Top 10 Best Old Hollywood Movies You've Never Seen
#10: “The Set-Up” (1949)
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Today, director Robert Wise is best known for his work in two of the most popular musicals of all time: “The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story.” Outside of his musical direction, Wise had a prolific film career, including his 1949 drama, “The Set-Up.” The movie is a tight film noir centered on the world of boxing. Robert Ryan delivers a stellar performance as Bill Thompson, a has-been boxer who refuses to give in to pressure to forfeit a match for money. Wise has named the film as one of his favorites of his own movies, and we couldn’t agree more. It’s a knockout you shouldn’t sleep on!
#9: “Bell, Book and Candle” (1958)
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In 1958, Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart co-starred in one of the most famous films ever: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.” That same year, they starred in another, very different film that hasn’t received nearly as much attention. “Bell, Book and Candle” stars Novak as a witch who casts a spell on her neighbor, played by Stewart, to fall in love with her. The film is billed as a romantic comedy, and despite not being a household name, it’s actually a pretty funny, campy little comedy. It was one of Stewart’s final performances as a romantic lead, showing a different type of chemistry between him and Novak.
#8: “Indiscreet” (1958)
In 1946, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious.” That film is excellent, and the level of steamy chemistry between the leads is so off the charts. You’d think that Hollywood would have put them in a dozen other films together. Unfortunately for audiences, Grant and Bergman didn’t share the silver screen again for another 12 years. Thankfully, that film was “Indiscreet.” In this film, the pair take their sexual, mysterious chemistry from “Notorious” and translate it into a quirky, hilarious romantic comedy type of chemistry. It might not be a spiritual successor to “Notorious,” but “Indiscreet” stands on its own thanks to the range of the leads.
#7: “The Women” (1939)
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Looking back at the Golden Age of Hollywood (and even looking at Hollywood today), it’s difficult to find a movie without a single man in the cast. But 1939’s “The Women,” with its more than 130 speaking roles, is filled with women and women only. The film is a satire offering commentary on the banality of the lives of rich, married wives. Not only is the comedy biting, but the film is filled with a plethora of expert comedic performances from a who’s who of classic actresses. Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine, and so many other women lend their impeccable comedic talents to this cast of many. Even over 80 years later, it’s still one of the funniest movies of all time.
#6: “The Bigamist” (1953)
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One might assume otherwise, but there was indeed a group of female filmmakers in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Ida Lupino is one of those women who took the helm. With 1953’s “The Bigamist,” she became the first woman to direct and star in an American film made in the sound era. “The Bigamist” stars Lupino as a woman who becomes entangled in an affair with a married man who is trying to have a baby with his wife, played by Joan Fontaine. Lupino shows her skill as a director, producing a haunting film that ends on a note that simply shatters the audience.
#5: “Fail Safe” (1964)
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1964 gave us two movies that criticized nuclear war through the plot point of U.S. leaders’ inability to stop a nuclear warhead that was accidentally set off. One of those movies was Stanley Kubrick’s satirical masterpiece, “Dr. Strangelove.” The other evokes a much more serious tone. Sidney Lumet’s “Fail Safe” takes on similar themes to Kubrick’s film, but with the thriller genre in mind. The film is one of Lumet’s lesser-known works, yet it showcases what a master he always was. One can only imagine how much better the film might have done commercially if it came out in a different year, but there’s no reason people can’t catch up now.
#4: “Make Way for Tomorrow” (1937)
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In 1937, director Leo McCarey made what he considered to be his best film. He also made a film that received six Academy Award nominations. Funnily enough, those films are not the same. McCarey’s “The Awful Truth,” a screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, received acclaim from the Academy. But McCarey’s favorite of his films is a little drama called “Make Way for Tomorrow.” The story centered around an elderly couple who are forced to move apart after they lose their house and their children will not help them. It’s a much darker and more somber film that McCarey is known for today, but absolutely one of his best.
#3: “The Gunfighter” (1950)
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When people talk about the best Westerns of all time, they might say “The Searchers” or “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” They might name some of the best Western stars as Jimmy Stewart or Clint Eastwood. But people rarely talk about the 1950 undersung masterpiece “The Gunfighter” starring Gregory Peck. Peck stars as an aging gunfighter who has a reputation to uphold and delivers one of the staunchly solid performances he’s become known for. “The Gunfighter” is one of many collaborations between Peck and director Henry King, but never gets the reverence it deserves in the Western canon.
#2: “The Learning Tree” (1969)
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Gordon Parks is an important name when it comes to Black people’s contributions to cinema in the 20th century. But even to this day, many people haven’t seen the film that put him in the history books. 1969’s “The Learning Tree” was the first major studio film to be directed by a Black person. To this day, the lessons put forth in “The Learning Tree’ hold up. The story follows a teenager named Newt Winger whose life is marked by tragedy. Parks depicts opposing versions of what it means to be a Black man living in America at that time, and his knack for visuals shines through. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. “Panic in the Streets” (1950) One of Elia Kazan’s Lesser Known Works “Key Largo” (1948) The Bogie & Bacall Collaboration That’s Missing From Your Film Knowledge “In a Lonely Place” (1950) A Noir That Deserves More Accolades Than It Gets “She Done Him Wrong” (1933) Mae West Shines In This Pre-Code Comedy “Charade” (1963) Stanley Donen Proves He Can Direct a Hitchcock Homage With a Little More Humor
#1: “Seconds” (1966)
Throughout his career, Rock Hudson was known for his strapping good looks and became one of the preeminent heartthrobs of Hollywood’s Golden Age. But one of his best performances came when he played against type in 1966’s “Seconds.” Hudson stars as the main character, renamed Tony Wilson after he undergoes plastic surgery to look younger. The film is a science fiction thriller, and not at all what audiences at the time expected from Hudson. It flopped when it first came out, but since has been reappraised and rightly recognized as one of Hudson’s most interesting roles. What’s your favorite underrated classic? Spread the word in the comments!
