Older movies that everyone should see

[Darth Mandarb]

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Director: John Frankenheimer
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, and Angela Lansbury.
I watched this movie on a recommendation and it was way worth it.
IMDB Entry: The Manchurian Candidate

That's about the only older movie I would strongly recommend that I don't think anybody mentioned before, but DG, Rince, Paranoia and others have suggested the obvious (and not so obvious) good ones.

DG - Ashby's Harold & Maude is a definate gem and certainly belongs on this list.  While the movie has always been somewhat disturbing to me, it's still a great movie.  Ruth Gordon was amazing.  She was also good in Rosemary's Baby (1968) by the great (and child molesting) Roman Polanski.

Pestilence - I'm glad you mentioned To Kill A Mockingbird.  It's such a great movie based on an even greater book by Harper Lee.  To any who haven't read/seen this gem ... DO IT NOW!!!

Now, as far as 'older movies' ... I would consider these to be movies that were made all the way up into the 90's.  Because there are kids who post in these forums who were born in the 90's!!

My favorite movie:
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Madeline Stowe, Eric Schweig, and Jodhi May
The subtle (but incredibly powerful) love story between Alice and Uncas is just amazing and the fact the Eric Schweig (Uncas) and Jodhi May (Alice) were able to convey this powerful emotion without speaking is incredible.  The fire of romance between DDL and Madeline Stowe is so powerful and full of drama it gives me goosebumps.  When she goes to see him (when he's in the brig) and she says, "The whole world's on fire" ... very powerful.
NOTE - If you're a fan of the original version of this movie don't waste your time with the DVD ... for whatever reason it's been incredibly altered.  Why they did this I don't know ... but it destroyed the movie (in my opinion).
IMDB Entry: The Last of the Mohicans

Other recommendations:
The Natural (1984, Barry Levinson)
Red Dawn (1984, John Milius)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986, John Carpenter)
The Princess Bride (1987, Rob Reiner)
Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead (1995, Gary Fleder)
Dangerous Beauty (1998, Marshall Herskovitz)
Harrison's Flowers (2000, Elie Chouraqui)


These are all I'm going to list now ... cause this is turning into a novel.  I could go on and on and on ...

[Pesty]

I can do movies not many have seen. "Lost Horizons" is a brilliant movie that apparently is unknown (I bought it for 5 dollars from a bin at WalMart) by the masses. It's a very interesting and touching movie. More recent than most of my suggestions is "Murder by Death",  which I'm not sure if a lot of people have seen. I know when I talk about it or quote it people give me looks, so meh. A movie I forgot to mention in my first list was "The Maltese Falcon", which while isn't little known, more people should see.

"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" is my favorite movie. I bought it for under 3 dollars at Sam's Club, which made me worried that people don't know what it is, so I'll add that too.

Gronk.

[Chrille]

I'd also like to mention Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, directed by Roman Polanski. Easily one of my top 10 favourites, I can't believe I forgot about it

[Trapezoid]

Oddly enough I've managed not to see a lot of "ultimate classic movies" such as the Godfather films, and Casablanca, etc. I haven't even watched the Star Wars trilogy in a while.

If anyone wants to know what my favorite films are, see http://www.ymdb.com/user_top20_view.asp?usersid=2145&ce=y

Pesty, are you talking about the Terry Gilliam version? If so, right on.

[OneThinkingGal and ._.]

Rebecca.

[Pesty]

Pesty, are you talking about the Terry Gilliam version? If so, right on.

Of course I am. It's a masterpiece!

[DGMacphee]

Today I bought an older movie on DVD -- 'The Defiant Ones'.

I recommend it very much.

[Rincewind]

Ok, here's two old and classic(But not so well-known...) movies:

"The Kennel Murder Case" - 1933
William Powell is perfect as amateur detective Philo Vance, who has to solve a mysterious case, where everything points at suicide, but where Vance points at murder. Atmospheric, exciting and a great detective story.

"The Cocoanuts" - 1929
I love the Marx Bros, and this one, their first feature film, is by far my favourite. Filled to the brim with classical gags and jokes, and with brilliant performances from Groucho, Harpo and Chico.  

"Do you understand everything now?"
"Yes, everything except the why a duck."

[DGMacphee]

Midnight Express.

I just remembered that one.

[Miez]

Peter Greenaway's "Prospero's Books" - seen it twenty times, prepared to see it at least 20 times more ...

Kubrick's "Lolita" - not what you might think, just watch it ...

"Brazil", "Evil Dead", "A Clockwork Orange" (which seems to be a favourite, it's been mentioned a dozen times already)

[PeaceMan]

Convoy
The Dirty Dozen
Battle of the Bulge
The Shining
Glory
Hamburger Hill
Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail
The Life Of Brian
Crimson Tide
Captain's Courageous
Platoon
Dirty Harry
The Mean Machine
The Naked Gun (whole series)
Police Academy (whole series)

and probably a few others I can't remember the names of.

[Gonzo]

I'm a big fan of old, classic cinema, and I tend to believe "they don't make 'em like they used to" (although there are some modern movies I enjoy, I don't totally despair at the state of films nowadays).

For various reasons, I think these films are just really enjoyable. Not all are typically regarded as the pinnacle of artistic expression, but not all great films have to have something deep about them, they can be just fun, or have excellent cinematogaphy, genius comedy, etc.:

'Double Indemnity'
'North By Northwest'
'Rear Window'
'The Ladykillers'
'Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid'
'Where Eagles Dare'
'A Hard Day's Night'
'Back To The Future' (essentially the original, but parts 2 and 3 are fantastic too)
'Goldfinger'
'Jaws'
'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade' (again the whole trilogy's cool though)
'The Empire Strikes Back' (ditto)
'Blazin' Saddles'
'This Is Spinal Tap'

Can't think of anymore just at the moment, need to go down the video store and jog my memory. I haven't taken anything out in months to be honest.

Also I'd like to take this opportunity to ask if anyone can help me out finding a film's name. I watched it ages ago, in English class when I was about 11 but remember it being a neat little 'golden oldie'. It followed this guy who was bumping off a certain number of people for some reason, and wrote memoirs chronicling how he killed each one. IIRC, at the end of the film, it suddenly occurred to him that he'd left the memoirs somewhere where they'd be found/read and it ended just there...  Any ideas?

[PeaceMan]

Also I'd like to take this opportunity to ask if anyone can help me out finding a film's name. I watched it ages ago, in English class when I was about 11 but remember it being a neat little 'golden oldie'. It followed this guy who was bumping off a certain number of people for some reason, and wrote memoirs chronicling how he killed each one. IIRC, at the end of the film, it suddenly occurred to him that he'd left the memoirs somewhere where they'd be found/read and it ended just there...  Any ideas?

It was "Kind Hearts and Coronet's"

I think I spelt it right.