scifi and old gangster movie, all wrapped up in a classic morality tale- Similar vibe to classic Twilight Zone eps,
Blast of Silence (1961) Very cool, quirky, post-noir crime thriller about a hitman who runs into ethical quandaries.
Lady in a Cage (1964) a gang of nihilistic young punks trap a wealthy old widow, in the (caged) elevator in her apartment. This movie is an early version of the ""city in moral decay" theme, that would become popular in 70's movies like Death Wish or the Dirty Harry series
I Want to Live (1958) Excellent Film Noir, about a hooker on death row for a murder.
The Window (1949) A kid in a city tenement apartment is endangered, when he witnesses a murder, but nobody takes him seriously... except the killers...
Raw Deal (1948) Insanely cool, oddball, super-stylised, atmospheric Noir crime thriller with an unusual theremin score.
Drive a Crooked Road (1954) Mickey Rooney is a naive, straight-laced mechanic/hot rodder, who gets mixed up in crime, when he falls for a mobster's girl
Hell in the Pacifc (1968) Very unique, minimalist ww2 movie, with literally just two actors (Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune), who don't even share a common language, so there's no real "dialogue"- Just two guys each speaking a language the other can't understand. A G.I and a Jap officer both end up stranded on the same desert Island (directed by John Boorman, of Excalibur and Deliverance)
The Sadist (1963) very ahead of its time b-movie, about a sadistic young punk, holding a couple hostage in a junkyard.
The Flim-Flam Man (1967) Super-fun, charming comedy, about an old, rural hobo/con-artist (George C Scott), who takes on a young apprentice.
Emperor of the North Pole (1973) Another hobo movie; Set in the depression, a veteran hobo (Lee Marvin) and a young upstart (Keith Carradine) both compete to see who can hop a ride, on the notoriously un-hoppable train of a super-vigilant, viciously brutal conductor (Ernest Borgnine) This movie is just too great for words.
The Outfit (1973) excellent heist movie with Robert Duvall
Dillinger (1973) One of the great, under-watched gangster movies of the 70's. A remake of the 1946 movie (same title, and also pretty great), but the 70's version has a similar charm to Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
Short Eyes (1977) BRUTAL prison movie, about what happens to child molesters who get locked up.
Little Murders (1971) Very dark, black comedy, about (1971's version of) modern city life.
Lisztomania (1975) If you've seen the 'Tommy' rock musical, this is another movie from the same director (Ken Russel), in the same year, with the same star (Roger Daltry of The Who), also a musical, and a similar, campy, super-dramatic, lavish, over the top feel, except this is set in the late 1700's music scene, instead of the 1970's. And the sets and costumes in this are probably even more insane. Also, despite being 1700's France, there's nazis for some reason. And also Superman. Shit gets weird.
Would there be any interest in a dedicated Film Noir thread? (or "Film Noir/pre-70's Gangster/Crime movies" was my original idea)