Favorite Pre-1960 Movies

(Partly in response to the comments from my last post.) These might be of interest to those wishing to acquaint themselves with some older movies. I do think it helps to be somewhat familiar with the context of the movie - for example, movies made during World War II - like The More the Merrier - will be better understood as having a particular context.

Most of these movies were made for grown-ups (I hate to use the word "adult" in this context!), but I believe Ria is old enough to see all of them:

Movies Made for Kids:

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)

Silent Films:

The Passion of Joan of Arc (very intense!) (1928)
Modern Times (1936)
Safety Last (1923)

All-Out Comedy:

The Awful Truth (1937)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Duck Soup (1933)
It Happened One Night (1934)
The More the Merrier (1943)
You Can't Take it With You (1938)

Lighter Drama or More Serious Comedy:

The African Queen (1951)
Casablanca (1942)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
I Remember Mama (1948)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Meet John Doe (1941)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Seven Samurai (1954) - from which sprung The Magnificent Seven (1960) and a Bug's Life (1998)

More Serious Drama:

Ben Hur (1959)
High Noon (1952)
I Confess (1953)
Ikiru (1952)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Rear Window (1954)
The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Song of Bernadette (1943)
Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Also see my post from earlier this year on Essential Classic Movie Directors